Early UFC vs. Modern UFC (dispelling the ignorance)

[whodahell781]

Mr. Jennum won ufc 3 not because he went in fresh but simply because he was a better fighter than harold howard. he was proficient in all aspects of his skill and as some would say he was a 3 dimentional fighter. He knew what he was doing plain and simple. he taught techniques that work on the street because he was a cop so the things he taught he used in the line of duty not to mention every instructor was a cop

[whodahell781]

i am from omaha nebraska. i trained at innovative martial arts stratagies back in the early days when the ufc was still getting started. and yes i personally knew and trained with Mr. Jennum. He taught his students that most fights a person encounters ends up on the ground so not having that ground fighting knowledge going into any fight is a very bad thing. was early ufc better than today i would have to say yes back then there were fewer rules. no groin shots, no eye gouging and that was it

[vamtheanomaly]

I stopped watching the UFC religiously when they started adding weight classes, rules and protective gear. THATS what made people want to watch it. It was also a battle of the styles. THATS another reason I watched it.

[TheSUBGAMER]

i liked ufc much more before

it was closer to street fights and it was karate vs bjj,boxing vs kik boxing etc.

now they all train mma and it aint so fun

[SuccessMMA]

Gracie fought Ken Shamrock in the Semi-finals of UFC I he defeated Gerard Gerdeau in the final.... the brackets were set by a random draw....  It depends on what your definition of "better" avg fight lasted less than 2 min this apeals to some....BTW I absolutely know who Steve Jennum is, lol.

[DJChaps]

Yah, I miss the old karate vs judo vs BJJ vs hapkido etc etc.

Ppl no longer go to karate dojos or the like. They go to "MMA Gyms" learn how to grapple and strike all in one? Geez.

I still watch actively, but crave a true contest among several styles. Do any organizations still exist (even with heavy rules) that feature style vs style?

[renzokata]

we had a lot more character here. fighters wore there own gis to the ring, whatever they wanted to wear, it was up to them. now a days, everyone is wearing the same thing-with little variation. everyone pretty much does the same style. sure the fights are great and sure it has evolved into a better form of fighting-BUT because of that, it's gotten pretty boring. i dont even watch ufc anymore-but i find myself downloading the old ones and watching them with enthusiam.

[SteelClaw]

@renzokata yupp but guys like Lyoto machida make it interesting

[renzokata]

ill give you an explanation. the early ufc was better because it offered more character in the martial arts world. we had real martial artists who offered different styles and came to see if the ninjitsu guy can beat the tae kwon do guy. its exciting because many argue about which styles are better and we got to see that. theres also less rules-it was pretty much a genuine fight-even hits to the groin.

[rodlpz]

I think your miss some key points

1) obvously, in the early UFCs, most who were not Gracies did not know groundfighting. Today you will NOT be successful without it. That credit goes completelty to the Gracie family

2) The addition of gloves made boxing skills more applicable in the UFC. Many broke their hands in the early fights.

3) Not allowing the kneeing of downed fighters made wrestling takedowns safer to attempt.

4) Adding rounds and weight classes changed the tactics of fighters.

[BilladaKilla2004]

In modern day UFC the traditional styles of Martial arts are dying out such as: Kung fu, aikido, japanese styles of Jujutsu, japanese traditional fighting systems, Chinese traditional fighting system, Korean traditional fighting systems and etc.....therefore, modern day UFC is evolving more into a "SPORT" as opposed to actual martial arts were there are no rules.

[musicalmike235]

BilladaKilla2004, you should try telling the people at Bullshido that. They seem to be under the impression that MMA is just as legitimate a martial art as kung fu.

