As a pro wrestling fan, I, like many others, have always had a passing interest in boxing, MMA and other fight sports - partly because some names from the wrestling world have competed elsewhere, but also because they were interesting in their own right. I watched a few Mayweather fights, followed Brock Lesnar's career to an extent, and am vaguely aware of when a big fight is happening.

The other day, I watched the film Warrior, and was totally blown away. It's an incredible film about family and all sorts of other issues where MMA is really just the backdrop, but it does give an insight into the MMA world, and I found it fascinating.

After seeing this film, and having read the thread in this forum regarding the upcoming Lesnar-Overeem fight, I have an urge to learn more about MMA. It's not shown on regular TV in the UK so it's tough to find ways to watch it and get into it casually, but I can't be the only one in this forum who wants to get into it.

Who are the top guys to look out for? What classic matches do I absolutely have to see? Where's a good place to keep up to date with latest news? What sort of stuff do you need to know about fighting styles/the way MMA works in order to understand a fight?

Answers to these questions or some sort of "Idiot's Guide to MMA" would be great. MMA fans, here's your chance to tell pro wrestling fans why MMA is so much better.

I second this as two of my favorite wrestlers are Yoshihiro Takayama and Minoru Suzuki who have lots of MMA experience and it comes out in their wrestling matches.

I've tried to get into MMA but I find it really hit or miss.

Look up Royce Gracie. The UFC was originally exactly what it stood for, THE Ultimate Fighting Championship. The Gracie family from Brazil started it to show the world that their fighting style was the most dominant of any out there and fighters had to fight multiple fights a night in a tournament style until one was left standing, which was Gracie.

Hughes-Trigg 2
Griffin-Bonnar 1
Penn-Hughes (all)
Liddell-Silva
Anderson Silva highlight reel

should get you started

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/ is great for news

Pride fighting championships is a big part of MMA history. Might be a good idea to purchase dvds of old pride tournaments etc

ESPN is the channel in the UK for MMA (free on Virgin, £10/month on Sky - I pay for it on Sky, never watch anything else on it but think it's great value for money as you get usually between one and three UFC events each month). Every UFC is shown live (and repeated on Sunday night). This month they're showing a UFC pretty much every night. If you can catch it tonight, UFC 139 is on with 4/5 of the fights being awesome, with the main event an absolute classic.

Good way to get into it, other than watching previous events, is just learn as much as you can about the fighters on the upcoming card before you watch it. The more you know about the fighters, the more pumped up you get for the fights and the more interesting they are to watch.

Also, UFC.com has lots of info on upcoming events and loads of little promo vids etc. I know it's obviously a site to 'sell' the UFC, but it's still decent for info on current events.

do u get spike tv? ufc unleashed marathons are the best way to see tons of good fights imo

Nope. ESPN sometimes shows UFC Unleashed though.

Hardly any MMA on other channels, although FX had the last season of TUF and the live finale. Other than that MMA is thin on the ground on UK tv. Whatever you do, don't watch "Cage Fighter" on Sky Sports.

I think the best way to get into mma is to start watching the events and getting to know the fighters. It will take you a little while but once you become familiar with who the fighters are it's very easy to get hooked for a great fight. Start with UFC and watch the UFC countdown specials before each PPV event. Soon you'll branch out and start searching out mma from other organizations.

If you never watch mma before it's hard to get into it if you just watch random fights on UFC unleashed while not knowing anything about the fighters. Once you get hooked on mma you won't be able to get enough.

Planning on starting my career as an MMA fan (lol) with UFC 141 on the 30th. Lesnar vs Overeem seems like a pretty awesome fight in the making.

I watched Hughes vs Trigg 2 last night and found it pretty cool, I loved the huge running slam thing in the middle of the fight from Hughes. Like the fact that a lot of guys seem to have real life beef with each other - either that or they're just a lot better than WWE at making it seem real.

....um

Did I say something wrong? I've already declared myself a total MMA noob in starting this thread, so acting like a douche and being all "LOL THIS GUY KNOWS NOTHING" isn't worth your time if you were planning on it.

If you weren't planning on it, I have literally no idea what your post means.

(prob deserves its own thread)
Can any former or current MMA fighter beat Bruce Lee in his prime?

Yea, me either ginger.

To try adding something to the thread, what most interests you in MMA? I assume people getting knocked out and the piss beaten out of them right? In which case watch Frye vs Takyama.

If a technical genius who executes better than anyone in the game and picks people apart is more your thing, watch some Anderson Silva highlights.

Wanna see people getting twisted like a pretzel? Can't really point out anyone in particular, but the Gracies, Damien Maia, Nate Diaz, BJ Penn, etc are all awesome. Highlights are fun too.

If you have any special interests or anything feel free to ask and I'm sure someone will guide you in the right direction.

I don't know much about MMA at all. My "um" was directed at the implication that MMA is staged.

They do hype fights up with angles that don't have a great deal of truth behind it to get more sales, but I'm unsure if they ever just have the fighters flat out "fake" it.

I'm also pretty sure it's more on the fighters themselves to get the sales. That's why after fights it's VERY rare for fighters to have something negative to say about their opponent no matter the outcome.

Can anyone share their experiences in MMA training?

These posters could probably help.

there was a bruce lee vs chuck lidell thread in OOT years back iirc. at the time, I wasn't into mma, and though lee would murder everyone in the world. but now, I feel that most UFC guys would beat him in a cage. outside of a cage, I think he could beat many fighters, using machida style tactics.

i think TUF (the ultimate fighter, reality show, google it) is a good way to get into mma for casuals. It gets some hate from the hardcores for various reasons but in the first 5-6 seasons there was a lot of good talents in the show.

Lets you build love/hate for a bunch of fighters to get you started. Then just watch a lot of shows, starting either with pride or ufc 50-60~ or even later if you don't care about the older stuff.

Oh, I guess we misunderstood each other. Wasn't trying to imply that at all. I mostly meant that the animosity between guys actually seems more real than boxing.

If you want to make the transition a lot easier, I suggest you follow the life and times of Thee one and only Chael P. Sonnen.

Word

Everytime I see this it puts a smile on my face. Just pure greatness!

Also the definitive Chael Sonnen interview