I am absolutely sick of booing, literally sick of booing. It's course and vulgar, and I fail to understand how the best sportsmanship demonstrated in all of athletics can generate the worst fans in all of sports. Is that strong language? You bet it is. Take it back? Not on your life. You will find far more polite fans at a Motorhead concert. Trust me on this one -- I'm an avid concert fan, remembering around one hundred concerts, forgetting...who knows?

I do know this -- I see more and more fighters apologize for winning a fight that wasn't exciting enough.That's patently stupid. I touched on this in "The Coveted Sharp Stick" and Fight Ticker commented that paying fans should expect more bang for their buck. I did as well. In fact, I claimed in "Who Knows? Certainly Not I" that fights should cost less for cards lacking title fights, and I was basing that premise on UFC 88, the same event that set me off on this rant when I watched it for the third or fourth time this morning.

Anyone worth their salt in MMA will admit that fighting the opponent's fight almost always ends badly.You want an example? The "Ace" Rich Franklin vs. Matt "The Hammer" Hamill fight. I'll save you seventeen minutes and tell you that Hamill stood toe-to-toe with Franklin who finally tired of beating the living dog snot out of him in the third round and ended it with an incredibly painful kick to the liver.

God is so good. While I'm vainly searching for this video, but not taking His the same, I get to the point of quitting, (I'd looked hard and extensively), I catch this gem in "MMA Journalist", about Jorge Gurgel, Franklin's coach.If you missed UFC 91, I am so sorry as it was the best night of fights in a very long time.

Being a very masterly black belt in Jiu-jitsu, Gurgel decided to "stand and bang." It was a good fight -- in fact it won he and his nemesis of the evening the best fight of the night honors. It also cost him his job. He's a good fighter with a bad record but he landed on his feet, signing with Strike Force right away. Still, this is what he learned from his experience. I quote: "...you will never see an ounce of grappling from me ever again. Fans don't want to see fancy arm bars and chokes; they want to see me getting my head pounded in -- and that's what I'm going to give them." It's very obvious to me he has no need for his head. Drop some beans in it and shake him for marakas. He is good indeed. I also found the last hunk of pumpkin pie with an almost full tub of whipped cream. It's good to have friends in high places.

As in any other maxim, there are exceptions, like Anderson Silva, GSP and BJ Penn, to name an obvious few, who can win no matter what style fighter is placed in front of them. Who told these guys that "standing and banging" is the only kind of exciting fight? The singular fighter to most benefit MMA ever is a grappler named Royce Gracie. Without him, the UFC would have sunk like any other third-rate toughman show. The other three are some of the -- and more than a few would say the best -- fighters in the world.

After beating Brandon Vera in England, Keith Jardine said of the crowd, " I've never been booed before; that kind of sucked." It surely does. The name of the game in business is win, win, win. This is a business. Fighting in the UFC is a business. Win, win, win! Those of us who've been following the UFC for fifteen years want mixed martial arts. We don't care if you put head scissors on a guy and fart him into submission. When you win consistently you get to be a better fighter. Better fighters have more exciting fights.

I started this mini manifesto around nine or nine-thirty on the night of Wednesday December third. I'm finishing it off at four am on Thursday morning. It hasn't been
pretty; I've had to slog along sometimes going in backward to edit, (clever the backward huh?) rushing violently on, only to take back any number of mistakes from moments before. It's been ungainly, awkward, boring, and quite a mess at times. If I had a bunch of other hack writers watching and booing and hissing or any other behavior that a lower class person may have, I think I'd stand up, shoot them the finger, turn around, drop my drawers and flash my hairy, fat, fishbone white ass,turn and leave like an exiting emperor or dignitary. I would have to come back; I live here. Win! Win!! Win!!!

Please don't take the mixed out of mixed martial arts.