[gsolinas10]

The rules don't permit the application of many of those styles. Eye strikes in Kung Fu are not uncommon, small joint manipulation are normal in many Japanese styles. Today those cannot be used. They are not dying out as a result of MMA, they simply have a place in the street and not in the cage,

[BilladaKilla2004]

Yes agree with the fact that those traditional martial art styles are not dying out and they do have a place in the street and not in the cage. However, my point was that they are dying out in the modern day UFC as opposed to the olden UFC days were there were pretty much NO RULES and we as the audience saw a variety of different arts such as: kung fu vs. karate, aikido vs wrestling , and etc.. But its rare to see that now

[DKNUCKLES]

While I will say you make some good points, I'm not fond of how you label older ufc fights as predominantly 'unskilled'.

What made those fights more interesting is that it was someone who mastered 1 (or more) martial art vs someone else who mastered another. Nowadays the fighters are almost exclusively versed in Muay Thai / BJJ and there' isn't as much variety as to their skills

I won't say that old UFC was better, but I do find those fights more interesting.

[aviomaster]

-- UFC before were better ,,, It was real fight ,,

Not Boxing and fucking on the ground we have now ,,,

Todays UFC is womans game ,,, Plase be gentle ...

[diedrich901]

early ufc=total other sport than modern ufc

[callumw89]

Agreed Completely, UFC 1 was the Gracie Jiu Jitsu Show, at the time it was compelling, but when you look into it now it was swung completely in Royce's Favour. If you look at the standard of competition in MMA as a whole now, its amazing, whereas back in the day, It was essentialy the Gracie's, Ken Shamrock and Gordieu.

Great Video.

[rhshoss07]

/agree UFC used to represent actual street fight scenario (minus people being allowed gloves if they wanted), now the rules have catered to sport friendly and boring matches.

Some of what they outlawed makes it impossible for more traditional arts to be used. (i.e. small joint manipulation, pressure points, kicking people on the ground etc.)

[pingdominican]

In particular, I hate that the referees can stand fighters up. Fighters should be able to work themselves out of that situation with no help from the ref.

That being said, I'd rather live with the changes than have no martial arts combat at all. It's not as realistic, but there are still interesting matches within those rules.

[pingdominican]

For realism, you can't beat the old UFC ruleset. IMO, a true fighter should be able to deal with someone who's pulling their hair, or trying to kick their groin, etc. I understand that the athletic comissions might never sanction something like that, but that doesn't mean it was an improvement in term of what the old spirit of the UFC was about.

[pingdominican]

test

[gsolinas10]

Truthfully, for all of Hughes dominance and Lesnars strength how versatile are they? It goes both ways. Keep in mind...Dana is putting Kimbo in the next Ultimate Fighter. How different is this from Tank in UFC 6?

[gsolinas10]

As far as the technical argument, tough call. Gracie was technical, so was K. Shamrock, Pardoel, Ruas, Taktarov, F. Shamrock, Rutten, Bohlander, M.Smith, P. Smith, Belfort, etc. Granted, there were plenty of Tanks, Hess and Kerrs in the early UFCs but there was no lack of technical ability.

Now there are a lot of technical fighters (GSP, Machida, Penn) but there are plenty of pure ground & pounders which I find really boring.

[gsolinas10]

People simply caught on and began cross training. Now nearly all fighters mix up standing and grappling styles and now its simply more about the individual fighter than the style. I agree that fighters evolved and the game is tougher now but I hear the other side too. Now its much more of a businessbefore it was pure brawls and it settled a lot of old arguments between styles. Both are exciting.

[gsolinas10]

They selected Royce to represent the family because Rickson looked too physically imposing and it would have been less impressive had he stomped guys like Shamrock, Severn, Smith, etc. They wanted to prove a point and did it.

They wanted to show that in fights between Martial Art purist (i.e. Jiujitsu vs. Wrestling or Taekwondo) that BJJ was superior because fights went to the ground 99% of the time and BJJ utilized submissions more effectively than other styles.

[gsolinas10]

Not sure where to start. The tournaments had random draws so no one was placed. Royce faced Shamrock in the Semis of UFC 1 and won, he faced Pat Smith in the final of UFC 2 and won.

