5 Oz. of Pain Presents: The DUEL
Welcome to a new feature at 5oz. In “THE DUEL,” two MMA writers are given three questions to answer. They respond and those questions with their answers are sent to the other party to answer. Being egomaniacal, I will be the judge and award a point to the winner of each question. The winner receives nothing.
In our inaugural battle I welcome and thank 5 oz. editor and writer Mr. Adam Morgan and from 411mania.com, Mr. Randy Harrison.
And we’re off:
1. Child MMA competitions are bad for the sport.
Morgan: FALSE: Aren’t there 6,7, and 8 year olds playing full contact football every year? Full speed, full contact football is just as dangerous as any children’s MMA event. My take is as long as the proper precautions are taken, the kids are safe, and there is knowledgeable adult supervision, let the kids fight. The kids training right now are the next wave of future mixed martial arts stars. Take Drake Dudley, for example. The kid is a phenom and he’s like 13 or 14 years old and has been training since he was 7 or 8 years old. Is it hurting the sport? Hell no. If anything, it’s helping it. Some of these kids will eventually realize that MMA isn’t for them. Some of them, however, will realize that they’re not only good at it but that they love doing it. And those kids are the future GSP’s of the world. Kids who have been training BJJ, wrestling, and muay thai since a young age. You think GSP’s good? Wait until some of these youngsters come up. This “bad for the sport” business is nonsense.
Harrison: FALSE: If anything, these competitions are going to end up teaching kids a little more respect about the moves they’ve learned and my hope is that someday, these are no different than any Little Leagues or Pop Warner games in Anytown, USA. As long as these kids are supervised by teachers, trainers and parents, and they’re taught the inherent power and danger involved in some of the moves they’re using, it shouldn’t be considered any different than letting a child take karate, wrestling or tae kwon do. If those combat sports are “safe enough” for children, then there’s no reason that a sport that combines all of the various martial arts can’t be just as safe. Not to mention that these kids are the future of the sport and by getting started at an early age, their skills will be finely tuned by the time it comes for them to potentially turn pro. That should lead to a TON of talent and a ton of great fighters and fights that will move this sport into the next generation and push it even higher in terms of its level of popularity.
VERDICT: MORGAN. 1-0. He who says it first says it best. I think the only downside to this is just the thought that there will be alot of 12-year-old kids out there that could kick my ass.