WHAT IS MMA?
Holy shit these guys are scrapping like they have no education or employable skills to fall back on.
Most will recognize MMA (mixed martial arts) as the sport contested under the brand name UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship), although there are many other MMA promotions of varying quality (See "Heel's Top 10 'Bad MMA' Promotions" below).
MMA fighters can be well-educated college graduates performing at the highest level of combat sports. MMA fighters can be bald guys with beer guts and bad tattoos throwing down in a barroom or high school audtorium. MMA fighters can be former Olympic gold medalists. MMA fighters can be active white supremacist sex offenders. MMA is human cockfighting. MMA is a sport. MMA is Sports Entertainment. MMA is violent. MMA is beautiful.
CURRENT UFC CHAMPIONS
Heavyweight (265 lbs. max) - Cain Velasquez
Light Heavyweght (205 lbs.) - Jon Jones
Middleweight (185 lbs.) - Anderson Silva
Welterweight (170 lbs.) - Georges St-Pierre
Lightweight (155 lbs.) - Benson Henderson
Featherweght (145 lbs.) - José Aldo
Bantamweight (135 lbs.) - Dominick Cruz (Interim - Renan Barão)
Flyweight (125 lbs.) - Demetrious Johnson
Women's Bantamweight (135 lbs.) - Ronda Rousey
COMBAT SPORTS SCHEDULE
The schedule will be continually updated with new events, start times and links to official threads.
Friday, January 4th
Invicta FC 4: Esparza vs. Hyatt
Starts at 4:00 PM PT / 7:00 PM ET, $7.95 on InvictaFC.com
Saturday, January 12th
Strikeforce: Marquardt vs. Saffiedine
Prelims start at 5:00 PM PT / 8:00 PM ET on SHO Extreme (Note: 3 hour tape-delay on SHO Extreme's west coast channel.)
Main card starts at 7:00 PM PT / 10:00 PM ET on Showtime (Note: 3 hour tape-delay on Showtime's west coast channel.)
Thursday, January 17th
Bellator 85
Prelims start at 4:00 PM PT / 7:00 PM ET, free on Spike.com
Main card starts at 7:00 PM PT / 10:00 PM ET on Spike TV
Saturday, January 19th
UFC on FX 7: Belfort vs. Bisping
Early prelims start at 2:35 PM PT / 5:35 PM ET, free on Facebook.com
Late prelims start at 3:00 PM PT / 6:00 PM ET on FUEL TV
Main card starts at 6:00 PM PT / 9:00 PM ET on FX
Thursday, January 24th
Bellator 86
Prelims start at 4:00 PM PT / 7:00 PM ET, free on Spike.com
Main card starts at 7:00 PM PT / 10:00 PM ET on Spike TV
Saturday, January 26th
UFC on FOX 6: Johnson vs. Dodson
Prelims start at 2:00 PM PT / 5:00 PM ET on FX
Main card starts at 5:00 PM PT / 8:00 PM ET on FOX
HEEL'S TOP 10 "BAD MMA" PROMOTIONS
By its simplist definition, "Bad MMA" is a term coined by MMA-GAF to denote any MMA not contested under the UFC banner (although Bad MMA has been known to serpentine its way into UFC undercards when you least suspect it). These promotions are the homes of fighters locked in a desperate struggle, hoping one day to get a crack at the big show. Some will rise to the top and get their chance, others will be Bad MMA lifers and never escape its grasp.
Rankings are based on the quality of fighters, matchmaking, presentation, viewer access, or awesome lack thereof.
01. Strikeforce
02. Bellator
03. ONE FC
04. Invicta FC
05. Super Fight League
06. KSW
07. ProElite
08. Legend Fighting Championship
09. Tachi Palace Fights
10. Resurrection Fighting Alliance
Other contenders: M-1 Global, World Series of Fighting, Amazon Forest Combat
COMMUNITY
MMA-GAF Fantasy Pick'em Pool
Pool - MMA GAF
Password - neogaf
MMA-GAF Nerd Chat
Server - irc.mibbit.net
Channel - #MMA-GAF
Thread archive: MMA-GAF OT, MMA-GAF OT2