The notions that the Gracies fixed the early tournaments to promote their style are ridiculous or that Royce was somehow favored while outweighed in all but 1 fight is worse. Rorion Gracie promoted the first tournament.

[pugghead]

I agree that modern day MMA is much better, but to say that Royce cruised through to the UFC1 final is a bit much. Art Jimmerson, (a professional top 10 boxer) . would been the best striker in UFC 1fighters (even today hed be better than most lol).if he had connected to royce it would have been lights out..

2ndlyroyce still had to beat Shamrock and THEN fight gerad Gordeu who was another legit fighter ( a dirty, mean bastard of a fighter) - who had expericnce fighting against BJJ fighters..

[MRbobbybouche]

Could Matt Hughers have beaten an "in his prime" Gracie will remain an un-answered question forever, Gracie's name is carved in stone. Modern UFC trumps all in its past

[MRbobbybouche]

I think the early UFCs were definatley for street brawlers and based on the fact that the crowds love violence ( Rome's Colloseum, Gladiators etc. ), the idea was to see if a wrestler could beat a boxer, if an average sized trained specialist (Gracie) could beat a big tough guy (Kimo). Point proven Gracie dominated Kimo and the crowd went crazy...A legend was born. Enter the likes of Bas Rutten, Randy Couture, Ken Shamrock, and a long list of specialized fighters,

[TangomanX2008]

I think the most important difference is that UFC started by pitting different martial arts against each other. I am not sure if the whole thing was aimed at making Gracie the winner, but regardless, early UFC was supposed to be a realistic contest between different styles. Modern UFC, in contrast, is more about different contestants that may have different martial arts backgrounds, but are mixed martial artists.

[MRbobbybouche]

good video...understandable...makes sense. I've been training jiu-jitsu for 4 years now and judo since i was 6, im 21 years old so i do know a little about fighting technique and how having a variety of skills is essential in todays MMA world, I also just started kick boxing lessons.

[sk8pirata]

they turned the early UFC to a boxing like match

[jbark61]

early ufc was alot better anybody can fight with a shit ton of rules to protect the fighters but true fighters or street fighters like early ufc are the best at what the do which is fighting

[indeedtheDANE]

I just liked to see a man go into a competition and fight for his fighting style. The modern MMA is basically: kickboxing, wrestling, and jiu jitsu.. Early UFC you had guys that were strictly Kung Fu, Karate, Kenpo, Jiu Jitsu.. it was one style against another and truly mixed martial arts. To say there was no skill involved is ridiculous..

[marcolotr]

i agree totolly, and the fans today are horrible

[royston123]

If this is true why when all the fighters from Vale Tudo came over they destroyed everyone in there path ? Then wrestlers began to dominate and this was still during the early years. If they allowed no rules at all the champions now would still be the champions. Talking about vital point striking is like talking about symptons while ignoring the disease. Positioning timing and general fighting skill is vastly more important than where you can hit. Position position position, the jujitsu mantra

[royston123]

Very good video I totally agree. The reason that they were violent was lack of fighting skill.

[Dereksag14]

the entertainment value. tahts it. anyone who watches old vs new knows new actually has bloodbaths and the ring is disgusting because there is so much blood. old ones werent like that. i just like better knockouts. new ones people cant use their max potential. lets say you are in a position in the ground where the only significant place you could hit is the back of the head. today you are just going to stall until the round ends or ref stops it. i just like a more brutal fight.

[Dereksag14]

now the reason why new has more blood becuase you cant immediately knock them out alot of the time. i love the skill of new ones (no really i love watching good ground game and good stand up) but the rules make it so limited and less fun to watch.

[SlugfestWizard]

I do agree with a lot of what you said. The UFC would not have lasted very long if the early days did not change and rules were made. I was just wondering if you were planning on reviewing any of the old school UFC competitions.

[frost310]

the old UFC was based on violence.

Modern UFC is based on competition.

[voccontact]

the reason joyce gracie was so good back then is because nobody knew how to defend against jiu jitsu. now not many people can bring something totally new or different to the table that people don't know about or train in.

