Its going to be a while before MMA gives wrestling a serious run for their money. Nitro is correct about the programs already in place. High school comes to my mind first. I read about the wrestling in the daily papers sport section all the time.

Maybe it’s just my region of the country but it seems like amatuer wrestling is a fairly marginalized second tier sport to start with. MMA’s high profile amatuer wrestlers shines a spotlight on the sport that it’s never had before. Heck it’s a sport where the “pro” version is a scripted soap opera and guys had to chose between altruistic love of the sport or the need to actually make a living. Now with MMA there is a real future for people who accel at wrestling and a dream that can lure youngsters into taking it up to start with.

As for the Olympics issue, well there was a Olympic gold medalist in Judo at the last UFC event looking to cash that fame in on a paycheck. All they have to do is push that winning a gold medal will also equal a higher paying contract and more doors opening when they do move on to MMA. Entry level MMA fighters normally don’t make squat but a entry level MMA fighter who’s had his face on a Wheaties box sure might. Instead of fighting this they should embrace MMA and use it to their advantage too.

This is only news because Wrestlers largely didn’t have a legitimate career path after the end of their amatuer days unitl MMA.

I think, on balance, MMA helps the cause of amateur wrestling. Where I’m from, amateur wrestling is practically nonexistent. But because of MMA, people like myself are introduced to guys with wrestling pedigrees, and in turn learn more about the sport itself. Of course, there are going to be some negative consequences created by the emergence of MMA for endeavors like Olympic wrestling. However, the greater demand for individuals with wrestling backgrounds created by a healthy MMA industry should lead to people getting into amateur wrestling that wouldn’t have otherwise.

I don’t think you can throw enough money at an amateur sport to keep people that are looking for a career from leaving. Eliminating professional opportunities for these amateur athletes isn’t an optioin either. That’s great if you are willing to forego a career now in search of an Olympic medal, but I don’t see how you can fault someone for doing something they believe will make them a living for years to come.

I think that most of the elite wrestlers will stay and guys like “king Mo” and others will go out and get the big dollars.

I was a college football player and was reminded constantly about keeping my amateur status to remain eligible. I do know of a few of my college teammates who fought amateur fights at Indian Casinos in the summers for fun though. My questions is if a collegiate wrestler would be able to keep his amateur status if he fought in pro-MMA fights?

There have been instances of the NCAA allowing athletes to turn pro in one sport and remain eligible in another sport (Tim Dwight comes to mind). There has also been instances where the NCAA bans an athlete from competition after turning pro in another sport (Jeremy Bloom. But his ban was for due to his acceptance of sponsorship dollars). Both cases involve athletes that went pro in a completely different sport from the one in which they were trying to remain eligible for.

Would the NCAA ban an amateur wrestler for competing in pro-MMA fights due to the sports usage of wrestling as a discipline? Could an athlete get away with fighting in MMA as long as he does not accept sponsorship dollars?

I don’t think the problem he’s referring to is the sport in general, but just the very top wrestlers in the US wrestling program.

How many times did Couture try out for the Olympics? Those days are over.

Now, wrestlers will have, at most, one shot at making the olympics (if that). Once they get eliminated from the Olympic Trials finish at the olympics, why would they stick around for another 4 years to try again. Not only will they be leaving a lot of cash on the table that they could make fighting mma, they are also leaving time on the table. Time when it comes to actually fighting, and the time they have to train the other aspects of the mma game.

in the past, top-level wrestlers have become HS or college wrestling coaches and stayed 100% focused on wrestling, so they could continue to use the olympics as a goal, because they were only focused on wrestling and there was really nothing else for them to do with their skills. But now there is a much more viable option. Yes, the few people in the world who get the gold every 4 years will have a leg up when it comes to drawing and negotiating in their mma careers, but not many people are going to be willing to sacrifice (another) 4 years of the money and mma-training.

at least at the NCAA level, they will not allow any athletes to take any kind of sponsorship or receive any kind of compensation. This came to light when Olympic skier Jeremy Bloom was banned from playing football for accepting skiing endorsements.
However I think the two sports can certainly have a symbiotic relationship.
Right now for a young kid who wants to get into MMA, wrestling is one of the best and most widely available paths they could take. Add to that the pedigree that NCAA or Olympic wins bring to a new MMA fighter and eventual financial benefits of an amateur wrestling career to a professional MMA career cannot be ignored.