There are many professional sports in the world we live in today. Basketball, football, and hockey have been around for over 50 years, while baseball has been around for a century and soccer for centuries. Even the WWE, if you consider that a sport has been around for a while. One sport, however, separates itself from the rest, and it has become the newest of them all to be considered one of the best sports of all time: the UFC. The Ultimate Fighting Championship, or more commonly referred to as the UFC began 20 years ago, and is today one of the most watched sports in the world amongst all other athletic events. However, despite the gladiator style conflict that takes place in the octagon, minus the pads and lethal weapons of the gladiators of old, something special about these athletes is what makes the sport so popular to so many around the world. It’s the level of humility, discipline, and mastery of their craft that makes these athletes more than just fighters, but also respectable and humble men, and now women in this international sport. In a way, the UFC is like a melting pot of cultures, disciplines, styles, and abilities that brings fighters from every country together in the universal language of mixed martial arts, otherwise known as M.M.A. Many people only see the blood and exchange of attacks in the ring, but it’s what goes on outside of the ring that defines the athletes that make up the UFC and other fighting organizations. The world of M.M.A. and the UFC are full of humble and very respectable fighters, who despite the imagery of savages going for blood in the ring are actually quite the opposite outside the cage.
Humility is defined as the quality or meaning of being humble. Humble is defined as showing modest or low estimate of one’s own importance. This describes not only a handful of the champions of the UFC but also a multitude of other fighters throughout the UFC. In an article contributed by Jeffery McKinney, 10 of the sports classiest and most respectful fighters are discussed. One thing all 10 of these fighters have in common, as well as noted in each description, is that they have never talked trash on another fighter in their careers. Even in the wake of fighting the most arrogant and loud-mouthed opponents in their careers, not a single negative word was spoken from any of these elite combatants. Of these fighters described, one being a former teacher(Rich Franklin), another being a former U.S. marine(Brian Stan), and the rest having a long career up to today in the sport(Georges St. Pierre), some dating back to around the time the UFC began(Lyoto Machida, Dan Henderson, Forrest Griffin, Antonio Nogueira), it only goes to show the level of class and respect displayed by many fighters in the sport.
Although only 10 were discussed in this article, another 10 fighters along with those from the other post were chronicled by Matt Molgaard. These other fighters, though most of them not as successful as the fighters from the McKinney post, were noted to be just as respectful and humble as the others. This article from Molgaard showed that humility can come from anyone, regardless their rank in the UFC, if they once had a drug addiction(Court Mcgee), or even if they knew they were not the cream of the crop, but they still push themselves with a drive to become the best(Jonathan Brookins), they all have humbly made names for themselves and earned mass respect from fighters and viewers alike. All of these fighters have another similarity that translates into the humble athletes that they are. They never underestimate or boast about their own skill. Prior to UFC 167, Georges St. Pierre was quoted in an article of the Montreal Gazette. St. Pierre says "There are always going to be challenges," he said. "I'm not above the sport. In saying this he makes not that he's not the best, or in other words that he’s not the king of the sport and sits upon a thrown that he will never fall off. He goes on to say, "Everybody's beatable and I always have to keep my head straight and stay humble and train hard." Besides the excitement of the fights themselves, it's this brand of fighter, this type of athlete that makes the UFC the proud sport it is today.
Now not every fighter is as humble as those mentioned above. There is always a balance in sports of humble, respectable athletes, and the arrogant, cocky jocks. You would hope that all champions would be St. Pierre like, but thats not the case for these select fighters. Scott Harris, a featured columnist on bleacherreport.com noted that Current light heavyweight champion Jon Jones is one of those amongst arrogant champions and former champions, like heavyweight Frank Mir, and one of the pound for pound best fighters of all time, Anderson Silva. Once the longest reigning champion of the welterweight division, Anderson use to goad all of his opponents into striking first, either by dancing around them, or even mocking them and leaving himself wide open to instigate his opponents. This arrogance usually wasn't such an issue, until the level of criticism rose after he was knocked out by Chris Weidman earlier in 2013. Even before his loss, many of his fights as a champion were not exciting or interesting. There is nothing exciting or interesting about a fight when one of the fighters are dancing around and mocking the other. Aside from these three, other notable arrogant fighters include welterweights Josh Koscheck and Rory MacDonald, middleweight/light heavyweight Chael Sonnen and Michael Bisping, bantamweight Dominick Cruz, and heavyweight Alistar Overeem. Many of these as noted earlier partake in a lot of trash talking leading up to their respective fights. Fighters like Mir, Koscheck, and Sonnen are notorious for talking a lot of smack about thier opponents leading up to their fights. One example in particular, the fight between Josh Koscheck vs. Georges St. Pierre resulted in Koscheck taking one of the worst beatings in his career in the aftermath of months of talking. The only enjoyment and satisfaction of these fights is when the arrogant is defeated by the humble. Maybe its how the match up looks like good vs. evil, and with the good winning that entices so many viewers and fans. Whether its Champion vs. contender, or even humble vs. arrogant, its these types of match ups that make the fights so much more exciting and interesting, and one of the most watched sports around the world.
