- Video
-
Club Roar
Captured a great grassroots sporting moment? We want to see it!Content Collections
The Roar Community
- Join
- Login
There was an interesting moment that went under the radar in the press conference before Ronda Rousey’s bout with Holly Helm.
A reporter asked, “For the uninitiated, why is UFC so popular around the world?”
Rousey responded, “Because fighting is something human, it’s not something wrong… Everyone has that instinct and to suppress that, is unsafe.”
Watch the press conference in the video above.
Given the persistent public discussion over the sport’s legitimacy, it’s an intriguing take from arguably the sport’s biggest star – but one that’s irresponsible and doesn’t hold up to scrutiny.
Go for a walk through Sydney’s Kings Cross on a Friday night and you can sympathise with Rousey’s stance. Jacked up bros with no-necks roaming the street, looking to bash in the skulls of anyone who makes even glancing eye contact.
“Oi! What are you looking at? Wanna go?”
But I don’t know if this compulsion is universal.
I, for one, certainly don’t enjoy fighting.
Do you know what’s heaps better than getting punched in the face? Not getting punched in the face.
I’d wager that I’m not the only one whose stomach churns at the idea of hitting someone in the face so hard that their brain temporarily shuts down.
Sure, in moments of extreme emotional provocation we go into dark places and toy with the idea of say, delivering a sneaky kidney-punch to the self-absorbed mouth-breather who’s playing music through his phone’s speakers on the train.
But these, for the most part, are exceptions, not the rule – and as much as we might possess the evolutionary instinct of aggression, we’ve also developed the empathy and sense to know that this isn’t an appropriate way to behave.
To be fair here to Rousey, she’s not advocating street brawls – she’s saying it’s “unsafe” to repress our aggression and UFC’s popularity comes by offering a controlled, safe means of channelling it.
‘Safe’.
When two of the three ways to win a match is by knocking someone unconscious or putting them in so much unbearable pain that they submit, you don’t get to play the personal safety card.
When a large part of the sport’s appeal is its unhinged brutality, you don’t get to play the personal safety card.
Suppressing aggressive urges may be unsafe, but no less safe than setting foot inside a UFC octagon.
The idea of UFC being an outlet seems relatively flimsy as well – given domestic violence rates are twice as high in MMA than any other sports it’s not working as an emotional release at best, and at worse, enabling further violence.
Check out these five minutes of safety!
Frankly, I don’t have a huge problem with UFC as a sport. It’s not for me, I find it excessively violent and unbearably gruesome but it’s between two consenting, willing adults who are exceptionally talented athletes, highly trained in their craft.
Problems emerge when these seductive moral justifications for the sport are trumpeted by its stars. The idea that violence is unavoidably human and therefore acceptable is dangerous, even if it’s followed up with the caveat of “well actually it is bad, unless it’s done in a octagon”.
Rousey’s well within her rights to explain the sport’s popularity the way she has, but to push beyond this and imbue it with a higher moral purpose is troublesome – especially by someone so iconic and influential.
UFC is what it is and that’s fine: two people wanting to fight and other people to watch.
But don’t try and tell us it’s something society needs – it’s dangerous and it’s wrong.
Let’s get ready to rumble! Pick a fighter and place your bets with PlayUp for great odds. Chances are you’re about to lose. Set a deposit limit.