FanPost

What Might Be Wrong With MMA Media


I join the voices who are wondering why there seems to be so little news about MMA these days. But for repeated references to Fallon Fox, there has been so little news one would think MMA were on hiatus. Yes, there are stories about tonight's UFC show and yesterday's weigh-in, but that really is not news. News is what is going on behind the show and, frankly, the state of MMA in general not just in the UFC. Therein may lie the problem.

The MMA media appears to be "captured" by the UFC. Most stories are about the UFC. But then one sees Ariel Hawani on the UFC broadcast as part of the program and in NYC with Dana White, which is not journalism. It is promotion.

Only an independent MMA media can honestly and fully report on MMA. There are some independent journalists, for the USAToday, for example. But, it appears most of those covering MMA are too cozy with the UFC. You can hear it in the press conferences where the "journalists" sound more like cheerleaders. That would be acceptable if there were some balance, if the softball questions were accompanied by probative ones.

For example, one obvious storyline that has been negligently is the apparent interest of the Boston Bombers in MMA, wrestling, and boxing. One might argue the connection is tenuous, but there is the additional storyline that the UFC and Bellator have a number of prominent fighters from Dagestan, which is where the Boston Bombers either were born or lived. Have any of these fighters even been asked about the events or whether they might know the bombers (being from Dagestan and interested in MMA must be a small world)? It just strikes me as a failure of either curiosity or integrity that this story has been overlooked. But then you ask why that might be and it is obvious the MMA orgs don't want that negative publicity. That is likely why those fighters have been noticeably silent.

I suppose the answer, then, is to not think of this or any similar site as a news site. We should not come here expecting journalism. It is unfair to the site and to the readers.

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