The Latest MMA News is that It Will Continue Growing No one knows exactly how many professional MMA fighters are out there. With over 20 professional MMA organizations, and an unknown number of professional fighters, it is a bit hard to keep track of the latest MMA news. On average a top tier Mixed Martial Arts fighter has about 4-5 fights per year. The average fighters have about 6-8 fights per year, while the untested fighters some 10-15 fights a year. So unless you are tracking major MMA fighters such as Cain Velasquez, Jon (Bones) Jones, Demetrious (Mighty Mouse) Johnson and other top fighters, you will need a big diary to keep up with the news. Ever since the Howard Rosenberg, coined the name Mixed Martial Arts in the article in nwefullcontact.com, in 1993, every man with a need for an adrenalin rush can’t stop following it. Clutter of MMA News One of the biggest issues with following mixed martial arts is the large number of organizations, affiliates and promoters in the sports. Since it is a relatively new sport in terms of organization, each new organization is trying to outperform the other to get the bigger following.
According to Trevor McManus, The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is the easiest recognizable. The UFC well known internationally and even has deals with major media houses such as Fox, FX and Fuel TV. UFC champions such as Ken Shamrock have helped them grow tremendously especially when they go also bring in the wrestling fans to the fore. Still, UFC does not control everything in the sport. Other organizations such as World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) and Pride Fighting Championships (PrideFC) also make it in MMA news. The stakes are high in the discipline that is the reason even underground and much smaller MMA organizations keep cropping up yearly. Every one of these wants to be known as the source of the latest news in the sport. One way to gauge the success of the sport is the number of online views the fights attract. MMA Videos Attract More Viewers than Other Sports MMA videos are some of the most watched videos on YouTube. Kimbo Slice being knocked out by Seth Petruzelli video has over 12 million views and growing. But YouTube is just the tip of the iceberg. Mixed Martial Arts has attracted some of the largest pay per view audiences in the world. Fights such as Brock Lesnar vs. Randy Couture and Georges St-Pierre vs. BJ Penn have attracted pay per view audiences higher than most boxing matches. It’s no wonder. There is something to be said about watching two pretty intimidating UFC fighters going at each other. They are imposing, physically intimidating and some of the personalities are what childhood nightmares are made of. It’s no wonder that we are always looking for the latest news and video from the ultimate fighting championships. You do not want to be the one who missed the shocking upsets of Matt Serra over Georges St-Pierre. With hundreds of undercard draws from as far away as South Africa, there is a lot of MMA news to consume.
But is Mixed Martial Arts Dangerous? Whenever a strong man full of adrenalin hits you with the full force of his fists, things are bound to get dangerous. This is probably one of the reasons people not initiated in the sport cringe at its very mention. Through the years, MMA rules have changed to allow for full contact without harming the fighters. In 2001, the States of New Jersey sanctioned MMA under the so called Unified Rules. By 2012 46 US states had already sanctioned the fights. When the International Mixed Martial Arts Federation was setup in 2012, MMA fights went international. But the story is still that MMA is dangerous. Sure it is, but there have only been three recorded fatalities in the sport. Compare this to boxing where we have about 10 fatalities a year. It may look dangerous, but mixed martial arts under proper supervision may be safer than boxing. One cannot deny the fact there are many unsanctioned and underground MMA fights. In fact fighters such as Kimbo Slice started in the underground networks. Luckily, there is so much MMA news that one does not need to know about the underground fights. Not all MMA News is Good News There are those that say that grown men allowed pummel up each other as crowds cheer is ugly enough. But we have to remember that this is now a professional sport with rules that aim to protect the athletes. However, it’s hard to get rid of the steroids issue in any sport where supreme physical fitness is paramount. Watching what they eat, how the train and the number of fights is important for the athletes. They are expected to perform at their peak at least 5 times a year. That is why it is not surprising when fighters like Dan Henderson openly admitted that they took performance enhancing drugs. Others such as Nate Marquardt and Vitor Belfort have been caught taking banned substances.
This however should not discourage the avid lovers and proponents of the game. Mixed Martial Arts is here to stay and its growth is consistent. Every day as more information is provided to show that MMA is not only safe but extremely entertaining, the number of fans grows. As such there is an insatiable need for the latest in MMA news and information from whatever source fans seek.