Alvarez vs. McGregor and the Illusion of Integrity in MMA

Doesn’t it seem like the whole concept of integrity in MMA has been a running joke for a while now, or at least for the last two years, as any shred of its existence has slowly eroded away in the name of big money matchups and record gates and Payperview buyrates?

Integrity…has it ever really existed in the sport or is it just an illusion perpetuated by some of the world’s greatest magicians?

And I’m not joking when I call it an illusion. Copperfield ain’t got nothing on Dana F. White.

We’re talking about a sport that started as taking a bunch of dudes with wildly different skill sets and different levels of experience in martial arts, ranging from “Some” to “None” to “Seriously? One boxing glove? The matter with you?”, putting them inside a cage with limited rules and letting them go at it until one of them either gives up or goes unconscious.

When you put it in terms as blunt as those, it makes you wonder how the sport ever became popular to begin with.

Then again, considering the relationship humans have had with violence throughout history, it’s no surprise at all.

Humans love violence. It’s as simple as that. Sure, we pretend that we don’t because our ethical society tells us we shouldn’t, but we do. We love it a lot. It’s why violence pervades every facet of our media and entertainment, from movies to TV shows to video games. It’s why the most popular sport in the US involves grown men regularly smashing into each other with car crash amounts of force.

Of course, there’s backlash from time to time, sometimes from people with a genuine concern for the athlete’s safety or some vague notion about “The Children,” but usually it’s from people with a political agenda who attempt to portray an image of ethical superiority to shore up whatever voter base they think they need to secure whatever public office they’re running for at the time.

MMA suffered a pretty good backlash in the late 90s, one which was big enough to completely kill the sport if someone didn’t step in to reverse the course the sport was traveling on.

And, by promoting “integrity” in the sport, that’s what Zuffa did when they purchased the UFC in 2000, working hard to earn the trust of athletic commissions and other sanctioning bodies to prove that MMA wasn’t just a sport of violent degenerates with a bloodlust and desire to hurt other people. These were athletes, men who respected martial arts and the thrill of competition, fighting to be the best at their chosen field, just like athletes in any other sport.

But even then, even through the late 2000s and early 2010s, when Zuffa had put so much effort into promoting MMA as a real sport, one which Dana White constantly tried to put on the same level as the NFL or the NBA, they were always showing peaks behind the facade.

They pushed Ken Shamrock and Tito Ortiz as a top feud years after either man was considered a top fighter.

They promoted a Payperview main event between Royce Gracie, a one-dimensional grappler who hadn’t fought in years and considered MMA to be nothing more than an infomercial, against one of the best all-around fighters at the time in Matt Hughes.

Brock Lesnar, who was thought of in 2007 like CM Punk is today, at least until he proved he could actually fight (we’re waiting, Phil…).

And, throughout all of that, it was the fighters with the biggest personalities and the most violent fighting styles who got the most chances to succeed, whereas the fighters who grappled and primarily fought to win did so on eggshells every time out, risking a pink slip with every loss.

The point of all this is to say the following: Integrity in MMA only exists inasmuch as we pretend it does to make us feel better about the fact that we like watching grown men and women try to hurt each other for a living.

And even when we, the fans, act like we’re all about integrity, we give UFC plenty of reason to think that, no, we don’t care about that at all.

Hey, remember when Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva were both champion? Wasn’t it great having such dominant, respectful fighters representing the sport?

You know what was also great about that era? Not much, because it was full of point fighters who were more concerned with securing a win than entertaining the fans. GSP especially, for as dominant as he was, rarely fought to finish. There was no point in it, not when he’d be risking a loss by doing so.

Not that there’s anything wrong with that, but, time and again, UFC has always shown that the fighters who get the most opportunities are the ones who put on a show and bring in the fans (and their money).

And that isn’t some new revelation that came to light once Conor McGregor got big enough to demand whatever fight for whatever title he wants. The UFC has perpetuated this kind of behavior for years, mostly because the fans, even the ones who bitch about this sort of thing on a regular basis, always go along with it because, deep down, they kinda want it too.

It’s why Chael Sonnen fought for UFC championships on three occasions and Jon Fitch had to scratch and claw just to get one.

It’s why Nick Diaz got a Payperview title shot he didn’t deserve off a year-long drug suspension and then, after losing that fight and disappearing for another year, got another high profile Payperview main event that he, once again, didn’t deserve.

It’s why CM Punk.

And it’s why McGregor can demand and get a Champion vs. Champion fight with Eddie Alvarez for the UFC Lightweight Championship in the main event of UFC’s New York debut at UFC 205, despite the fact that no part of that fight booking makes any rational sense.

No, Conor has done nothing to deserve a shot at that title. No, he shouldn’t be allowed to jump the line at 155. Yes, Khabib Numagomedov should be getting the Alvarez fight while Conor should either defend his UFC Featherweight Championship or vacate it so Jose Aldo and Max Holloway can fight and that division can move forward again.

Yes, it’s true that Conor McGregor has never defended a championship he has won in his entire MMA career.

All of that is true, but you know what else is true? That none of it matters because Conor McGregor is the man right now and a fight between him and Alvarez will be a dogfight of epic proportions. UFC said they would march into New York with the biggest fight they could offer and, by signing Alvarez vs. McGregor, they are delivering on that promise (for once…).

And that’s what the sport should be about, right? The entertainment factor? That’s what any sport should be about because, if it’s not fun and entertaining to watch, then why watch?

Sure, if UFC has rankings, then they should matter, but rankings aren’t always perfect, and rankings don’t always produce the matchups everyone wants to see.

Trust me, if casual fans, the fanbase the UFC has always cared the most about, the fanbase that makes or breaks the sport on a continual basis, wanted to see Jacare fight for the middleweight title, he would have already. It makes little sense for Michael Bisping to defend the belt against Dan Henderson but you’re lying to yourself if you aren’t at least a little pumped to see that fight.

Do I want integrity to exist in the sport? Absolutely. Do I want accurate rankings and for wins to actually matter? Do I want this to be a true sport, where the strength of your wins matter more than the strength of your trash talk?

Of course, but I also want to see fighters fight to finish and I want to see personalities and rivalries and I want to be able to emotionally invest and be given a reason for why these guys are fighting and why I should care because, presently, there are a lot of fighters who don’t know how to do that. They don’t play the game at all and, because of it, they don’t advance in the eyes of fans or their employers.

Conor McGregor knows how to play the game, and that’s why he gets all these golden opportunities: because he can, because he’s earned them, because he knows that, no matter what people say online, they’re still going to watch. He knows us. He knows what we want and he gives it to us every time.

He wants to give us a show and keep us from falling asleep in our beer on a Saturday night, and I appreciate all his effort. I feel bad for Khabib but I’m not going to act like I don’t want to see McGregor fight Alvarez. I’m invested in him. Of course I want to see that fight, and so do all of you. You’ll prove it with another monster buyrate on November 12.

Integrity? We don’t need no stinkin’ integrity…

Seriously, though, that beer cost me five bucks, so I better get to enjoy it on November 12. Also, don’t disappoint us, Conor, or you’ll have an angry Dagestani to answer to. Or a Brazilian quietly crying in the corner, desperately hoping someone will notice him. Take your pick.

Evan Zivin has been writing for 411 MMA since May of 2013. Evan loves the sport, and likes to takes a lighthearted look at the world of MMA in his writing…usually.