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I disliked UFC until I watched it. At that time, I was very much into going to the gym and working out and that seemed to bring out some aggression that the UFC

I disliked UFC until I watched it. At that time, I was very much into going to the gym and working out and that seemed to bring out some aggression that the UFC absorbed. Lately, I just can't see it as anything more than brutality. I guess I realize we live in such violent times and we are surrounded by it. The last thing I can do now is kick back and watch a violent sport to decompress from it all.

rm_-rf_slash 10y ago
Considering that the majority of humanity does not have to worry about being attacked by wild animals or leave old/sick relatives behind on the march to the next food source, I would say we are hardly living in times as violent as you might think.
hyperion2010 10y ago
The visceral nature of MMA and the blood makes many people dislike it, but compared to the long, slowly developing brain damage induced by boxing, MMA is a far more humane sport.
- iaw 10y ago
  Funny thing, I never thought about this, but compared to Football and Boxing, UFC is unlikely to cause debilitating long-term damage. 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.
- dublinben 10y ago
  Thankfully, this isn't an either or situation. Boxing's popularity was significantly diminished for years before UFC brought fighting sports back to a forefront.
  - deleted 10y ago
    [deleted]
iaw 10y ago
There are two components to UFC: the violence and the skill. You don't sound like you're comfortable with the level of violence displayed (completely understandable). As others have pointed out, the combatants are willing participants and not victims, so I don't share the same issue. 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.
- partisan 10y ago
  I totally get it and I think you are right in your analysis. What hooked me was the tactics of the sport. I enjoy watching someone at the top of their game, but I can't take the violence. As a result, I'm hooked on cooking competition shows.
  - beachstartup 10y ago
    if you like the mental side of it but dislike the striking violence you should check out the brazilian jiu jitsu scene. there's a lot of overlap with none of the blood.
KurtMueller 10y ago
I take it you don't watch American football or boxing then?
- partisan 10y ago
  Correct.
oxide 10y ago
I don't find the UFC brutal at all. Even when the fights get bloody. 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.
- carsongross 10y ago
  The long-term effects on UFC athletes (most of whom are throw-away, and will never be known) is going to make boxing look like handbags at twenty paces. 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.
  - oxide 10y ago
    I disagree. I can't think of a single sport where the athletes aren't throw-away. That's what sports do. They suck the livelyhood out of their competitors for the pleasure of spectators. 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.
    - carsongross 10y ago
      Do you see a moral difference between violence-as-a-byproduct of a goal and violence-as-the-goal? If not, do you see how someone else might? Are you familiar with the tu quoque fallacy? I will of course not convince you of much via a HN comment thread, this is for the others.
      - deleted 10y ago
        [deleted]
      - 10y ago

rm_-rf_slash 10y ago

Considering that the majority of humanity does not have to worry about being attacked by wild animals or leave old/sick relatives behind on the march to the next food source, I would say we are hardly living in times as violent as you might think.

hyperion2010 10y ago

The visceral nature of MMA and the blood makes many people dislike it, but compared to the long, slowly developing brain damage induced by boxing, MMA is a far more humane sport.

iaw 10y ago
Funny thing, I never thought about this, but compared to Football and Boxing, UFC is unlikely to cause debilitating long-term damage. 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.
dublinben 10y ago
Thankfully, this isn't an either or situation. Boxing's popularity was significantly diminished for years before UFC brought fighting sports back to a forefront.
- deleted 10y ago
  [deleted]

iaw 10y ago

There are two components to UFC: the violence and the skill. You don't sound like you're comfortable with the level of violence displayed (completely understandable). As others have pointed out, the combatants are willing participants and not victims, so I don't share the same issue. 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.

partisan 10y ago
I totally get it and I think you are right in your analysis. What hooked me was the tactics of the sport. I enjoy watching someone at the top of their game, but I can't take the violence. As a result, I'm hooked on cooking competition shows.
- beachstartup 10y ago
  if you like the mental side of it but dislike the striking violence you should check out the brazilian jiu jitsu scene. there's a lot of overlap with none of the blood.

KurtMueller 10y ago

I take it you don't watch American football or boxing then?

partisan 10y ago
Correct.

oxide 10y ago

I don't find the UFC brutal at all. Even when the fights get bloody. 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.

carsongross 10y ago
The long-term effects on UFC athletes (most of whom are throw-away, and will never be known) is going to make boxing look like handbags at twenty paces. 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.
- oxide 10y ago
  I disagree. I can't think of a single sport where the athletes aren't throw-away. That's what sports do. They suck the livelyhood out of their competitors for the pleasure of spectators. 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.
  - carsongross 10y ago
    Do you see a moral difference between violence-as-a-byproduct of a goal and violence-as-the-goal? If not, do you see how someone else might? Are you familiar with the tu quoque fallacy? I will of course not convince you of much via a HN comment thread, this is for the others.
    - deleted 10y ago
      [deleted]
    - 10y ago