Team MMA

I like team based MMA. There, I said it. I know a ton of people hate it, saying that MMA is an individual sport (which couldn't be further from the truth) and that it is stupid that a team of 5 fighters is being put ahead of any one fighter. I understand what those people are saying, but I do not agree with them. You have to see team mma as an added bonus on top of the individual fights.

Most people look at team based promotions (IFL, M-1 Challenge, MTL) and see team verses team. You can not look at it that way. Say there is a fight and the one team wins the first three fights and have clinched the match-up. People see this and say since the team competition is already decided, the last two fights do not matter at all. You can't look at it that way and in fact, to truly like team MMA, you have to look at things in the exact opposite way. See team based MMA as what it is, 5 individual mma fights. And then, if the first four fights are split and the fifth fight is the deciding fight in the team competition, then that is an added bonus on top of the individual fight. You have to see the team competitions as secondary to the individual fights, and if you do it that way, then you get added enjoyment out of the bouts. Unfortunately, Every team based organization so far has pushed the team aspect first and foremost, not secondary which has hurt them gain legitimacy in the eyes of many.

I enjoy M-1 Challenge currently, despite there not being a Canadian team when there should be. I'm sorry, but a Turkish team instead of a Canadian one? Don't get me started. And I was of course a fan of the IFL. I was a Los Angeles Anacondas supporter and also like the Toronto Dragons. The IFL had a ton of great talent on there shows and all you need to do is look at the current UFC/WEC roster to see all the past IFL fighters fighting in those organizations. It is certainly ironic that the IFL really took off after they dropped the team format and just did individual fights, after promising that the team format would revolution the sport. But by that point, it was too late, the damage had already been done.