This jar of peanut butter should not be mixed with chicken noodle soup. They are great individually, but not combined ... just like boxing and mixed martial arts.
Jones tried his hand at the promoting side of the fight game and combined boxing matches and mixed martial arts contests on the same card. It has been done before, but never in front of a crowd as large as the one in Pensacola, Fla., and never on a successful pay-per-view.
It was a courageous effort, but it also failed miserably.
For some reason, Jones fell into the mindset that most of the general public holds. Most people think that if someone is a fan of boxing, they would naturally enjoy mixed martial arts. I am passionate about both sports, but they are two very different sports.
Just because someone likes baseball, doesn't mean they want to sit through a softball game. Both sports are similar, but there are still major differences that separate the two enough to make it so both sports wouldn't be played in front of the same audience at the same time.
I couldn't see a professional softball team walking out on Wrigley Field right after the Cubs finished playing. Most people would get up and leave. The same thing goes for boxing and mixed martial arts, mainly because the two sports bring out each others shortcomings when displayed side by side.
When I watch a boxing match, it's very hard to switch right over to a mixed martial arts bout because I realize the fighters competing in MMA are no where near the boxers that the professionals are and it makes it difficult to watch.
If I am watching some MMA, I have a hard time switching to boxing because I know that the chance for an upset or flash knockout is much less likely and it is impossible for fighters to switch the realm of the fight from the feet to the ground.
So while boxing represents the technique and precision I love in fighting, MMA represents the surprises and variety I love in fighting. I see the two sports as completely different and love them both for completely different reasons.
Aside from the fact that the two sports bring out the flaws in one another, it is also very hard to present and produce a show with both sports being showcased.
The announcers did their best to explain and inform the audience about everything that was happening in the MMA fights, but it came across forced and like a lecture. It becomes a little stale when the announcer has to talk through a broadcast explaining why fighters throw knees and what an armbar is.
I know I would shut off a baseball broadcast if they explained what a curveball does every single inning.
It was nice to see Jones dominate Omar Sheika with fundamentally sound boxing. But the boxing made Din Thomas look like a sparring partner. It was nice to see Thomas finish in exciting and quick fashion. But Thomas' finish made Jones look boring.
The styles will always be too contradicting to ever put them together on the same event.
I like peanut butter and I enjoy chicken noodle soup. If I put them together, I would hate them both.
I like boxing and MMA. If I put them together ... well ... I guess my order of peanut butter chicken noodle soup is ready.
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