As stated in these three videos, many people including political commentator Bill O’Reilly view the UFC as barbaric. That the UFC is comparable to human cockfighting or even pitbull fighting in the first video. That it is even “repulsive” as one reporter puts it in the first video. At the end of the first video they pluck a quote from the crowds that flood the UFC pay-per-view events, encouraging “More gore!” These reporters continue on to referring to fighters of the UFC as openers of blood banks and people whose goal is to open young people’s eyes to extreme amounts of violence. As these ignorant reporters continue to rant and bash on the sport they overlook what it is they are actually reporting on. This is fighting. In the second video, Boxing fan and promoter Lou Dibella argues that M.M.A. and the UFC is human cockfighting, and that it is not as pure a form of fighting as boxing is. He is then called out by fight commentator Joe Rogan, who then explains how UFC is a true form of fighting with all the combat attributes it allows in its fights, such as boxing, wrestling, Jiu-Jitsu, submissions, and other skills in comparison to boxing being limited to only using their hands. Fighting is exactly as its name implies. It's a match up where two people duke it out, whether its punching, kicking, wrestling, or submissions otherwise referred to as chokes in order to see who is the better of the two. Rarely ever will a full fight end with either combatant coming out clean and unscathed, or looking as though they did not just go through a one-on-one war. There is always bound to be blood, cuts, gashes, broken bones, or stitches being put into place by the end of the fight. When the naysayers and opposers of this great sport can look past what’s obvious and bound to happen, such as the violence, they will be able to truly understand what the UFC really is. How the goal is not to cripple or destroy someone’s well-being through the fight, but the mindset to win as the driving force behind every fighter. Once people can look past the cover and actually delve deep into the book, as many people will say in other situations. then they can wipe the dirt that covers the true image of M.M.A. and the UFC.
However, the fight is not entirely physical, but equally or more so mental. Those who watch the fights or other athletic events but have never participated in sport, or at least one at a level of that intensity don't fully understand the war that wages within the minds of athletes such as these. Through wrestling in high school , a coach would preach to me that winning a match was 90% mental and 10% physical, regardless the muscle and endurance needed to persevere and succeed. Same idea runs true for fighters in the UFC. In an article from Joe.ie, a fighter named Cathal Pendred explains how important a strong mind is in comparison to a strong body in M.M.A. and the UFC. He explains, "Walking down to a ring/octagon to face off against another man in a fight is something that requires a lot of training, courage, confidence and a level-head. Of the four things I mentioned, only one is a physical requirement, the others are all mental aspects." Although it is true that a strong body is likely to withstand pain and punishment far greater than a weaker body will, what surpasses a strong body when its limbs are close to being broken, or a left hook has been delivered to the one spot of the head that would drop any man? The mind is the only valid answer to this question. As a fighter himself, Pendred understands more than most this importance in the sport. As a fighter himself, Pendred has been in these situations numerous times and witnessed countless other occasions where a fighter has lost due to their body and mind failing, as well as occasions where a fighter has won because his body was battered and worn, but the mind pushed on in an effort to obtain victory. He sums this all up by saying "When your body is beaten, it takes a really strong mind to overcome the natural desire of the body to give up." The mindset is everything in M.M.A. Its what separates the champions from the rest. The mindset to be number one is what drives many of these fighters to compete so fiercely. Its not that there's a personal vendetta between fighters in the UFC if it becomes outrageously gory, it just symbolizes what fighters will do to win, and what they'll withstand and endure to achieve victory. This desire, referred to as heart by many athletes, is what makes these fighters more than animals in an 8 sided cage, but more so inspirational and dedicated people who live out their dreams and achieve the goals they’ve had since they were young children. This desire to win and defeat their opponent’s, these fighters understand is more of a mindset than it is physical.
The UFC is a great sport. Despite the grueling matches that have been fought to this day it is still safer than Boxing, says Dana White, President of the UFC. In an article from buddytv.com, White says that “The misconception is, these guys can kick, knee, punch, elbow, slam to the ground, this has to be more violent and dangerous. It's not true.” This being in regard to boxing, he comes back later saying,” people stand in front of each other for 12 rounds, and the goal is to hit each other so hard in the face that one fighter knocks the other unconscious. In the UFC two people can fight, and one could beat the other and win, and never punch the other guy in the head once. Fighters can go right to the ground, start grappling, and pull off a submission. It's not 25, 30 minutes of blows to the head non-stop.” This being noted, his point very simply is that boxing is just as dangerous and brutal as the UFC. The fact that in boxing people are being punched in the head multiple times for twelve five minute rounds seems more like human cockfighting or dog fighting than the UFC. In the UFC however, not one punch has to be thrown to win a fight. All thats needed is one strong kick anywhere, or a wrestling takedown finished with a choke to win. That kick could go anywhere, and the opponent can honorably tap out when caught in the choke to avoid passing out. Not an arm has to be broken, or a serious brain injury could come from a match that goes in these ways. While major injuries have resulted from boxing, such as deaths and brain trauma in many retired boxers, White further points out that there’s never been a UFC injury more serious than a broken arm. He even notes that he’s seen worse injuries in high school football games in one of the video from above, a sport that is not near the professional level as boxing or the UFC is, than in the UFC. He humbly acknowledges however, "At the end of the day it's a contact sport and anything can happen." This justifies and disbands the idea that the fighters of the UFC are savages just looking for blood. Far from it, the gore displayed is just a result of the sport. The way that tackles and touchdowns are bound to happen in a football game, so is a little blood on the canvas of the octagon in the UFC.
Throughout its 20 year history, the UFC has become one of the most popluar sports around the world. The UFC has become a melting pot for many skills and diverse backgrounds. All this diversity amongst the fighters of the UFC is what makes it one of the greatest sports today. It is not only for that reason however. The great fights, along with the many humble champions and other fighters like Georges St. Pierre and Brian Stan are what make the sport the way it is today. The world of M.M.A. and the UFC are full of humble and very respectable fighters, who despite the imagery of savages going for blood in the ring are actually quite the opposite outside the cage.
