UFC as a Sports

The legitimacy of mixed martial arts, known by most as UFC fighting, has constantly been questioned and examined since its inception in 1993. Many have said that the vicious tactics adapted in mixed martial arts are barbaric and abhorrent. So much controversy has surrounded this new-age fighting style.

The goal for each fighter is to beat the other by submission or knockout. Fighters where light gloves that allow them to grapple, while at the same time protect their hands when striking opponents. Fighters often wear boxing shorts and no shirt and no shoes. No jewelry is permitted while fighting. The Ultimate Fighting Championships has weight classes: lightweight, welterweight, middleweight, light heavyweight, and heavyweight. Similar to boxing and other combat sports, each weight class has its own champion.


The art of brutality in its purest, rawest form. That is what UFC offers, or at least it did at one time. Gone are the days of the blood-lust, the modern UFC looks more like a ballet. In its primitive starts UFC was the anything goes, bare knuckle blood fest that pulled from underground foreign fighting circuits and targeted the violence nurtured American populace. It was for people who liked to watch men destroy each other, plain and simple.

When The Ultimate Fighter started on UFC, the producers knew some changes had to be made. Even under the protections of late night cable, a weekly UFC was not going to get away with the dangers of the no holds barred style. What if, for example, someone was seriously injured, or even killed? The adjustments were made, and thus UFC crept into the mainstream.

Once heralded as the ultimate underground fighting promotion, UFC is now regarded as the contender to take over for Boxing as the century rolls on. Pundits argue that the diverse styles that UFC attracts place their fighters above boxers in terms of intelligence and dynamics. UFC fighters can be anything from Ninja's to street brawlers, it is hard to say, unless you are a seasoned fan, what direction a UFC fight is going to go in. Is it going to be a submission showdown? Or a knockout? This is part of the glamour of the fight.

As UFC moves further and further from its underground roots with charismatic fighters replacing the scarred warriors of past days, it seems nothing can stop it from becoming the sporting event of the future.