Pseudonym Posted October 17, 2013 Report Share Posted October 17, 2013 Those thieving Aussies have now claimed MMA pro Mark Hunt. And Hunt went along with it because he (and MMA in general) doesn't get any recognition here."I said `well that's cool, you can do it that way because Mark Hunt doesn't get any love from New Zealand'."It's one of those things, it's hard to explain. I've been representing New Zealand for such a long time and still [the media] have given me no acknowledgement of my accomplishments. Not only that but my sport in general, both sports actually. So when I was asked to do it I said `well, I do live in Australia now'. But I'm sick of knocking on the door here, you guys never let me in so it was one of those things."http://www.nzherald.co.nz/sport/news/article.cfm?c_id=4&objectid=11141148What do you reckon? Is he right? Does NZ media ignore MMA - if so, why? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrgeeky Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 yep, MMA is ignored.. How much it gets any coverage on our TV's? But it also go's for boxing.. I find the lack of coverage quite frustrating.. I think Sky buying out the rights to a lot of it has killed it off from NZ tvs.. But then surely the local stuff and the amature fights havent all been bought out by sky.. So why arent we seeing much more of this..I find it annoying if I ever turn on tv on a weekend (which is rare) only to see chanels showing footy or basketball or cricket or tennis etc, none of which I have any interest in, and yet never any MMA / Boxing / K1 etc in sight.. And I refuse to get sky just to watch it. And even if you get sky, they make you pay to watch sports channles then when anything of note comes on they make you pay again to watch it..Mark Hunts on to it, if I was him I would be fighting under an Aussie banner too. I bet the majority of NZers have never even heard of Mark Hunt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Realtalk Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 What does mark hunt expect... Australia has a lot more ppl than nz so the audience is bigger.be an all black in nz if you want everyone to know who you are, don't live overseas and fight overseas and expect everyone to follow what your doing.makes sense to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kigorri Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Ray Sefo (even Rony) and Jason Suttie have had (key word had) a much more successful career then him and did you ever hear about them? ... not a lot..... Ray was one of the most Dominant forces in kickboxing during the 90s... I know we're meant to be more liberal these days, but in general, bloodsport doesn't get a lot of screen time in little NZ. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrgeeky Posted October 20, 2013 Report Share Posted October 20, 2013 Ray Sefo (even Rony) and Jason Suttie have had (key word had) a much more successful career then him and did you ever hear about them? ... not a lot..... Ray was one of the most Dominant forces in kickboxing during the 90s... I know we're meant to be more liberal these days, but in general, bloodsport doesn't get a lot of screen time in little NZ. Right on mate. Ray Sefo had a massive following in Japan and had a career that made him millions and Jason did pretty well for him self too.. And yep, stuff all coverage here.. I have watched Jason fight locally and yet no mention or coverage of it on TV... Used to do my head in why these guys were ignored.. Even Tua had limited coverage for a lot of his career.. Often I would scan the papers looking for updates and nothing! The Sunday News were on to it.. I used to buy it because it was the only form of media that kept a constand report on what Daivd was up to.Thank god for the internet.. Lots of these fights (not the local stuff) can be watched live and free if you know where to look on the internet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pseudonym Posted October 21, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 21, 2013 be an all black in nz if you want everyone to know who you are, don't live overseas and fight overseas and expect everyone to follow what your doing.Heh. Fair point!I guess MMA is probably no more ignored than any other minority sport is. If it's not rugby, the media thinks we don't want to know. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Al Posted October 22, 2013 Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 Mark hunt and mma has ALOT of followers in NZ. Just not the media.Id be interest to know where a ufc event rates next to a pretty lame Dean Lonergan event for ppv in nz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kigorri Posted October 22, 2013 Report Share Posted October 22, 2013 All this said, knowing us Kiwi's, if UFC came to NZ it would be a huge deal and no doubt sell out... thats just how it is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Realtalk Posted October 23, 2013 Report Share Posted October 23, 2013 To be honest the mma and kickboxing scene in nz is somewhat like bodybuilding and probably worse.. Filled with shady characters with association to gangs and what not. All the fight nights are run by and seated full with gang members and all the wannabes... This has caused alot of good people to stop going who were the true fans of the sport who promoted it the most. Lots of ppl don't want to be and can't be associated with that for their own reasons. So they don't go and it doesn't get promoted like it should.the lack of publicity is it's own fault.all that aside There are so many different champions for different belts and federations... Who would ever bother wanting to keep up with all that. It's like bodybuilding where there can be 3 different overall me nz titles in one year except times 100 world champions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Al Posted October 27, 2013 Report Share Posted October 27, 2013 That's poor and pussy^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Realtalk Posted October 28, 2013 Report Share Posted October 28, 2013 That's poor and pussy^ What is?mate go f*ck yourself, you use an an roll out wheel which means a) your a homo and b) you can't really call someone a pussy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kigorri Posted October 28, 2013 Report Share Posted October 28, 2013 Calm down guys. There are many MMA, Kick Boxing and Boxing events held these days and they are all pretty good. Plenty of good people out there trying to