http://m.uk.ufc.com/news/UFC-Forced-to-Withdraw-Support-European-Judo-Championships 
I am not in favor of UFC involved in judo in ant way. That being said there are others in higher places looking out for the best for judo. At the world class level judo is fine by itself.
judoblackbelt - I am not in favor of UFC involved in judo in ant way. That being said there are others in higher places looking out for the best for judo. At the world class level judo is fine by itself.Why are you against Judo's association with the UFC?
I am not a MMA/UFC fan.
Fair enough. Do you not like the attention people like Rousey or Akiyama bring to judo as a great combat art? Or are you, like the IJF, afraid of losing the top athletes to MMA?
What are your thoughts on the new rules in place where all newer generations of Judoka will have no idea how to defend a leg attack? Does it disturb you at all that a mediocre 14 year old kid high school wrestler will be able to takedown, at will, all future generations of Judoka no matter how accomplished?
I don't think one has to be a fan of MMA, I know it isn't for everyone. I am troubled by the anti MMA rhetoric and current rule changes that have come out of the IJF and their lap dogs. I think having a professional outlet such as MMA for wrestlers, sambo and judo practitioners is a good thing. But I respect differing opinions on the matter.
I'll try to answer all your questions:
1) I always pull for judoka especially Ronda in UFC/MMA. Her MMA is 100% judo which very enjoyable for me to watch.
2) Not afraid of losing judokas to MMA since it takes many years on the international circuit to get really good at judo. Training camps/competitions all over the world.
3)Most young judoka do wrestling and judo. Our 3 best juniors (19 and under) all wrestle.
4) I like the art of judo and there is very little of it in MMA. If they removed the knees and elbows it would get more of my attention.
I love how the MMA community thinks that no one in traditional arts is very good or that it can't stand on it's own two feet.
judoblackbelt - I'll try to answer all your questions:Thanks for the response. Ronda Rousey, Fedor, and Akiyama are why I have joined a dedicated judo school. I come from a BJJ/boxing and MMA background but have always enjoyed judo. I watch all of the IJF World Tour events online. Seeing judo applied in MMA is what got me into judo.
1) I always pull for judoka especially Ronda in UFC/MMA. Her MMA is 100% judo which very enjoyable for me to watch.
2) Not afraid of losing judokas to MMA since it takes many years on the international circuit to get really good at judo. Training camps/competitions all over the world.
3)Most young judoka do wrestling and judo. Our 3 best juniors (19 and under) all wrestle.
4) I like the art of judo and there is very little of it in MMA. If they removed the knees and elbows it would get more of my attention.
As for the UFC sponsoring judo, I thought it was a good thing. It brings more exposure to judo as a valid combat art and a potential outlet for other judoka onto a professional career of they wish to continue in combat sports. There are quite a few guys at my judo school into MMA.
Outkaster - I love how the MMA community thinks that no one in traditional arts is very good or that it can't stand on it's own two feet.Sounds like you are projecting your own insecurities and making this up in your head. Because people think the UFC sponsoring judo (and other combat arts) is a good thing that means they think judo can't stand on it's own? Lol, ok.
I have been around a lot of MMA guys and I have never heard anyone say they don't think another art can stand on it's own. Where did that even come from? And specifically regarding judo, I have generally heard praise for the "beautiful" throws, sweeps, and balance of good judoka.
The only negative I have heard encompasses all single martial arts and that being they can't hang with someone who is crosstrained in MMA in the MMA arena. That includes boxing, BJJ, wrestling, judo etc. And at the high levels this is true and is common sense. But I don't hear MMA guys bashing single martial arts seeing as what they train is a mixture of all effective combat arts.
And if you want to put the shoe on the other foot, you don't have to go far to hear some judoka bashing MMA and/or BJJ. I think bashing on either side is for the ignorant and insecure.
Seems like one art (mma) loves the second art (judo), but the second art does not love the first art back. At least when it comes to bitter, old, fat IJF kings. Jeez. Us younger people actually think that sharing is caring. (And I'm in my thirties, actually).
jonpal- I'll give you 1/3. Not bitter, not fat(probably in top 3% of my age group, but am old(64). It is the "eye" test. I don't like what what I see in MMA and don't want to taint judo with it. that simple. Judo by itself is such a competitive sport and governing body(IJF) that keeps it growing. Problem is it takes huge $$$/sacrifice on the athletes to very good at it.
Ok, I was maybe a bit harsh :) lol. I respect that some of you guys don't want to mix Judo and MMA, and I sometimes think that the UFC goes a bit overboard with how to represent MMA in bit of a "redneck" way. It's like the bloodier the fights are the better.
But not all people view MMA that way. Personally I've found that MMA is very helpful in figuring out what type of techniques martial arts teachers should teach students in order to become as effective as possible in self defence situations. Seeing techniques work in MMA (OR in Judo or BJJ) says a lot about how well they would work for self defence.
If there was no MMA, people would be learning MUCH less effective self defence. But right now I'm practising Judo and loving it. Cheers.
