UFC 305: Does mixed martial arts deserve a spot at the Olympic Games?
Debate has been raging in the MMA world about the sport’s inclusion in the Olympics. We asked a host of Aussie and Kiwi UFC fighters if it should be added.
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Mixed martial arts doesn’t belong at the Olympics according to a majority of the biggest UFC stars from Australia and New Zealand.
While being admitted to the Olympics would help legitimise the sport on a mainstream level, even MMA’s biggest fans and best practitioners don’t think it would ever work.
With the Paris Games wrapping up last weekend, debate has been raging in MMA circles about its inclusion in future Olympics.
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Organisations like the International Mixed Martial Arts Foundation (IMMAF) are actively working towards having the sport added to the Olympics, and currently stage elite amateur tournaments all over the globe.
And while it’s an enticing prospect, the realities of the sport mean MMA at the Olympics would hardly resemble the product on offer in the UFC.
“You’d have to water it down,” said Toowoomba lightweight Tom Nolan, who fights Alex Reyes at UFC 305 in Perth this weekend. “You’d need shin guards, big gloves, maybe headgear.
“I think MMA is too brutal for that.”
The high likelihood of cuts and concussion requires heavy padding and would change the way matches are fought.
“It’s just a different environment,” according to featherweight Jack Jenkins, who fights Herbert Burns at UFC 305. “You take too much damage doing multiple fights in a row.
“I know IMMAF do stuff, but it’s not really a true representation of how fights go. Because of the fact that you have multiple fights in a week, it skews towards grapplers being dominant.
“I don’t think it suits being in the Olympics.”
With plenty of MMA’s component fight sports already at the Olympics, there seems little reason to add another discipline.
“There’s probably too much going on and it looks too similar to other sports that are already there,” said Perth’s Steve Erceg, who is gearing up for a high-stakes flyweight fight with New Zealand’s Kai Kara-France. “There’s already boxing, there’s already taekwando, there’s judo and wrestling.
“Now you’re gonna go and get everybody to do all that in one?
“I think it takes away from the others. I think just leave it out of the Olympics.”
MMA at the Olympics does have its backers though, and if a sport like breaking can get its moment in the sun, why not mixed martial arts?
“They’ve got freaking breakdancing, skateboarding and rock climbing now,” said Casey O’Neill ahead of her fight with Luana Santos this weekend. “I would say it’s more a sport than breakdancing.
“There are people who think that it’s super barbaric and stuff, and they’re already trying to get rid of boxing, so I can’t see it happening in the future.”
Proving it’s more than just a “barbaric” sport would go a long way to legitimising MMA more broadly too, said Kara-France.
“It would definitely take the sport to another level, bring it more mainstream and give it the respect it deserves,” he said. “You saw it with the Dream Team in basketball back in the day, and that helped solidify the legitimacy of basketball at the Olympics.
“Same with MMA.
“Me and Dan Hooker went to the same high school, but we don’t fit the criteria to be on our honours board. And that’s because it’s not an Olympics sport, and it doesn’t tick that box.”
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Originally published as UFC 305: Does mixed martial arts deserve a spot at the Olympic Games?
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