put on a good event and succeeding. While I know of a few events that are gand associated...from what I've heard anyway... this is not the whole picture by any means.There are shade charachters involved in anything worth doing... anything that attracts a bit of attention, status or reputation... it's just how it is. Truth is, regardless of their ideals etc... most people go to events to be entertained and are more than happy to mind their own business. Promotion and publicity is on the up and up too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrgeeky Posted October 28, 2013 Report Share Posted October 28, 2013 Realtalk wrote:That's poor and pussy^ What is?mate go f*ck yourself, you use an an roll out wheel which means a) your a homo and b) you can't really call someone a pussy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrgeeky Posted October 28, 2013 Report Share Posted October 28, 2013 Calm down guys. There are many MMA, Kick Boxing and Boxing events held these days and they are all pretty good. Plenty of good people out there trying to put on a good event and succeeding. While I know of a few events that are gand associated...from what I've heard anyway... this is not the whole picture by any means.There are shade charachters involved in anything worth doing... anything that attracts a bit of attention, status or reputation... it's just how it is. Truth is, regardless of their ideals etc... most people go to events to be entertained and are more than happy to mind their own business. Promotion and publicity is on the up and up too. Not sure about the rest of the country mate, but lots of gang involvment in Aucks here. They do contribute a lot to the populatrity an promo of the sport in Auckland. The reality is how much tv time do these sports see on our TV? Personally I would love to be watching National fights on our TV.. Wouldnt it be great to see and follow the careers of some of our up and coming.. Yes even the amatuer fights have something to offer...Yet nothing on our tvs... I guess there is just not a big enough following from the public. :-( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kigorri Posted October 28, 2013 Report Share Posted October 28, 2013 Yeah, not denying the involvment of gangs, from what I understand, the Head Hunters have a good interest in local blood sports... fair enough. It's just not as dark an sinister as people want to point out. Many good events are being held and the bottom line is that if you are going there as a fan of local MMA, you shouldn't be disapointed. I don't want to sound like I'm all knowing on the topic I've only been to a handful of events over the years, but have spoken to a number of people that have been and the reports have not been negative in the sense of atmosphere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrgeeky Posted October 28, 2013 Report Share Posted October 28, 2013 Hey mate, Im not knocking the gangs involment in the sport.. I applaud it..With out them, at least here in Aucks, it would mean far less promo of the sports. And hey lets face it, wouldnt we all rather the gangs were doing something to occupy their time and keep them happy. :-) I used to train with Jay Hepi at Eddy Tongalahi's Kickboxing gym.. Jay was the leader of the Tribesman. He certainly helped promote the sport.. He went on to fight Aussie great Peter Graham.. Couldnt believe it.. I thought Jay was going to be way to inexperienced to take on some one like Peter Grahahm. Turned out it was a fairly equal fight.. Jay gave as good as he got. A wicked accomplishment!.My point being the fight was televised.. All good promo for the sport..Jay even went on to open his own kickboxing gym when he moved up North..I guess Im wondering off topic a little as the heading is about MMA. But I think the question Pseudonym asked really applies to all our MMA / boxing / Muay Thai / Martial arts type sports..I think they need all the promo they can get.. I for one would love to see far more of it on our TV's.. I often get frustrated come a Sunday afternoon where you feel like sitting down and relaxing and watching some TV and there is nothing but rugby, cricket, tennis, yachting, auto racing, etc etc. All of which bore me near to tears.. You would think at least one of the TV channels would give us some coverage of the local Mixed Martial Arts scene.. Yet its ignored almost totally..Personally I find that really frustrating. Probably one of the reasons I watch very little tv. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrgeeky Posted October 29, 2013 Report Share Posted October 29, 2013 By the way guys if you are like me and are not prepared the pay for sky just so you can get to watch some of the martial arts events, here's where you can watch them for free.. There is a bit of mucking about closing the stupid adds and pop ups but you get there in the end.. All the overseats major and PPV fights available.. Personally I wouldnt / havent downloaded and installed anything they try to get you to install.. Just close all the crap they throw at you and watch and enjoy! :-)http://www.viplivebox.eu/sports/boxing.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pseudonym Posted October 29, 2013 Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2013 Yet nothing on our tvs... I guess there is just not a big enough following from the public. Maybe we should write to the TV networks. From a technical point of view, it would have to be one of the easiest (and therefore cheapest) sports to broadcast. All the action happens in a relatively small space, and it's all indoors. Compared to filming rugby, it would be a walk in the park! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrgeeky Posted October 29, 2013 Report Share Posted October 29, 2013 Yet nothing on our tvs... I guess there is just not a big enough following from the public. Maybe we should write to the TV networks. From a technical point of view, it would have to be one of the easiest (and therefore cheapest) sports to broadcast. All the action happens in a relatively small space, and it's all indoors. Compared to filming rugby, it would be a walk in the park!Believe it or not, i have written to them on this very topic with out any repsonse. Like anything , its the squeaky wheel that gets the oil.. The more noise people make. Well worth a shot if you can get enough people wrting in..Maybe you guys could use your website to run a poll or something to show the TV stations? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.