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[bobh]

By Chris Parry, Vancouver Sun
July 11, 2009

[jcarmello]

Thanks Bobh! GSP is a very classy individual and represents chivalrous protocals as well as anyone in proffesional sports. I am glad my children look to him as a hero.

[OmarB]

Good on him. I was dissapointed to see Lesner's dishonorable display. It's as if he forgot that this is not a fake sport and as such it should be played with honor and respect.

[sokaiya]

Originally Posted by OmarB

Good on him. I was dissapointed to see Lesner's dishonorable display. It's as if he forgot that this is not a fake sport and as such it should be played with honor and respect.

I understand your sentiments but I disagree. At the end of the day, this is still a business and fighters want money. What Lesnar has done is essentially made everyone who faces him into a "hero" and he's taken the role of the "villain". He raises other fighter's stock just by facing them in a fight because people will pay to see him lose. It helps alleviate the fact that the Heavyweight division is pretty weak right now.

[sandman]

Originally Posted by sokaiya

I understand your sentiments but I disagree. At the end of the day, this is still a business and fighters want money. What Lesnar has done is essentially made everyone who faces him into a "hero" and he's taken the role of the "villain". He raises other fighter's stock just by facing them in a fight because people will pay to see him lose. It helps alleviate the fact that the Heavyweight division is pretty weak right now.

I agree that is what is going on, but it makes me not want to watch at all.

[Steffen]

The same goes for me. I`m thinking: if the product is weak or bad you have to "scream" loud to sell it..

if the product is good.... noe screaming needed...never seen Fedor sream

[OmarB]

Originally Posted by sokaiya

I understand your sentiments but I disagree. At the end of the day, this is still a business and fighters want money. What Lesnar has done is essentially made everyone who faces him into a "hero" and he's taken the role of the "villain". He raises other fighter's stock just by facing them in a fight because people will pay to see him lose. It helps alleviate the fact that the Heavyweight division is pretty weak right now.

Yeah, he's pulling that wrestling crap into a real sport. I don't see sports as such, it's an honorable battle between individuals or teams to see who's best. Winning the game/bout should be enough.

[sokaiya]

Originally Posted by Steffen

The same goes for me. I`m thinking: if the product is weak or bad you have to "scream" loud to sell it..

if the product is good.... noe screaming needed...never seen Fedor sream

No way! Mohammed Ali did it all the time. Screamed at the top of his lungs. PRIDE & K-1 were some of the biggest gimmick shows on the planet and Fedor wasn't the main draw or appeal of these shows. They were carnivals with characters, fireworks, loud music, big audiences, special effects & lights, not much different than your typical Pro-Wrestling show but the fights were good and the fighters were charismatic.

Originally Posted by OmarB

Yeah, he's pulling that wrestling crap into a real sport. I don't see sports as such, it's an honorable battle between individuals or teams to see who's best. Winning the game/bout should be enough.

I don't think the in-ring product is going to change but I do think as long as money is in involved, stuff like this will and should happen. I definitely would not like to see that type of stuff happen in amateur events though.

[Steffen]

Okay maybe a bad eks. Dont like it thats the point,and yes money talks of course. Sad to know that young people see this as rollmodels.

[sokaiya]

Originally Posted by Steffen

Okay maybe a bad eks. Dont like it thats the point,and yes money talks of course. Sad to know that young people see this as rollmodels.

I don't think anyone sees Brock Lesnar as a role model because his size is just so freakish in nature. I think most people look at a guy like Georges St. Pierre as a role model because he's a helluva a guy & a helluva a fighter.

[shinobijesus]

Originally Posted by sokaiya

Screamed at the top of his lungs. PRIDE & K-1 were some of the biggest gimmick shows on the planet and Fedor wasn't the main draw or appeal of these shows. They were carnivals with characters, fireworks, loud music, big audiences, special effects & lights, not much different than your typical Pro-Wrestling show but the fights were good and the fighters were charismatic.

disagree wholeheartedly. big audiences and lights are a given at all big events. loud music? some of the music for K1 is drastically different from the crap they play at ufc (Andreas Bucelli and Sade). and just because pro wrestling employs some of this spectacle appeal doesnt mean its remotely in the same universe as PRIDE/DREAM/K1. theres a degree of professionalism and maturity to the way the Japanese mma orgs put on shows that none of the other promoters can match.

they put on some fights that are pure crowd drawers but to relate them to a carnival is derogatory imo. that word carries a very negative stigma.

