tag:theconversation.com,2011:/id/topics/mixed-martial-arts-15691/articles
Mixed Martial Arts – The Conversation
2022-04-28T19:10:26Z
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/181020
2022-04-28T19:10:26Z
2022-04-28T19:10:26Z
Selling voyeurism: How companies create value from the taboo
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458021/original/file-20220413-24-ffc2bx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=8%2C0%2C5841%2C3645&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A growing number of businesses across a wide range of industries are successfully selling voyeurism to their audiences. </span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">(Shutterstock)</span></span></figcaption></figure><iframe style="width: 100%; height: 100px; border: none; position: relative; z-index: 1;" allowtransparency="" allow="clipboard-read; clipboard-write" src="https://narrations.ad-auris.com/widget/the-conversation-canada/selling-voyeurism--how-companies-create-value-from-the-taboo" width="100%" height="400"></iframe>
<p>What do reality television, slum tourism, erotic webcam and mixed-martial arts have in common? They all rely on voyeurism to entertain their audiences. Voyeurism provides a glimpse into the private life of another person to give audiences a revealing and entertaining experience. </p>
<p>In <a href="https://www.mmafighting.com/">mixed martial arts</a> (MMA), for example, it provides a close-up look at the violence of a no-holds-barred fight. On reality television shows, like <a href="https://www.cbs.com/shows/survivor/"><em>Survivor</em></a> and <a href="https://www.bigbrothercanada.ca/"><em>Big Brother</em></a>, voyeurism creates the excitement, thrills and shock that entertainment-hungry consumers crave.</p>
<p>In most societies, voyeurism is taboo. Yet a growing number of businesses across a wide range of industries are successfully selling voyeurism to a growing audience. </p>
<p>As management researchers, we study the intersection of organizations and society. In our <a href="https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2019.0210">recently published research</a>, we explain how businesses use two key dimensions — authenticity and transgression — to create a commercial opportunities from voyeurism. </p>
<h2>Authenticity and transgression</h2>
<p>Authenticity emerges from <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/1479758042000797015">seeing the “real life” of another person</a> and transgression appears from <a href="https://books.google.ca/books/about/Voyeur_Nation.html?id=4MloAAAAIAAJ&redir_esc=y">viewing something forbidden</a>. What differentiates erotic webcam from most pornography is the perception that the audience is getting a live and interactive glimpse into the private bedroom of the cam model. </p>
<p>Authenticity and transgression work together to generate entertaining experiences for the audience. In doing so, businesses that commodify authenticity develop devoted and returning customers. </p>
<p>Delivering value to customers based on something taboo is no easy task. The mixed emotions that draw us into the voyeuristic experience can easily overwhelm us — there is a very fine line between creating entertainment value and creating too many negative emotions (such as anxiety and guilt) that push customers away. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two blindfolded people kissing while cameras film them" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458028/original/file-20220413-16-g4rox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458028/original/file-20220413-16-g4rox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458028/original/file-20220413-16-g4rox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458028/original/file-20220413-16-g4rox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=423&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458028/original/file-20220413-16-g4rox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458028/original/file-20220413-16-g4rox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458028/original/file-20220413-16-g4rox.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=532&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Reality television shows, like E! Entertainment’s ‘Kiss Bang Love’ rely on the use of voyeurism to deliver entertainment value to audiences.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Berenice Bautista)</span></span>
</figcaption>
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<p>It doesn’t take much to turn reality shows from a guilty pleasure to something that makes the audience feel too guilty to watch. In this way, the authenticity and transgression draw audiences in and create value, but can also push audiences away and destroy value. </p>
<p>For these businesses to be successful, they have to walk a fine line. How do they do it?</p>
<h2>Emotional optimization</h2>
<p>To successfully commercialize voyeurism, businesses engage in numerous tactics to turn down undesirable emotions, while retaining or turning up the desirable emotions for the customers. The ones that are successful know their audiences well and keep them coming back for more.</p>
<p>Businesses like MMA, reality television, slum tourism and erotic webcams use a variety of approaches to manage audiences’ emotional responses. Strategies, such as shielding audiences, de-personalizing performers and creating the impression that performers are willing participants, help balance customers’ mixed emotions.</p>
<p>For example, the use of cages in MMA — as opposed to less constraining barriers in boxing or the lack of barriers in traditional martial arts — prevents fear from overwhelming the audience. The cage acts like a protective barrier between the audience and the violence unfolding in front of them. But it also reinforces the idea that this is a no-holds-barred fight. In this way, the sense of violence and danger decreases, while desirable emotions, like excitement, are maintained.</p>
<p>However, there is no exact amount of authenticity and transgression that elicit desirable emotional responses from consumers. Because each audience member is different, the larger and more diverse an audience gets, the harder it is to find the sweet spot. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Behind a chain-link cage, an MMA fighter punches another in the stomach" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458027/original/file-20220413-22-xkzgr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/458027/original/file-20220413-22-xkzgr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458027/original/file-20220413-22-xkzgr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458027/original/file-20220413-22-xkzgr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458027/original/file-20220413-22-xkzgr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458027/original/file-20220413-22-xkzgr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/458027/original/file-20220413-22-xkzgr4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The use of cages in MMA prevents fear from overwhelming audience members by acting like a protective barrier between the audience and the violence unfolding in front of them.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">(AP Photo/Chase Stevens)</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>When MMA was a “backstreet” activity, the smaller audience was more comfortable with higher levels of transgression and authenticity. But now, <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/1614213-a-timeline-of-ufc-rules-from-no-holds-barred-to-highly-regulated">since MMA has gone mainstream, there are more restrictions to the fighting</a>. They still advertise as “no-holds-barred,” because that’s where the value is created, but they have <a href="https://www.ufc.com/unified-rules-mixed-martial-arts">implemented many rules</a> to ensure it’s not too real or too violent to watch.</p>
<h2>What can voyeurism teach us?</h2>
<p>The successful commercialization of voyeurism challenges how we think of both authenticity and transgression. Authenticity is assumed to be beneficial for value creation. In fact, <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbesbusinessdevelopmentcouncil/2019/06/20/why-brands-should-make-authenticity-a-business-imperative/?sh=541c6dd121fd">authenticity is used in an exponential number of industries to create value.</a> Transgression, on the other hand, is <a href="https://doi.org/10.5465/amr.2008.27752775">assumed to be detrimental for value creation</a>, since audiences risk social disapproval for participating. </p>
<p>In the practice of voyeurism, however, the extreme authenticity can repel audiences if the experience feels “too real,” while the transgressiveness may appeal to audiences seeking a taboo experience.</p>
<p>In erotic webcam, for example, viewers look into the bedrooms of cam models as they perform sexual acts, while their personal lives are kept private. This strategy depersonalizes models so that audience members do not feel too much empathy for them, which can interrupt the “entertainment value.” </p>
<p>Our research shows that authenticity and transgression are not inherently good or bad, it’s the emotions that matters for value creation. From a business perspective, effectively managing the emotional responses is the core task that facilitates value creation. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://scholarship.law.bu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1524&context=faculty_scholarship">ethics of voyeurism are widely debated</a> for good reason. However, understanding how voyeurism creates value is an issue that cannot be ignored, regardless of one’s views on the ethics. We need to understand how and why it creates value if we are to have conversations about what should and should not be allowed.</p>
<p>Instead of arguments exclusively about <a href="http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/53026">whether voyeurism is ethical or not</a>, we should explore <em>why</em> we are drawn to voyeurism in the first place and where the limits should be for this taboo, yet incredibly prevalent practice.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/181020/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Madeline Toubiana has received funding from SSHRC. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Maxim Voronov, Sean Buchanan, and Trish Ruebottom do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Voyeurism provides a glimpse into the private life of another person to give audiences a revealing and entertaining experience.
