I don't wince when someone is getting punched the UFC. But watching an innocent man be killed in cold blood? That's brutality.
The fights usually end with a hug or a handshake, there is a mutual respect for the sport, and for each other, that lessens the impact of the "violence" IMO.
Admitting the technical and athletic virtuosity of many of the participants, and the honorable nature of many of the fights, it is a disgustingly violent sport.
American Football leaves people broken physically and mentally. Boxing causes a slow-building brain damage that leaves legends like Ali a shaking, stuttering mess until their dying day. You're only wanted in Basketball until your knee gives out.
Injuries are career-ending for any athlete, in any sport. I personally find Hockey more "disgustingly violent" than the UFC.
I will of course not convince you of much via a HN comment thread, this is for the others.
Yes. I just don't think it applies to the UFC. Violence is not the goal of the UFC. It isn't a bloodsport, it isn't cockfighting. Moral arguments hold no water with me in regards to the UFC.
If you tune in to the UFC just to watch someone get the shit kicked out of them, you're missing the point entirely.
Personally, I watch the UFC to see two athletes of equal skill compete in what I consider a sport. Many fights end with zero blood. Some fights end in seconds. Blood is a very much a by-product IMO, not the end goal.
You do realize that is exactly the reason most people watch Nascar, right?
> Violence is not the goal of the UFC.
Its perhaps not the goal, but its also not a byproduct. Its most accurately the mechanism.
Unified MMA rules make MMA much safer than boxing. In Boxing, there is a mandatory-8 count rule, which can allow boxer to regain their composure post knockout, which is more dangerous than in MMA, where the ref will stop the fight as soon as the fighter can no longer intelligently defend themselves.
My understanding about CTE, is it's the repeated blows to the head, post concussion that causes brain damage. In the UFC, refs will stop the fight to prevent further trauma. In Boxing, fighters will continue to fight, despite suffering a knock-down.
re: UFC vs MMA:
For the UFC's part, once a fighter has amassed a few knock-out losses, they typically are removed from the promotion.
Outside of the US, the rules and safety for fighters is far more suspect (like classif Saku fights where he is nearly knocked unconscious and is allowed to regain his composure and win.
The UFC stops the fight when you are unable to defend yourself. That usually means you can only get one concussion per fight. They are much more rare, however, than that.
Also, you can look at the number of deaths per year in each sport. Boxing has around 10 per year. The UFC has never had a death, but MMA has had a few, over the last few years.
The quick stoppages are key to the UFC being less damaging to the athletes than boxing.
Don't boxing refs stop the fight when they think the fighter can't continue (e.g. can't answer/focus)? I'm pretty sure I've seen that.
> Also, you can look at the number of deaths per year in each sport. Boxing has around 10 per year. The UFC has never had a death, but MMA has had a few, over the last few years.
Boxing is equivalent to MMA, not the UFC. I think people on both sides of this particular point aren't being very clear on the distinctions unless it's beneficial to their specific point.
Yes they do. However the important difference is that they allow you 10 seconds to recover. In MMA when you get dazed the fight is usually over because you don't get a chance to recover. IIRC your brain is more vulnerable directly after a concussion.
Not always[1].
1: http://www.badlefthook.com/2014/3/9/5486930/canelo-vs-angulo...
No. In Boxing, the ref has a mandatory 8 count.
1: http://www.badlefthook.com/2014/3/9/5486930/canelo-vs-angulo...
I don't know enough about the issue to argue one way or another, but I find it a plausible argument.
http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2016/1/10/10742776/opinion-realit...
In Pride, Soccer kicks to a opponents head were allowed, and Gary sought to fight in various promotions well passed his prime.
If you look at other MMA fighters of his era that have displayed signs of CTE, they spent a considerable amount of fights outside the UFC.
HBO Real Sports did a good segment on violence in MMA: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgpdU_uPO34
A fight wasn't stopped when a gladiator couldn't defend himself. In a Roman arena, you fought to the fucking death. Maybe against an opponent 3 times your size. Maybe against a den of lions. People held and watched these events with the explicit purpose of watching other people die.
In the UFC, once you are unable to defend yourself the fight is over. In the UFC, you can submit an opponent. Sometimes that means a fight lasts 10 seconds, with not a drop of blood spilled.
That's as apples and oranges as a comparison gets.
"It puts me to mind of..." is a weasel phrase :)
hook, line and sinker.
What I get out of UFC matches (when I watch, I actually stopped because it was hard to find good matches) is the tactical chess-like maneuvering these guys go through in order to defeat an opponent that effectively knows everything they know. There's a level of calculating brilliance at play for the good fighters that I get a lot out of.
As you are alluding to, what we are now becoming aware of as a society is that by padding our combative athletes we've shifted the trauma from the exterior to the interior and thus made it more severe.