Looked like he ran out of puff. Bottle though but it's a pish sport.

agree its a dangerous job shouldnt be called a sport. looks like he will have to stay  little longer now with jordan. ha-ha. thats if she dont kick him out. lol...

What??!! All credit to him, he lasted the full 5 rounds and he took a hammering but was still standing at the end of it. It was all but a given he was gonna be out by the 2nd round but he fought a bloody good fight and proved his place. I've seen quite a few MMA fights live (in the venues) but that was the most incredible one I've seen yet. Tom Watson is a fierce component and Reid shocked 90% of the viewers, both in the venue and outside it.

Reid wanted to win, course he did, but I think what was more important was getting the respect as a bonafide MMA fighter and that's what he's got now. He was a laughing stock before but now it's a different story, and very well deserved IMO.

Boxing is called a sport yet it is allowed up to 12 rounds in a pro match of consistent blows to the head wearing gloves like bricks. MMA is normally 3 rounds at 3 minutes a time where a variety of martial arts are used. Which one is the more dangerous?

MMA is not everyone's cup of tea but I love it, my 12 year old trains (aswell as Karate) and he loves it and I have got to know a lot of people involved in it. It's becoming increasingly popular in the UK and soon maybe your own kids/grandkids will be into it. Yes, it's poses it's dangers, just like boxing does, just like diving does, just like long jump does. Individuals choice at the end of the day *shrugs*

I've a different opinion. I'm really not interested in sport but some weeks back while channel hopping early a.m trying to find something interesting to watch I came upon a series about Alex visiting several countries around the world to learn from the best teachers/Masters he could. I saw how much dedication and pure hard work had to be put into mixed martial arts.


In the lead up to his fight with Tom Watson it seemed just about everyone was writing Alex off as a contender, apart from those who believed in him. I watched the fight and after listening to the hype from Tom thought Alex had no chance even though for some weeks I'd watched what he went through to build up for the fight. The hall was packed with thousands of MMA fans, most of who, and particularly Tom who had no respect for Alex and who he thought wouldn't last the duration were more than surprised that Alex not only lasted the duration but definitely gave Tom a shock as through most bouts Alex led and Tom was a literal bloody mess. The judges gave Tom the fight with a 2 or 3 point lead and judged mainly on one round. I learnt that MMA is much tougher than boxing, the rounds lasts longer also, I thought Alex did great to disprove so many wrong, including Tom who praised him at the end when he realised the match hadn't been anywhere near as easy as he'd kept prediciting.

Tom Watson's fierce....grrrr...  Do they allow sticks or did he out think him? 

As far as I know the rounds are the same length as boxing (3 minutes each in usual bouts)

I'm no expert on it at all, but have followed it for a good few months now and want to learn more. I've just asked the question of difference between MMA and boxing in terms of how hard it is and have been told that MMA uses a lot more body movement and various parts of the body, requires more stamina (for submissions, grapples...etc) so the body as a whole will tire out quicker than that of a boxing match.

I had some real reservations about my son wanting to do it, but at his age, even though he's sparring with teenagers/20 year olds (cos of his height and build) - he is not getting blasted about like we saw on Saturday. You can only professionally fight when you're 16 and even then it's so closely monitored.

Watching the fight and listening to the commentary I learnt the rounds are for 5 minutes. Cos hubby watches boxing sometimes I learnt that MMA - well the match between Tom and Alex - is far more physical and must be much more exhausting. If I had a son that wanted to learn any form of self defence from what I learnt about the series Alex took part in for his training I'd prefer MMA to boxing, learning 3 martial art skills as to one that is boxing.

Maybe at Alex and Tom's level the rounds are 5mins (I'm not risking waking up someone again to ask ) but any I've been to (Ultimate Challenge and a couple of others) are 3mins.

My son did boxing aswell, but it was in the height of the summer and he got bored. He's got a punching bag though and still smashes that about now and again. But all of these sports are limited contact until the kids get to about 16 (as far as I know). My mum hates the sports he does but my view is he is able to defend himself against not only kids his own age but older kids should the need arise. Could I go and watch him in a fight of a similar kin to what we saw the other night? I would think so, but they'd have to hold me back from getting in the cage and smacking his opponent with my handbag

I only learnt how long the rounds were because the commentator mentioned it - sometimes it seemed longer than 5 minutes to me when all that blood stuff was happening and it looked such a physically tiring sport that I was willing a bell to ring lol. Maybe different levels of the sport depend on the age group or whether professional or not.


Personally I've never understood why some choose as a career any sport that can lead to physical injury, to either inflict it on someone or be willing to accept it. But in real life these days there are certainly advantages to being able to protect yourself. Although I've no skills in any such areas if anyone attacked any of mine I bet I'd suddenly find strength and ability to do everything I could to protect them

I bet you would too! It's an unexplainable emotion when someone hurts or upsets your own isn't it? Not a feeling I like very much

Me neither when I realise what lengths or depths I would probably go to to protect loved ones. I've sometimes come across the term of being like a lion protecting her cubs, can understand that but it also shows we have the instincts of an animal at times

Absolutely. x

Agree

Now all he has to do to earn even more respect, is to leave her.

An interesting fact about fighting was stated on QI the othjer night.There were no deaths in the boxing ring until gloves were used.When they used to fight bare knuckled they did not strike the face or the head because they would more than likely break their hands or fingers.The introduction of boxing gloves allowed multiple blows to the head,that's where the damage was done.