I don’t hate MMA, well parts of it. It did give the Martial Arts a kick in the ass in the 1990’s to show what worked and didn’t work. I just don’t like all the disrespect in the sport and the amount of the shitty attitudes I see in it, it has given the Martial Arts a black eye. It has its merits don’t get me wrong but in a sense Judo doesn’t love it back, so what one of the above posters wrote was correct in a sense. Judo is very hard on the body and takes a lot longer to be good at than other martial arts I know. I had a 4th degree black belt in another system and this is easily the hardest thing I have done and my former system was tough. But I have seen better kickboxing matches in the 1980’s then some of the stand up in MMA, it’s fuckin horrible 80% of the time. So many guys are into that it’s leveled the playing field. It’s also spawned a lot of YouTube martial artists commenting on all kinds of things that don’t know shit about the martial arts. Look at some comments everytime a video is posted about MMA by guys that think BJJ and Muai Thai are the only Martial Arts out there.
We have MMA guys coming in thinking they will learn a couple Judo throws to mix into their list of techniques. It never works out because they are too selfish and don’t stay around long enough to learn it correctly, it takes time. Case in point over the summer I was at a Judo school near the state capital and these guys are all rough there. They had an MMA fighter come in thinking he was going to get something off on these guys, guess what it didn’t happen. He got his ass handed to him as the GI is the great neutralizer. Look don’t get me wrong all I meant was that it seems people don’t come to Judo for Judo anymore, they all want to take parts of it for something else which never works out because they are never there long enough to learn it. MMA has its place some of the techniques are decent for the street but still is a sport and has holes also. Oh by the way I am almost 50, better shape than most guys my age including guys in their 20’s.
Thanks for the response. 2 issues I have are you reading YouTube comments and taking them seriously. I stopped reading those comments a long time ago because it is just a bunch of morons posting shit. For all video genres. Then other issue is you expecting to see K1 level kickboxing in MMA. It isn't going to happen unless you have an elite striker make the trip transition.
MMA guys are often Jack of all trades. They have to be. You do get some crossover world champion or Olympic medalists in wrestling, BJJ, or Judo but not a ton. There is just not enough time in the day to become a world beater in all areas for most people.
You do fine people with a strong base in one martial art and then they pick up the other areas.
As for judo I understand your frustration with people wanting to just take a piece of it. Fortunately I come from some wrestling and a gi BJJ background so I understand the merits of learning an art on its own and I am familiar with the gi.
I train judo at a dedicated judo school and know it will be a long dedicated process to learn the art. I am enjoying the journey and being a white belt again.
As for MMA guys trying to prove something at your school, well everyone is different and every place has their jokers. I train with a couple MMA guys who are learning judo on its own.
Being 50 and an old school traditional martial artist I can understand your aversion to MMA. I am 30 and started in BJJ and MMA in my early 20's. This is all I know, the post UFC martial arts era. I can't stomach doing anything that wouldn't help in MMA or a real self defense scenario.
In short I enjoy the arts for what they are as stand alone arts but I want to apply what I learn into a more realistic MMA scenario which I can do with BJJ and Judo.
People start criticizing Judo long before they get truly good at.
Open your mouth AFTER you REALLY get better at it, period.
Well that’s it. A big problem I have is that there is no loyalty to anything anymore and it is really too bad. Most of the MMA guys I know remind me of bodybuilders in the mid to late 80’s, very selfish people. They never last and bounce gym to gym. Dedicating to yourself to something like Judo is incredibly hard and you need to have a lot of fortitude to keep getting up in Randori after being thrown. As I said I don’t hate the sport necessarily, just a lot of the culture around it.
As far as YouTube , I don’t take the comments to heart but social media has a way of shaping what the general population things about things…....it’s just not good.
The UFC made a bitch move by letting the world know how the deal fell apart. Who knows how much money they wanted for the sponsorship?
So you offer sponsorship, and then you get hysterical and make an ANNOUNCEMENT about that when the deal doesn't go through?? There is no honor. What kind of punk attitude is that??
The European officials must have felt that they had made the right decision after they heard this announcement.
Edit.
It would appear they withdrew too late.
Glasgow and the BJA had the 2015 European championships taken from them.
The EJU then announced that the Championships would now be run as the Judo element on the inaugural European Games in Baku, Azerbaijan.
It's caused a bit of a shit storm in British Judo circles, I can't help but think the BJA have been stitched up on this one.
factchecker - The UFC made a bitch move by letting the world know how the deal fell apart. Who knows how much money they wanted for the sponsorship?
So you offer sponsorship, and then you get hysterical and make an ANNOUNCEMENT about that when the deal doesn't go through?? There is no honor. What kind of punk attitude is that??
The European officials must have felt that they had made the right decision after they heard this announcement.
The BJA were quite happy with the deal, which also included Title sponsorship of the 2015 British Open.
The BJA's own statement was issues at the same time as the UFC's and pretty much said the same thing.