MMA Equals Unbridled Thuggery: Fantasies Notwithstanding…

When I first wrote for you about Mixed (Up) Martial Arts, here, I never would have imagined that the British Columbia Medical Association would eventually be calling for a ban of this “sport.”

I’m of two minds on this: Firstly, I think completely banning it before trying to regulate it (as was done with boxing) might drive it underground, and you’d surely see deaths as a result. Secondly, I do believe, and the evidence is all there, that the statistics and information being provided to the public by paid proponents of MMA are laughable. One perpetual dimbell actually tried to show that cheerleading is more hazardous.

Here are the realities:

1) If you win ‘on points’ in MMA, it’s an absolute rarity–it’s usually as a result of a devastating blow to some part of the body, or an opponent ‘tap-out’ (due to a submission hold). But the general point of MMA fighting is to knock your opponent unconscious–to knock him into next century. This is NOT like boxing. Oscar DeLaHoya, Marvin Hagler, Sugar Ray Leonard, Joe Louis, Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali, were all points experts–all won several title fights on points with the kind of finesse that would leave a ballerina breathless. Name one MMA fighter that’s ever done that. You can’t. And the aforementioned remain some of the greatest the sport has offered. Yes, there were my favorites, Rocky Marciano and Jake LaMotta, but they too were trained on the points system–not withstanding many of their fights were brawls–and Ali’s ‘Rope-A-Dope has put him into his current condition. Even George Foreman and Ken Norton won on points often times, as did Larry Holmes. Only one fighter in boxing history, ‘Iron’ Mike Tyson brutalized opponents with sheer strength and animal instincts that I don’t think we’ll ever see again. So what’s the point here? The point is that the ethos, the training of MMA is to hurt your opponent, to knock him out, to devastate him. That’s NEVER been the point of boxing–not to any of the greats–not to Bert Sugar or Angelo Dundee.

For as much as I like Georges St-Pierre and admire his skills; for as much as I think BJ Penn is, pound for pound, one of the most exciting fighters MMA has ever had; for as much as I think MMA MIGHT be evolving, there are always Chuck Liddell, Randy Couture and even meatballs, who would never survive without their size, like Neanderthal Brock Lesner to watch over the course of whatever life God grants them.

2) MMA is not about civility. Everything from the words opponents use for one another, to the over-the-top hype surrounding fights–it’s about sheer brutal violence, it’s about unbridled brutality–there is no art or sport in kicking the living crap out of another guy. Again, that’s not what boxing is about. And MMA breeds its spectators to pretend (even when most are not) to be ‘tough guys’. The ridiculous ‘Affliction’ wear, the Mr. T start-up kit around their necks, the violent, ancient coliseum-like mindlessness, “Kill the fucker!” mentality, it’s all just plain stupidity wrapped in the whole cloth of proud thuggery.

3) “Statistics don’t lie” said one paid-for hack in support of MMA over boxing. Yes, statistics don’t lie, but those who can’t chew gum and walk at the same time shouldn’t be the ones citing or assessing statistics. First of all, comparisons between boxing and MMA in everything from deaths to injuries is so laughable, I’m surprised someone in the media hasn’t stood up and made the following observations:

a) MMA has been around for only a SMALL fraction of boxing’s existence. How can you possibly make a fair comparison about long-term or even short-term damage etc? Only a complete meathead without any experience in stats comparisons would be so dense. Judging from the local proponents, I shouldn’t be terribly surprised.

b) How many fighters has boxing attracted like this prize? Fine, few might appear as MMA fighters, too, but if I asked you how shocked you might be that he is an MMA fighter, you wouldn’t be that shocked. Why? Because this is the kind of no-mind that won’t do sparring sessions and countless hours of road work, but will show up to pummel another guy senseless, because that’s the ethos of MMA. Even Roman gladiators had a code. MMA doesn’t.

4) For me this is the key: When MMA will permanently ban anyone from their roster, who hits an opponent, clearly heading to the canvas. with any kind of head or heart shot, I’ll support their right to exist. I might even attend again. It is NOT a sport, when you have the right to continue hitting a man who is clearly out. Even one shot can cause a severe enough shockwave to the brain-certainly enough to result in some permanent, although not immediately evident, brain damage. Think of the highlight reels for MMA: Countless frames of fighters clearly administering to an opponent multiple blows to the head, well after said opponent is unconscious.

5) MMA, in its current form, is an absolutely terrible example to young children, particularly young boys. It fosters a sense of invincibility that is not only manifestly unhealthy, but patently dangerous. Think about the two thugs, who after Vancouver’s first MMA card, beat up the gay couple objecting to the same thugs using their front steps as a urinal. If that’s how bullet-proof it makes adult knuckle-draggers (with obviously low IQs), imagine what message that sends to young boys, who would be better off learning soccer or baseball. And how many proponents of MMA stepped up to condemn the senseless beating of the gay couple? Not one. In fact, they provided excuses about how the UFC fight card and the incident couldn’t be connected–in stark contrast to the real story as it unraveled. What does this tell us about the paid whores who will support MMA?

And for all this the same meatball contingent in the blogosphere and in the media are suggesting MMA is less harmful than boxing, rugby and yes, even cheerleading.

Honestly, idiots breeding idiocy. Boycott MMA and any business or political organization that tacitly supports it.

Now, see if you can count the number of times in the following video when a fighter continues to knock, kick, punch (and in one case bite) an opponent’s head WELL AFTER the fight is clearly over.

See if you can get through the eight minutes, without your stomach turning. I warn you, it’s humanity at its lowest common denominator, here.

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