MMA: A Sport, Not a Death Match

As the fighter's face drips with blood, he continues to push forward and engage his opponent. At this point in time, the fighter's body and mind are telling him to give up. Most people give in to this feeling because they do not know what their body can actually do. However, a true athlete knows how to keep on fighting and ignore what his body and mind are ordering. Although there is much bloodshed, mixed martial arts is not a barbaric death match, but a sport because there are many techniques and rules that a fighter must master and follow in order to ensure safety to himself and his opponent.

First of all, a fighter must understand and master the rules of mixed martial arts. The rules in mma are enforced to prevent serious injuries from occurring. This is similar to football because some things are illegal for safety reasons such as a horse collar tackle. Moves such as biting, eye gouging, and fish hooking are highly illegal. Eye gouging is extremely dangerous for a fighter’s opponent because it can cause damage to the cornea, which can result in permanent vision defects and possibly blindness. Anthony Johnson was a victim of an eye injury when Kevin Burns accidentally struck him on July 19, 2008 (UFC). The second series of moves are groin strikes. Taking any type of strike to the groin region can bring down any mountain of a man, even if he is as strong as an ox. For example, at UFC 65 Matt Hughes was accidentally struck in the groin by Georges “Rush” St. Pierre, which instantly dropped him to his knees and may have been the reason for his loss, costing him his welterweight title (UFC). The final illegal move is that there is to be no manipulation of small joints. These moves seem quite minor, but ...

... middle of paper ...

...at the two fighters are civilized individuals, not barbaric brutes. Do these fighters look like barbarians who want to brutally kill each other? Unlike a barbaric death match, these athletes are not trying to kill one another; they are simply participating in a sport that they love and abiding by the rules and regulations. They love the sport so much because it takes an enormous amount of time and dedication to excel at it. It has the same exact concept for the athletes as other sports, which consists of training hard and eating, sleeping, and breathing the sport.

Works Cited

Barry Steve. “Video Of Corey Hill’s Leg Breaking (Update II – Hill Surgery.)” www.mmaconvert.com. 11 Dec. 2008. Web. 4 Mar. 2010.

“Full Schedule.” www.ufc.com. UFC. 29 May 2010. Web. 4 Mar. 2010.