Ian - I think you should take the time to read what I write as opposed to getting worked up over things I never said or implied. I'll do my best to explain again my position and maybe you can explain yours.
Let's start with how I perceive your position: Every fight Bart Vale did was real. Every fight Ken Shamrock did was real. Every fight Josh Barnett did was real.
Here's Mine: Some of Ken Shamrock's fights were real, some "works" (Shamrocks position, not mine). Some of Josh Barnett's fights were real, some "works" (Barnett's position, not mine). Some of Bart Vale's fights were real, some "works" (obviously mine, the guys at Sherdog, and mixedmartialarts.com as their records show).
Now the discussion:
I can't figure out why you feel I think MMA didn't exist before UFC 1.
Why do you think my logic would imply all of Josh Barnett, Bas Rutten, Ken Shamrock, Frank Shamrock, or Bart Vale's fights are fixed? I've never said that, and have actually said that many of their fights were real.
What I and others have said, which seems to get everyone here upset, is that many of the matches these individuals were in were "works". Highlights of these "worked" matches were posted in the Blackbelt highlight video. If you have convinced yourself that the Ken Shamrock fight is real, then I don't know what to say to you other than I assume you thought WWF was real up until the time Vince McMahon admitted it was "sports entertainment" to avoid state athletic commission regulation.
The online, or "official" ranking sites do not list fights that are considered professional wrestling fights. So when a fighter fights for a "professional wrestling" organization it is considered a "work" and when he fights for a "real" organization it is considered real.
You also made a point of posting Josh Barnett's record. The relevance I can't figure out, even after reading your post multiple times.
Well here's Josh's record from Sherdog, which is the largest and most "official" fight record on MMA:
http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=272
And here's Bart's from mixed martial arts and Sherdog:
http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/mma.cfm?go=stats.fighterDetail&pid=FAA618DCDECB2B85
http://www.sherdog.com/fightfinder/fightfinder.asp?FighterID=384
If you notice they match. No one appears to consider UWF fights real.
Joe