EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) — Randy Couture remembers the path his
life was supposed to follow. He would put his foreign language and literature
degree to good use as a high school teacher, and his background as an
All-American wrestler to work as a coach.
By Josh Hedges/Zuffa via
Getty Images
Those were the days
before mixed martial arts, back when something called the Ultimate
Fighting Championship was only beginning to give birth to an
entirely new sport. The former NCAA runner-up atOklahoma State was content trying out
for the Olympics, helping young wrestlers in high school and college, and
scraping together enough money for a decent living.
As school wrestling
programs are put on chopping blocks across the country, either to reach Title
IX compliance or save a few bucks in a down economy, mixed martial arts is
providing the centuries-old sport some salvation. Kids interested in
professional fighting without access to trainers or gyms are giving it a lift —
simply by walking into wrestling rooms again.
"Wrestling is a
great foundation for mixed martial arts," said Couture, who shelved his
original career path in favor of the UFC in the late 1990s, only to see it
explode in popularity. "It's one of the oldest combative sports on the
planet for a reason."
Mixed martial arts has
undoubtedly become big business, catering to a younger demographic that snaps
up T-shirts and tickets, video games and energy drinks. Thousands of fans are
turned on by the action, the intensity, the sacrifice that it takes to be
great.
According to the National
Federation of State High School Associations, more than 355,000 high schoolers
competed on 9,772 teams during the sport's high-water mark in 1977, back
when Dan Gable was
an Olympic hero and the United States
was a force on the international scene.
By 1995, more than 1,200
of those programs had been cut and participation was at 217,000.
Part of the decline has
been tied to Title IX, the landmark federal legislation passed in 1972 designed
to create equal educational opportunities for men and women. Schools began
cutting men's programs such as wrestling that had no female equivalent in an
attempt to balance the number of teams for each gender, along with the amount
of money allocated to them.
By the early 1980s, the
country found itself in the throes of a recession, and more schools began
trimming the sport to save money, a practice that continued into the mid-90s.
"In a lot of ways,
wrestling has been the redheaded stepchild in the sports world," Couture
said. "It's never really had that status with the general public."
About the time wrestling
was at its lowest, the UFC came barreling onto the scene.
Mixed martial arts went
underground and overseas as state after state banned
"no-holds-barred" fighting, only to reappear in earnest during the
early part of the last decade, when the UFC began to work with state athletic
commissions on a universal set of rules and regulations.
When the UFC landed a
reality show on cable, it ushered in a new era for mixed martial arts. All
those states that had been disgusted by the sport began to sanction it, crowds
began to fill major arenas, millions watched on television, and mainstream
sponsors began flocking to a sport that had just a few years earlier been
considered taboo.
Fast-forward to the
present. The UFC recently sold out 55,000 seats at the Rogers Centre in Toronto
for a show on April 30. An event by rival promoter Strikeforce last weekend in
New Jersey attracted more than 1.1 million viewers for premium cable partner
Showtime.
Wrestling can only dream
of that kind of attention.
"The MMA is a
tricky situation for amateur wrestling," said Mike Moyer, the executive
director of the National Wrestling Coaches Association. "As more young
kids across the nation watch MMA, it reinforces the notion that combative
sports are cool, and as a result, it's become the 'in thing.' That will inspire
more young kids to participate in amateur wrestling.
"On the other hand,
entities like ours are constantly trying to convince key decision-making
administrators that amateur wrestling supports the greater educational mission
of schools."
Whatever the reason, the
link between MMA and wrestling has been good for both sports.
Mixed martial arts has
begun plucking talented wrestlers from college programs across the country,
giving them an opportunity to continue competing that hadn't existed.
While the money is
nowhere near what elite boxers and other professional athletes earn, the
biggest stars still command six figures per fight. Smaller promotions can pay
up to $40,000 per fight, often with bonuses for knockouts and the "fight
of the night."
"The big-time
wrestling fans haven't open-armed accepted fighting yet, they still feel like
fighting is pulling wrestlers away," said former Michigan All-American Joe
Warren, who's been fighting in the Bellator promotion. "We can make as
much as you can make in a whole year winning a (wrestling) world championship
in one fight. Hopefully the fans understand that."
Among those who have
transitioned to mixed martial arts are former NCAA championBrock Lesnar, who
previously struck it rich in the WWE; Dan Cormier, who wrestled in the Olympics
and won Pan-Am gold after his career at
Oklahoma State; and Ben Askren, the 2007 and
'08 NCAA champion from Missouri whose younger brother also wrestled for the
Tigers.