Trish Ruebottom, Associate Professor of HR and Management, McMaster University
Madeline Toubiana, Associate Professor, Entrepreneurship and Organization, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
Maxim Voronov, Professor of Organization Studies and Sustainability, York University, Canada
Sean Buchanan, Assistant Professor of Business Administration, University of Manitoba
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/162569
2021-06-23T10:50:34Z
2021-06-23T10:50:34Z
Mixed martial arts and the danger of extreme weight cutting
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/407891/original/file-20210623-27-4ba7hp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=49%2C0%2C5472%2C3637&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Weigh-ins happen the day before a fight.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/paulo-brazil-october-28-2017-ufc-1942806850">Cassiano Correia/ Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The sight is well known to all fans of mixed martial arts (MMA). A fighter walks onto a stage on a Friday evening, waving to the cheering crowd before stepping onto a scale. The fighter waits nervously for a few moments as an official checks their weight to see if they’ve qualified for their chosen weight division.</p>
<p>Weigh-ins happen the day before every MMA fight. They’re designed to ensure both competitors are the same size, theoretically making a fair contest. Importantly, this is the only time a fighter’s weight is checked by organisers – meaning they only need to be “on weight” for those few seconds. But in order to make sure they qualify for the weight division they’re competing in, MMA competitors will spend weeks drastically reducing their body weight in a process called “weight cutting”. </p>
<p>Weight cutting generally happens in <a href="https://journals.lww.com/acsm-csmr/Fulltext/2021/04000/ACSM_Expert_Consensus_Statement_on_Weight_Loss_in.7.aspx?context=FeaturedArticles&collectionId=1">two stages</a>: chronic weight loss (eating less and training more often for several weeks before the weigh-in), and rapid weight loss (taking extreme measures to lose even more weight in the days before weigh-in – such as through eating less or fasting and through dehydration. </p>
<p>After the weigh-in the race is on to regain as much lost weight as possible in the 24 hours before the fight, as it’s believed being larger than your opponent will <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3554040/">help you win</a>. This is usually done by <a href="https://journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/fulltext/2011/12000/making_weight_in_combat_sports.5.aspx">eating energy dense foods</a> high in easily digestible carbohydrates and by consuming increased fluids to attempt rapid rehydration.</p>
<p>Though weight cutting is common in all combat sports, as well as in horse-racing, MMA fighters cut more weight than other combat sport athletes, and <a href="https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijspp/13/7/article-p933.xml">cut more</a> in the 24 hours before weigh-in using extreme methods. The <a href="https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijspp/13/7/article-p933.xml">majority of MMA fighters</a> report using saunas or sweat suits to dehydrate themselves to lose weight. Most also miss up to two meals a day (sometimes even fasting all day) during weight cutting – and sometimes even eating as <a href="https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijsnem/29/1/article-p1.xml">little as 300-750 calories a day</a>. </p>
<p>Such energy and fluid restriction can reduce <a href="https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/51/Suppl_2/A4.2">brain and nervous system function</a> and a muscle’s <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17461391.2019.1695954?journalCode=tejs20">speed and capacity to work</a> when required, meaning <a href="https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Abstract/2018/09000/Repeat_Effort_Performance_Is_Reduced_24_Hours.17.aspx">more effort is needed</a> to complete athletic activities. There are also significant detriments to health to consider alongside these negative effects on performance.</p>
<p>One study tracked a professional MMA fighter during training preparations to see their <a href="https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijsnem/29/3/article-p331.xml">weight loss and physiological responses</a> to both chronic and rapid weight loss.</p>
<p>Over this eight-week period, the fighter lost 17kg – 7kg of which was lost mostly via dehydration in the 36 hours before weigh-in. This caused a severe reduction in their testosterone production, a sign the body does not have enough energy to maintain basic hormone function – which is important for all aspects of health. There was also a sharp increase in cortisol (a hormone linked to our stress response), to break down muscle tissue to provide the energy needed to survive.</p>
<p>This fighter also experienced a large increase in both urea and creatinine in their blood, alongside extremely high blood sodium content, each of which indicate kidney malfunction. Together, these findings would give cause to book this particular fighter into a hospital bed – not a professional fight. </p>
<p>It’s highly unlikely that this is an isolated incident either – with 43% of athletes at a UK MMA event in 2017 found to be <a href="https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijsnem/27/2/article-p122.xml">severely dehydrated prior to competition</a>, suggesting they hadn’t been able to fully restore their fluids. Alarmingly, the fighters in this study also displayed hydration and weight loss readings similar to those reported in <a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC419511/">weight cutting fatalities</a> in US collegiate wrestling in the 1990s. It was these tragic events that led to widespread rule and culture changes within wrestling, including <a href="http://www.sectiononewrestling.com/ncaa_wrestling_weight_management_policy.pdf">changing the timings of weigh-ins</a> and <a href="https://www.uiltexas.org/wrestling/page/wrestling-minimum-weight-certification-program-information">enforcing minimum athlete weights</a> in some places to prevent extreme weight loss.</p>
<p>Following wrestling’s example, since 2017 the California State Athletic Commission have taken measures to <a href="https://www.espn.co.uk/mma/story/_/id/27853748/california-state-athletic-commission-passes-rule-combat-extreme-weight-cutting">reduce the amount of weight that fighters are allowed to cut</a>. But despite this, many fighters are still taking extreme measures to cut their weight – and with <a href="https://combatsportslaw.com/2014/09/03/yes-athletes-have-been-hurt-from-weight-cutting-in-mma/">negative health consequences</a>.</p>
<p>Since weight divisions were introduced in MMA in the late 1990s, there’s been at least one fighter death formally <a href="https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijsnem/29/1/article-p68.xml">linked to weight cutting</a> in medical case reports. There’s also the case of <a href="https://www.espn.co.uk/mma/story/_/id/14344041/chinese-mma-fighter-yang-jian-bing-dies-trying-make-weight">Yang Jian Bing who died in 2015</a> following heart failure while undergoing severe dehydration to make weight for a professional fight. There are also numerous videos and posts on social media showing high-level MMA fighters <a href="https://twitter.com/TheSchmo312/status/1372943496051519490">collapsing both before and during</a> their official weigh-ins, demonstrating the immediate dangers of these practices. </p>
<p>Though it’s currently uncertain what the long-term effects of repeated weight cutting may be, it’s <a href="https://journals.lww.com/acsm-csmr/fulltext/2021/04000/acsm_expert_consensus_statement_on_weight_loss_in.7.aspx">been linked to</a> higher levels of obesity after retirement, eating disorders, kidney damage and endocrine dysfunction. </p>
<h2>Time for change</h2>
<p>Despite the widely held beliefs of athletes and coaches, there’s little to be gained from extreme weight loss – with evidence showing it may actually hamper, not improve, performance. Data from <a href="https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijsnem/30/5/article-p357.xml">high-level and elite MMA competition</a> shows no difference in the amount of weight lost or regained between winners or losers – with most competitors stepping in the cage weighing one to two divisions heavier than their official weigh-in. </p>
<p>Similarly, another study found that MMA fighters who cut more weight <a href="https://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Abstract/9000/Weight_Cutting_Implications_for_Competition.94649.aspx">lost their fights more often</a> than those who cut less. It has also been shown that fighters who <a href="https://journals.humankinetics.com/view/journals/ijsnem/29/1/article-p1.xml">don’t restrict energy as severely</a> during the rapid weight loss stage stand more chance of winning. </p>
<p>But for these practices to change, it would require active and preemptive engagement from everyone involved in the industry. With amateur MMA bringing more athletes into the sport from a younger age, the International MMA Federation has <a href="https://immaf.org/2021/05/06/new-immaf-task-force-set-up-to-develop-recommendations-on-safe-weight-management-for-competition/">recently established a task force</a> to prevent extreme weight cutting and promote safer, more effective weight management practices. Such widespread cultural change will not be quick or easy, but will make a difference for the long-term health of all the athletes involved.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/162569/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Christopher Kirk is affiliated with the IMMAF Athlete Weight Management Task Force. </span></em></p>
How does extreme weight cutting affect MMA fighters, and do they actually benefit from it?
