If you asked the majority of people living in the developed world, they would claim they live in the most advanced, enlightened era history has ever known.
Why then, is entertainment wrestling like the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) so popular?
Simply put, UFC is utterly barbaric and the fact that there is such a massive fan base for it suggests that we are not as advanced as we believe ourselves to be. Now do not get me wrong, mixed martial arts serves its purpose.
The fact that many people learn these skills for self-defense is commendable.
But the issue with watching wrestling for pure entertainment value stems from the fact that wrestling originated as a method of self-defense and was turned into a sport akin to that of the Roman gladiator fights.
I acknowledge that those who participate in this sport should be recognized as athletes as they possess an incredible amount of skill and require a tremendous training schedule.
I do not take issue with the athletes themselves and respect them for what they do.
The problem extends to the message it sends to its viewers, mainly, that this type of ancient and uncivilized sport should be highly valued in a society pushing towards a more sensitive approach to human connectivity.
The popularity of this “sport” suggests that while thousands of years have passed, clearly we have made little progress in terms of civility. UFC is essentially two goons beating the life out of one another which leads me to ask the question, how are people entertained by watching another human get their face smashed in?
The president of UFC Dana White, has suggested why he believes the blood-bath is so popular, “Fighting is in our DNA. We get it and we like it.”
While White exclaims this with an air of pride, I am not convinced that his egoism is justified. Yes, he has made millions of dollars off his business venture, but he should be embarrassed that he encourages this type of barbaric behavior.
There are numerous fans out there who will argue that these events are closely monitored and will never become undisciplined, which may have some truth, but this is not the primary problem.
The lack of protective equipment in UFC takes the threat of risk to an unreasonable level.
Even sports such as boxing provide participants with some amount of protection and are closely observed with fairly strict regulations.
Additionally, arguments are made that claim that there are plenty of fatalities in other sports and therefore, they must be just as barbaric and problematic.
This, however, is an oversimplification. While other sports may have the same if not more casualties, the purpose of UFC boils down to one thing: to annihilate the opponent.
The truth is that clever marketing has led the public to believe that wrestling is a sport equal to competitive ones with an actual purpose.
This is the 21st century; we should not need, nor should we be entertained by, this type of savage, barbaric bloodbath.
I am disgusted that these matches continue to sell out and those that continue to believe we are the most advanced society ever are absolutely kidding themselves.