If you’re looking to play a game that’s fun and relaxing, there’s plenty out there for you. More and more often, however, it seems like people are becoming interested in challenges that are increasingly violent. While hitting billiard balls around a pool table can be some person’s idea of a fun time, there are others who enjoy hitting others around an octagon. If you’re in a pool room, you’ll see some nice game room furniture around, but placing such items within the ring of any mixed martial art fight would probably cause serious injury and a lot of damaged goods. Why has this new kind of sport gained such a large following in such a small period of time? In this essay, we’re going to take a look at a few possible answers.
UFC only began around a decade ago, with small crowds and only a cult following. Gradually, however, more and more people have been drawn to the brutal nature of the sport.
The game itself is in some way similar to kickboxing, except there are not as many rules involved. The gloves being used are quite small, so getting a knock-out can be easy if a blow is landed correctly, and take-downs can be achieved so that the opponents will wrestle it out on the ground. Here it’s possible to set the competitor up in a hold that will cause them extreme pain, requiring them to “tap-out” in order to prevent further injury.
Obviously, the brutal nature of this sport has caused a whole host of serious injuries to those who choose to go in the ring. Yet that doesn’t cease the increasing numbers of those who wish to take part in this violent game.
A number of years ago, the former WWF star, also a veteran of UFC, Ken Shamrock, was put in a match against the person who was the dominating fighter of the time, Tito Ortiz. The match itself was violent, with Tito able to easily grapple the older Shamrock and land a huge number of blows onto him. What such an attack does to a person can barely be imagined, and it’s a wonder that Shamrock did not choose to end the match sooner.
What are the mental reasons for people wanting to play this game and for us to watch and enjoy it? Perhaps it has something to do with the distance we’ve come from our own primal natures, when we were forced to fight animals and each other in order to stay alive. It might be that as we’re no longer in a situation where we are put in a life-or-death place, we look for vicarious thrills from other places to replicate this experience that’s lacking in our lives.
Whatever the reason, it’s unlikely that mixed martial arts will decrease in popularity any time soon. With touring companies around the world constantly occurring, and pay-per-views rating exceedingly well, we’ll have this kind of game around for a long time to come.