“Marvelous” Marvin Hagler: I Can’t See Any Art Inside MMA
With a record number of UFC events slated for the rest of this year, the sport of MMA is undoubtedly growing as a whole. Add in burgeoning promotions Bellator and World Series of Fighting (WSOF), and MMA fans have never been presented with even close to the sheer amount of action they will have at their disposal this year.
While it’s debatable as to whether or not this frenetic can be maintained (especially with UFC champions suddenly dropping like flies), one thing is certain: MMA has taken over as the forefront combat sport in the world, replacing the once-revered boxing.
There’s at least one person who thinks that equals a sad state of affairs for combat sports. Speaking to Yahoo! Sports in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Hall of Fame boxer “Marvelous” Marvin Hagler believes that there’s simply no finesse to MMA fights:
“That sport right there, I can’t see any art inside. If you wanna teach a kid how to fight (in MMA), you can just take him to the bar. That’s what it looks like to me. I can’t understand them laying on the floor like that, and the ref don’t get them up. It’s terrible. It’s really taking off… It’s growing because boxing has been drifting away, so it’s brought that (MMA) into the spotlight.”
That’s quite the glaring detraction from Hagler, who held the world title for a span of seven years from 1980-1987. Apparently he doesn’t have any appreciation for the “art” of MMA, which actually combines boxing with other elements like wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Muay Thai kickboxing, karate, judo, and countless other disciplines.
So, if we’re talking “art” here, then MMA actually has much more to fall back on than a sport that is limited to striking with your hands and has essentially been put to death by the sheer greed of its promoters.
There’s no taking away from Hagler’s accomplishments as a boxer; he won 60 of his 67 bouts. But whether he likes it or not, MMA has surpassed boxing at this point in time, and for good reason.
What do you make of his comments?
