Boxing Champ Adrien Broner on MMA: 'I really don't look at it as a real sport'

Undefeated boxing champion Adrien Broner says he doesn't think MMA is a "real sport" because everyone can just learn it easily.

Seems like we have yet another MMA detractor from the world of boxing. As seen on the clip above, WBA Welterweight Champion Adrien Broner was asked about mixed martial arts, and the undefeated boxer didn't exactly have nice things to say about the popular combat sport.

"I'm really not too big on MMA. I really don't look at it as a real sport because anybody can come into MMA and learn that. You can learn that," Broner said, "Listen, you can't just come in to boxing and be a world champion. You've got to be born with it."

"Like you," he said towards the interviewer, "Right now, you can go into MMA, learn all the submission moves and be a world champion. It doesn't matter how long it takes. I don't give a fuck what you do, you can try to come over to boxing, and you won't ever be a world champion. I'm not disrespecting you, but I'm just saying, that's how it works"

This is probably pointing out the obvious, but that was a bit of an ignorant comment from Broner. Along with that inborn talent and athleticism he mentions, both boxing and MMA require a lot of hard work and dedication to "learn" those skills needed to be a champion. Both combat sports have also had relatively young or inexperienced guys come in and claim alphabet soup titles in the past, and surely none of those instances mean that one or the other isn't a "real" sport.

That being said, MMA is still relatively young and there's a lot of people still uneducated with the finer aspects of the sport, so criticism like this from personalities on an older and more established sport like boxing is really nothing new or surprising.

UPDATE: Broner has since issued an apology for his statements.

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