MMA - how popular?

RainMaker

Just been thinking about this over the last week...

Basically just how popular is MMA say in Ireland and the UK?
The was a few specific things that got me thinking:

1. Superbowl - there's been an awful lot of media coverage in the build up and about the result. I mean how many people actually watch this over here anyway?
Would it be an equivalent number to MMA or is it more popular?

Which relates to point number 2!

2. Lack of MMA information/news/results on sites like RTE, BBC, etc I have never seen it mentioned at all in the sports pages of any of the big newspapers over here - the odd article maybe, but never any regular news/opinions, etc

There just seems to be a lot more sports out there that get a lot more coverage e.g. Show jumping, ice hockey, snooker, nascar, speedway, WWE, cricket, rugby league, etc
So where do you think MMA comes in the list of most popular sports?

El Guapo!

MMA is rarely mentioned in the media in Ireland apart from maybe a tiny paragraph somewhere in a newspaper from time to time.
The only other times I've really seen MMA mentioned is when JMS was interviewed on TodayFm, or when they decide to bash the sport.
The lads on Off The Ball on Newstalk very very rarely give mma any airtime and if they do, it's about a 30 second slot.

I think there should be more of a push to get mma recognised and accepted as a mainstream sport in Ireland.
There's a lot of misconceptions around mma in this country and part of the problem is misinformation, poor "tabloid" type journalism, and the typical Joe Duffy crew reactions.

I'd love it if a good club invited a proper sports journalist from a big paper or radio/tv show along to a few training sessions and an event so they could do an article on educating people about the sport and debunking some of the myths surrounding it.

The problem is mma gets practically no coverage in this country except bad press. How are people supposed to learn and understand the sport if the only time they hear about it is in a bad news story?
Can you imagine if you never heard of football except when they reported on leg breaks, on pitch fighting, rioting hooligans, and players riding prostitutes? You'd think football was this crazy dangerous sport only for thugs. But the fact is, football gets so much coverage that you know those things are a very small and rare part of it.

MMA's problem is exposure. Or lack of it.

MrStuffins

I don't think it's a bad thing that MMA doesn't get mentioned on the news.

I mean, I can name a handful of sports that get mentioned on the news. Football, Rugby, Tennis, Golf, F1, The Horsies... then you've got Cricket and now that Sky have a team, they mention cycling a lot.

But apart from those and maybe a couple more which have left my head...... all other sports get ignored as far as news in concerned.

In fairness, most of the ones you mentioned don't get very much coverage. You'll get the odd mention of Ice-Hockey on Sky Sports News but that's because it's a 24 hour station. I've NEVER seen Ice Hockey mentioned on RTE, BBC, ITV.. any of those.

Even Boxing only gets mentioned when there's either a big news fight on or if that particular station you're watching has the fight on live.

I don't think i've ever seen the likes of Kick-Boxing on the news and that is well established as a "legitimate" sport.

Also, I like it because if it was on the news I wouldn't be able to watch events i'd taped without avoiding every news source there is.

RainMaker

Yea, I suppose - just thinking there, the average person on the street probably wouldn't even know who the heavy weight boxing champ is - big change from 20 years ago!

I wonder do some people look down on combat sports in general. I've heard even boxing called barbaric at times, but then to be honest I am not really a rugby fan, but some of the tackles in the 2nd half of Wales V Ireland - well if they happened in the cage, we would be shouting "holy sh*t". It comes packaged as the "Gentleman's game" though!

Don't even get me started on the Joe Duffy brigade - i tend to go on rants whenever I hear his name!

riffmongous

Wait till Irish guys are are winning top fights in the UFC (Norman hopefully) and I'd expect more coverage of mma over in Ireland. Once someone starts winning people wont care so much about the legitimacy of the sport.

Cricket here was the preserve of english or toffs for years until Ireland got to the World Cup for the 1st time, then it was time to get onto the bandwagon. There wasnt much wrestling coverage either until your man Sheamas won one of the WWE belts. And why dont the local mma events get any coverage? Well look at how the League of Ireland is treated in the media..

cowzerp

RainMaker wrote: »

I wonder do some people look down on combat sports in general. I've heard even boxing called barbaric at times,

They have been trying to ban Boxing forever and now as much as ever

Combat sports are just not that mainstream anymore, and Boxing is the only Borderline Mainstream Combat sport.

Scar Tissue

The only time I heard MMA being mentioned in Irish media (print, radio or otherwise) was the slot on the Joe Show where the absolute idiot was throwing out false statements about something he knew absolutely nothing about.

Says enough really.

El Guapo!

Scar Tissue wrote: »

The only time I heard MMA being mentioned in Irish media (print, radio or otherwise) was the slot on the Joe Show where the absolute idiot was throwing out false statements about something he knew absolutely nothing about.

