UFC Disappoints as Pacquiao KO’s MMA

Manny Pacquiao's superior performance dwarfed the UFC's efforts

   The comparison is inevitable whenever a UFC event goes head to head with a same day broadcast as a high profile boxing pay-per-view. Debating which was the premier display of combative sporting is a topic fans always end up discussing after such a night, and upon the completion of both events on this day, it is abundantly clear that Manny Pacquiao has KO’ed the UFC.

   From the opening bell both Manny Pacquiao and Antonio Margarito showed stubborn hard-nosed determination to fight to the absolute pinnacle of their abilities, and in doing so pridefully represented their sport as two elite combative athletes brimming with passion and a palpable internal fire which infectiously translated to an audience of millions around the world. For thirty-six minutes all eyes watching were treated to two clashing champions as they put every ounce of themselves on the line in hopes of securing the victory.

Pac-Man devoured the UFC's offering

   Boxing provided this while the UFC represented MMA with a fight between Yushin Okami and Nate Marquardt, billing it as a contest to determine #1 contendership status in the middleweight division. This highly touted fight turned out to be a shameful display of indecisiveness from two impotent fighters who seemed downright scared to risk anything during their plodding fifteen minutes of stale Mixed Martial Arts. In between rounds one and two a member of Nate Marquardt’s corner, Trevor Wittman, could even be heard chastising the fighter for what he perceived was Marquradt’s eagerness to finish the fight with a guillotine submission, saying "I don't want to see any of that submission bullshit, just get on top." His advice to Marquardt was to abandon all hopes of going for a definitive stoppage and instead, in typical Greg Jackson style, ride out a positional based decision win, which ultimately did not happen, as Okami received the judge’s nod.

   

UFC 122 lacked the fighting spirit
which Margarito displayed

   This abysmal coaching advice actively sought to extinguish what little fire may have been inside of Nate Marquardt. Such a combative handcuffing of either Pacquiao or Margarito would never have taken place, which is why they were able to put on an amazing performance, while all the UFC’s Marquardt and Okami could do was to serve as a hefty dose of sleep inducing zolpidem. If either of them had showed even a fraction of the tenacity of Margarito, or the technical mastery of Pacquiao, they would have simply steamrolled their opponent en route to a performance of a lifetime, boosting the crowd’s excitement and ending the card with a bold exclamation point. But the opposite happened, and the event’s curtains fell with less than a whimper.

“I’m not going to go in there and try to put on the most exciting fight and lose the fight.” Nate Marquardt speaks on his game plan for Okami in a pre-fight interview.





   During the post fight interviews of Pacquiao vs. Margarito, boxing pundit Max Kellerman asked the defeated Margarito’s trainer, Robert Garcia, if he ever thought about throwing in the towel on his fighter, as Margarito suffered a severe beating at the hands of Manny Pacquiao, Garcia’s answer was a firm “No,” as he went on to explain that he knew Margarito’s warrior spirit would never have allowed for such a disgrace. This is the type of raw fire that simply did not exist in the UFC's less than mediocre main event.

   Mixed Martial Arts is a sport capable of so much more than what was put on display at UFC 122, but it seems the folks at Zuffa are content to continue to push sub-standard cards which ultimately drive interest away from the sport. The German fans in attendance, all 8,000 of them, simply did not care about what they were watching, and not a single person should blame them for it. The fighters themselves were either unwilling or unable to perform with any sense of urgency, to convey any sense that what was being witnessed was of importance. Tonight, Boxing reaffirmed its position as king of combat sports, as the UFC yet again let down the fans of Mixed Martial Arts by promoting a disappointing night of fights capped by a dull and uninspired main event.

UFC 122 did no favors in representing MMA as the premier combat sport