If you have spent anytime on the MMA fan boards you will eventually come across a thread that expresses a preference  for MMA that is conducted in a Cage  or a preference for MMA that takes place in a traditional boxing/kickboxing ring. We all have our preferences of course and each environment has advantages and disadvantages. I personally prefer a ring, and my preference stems from being a spectator at live MMA events. I have attended numerous events that are cage events and I have sat in seats ranging from the rafters to the fourth row (Yes I sprung big bucks to watch Mark Kerr's ill fated return to MMA in the ACF) and I have always noticed that the only way to see a cage fight in person is the seats midway off the floor in the arena. I have struggled to watch cage fights on more than the monitors from the floor as anytime the fight is in the corners you can't see and anytime it is on the ground you can't see. And from the rafters ground action begins to look like ants fighting over a kernel of corn. Now I am not saying that going to cage fights is just about seeing the action. There is the energy in the building and the people watching (never to be discounted at some of the smaller shows here in Colorado) but hey the main reason you go to fights is to see the fights and to support your local fighters.

Rings on the other hand while difficult to see action in the opposing corners allow the spectator a more wide open viewing experience and have four less corners to contend with and alot less steel framing that impedes viewing. I have attended both Pride events that were held in Las Vegas (the first event from the seventh row ring side and the second from the 12th row off the floor) and I have also attended several Ring of Fire events that were held in rings and it is so much easier to see the action that you are there to see. Sure there are times when you need to refer to the monitors to get a better or different angle but overall the difference is night and day.

Another argument in favor of MMA in rings is that I heard through an MMA media outlet recently that there is a promotion in California that is planning on holding an event in which MMA, boxing, and kickboxing are held in the same night in the same ring....this is an opportunity that only affords itself in a ring, and frankly this may be the future of combat sports as boxing continues to decline in overall popularity and kickboxing struggles to find an audience in the United States. So I would encourage you all to attend local live MMA events and see for yourself what all the debate is about, who knows you may find yourself changing your opinion.

I am sure by now you have all seen some variation of the post UFC 84 press conference and the tense exchanges between UFC staffers and Tito Ortiz (before the press conference began) and eventually between Dana White and  Tito Ortiz (once the press conference was underway). These exchanges were followed by an impromptu press conference with Tito,  and Jenna Jameson in the hallway of the MGM where Tito and Jenna seemed outraged at the way that Tito was treated before, during, and then after the Zuffa presser.

My question to Tito is "How on earth can you be surprised at any of the events that took place?" Given the fact that a mere 28 hours before, you had donned a T-shirt that basically emasculated the President  of the UFC, and all the trash talking that you had done ( not toward your opponent but toward President Dana White) how were you surprised at your treatment?

There is an old saying that if you "Shoot the King...you had better Kill the King" and it is especially relevant in this situation. Had Ortiz engaged in the war of words with White and gone in and destroyed his opponent, he would have been in a position of leverage with the UFC brass. That is he would have beaten someone that the organization had touted as one of their young guns, someone that would someday contend for the UFC Light Heavyweight title and Ortiz would have a bargaining chip to pit UFC fans that are continually told "the best fighters in the world fight here" against management who would be letting a fan favorite and arguably a top fighter (basing this on a favorable performance against Machida) walk out of the UFC. This is the kind of situation that the UFC does not like to be in because it makes them look as if  there are good fighters fighting in competing organizations, which as we are all aware of  they are never willing to admit.

     But instead Ortiz did not back up his bravado and looked completely outclassed and anemic against Machida. As a result Tito found himself in the unenviable position of having no bargaining power against the UFC  and concurrently having embarrassed its egomaniacal President in his own Kingdom....

Come on Tito you had to know this would not end well...

Frankly, Tito should thank Jenna's silicone moneymakers that they were not escorted directly from the Octagon to the street. The fact that the UFC gave him a post-fight comment with Joe Rogan was frankly more than he was entitled to given his previous behavior and the very real possibility that he would use the opportunity to bash the organization and its management for slights that he perceived whether real or not. Ortiz took the higher ground that he had forsaken at the press conference but still came off sounding a bit weak.

My advice to Tito is to pack up the flying circus that is his life and move to a new Kingdom...a Kingdom that will be glad to have you and your endless self-promotion.  A Kingdom that sells T-shirts for a living, or a Kingdom where Kimbo Slice is the Mayor...and leave the hard feelings for your previous employer behind...and if you  do decide to take a shot at the King in the future.... make damn sure that you kill him this time.