Absolutely Outrage by the lack of proper respect (Cote)

Maybe this is just me, but I feel justified in saying that people do not give the respect earned by mixed martial artists...I was at Bdubs last night where they always have their free UFC nights. You'd THINK a place that hosts a pay-per-view for every fight night there is would respect the sport a little better. Last night before the Silva bout this waitress grabs a mic and (standing RIGHT by the poster for UFC 90, mind you) says "Okay guys, thank you for attending the UFC night here at Buffalo Wild Wings. We'd just like you guys to answer one question. Who do you think will win this fight tonight. Okay now, applaud if you like Silva in this match!" Of course, everybody in the room cheered as expected. "Okay guys, who in here likes that OTHER guy?!" (And she shakes her heard with a scowel and gave the thumbs down) And nobody cheered (aside from me and a few of my table mates). Most people actually Booed.

Am I right in feeling totally pissed by the lack of respect there? I mean...the waitress was standing RIGHT by the poster. She could easily have read "Cote" off the damn thing that was right in front of her face...

Also, I felt it disrespectful that there was a vast majority of supposed fans of the sport who come to attend this event that would just blow off and boo a fighter. Sure, they didn't know he was about to fight his heart out...but he's made it into tittle contention with the man widely referred to as the best pfp fighter out there...

Anybody else think this is a total croc?

People like a winner, and people tend to jump on bandwagons. Right now, Anderson Silva is the top guy and gaining popularity with the UFC billing him as the #1 Pound 4 Pound fighter.

This is the same with every sport. Remember when New England became THE team when they won the super bowl in 2002. A lot of people jumped on the New England bandwagon.

Though, you are right, I do notice it more in MMA. I like to think that the true fans give each fighter the respect they deserve, though.

Bandwagon.....almost anyone who dosent follow mma, is one hah

eh. i am just glad its exposure is greater than before. the general public is not big into MMA, so they arent out to please us big fans, theyre out to make "kimbo"s out of every big name the ufc can offer to hype the spectators. i really dont think its a big deal, especially just being at the local bar.

Hey guys first post here, seems a shockingly happy place considering the usual abuse hurled around most mma forums, so good job to you all!

But yeah, I just wanted to say that at least you guys get to see the UFC in bars in the US. Here in the UK mma is still considered a bit of a WWE esque freak show. You're more likely to get televised darts in a pub over here. What's almost as frustrating is the lack of respect a lot of British fans (and even some of the fighters...) have for the ground game. I know it's early days here with regards to the exposure of the sport, but these guys have paid a fair bit of money to see the show live, and are booing every fight that isn't a pier six brawl.

Anyway sorry to show up here and have my first post be a semi rant, but just wanted to give a little perspective from the U.K side of things.

MrMatturday...Day? wrote:seems a shockingly happy place considering the usual abuse hurled around most mma forums

lol.. you must have posted at the sherdog forums before

The TLOS forum is still pretty new, and we only have a couple dozen members here, but we're still pretty active, and everyone here seems to be pretty cool. Glad you could join us!

That has to be the best comment we could see!... hopefully everything will stay cool here in the TLOS forum... if not, MORTIS will take you out... literally. lol

The JDH wrote:That has to be the best comment we could see!... hopefully everything will stay cool here in the TLOS forum... if not, MORTIS will take you out... literally. lol

That's right!

Heh, I'll be good...
Yeah gotta love those Sherdog forums, one disagreement, and bam! Racist slurs and threats...

I promise I will behave too.

As long as everybody has the same skin color and views on religion, politics and fighting...Well, I guess I can behave

Haha I was going to say something similar Jake but I thought......nah......what if someone doesn't the humor in it? It would be just my luck.....haha

...back to topic...

My ex-wife was a manager at a sports bar/restaraunt where her and I basically began PPV MMA events. Nowhere else in the area was really showing them (include Bdubs) at that point. However, after about the first 3 over packed PPV events they showed, then all the sudden all the other bars wanted to start gaining some of that business. I couldn't believe the MMA groupies (my nickname for them) that would show up. Out of probably 400 people that would attend these PPV's, at least 325 of them were groupies. The other 75 were your actual hardcore MMA fans. It took me a little while to figure out how to spot these people, but once I did we started our own group and slowly started educating and integrating the truth into the hype behind the sport. Before I moved, I would say that ration change to about 150-200 hardcore fans from the original 75 or so.

I completely know what you mean by the hard core and groupie fans and can spot the difference fairly easily. It's just that I see these same people at bdubs every event so I thought they were gaining a bit of insight. I'd talked to a few of them before and they seemed to be getting a little more knowledgeable in the area of mma (Though, I could still hear the constant yelps for hammer fist hammer fist arm bar! while they were on their feet...) I was just immensely disappointed this sport could gain so much popularity and still be viewed with sucha low level of respect. I hear fans refer to it as glorified dog fights.