Female MMA fighter Jenna "Foxy Lady" Fox said on March 17 in an exclusive chat with Long Island MMA Examiner Eric Holden that she was pleased with the UFC 158 main event between Georges St-Pierre and Nick Diaz.
Fox is a bit disappointed that some MMA fans think St-Pierre utilized a boring game-plan for the fight, as his smothering wrestling technique helped him earn the win.
"I've seen a lot of people complaining that last night's main event St-Pierre v. Diaz was boring and they were blaming GSP for using his wrestling," Fox said. "My opinion? Diaz is a good boxer, so it was smart for St-Pierre to take it to the ground. He's there to win the fight and make money, not just for everyone's entertainment. Maybe Diaz should have done a better job avoiding being taken down? Why not blame Diaz for the fight being boring? St-Pierre did a great job of controlling Diaz on the ground and played a smart game. I personally was entertained just fine."
Fox's comments open an interesting discussion regarding MMA as a sport vs an entertainment business.
Should it be the objective for a fighter to win a fight, or should they also have to worry about entertaining the fans?
Ideally, a fighter hopes to win and also be entertaining. However, that can't always happen.
Fox's comments were similar to those recently made by Jon Fitch, who complained in an interview with SiriusXM Fight Club that the UFC was becoming more about entertainment than sport.
UFC is an entertainment business that revolves around a sport, but there would be no business without the sport aspect of it.
The casual fan wants to see a brawl, not a high-level wrestling match. Those are the fans driving the PPV sales, not the small percentage of people who know all about the intricacies of the sport.
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