Mixed Martial Arts: Is UFC A Sport Or A Roman Spectacle?

No matter the situation, no matter the time, no matter the environment, there is only one thing that will always draw someone’s attention: A fight. Fighting has been ingrained in the minds of every organism on the planet since the beginning of time. As the human race has evolved, so has fighting. Discipline, athleticism, skill, focus and other trades have been incorporated into fighting to the point where it has been transformed into a more than just survival, but a wildly-successful, commercial sport. Mixed martial arts is one of the most fascinating and gruesome sports in the world. The sport’s leading organization, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), has pushed mixed martial arts into territories people could not have imagined. Names like Ronda Rousey, Conor McGregor, Jon Jones, and many more have made the UFC one of the premier sports organizations in the world. Not bad for an organization that without weight classes in one large “Royal Rumble” style eight-man tournament format that even pitted a 5-foot-11 air conditioning repairman squaring off — and beating — a 616-pound sumo champion. It was banned in many states, including New York, which finally became the 50th state to legalize it in 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ivxUEi42RmM On, and nut shots weren’t made illegal until 2001, when the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board adopted a set of standards that would become known as the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. The rules went from a total of three to 30 overnight. In 2009, the Association of Boxing Commissions also adopted the same rules. Of course, nobody in their right mind thinks legal nutshots wouldn’t be ratings gold. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH3ATdFWhXw Besides the display of extreme violence people crave when they watch MMA, the drama that is sometimes present takes it over the top and that is truly what brings in the revenue through pay-per-view and at the gate. While this brings in more ticket sales for premier MMA organizations like the UFC, it is also the problem eating away at the sport. The traditional rankings and ladder system, where fighters have to climb up the rankings of their division in order to win a title shot, is being pushed to the side. Promoters are now more focused on setting up money fights for the public. For many people, this is wonderful. The UFC has played its part in promoting big fights as of late. Floyd Mayweather vs. Conor McGregor? Jon Jones vs. Brock Lesnar? Georges St. Pierre vs. Michael Bisping? All these fights sound amazing; however, through booking all these fights and making more money, the UFC is diminishing the foundation upon which the sport was founded on. Fighters are becoming less and less satisfied with the way the world of mixed martial arts, especially the UFC, is trending. Money is being dispersed to fighters who at times might not deserve it as much as other fighters. https://twitter.com/JayDavison/status/1002724248014602240 https://twitter.com/AlessandroGelke/status/998413854903156736 The UFC flyweight champion, Demetrious “Mighty Mouse” Johnson (26-2-1), is regarded as one of the best fighters of all time and has maintained a spot in the upper echelon of the UFC pound for pound rankings for quite some time now. However, since he is not able to promote himself like a Conor McGregor, he does not make as much money even though in reality he is probably a substantially better fighter than McGregor is. Conor has not defended his title nearly as much as Mighty Mouse has nor does he have the tools in his arsenal that Mighty Mouse does when it comes to an overall fight game. According to mmamania.com, Joe Rogan even came out and said Conor McGregor receiving special treatment from the UFC because of his star status is “f*cked up.” Conor suffered minimal repercussions for the controversial actions he committed before UFC 223 by the UFC. In reality though, if almost any other fighter did what Conor did, they’d be thrown out of the UFC in an instant. More money should be paid to the athlete who performs better, not speaks better. After all, is that not the way money is given out in other major sports organizations such as the NBA or the NFL? The sport of mixed martial arts is starting to digress from a well renowned combat sport to a mere form of entertainment. Maybe that’s fine for the premier MMA organizations in the world, however there is no denying that with all this money coming in, respect and credibility are going out the door.