Jesus Didn’t Tap
There is something intriguing about MMA (click if you’re out of the loop)… It’s modern day Gladiators with a few rules. I’ve been pretty adamant against the UFC/WEC popularity for a few reasons, the biggest being how imitative the sport is. There are stories and videos of kids/teenagers staging their own MMA bouts with no adult supervision… basically backyard brawls leaving kids battered, bruised, and bloody.
But, there is a reason MMA is the fastest growing sport in America so I wanted to give it a fair shake. I think part of my disgust with it came about because my exposure to it is YouTube videos and Outside the Line specials, both of which are only going to show the most gruesome of moments. Last night was supposed to be a big night in the WEC series. Four fights, two of which were championship matches, including the much anticipated Faber vs Pulver.
I think i can sum up the effect of the night with two short sentences:
1) “I was wrong” - In the sense that it is a bit barbaric and the Aughts version of gladiator games I am probably still right. In the sense that it is imitative? Yeah, it is… but the more I watched the more I realized that the guys that are going to imitate this are already fighters. They’re the guys at school who already act tough, who already don’t back down, and who already probably cause problems. This isn’t to say that all MMA guys are “bad guys” but there are gyms where you can, as a teenager, go and train in MMA… The ones that stage the illegal backyard brawls are not the type to go to the gym anyway. The ones that want to do it right are going to go about it the “right” way… with exceptions on both sides.
Also, it’s not as gruesome as I thought. Yeah, it looks painful and there are a lot of “holy crap!” moments… plenty of turn your head moments and the gut-wrenching “just stop the dang fight!” moments… but i never thought someone was about to die or have a bone break in half.
2) “I’m hooked” - I could never do that crap. I’d tap out as soon as my opponent walked towards me (even though the banner behind one of the guys said “JesusDidn’tTap.Com“, i’d still have to tap (please forgive me Lord)). I’m a fan of a good boxing match, but the square ring action doesn’t even come close to comparing to the octagon action. These guys are skilled, its not just wild-arse beatdowns.
I don’t like that I like it though I never thought it was wrong to enjoy it… and I still don’t like certain aspects of it… but at least now that I’ve given it a chance, I understand the appeal and understand the proponents.
So, anyone wanna join me next week?
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