MMA #2 in poll of sports that should in Olympics
MMA is behind only baseball in list of sports Americans think should be in Olympics. A new survey commissioned by…
MMA is behind only baseball in list of sports Americans think should be in Olympics.
A new survey commissioned by Yahoo! Sports suggests there is fairly significant support for mixed martial arts being contested as an Olympic sport. According to the survey, 25% of Americans think MMA should be included in the Olympics. Other sports people want to see in the Olympics are: baseball (32%), softball (24%), lacrosse (19%), and field hockey (15%).
UFC President Dana White has been critical of the way amateur MMA is playing out in the USA, but would enthusiastic were the sport to develop along the lines of other Olympic amateur sports.
“First and foremost mixed martial arts is a combination of most of the sports that are already Olympic sports,” White said. “But I don’t believe in amateur mixed martial arts. There’s no such thing, it’s BS. What it is, is a way for a promoter to not pay a fighter. That’s what amateur means. It means I don’t have to pay you because I consider you an amateur and I believe there is no real amateur mixed martial arts in this sport, until the Olympic committee gets behind it like they did with USA boxing and boxing in other countries. I would love for that to happen.”
“The goal was to go into the amateurs, you fight your way up to the top, you win an Olympic gold medal and then you go right into the pros and the whole world wants to see you fight. That’s the way it always worked in boxing and that’s the way it should work in MMA, too.”