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If I accosted a MMA fan and pointed out to them that fighters are not actors and that all that “entertainment” on your monthly pay per view is very real I’d probably elicit a very quizzical expression and a “But of course” or “Obviously.” Despite that I have progressively begun to wonder how obvious the very real and very human side to MMA is. It may be obvious when it is pointed out but when one considers what people say and their behavior then those things do not match with it being so obvious. It may be obvious when considered but it does not appear to be apparent moment to moment in the minds of many a follower of MMA.

As we have established, fighters are not actors in a pre-written movie getting paid to play a role. When the show is over it’s not a couple of laughs back stage, a hearty pat on the back for a job well done and onto the next show. To some degree there is jubilant celebration for the winner. However for every winner in mixed martial arts there must be a looser. Someone must be defeated. And I cannot think of a sport more demanding upon the looser then MMA. Not only do they loose, get paid less then the victor, but they also more often then not take a crushing beating in the process.


Sometimes the beating and lasting scars are more then just physical. Some come out the other side stronger and more hungry then ever. Others loose their hunger and shrink down to shadows of themselves. And still they get into the ring or cage again to face another highly trained badass intent on serving up another ass whooping. Some don’t have any choice. There are mouths to feed. People are depending on them and they may not know how to do anything else.

For most fighters fighting is their life. Its what they do and its what they love. However, after the show is over you get to go have another beer. They get to go to the hospital for another dose of very real pain. To shed some more very real blood. To look in the eyes of long suffering loved ones who stoically notice another scar, which is only going to open up easier next time.

And yet if one takes a turn around the major MMA message boards on the Internet filled as they are with infantile posturing, name calling, fleeting whimsy for today’s winner and disdain for yesterday’s hero you really wouldn’t know it. It seems to many that fighters are not more then actors in make-believe play. They take their turns, say their lines, there are special effects (did you see all that blood!?), the results are turned in and the curtain falls. Hate is heaped upon the head of this or that fighter for petty and childish reasons. The show might as well have been just another soap opera or at best a really exciting and violent episode of Big Brother.

It might surprise you to read such an article as this on a website devoted to MMA. The fact is I love this sport and am deeply passionate about it. To me MMA encapsulates great skill, long and arduous struggle, sweet success and bitter defeat. It is simultaneously primordial and high drama because it is real. No writer’s imagination could pen such as the unfolding symphony of human existence. It is brilliant entertainment and I am very entertained but I suggest that perhaps some could just stop for a moment and consider that this is not a movie or a video game. This is very real. MMA is the ultimate reality TV.

MMA - The Ultimate Reality TV

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2 Comments so far

  1. | The Blogging Life on August 10, 2008 7:53 pm

    […] presents MMA - The Ultimate Reality TV posted at MMA […]

  2. Blog Carnivals | Mixed Metaphor.net on August 11, 2008 6:05 am

    […] presents MMA - The Ultimate Reality TV posted at MMA […]

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