However, along the way, to the naked eye, it almost seems like Coker and Sakakibara have lost the plot. In order to put on entertaining fights, Coker and Sakakibara have compromised the integrity of the sport.
While the MMA fraternity has always tried to defend the sport, and ensured that the difference between MMA and professional wrestling is known to the common folk, Rizin’s NYE show and the recent Bellator 149 have given them another chance to go back to the drawing board and come up with a better defense.
A lot of people thought the NYE show was Sakakibara’s attempt to bring the eyeballs to his new product. Pride was considered to be a mix of some technical masterpiece and bizarre, circus-like showdowns. Sakakibara brought in Gabi Garcia to take on Lei’d Tapa – a mismatch of, quite literally, monstrous proportions. Also, Akebono faced off against Bob Sapp, and Fedor took on Singh Jaideep.
As expected, the fights were more or less sloppy, disoriented slugfests with no real winners. Garcia manhandled Tapa; Sapp, to the dismay of every true MMA fan won a fight, and Fedor proved that a kickboxer with no real pedigree or ground game could never take on an MMA legend, even if he has been out of action for years.
So why am I recollecting the strange, freak show fights that Sakakibara put on? Scott Coker, with all the talent available at his disposal, made Kimbo Slice – Dada 5000 as the co – main event of Bellator 149, and Ken Shamrock – Royce Gracie III in the main event. For any fighter who has sacrificed years honing his craft, learning and growing as a fighter and understanding the never ending techniques of the fight game, this was almost a mockery of the sport.
Slice and Dada gassed out in the first 3 minutes, putting on one of the worst performances in MMA history, while Ken and Gracie’s fight ended in controversy.
Ken-Gracie III should’ve never happened. With a combined age of more than 100, and with both men way, way past their prime, this looked more like an exhibition card meant to humor the fans. However, this wasn’t an exhibition card; more than 20 years after Ken and Gracie fought for the second time, the duo once again faced off inside a cage.
Needless to say, this sent the MMA fraternity into frenzy, but not the kind you would expect as an MMA fan.
Scott Coker and Sakakibara did a world of good for the sport, but it is perplexing to see how these promoters have shied away from exciting fights, only to enter the much despised and chastised world of entertainment.
Yes, entertainment is important in the fight game, but should it compromise the integrity of the sport? The answer to that is just as complicated as understanding the intentions behind putting Dada 5000 in the co – main event, of the second largest MMA organization in the world.
