Will MMA ever "look" like boxing???

I just finished enjoying the Proelite show on Showtime. Charles Bennet's obnoxious 10 minute stroll to the cage while talking on a cellphone was only trumped by his refusing to touch gloves with KJ Noons. I enjoyed watching Noons chop at the cocky Bennet with those beautiful leg kicks. I also enjoyed watching Bennet's left to the body, right to the jaw KO combination.
Silva impressed me and the womens match was pretty damn good.
Now Frank Shamrock......well, thats a whole different thread.
After waiting five minutes to see whether Shamrocks cheapshot had paralyzed Renzo or only incapacitated him for the night; I swithched to the Sugar Shane fight we DVR'd on HBO.
Was this really a fight I was about to watch??? Where are the fire-breathing dragons?? Where is the stripper flag procession??? Where are the three-story projection screens with anime charicatures of the combatants??? Where's the weird guy in the diaper with the greasy ass bamging the drums????
I have always had serious reservations about the theatrics that have become so commonplace in these MMA productions. After watching one of Akihiro Gono's full-scale broadway show entrances at Pride I vowed never to buy their PPV again. (I didn't keep that promise, bastards!!)
I thought that Gary Shaw and Showtime would bring a breath of fresh air to our sport. I hoped they would package it just like boxing. When I saw the 30 foot tall fire breathing dragon I was so dissappointed.
Why do the fighters have to emerge from dragons mouth in a cloudy haze of dragons smoke, and then walk alone down an elevated cat-walk??? Why not have them drop from the rafters on mechanical platforms?? Maybe the platforms can even rotate and spin like Tommy Lee's rig???
Even the tough-looking tribal designs on the Proelite graphics pissed me off??? Why does it have to be so melodramatic. I want MMA to be like every other mainstream sport, not the WWF. I dream of a day when I can get MMA news on sporscenter. I hate that the "world-wide leader in sports" spends more time on Golf than MMA.
So my questions is fellas, will I ever watch an MMA event that will look just like a boxing promotion. And I'm not talking the ring/cage question, that I don't care about. I just want to see that best fighters in the wolrd compete without all of the theatrical BS. Will this day ever come????

Boxing? Like the same sport where their greatest star of all time would recite poetry concerning his skills? Like how the current great rides a chariot to the ring in full body armor? Theres theatrics and characters in every sport dude.

i liked the ramp idea..but maybe not that tall up there..a foot high is good

Dragon was stupid....Ring girls looked like Hookers...entrance music was too low(crowd was much louder)..didnt feel right

commentators were annoying...stupid fake voice annoyed me the whole event(Mauro R)

they were over all trying to be too entertaining and it just didnt work for me

That why there is the UFC, theyre taking a similar approach to their presentation, very similar to boxing, their ring girls arent too overexposed, no ramp or crazy entrances any more, they pretty much are more intersted in the actual combat itself. I guess they are kinda having the same thought process you have in order to legitimize the sport more and maybe someday they wil have a slot on ESPN right next to golf.

Can it be toned down? Sure. The bottom line is, eventually, there will be two athletes in the ring/cage throwing bombs and trying submissions.
I don’t think a Mexican restaurant is judged by its chips and salsa it serves first, it’s judged by the main course. Man, I must be hungry.

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Posted by Savy
...Where's the weird guy in the diaper with the greasy ass bamging the drums????...

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You've earned props my friend.