Says enough really.

I hate that clip with a passion.
It's just so embarrassingly cringeworthy.
And frustratingly, there's a lot of people that would hold the same opinion as that guy.

Scar Tissue

Exactly. I know nothing about football bar "What was he thinking, sending Walcott on that early?" and "The thing about Arsenal is that they always try and walk it in". It's silly that they give coverage to someone who knows f*ck all about MMA.

MrStuffins

Scar Tissue wrote: »

Exactly. I know nothing about football bar "What was he thinking, sending Walcott on that early?" and "The thing about Arsenal is that they always try and walk it in". It's silly that they give coverage to someone who knows f*ck all about MMA.

You may insult me but I won't let you insult my beloved West Ham!

I LOVE THEM GOONERS!

Mellor

RainMaker wrote: »

1. Superbowl - there's been an awful lot of media coverage in the build up and about the result. I mean how many people actually watch this over here anyway?
Would it be an equivalent number to MMA or is it more popular?
?

The SuperBowl would get far more viewers in Ireland than even the biggest MMA events.

Xlami

In a way I'm fairly happy that it gets little coverage simply because Ireland is a nation of band wagoners. Every time Mayweather or Pacquiao fights everyone is a boxing expert or when the Superbowl is on everyone here is suddenly a big NFL. I wouldn't like to see MMA slip into that cattergory as I think the fan base here is a community, everyone is very respectful of the sport and for the majority we don't have fans who would give the sport a bad name.

gimmick

Scar Tissue wrote: »

The only time I heard MMA being mentioned in Irish media (print, radio or otherwise) was the slot on the Joe Show where the absolute idiot was throwing out false statements about something he knew absolutely nothing about.

Says enough really.

Is that the "human cock fighting clip" which has been bandied about so often it means nothing anymore?

I tuned into Joe Duffy that day, but switched off after 5 minutes as would have crashed my car in anger had I continued to listen.

But I have a few friends, and when I tell them I like MMA far far more than boxing, they kind of give a sneer and repeat the "barbaric" mantra. I doubt they have ever even watched a fight but are influenced by what people tell them.

peteeeed

the only person who gives MMA any decent coverage is gareth davies for the daily telegraph .

Lenin Skynard

Scar Tissue wrote: »

Exactly. I know nothing about football bar "What was he thinking, sending Walcott on that early?" and "The thing about Arsenal is that they always try and walk it in". It's silly that they give coverage to someone who knows f*ck all about MMA.

Scar Tissue

gimmick wrote: »

Is that the "human cock fighting clip" which has been bandied about so often it means nothing anymore?

.

Yep thats the one

Carvin

Is that Joe Duffy clip available anywhere?

Dtp79

riffmongous wrote: »

Wait till Irish guys are are winning top fights in the UFC (Norman hopefully) and I'd expect more coverage of mma over in Ireland. Once someone starts winning people wont care so much about the legitimacy of the sport.

Cricket here was the preserve of english or toffs for years until Ireland got to the World Cup for the 1st time, then it was time to get onto the bandwagon. There wasnt much wrestling coverage either until your man Sheamas won one of the WWE belts. And why dont the local mma events get any coverage? Well look at how the League of Ireland is treated in the media..

Very true. Same with formula 1. Unheard of in Ireland until Eddie Irvine and Jordan racing. Then rte started showing it every event.

Scar Tissue

Carvin wrote: »

Is that Joe Duffy clip available anywhere?

For you good sir:
https://soundcloud.com/off-the-ball/liveline-and-the-ufc

TL;DL

• People died
• No rules
• Banned in America
• 'real blood flies'

Dtp79

Scar Tissue wrote: »

For you good sir:
https://soundcloud.com/off-the-ball/liveline-and-the-ufc

TL;DL

• People died
• No rules
• Banned in America
• 'real blood flies'

Was that real or a prank?

Scar Tissue

Dtp79 wrote: »

Was that real or a prank?

Real, sadly.

Dtp79

Scar Tissue wrote: »

Real, sadly.

And was that the whole interview or was there somebody with a brain on the opposing side to tell the truth?

Scar Tissue

Dtp79 wrote: »

And was that the whole interview or was there somebody with a brain on the opposing side to tell the truth?

I really have no idea to be honest, that's the only clip I've ever heard of the segment.

Carvin

Scar Tissue wrote: »

For you good sir:
https://soundcloud.com/off-the-ball/liveline-and-the-ufc

TL;DL

• People died
• No rules
• Banned in America
• 'real blood flies'

Lol @ Wrestling being a "scam"? Its not meant to be real, it doesn't claim to be a sport.

That dude sounds distraught. He rings up about something without bothering to learn the name of it.

What year was that?