Submission Underground introduced an elbow touch before a matche
The world is in the grip of the coronavirus pandemic and most top sporting leagues have suspended operations.
There are travel restrictions and also on how many people can be in one room at a time, but that isn’t stopping Submission Underground doing their bit.
Chael Sonnen’s promotion is geared more towards fighters submitting their opponents, but this is still a contact sport.
The coronavirus can spread via contact and thousands are getting affected daily across the world. Many top leagues suspended their operations because of this, however, Submission Underground tried to work around that.
In one of the clippings from Submission Underground 12, two performers are seen touching their elbows rather than shaking hands or bumping fists.
Has a new trend been launched at @ChaelSonnen's Submission Underground 12? Two athletes touch elbows to start the night, live on @UFCFightPass.
Despite the ongoing pandemic, #SUG12 carries on. Read more: https://t.co/NwJ9AOJUaT pic.twitter.com/0azaGBzD3O
— MMA Junkie (@MMAJunkie) March 29, 2020
Suffice to say, some were unimpressed by this and let rip on social media.
Fans split about Submission Underground
Truth be told, this decision to not shake hands or bump fists but elbow touch doesn’t make much sense in the grand scheme of things.
The promotion is still contact-based and there is no guarantee that hands don’t touch during the fights.
Many fans on social media shared their views and most of them weren’t flattering to the promotion:
https://twitter.com/jamesdave777/status/1244391367650021384?s=20
Touch elbows but then proceed to grapple ? lol
— LMK (@wHeresWallac3) March 29, 2020
Idiots
— smoogy (@smoogymma) March 29, 2020
Then roll and get each other's blood and sweat on each other…
— Bobby Bradshaw (@BobbyFuria) March 29, 2020
That's one of the most pointless things I've ever watched
— Conor O'Swerdz (@ConorOSwerdz) March 29, 2020
https://twitter.com/HodkoV9/status/1244391398100676608?s=20
However, some actually suggested that this was a joke, and many missed the point:
And I thought the ju jitsu peeps commenting here would be more cerebral. I thought the irony of their joke was clever.
— jordan (@jordi_am_jedi) March 30, 2020
https://twitter.com/MattMoore7/status/1244404589518032896?s=20
The only dumb ones here are the people that don't realize they did that as a joke 🤣
— Jey Bolo (@jeybolo) March 30, 2020
The UFC has also taken some drastic decisions regarding the coronavirus. They suspended operations after UFC Brasil but are hopeful of UFC 249 taking place.
Khabib Nurmagomedov vs Tony Ferguson is the main event and Dana White has claimed he has a location ready for this.
However, the UFC president has had to change the fight card due to several issues. It will be interesting to see how things take place in the coming weeks, especially with UFC 249 on 18 April.
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