Christopher Kirk, Lecturer in Sport and Exercise Physiology, Sheffield Hallam University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/157217
2021-04-15T12:38:34Z
2021-04-15T12:38:34Z
The rise of female UFC fighters obscures profound exploitation, inequality
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/395080/original/file-20210414-20-1s1wzs1.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4144%2C2866&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">China's Zhang Weili, on the right, has helped grow the popularity of the UFC in her native country.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/joanna-jedrzejczyk-of-poland-punches-zhang-weili-of-china-news-photo/1211078855?adppopup=true">Jeff Bottari/Zuffa LLC via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The mixed martial arts pay-per-view event <a href="https://www.ufc.com/event/ufc-261">UFC 261</a> features two bouts that would have been unheard of just 10 years ago.</p>
<p>Russian-born <a href="https://www.mmafighting.com/2019/6/7/18650518/valentina-shevchenko-a-woman-of-many-nations-ahead-of-first-ufc-title-defense">Valentina Shevchenko</a> will fight <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xj0-1NtaeAw">Jessica Andrade</a>, a Brazilian and an out lesbian, for the women’s flyweight title on April 24, 2021. That same night, <a href="https://www.cbssports.com/mma/news/rose-namajunas-makes-ufc-261-title-fight-with-weili-zhang-personal-with-politically-charged-comment/">Rose Namajunas</a>, an American of Lithuanian descent, will square off against <a href="https://www.bigmarker.com/sportico/Ask-Lawrence-Epstein-Anything?bmid=306da8a93532">Zhang Weili</a>, who has caused the popularity of the UFC to surge in her native China, for the women’s strawweight title. </p>
<p>The rise of women in mixed martial arts – which the late Sen. John McCain once derided as “<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertszczerba/2014/04/03/mixed-martial-arts-and-the-evolution-of-john-mccain/?sh=6a6c0a922d59">human cockfighting</a>” – is remarkable, and reflects the diversity and global appeal of the sport.</p>
<p>But as I write in my new book, “<a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/65wrq5sn9780252043734.html">Fighting Visibility: Sports Women and Female Athletes in the UFC</a>,” it’s important for fans and spectators to look beneath the sheen of gender parity.</p>
<p>While women may glow under the bright lights of <a href="https://www.ufc.com/octagon">the Octagon</a>, exploitation and deep inequalities persist.</p>
<h2>Ronda Rousey, trailblazer</h2>
<p>In 2011, UFC president Dana White famously said that the promotion company <a href="https://www.tmz.com/videos/0-uld0k3fw/">would “never” include female fighters</a>. However a year later, the UFC signed Ronda Rousey for a “six-month experiment” in women’s MMA. </p>
<p>It paid off. </p>
<p>Rousey became a star unparalleled in women’s combat sports history. By 2015, she was the UFC’s <a href="https://www.bigmarker.com/sportico/Ask-Lawrence-Epstein-Anything?bmid=306da8a93532">highest-paid athlete</a> – male or female. Even though Rousey retired from MMA long ago, the UFC <a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/65wrq5sn9780252043734.html">continues to court fans</a> by promoting its women fighters. </p>
<p>Lawrence Epstein, the UFC’s chief operating officer, <a href="https://www.bigmarker.com/sportico/Ask-Lawrence-Epstein-Anything?bmid=306da8a93532">recently told sports business publication Sportico</a> that female athletes are a “huge growth engine” that brings in different audiences for the company. He noted that featuring women had grown the “female fan base” in ways that have “been transformative to the UFC.” </p>
<p>The UFC’s interest in promoting women has been rare in a sporting landscape that regularly <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-015-0497-6">objectifies, trivializes or downright ignores sportswomen</a> and their fans. </p>
<h2>Selling a message of empowerment</h2>
<p>The phrase “<a href="https://www.pbs.org/newshour/arts/why-on-screen-representation-matters-according-to-these-teens">representation matters</a>” is popular across an array of brands and platforms today, and consumers are ready to invest in <a href="https://www.dukeupress.edu/empowered">companies that promote women’s and girls’ empowerment</a> – including a stereotypically hypermasculine brand like the UFC. </p>
<p>The UFC has come to understand the power of promoting diverse female athletes for expanding their market and boosting profits. This doesn’t absolve them from the <a href="https://www.espn.com/extra/mma/news/story?id=4038031">sexism</a>, <a href="https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2020/9/2/21418354/ufc-fashionable-american-right-wing-politics-donald-trump-mma-news">racism</a>, <a href="https://www.scmp.com/sport/martial-arts/mixed-martial-arts/article/3129245/ufc-rose-namajunas-vs-zhang-weili-red-or-dead">xenophobia</a> or <a href="https://muse.jhu.edu/article/604490/pdf">transphobia</a> that has characterized the promotion over the years. But it does show that the UFC is willing to give women a platform and sell a message of empowerment. </p>
<p>The promotion <a href="https://vimeo.com/142580820">often depicts female fighters as heroines</a> who, against all odds, have broken barriers in MMA and in sports more broadly. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1368939578091012099"}"></div></p>
<p>Seeing women be successful in the sport gives an impression that anything is possible and all the challenges female fighters have faced are behind them. </p>
<p>So yes, representation matters, and female fighters have, relative to other sports, high levels of exposure, especially given that <a href="https://theconversation.com/coverage-of-womens-sport-is-pathetic-at-the-best-of-times-the-lockdown-has-made-it-even-worse-140593">just 4% of all global sports media coverage features female athletes</a>. </p>
<p>But, as retired UFC fighter <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EvImmEUvJ0E&t=868s">Julie Kedzie recently told me</a>, “It’s not enough to shatter the glass ceiling. You have to clear the glass.” </p>
<p>In other words, just because women are in the UFC, it doesn’t mean that they’re treated fairly. </p>
<h2>Representation doesn’t end exploitation</h2>
<p>The UFC <a href="https://www.mmafighting.com/2019/7/1/18761466/dana-white-addresses-equality-in-sports-for-women-champions-the-ufc-as-an-even-playing-field">likes to boast</a> that it is unlike any other sport, because female athletes can make as much as men. However, when taking Ronda Rousey out of the equation, there is little evidence to support this. </p>
<p>The UFC <a href="https://mmajunkie.usatoday.com/2021/03/endeavor-wants-full-ufc-ownership-in-push-to-go-public-ipo-business">isn’t a publicly traded company</a> – at least not yet – so it doesn’t have to disclose athlete pay. <a href="https://www.bloodyelbow.com/2015/8/15/9158725/mma-culinary-union-226-ufc-women-lower-pay-men-statistics">Due to the difficulty of obtaining a full picture of fighter pay</a>,the UFC can continue to make claims of parity.</p>
<p>However, <a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/65wrq5sn9780252043734.html">most estimates</a> put fighter pay at 10% to 20% of the UFC’s overall revenue, with the bulk of that distributed toward UFC champions and stars – <a href="https://thesportsdaily.com/2020/12/31/2020-ufc-fighter-salaries-complete-list-fox11/">most of whom are men</a>. As a comparison, NFL and NBA players <a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/65wrq5sn9780252043734.html">receive around 50%</a> of revenue the leagues take in.</p>
<p>In my research, I obtained a snapshot of fighter pay from some state athletic commissions. Although the picture is incomplete because not all states or countries require the UFC to disclose fighter pay, the data made available to me suggest that the median payout for female fighters is 68% of what male fighters earn. </p>
<p>Fighting can be lucrative for some. But when compared with an MMA empire <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/endeavor-raising-1-75-billion-202920031.html">worth billions of dollars</a>, the reward for individual fighters can seem minuscule – especially when taking into account the <a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/65wrq5sn9780252043734.html">mental and physical toll</a> of the sport.</p>
<h2>A ‘climate of fear’</h2>
<p>Part of the issue around pay inequality is that the UFC has successfully thwarted <a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/65wrq5sn9780252043734.html">fighters’ efforts to unionize</a> and create a path for collective bargaining. </p>
<p>The UFC saves a lot of money because their fighters are independent contractors. This means that fighters must pay for things leagues and teams typically cover in other sports. They fund their own training and coaching, health care, management, retirement investments, recovery therapies and taxes out of their UFC payouts or income from other jobs.</p>
<p>This means that outside of the handful of UFC stars, <a href="https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2685605-for-love-not-money-how-low-fighter-pay-is-undermining-mma">many fighters struggle to make ends meet</a>. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1112532444136140800"}"></div></p>
<p><a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/catalog/65wrq5sn9780252043734.html">In my book I interview</a> former UFC fighters Leslie Smith and Kajan Johnson, who tried to organize fighters before the organization ended its relationships with both athletes. They contend that the UFC treats fighters as employees and incorrectly classifies them as independent contractors. For example, fighters have to submit to random drug testing and wear UFC partners’ apparel for their fights, which is atypical of contractual relationships. Smith and Johnson believe that unionization is the best chance fighters have to gain more agency, pay and health care. </p>
<p>Lucas Middlebrook, a labor attorney who advised Smith and Johnson, told me that despite the promise of unionizing, “UFC fighters are proving to be a really difficult group to organize.” </p>
<p>“The reason for that,” he continued, “is the climate of fear that’s been created by the UFC. The amount of control that the UFC exerts over these fighters has done just that. It has created this perfect storm of fear of retaliation.” </p>
<p>A union would benefit all UFC fighters, but <a href="https://www.epi.org/publication/black-women-will-be-most-affected-by-janus/">women and people of color</a> have historically gained the most from unionizing efforts because unions decrease pay gaps and work inequities. </p>
<p>[<em>Over 100,000 readers rely on The Conversation’s newsletter to understand the world.</em> <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/newsletters/the-daily-3?utm_source=TCUS&utm_medium=inline-link&utm_campaign=newsletter-text&utm_content=100Ksignup">Sign up today</a>.]</p>
<p>If you tune into the Weili vs. Namajunas or Shevchenko vs. Andrade bouts, you’ll see an MMA master clinic from women who wouldn’t have been allowed in the UFC a decade ago. </p>
<p>But will <a href="https://thesportsdaily.com/2020/11/22/valentina-shevchenko-career-earnings-fox11/">Shevchenko</a> get paid to win what <a href="https://thesportsdaily.com/2020/07/12/jorge-masvidal-career-earnings-fox11/">Jorge Masvidal</a> – a male athlete also fighting for a title – would be paid to lose? </p>
<p>I wouldn’t bet on it. </p>
<p>Increased visibility of female athletes is important. But the feel-good mantra of “representation matters” cannot hide the fact that female fighters – and male fighters, for that matter – deserve better working conditions and pay in the UFC.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/157217/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jennifer McClearen does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The UFC is eager to advertise its promotion of female fighters – while also paying them less and stoking a climate of fear to discourage unionization.
