UUUGGGHH....Style vs style
Is this the 90's again?
Knowing your enemy or at least some basic understanding is important. Essentially it wasn't even remotely fair, it's as if he just got his basic drivers license and then thinks he's going to race Nascar on and REAL TRACK.
*Nobody does that, not without preparation. I could help this guy in one day if he were at my school. How could he hope to enter the MMA ring unless he prepared a bit with someone who has actually fought in there?
It's not the fault of Aikido...it's not about which style is better. After all MMA just means Mixed Martial Arts...and often times that is a mixture of Traditional Martial Arts skills as well.
Plenty of MMA fighters who know how to set up stuff that is considered more "Traditional". So style is not the issue...the individual's experience, toughness, heart and YES, AS WE'RE ALWAYS SAYING...THE SET UP.
Not that I need to hear him say it (cause it was obvious) but whence he said "it was his 1st time in the ring" that pretty much says it all.
More importantly, he went into the ring UN familiar with boxing...which is universally THE MODERN BASE you need to understand if you want to fight.
More over, IMO...if he really wanted to test his style up to what he had been learning (which doesn't train for the ring) more accurately as an experiment. HE should do LIVE Self Defense senarios 1st. He could get a LIVE Opponent to attempt to run up to him and steal his brief case. Fight off a guy, pretending to be a kidnapper trying to pull you into a van. (I know it sounds silly) Get 3 or more guys to be like the gypsies who all jump on you at once to pin you down and try to steal your wallet.