I wanted to respond quick to Templarknight:

Do you want MMA to be a sport, or do you want it to be entertainment?

I want it to be a sport, or at least emphasized as such. It's not about the entertainment value, it's not about us, it's about the individual athletes and who can win given a certain set of rules.

I agree that there is more than enough room for rule changes. I don't like the point system (though it's hard to find a better one), and my biggest complaint is about the rounds.. 15 total minutes is too short in many instances, and I'd love to see how the sport would be different without any sit-down breaks.

However, I don't feel like I am "entitled" to entertainment. This isn't human cockfighting, as it used to be referred to by the opponents of MMA. I want to see two athletes trying to figure out a way to win against one another with a given set of rules, with the ONLY thing that matters to them is getting a win.

The key to having your cake (sport) and eating it too (entertainment) is the rule set, which you touched on.

My ideal ruleset would be no time limit (a bout ends only by tapout, ref stoppage (TKO/KO), or doctor stoppage). No sit-down breaks, but the ref can temporarily pause the bout for doctor inspection. All the fouls in place in the UFC would remain, except removing the ban on 12-6 elbow strikes.

As for your Fedor comments.. see my post on the Fedor vs. Henderson thread for my thoughts He'd get taken apart by any of the top 5 heavyweights in the UFC.

Of course now I'm helping drive the thread off topic. I hope Brock gets back to good health, regardless if he returns to the sport. He will never reach the potential he would have had without diverticulitis screwing things up, which is truly sad.