Mixed Martial Artists and Ultimate Fighting Championship

[SimonJC]

Its a matter of taste. UFC/MMA is of no interet to me, Contract Bridge is. Both have tournaments which are reported in the press, so, for me, both are legitimate sports and its up to the compiler whether to include questions.

[grecian]

Its a matter of taste. UFC/MMA is of no interet to me, Contract Bridge is. Both have tournaments which are reported in the press, so, for me, both are legitimate sports and its up to the compiler whether to include questions.

I'd say the point is precisely that UFC and MMA aren't really reported in the UK press, despite being very popular.

[jhoney1977]

Wow- what a discussion. Paul, thanks for the Wikipedia page, that's exactly the kind of broad intro into the subject that's helpful (but strangely I had never thought to check). Peter- to recap, I'm not arguing *at all* with the popularity of UFC/MMA or even with the legitimacy of covering them in the Sports genre, I just thought there have cumulatively been a lot of questions on them recently in relation to the general ease of accessing facts about these sports for free/an Internet subscription.

I actually really like questions about more obscure/less reported sports, and think the media should do more to cover them (wasn't there a recent ticking-off telling Five Live to cover more sports rather than 90% football? I completely agree) - my *only* point is that in terms of combat sports, I would probably have expected a few more questions on famous boxers, judogi, tae kwon doers etc over the same period as the UFC and MMA questions we've had. All of which sports are very popular and Olympic to boot.

Having said all that, I am perfectly prepared to dive into the world of UFC and MMA if it helps my scores and doesn't involve hours of watching bouts. In quiz, open-mindedness often translates into ranking points (though you'll still never get me watching Corrie or Eastenders- there are limits).

[grecian]

I prefer questions which can be answered by non sports fans if they had done the requisite research. In the same way that I maintain a decent level on art/culture despite not being well read or cultured , I think it should be possible for people to improve their sports scores by making an effort to keep up.

I think that's a really good and important point. Few people, be they quizzers or otherwise, have the time or energy to pursue any more than four or five deep-seated interests in life, so for those of us who want to achieve a wide general knowledge the rest has to come from some form of deliberate effort to acquire that knowledge (this can take many forms). A general knowledge quiz which excludes all but those who care deeply about the subject is a bad quiz, I'm afraid - and if that offends purists then so be it. Of course, any set of 30 on a genre should include roughly 10 pretty tough ones - and some of them will be the types of questions you'd have to be a pretty keen fan or have done lots of research to answer. And that's fine, but such questions should be in the minority and should cover a wide range of terrain.

[jhoney1977]

I should also point out that if any question is worded well, it rewards guesswork- hence why both Sean Carey and myself (and others?) correctly guessed St Pierre as the answer to the GSP question, as it mentioned he was Canadian.

[grecian]

I should also point out that if any question is worded well, it rewards guesswork- hence why both Sean Carey and myself (and others?) correctly guessed St Pierre as the answer to the GSP question, as it mentioned he was Canadian.

Precisely how was the question worded again?

[narkyiain]

Often referred to as GSP, which Canadian mixed martial artist who is the current Welterweight Champion of the UFC?

I got it as well without any memory of having known his name.

[grecian]

Often referred to as GSP, which Canadian mixed martial artist who is the current Welterweight Champion of the UFC?

I got it as well without any memory of having known his name.

Dang, I didn't spot the significance of those initials at all, and might have had a successful stab at it had I done. I'll RTFQ next time.

[falcon]

Just to stir the pot a little.The Rugby League website claims it is played in every English
county and there are currently 250,000 participants at various levels.The best part of
100,000 people per week must watch it live at pro or semi-pro level in this country.I doubt MMA comes anywhere near these figures.

[Chris]

If you go to the main page of the BBC Sport website you are presented hot links to...

"Football
Formula 1
Cricket
Rugby U
Rugby L
Tennis
Golf
Olympics"

Under another link to "Other Sports" you get (arranged in three columns) ...

"American Football
Archery
Athletics
Badminton
Baseball
Basketball
Bowls
Boxing
Canoeing
Cycling
Darts
Disability Sport
Diving
Equestrian
Fencing
Gaelic Games
Gymnastics
Handball
Hockey
Horse Racing
Ice Hockey
Judo
Modern Pentathlon
MotoGP
Netball
Rowing
Sailing
Shooting
Snooker
Squash
Swimming
Table Tennis
Taekwondo
Triathlon
Volleyball
Weightlifting
Winter Sports
Wrestling"

Wrestling just sneaks in but there's no mention of MMA.