Jennifer McClearen, Assistant Professor of Media Studies, The University of Texas at Austin
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/137329
2020-05-20T12:30:36Z
2020-05-20T12:30:36Z
I joined a mixed martial arts gym looking for a fight – but found inner peace
<p>I returned to the UK after a four-year absence to find that the popularity of mixed martial arts (MMA) had increased dramatically. As a physically fit(ish) researcher in the field of sport sociology, I decided to investigate. So for the last two and a half years, I have trained, fought, socialised and competed with other members of an urban MMA gym in the north west of England. Training between four to eight hours a week, every week, I entered this world expecting a fight for acceptance in a dog-eat-dog enclave of hyper masculine brutality. I was wrong.</p>
<p>The UK was home to 12 MMA gyms 11 years ago; today there are <a href="https://www.tapology.com/gyms/country/gb">320</a>. The growth in participants has been matched by spikes in fandom, attendances at live events and growing interest from mainstream media outlets and sponsors. Packaged and sold as a violent, bloody and transgressive sport, MMA has been the target of many critiques as both a <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/apr/15/mixed-martial-arts-mma-banned-joao-carvalho-fighter">sport and spectacle</a>. Fights can be brutal, as are the training regimes which, even for amateurs, put significant demands on the body, wallets and time of gym members. So why are people – mainly men, but growing numbers of women too – putting themselves through this?</p>
<p>On first entering the gym it was the smell that hit first: sweat thinly veiled by incense burning at the reception area’s makeshift café. Then the sound: music booming, from The Stone Roses to minimal techno, shouts punctuated by the thwack of pads absorbing impacts of jabs and kicks. Then the sight: 20 to 50 men, women and children at work, sparring in the cage at the centre of the gym, rolling on the mats around it. I didn’t know it then but this messy ecosystem, mixed by design, was to become a necessary home away from home.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336353/original/file-20200520-152327-1t0qe9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336353/original/file-20200520-152327-1t0qe9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336353/original/file-20200520-152327-1t0qe9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336353/original/file-20200520-152327-1t0qe9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=424&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336353/original/file-20200520-152327-1t0qe9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336353/original/file-20200520-152327-1t0qe9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336353/original/file-20200520-152327-1t0qe9f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=533&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">A class in session.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Rob Kershaw photography</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>My early diary entries are full of observations confounding initial expectations. As a lifelong football and rugby enthusiast, with a record of <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1441352318301220?casa_token=75GBgGl7D2cAAAAA:X9ZqSiUCjmbuJzI1hVgNyeKMvColNrdXeX8j8qqaohdXRqA28ApS7L-mGFhtLM4R05AVmMg9Wg">in-depth investigation</a> into these <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1441352318301220?casa_token=75GBgGl7D2cAAAAA:X9ZqSiUCjmbuJzI1hVgNyeKMvColNrdXeX8j8qqaohdXRqA28ApS7L-mGFhtLM4R05AVmMg9Wg">sporting</a> <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/17430437.2020.1725476?casa_token=Sg6zMqel38YAAAAA:AJDisrd8gflkA3Ox-JKEDfK5KmFyzX4CyWv2b_OY6Y3B4-KbkNt-hx3oESryPvRSnw7DmBpNwqYI">worlds</a>, I was amazed to find the gym to be far friendlier than those sub-cultures. And it was much more socio-economically diverse – doctors, scaffolders, lawyers, taxi drivers, and those who make a more spurious living, form close bonds through the shared growth and torment that typifies MMA. </p>
<p>Many of these bonds were formed through the practice of jiu-jitsu, which occupies the centre of this mixed ecosystem.</p>
<h2>The gentle art</h2>
<p>A proficient MMA fighter needs to become skilled in several key disciplines. But since Royce Gracie won the first Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in 1993, employing jiu-jitsu to defeat stronger and larger opponents, jiu-jitsu has become both fundamental to the house of MMA, and a fast-growing sport in its own right.</p>
<p>Originating in Japan, jiu-jitsu, which roughly translates as “the gentle art”, requires you to redirect your opponent’s force, taking them to the ground, where you battle to submit them through a multitude of chokes and limb locks. Unlike other martial arts, such as karate or taekwondo, aggression is discouraged. Yet, jiu-jitsu is an indispensable discipline in MMA, with many gyms making it a focus. A large amount of professional MMA bouts <a href="http://www.fightmatrix.com/ufc-records/ufc-fight-outcomes-by-weight-class/">end in submission</a>. My gym was no different, with jiu-jitsu sparring and instruction dominating the mats.</p>
<p>But rather than the fight I was expecting, jiu-jitsu can be a <a href="https://books.google.co.uk/books?hl=en&lr=&id=7T3Dn0rQC68C&oi=fnd&pg=PP2&dq=Ultimate+fighting+and+embodiment:+Violence,+gender+and+mixed+martial+art&ots=lTOL2ZT47v&sig=zlDimmAfV5wt8hzinmVVUajhJ9A#v=onepage&q=Ultimate%20fighting%20and%20embodiment%3A%20Violence%2C%20gender%20and%20mixed%20martial%20art&f=false">mindful practise</a> likened to chess, a game of which is often in progress in the reception area. This “cerebral” element of jiu-jitsu is a central aspect of MMA that is <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0304422X1630136X?casa_token=xNNd1vGMtjYAAAAA:z_PhE8ErPvkzOUwJ5YVlqpbBaL7EhjhJ4VtMV-IanCFipYjt6XDjvXfySTKRFPv35AsJZTmGMA">rarely portrayed</a> in the way the sport is packaged by much mainstream media. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336354/original/file-20200520-152284-1omvd11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336354/original/file-20200520-152284-1omvd11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336354/original/file-20200520-152284-1omvd11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336354/original/file-20200520-152284-1omvd11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=326&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336354/original/file-20200520-152284-1omvd11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336354/original/file-20200520-152284-1omvd11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336354/original/file-20200520-152284-1omvd11.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=409&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Seeking submission.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Rob Kershaw photography</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>It is also difficult to grasp in the early stages of training, when the drive home often meant fighting back tears of frustration, pain or both. But with perseverance comes reward. Frequent defeats on the mats are lessons learned and passed down from more experienced partners. The following reflection was typical:</p>
<blockquote>
<p>I pin my chin against my chest to hold off his choking arm, but he readjusts and it slips under … I pull at it futilely, but he arches his back, and squeezes … am I done?? … can’t breathe and vision starts to go … I’m done, I tap and he lets go immediately. We bump fists, breathing heavily, ‘nice’ he says ‘you could have prevented that though … come here let me show you’.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Such scenarios can be profoundly uncomfortable and extremely stressful yet happen in various forms several times a session, over several sessions a week. Success is found in remaining calm, controlling your breathing and thinking carefully, clearly and quickly. Such practice had a significant impact on my life outside of the gym.</p>
<h2>A mental fight</h2>
<p>After a year of regular training I felt I knew enough to sit down with experienced competitors to ask why they committed so much to the gym. One told me that he missed his daughter’s first steps because he wanted to get better at jiu-jitsu. But he went on to say that he trained largely for mental health reasons, often at the expense of his physical health due to injury. </p>
