2008 Woodie Awards
Are mixed martial arts worth the trouble on CBS?
Maurice McKiernan
Issue date: 3/5/08 Section: Commentary
One of the fastest growing sports in America is mixed martial arts, or MMA for short.
If you have not seen one of these fights, they are a combination of boxing, wrestling, grappling and bar-room brawling. The bouts are highly violent, extremely aggressive and usually involve a decent amount of blood.
While I respect it as a sport, watching MMA fights makes me nervous - and not in a good-adrenaline pumping way. They remind me of cock-fighting, dog-fighting and ancient Roman gladiator bouts. They are brutal and the participants are frequently hurt.
Aside from eye gouging, hair pulling, biting, head butting and crotch shots, pretty much anything goes.
Obviously, this sport is not for the faint-of-heart.
Still, one has to search to find MMA fights. Due to the extreme nature, they were not aired on network TV - until now.
CBS recently singed a contract to air four MMA special events each year on Saturday nights during prime time.
As a person who puts a lot of stock into the concept of "freedom," I do not have a problem with two consenting adults wanting to fight - at least they won't be out picking fights on the street.
The biggest concern I have is with the affect these CBS broadcasts will have on children.
Kids are highly impressionable and I have seen the outcome of these events - I have friends who regularly watch these matches and have even participated in amateur MMA fights themselves.
"I studied Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for about a year before I wanted to go and try it out," says Paul Dickos, a 28-year-old Ball State graduate. "My fight was under a minute. He fell right into my guard and I pulled him into a triangle-choke."
Many fights are not this clean-cut.
I have a friend named Rory Edmonson who once wanted to be a mixed martial artist. After one fight, I had to help him to our car before I went back to look for his contacts, which had both been knocked out during his winning match. Minute by minute, his eyes welled up until he could barely see half an hour later - and he was the winner!
For some reason, he loved the experience and longed to do it again.
Although I do not enjoy watching MMA, I do believe there is a place for it in America - but it's not on network television during prime time. When actors are shot in a TV show or on a videogame, you can honestly tell a child, "It's not real." The same cannot be said for mixed martial arts fights.
As the famous saying goes, "Monkey see, monkey do."
How many adolescent fights and hospital visits could be sideswiped if CBS wouldn't air MMA?
Contct Maurice McKiernan at mmckier@iupui.edu.
If you have not seen one of these fights, they are a combination of boxing, wrestling, grappling and bar-room brawling. The bouts are highly violent, extremely aggressive and usually involve a decent amount of blood.
While I respect it as a sport, watching MMA fights makes me nervous - and not in a good-adrenaline pumping way. They remind me of cock-fighting, dog-fighting and ancient Roman gladiator bouts. They are brutal and the participants are frequently hurt.
Aside from eye gouging, hair pulling, biting, head butting and crotch shots, pretty much anything goes.
Obviously, this sport is not for the faint-of-heart.
Still, one has to search to find MMA fights. Due to the extreme nature, they were not aired on network TV - until now.
CBS recently singed a contract to air four MMA special events each year on Saturday nights during prime time.
As a person who puts a lot of stock into the concept of "freedom," I do not have a problem with two consenting adults wanting to fight - at least they won't be out picking fights on the street.
The biggest concern I have is with the affect these CBS broadcasts will have on children.
Kids are highly impressionable and I have seen the outcome of these events - I have friends who regularly watch these matches and have even participated in amateur MMA fights themselves.
"I studied Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu for about a year before I wanted to go and try it out," says Paul Dickos, a 28-year-old Ball State graduate. "My fight was under a minute. He fell right into my guard and I pulled him into a triangle-choke."
Many fights are not this clean-cut.
I have a friend named Rory Edmonson who once wanted to be a mixed martial artist. After one fight, I had to help him to our car before I went back to look for his contacts, which had both been knocked out during his winning match. Minute by minute, his eyes welled up until he could barely see half an hour later - and he was the winner!
For some reason, he loved the experience and longed to do it again.
Although I do not enjoy watching MMA, I do believe there is a place for it in America - but it's not on network television during prime time. When actors are shot in a TV show or on a videogame, you can honestly tell a child, "It's not real." The same cannot be said for mixed martial arts fights.
As the famous saying goes, "Monkey see, monkey do."
How many adolescent fights and hospital visits could be sideswiped if CBS wouldn't air MMA?
Contct Maurice McKiernan at mmckier@iupui.edu.
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