Curious, I looked up to see two heavily tattooed men circling each other inside a black chain linked fence. Then, out of nowhere, one of them spun effortlessly and landed a spinning back kick to the gut of his opponent.
In obvious pain, the wounded combatant retreated back to the cage clutching his side, only for his opponent to charge towards him and launch a flying knee strike to his face.
Crumpled against the cage, the downed man was hit with a couple more strikes for good measure before the referee intervened.
With that, I had experienced my first taste of Mixed Martial Arts or more specifically, the Ultimate Fighting Championship or UFC.
It wasn’t anything I had ever seen before, and flew in the face of everything that boxing had ingrained in society about combat sports.
For many, the initial image of a cage that holds two men beating the hell out of each other from one side to the other jars and repulses them.
The idea that you can knock someone to the ground and then continue to punch them is abhorrent and the fact they are allowed to try and break each other’s limbs and choke each other unconscious is just wrong. The many that had those reactions to the sport most likely never gave it a second viewing.
I and millions around the world persevered with the sport however and quickly began to see the logic and method behind the perceived brutality.
The sport’s biggest detractors would have you believe that the success of the UFC and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is to do with the growing desensitisation the public has towards violence.
I would argue that it is education, not desensitisation that is the reason for the massive success and legion of fans the UFC and MMA has gained over the past few years.
“I see MMA as an art form, there’s some brutality to it but there’s a lot of beauty to it” said UFC 127 headliner, Jon Fitch at the UFC 127 pre-fight press conference on Wednesday morning in Sydney.
“It’s not just guys with no skill and no talent running around bashing on each other. There’s a lot of technique involved and the more you get into the sport, and the more you watch the sport and if you get involved in training in the sport you start to really understand the artistry behind it.”
UFC 127 will be held in Sydney this Sunday at Acer Arena. Acer sold out in just half-an-hour, the equal fastest sell out in UFC history.
If you tune in to UFC 127, watch it with an open mind, and logically assess what you are watching, you will begin to find, just like I did, that your preconceived notions about combat sports begin to fade away and the “artistry” that Fitch mentions starts to come to the fore.
By watching and learning about the sport you will begin to realise that what you initially thought was mindless brutality is in fact a strategic meshing of various martial arts and disciplines which has been aptly dubbed by UFC commentator, Joe Rogan as “kinetic chess”.
Many of the disciplines used such as boxing, wrestling, judo and tae-kwon are Olympic sports.
You will begin to realise that the chain-linked cage known as the Octagon is far safer for the sport’s athletes as it stops them from spilling out over the side and injuring themselves, which would be the case in a boxing ring.
You will begin to realise that fighting on the ground is not barbaric but rather a subtle and strategic game of leverage and positioning with the fighter’s being able to submit or “tap out” if they get in a compromising position.
You will begin to realise that knocking a fighter down and then following them down to the ground with punches is far better for the fighter’s health than the traditional boxing method of allowing a fighter to temporarily regain his wits so he can return to his feet and suffer another concussive blow or series of concussive blows.
Finally, you will realise that comparisons between MMA and boxing are futile.
They are two completely different sports. Applying the ideologies of boxing to Mixed Martial Arts is inherently flawed, but because boxing has been the premiere combat sport for decades upon decades, it became all we knew and associated with combat sports.
To find out why MMA has become the fastest growing sport in the world you have to understand and realise that those preconceptions are just preconceptions. You don’t have to and shouldn’t be a slave to them.
bsdguy
Guest
look at the NFL. how many head and neck injuries were there last season? not to mention broken arms, legs, torn muscles etc. the argument of injuries in MMA is mute. even non contact sports such as baseball have a large injury percentage. its a fact of sports. i enjoyed this article, and hope that the author keeps up his 'fight' to educate people about the wonderful world of MMA.
bsdguy
Guest
@DAWID- well said. MMA needs more fans like yourself who are not ignorant. I too am saddened by some people's opinions.
bsdguy
Guest
a lot of people find mma to be disturbing. yes, its dangerous. barbaric? absolutely not. these are trained professionals who love their job. so what if they knock an opponent down and follow him to the ground to continue the fight. its not like the other guy couldn't do the same thing. oh, and lets not forget about the referee inside the cage with the fighters. the referee's job is to ensure the safety of the fighters and enforce the rules. yes, believe it or not, there are rules in mma. stuff happens. these fighters are fully aware of the dangers of their profession. to all you people who don't like mma, i have one piece of advice. STOP WATCHING IT. don't ruin it for those of us who took the time to educate ourselves on the inner workings of the sport.