<p>Connor, who oversees the gym induction process, had similar ideas. “No-one ever wants to tell you the main reason [for joining],” he said. “They’ll say it’s about fitness or it’s about a hobby but deep down it can be about something else.” It became clear that the “something else” tended to be more cognitive than physical. The fight against stress, anxiety, depression is greater than the threats from physical opponents. Simon admitted that training was “an important outlet for a lot of people and for a long time I didn’t realise quite how much of an outlet it was”. Neither did I.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336355/original/file-20200520-152349-koz6ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/336355/original/file-20200520-152349-koz6ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336355/original/file-20200520-152349-koz6ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336355/original/file-20200520-152349-koz6ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=344&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336355/original/file-20200520-152349-koz6ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336355/original/file-20200520-152349-koz6ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/336355/original/file-20200520-152349-koz6ue.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=432&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">MMA can be far less macho than football or rugby.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">© Rob Kershaw photography</span>, <span class="license">Author provided</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The consistent training, the testing of oneself against another and the many defeats in sparring mean a very personal confrontation with yourself and ego. It takes a lot to try and it takes even more to get beaten again (often by smaller opponents) and to try again. This dynamic equips you with mental resilience and a calm under pressure that I have never known. </p>
<p>There is a paradox here. Stereotypes around masculinity are <a href="https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?type=printable&id=10.1371/journal.pone.0049779">said to be</a> a barrier to “mental health literacy” and help-seeking for sufferers. Yet in learning to fight, it seems that some participants are fighting off real threats to their mental wellbeing.</p>
<p>The gym is not a wellness retreat. Significant injury is commonplace, yet up and down the country people have signed up in their droves. I no longer ask why people put themselves through such a training regime, but I do wonder: what kind of society makes such a choice worthwhile?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/137329/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jack Sugden does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
I entered this world expecting a fight for acceptance in a dog-eat-dog enclave of hyper masculine brutality. I was wrong.
Jack Sugden, Lecturer in Sport Development, Management and Sociology, Edge Hill University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/82790
2017-08-23T10:37:41Z
2017-08-23T10:37:41Z
Mayweather will beat McGregor, neuroscience predicts
<p>In Las Vegas, on August 26, the unbeaten American boxer Floyd Mayweather Jr and the immensely popular Irishman Conor McGregor will <a href="http://www.independent.co.uk/sport/general/boxing/mayweather-mcgregor/mayweather-mcgregor-time-date-august-26-how-watch-channel-venue-odds-predictions-tickets-a7903996.html">face off in a boxing ring</a>, where only striking with hands while standing is allowed. It would be just another boxing match, albeit a huge one, except that McGregor is not even a boxer. Instead, he holds the lightweight and welterweight titles in mixed martial arts (<a href="http://www.telegraph.co.uk/mma/0/ufc-mma-fighting-rules/">MMA</a>), an emerging combat sport where striking and grappling with both hands and legs is allowed, both while standing and on the ground.</p>
<p>It is an unprecedented match-up and <a href="http://www.oddsshark.com/boxing/floyd-mayweather-vs-conor-mcgregor-boxing-betting-odds-tracker">some people believe</a> that McGregor, with his speed, athleticism and youth (he is 11 years younger than Mayweather) has a shot at doing something that 49 professional boxers before him <a href="http://boxrec.com/en/boxer/352">have not been able to accomplish</a>. But scientific evidence from the <a href="http://www.cambridge.org/de/academic/subjects/psychology/cognition/neuroscience-expertise?format=PB#A2my8fQdwowxm21E.97">neuroscience of expertise</a>, an emerging field investigating the brain functioning of experts, warns against betting on an MMA fighter – even one as skilled as McGregor – upsetting a boxer in a boxing match.</p>
<h2>The neuroscience of expertise</h2>
<p>The performances of experts often leave us speechless, wondering how it is humanly possible to pull off such feats. This is particularly the case in sports. Consider the serve in tennis. Once the ball is in the air, the brain needs time to process the ball’s trajectory and prepare an appropriate course of action, but by the time the body actually executes the required movements in response to these mental processes, the racket will do no more than slice the air, as the ball will have already passed by.</p>
<p>This is the paradox of fast reaction sports such as tennis or boxing: it is only when the ball or the punch is in the air that we can tell with certainty what is going to happen, but by then it is far too late to react in time, even for the quickest humans. The expert brain adapts to this problem by “reading” the intention of the opponent. The positioning and movements of feet, knees, shoulders and the serving hand in tennis give away clues about the direction and power of a tennis serve. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183120/original/file-20170823-13293-170s7sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/183120/original/file-20170823-13293-170s7sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183120/original/file-20170823-13293-170s7sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183120/original/file-20170823-13293-170s7sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=420&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183120/original/file-20170823-13293-170s7sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183120/original/file-20170823-13293-170s7sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/183120/original/file-20170823-13293-170s7sf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=528&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Can you read this serve?</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Visivastudio / Shutterstock.com</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similarly, the positioning of feet, hips and shoulders provide enough information for the boxing brain to anticipate a punch well in advance. This anticipation power of experts is the reason why the very best practitioners can look like characters from The Matrix, giving the impression of having all the time in the world in an environment where split-second responses decide who wins and who loses.</p>
<p>Being fast and having good reflexes in general is certainly helpful in rapidly changing environments like sports. But no speed in this world will be enough if the brain hasn’t experienced and stored tens of thousands of movement patterns, which can then be reactivated and used for reading the situation at hand. </p>
<h2>Muhammad Ali vs Jim Brown</h2>
<p>This is illustrated by another unofficial cross-discipline event that occurred 50 years ago between the legendary Muhammad Ali and Jim Brown, National Football League (NFL) legend. Jim Brown was a force of nature. He was incredibly quick, immensely powerful, and his extraordinary coordination and reflexes made him one of the greatest NFL players. In the mid 1960s, aged 30, Jim Brown was bored with the NFL and was pondering other ways of making a living. One of them was boxing, a sport where his immense quickness and sheer power would seem to be especially useful. </p>
<p>He persuaded his manager to organise a meeting with Muhammad Ali, at that time at the peak of his powers, who happened to be in London, where Jim Brown was shooting a film at that time. They met in Hyde Park, where Ali used to work out while preparing for the next bout. Ali tried to persuade Brown to give up on his dream of being a boxer. Brown maintained that he was as quick and as powerful as Ali, if not more so, and if boxing suited Ali, it should suit him too. </p>
<p>A “sparring session” ensued, where Ali asked Brown to hit him as hard as possible. The problem was that Ali was never to be found at the spot where he had been standing a moment earlier. <a href="https://www.si.com/more-sports/2012/12/05/bob-arum-bonus">According to the legendary promoter Bob Arum</a>, after about 30 seconds of swinging and missing by Brown, Ali pulled off one of his lightning quick one-two combinations and stopped Brown momentarily in his tracks. At that moment, Brown, visibly winded, clocked the situation and simply said: “OK, I get the point.”</p>
<p>Don’t expect McGregor to be so totally embarrassed, as Brown was. After all, MMA includes aspects of boxing and McGregor has had experience with the sport, unlike Brown. Still, that experience is limited because boxing is just a part of the MMA skill set (not to mention embedded in a context where one needs to employ leg strikes and takedowns). One can be certain that McGregor’s brain has stored vastly fewer kinematic boxing patterns than the brain of a person who has boxed all their life, such as Mayweather Jr. </p>
<p>Mayweather Jr may be 40, he may have ring rust after being absent from the ring for almost two years, and McGregor is not only 11 years his junior but also possibly faster and stronger; but everything we know about the way experts’ brains work tells us that the smart money is on Mayweather Jr recording a convincing win.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82790/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Merim Bilalic receives funding from Clarendon Fund, ORS, ESRC, DFG, OeNB, and Fortüne. </span></em></p>
Everything we know about the way experts’ brains work tells us that Mayweather is likely to win the fight.
