Showtime’s Reality Check

By Jake Rossen

Here’s the thing about real fights: they can be a real pain in the ass to promote.

A hundred years ago, legitimate wrestlers would roll and twist on a mat for hours in an attempt to snag a submission. When organizers realized the stalemates were driving away spectators, they started choreographing bouts. Evolution of that particular strategy eventually brought us Hulk Hogan and folded steel chairs to the cranium. (Lucky us.)

In 2007, there seems to be equal fretting over the grappling component of mixed martial arts.

Leave two men on the mat for too long without any action, and the crowd begins to get restless, their jeers fueled by high ticket prices and cheap beer. The referee, pressured by the mob, the athletic commission, and the promoters, stands up the athletes to resume their C-level kickboxing contest. This is likely beneficial to the fighter who was on the bottom, since he knows that by simply hanging on instead of engaging, he’s destined to get back to where he feels most comfortable.

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