CHAPTER 9

Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)

The Promoting Fighting Style

The Origins of Mixed Martial Arts

In 1964, two practitioners of Chinese martial arts met at a training studio in the city of Oakland, California. The fight was scheduled for late evening and was to take place behind closed doors with just seven people as spectators. In the larger scheme of things, it was an inconsequential affair and would have been promptly forgotten if one of the two 23-year-olds who fought that day had not been Bruce Lee.

The man who would become an actor known worldwide, launch the “Kung Fu craze” of the early 1970s, and eventually become synonymous with martial arts was not just an on-screen performer. His ability and continuous dedication to fighting, from its most practical aspects to the philosophical implications of unarmed combat as a way of self-expression and identity, was very real, and, by the time he died at age 32, he had spent more than a decade trying to create and refine the ultimate fighting syllabus.

Although raised in Hong Kong, Lee was actually born in San Francisco and had a U.S. passport. He moved to Seattle in 1959 at age 18 and enrolled in the University of Washington, where he started teaching martial art classes to a heterogeneous group of friends and students. Since he was never a tournament competitor, it is hard to gauge actually how good he would have been as a professional fighter, but he led a turbulent life as a young man in Hong Kong, and there are reports of gang fights on rooftops and in back alleys during his teenage years.

By the time he arrived to the West Coast, Lee was a practitioner of one specific type of Chinese martial art (known as Wushu, or more popularly, kung fu), in particular, the Wing Chun boxing form, which he had learned from his Hong Kong teacher, Ip Man. Lee’s activities as a trainer in the United States soon became polemic; he criticized other forms of traditional Chinese Martial Arts as stiff, obsolete, and ineffective. In the inaugural Long Beach martial arts Tournament that took place in 1964, Lee did not compete. Instead, he took center stage to perform a demonstration of his technique, and, again, he used the occasion to launch a tirade that left much of the Californian fighting community—and especially the San Francisco’s Chinatown schools of kung fu—upset about this young upstart. In their view, Lee, despite possessing some obvious skill, had done nothing to prove that his style was more effective than other, more established ones.

At this point, Lee was at a crossroads. He could sense that traditional martial art styles that relied on forms and passive training marked by solo drills could not prevail over active, efficiency-focused workouts with live sparring and resistant opponents. But he was not certain that his own style of Wing Chun, although simple, streamlined, and direct, was actually the solution he was searching for.

The man he fought that evening in Oakland was a Chinese northern-style expert called Wong Jack Man, who had made a reputation for himself in San Francisco as an accomplished, if somewhat traditional, martial arts master.

Legend has it that Wong Jack Man was directed by the Chinatown elders to challenge Lee because he was teaching Chinese martial arts to Westerners and somehow revealing traditional secrets, but most researchers think the reason was far more prosaic and it was linked to Lee’s bravado. As Lee’s wife, Linda Lee, later stated, “Only Bruce and Man know why they fought.”¹ There exist several versions of what happened and how the fight developed. Some describe it as a movie-like choreography of punches and kicks, but reality seems to have been more mundane, and, according, again, to Lee’s wife, Linda, both men chased each other around the room with little regard for complicated techniques and acrobatics until they grappled and fell to the floor and Lee pounded Wong Jack Man with punches while shouting, “Do you give up?” between gulps of ragged breath.

What we know for certain is that, after that fight, Lee was extremely disappointed with himself. He had not won—if indeed he did—as ­effortlessly or as decisively as he had expected. His physical condition had failed him. His technique had failed him. From that moment on, he moved away from his traditional style and spent nearly 10 years looking for something more effective: a combination of techniques that were not bogged down by static forms and conventions. He researched extensively different fighting methods: boxing; wrestling; fencing; as well as Chinese, Korean, and Japanese martial arts, looking to incorporate all that which worked into a new fighting method. A mixed martial art of sorts.

The Hybrid Nature of Mixed Martial Arts

There is a certain consensus that if Bruce Lee had not died at the age of 32 in 1973, the evolution he had started would have soon resulted in the fighting style we now know as Mixed Martial Arts (MMA). However, in Lee’s absence, the birth was prolonged, and the official start of MMA is normally given as November 12, 1993: the first UFC event.

This Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, started that year as a tournament, with modified rules created to determine which fighting form was the most effective. Many other promotions have been created since, but it is the blend of styles that fighters adopted in order to effectively compete in the UFC that would eventually be known
as MMA.

MMA, rather than a martial art per se, is a construct of different fighting formats integrated into one smooth, high-performance-oriented system. By “performance-oriented,” the understanding is that MMA is designed and practiced to win fights in the ring or the cage—an octagonal enclosure built to avoid the shortcomings of the boxing ring when grappling and wrestling are involved²—and has no forms or kata nor any other meditational aspects present in traditional martial arts.

