While I don’t agree with him Kid Nate put together a very good piece about the difference between Mauricio “Shogun” Rua’s performance in the ring of PRIDE where he had access to soccer kicks and the cage of the UFC where he does not. His closing statement sums up a lot of his points:
A Return to the Cage vs. Ring Debate
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↵Tennis wouldn’t be the same without its alternating surfaces — grass, clay, hardcourt. MMA needs both rings and cages to truly remain a test of martial arts. The more fighters adapt to a single surface and lose their ability to adapt, the more we’re playing a game rather than testing skills and strategies in a realistic simulation of fighting.
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The thing is, I don’t think that MMA should represent a “realistic simulation of fighting” it is a sport and it is not the SAME sport when contested with completely different set-ups. I don’t mind the different situations but I don’t think they are required for any sort of fair balance. This is a sport, not a simulation and that is where Nate and I differ. Regardless, he makes his case quite well. Go read it.
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