do you think UFC should stick with the cage or switch to a ring?
i say ring.
Hold your breath.
i say a pentagon, with hidden hallways and a maze./
deadends/ and a trap door to alligators.
I say they make it "real" and build a "set" to fight in. You know, Hughes vs. Gracie will be in a kitchen. Sylvia vs. Arlovski III will be in a living room.
WTF- UFC is so synonymous with a cage, they will never switch.
They both have their good and bad side, but I think for the UFC the cage is best. It is one of the things that people most easily associate with "ultimate fighting" and with a ring some of the higher up UFC fighters, i.e. Chuck Liddell, might not be so good.
"WTF- UFC is so synonymous with a cage, they will never switch."
Nor should they. Don't fix it if it ain't broken. The octogon has been there from the beginning and changing it could be disasterous. If you want to fight in a ring then fight in a different promotion. You fight in the UFC = you fight in a cage, period.
From a pure television standpoint, I prefer the cage to the ring.
Sometimes watching Pride, it gets annoying seeing the folks outside the ropes.
The cage focuses the action on the fighters, without much of anything in the background.
Cage or Ring
MMA is often referred to as "cagefighting" in the US as it is associated with the UFC's octagonal caged fighting area. Most major MMA promotions in the US, Canada and Britain use the "cage" as a result of directly evolving from the first UFC events. There are variations on the cage such as replacing the metal fencing with a net, or using a different shape for the area other than an octagon, which has been trademarked by UFC. In Japan, Brazil and some European countries such as Netherlands an area similar to a standard boxing ring is used, but with tighter ropes and sometimes a barrier underneath the lowest rope to keep grappling athletes from rolling out of the ring. The usage of the ring in these countries is derived from the history of Vale Tudo, Japanese pro-wrestling and other MMA related sports such as kickboxing.
The choice of cage or ring is more than aesthetic however, as it impacts the type of strategies that a fighter can implement. For example, a popular and effective strategy in a cage is to pin an opponent into the area where the fence meets the mat, and then pummel him with strikes. This is not possible in a roped ring. On the other hand, the roped ring can result in entangled limbs and fighters falling through the ropes, requiring the referee to sometimes stop the fight and reposition the fighters in the center. Some critics feel that the appearance of fighting in a cage contributes to a negative image of MMA in popular media.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_martial_arts#Cage_or_Ring
The Octagon™[Top]
The octagonal competition mat and cage design are registered trademarks and/or trade dress of Zuffa, LLC and are symbolic of the highest quality mixed martial arts events brought to you under the Ultimate Fighting Championship® brand name. In 1993, UFC events were the first to feature an eight-sided competition configuration which has become known worldwide as the UFC Octagon™
The UFC Octagon is unique from any other fighting arena because the octagonal shape and structure have become inherently associated with Zuffa and the UFC brand name among mixed martial arts consumers, other mixed martial arts organizations and the national media. The UFC Octagon is regularly featured on UFC Pay-per-view events, Ultimate Fight Night™ and The Ultimate Fighter® reality TV series. The UFC Octagon creates a neutral arena to showcase the skills of UFC mixed martial arts athletes. The UFC organization has a established a reputation for providing the maximum safety to the fighters with commission approved ring structures, canvas, and all safety padding and fences. Zuffa makes major investments to ensure the safety of competitors in the UFC Octagon -- as a result, when people see the Octagon they associate it with the reputation and quality delivered only by Zuffa at UFC events.