combat in sport, and combat sport thoughts

these are just some thoughts about combat in sports and combat sports - from an ex hockey goon perspective.

 June 27th.

hockey - today, there is alot of education about the impact of concussions on players. i also think that players exploit that education and say they have a concussion when they really don't. however, i think that alot of canada's best fighters, are in the nhl and minors
mma- just like boxing, i admire the way the fighters watch their diet, can cut weigh, however, i think alot of the current stars (not all) , have failed in other sports but found success in mma because it is a new sport.
boxing- i think the boxers in the lighter weight division would absolutely demolish the ufc stars. as for the heavyweights, all the best heavyweights are in football leagues.
 promotion- ufc does the best job, better than hockey. it has learned from the mistakes of boxing. boxing should have stacked cards like ufc. I would love to see some crossover, like james toney did, except, Junior Dos Santos, challenge a top ten heavyweight in boxing, another boxer try out mma, from the lighter divisions, like kermit cintron, who has some wrestling in his background.
pay- boxing top stars make alot of money, the most in any sport. ufc spreads it out, but the top fighters are still very underpaid.
Identity- every athlete gets addicted to the attention and can't turn the page in life. it is worse for the ones who don't make the money or have support systems in palce to help them to adjust to life after the spotlight.
Exploitation -  either way, all athletes are exploited.
Jiu jitsu - is a lifelong martial art
amateur boxing- is misunderstood, it is safe, well matched, predominantly all training, less gruelling than hockey and football.

judo - not a sport I know alot about, only recently been introduced to - a sport I would put my son in.
education- I am very thankful that at 32, with a university degree now. I did not achieve the goals I had dreamed about, prayed for, put all thoughts into,  - it is a true blessing that I did not achieve goals and applied myself to school instead of getting stuck into the identity of an athlete, chasing the dreams and old glory.