We usually leave the sorting of information and directing towards MMA content to great feeder sites like FightOpinion.com. Tonight though, there’s just to much great stuff out there to pass up. So for once, instead of me writing some opinion piece, you need to take the time to read and support some other great writers. The writers in this update I’ve been able to interact with via e-mail over the last two weeks and enjoy their energy and intelligence regarding MMA. Maybe more of a compliment, this is who I read most days. This is who I wanna hear from when it comes to the pulse of MMA news/journalism. Enjoy:
Rami Genauer of MMA Weekly/MMA Madness has had alot of things to say about a topic near and dear to me - fight scoring. Rami is involved in a new site I hope everyone goes and checks out. It’s FightMetric.com, and I find the scoring analysis and thought put into the topic mindblowingly cool. Even if your not into the deep analysis, take a minute to check it out and reassess what you think of in terms of how to score an MMA fight.
Anyone else heard about Adam Swift? You should have. Adam has a really interesting take on MMA for his website, MMAPayout.com. He follows the business as, GASP, a business! Very cool look you won’t find anyone else. He’s so well written that the folks at Sherdog like to cherry pick his talents via freelance work. His latest is analysis of a typical UFC contract, and it’s a must read if you want to even pretend you have an opinion on Couture/White, or fighters pay/rights.
Oh Course, I’ve gotta give at least one plug to my pro wrestling roots. Might as well be a fellow Meltzer-ite, Todd Martin. Todd’s worked at a few places, keeps a great blog you need to Google (cause I don’t have the link in front of me:), but for now check out his work at CBS Sportsline. Tod looks at MMA’s historical roots in Japanese wrestling. Yep, it’s time you all learned it and respected it as a part of the culture. lets not fight amongst each other. Support Todd! Thank you.
Staying with CBS Sportsline, Sam Caplan checks in with a great report from the IFL tryouts in New York. You don’t have to like or follow the IFL, you just have to be interested in how young MMA-wannabes start out. It’s the interesting stuff, before they get to throw combos in front of mist for a camera on UFC Countdown specials. If you like it, make www.fiveouncesofpain.com part of your daily reading. Sam’s quick becoming a top MMA journalist, and someday you can tell new people you read Sam’s stuff before ESPN or Comcast made him a national talking head.
I’ve got two rather mainstream articles to cap your daily homework assignments off. First, Time Magazine is covering the Couture/Dana squabbles. Don’t care? Well you should if you care about how MMA is covered going forward. I’ll say it till I get hate mail. We have to do something to stop hack journalists from dropping in once a year with the same article structure. This is one of those articles. it finishes “This is one no-holds-barred battle that Ultimate Fighting doesn’t want.” Someone got paid to write that. Ask him for your 3 minutes back. It wouldn’t even be recommended MMA-only media. So write the author and politely let him know how you feel about these typical above-it-all cutesy “bloodsport” articles.
If you want to support mainstreram sports coverage that will help progress the sport through solid MMA journalism, read the Baltimore Sun’s Pramit Mohapatra. Pramit is a great guy with a ton of passion and a plan. He just started writing for SI.com as their MMA guy. Here’s his ShoXC review. Take a few minutes to check out his work. He’s talented, and just as important, he’s one of US. He’s an MMA guy at a major magazine/site, and support could get him more coverage and space. If you enjoy him after a week or two, maybe you wanna write SI’s editors. Let them know why you go to their site.
I hope on my best days to be as talented as the writers I just told you to check out. Oh, and go check out Zach Arnold’s FightOpinion.com. I just stole his bit. Hope it doesn’t ruin his humble cheery exterior.
Loading ...