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.
Riordan Lee
Editor
Thanks James, appreciate the feedback!
G
Guest
Who provided this statistic?
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
They do understand pretty completely why people might punch someone in the back of the head. It's usually to do with a whole bunch of things surrounding impulse control (e.g. organic structures inside the brain, present psychological state, upbringing etc etc) and certainly a part of that is cultural acceptance and role modelling. Although the combination can be uncertain, and whether you want to ban anything based on that uncertainty is fraught with danger. It does help to think about these things though and I'm not sure, based on available evidence, RR's thinking is particularly clear on the issue.
Dalgety Carrington
Roar Guru
Is that the best way to deal with it though?
James Cairns
Roar Guru
Riordan, well written article firstly, good to read. As someone who has loved and trained MMA for a while now, I think your approach to mixed martial arts is a bit narrow. To me, training MMA is about self-development. It's a life long process, that requires discipline, strength and determination (among a lot of other things) to excel. Regardless of how dormant your 'fighting spirit' is, combat and survival are intrinsic within all humans. Harnessing this quality and using it for self betterment is a positive thing.
Johnno
Guest
nos agreed, fights/contacts sports boxing/karate/ice-hockey/rugby are totally different to "street-fights" which basically have no rules and are lawless. And boxers/martial artists, may be lousy street-fighters anyway. Martial arts are organised with rules e.g. ability-level/weight-divisons. Street fights anything goes with no rules. It's silly to compare them as "similar" those that do have no idea. In boxing you can't headbutt or kick, or punch the opponent when he's on the ground been knocked out, unlike in street-fights that have no rules. So Rhonda Rousey comments were maybe not meant to imply street-fighting and martial-arts were the same, but it came out that way possibly. Martial-arts I look at as a sport and a fight like any sport within the rules, but not a fight in the context of it being a street-fight.
Joseph
Guest
Yeah its dark ages stuff. The worst part is that she's considered a great role model for young women. How is that? She's a overtly hostile and arrogant individual with obvious anger management problems. Why would we want young women to aspire to that?
Joseph
Guest
Thats ridiculous Phil Absolutely ridiculous The law is not "if I can do it, then i should be allowed" Now is it, "they wronged me so i have a right to whatever i want as revenge" Have a look at yourself, seriously.
Jerry
Guest
How the heck is a nude photo an act of violence? Invasive? Yes. Violent? No.
onside
Guest
I am in no way qualified to make the following association, it might simply be rubbish , but it would not surprise me to learn of a vicarious link between female UFC and pornography. I am not being remotely judgmental. My opinion on female UFC is moot. I don't care. And yes, on occasions I have watched pornography.
Hao
Guest
Human nature and evolution; welcome to the modern age! Not that long ago we hunted, gathered and built shelter's with our bare hands. Now in some corners of the globe this still exists today, but for the majority of us our evolutionary instincts is being played out at the tip of our fingers. How ironic!
Lano
Roar Guru
You can't be serious! Silly silly comment.
peeeko
Roar Guru
not it wouldnt it. if floyd mayweather said it nothing would have happened. to suggest that he would be tasered or arrested is just wrong
Matthew Tomczyk
Roar Pro
I'll bite at another explanation for the rise of UFC: boxing has fallen away as a popular sport, especially in the heavyweight division. Over the past 10 years there haven't been any real knockout artistes, allowing the giant Klitchko to bore everyone into submission. The main beneficiaries have been the welterweights and MMA. I don't agree with your veiled reference to MMA causing more domestic violence. The causation runs the other way. If anything, more violent individuals are likely to gravitate to the sport. MMA is no better at producing well-rounded individuals than boxing and rugby league. I'll always be a boxing fan because the rules are perfect and have remained the same for 160 years. Watching two fighters roll around on the ground doesn't appeal to me.
Nicholas Hartman
Roar Guru
Hey Riordan, violence is an interesting topic. I'd agree with you on your last point that we don't need violence in our society, but then again that's really idealistic. Violence is everywhere, and it's a part of human nature. Sometimes it's necessary. To connect UFC with street brawling on the streets of Sydney is a bit of a stretch though - I'd even go so far as to call it a meme. No one truly knows, or is close to knowing fully, why people punch each other in the back of the head, or why it supposedly is happening more often. To add to that, it could be happening more often because of increased media spotlight. I think a large part of the shock comes from living in one of the safest parts of the world in the safest period of human civilisation, ever Anyway, that's all beside the point. If you have a spare 3 hours (and you probably will soon, given the weather) check out this podcast on Joe Rogan's show. He has philosopher Sam Harris on this one (it's just him and Harris, if you haven't heard this show before) and they talk about a lot of things, but they do have a very interesting segment on UFC, martial arts and street violence. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm8xFaM-raY
Phil
Guest
A. The guy took nude photos of her without her consent, an act of sexual violence B. The guy had all the skills to defend himself and didn't, because he knew he deserved what he got. Completely different to a man beating a smaller, physically weaker woman.
Phil
Guest
Really? The guy took nude photos of her without her consent. If someone did that to my wife or daughter I'd do the exact same thing to them she did to him. If she has the skills and physicality to it herself, why shouldn't she? I've got no problem with her reaction to that.
kazblah
Roar Guru
In her autobiography, Rousey talks about beating up her ex-boyfriend, MMA fighter Timothy DiGorrio after he apparently took nude pictures of her. She admits: "I punched him in the face with a straight right, then a left hook. He staggered back and fell against the door." She also "kneed him in the face and tossed him aside on the kitchen floor" and "dragged him onto the sidewalk and left him writhing there as I sped away." Any man who wrote that would be signing away their career. No such repercussions for Rousey. I regularly call out sports-related domestic violence in the Foul Play section of my blog. I focus on men's violence to women because that's where most of the problem lies. But Rousey's violence on the home front is just as inexcusable as Greg Hardy's and Ray Rice's. And that's where I lose all respect for her.
SP
Guest
Rousey is a spousal abuser. Boasted about beating up her partner. Shouldn't have been allowed to enter the country. lowlife
Riordan Lee
Editor
I don't know if it's an outlet or just another channel for their aggression. Given domestic violence is twice as prevalent in MMA than the general population I'm not so sure it's working.