Fighting Sports

For a post today, I thought I would discuss an argument I often encounter. A lot of people feel that boxing is a barbaric sport. Fair enough, I respect that opinion. However, I disagree when people continue with the extension of that argument, that the up-and-coming Ultimate Fighting Championship platform of fighting entertainment is just as, if not more, barbaric. I want to explain my reaction to this idea as well as my opinion as to why UFC is such a phenomenon in the entertainment world (UFC website: http://www.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=tuf.home).
First of all, many boxing matches are twelve round slugouts that involve people basically hitting each other in the head for over an hour. UFC consists of three five minute rounds in which a person may lose by decision, knockout, or submission. Another major distinction between boxing is that while in boxing, the fighters must stand and hit above the waist; in the UFC, one fighter can "take down" another and make the fight more into a wrestling match, jockeying for superior position in order to land punches. As a result, far less time is spent actually fighting, punches and kicks are distributed throughout the body, which presumably reduces the amount of head trauma (in turn probably reducing the risk of degenerative diseases later on in life such as Parkinson's), and submission techniques provide a "third option" to winning a fight that boxing does not accommodate, which also reduces the amount of abuse a fighter takes.
Obviously, the UFC is much safer for its fighters than professional boxing is. Furthermore, it has been crushing boxing in the entertainment world. In my home of Las Vegas, boxing obviously has a lot of history and weight in the city, but I feel that the UFC is starting to gain ground in major venues such as the MGM Grand or the Mandalay Bay. I feel that this is because the UFC espouses a much more dynamic style of fighting. Fights usually last maybe into the second round due to the use of submission techniques or referee decisions to end the fight due to someone becoming unable to defend themselves. There are many different styles that go into a UFC fighter's repertoire such as Jujitsu, wrestling, and boxing. Furthermore, as boxing is a very lengthy event, there are strategies such as holding out until the last rounds in order to mount a last second push to win. In the UFC, the fight may be over in a matter of seconds, so the fighters leave nothing behind. Another secret to the UFC's success is that it has avoided the bad reputation that boxing has earned due to the early deaths of its champion fighters. In the UFC, because one receives much less abuse over the years, its champions go on to produce a new generation of fighters, as is presented in the popular show on Spike TV, Ultimate Fighter (Ultimate Fighter Site: http://www.spike.com/show/22307). Finally, I feel that the UFC is the next evolution of fighting entertainment due to its augmented ability to entertain its views and because of its safety.

an interesting presentation about the evolution of fighting entertainment into UFC: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O5M3gmqtMu4