Mixed Martial Arts: Human Cockfighting or the Pinnacle of Combat Sports?

It's an important day for mixed martial arts fans and participants in Vancouver as city council meets to discuss the future of MMA events. Mixed martial arts matches have been a fiercely debated topic in North America for just over a decade now. Opponents denounce the sport as a sort of human cockfighting that has no place in civilized society. Participants and fans, on the other hand, counter by saying that it simply represents the logical progression of combat sports and is actually safer than conventional boxing or kickboxing. So who's right?

Mixed martial arts rudely wrapped its arms around the throat of North American audiences in 1993 when Royce Gracie, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt, beat out a panel of predominantly stand-up fighters to win the continent's first high-profile mixed martial arts event, the Ultimate Fighting Championship. For North Americans, who had been trained by Hollywood to revere striking arts such as boxing, kung fu, kickboxing, and karate as the peak of hand-to-hand combat, their picture of martial arts was turned on its head. And the martial arts world hasn't been the same since. Stand-up fighters started getting comfortable on the ground, taking the edge from grapplers, who had to learn how to strike... and so on and so forth with the snowballs and whatnot until today, when the field is full of frighteningly skilled individuals who are happy kicking ass on their feet or on the ground. And this is the current state of MMA, which is enjoying massive and quickly-growing popularity.

Unfortunately (or fortunately) for those on both sides of the argument, the diversity of fighters and wide range of styles used in MMA events makes it just as easy to find examples of a brutal slugfest as an impressive display of technical skill. The debate could be a long one.

Personally, I agree with The Province on this one. What about you?

Want to know more? Here's a few sources of MMA info and history:

- The ubiquitious wikipedia
- Grapplearts, Vancouverite Stephan Kesting's excellent website.
- Ultimate Fighting Championship
- Pride Fighting Championship
- Sherdog
- And a piece of early MMA history courtesy of martial arts legend Gene LeBell

Photo courtesy of LeeBrimelow.