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No, I don't mean pro wrestling; I mean actual wrestling. I mean GSP taking guys down with absolutely no resistance due to his superior wrestling skills. Recently we've seen a few high profile names come out strongly opposed to wrestling in MMA and wanting to be rid of it. First up, Dan Hardy:
"Rather than saying 'oh, these guys can't wrestle', I think the problem is there's beginning to be too much wrestling in UFC Octagon, not too little of it in the gym. There are a lot of people out there calling themselves 'UFC fighters' who are nothing of the kind. In the UFC, you should go for finishes."
"The athletic commissions need to look at the scoring and refereeing to stop this from becoming a problem. If a guy is in a dominant position, but not actually doing anything offensive - stand 'em back up. If he is consistently trying to tie the other guy up to avoid actual fighting - warn him and then start taking points. It is supposed to be a fight."
It's really annoying to have to continue to hear fighters who have very little skill in one discipline complain about other fights using said discipline. Is it any surprise that in his last fight he was thoroughly dominated by the best wrestler in MMA, Georges St. Pierre? Of course he has a problem with wrestling; he's not any good at it. Instead of putting the time in to actually get better at it, he's chosen to just complain loudly in hopes of getting a rule change. A fight is a fight. You know the rules going in. Prepare accordingly.
Speaking of GSP, Mark Pavelich, the owner of Maxium Fighting Championships, has now also come out strongly against wrestling in MMA and even went so far as to call out GSP specifically. From AngryMarks and via MMA Mania:
"I can't stand watching Georges St. Pierre fight. I put him in the same category as watching Scott Coker talk. God, it kills me. You know? I want to watch people like Ryan Ford fight. I want to watch people like Jon Jones fight. I want to watch Clay Guida fight. I want to watch people like Tom Watson from England who fights for the Maximum Fighting Championship. I want to watch him fight. Because I know he's going to do dirty shit to people. I know he's going to kick someone in the head."
It's tough to even find the right thing to say to a ridiculous quote like this. You want to watch guys fight who are going to do dirty shit to people? He's projecting an image, I get that. But this is exactly the kind of quote that the mainstream eats up. This is just a bloodsport fed to men who are hungry for violence. The sad part is that Mr. Pavelich's opinion is shared by so many. I love watching GSP go out and totally outclass a lesser fighter like Dan Hardy. Watching him ply his craft is something we should be honored to get to watch. Do we really just want to see two men go out and throw haymakers at each other for 15 or 25 minutes? Does everyone just want Garcia-Sung Jung all the time?
MMA is beautiful because of how diverse it is. You have to be proficient at so many different levels that you will be eaten alive if you come in thinking that you can just stand and trade. That's a good thing. Eventually, fights like that get boring. Boxing is nice to watch every now and again but variety should not ever be underestimated. I enjoy the fact that I can watch a card like UFC 118 that features a stand up war between Marcus Davis and Nate Diaz and then an amazing display of ground work by Mario Miranda and Demian Maia. Why would anyone hate that?