Merim Bilalic, Professor of Cognitive Psychology, Northumbria University, Newcastle
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/82791
2017-08-22T12:44:27Z
2017-08-22T12:44:27Z
Mayweather-McGregor fight pits boxing against UFC in a battle of the brands
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182835/original/file-20170821-4981-15qwa77.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Who will win?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">shutterstock.com</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>Las Vegas is soon to host one of the most lucrative boxing matches of all time. Dubbed “The Money Fight” it features UFC (which stands for the Ultimate Fighting Championship) star Connor Mcgregor making his boxing debut against undefeated boxer Floyd Mayweather. What is not in doubt is that both men will leave the bout much wealthier than they go into it – both expected to earn <a href="http://www.latimes.com/sports/boxing/la-sp-mcgregor-rise-20170820-story.html">in excess of US$100m for their participation</a>. With US$90m worth of tickets for sale and US$500m of pay-per-view revenue expected to be made, it’s set to be boxing’s most lucrative match ever.</p>
<p>But, despite these figures, it is worth wondering which of the two combat sports represented in this event will come out in better shape. Or whether the much promoted encounter represents a zero sum game for the two sports, in which the gain of one will be at the cost of the other.</p>
<p>UFC has presented mixed martial arts (MMA) to the world for around three decades. In that time it has gone from being accused of being mere <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/robertszczerba/2014/04/03/mixed-martial-arts-and-the-evolution-of-john-mccain/#497ee0a02d59">“human cock fighting”</a> to becoming a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-rise-and-rise-of-ultimate-fighting-and-why-boxing-is-now-so-passe-55910">popular, if still controversial, sport</a>. It fills arenas around the world and was valued at <a href="http://fortune.com/2016/07/11/ufc-sold-ultimate-fighting-championship/">close to US$4 billion in 2016</a>. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182838/original/file-20170821-4981-3ukbsq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182838/original/file-20170821-4981-3ukbsq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182838/original/file-20170821-4981-3ukbsq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182838/original/file-20170821-4981-3ukbsq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182838/original/file-20170821-4981-3ukbsq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182838/original/file-20170821-4981-3ukbsq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182838/original/file-20170821-4981-3ukbsq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">UFC draws increasingly big crowds.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/adrianpua/4782929636">adrianpua/flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/">CC BY-NC-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The sport’s popularity is largely predicated on the star appeal of a small number of charismatic competitors, including <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2016/06/the-penultimate-fighter/480732/">Conor “The Notorious” McGregor</a>. Claims that its fighters are tougher than other athletes is also a big part of UFC’s brand. A heavy defeat for McGregor in Las Vegas might therefore do significant damage to the UFC brand, especially if a humbled McGregor is then able to make a successful return to his former hunting ground.</p>
<p>The decision to allow the UFC’s top star to compete in a high profile bout with the world’s best boxer is potentially damaging to both Mcgregor’s reputation and the branding of the overall sport that he is associated with. But at least McGregor will be rewarded handsomely whether he wins or loses the fight.</p>
<h2>Worse for boxing</h2>
<p>While MMA has been on an upward trajectory, boxing’s financial future has become less clear. Some recent matches, such as Anthony Joshua’s victory over Wladimir Klitschko in April 2017 and Mayweather’s victory over Manny Pacquiao in May 2015 have <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/may/12/mayweather-pacquiao-shatters-ppv-marks-with-44m-buys-400m-revenue">raked in the cash</a>, and attracted large crowds. But there is a more deep-rooted feeling that the boxing <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2015/may/12/mayweather-pacquiao-is-over-and-boxing-is-dead-again">business is in decline</a>.</p>
<p>It is telling that a new eight-man tournament dubbed the World Boxing Super Series <a href="http://uk.businessinsider.com/world-boxing-super-series-like-a-gladiatorial-dating-game-kalle-sauerland-next-manny-pacquiao-2017-8">has been launched</a>, created by one of combat sports’ most powerful promoters and will offer combatants a share of US$50m. It’s clearly the hope that it will bring in some big names, as well as big money through ticket sales and sponsorship.</p>
<p>In some part, the decline in popularity of boxing may be due to the increased popularity of UFC, and associated MMA events. They are fighting for the same market share. The McGregor-Mayweather match therefore has the potential to reinvigorate boxing, especially if a boxer like Mayweather, who is at the end of his career, is able to publicly humble a current UFC star in front of such a big audience.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182958/original/file-20170822-30552-sfv7eo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/182958/original/file-20170822-30552-sfv7eo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182958/original/file-20170822-30552-sfv7eo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182958/original/file-20170822-30552-sfv7eo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182958/original/file-20170822-30552-sfv7eo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182958/original/file-20170822-30552-sfv7eo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/182958/original/file-20170822-30552-sfv7eo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Conor McGregor is a poster boy for UFC.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:UFC_189_World_Tour_Aldo_vs._McGregor_London_2015_(18776759002).jpg">Andrius Petrucenia / Wikimedia Commons</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Ultimately, though, the odds are against boxing. McGregor might not need to even win the superfight in order to do further damage to the sport’s lustre. McGregor is fighting on Mayweather’s turf. If he puts in a creditable performance (for example by lasting the full 12 rounds of the fight or by offering some credible offence before succumbing), then even this could constitute a small victory for McGregor and UFC. </p>
<p>Mayweather has often been portrayed as the best pound for pound boxer <a href="http://www.espn.co.uk/boxing/story/_/id/14970037/ranking-top-25-pound-pound-boxers-25-years">of all time</a>, and if he is unable to deal with a rowdy upstart from a rival sport in a quick and conclusive manner it may add further credibility to the rise of UFC as a rival to boxing. It is therefore likely that representatives from both corners, invested in the bout emotionally and financially, will attempt to claim a moral victory after the fact.</p>
<h2>Could it be a win-win?</h2>
<p>An alternative way of thinking about the match-up between the two men is that it is an opportunity to attract new fans to both of the two sports. There’s a chance for cross-promotion. If this is the case then the pre-fight publicity may have turned off as many new fans as it has attracted, with accusations of <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2017/jul/15/mayweather-accuses-mcgregor-of-racism-and-uses-homophobic-slur">racism and homophobia</a> so far dominating the fight’s press. While it may be possible that some new fans will be attracted to the spectacle of the two men squaring off, it is unclear whether such fans are likely to become die hard followers of either sport, meaning the most significant impact will be on how perceptions of the two sports are affected.</p>
<p>Some things are certain about the upcoming bout: further insults will be thrown and further exaggerations of earnings will be proposed. But it remains difficult to see who will be the true winner from the collision, and it may take several years before the full impact of the result is truly felt in the two competing businesses. Nonetheless, the encounter will surely be felt beyond the bank accounts of the two fighters, and will affect the future health of the their respective sports.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/82791/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert O'Neill does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Millions of dollars will be made by both sides from the fight but does boxing have more to lose than UFC in this big money head-to-head?
