Are Americans the worst MMA fans in the world?

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We've all seen that one person at every MMA event randomly booing, yelling out profanities and fist-pumping in a tight, armpit-soiled flaming skull and cross T-shirt.

In America, this type of individual is typically referred to as a bro or "that guy."

Unfortunately, the movement is spreading in the world of MMA. There is no longer that one guy boozing it up while feigning to be the toughest man on the planet. "That guy" has quickly become "that girl," which has recently spread to "that group" and "that city." There is just one lingering question.

Are there any educated and respectable American MMA fans left in this world?

The posed question is admittedly a bit overdramatic. Educated and respectable American MMA fans do exist, and some are reading this article right now. Unfortunately, their representation is only a minority in comparison to the countless casual fans.

A lack of understanding and a refusal to become enlightened is one of the primary roadblocks hindering the progress of American fans. MMA mirrors real life so much that even the most uneducated fans feel like they understand fighting. No one put it better than UFC President Dana White during his interview with Forbes:

"At the end of the day, we're all human beings, and fighting is in our DNA, man. We get it, and we like it."

The average person couldn't fathom dunking a basketball like Michael Jordan or making a spectacular one-handed catch like NFL receiver Randy Moss. Most human beings can easily relate to the concept of punching another person in the face. In MMA, everyone feels like an expert.

For those in doubt, go to your local pub and listen to the "experts" break down and compare themselves to top UFC fighters. Yours truly has even had the pleasure of watching an inebriated individual stand up and shadow box in front of an entire restaurant in an attempt to showcase his "world class" skills.

It doesn't take much these days to convince a man that is 20-0 behind a local fast-food establishment that he's ready for the big leagues.

Former UFC light heavyweight champion Quinton "Rampage" Jackson has already gone on record to express his resentment towards American fans. During an interview with ESPN UK, he called American fans "the most negative MMA crowd ever."

"I would honestly say the American crowd is the most negative MMA crowd ever," said Rampage.

"Look at Junior Dos Santos, he put on a great fight [against Cain Velasquez] and he got booed. They cheered him when he walked in there and then booed him after a great fight. I don't understand that."

The UFC 155 championship rematch between Dos Santos and Velasquez represented American fandom at its worst.

Dos Santos, who was completely dominated by Velasquez, never wavered in the face of adversity. Despite taking a severe beating early in the fight, he stood his ground and put on a heartfelt and gutsy performance that should have been celebrated by the masses.

Instead, Dos Santos was booed out of the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nev., after laying everything on the line and losing the UFC title.

"Why are you guys doing that? Why," Dos Santos asked in his post-fight interview with UFC commentator Joe Rogan.

There isn't a complex answer to Dos Santos' question. Fans were booing simply because they could.

American fans buy into the UFC product and forget that there are actual human beings competing in a dangerous sport. There is no gratitude or understanding. It all comes back to the hard-earned American dollar. After spending money, people believe they have a right to do whatever they want.

Sadly, these individuals aren't wrong. Tickets and pay-per-view prices for UFC events aren't exactly on the cheap side. When they buy into the product, fans have a right to cheer or boo whenever they want, but is it always right?

It wasn't right in Dos Santos' case, and it certainly wasn't right in Benson Henderson's case, either.

At UFC on FOX 7, fans were infuriated by Henderson's decision victory over Gilbert Melendez. After the fight, an act non-related to MMA took place that usually brings about joy and excitement.

Henderson got down on one knee and proposed to longtime girlfriend Maria Magana. Unfortunately, the champ's life-altering moment didn't quell the boo birds, as a chorus of boos showered both him and his soon-to-be fiancée during the proposal.

Respect is the only thing separating American fans from the rest of the world. In the States, fighters are booed for taking the fight to the ground and needing breaks for accidental eye pokes or shots below the belt. Foreign fighters are sometimes booed for the inability to speak English.

Perhaps boos are better than the random, Hacksaw Jim Duggan-like "USA" chants that tend to break out from time to time. There is nothing wrong with being patriotic, but it is a bit disconcerting when nationalities are confused and chants occur in bouts between two Americans or a pair of non-American fighters.

In countries like Japan, a pen dropping can be heard in an arena during a fight. They have a deeper understanding and appreciation of the sport. It boils down to culture as well. American sport fans are typically loud and amped up for events, which isn't always a bad thing.

This kind of fandom makes events seem larger than life by breathing excitement and emotion into the atmosphere. People can literally see the excitement jumping out at them from a TV screen within the comfort of their living rooms.

Like every other country, American fans have their issues, but it wouldn't be fair to call them the "worst MMA fans in the world." Most UFC events take place in the States, which tends to distort the negative impressions.

There have been plenty of quality American crowds during live UFC events, and other countries have had their share of blunders. In the end, it all comes down to the individual, and certain people are going to act out regardless of what country they live in.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1646220-bros-booze-and-boos-are-americans-the-worst-mma-fans-in-the-world

Hate to say it, but I can't disagree. Stuff like this can make you ashamed to be an American.

People are stupid.

Meh .... Are Americans the worst MMA fans?... Are Canadian MMA Fans the most polite in the world? Nah... I'm Canadian ... I'm not polite... and American Fan dollars made MMA.

Broad Generalizations like this are easy to make ... hard to prove.... C'mon... Rampage says American fans are the worst after running over a pregnant lady in a drunken depressed stupor? And he has ANY credibility? Nah.... He's a bitter prima dona looking to hit back at the fans who abandoned him after his crappy behaviour after losing fair and square to Forrest and other crappy stuff like his pre-fight mooing!

Japanese fans have a better understanding cause they are quiet during a fight? Really.... has nothing to do with being brow beaten for hundreds of years into repressed public emotional displays or that no Japanese fighter has made any long lasting significant impact in America.

The only really bad American Fans are Bleacher Report contributors who spew excrement at the drop of a hat without ever really being a true MMA fan.

For me the true fan is Bob public who tiring of stylized team combat on the football field, bb court, ice rink or ball diamond finally gets to see and support a pure sport where it is one man against one man in pure physical combat where the better man wins. Where the underdog has a shot with the Overhand Right equalizer, where Forrest can come out lift a sport to prominence with a bloody vengeance.

These are the true fans, the working public who have embraced MMA, who made it a profitable venture, enterprise, business. The true FANS are the people who made MMA today.... Yeah they get to boo, yeah they get to pick heroes and villains, yeah they get to determine what behaviour they will support and not support.

So suck it up ... take the boos cause you probably earned them and move on without the Rampage whining that will for sure get you more boos!

I think you just inadvertently proved the article right. Yeah, some of these fans are assholes, but they are in fact the "true" fans because they are the ones who made it what it is today. They may be uneducated, but they are in fact helping the sport grow with their own $$$. But that doesn't change the fact that they are bad, bad fans.

For me, it's like I've made several mentions of in the past about "mob mentality". A "person" is generally smart and reasonable, and can make at least halfway decent decisions on how to conduct his or herself. But "people" as a group are irrational, impressionable, short-tempered, and stupid.
A single person watching the fights at home likely won't react any more to something they don't like than going "that sucked" or "really? C'mon!".
But take several thousand of those same people, put them in an arena together where the fighters or fights they disagree with are right there in the same building with them and they suddenly want to scream and boo at the top of their lungs to the point where the very air itself starts to stink of riot.

I don't think it's fair to say that American as a whole are the worst fans. But unfortunately, events held in the U.S. seem to have the most obnoxious assholes per square foot. And when you add to those obnoxious assholes a few thousand other people, mob mentality is bound to rear it's ugly head.