While they still must
learn other major elements of MMA — like jiujitsu and kickboxing — wrestlers
already have a background in the ground game, and an understanding of the
unique work ethic that goes into conditioning, strength training and monitoring
their weight.
"Wrestling is the
base of all grappling, and all hand-to-hand combat. If you're a good wrestler,
you're going to be good at this," said Warren, who also hopes to make the
Greco-Roman team for the 2012 London Olympics.
"Wrestling teaches you how to scramble, mental toughness, and that's
something I think MMA people who don't come from wrestling don't have."
Warren believes so much
in the marriage of MMA and wrestling that he helped establish RiNo Sport
Galleri, a gym in Denver that caters to both sports.
Many high school
wrestling coaches worry the two will become inextricably linked — they are,
after all, different sports, with different rules and objectives. But they've
also witnessed the number of kids coming to their practices increase
dramatically, and they know why.
"I'm starting to
get youngsters coming to my camp that want to move into MMA someday," said
Jeff Jordan, who's coached St. Paris Graham to 10 straight Division II Ohio
state titles. "I'm not a big MMA fan, but I know being a good wrestler is
a great foundation."
That's a big reason why
participation has risen every year since 2004, gaining back about 40,000 kids
from the sport's nadir. More than 10,000 high schools now sponsor wrestling,
the most ever, according to the coaches association, and Arkansas became the
49th state to sanction championships when it added 42 programs for the 2008-09
school year.
"It's an
interesting subject," said Jeff Buxton, who runs one of the elite high
school wrestling programs in the country at New Jersey's Blair Academy. "I
had a friend who coached in New Mexico and fathers were pushing their kids into
wrestling to prepare them for the MMA."
There are new
opportunities for kids in college, too.
Despite pressing budget
shortfalls in many states, 68 new programs have been added across all divisions
since 1999 — offsetting 29 cuts over the same period. And this year's Division
I tournament in Philadelphia has sold a record 105,000 tickets to all sessions,
making it one of the top-five revenue-generating sports among all NCAA
championships.
"MMA is certainly
starting to show its face in the wrestling world. Or better yet, wrestling is
starting to show its face in the MMA world," said Mark Reiland, the coach
of Iowa City (West) High School, one of the top programs in the country.
"We do get kids
that are very interested in the sport," he said. "Some talk about
doing it when they finish. I believe a couple have even done some fights in the
local events here. So it is starting to become something that may help the
sport at the younger levels."
•Randy Couture: The face of the UFC for years, Couture was a
three-time All-American at Oklahoma State and later coached at Oregon State. He
made his UFC debut in 1997 and is still competing in MMA. His team, Xtreme
Couture, is one of the sport's most successful.
•Brock Lesnar: Perhaps best known for his career in WWE,
Lesnar wrestled at theUniversity of Minnesota,
winning the 2000 NCAA title. He made his MMA debut in 2007 and won the UFC
heavyweight title in his fourth professional fight.
•Mark
Coleman: One of the pioneers of MMA, Coleman was an NCAA
champion at Ohio State before
embarking on his professional fighting career. He fought in the UFC for the
first time in 1996 and has established his own training camp made up primarily
of former wrestlers.
•Dan Cormier: After winning two junior college titles, Cormier
transferred to Oklahoma State and was national runner-up. He won gold at the
2003 Pan-Am Games and was fourth at the 2004 Olympics. He moved to MMA in 2009
and has won his first seven fights.
•Aaron
Simpson: A two-time All-American at Arizona State,
Simpson has also been a college wrestling coach. He began fighting in 2007 and
has fought primarily for the UFC.
•Josh
Koscheck: A four-time All-American at Edinboro
University, Koscheck appeared on the first season of The Ultimate Fighter,
the reality-style cable program that helped establish the UFC as the dominant
promotion. He has a professional record of 15-5.
•Urijah
Faber: One of the most popular fighters in the lighter
weight divisions, Faber wrestled for UC-Davis and twice qualified for the NCAA
tournament. He is 24-4 as a professional and has received some mainstream
attention as a pitchman for the AMP energy drink.
•Jake
Rosholt: A three-time NCAA champion from Oklahoma
State, Rosholt won his first five
professional fights before losing three of his next five. He trains out of
Couture's gym.
•Ben Askren: Considered among the best wrestlers ever at
Missouri, Askren lost NCAA title matches in 2004 and '05 before winning the
next two years. He also competed in the2008 Olympics before
jumping to MMA in 2009, where he has won his first seven fights.
•Joe Warren: An All-American at Michigan, Warren began
fighting in 2009 and has won five of his first six matches. He is
simultaneously training with the U.S. national Greco-Roman team in an attempt
to qualify for the 2012 London Olympics.