Robert O'Neill, Senior Lecturer in Economics, Strategy, Marketing and Economics, University of Huddersfield
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/55910
2016-03-09T13:59:46Z
2016-03-09T13:59:46Z
The rise and rise of ultimate fighting (and why boxing is now so passé)
<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/114256/original/image-20160308-22126-1mjhm6h.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Ronda Rousey ( R ) and Bethe Correa battle it out in 2015.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-302724440/stock-photo-rio-de-janeiro-brazil-july-ronda-rousey-the-ufc-fighter-bethe-correa-in-ufc-case.html?src=pp-same_artist-302724434-Pnl-tXYBUoQu4Lt0iyizkw-1">UFC 190 by Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>UFC fighters Conor McGregor and Ronda Rousey are becoming household names and Mixed Martial Arts, or MMA, is rapidly making the move from minority to mainstream sport. Although MMA only emerged in the 1990s, its growth has been, quite simply, phenomenal; it is currently one of the fastest growing sports in the world. According to <a href="https://www.sfia.org/reports/315_2015-Sports,-Fitness,-and-Leisure-Activities-Topline-Participation-Report">a recent report</a>, MMA is second only to adventure racing when it comes to growing participation, recording a 19.5% increase since 2013. </p>
<p>While viewing figures are still to be released for the recent UFC 196 <a href="http://www.theguardian.com/sport/live/2016/mar/05/ufc-196-live-conor-mcgregor-nate-diaz-holly-holm-miesha-tate">McGregor v Diaz fight</a> in March – in which Irishman McGregor was defeated by a rear naked choke hold in the second round (after previously beating Jose Aldo <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/ufc/article-3357981/Conor-McGregor-beats-Jose-Aldo-13-SECONDS-UFC-194-claim-featherweight-title.html">in just 13 seconds</a>) – it was widely anticipated that this would be the highest selling pay-per-view bout in UFC history. The <a href="http://mmapayout.com/2016/03/ufc-196-payout-perspective/">pre-fight press conference</a> alone attracted over 2.9m views and despite his defeat, McGregor still made history as <a href="http://www.mmafighting.com/2016/3/7/11173234/ufc-196-salaries-conor-mcgregor-earns-ufcs-first-million-dollar-purse">the first UFC fighter to earn US$1m</a> for the fight (Diaz earned US$500,000). </p>
<p>The rise of women’s MMA has also been dramatic. Having only introduced women’s divisions in 2012, UFC has also massively grown the popularity of WMMA. Ronda Rousey is still one of the sport’s most bankable athletes, despite suffering <a href="http://www.mmamania.com/2015/11/15/9733858/ufc-193-results-recap-ronda-rousey-vs-holly-holm-fight-review-analysis-knockout-mma">a shock defeat</a> to Holly Holm in UFC 193 in November 2015. Holm was herself <a href="http://www.mmamania.com/2016/3/6/11164004/ufc-196-results-recap-holly-holm-vs-miesha-tate-fight-review-analysis-womens-mma?_ga=1.237974848.1994003473.1457428280">beaten by Miesha Tate</a> at UFC 196, also with a rear naked choke. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/lYsmS3Ji6og?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
</figure>
<p>In spite of its phenomenal growth many people remain unclear as to what MMA actually involves. This is perhaps unsurprising given the rapid transformations that the sport has undergone within a relatively short time period. </p>
<p>Often referred to as “ultimate fighting” or “cage fighting” (a term despised by anyone involved in the sport), MMA is essentially a combination of bare-handed oriental martial arts and Western combat sports involving combinations of standing and striking techniques along with grappling and fighting on the ground. This can involve techniques of muay thai, Brazillian Jiu Jitsu, kickboxing and submission wrestling, with many participants also drawing on a variety of martial arts such as judo, savate or sambo, often depending on their country of origin. Everything martial arts goes, with many fans drawn to its incredible mix of athleticism and risk. </p>
<h2>Raw beginnings</h2>
<p>While MMA has links to the Portuguese sport of Vale Tudo (“anything goes” established in the 1930s) and the English No Holds Barred (NHB) contests of the 1990s, its emergence as a sport in its own right can be largely attributed to the American promotion of the <a href="http://uk.ufc.com/">Ultimate Fighting Championship</a> (UFC). </p>
<p>The first ever UFC event took place in 1993 after business executive Art Davie proposed the idea of an eight-man single elimination tournament to screenwriter and director John Milius and Rorion Gracie of the famous <a href="http://www.gracieacademy.com/">Gracie Jiu Jitsu</a> family (founders of <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_jiu-jitsu">Brazilian Jiu Jitsu</a>). The idea was picked up by Semaphor Entertainment Group and the first event took place in Denver, Colarado – a state that had no boxing commission, meaning that there was no legal way to regulate the fight. With no weight categories or time limits, and only strikes to the crotch and throat and eye gouging forbidden, MMA was a complete rejection of amateur combat styles.</p>
<p>Initially, the UFC focused on pitting fighters from different martial arts backgrounds against each other in order to determine which martial art was superior. MMA was not considered a sport, merely a fighting contest that offered a montage of different combat sports, under new rules of engagement.</p>
<p>Despite initially drawing relatively significant TV audiences (the first UFC competition drew a <a href="http://digitalcommons.kent.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1018&context=flapubs">pay-per-view audience of 86,592</a>) throughout the early 1990s, the UFC struggled to survive because of negative public perceptions of its brutality and high levels of violence. Arizona senator John McCain famously referred to MMA as <a href="http://www.foxsports.com/ufc/haymaker/ufc-has-grown-on-one-time-enemy-mccain-020414">“human cockfighting”</a> and was successful in getting MMA banned in all but three states in the US.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/114456/original/image-20160309-13717-t6yl1m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/114456/original/image-20160309-13717-t6yl1m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114456/original/image-20160309-13717-t6yl1m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114456/original/image-20160309-13717-t6yl1m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114456/original/image-20160309-13717-t6yl1m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114456/original/image-20160309-13717-t6yl1m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114456/original/image-20160309-13717-t6yl1m.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">John McCain drew parallels.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-246565120/stock-photo-cock-fighting.html?src=7nxKOwP9sOeUfUqdjiE3wQ-1-8">Cock fighting by Shutterstock</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>Having struggled considerably through the 1990s, the UFC brand was sold to <a href="http://ufc.wiki.usfca.edu/Zuffa+LLC.">Zuffa LLC</a> in 2001 and MMA as we now know it began to emerge. This included <a href="http://www.ufc.com/discover/sport/rules-and-regulations">new rules</a> to make MMA more acceptable and appealing to a wider audience. These included new weight classes, rounds, time limits, a list of over 31 fouls and eight possible ways for a fight to end. </p>
<p>This “civilisation” offered an element of legitimacy to MMA. There was also now a recognition that certain styles of martial arts were susceptible to the strengths of others and rather than pitting different disciplines against each other, the prowess of individual fighters using all styles was promoted. All of these factors allowed MMA to be recognised as a proper sport. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/114453/original/image-20160309-13730-1qnnddr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/114453/original/image-20160309-13730-1qnnddr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114453/original/image-20160309-13730-1qnnddr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114453/original/image-20160309-13730-1qnnddr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114453/original/image-20160309-13730-1qnnddr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114453/original/image-20160309-13730-1qnnddr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/114453/original/image-20160309-13730-1qnnddr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">You lose.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.shutterstock.com/pic-146284394/stock-photo-penang-malaysia-july-general-view-of-a-mural-the-real-bruce-lee-would-never-do-this-painted.html?src=zWEYe4fu6DHOZgk0hV1x6g-1-81">Kick by Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>Aggressive promotion</h2>
<p>So what is it about MMA that makes the sport so attractive? There are many factors but it could be argued that the media has played a central role in shaping the sport and stimulating its growth. While the development of most sports has been driven by the athletes and a governing body, MMA is essentially a media sport developed to appeal to mass audiences and deliver profit to the organisations behind it. </p>
<p>There is no doubt that the UFC has driven MMA into the mainstream, utilising an <a href="http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2128108-examining-the-ufcs-strategy-of-global-expansion-and-media-negativity">aggressive strategy</a> to bring the sport to new markets.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"677734716079013888"}"></div></p>
<p>Like boxing before it, MMA promotes the cult of personality, with fighters <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/ufc/article-3437803/Conor-McGregor-nightmares-m-finished-vows-Rafael-dos-Anjos.html">trash talking opponents</a>, and the theatrical design of the octagon (though also a key safety feature for fighters) adding to the drama and spectacle. Despite this spectacle and the increasing sums of money involved, MMA is also still marketed as rawer than boxing, which is seen as an establishment sport with its grand multi-million dollar promoted fights. Ultimately, however, it is perhaps the unpredictability of MMA – as exemplified by the recent shock defeats of some of its biggest stars – that makes it so appealing.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/55910/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jenny Flinn does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Brutal beginnings to aggressive marketing – how UFC gave momentum to take MMA mainstream.
