MMA community, UFC 157 fighters react to possible loss of Olympic wrestling

Half of UFC 157's headliners have strong ties to Olympic grappling, so they were none too pleased at today's vote to cut wrestling from the games.

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Its okay. At least we didn't lose the really great sports like modern pentathlon, badminton, or handball...

They have MMA to fall back on

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Posted by OnyxShadow

Its okay. At least we didn't lose the really great sports like modern pentathlon, badminton, or handball...

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How dare you forget curling? We're talking about "REAL ATHLETE" sports here. It's about time that they "trim the fat" that is these passive, nonsensical events they parade in front of us as "SPORTS" as if we're a species of beings that can be convinced a dog is a cat...like this "rastlin" thing they speak of! Save the gold for the teeth that line the mouths of these world-class table-tennis stars instead of making senseless medals for these useless "competitions" of strength.

as much as i hate this decision to cut wrestling, there is a lot of big stages for those athletes within the sport. plus, as others have said it could push some more elite athletes into MMA.

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Posted by Tyzzler

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Posted by OnyxShadow

Its okay. At least we didn't lose the really great sports like modern pentathlon, badminton, or handball...

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How dare you forget curling? We're talking about "REAL ATHLETE" sports here. It's about time that they "trim the fat" that is these passive, nonsensical events they parade in front of us as "SPORTS" as if we're a species of beings that can be convinced a dog is a cat...like this "rastlin" thing they speak of! Save the gold for the teeth that line the mouths of these world-class table-tennis stars instead of making senseless medals for these useless "competitions" of strength.

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well curling is played during the winter Olympics so that doesn't make much sense to drop that instead of wrestling...but nice try though

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Posted by tcunningham

as much as i hate this decision to cut wrestling, there is a lot of big stages for those athletes within the sport. plus, as others have said it could push some more elite athletes into MMA.

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isn't the threat of decreased enrollment at the grassroots level, and eventually the highschool and collegiate levels, a major concern?

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Posted by Bubbles

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Posted by tcunningham

as much as i hate this decision to cut wrestling, there is a lot of big stages for those athletes within the sport. plus, as others have said it could push some more elite athletes into MMA.

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isn't the threat of decreased enrollment at the grassroots level, and eventually the highschool and collegiate levels, a major concern?

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I think the sport is pretty entrenched in most schools in the states as it is, and there are so many youth programs/teams out there that I don't see this as making too much of an impact. If hockey was removed from the winter games, there would still be a strong foundation for kids in Canada to play it. Granted that may not be the best example since there are a lot of places to play pro or semi-pro hockey, but I think you get my point. Wrestling is part of the culture in america, especially in the Midwest, and I don't see it going away any time soon, Olympic event or not. If your dad wrestled, and your uncles wrestled, then you wrestle where I come from, and I think it's that way throughout most of middle America.

Okay, none of us are happy about this, but seriously, lay the shit off of badminton. As former cinci badminton president, I know it seems like a joke sport, but when you play against some of these chinese guys, you see how remarkable it really can be. It is no more cheap than any racquet sport, it is just compact enough for people to failingly play in their back yards.

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Posted by cowcatcher
I think the sport is pretty entrenched in most schools in the states as it is, and there are so many youth programs/teams out there that I don't see this as making too much of an impact. If hockey was removed from the winter games, there would still be a strong foundation for kids in Canada to play it. Granted that may not be the best example since there are a lot of places to play pro or semi-pro hockey, but I think you get my point. Wrestling is part of the culture in america, especially in the Midwest, and I don't see it going away any time soon, Olympic event or not. If your dad wrestled, and your uncles wrestled, then you wrestle where I come from, and I think it's that way throughout most of middle America.

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I see what you are saying, but the Olympics are the grand stage of wrestling. You work for 4 years to try reach that pinnacle. There isn't a professional wrestling league or circuit for freestyle or greco, etc that hockey or curling or track and field has that I am aware of

based on your response, I guess as a kid the Olympics are an afterthought as opposed to being a state champ or D1 All-American or w/e. Mind you this is just an assumption from someone who has no affiliation to amateur wrestling so correct me if I'm wrong

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Posted by Bubbles

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Posted by cowcatcher
I think the sport is pretty entrenched in most schools in the states as it is, and there are so many youth programs/teams out there that I don't see this as making too much of an impact. If hockey was removed from the winter games, there would still be a strong foundation for kids in Canada to play it. Granted that may not be the best example since there are a lot of places to play pro or semi-pro hockey, but I think you get my point. Wrestling is part of the culture in america, especially in the Midwest, and I don't see it going away any time soon, Olympic event or not. If your dad wrestled, and your uncles wrestled, then you wrestle where I come from, and I think it's that way throughout most of middle America.

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I see what you are saying, but the Olympics are the grand stage of wrestling. You work for 4 years to try reach that pinnacle. There isn't a professional wrestling league or circuit for freestyle or greco, etc that hockey or curling or track and field has that I am aware of

based on your response, I guess as a kid the Olympics are an afterthought as opposed to being a state champ or D1 All-American or w/e. Mind you this is just an assumption from someone who has no affiliation to amateur wrestling so correct me if I'm wrong

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You're right, being state champ was always the big goal in high school. Getting to state was a huge deal after having to go through regionals and sectionals. I'm sure for the guys that went undefeated or won multiple state championships, the Olympics were on their minds, but the pinnacle for the majority of us that wrestled from the time we were kids was to win state. The Jesse Thielkes and Dennis Halls of the WI wrestling world are few and far between though. Like in most sports, very few guys actually make it to the upper echelon, much less really consider it a possibility to get to the very highest level, ie the Olympics.

EDIT: Going to a Big Ten school to wrestle, especially Iowa, was also a thing that a lot of guys shot for beyond winning state.