The White Cage... The Next evolution of MMA?

The Cage vs Ring debate has gone on for as long as I can remember and after watching Dream 12 I think they have found the perfect solution. The Hexagon has less sides and therefore there are more defined corners were you can back your opponent up into forcing him to trade.

The Big difference I noticed and It was actually something I suggested a while back was the cage was more "springy" The biggest problem with a cage and the worst part of American MMA in my eyes is two men sharing a tender caress against the cage!! I just hate seeing two guys hug against the cage and no action... the solution is a springy cage, This means that as opposed to a guy lieing on you and pinning you againt the cage you can bounce off it and keep the action going much like a ring.

That solves the problems a cage has, what about the problems a ring has? Well the main complaint for cage fans was fighters get tangled in the Ropes and it stalls the action... this is clearly solved by fighting in a cage full stop.

I think the Dream cage allows for the best all round fights. UFC wanted to make the cage smaller to force more toe to toe action? Shit Idea, I think they should swallow their pride and realise that the Japanese have outdone them with the design of their cage and copy it. A lot of the fighers taking part in Dream 12 praised the Cage and really liked fighting in it.

What do people think? Is the White cage the next step in MMA? Is there a Chance UFC could copy the more Springy cage? I really hope so, I think it allows for more Judo throws and more standup action like a ring while not disadvantaging Wrestlers or Groundfighers.

Im not sold on the new Rules, I think they didnt need to use american rules but without the elbows but the Cage itsself was a huge success in my eyes.

I can't see the UFC abandoning an octagon as it's part of the company's image, however I'd definately be in favour of any changes that reduced the ammount of holding against the fence.

cant agree ben, the white cage is really not that different from the octagon, the real difference was the fighters, who were the lay and pray wrestlers on that card?
Beebe was the only one and he got submitted in 3 minutes.

Apart from a couple of exciting Japanese fighters like Sakuraba and Shibata (they're entertainers by profession) it was all strikers, Zaromskis (kickboxing), Galesic (taekwondo), Overeem (Muay thai), Thompson (gong and dash), Alvarez (boxing), Kikuno (karate) it was the fighters and the matchmaking that made the card exciting, not the cage.

I think the ring is still the best environment for MMA, but i do like the diversity, its best for the sport.

I personly feel the ring is better, watching old pride fights compared to UFC, wrestlers seem to struggle with the ring environment.

Good commment about the clinch against the cage, its possibly the most annoying thing about watching MMA, but many fighters use it positively: eg Randy. After watching 104, seems like the referees are shortening time allowed against the cage, I can't remember which fight it was (possibly Machida vs Shogun) but the ref gave them minimal time there. Which is good.

IMO I prefer the ring, it's better for strikers, and gets rid of some of the boring stuff.

The ring is better for strikers, the cage is best for wrestlers. There's no one that's better, it just depends on what you prefer. UFC was built on the backs of wrestlers. Pride was always more striking based.

UFC will never switch from the octagon but Ben's idea is a good one.

the thing you have to remember about the old pride fights is that the fighters were pumped full of roids..they just went hell for leather against each other...

The thing wrong with a ring is that falling out part when the fighters get to close to the edge..makes you sort of think about WWE and the fact that if the fighters fall off the edge they will continue fighting outside the ring!!!!!

quicksuperlee wrote:the thing you have to remember about the old pride fights is that the fighters were pumped full of roids..they just went hell for leather against each other...

The thing wrong with a ring is that falling out part when the fighters get to close to the edge..makes you sort of think about WWE and the fact that if the fighters fall off the edge they will continue fighting outside the ring!!!!!

Josh Barnett who else?

dude..im talking early pride..coleman, kerr, voychancyn, shamrock, Frye et al,

more recently id say shogun, W.Silva, Arona,

Its all hearsay of course!!!!!

Its just that Pinsman said that the early pride fights were full of strikers,

Just watch 'The Smashing Machine, the life and times of Extreme fighter Mark Kerr' its frightening..

rudeboyben84 wrote:The Cage vs Ring debate has gone on for as long as I can remember and after watching Dream 12 I think they have found the perfect solution. The Hexagon has less sides and therefore there are more defined corners were you can back your opponent up into forcing him to trade.

The Big difference I noticed and It was actually something I suggested a while back was the cage was more "springy" The biggest problem with a cage and the worst part of American MMA in my eyes is two men sharing a tender caress against the cage!! I just hate seeing two guys hug against the cage and no action... the solution is a springy cage, This means that as opposed to a guy lieing on you and pinning you againt the cage you can bounce off it and keep the action going much like a ring.

I think these are very good points ben. I've always liked MMA in a ring, and was a bit hesitant about the white cage, but I really liked it. I certainly think you're right about the shape of the cage. Sasahara said the white cage was the biggest of any used in the sport. I don't know if that's true or not, but it didn't feel that big if it is true, and I think that's because it has fewer sides as you say.

I think having western MMA orgs change their cage structure is a bit much to hope for, but I hope at the very least some thought is put into the new mesh they were using. Several fighters have said it was a lot better to fight against than the chain link fencing that's normally used, and it did look to have more bounce in it than most cages.

Im not to fussed on less corners, it helps the action but the Bounce from the material helps keep the action going. I know we didnt see a lot of wrestlers but bouncing off the cage like ropes means more action and less stalling and therefore slightly favors strikers..

When a striker gets his back put against a solid cage it traps him more when his opponent puts his weight on him...in a bouncy cage you can use the momentum to escape much like you can in a ring.

I think the new cage material will also help Judokas, Judo relies a lot on balance and momentum, the bounce off a springy cage or a ring allows them to take their opponent off balance and deliver a throw...

I love strikers and Judo throws so id love the Americans to copy the White cage or at least change the cage material

quicksuperlee wrote:dude..im talking early pride..coleman, kerr, voychancyn, shamrock, Frye et al,

more recently id say shogun, W.Silva, Arona,

Its all hearsay of course!!!!!

Its just that Pinsman said that the early pride fights were full of strikers,

Just watch 'The Smashing Machine, the life and times of Extreme fighter Mark Kerr' its frightening..

So you mean MMA was full of roided freaks. All those fighters were in UFC first remember.


Strikeforce might adopt the cage Ben is talking about. They went to move away from the UFC and more towards a unified system with the Japanese promotions.

Good call mate, I dont see why Strikeforce and Dream couldnt start using the Same cage... Id like to see that happen.

I think we are going to see the UFC continue to be cut off from the rest of the MMA world because Dana refuses to play nice. I can see the rest of the organizations adopted different rules, weight class, fighting enclosures and the like and all sharing fighters and putting on great fights whilst the UFC just does it's own thing.

Bungee cage!

For the promotion, DREAM 14 will represent the only cage event for the year and Mousasi commented on the differences between fighting in the cage and the ring:

“Yes there is. The cage is bigger so you have more space. For a wrestler, I think it is much better to fight in the ring than in the cage. The cage has more advantage for the stand up fighter. Maybe I should have trained the cage to stand up both those are new things that I have to learn and I think I didn’t train that good enough. But there is definitely a big difference.”

Well theres an interesting comment from Mousasi

check this video out for Nick's opinions on this issue. very interesting.....

(this part is all about the ring vs cage, the other parts are on dream's yt channel)

You know id ba happy to Swap Elbows for Knees on the ground, he is right elbows can slow the action and give the fighter on top the ability tpo do a lot of damage without needing any space... Not to mention the cuts but if Elbows were out and Knees were in it would make for a faster paced more exciting groundgame.