[manmanethh]

its all about opinion big guy

[wmpyr]

To me the new UFC let's say is like an Olympic caliber 100 meters sprint. The old UFC is like a cross country race, with who knows what kind of obstacles in some crazy locations. I'm trying to say they are just different. And I appreciate both.

[AidanParle]

Good vid Donnie. Gracefully & respectfully put. I have started to watch UFC over the past year, and my wife and I often stay up until midnight to watch the UFC on Bravo. I am not a martial artist and I know v little from a technical point of view, so I would be coming solely from an entertainment point of view. I would have to say that there are some very entertaining fights both old and new - but the old fights were more "full on." Obviously the modern UFC is technically better as it's evolved

[gunfighter964]

why do you think its bad that people think the ofl ufcs were better were a bad thing. its peoples opinion. even after royce was gone from the ufc it was awsome

[DonnieHotTub]

I've taken some jiu-jitsu and kickboxing. I admit that I don't have any professional fighting experience. I'm just a fan of the sport with an opinion. My personal opinion is that the old UFC was just a step above streetfighting, which may be closer to real fighting, but it doesn't lend itself to fighter safety. This isn't streetfighting, this is a sport. Every sport needs rules in order to protect the safety of the athletes.

[DonnieHotTub]

With the tournaments, too many times we see guys coming in as replacements and winning. Look at Dream 5. Excellent event, don't get me wrong, but c'mon, Joachim Hansen came in as a replacement, beat Shinya Aoki and won the lightweight grand prix.

I respectfully disagree with you.

[mikebourkefan1]

@DonnieHotTub i am one of those people who believe the old NHB days were better it was a real fight and about wining or loseing a match on your terms more matches ended by submission back then now alost all fights end by SLOPPY AS HELL tko or ko from punches

[hubertgreen]

This i why people like early ufc.

It was funny to watch more style fighting when a karate guy just trained karate and dident train judo or wrestling also. Nowadays almost everyone train some kind of shootfighting.

It were exictiming when there was no rules and their were a eight man tournament, then you could specualte more.

[DonnieHotTub]

Royce is an amazing BJJ technician. Nobody can take that away from him. He, along with Ken Shamrock, helped pave the way for MMA in America. There's no denying his place in history.

[alfredunhill]

I enjoy MMA today and the early days, but for different reasons...for you to say Royce Gracie was protected is complete BS....any puncher could have KO'd gracie, but props to gracie for not getting knocked out...plus you countered your own point, if they marketed UFC as a blood bath, (two man enter, one man leave) why would they want a non-striker, who would spill very little blood, as their champ? Your video makes no sense. Your only valid point is that tournaments don't work..

[DonnieHotTub]

It was marketed as a bloodbath because that's what they knew would sell the most amount of tickets at that time.

Promotion is used to market a product to the most number of people. They felt that marketing it as a bloodbath was the right thing at the right time. Guess what. It was! It worked.

Saying that the UFC was marketed as a bloodbath isn't an opinion of mine, it's a well-known fact.

[sharkfinnigan]

@alfredunhill i agree with you man, this guy is a tard

[DonnieHotTub]

I wasn't dissing Royce. I'm a fan of his.

[jsopas1]

Rino,

You must be a Kimbo fan. Of course new is better. Less corrupt, better talent, and more marketable. Two words Anderson Silva.

"Real Fight Fan"

[Rino88dotcom]

One of the things that made Bruce Lee Movies great was the fact that we had one good little guy beating up bigger, tougher guys. This was the same factor that made the early UFC's better. They had more character and emotional value. New UFC's have lost this spirit and soul, the charaters fighting are not as interesting as before. New UFC's have become more of a publicity stunt than the real characters we saw in the early Graci times.

[Rino88dotcom]

I understand your point, but still for me the early UFC's 1,2,3,4 were the best with the greatest entertainment value. The new ones i don't enojy as much.