Art Davies and XARM: You Couldn’t Write This

With all of the crap that exploded yesterday in the wake of the Fitch/White debacle, eventually settled by Lorenzo Fertitta (thanks, boss), I had a lot of loose anger. Fortunately, though, I can take solace in the fact that one of the greatest idiots ever to take part in the sport, Art Davies, is still working hard to make me laugh.

Now, I should point out that when Art Davies claims he is “one of the founders of the UFC,” there is a grain of truth to that (though not much more), but if he really believes that his organizational skills are what have made the UFC successful, he should remember that he was one of the men initially responsible for almost running the sport into the ground. What’s more, it wasn’t his concept.

The conceptualization of the UFC, which I generally credit to Rorion Gracie (at least, for bringing it to America) and Bob Meyrowitz, was a good one. No rules, testing the combat virtues of every martial art and the top athletes in the world. It was a good idea, but it was marketed by idiots, and that’s why it almost suffered its early demise.

There are people better read on the history than I am, but over the years I’ve done a little research, and here’s my abridged interpretation:

The UFC ran into problems because it was seen, largely, as a bloodsport. This image didn’t just happen, it was marketed. The early UFC’s were promoted as bloodsport events, as the closest thing to the Jean Claude Van Damme classic as anyone could get. This image caused it problems legally, where commissions absolutely refused to sanction it as unregulated, politically, where it was attacked by men like John McCain, and socially, where it was largely stigmatized by all but a small group of young men who could embrace their unrepentant bloodlust.

This was Art Davies’ plan (as well as the plan of Bob Meyrowitz), and Dana White, whatever issues we may have with him now, has spent much of his career trying to reverse the damage infllicted on the sport by the idiot promoters responsible for this image, restoring some credibility to the sport.

Now that you know why I don’t like Art Davies, specifically, lets get back to the general stupidity of XARM.

The beauty of the UFC, and the sport of mixed martial arts as a whole, was the opportunity for versatility, as well as the visceral nature of the sport. I love a sport where anything can happen, where two grapplers can come out to strike or a K-1 warrior can tap out a former NCAA champion. XARM reminds me not of the ancient combat forms attributed to the Greeks, not of any sort of test of human mettle, but an excuse to tie two rabid raccoons together by the tail and watch them scramble and claw until they tear their own tails off.

In terms of the specific failures of XARM (and this is just what we’ve seen already), there is no production value, no real excitement, no serious talent pool and no unfulfilled audience to market to (the bloodthirsty fans seem to be finding adequate sustainance in some combination of UFC events and WWE pay-per-views).

As a fan, though, this is something more insulting. Christopher Hitchens (whether you like him or not) pointed out during the last election that the worst thing a politician can do is make you ask “What do you take me for?”

Well, I find myself asking the same question of Mr. Davies and, if I didn’t already know that he was, I’d quickly be drawing the conclusion that the man is an idiot.

I have to admit, though, the guys at SNL couldn’t write this stuff.