It seems that we have another hot topic in MMA journalism. Someone wrote an article pointing out the reasoning for Ronda Rousey’s dominance; namely: Only in Judo do women martial artists have the infrastructure to provide them the competition necessary to develop true talent. Now that one person has written it, everyone is writing it, yet passing off the idea as their own. Example #1 here. Example #2 here. You might be asking, “Which one is not a plagiarist? Who said it first?”
The answers are “none of the above” and “MMADork.”
Rob, the Wise Old Sage
Without meaning to take away from Ronda’s admirable work ethic, attitude, or talent, I made this observation several times on Fight Fans Radio, then posted it here about six months after first discussing it. If you’re not interested in wading through all that text, here’s what I wrote:
As for [the fight between Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate], those [claiming that Ronda hasn’t earned the title shot] just don’t understand that there is only one well-developed, high-quality combat sports organization that’s available to women, and that’s USA Judo [error deleted]. USA Judo is highly organized, highly competitive, and international in scope. Miesha Tate wrestling in high school against two other women statewide (yes, I’m exaggerating) does not prepare her the same way Judo prepared Ronda. The fact that Miesha trains with men doesn’t change the equation. Every professional combat athlete will tell you that training with the best doesn’t compare to actually competing against the best. When it came to competing, Miesha simply didn’t have the same level of competition because 1) there aren’t many competitors in the first place, and 2) she didn’t fight people beyond her relatively small region. Thus, the complaint that Ronda lacks experience is actually ridiculous. Miesha is far too green for this fight….”
(emphasis added). Last modified January 8, 2012.
Once again, I find myself about 2-3 years ahead of the curve. As with my 2011 comments predicting Ronda’s impact on MMA (quotes below. Last modified June 22, 2011), MMA Journalists are finally saying what I’ve been saying for years. Their writing has an air of arrogance as if they’ve personally made this great discovery. Well, so does mine, but at least I’ve earned the right to be such a snob about it. In fact, considering that Ronda Rousey herself followed my writings before she had such a busy schedule, I wouldn’t be surprised if these articles started popping up because someone found my blog and outright plagiarized it.
What’s the Point?
Believe it or not, this isn’t about me telling you how brilliant I am; quite the opposite. It’s about telling how little a deal this is, and thus showing you that MMA Journalism, even after all of these years, is still very much a joke. That’s the big deal. Anyone with 1) knowledge of her judo career and 2) a capability to apply inductive reasoning could have predicted and understood Ronda’s success. I’m simply pointing out that MMA journalists have neither despite it being part of their job description to have both. After all of these years of reporting and research, you’d expect that they’d finally be on target. You’d be wrong.
Yeah, I just love the media.
And I am brilliant. 🙂
Follow me on Twitter @MMADork
P.S. What I wrote in June, 2011 is here:
Watch for this one. She could very well be the future of women’s MMA, and she definitely lends credibility to the women’s division…. I expect to see her in Strikeforce soon. Moreover, it will be hard for Dana White to continue to ignore women’s MMA with women like Ronda in the mix.
MMADork 