DAWID
Guest
Not to be argumentative, Korvana, but you completely missed the point of the article. What the author actually says is that only "the sport's biggest detractors would have you believe that the success of the UFC and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) is to do with the growing desensitisation the public has towards violence." He then goes on to explain that this mentality is NOT the case--in fact, people are more accepting of the sport because as they become more educated and open-minded they can get past the fact that it--as you say--"just looks like brutality." Did you know studies performed by such institutions as the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine have concluded that MMA has lower knock-out rates than boxing, and thus a reduced risk of TBI (traumatic brain injury)? People don't question the known safety risks posed by established sports such as boxing, (American) football, rugby, or even soccer, but because they see people kicking each other and fighting on the ground they assume it's extremely dangerous, when in fact the opposite is true. When people talk about things like "the bad example it will set for the younger generation", I'm in shock. MMA offers some of the most frequent and sincere examples of respect and sportsmanship in any sport, let alone combat sports. It's easy to cite numerous examples of professional athletes acting disrespectful and immature, even to the point of unnecessarily risking the health and safety of their opponents; instances of this sort of behavior in MMA are few and far between. The honorable conduct of the vast majority of MMA competitors is yet another reason that the sport has continued to gain such global acceptance. I was glad to read such an unbiased and enlightened article, but disappointed that some people completely missed the point of it and continue to make such ludicrous and close-minded comments as to compare MMA to street fighting. You're absolutely entitled to your own opinion, but I--and a growing number of people around the world--would say that your opinion is wrong.
Timnaik
Guest
Boxing is a classical art form but If had to learn either MMA or boxing as a form of self defence, I'd take MMA in a heart beat.
seanoroo
Roar Rookie
"for those interested its on 10pm aest at on onehd." sorry my bad thats just the countdown, I think foxtel have the rights
Funktapuss
Guest
Interestingly doctors are trying to get the old school, Queensbury rules boxing banned and you get this sport come along. Maybe boxing will finally pull it's socks up and create a single organization and better, more understandable setup as a result of this upstart.
BennO
Guest
The reason I don't accept those numbers is because they don't take into account so many different aspects that woudl influence them. For example, pulling a number like 69 soccer deaths in 5 years. That sounds like a lot, but 69 deaths world wide from ever soccer competition in the world it's nothing at all. Every day there would be, I dunno, tens of thousands of people playing soccer? I don't know the number but I would imagine more people play soccer every day than there are MMA fighters on the planet so you're gonna get more incidents of every kind by weight of numbers alone. That's the kind of thing I'm talking about when I say I'm not interested in numbers like that. Also, we don't know the cause of those soccer deaths, did guys have a heart attack they were going to have anyway? They sure didn't just die because they kicked the ball wrong. That sort of stuff is relevant to make a reasonable comparison. Stuff happens and people can die, more people die crossing the road than in MMA, doesn't make it more dangerous than stepping into a cage. Billions of people safely cross roads every day. See what I mean? Those raw numbers are meaningless without qualification. As for whether it's more dangerous to hit a guy when he's down, that's not my problem with it. It's the very act of doing so I find unacceptable.
BennO
Guest
I agree with you entirely about opinions of a sport based on experience and knowledge of it.
paul
Guest
To Kovana, you say it's because of Society's "growing" desensitization to violence.. How about history ? Gladiators? for example, They fought to the death. The crowd also gave their approval for the person to die. This is just a sport like any other..guys come out with worse injuries in the NHL and NFL. Here most,if not all injuries are bruises or cuts which are stiched up instantly after the fight. Also boxing is more brutal. 12 rounds of repeated blows to the head is a lot worse then one blow to the head or maybe just a simple submission which is just temporary pain.And one more thing, since Mans ability to have free will violence has been a part of our civilization lonnngggggg before the UFC. But hey like you said to each his own.
Steven Riordan
Guest
These are facts, everyone has opinions. As for the beauty of it, I would compare it to dance. There are people in this world who could watch a ballerina dance and see nothing but elegance and beauty because of the amt of knowledge that person has of that kind of dance, to others it's boring because they can't see all that it takes to pull some of that stuff off. It depends on the level of knowledge and experience that person has of that particular art form. It's all up to how knowledgable that person is about what's going on in front of them.
Steven Riordan
Guest
69 soccer deaths in 5 years. Come on brother.. You cannot say it's safer. Basketball you do have a point and rugby has only had 71 deaths in over 100 years. I understand not wanting to listen to stats that back up others points, but if it's so dangerous to follow up an opponent then why hasn't there been any serious injuries?
