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Funny story:
Some tough guy biker dudes were walking by the school I attend a few years ago. They decided that the pussies in the baggy blue pajamas needed to be bullied before they continued onto their girly magazines and sixpacks. They walked into the school and challenged the instructor to a fight. The instructor said that was ludicrous but eventually agreed to it in order to teach them a lesson. Instead of fighting them himself as a 7th degree, he had one of his star students, a short stocky guy named Morris, fight the tough guy... the tough guy challenger was a foot taller and probably 50 pounds heavier than him. They went at it. Morris circled for a few seconds, drilled the guy in the ribs with a sidekick and floored him with a hookkick to the side of the head. Two hits, TKO. Tough guy's friend carried him out. Nobody said anything.
Studying a martial art doesn't mean you can fight, and being able to fight doesn't mean you've studied a martial art.
As an intermediate belt "rank," I've beaten down plenty of black belts... and been schooled by plenty of intermediate belts. The belt means little when you talk about fighting ability, it's just part of the uniform and tradition... just as being a Sergeant in the US Army doesn't mean you're any more or less capable than a Specialist or Staff Sergeant.
Mixed martial arts are even more flaky when it comes to grading people. It suddenly becomes all about the individual training program and strengths/weaknesses related to it... exactly like boxers.
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Basically, it's all about conditioning, focus and becoming proficient with technique systems.
MMA is a sport because it has fans and people judge it. If ultimate frisbee is a sport, so is MMA.
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