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In today's martial arts industry the popularity of Mixed Martial Arts and the branding of the UFC (ultimate fighting championship) has caught the eye of the world, and is recongnized as perhaps the leader in the martial arts community/ However, the question still lingering over the public's mind is, is MMA the highest level of tactical fighting skills? Are UFC fighters really the best martial artist on our planet? Perhaps the UFC is the top of the food chain when it comes to sports entertainment and not fighting skills?
It seems the public is brainwashed and has jumped on a bandwagon, becoming completely unaware or just too arrogant to know what is great fighting skills vs poor skills, or what is the art of fighting vs artless, or what is real martial arts vs sports arts. Perhaps MMA has became the icon of prestige and entertainment rather then displaying who is actually the best athlete.
Why the best UFC Fighter is not the best in the world?
There is only one logical answer to this question as to why who is considered to be the top fighter in the UFC is. Simple, Any fighter or martial arts practitioner who's ONLY competition is within the UFC's organization, and only within his/her weight class is fighting a very small pool of people who possess limited combat skills. MMA fighters really only fight a few other within their weight class which is a small number to begin with. The UFC protects their top athletes who real in the big bucks by having fighters fight only a selected pool of they know the top guy will beat so they continue making money off them. In many cases the current UFC champion will rematch the same opponent once even sometimes twice to protect their status as the champion. Until any professional MMA fighter actually competes some random martial artist from anywhere around the globe it's fair to say you cannot be considered the greatest.
Why MMA can never be the highest level of skill in expressing interpersonal combat?
There are basically 4 types of martial arts that all styles can be classified under. (survival reality-based, sport competition, exhibition, theatrical). Mixed martial arts is purely an expression of sport skills designed to entertain while controlling the violence and keeping the playing field equal and fair. Even the fighting styles chosen to create an organization of "mixed martial arts" are still only skills of a sport, not reality. Any UFc or MMA fighter would literally lose their life if they had to face a real experienced reality-based artist. MMA is not an art because the fighters have not mastered any of the skills they practice. An art is a craft, something one does to complete mastery.
What determines sport martial arts vs reality-based arts?
To answer this is simply put into the following; The Four "R"s, 1. Rules 2. Referees 3. Rings 4. Rounds. If you train under these for security then you are certainly training for realistic ideas and outcomes but again it's not reality.
What else determines a sport martial art vs reality-based skills?
The skills sets alone that make up today's average person who says they're a martial artist is a very small and limited foundation of actual knowledge, physical skills and most importantly, experience. Styles of boxing, kickboxing, wrestling and BJJ are the common trends to train in for the average MMA fighter. These styles in fact only focus on their preferences under rules of engagement. They don't train in areas of combat such as positional striking, real world striking, realistic clothing, environment adaptations, the element of surprise, reaction training, weapons defense, psychological warfare, multiple opponents just to name a few.
What determines reality-based arts?
Reality based skills must include any and all skills, ideas, philosophies and protocols that are designed for what you may experience in today's world. This means personal protection and crime prevention. Their intentions must match and be geared towards one's survival. The actual skill sets must focus on important areas such as, confrontation management, weapons defense and integration of all types (conventional, unconventional, expedient weapons), multiple opponents, anti-terrorism, assassinating skills, home invasion safety, psychological survival tactics, fatal grappling skills, positional fighting responses and fatal force delivery techniques. Also one must be able to fight in any environment and against any person. These are just some of the areas that an MMA fighter as no idea how to deal with. A reality-based technician can do everything an MMA fighter can do, only better, as well as the skills I just listed above.
How do you compare a UFC fighters skills to a seasoned reality martial artist?
Imagine if UFC fighters TJ Dillashaw or Conner McGregor encountered an individual in some random place in the world who possess such skills and got into a fight with them? Imagine if they had to suddenly defend themselves while standing in an elevator, or sitting in a chair at a restaurant, or confronted by multiple opponents wielding weapons? Think about this for a bit? MMA fighters only can function when they have been through a training camp, or when their opponent is weighing the same body weight, They would not last 10 seconds! The bottom line is being an MMA fighter in the UFC whether the public considers you the pound for pound best fighter in the world cannot classify someone has the elite one. In fact it's a direct insult to even state that the UFC holds the best fighters when the majority of them only have 10-20 fights in a limited pool of skills and demographic. An individual who has trained is entire life since a small child in every area of tactical reality-based survival combative's is hands down the highest level of skill and knowledge there is to go.