UFC/Pride/Shooto/etc.
I'm a big fan of MMA/NHB ( Mixed Martial Art/No Holds Barred ) fighting. I also train it periodically.
btw, a REALLY good discussion forum for MMA is the Underground Forum, at
http://www.mma.tv .
anyways, MMA fighting is not street fighting. that's pretty obvious. There are no weapons allowed, you can wear (VERY LIGHT) gloves, you know who you will be fighting beforehand, there is the presence of consent, etc. Some people get hung up on the fact it's a sport, but after you see boxers KO guys who do super deadly mall ninja systems, or amateur wrestlers put overweight Soldier of Fortune-wannabe combatives guys who have never broken a sweat during training in the hospital, you realize how powerful combat sports can be. Of course, there are limitations to sports too, such as the lack of foul tactics.
MMA fighters of today are WAYYY more skilled than the guys who fought back in 1993-1995. They can fight at all ranges- standup striking, standup grappling, ground grappling, ground striking. ANYONE who thinks there is less skill in the current MMA world hasn't been paying attention.
One of the guys who fights out of the school I go to is training with an Olympic wrestling coach, going to a local boxing gym daily, driving to a large city once a week to train Muay Thai with a world champion, is training at the jujutsu school I go to 3 times a week, AND is running his own school in another city. That's not counting the cardio and weight regime he is on. He would chop all of the guys who fought in the first 4 UFC's into liver. Royce excepted. And he hasn't even made it big yet. Guys who have made it big train even harder, because they can afford to train full-time.
Now compare that to most of the participants in the early UFC's, who trained a few times a week.
Rickson Gracie has a legend built up around him, from being the best of the Gracies. However, he's never, ever, fought world-class opponents in their prime in MMA. The best fighter he has fought was Mas Funaki, who was already wrecked physically by 8+ CONTINUOUS years of fighting for the Pancrase organization, and pro wrestling for many years before that. We will probably never find how good Rickson is, because he demands very large amounts of money to fight anyone, which puts off many promoters. It is alleged by some that Rickson has ducked Sakuraba. Rickson also claims a rather ridiculous record of 460-0, which includes fights in the ring, challenge matches, sport BJJ matches, judo competitions, and sombo competitions. This is in spite of the fact that Rickson is known to have lost at least one of the matches he is claiming on his record, in a sombo match.