MIxed Martial Arts - the Evolution

The first time I watched a Mixed Martial Arts event, I was blown away. This little skinny man named Royce Gracie was not only taking on but defeating men of all sizes, and he did so with such speed and skill. Guys towering over him and out weighing him sometimes by as much as two hundred pounds, and he never once batted a eyelash over the remarkable difference in size. Instead he would step into the steel octagon cool and calmly with his father and brothers, who were always there offering him heaps of support. Royce was not a deadly striker who would pummel you with punches or rattle you with kicks. No, the aspect that he introduced to not only Mixed Martial Arts fans but to the world was a family fighting secret called Gracie Jiu-Jitsu. This fighting style was invented by his father Helio and passed down to him at the age of eight. No one had seen anything like this in America, it was new and it was incredibly effective. His style would have him generally try to take his opponent to the ground and then sit on their stomach in a mount position. Once he had achieved this everyone knew the end was near. He moved like a snake on the ground, wiggling and squirming his hips to get into the exact position he wanted, then just like a snake he would strike with lightning speed. Using Jiu-Jitsu as a base for his attacks, he could put his opponent in to a armbar or kimora in a matter of seconds. Doing this would force the opponent to either tap out, or suffer the consequence of a broken arm or leg or what ever limb he was attached to. He was undefeated in his career, and he proved to the world that at that point in time, his families fighting style was the absolute best.

After the world experienced Gracie Jiu-Jitsu the sport of Mixed Martial Arts caught the attention of many other fighting disciplines. No longer did sport fans see fighting as one dimensional punching and kicking, no it had evolved and took on a whole new dimension. People began to realize that if they could take even the most powerful puncher to the ground, they could then control them and take them out of their element making them virtually passive. This brought along wrestlers into the sport and they would bring yet another new dimension with them. Wrestlers are masters of ground grappling, they could get you down and have you mounted before you even realized what had happened. Many wrestlers that came to the sport were top notch all-American collegiate wrestlers that had trained in this discipline for countless years. What would these men bring to the sport that the jiu-jitsu practitioners did not? Not only would they bring in more fans but they would introduce the Mixed Martial Arts world to ground and pound. Ground and pound was a very effective fighting maneuver in which a man would get his opponent to the ground and then unleash a flurry of devastating strikes that normally knocked out whoever was on the receiving end. The fast pace nonstop action of this style caught the attention of many new fans. No longer would the world know wrestling as a scripted drama filled match between men wearing spandex. With all the fake wrestling shows that people seem to just flock to, they were all catching wind of real fighting, no holds barred wrestling. This brought a whole new audience to the sport and it would forever be changed.

With wrestling and jiu-jitsu becoming crowd favorites many people from all over the world wanted to introduce their own fighting styles and techniques. The number of Mixed Martial Arts fighters began to increase dramatically and continue to do so to this day. Now in order to successfully compete in this sport fighters would need to master numerous fighting styles, the days of one dimensional fighters were gone. Muay Thai fighters would find great success in the ranks of Mixed Martial Arts fighters all across the world. Muay Thai fighting involves clinching with a fighter then delivering devastating knees and elbows typically to the head. They were powerful strikers that could cut their opponents with just a few strikes. Since the knees and elbows are all bone and had no padding, they are able to cause a opponent to bleed from cuts like no other discipline before. This in turn again brought more fans to the sport, and again a whole new dimension. Many Muay Thai fighters would also learn jiu jitsu so if they were taken down they were still able to be effective. They were able to snap out wins either by knockout or submission, and they did so with great success.

Now we see fighters with countless fighting styles known to them, and the amount of fans rival that of even boxing events. Mixed Martial Arts events went from hosting five thousand fans to packing arenas like the staples center to it's limit. With over twenty different fighting styles being used and countless countries hosting these events the sport is expected to only grow. We can expect to see more and more fighting styles being introduced, and bigger and stronger athletes joining the ranks of Mixed Martial Arts. What once was a hobby for many fighters has now became careers for them, with organizations sprouting up all over the world giving these fighters a home. Now we are beginning to see women entering into the fray of the Mixed Martial Artist, and they are doing so with the support of the fans. Many organizations house womens Mixed Martial Arts fighters and the fans flock in droves to watch them compete with the same level of professionalism as the men. Again the number of women fighters continue to grow by the day, and it is not expected to slow down any. Mixed Martial Arts may be a new sport when compared to football, or baseball but it has earned it's place as mainstream sport. The sport is only expected to grow as more and more countries and states begin to sanction fights.