Perception vs Reality: The MMA vs Boxing debate

For the past few weeks, MMA fans and the greater public have been bombarded with advertisements pushing the idea that the James Toney/Randy Couture fight this Saturday at UFC 118 is "MMA vs. Boxing".  The two brother sports have been in a competition that rivals Thor and Odin with MMA (primarily through the UFC) usurping the role at the premier combat sport in America. While MMA has destroyed boxing in the financial arena, many fans of boxing still hold fast to the idea that a boxer is a better fighter than an MMA fighter.

On the other hand, most MMA fans understand the reality that the two sports are different animals and that each fighter would more than likely lose outside of his domain. They understand the reality that unless Toney can land a big punch on Couture, this is not a fight that he can win. They understand the reality that this isn't "MMA vs. Boxing"; this is an aging, notoriously out-of-shape boxer stepping into the world of MMA without any cross-training experience against a veteran in Randy Couture who two years ago was the UFC Heavyweight Champion.  However, this isn't about reality. This country is never about reality. It's about perception. And the perception that this is actually "MMA vs. Boxing" is to the advantage of Dana White and the UFC.

Remember "The Battle of the Sexes" tennis match? What do you remember? Better yet, what were you told? Billie Jean King beat a bigoted Bobby Riggs. That's pretty much what most remember from that encounter. A female player got tired of hearing a chauvinist male denigrate women and was able to beat him at his own game. That is the perception of what happened, the legacy. It was used as a lightning rod of support for the Woman's Movement of that era. Now, what was the reality? The reality was Bobby Riggs wasn't a chauvinist; he was just playing a role, "selling" the match. Bobby Riggs also wasn't in great shape; Riggs was 55 years old and was retired while King was 29 and one of the top players in the world. These key details don't matter in the greater scheme of things; all that matters is that the woman beat the man.

Thus, when boxer James Toney steps into the UFC cage against MMA fighter Randy Couture, this isn't really "Boxing vs. MMA". This won't answer the question of which sport is better. Nothing will be solved with either result. If Randy wins, he was supposed to, if Toney wins (unless by submission), he is a world-class boxer, he was supposed to KO him. MMA will continue to destroy boxing in PPV revenue and boxing will continue to slide into the abyss of irrelevance (minus Mayweather vs. Pacquiao). However, it‘s the public perception that is the most important. The greater public believes this is "MMA vs. Boxing" because that's what they were fed and thus whichever "side" loses will undoubtedly take a big hit in the opinion of the public. Specifically for the UFC and MMA, this could be a fight that further "legitimizes" the sport in the eyes of the viewing public.

SBN coverage of UFC 118: Edgar vs. Penn 2