BennO
Guest
You missed my point about all those other sports. I'm talking about the beauty and skill and so on that is apparently inherent in MMA. The author went on about how great the athletes are and how techincal it is and how it's not just any chump beating up on any other chump. Sure that's probably all true, but it's true of just about any sport. It doesn't set MMA apart in any way from every other sport played around the world. As for statistics about safety? I'm not interested in raw number stats because they are so dependent on the number of people participating, the quality of the data collected and many other things. My issue is with the type of fighting changing people's attitudes of what's acceptable outside the ring. Chasing a guy down and hammering him once he's on the ground is poor form. It's a value I have and for that I will never like MMA. So long as you can lay into a guy who is on the ground, concussed or defenceless, sorry but that just aint cool. In my view, it's weak. But just to clarify, good luck convincing anyone in the outside world that MMA is safer than basketball, soccer, rugby etc.
JRip
Guest
Really???? If getting the nasty characters out of society is what you want, I would start handing out nets and tridents to the boxing world. First to Don King and the promoters, then to wonderful people like Floyd Mayweather. MMA is dominating boxing in the world stage. This isn't my opinion, it's fact, and not because boxing isn't a great sport... top boxers are amazing, world class athletes... boxing has become a joke because the best fighters never want a tough fight (except Manny P), when they want a fight the other guy will duck him, and the promoters rip off the fans every chance they get. MMA guys from almost every country but Brazil (because of the poverty) are college graduates and guys holding down decent jobs until their fighting careers can support them. Any student of martial arts learns on day 1, before anything else, that street fighting will get you kicked out of the gym and end your training. I've seen more wanna-be boxers running around like thugs than martial artists or mixed-martial artists. Boxing gyms / trainers fall into two categories: Those that teach MMA fighters, and those that are going out of business.
Steven Riordan
Guest
Steven Riordan
Guest
Ummm, is there a single statistic that points to boxing, rugby, union soccer, football, or basketball being safer than this sport? Boxing Deaths from 1998 until 2006 MMA Death Rates from 1998-2006 Boxing MMA 1998 = 2 Deaths in the ring 1998 = 1 Death in the ring 1999 = 6 Deaths in the ring 1999 = 0 Deaths in the ring 2000 = 10 Deaths in the ring 2000 = 0 Deaths in the ring 2001 = 12 Deaths in the ring 2001 = 0 Deaths in the ring 2002 = 10 Deaths in the ring 2002 = 0 Deaths in the ring 2003 = 10 Deaths in the ring 2003 = 0 Deaths in the ring 2004 = 9 Deaths in the ring 2004 = 0 Deaths in the ring 2005 = 7 Deaths in the ring 2005 = 0 Deaths in the ring 2006 = 4 Deaths in the Ring 2006 = 0 Deaths in the ring
seanoroo
Roar Rookie
Good luck to George and Kyle, UFC has a massive cult following in this country. I heard Melbourne refused UFC events (a while ago im not sure what the situation is now) which is a shame, a packed Rod Laver arena in Australias sporting capital would be epic. and to all the nay sayers here no ones forcing you to watch 'em just like no ones forcing them to fight but if they want there chance at fame n fortune in a sport there gifted at then I wish them all the best. THUGS!! ..... really?, why dont u do a little research and look up George Sotiropoulos and Kyle Noke (Australias 2 most known UFC fighters) there probably 2 of the most respectable athletes in this country. Anyway looking forward to 127 and for those interested its on 10pm aest at on onehd.
Steven Riordan
Guest
Marital artist are not thugs. Martial arts have tought respect and character for several hundred years and that will not change. The only fights I ever got into in school were a result of a lack of confidence compounded by feeling like I had to prove something when people were cruel, since I began training within the year after graduation I haven't been into a single fight. The willingness is there, but the selfcontrol and confidence that I gained in the process has made 'reacting' to such foolishness completely rediculous. I feel bad for people who try, if only they knew me 5 years ago I would gladly give them all they could handle,....but now, I prefer to test myself against people who are also trained and able to present a challenge. Uneducated trolls would say otherwise but I can guarantee that those people who judge this sport badly enough to search for sites to bash it on would do the same for any other opinion based article, person, or sport. Judge the things you do not know, care about, or understand... those people could learn a thing or two from a dojo...just sayin.
bozo
Guest
It is not a sport. It provides justification for lots of thugs to beat up each other, and others, which can include you and me.
Uncle Sam
Guest
U.S. fighters are way better than aussie fighters!!