Jack Dempsey on the MMA, er, Boxing Industry

"They came as promoters, managers, trainers, even instructors. Too often they were able to crowd out old timers because they had money to invest, becuase they were better businessmen, or merely because they were glib-talking hustlers...They mistaught boys in gynasiums....(those mistaught boys) became instructors." From Championship Fighting by Jack Dempsey.

Dempsey wrote about the downside of boxing's explosion in popularity during his legendary career but his sentiments could easily have been written about the current state of MMA. In the premier issue of Fight Magazine Rickson Gracie says, "There is a lack of precision and beauty in what I see today...when you win, it should be beautiful." When a young fighter is surrounded by people who haven't mastered what they teach, you get sloppy punches, bad footwork, weak, unbalanced kicks, and white-belt jiu-jitsu.

Food for thought.