Although different fighters adapt a different mixture of techniques to their own taste, for most practitioners, the MMA form of combat incorporates the following catalog of movements:

• Striking, long distance: karate, taekwondo, or muay thai kicks.
• Striking, short distance: Boxing punches. karate or muay thai elbow and knee strikes.
• Grappling, standing: Wrestling or judo holds and throws.
• Grappling, ground: Wrestling or judo holds. Brazilian jiu jitsu submissions.

The other characteristic of MMA is the speed with which a fighter needs to transition from one style to another. This is actually where one of the biggest difficulties to master MMA appears; the skills necessary to become a good striker and a good grappler are very different and have to be developed separately. Only after reaching a high degree of proficiency in both can they be integrated in such a way that the shift from a standing attack position to a close-quarters clinch to the ground, and back up again, is performed seamlessly.

Due to its hybrid nature, MMA can incorporate dozens of different movements; some are very basic, while others are extremely specific to one of the source fighting styles, which makes it very difficult to present a comprehensive catalog of MMA techniques. But because of their proven effectiveness, there are several basic attacks that appear in every fight and form of the basic inventory of MMA fighting.

1. Jab/Cross (boxing). The straight punch to the face or body delivered from the left (jab) or right (cross) hand is the basic striking tool in the MMA arsenal. The linearity of jab and cross makes both of them fast attacks, while their use of body weight behind the arm powers a solid blow when hitting with proper timing and speed.
2. Round kick (muay thai/karate). The MMA round kick is thrown by pivoting the support leg at the time of kicking and adding the torsion of the hips to the mass of the leg to deliver power. The round kick is the preferred long-distance attack in MMA fights and has a phenomenal reach and force. It can be thrown at three different levels, with an increasing degree of difficulty: low, mid, and high. The low kick targets the opponent’s leg to hamper movement, the mid kick targets the torso to deplete stamina via trauma to liver and lungs, and, finally, the high kick aims for the head and a knockout.
3. Takedown (wrestling). The takedown is an attack where fighters use a level change to lower their stance and grab the hips or legs of the opponent to throw them to the ground. The takedown needs to be closely followed by a move to gain control over the prostrated opponent when reaching the ground in order to secure a dominant position.
4. Rear naked choke (Brazilian jiu jitsu). The rear naked choke is a strangulation technique where the fighter gets a dominant position at the back of the opponent and, using the forearm, applies pressure to the neck while holding his own biceps with the opposite hand to create leverage and increase force. Fighters often use strikes to create an opening in the opponent’s guard in order to set up the rear naked choke.
5. Ground-and-pound (MMA). Ground-and-pound is the most characteristic MMA technique and the one most closely associated with the style; because of its mixture of striking and grappling, MMA is one of the very few combat sports where hitting from the ground is allowed. Ground-and-pound’s most common application happens when, after taking down their opponent, fighters hold a top dominant mount position and attack using punches and elbow strikes while controlling the opponent’s torso with knees and legs. Pressed against the floor and with little room for escape, an MMA fighter on the receiving end of the ground-and-pound position has little option but to surrender or be rendered unconscious.

MMA’s Business Learnings for the Promoter

The technical applications of the moves that MMA uses are certainly original, but the techniques themselves are the same seen when reviewing karate, judo, or, later on, Brazilian jiu jitsu (BJJ). Because of that, the business learnings in this chapter do not come from martial arts practice; instead, MMA’s insights for the corporate person are actually direct business lessons based on the revenue model of the professional MMA world.

Although there exists a solid amateur community, what sets MMA apart from other martial arts is the focus of professional fighters and promoters on developing the sport as a business-focused spectator sport. Similar to boxing, MMA looked from its inception to monetize itself in a high-revenue format, which combines the best of athletic competitions and show business.

Competitors are required to have an outstanding physical ability, but, while for judo or karate competitors that is enough to bring Olympic medals and world tournaments, a degree of promotional sense is integral to the success of an MMA fighter. This is because the opportunity to book events and win championships (and the prize money they include) is directly related to how entertaining their fights may be. Highly demanded fighters whom the public is eager to see get to monetize their events to a higher degree than similar, maybe equally accomplished, fighters who lack appeal.

Moreover, because the MMA professional fighting business makes promotional efforts an intrinsic part of their fighter compensation, those with more business acumen have a greater chance of multiplying their revenue sources—which are all directly linked to their fan support—via the following:

• Fight bonuses: Some incentives, like UFC’s “Performance of the Night bonus” or “Fight of the Night bonus,” can bring six-figure prize money for popular fighters.
• Pay-per-view revenue: The main revenue source, for the UFC and other MMA promotions, comes from TV paid subscription services. High-profile fights can surpass the million-mark subscriber order.
• Endorsement contracts: When a fighter reaches a certain level of popularity, multiple brands will offer endorsement opportunities for products ranging from athletic gear to energy drinks or videogame releases.