[mihai]

A kyokushin stays a kyokushin . Osu pierre

[cdsbob]

Guys this is not about who is the best fighter.. the UFC is about money.. Dana white said he is in for the money. Fighters too so honor has nothing to do with UFC or K1, i am not saying they are all just about money but it's why they came in for.
how much do the kyokushin fighter get paid ina tournament ?? a big 0 $ i have more respect for the white belts in a tournament than the GSPs and cie.. ( don't get me wrong i liek him but he is in for the money )

that is my humble opinion

[bobh]

Originally Posted by cdsbob

Guys this is not about who is the best fighter.. the UFC is about money.. Dana white said he is in for the money. Fighters too so honor has nothing to do with UFC or K1, i am not saying they are all just about money but it's why they came in for.
how much do the kyokushin fighter get paid ina tournament ?? a big 0 $ i have more respect for the white belts in a tournament than the GSPs and cie.. ( don't get me wrong i liek him but he is in for the money )

that is my humble opinion

I too respect the fighters who fight for no money. However, just because someone fights for money does not necessarily mean that they are not respectable or worthy of respect.

"He is in it for the money" is an assumption, I think. Did he take up Kyokushin trainging thinking that it would be the starting point for a lucrative career? Even if someone is "in it" for the money, this does not mean that they aren't also "in it" for something else as well. "The Love"

What is the white belt mentioned above "in it" for? We don't know. But if they eventually made it to UFC XXX, would that mean they were no longer "in it" for the same reasons?

Fighting for free does not put anyone morally above a professional fighter simply because they take no money. In my humble opinion.

[cdsbob]

Originally Posted by bobh
I too respect the fighters who fight for no money. However, just because someone fights for money does not necessarily mean that they are not respectable or worthy of respect.

"He is in it for the money" is an assumption, I think. Did he take up Kyokushin trainging thinking that it would be the starting point for a lucrative career? Even if someone is "in it" for the money, this does not mean that they aren't also "in it" for something else as well. "The Love"

What is the white belt mentioned above "in it" for? We don't know. But if they eventually made it to UFC XXX, would that mean they were no longer "in it" for the same reasons?

Fighting for free does not put anyone morally above a professional fighter simply because they take no money. In my humble opinion.
__________________
Fall down seven, get up eight

i understand that there is still some honor in the octogone but money is major factor in the corruption of the soul. there is a reason why late Sosei Mas Oyama was not giving his approval to kyokushin fighters to fight for money.. It's true that you can't know if a white belt if not in the kyokushin martial art just to get some exp and then fight in some kind of cage finghting, but most of us have a job that has a shitty pay and can be stressing and tiring but in the end we all pay our monthly fees to train in the dojo.

but again that's what i believe in..

as i said i wanted to be a black belt in Kyokushin so i can show off.. but now that i started training, i no longer want that and wouldn't use my skills to make money because i believe that this is a path of sacrifice and dedication to pursue something that is greater than yourself. and it's called the Kyokushin Way

OSU

[Namakoto]

GSP simply the Best! OSU

[Steffen]

GSP have recived a wild card for The ADCC Barcelona 2009! http://adccbarcelona.com/

[Dent]

Osu!

Originally Posted by Steffen

GSP have recived a wild card for The ADCC Barcelona 2009! http://adccbarcelona.com/

That is very interesting! Is this something he is likely to do though? Seems a high risk undertaking. At least relative to potential reward.

Osu!

[Bengoshi]

Kudos to bobh for citing the Vancouver Sun

As it stands MMA events are illegal in British Columbia, but the Sun seems to give a lot of coverage to the sport.

Bravo GSP!!

[mcuz]

Yep UFC is about the money first - everything else secondary. You do get noble fighters llike GSP who I absolutely love to watch, and then those fighters having roid rage (lesnar and co), and some people here say yeah its cool to have fighters behaving badly.

My problem with this is - how will it affect young people ? will they see this behavior as "normal" and start to model it? I really love the fact that in Kyokushin we can go out and bash each other to bits but at the end of the day their is still that respect and it is shown as we bow to our opponent at the end of the fight and congratulate each other, and this is the type of behavior that I want my children to see

Sosai truly understood the problems that would come through professionalism and money