I was alerted to check out the WAMMA Rankings by a reader who could not believe how bad they were. Up until this point I have never had the desire to see the rankings because I could really care less who a bunch of no-names rank as the best fighters in the world. Just about every MMA site has their own set of rankings and each is just as meaningless as the next. WAMMA is no different, except they take themselves oh so seriously. So seriously that I can't help but make fun of them.

According to their website, "The WAMMA Ranking Committee is comprised of the most knowledgeable MMA sports/media experts ever assembled". First off, "sports/media experts" is an oxymoron. None of these people are experts. They are MMA fans who think since they write on the internet it makes them experts. Wrong. An expert in MMA would be some one like Randy Couture who has fought for years in the sport. People who watch MMA and write about on websites are not experts. I am one of them, so I should know.

The biggest problem with people like this is since they think they are more important than the rest of the fans, they do things for the sake of themselves, which in the end hurts the sport. For instance, recognizing champions and having a meaningless ranking system. I have no problem with different organizations giving out belts. If Affliction wants to have their own belts, they should because they are a legimate MMA organization. My problem is when a group of fans get together and want to make themselves important, so they hand out a bunch of meaningless titles. MMA does not need more titles. All they do is confuse things and make the sport more like boxing. Notice how they even chose an acronym like a boxing organization (WBO, IBF, WBA, WBC).

I am sure WAMMA could care less what I have to say about them. I am just a fan afterall, while they are experts on the sport. If they were really experts they would know it is things like them that will put an end to MMA's popularity. Once one set of "experts" release belts, you can always count on another set of "experts" coming along and releasing more belts. Next thing you know, Fedor is walking around with five belts and the real fans begin looking for some thing less confusing to watch on TV.

Here is the tricky part about WAMMA, and the thing I need all of you to pay close attention to. WAMMA's members come from popular MMA sites, as I mentioned earlier. Obviously, these members want what is best for WAMMA, so they are going to write propaganda on their sites in an effort to get the fans alligned with them. Do not buy into their crap. It is not meant to make MMA stronger. All they want is for WAMMA to be stronger.

Right now their big issue is the UFC does not recognize WAMMA. This is a huge problem for them because the majority of the fighters listed in their rankings are from the UFC. WAMMA needs the UFC. Without them they have no control and they know it, which is why when you see an article about the topic on any of the "expert" sites, it will defend WAMMA and make the UFC into the bad guy. The UFC is not evil. They just do not want a meddlesome group of "experts" telling them who should be fighting. As fans, you should not want these "experts" in the sport either.

rearnaked.blogspot.com/2008/08/mma-does-not-need-wamma.html