In short, showmanship, as well as fighting skill, has become a pivotal factor in the business of MMA fighting.

There are three specific learnings any businessperson can apply from the world of MMA but that are especially relevant to the promoter behavioral style. As leadership writer Allan Vayman³ puts it:

To casual observers the Ultimate Fighting Championship is little more than a brute contest. Blood and teeth spill on the Octagon. However what the organization has done to elevate the sport of mixed martial arts over the last 20 years is remarkable. . .and offers lesson for any startup executive.

For a fighter to be top-ranked in his weight class, it requires a rare combination of natural ability, a cultivated arsenal of skills, and the heart to persevere against uber-talented competition. To all you entrepreneurs, is this ringing a bell?

While most people will never know what it’s like to step into the Octagon, as a spectator there are many parallels we can draw from our business lives.

Performance Is Important but It Is All about
the Preparation Behind

This is hardly a novel notion, but the need to have a solid preparation for the task ahead is especially relevant in MMA. Because competition requires achieving a high degree of proficiency in multiple disciplines, many fighters spend decades training and may only have a single fight to prove they are worthy of making it to and competing in the highest paying leagues. Come fight night, their performance will depend on how well they react under pressure and bring forth the skills they have accumulated.

The nature of the promoter’s behavioral style predisposes him or her to be comfortable in the spotlight, but also makes the promoter not as diligent as he or she could be in doing the proper groundwork. The promoter cannot, the same as the MMA fighter, rely only on talent to succeed at that crucial moment of truth. An MMA-like approach to preparation, which backs up that ambitious idea and allows it to prosper means, for the promoter, the certainty that they will be able to deliver.

Focus on Doing Well What You Hate

Although the sport of MMA has evolved tremendously in the last decade and has increased in popular standing, many practitioners, rather than starting their career directly in the discipline, come incentivized by the challenge of competition and its economic rewards after years of training in other styles like Brazilian jiu jitsu, boxing, or wrestling. More often than not, these fighters have a background in one of the two large specialized combat fields: striking or wrestling. Although they need to become proficient in both to succeed, they will most likely favor that approach from where they originally developed, and overcoming that tendency is one of the main challenges if they are to master the wide range of skills required in competition at the highest level. MMA fighters are, therefore, famous for focusing on doing well the things they may not like. Strikers have to become good grapplers and wrestlers have to become efficient strikers.

The promoter behavioral style is energetic and active but is also selective. Promoters, because of their competitive spirit and creativity, do what they like well but have a difficult time diving deeper into the details that will make the grand, ambitious framework that they propose to come to fruition. The same as happens to MMA fighters, where adaptability is key to cover the fighter’s weaker areas, the promoter must expand and improve:

• Using an analyst-like approach to data and scientific decision making, making sure things like budget and revenue returns will align to make the big idea work.
• Using controller-like attention to detail to confirm the resources are in place to complete the different tasks involved.
• Using a supporter-like engagement disposition to make sure their teams are sincerely involved in the project and that success depends on the effort of the whole group rather than one person.

For the promoter, the same as for the MMA fighter, focusing on doing what is difficult will ultimately drive better results.

The Lone Fighter Is Always Part of a Team

MMA is a combat sport, and as such, it is a lonely activity. At the end of the day, it is up to the fighter to step into the ring or the cage and wrestle a win away from the opponent with no other assistance than skill and training. But it takes a team to get there. At the higher levels of professional MMA fighting, competitors train specifically for a designed opponent. They engage in intensive training camps at least 2 months previous to the bout, where specialized coaches and training partners will analyze in detail the style of the adversary and try to find a weakness. Despite all their efforts and proficiency, fighters cannot prepare on their own; they are just the crucible where the talent of a whole team coalescences.

Similarly, because the promoter can be remiss in carrying out the specifics of the plan he or she had envisioned, having a solid support team is key. Those team members are the people who will make tangible the strategy, they will create the product, and they will design the code. For promoter personalities, there is the continuous risk that their rock star-like tendencies may alienate that team, either by pushing it too far or by hogging the limelight and not sharing the recognition of success.

The name of the MMA fighter is what appears in the promotional pieces and the newspaper headlines, but very few fail to recognize the team that supports them in getting there. Similarly, the promoter would benefit from understanding that his or her relationship with one’s team flows in both equally important directions: They inspire a group and are, in turn, supported by it.

² The octagonal shape offers more open corners than a square ring, so fighters cannot be locked into an angle with no escape. The use of wire fence as opposed to ropes prevents fighters from falling or being thrown out of the arena and into the public.

³ A. Vayman. 2015. “What Every Entrepreneur Can Learn from UFC”. B2B News Network. https://www.b2bnn.com/2015/02/every-entrepreneur-can-learn-ufc/