Jenny Flinn, Lecturer in Events Management, Glasgow Caledonian University
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/49015
2015-10-13T08:52:11Z
2015-10-13T08:52:11Z
Cage fighting has become even more dangerous thanks to extreme dieting
<p>When it comes to an athlete’s weight, a few grams can make a vital difference to their chances of winning. In some sports, an athlete’s body mass puts them within a strictly defined weight classification. In combat sports such as boxing and mixed martial arts (MMA), this is done to match participants to equal competitors in terms of size, strength and agility and make sure winning comes down to skill (as much as is possible).</p>
<p>But athletes in these sports often try to compete in a weight class lower than that of their usual body mass to give them an advantage over people who are naturally smaller. This is often achieved using <a href="http://journals.lww.com/nsca-scj/Abstract/2011/12000/Making_Weight_in_Combat_Sports.5.aspx">rapid weight-loss methods</a> to reach a low-enough weight the day (24–36 hours) before competition when the weigh-in takes place. Although the practice of “making weight” is culturally accepted within these sports, it has become notorious from the point of view of evidence-based sports nutrition.</p>
<p>Scientists at Liverpool John Moores University have now <a href="http://bjsm.bmj.com/lookup/doi/10.1136/bjsports-2015-094732">raised concerns</a> about this practice in MMA (also known as cage fighting) emphasising that the practice is carried out unsupervised and can be dangerous. They recently surveyed 30 UK MMA athletes across a range of weight classes and found the fighters lost around 9% of body mass in the week before competition and about a further 5% in the final 24 hours before weigh-in.</p>
<h2>Losing water, shedding pounds</h2>
<p>The effect was achieved by a range of methods to reduce the total amount of water in the body (hypo-hydration), including diuretics to encourage urination, nutritional supplements and low-carbohydrate diets. Alarmingly, 67% of athletes engaged in a practice known as “water-loading” which is sometimes referred to anecdotally as “overdosing” on water. The belief is that drinking too much will lead to excessive urination and so actually remove additional body water.</p>
<p>Overconsumption of fluids has been linked with something called <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11476407">hyponatraemic encephalopathy</a>. This is a condition where excessive water results in dilution of blood and a low sodium concentration. This in turn can lead to brain dysfunction, coma and death. Sports scientists have drawn attention to this danger for some time, although usually related to athletes <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2564296/">who drink excessive volumes of water</a> and sports drinks before, during and after endurance running. </p>
<p>The incidence of hyponatraemia in these cases was thought to be relatively low, although more recent research identified the problem in <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19523574">15% to 30% of endurance athletes</a> at the end of a race, Luckily, the majority of cases weren’t serious. But the prevalence of this condition following “water loading” in MMA is entirely unknown. </p>
<p>Without further research, we should regard the practice of MMA fighters drinking large volumes of water in the belief it will assist with making weight as dangerous. Life as we know it requires three things: building blocks (chemical molecules), an energy source (the sun via food) and a medium in which life can play out (water). To manipulate the latter in such an extreme manner may be unwise indeed.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23237303">recent review of available research</a> found rapid weight loss was associated with many detrimental consequences in combat sports such as judo, jujitsu, taekwondo, karate, wrestling and boxing. Although there is a general dearth of research relating to combat sports, including mixed martial arts, the review found rapid weight loss was practised by between 50% and 100% in the groups studied.</p>
<p>The results suggested there was a potential impact on physical and cognitive capacities, such as decreased memory, concentration and glycogen (carbohydrate) availability as well as increased fatigue and impaired thermoregulation. Due to the adverse effects of rapid weight loss there are also <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9480411">rare cases</a> of death related to this practice linked with, for example, hyperthermia and dehydration.</p>
<h2>Avoid the sauna</h2>
<p>In 1996, Chung Se-hoon, a South Korean gold medal hopeful in judo, <a href="http://www.apnewsarchive.com/1996/Judo-Star-Dies-of-Heart-Attack-Diet-Blamed/id-951694702afbb76f786b8a4553410496">died of a heart attack</a> in a sauna after reportedly attempting an excessive weight loss programme to lose 8kg (18lb). More recently, in September 2013, Brazilian MMA athlete Leandro Souza died in a sauna after attempting rapid weight loss. <a href="http://www.mmafighting.com/2013/9/28/4780878/leandro-souza-took-diuretic-pills-before-shooto-weigh-ins">He had reportedly</a> taken diuretic pills to try to lose 15kg (33lb) in one week.</p>
<p>There is also a concern, although not strongly evidence-based, that athletes who weight cycle during their competitive careers are more likely to become overweight or obese later in life and die earlier as a result. This is <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed?term=weight%20cycling%20of%20athletes%20and%20subsequent%20weight%20gain%20in%20middle%20age&cmd=correctspelling">possibly due to alterations</a> in resting metabolic rate and binge eating, although the evidence isn’t clear.</p>
<p>Presumably the competitive benefits of rapid weight loss appear to outweigh the detrimental effects on physical and psychological performance for the athletes who practice it. But given the growing popularity and broadcast coverage of mixed martial arts, the dangers of rapid weight loss need more serious consideration.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/49015/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Matthew Haines does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
Mixed martial arts athletes are risking serious injury and death through crash dieting, a new report warns.
Matthew Haines, Senior Lecturer in Health and Wellbeing, University of Huddersfield
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/38901
2015-03-27T00:04:48Z
2015-03-27T00:04:48Z
Why boxing and cage fighting should be banned – but won’t be
<p>The death of Queensland professional boxer Braydon Smith last week has re-ignited the debate over boxing as a sport in this country. The 23-year-old collapsed 90 minutes after completing a featherweight bout in Toowoomba on March 14 and did not regain consciousness before his <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-16/toowoomba-boxer-braydon-smith-dies-after-10-round-fight/6323574">life-support was turned off</a> last Monday. The Australian Medical Association used the case to renew its <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-17/ama-wants-boxing-to-be-banned-after-death-of-braydon-smith/6325956">call to ban boxing</a>.</p>
<p>Boxing Queensland president Ann Tindall <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/worldtoday/content/2015/s4199204.htm">responded</a> by saying that the sport is no more dangerous than other contact sports. Braydon’s death was a “tragic accident”. </p>
<p>Boxing is dangerous. Boxers face a considerable risk of brain injury every time they step into the ring.</p>
<p>The evidence is not disputed. Highly influential for the supporters of an outright ban was the World Medical Association’s 1983 <a href="http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b6/">statement</a> at its World Medical Assembly calling for such a ban. An <a href="http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=376630">article</a> six years later in the Journal of the American Medical Association, entitled Why physicians should oppose boxing: an interdisciplinary history perspective, was equally damning.</p>
<p>Boxing authorities responded by mandating shorter bouts and prescribing strict weight divisions. Protective headgear is now required for all organised non-professional competitions. </p>
<p>An allied phenomenon has reared its head in the Australian sporting landscape. For the last decade, American pay TV has been screening the Ultimate Fighting Championship (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_Fighting_Championship">UFC</a>). Drawing worldwide television audiences, this form of virtually unrestrained human combat is drawing great interest in Australia.</p>
<p>The Australian Fighting Championship <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/victoria/cage-fighting-violence-remains-in-the-ring-after-melbournes-first-bout-20150315-144frj.html">was held in Melbourne</a> last weekend after the new state Labor government lifted the ban on “cage” fighting or mixed martial arts (MMA) events. Western Australia is now <a href="http://www.theage.com.au/wa-news/wa-now-only-australian-state-in-which-ufc-cagefighting-is-banned-20141203-11z2ey.html">the only state</a> in Australia to ban cage fighting.</p>
<p>Australian legislators have been reluctant to ban MMA entirely, probably because they don’t wish to be seen as evoking a “nanny” state.</p>
<h2>Consent does not alter the consequence</h2>
<p>Opponents of bans point to other sports that have a high risk of fatalities, such as horse racing, skydiving, motor sport and surfing. The problem for such advocates is that boxing and cage fighting share a unique characteristic: participants set out to “stop” their opponent, a euphemism for the infliction of harm that renders opponents unable to continue fighting. Knocking them unconscious is the ultimate “stop”.</p>
<p>A person arriving on Earth from another planet would find it difficult to reconcile different outcomes from the same scenario: two people throwing punches at each other with great force. In a boxing ring or cage, hundreds of onlookers cheer them on. </p>
<p>The same two people the following week outside a nightclub attacking each other with the same degree of force would be arrested by police, would spend the night in a lock-up and would be penalised with a fine in the magistrates court the following morning.</p>
<p>We explain the legal difference thus: the former involves the consent of both of the participants, and the latter probably does not (even if both protagonists had agreed to “step outside”). But the distinction would be lost on an alien observer.</p>
<p>The <a href="http://www.aic.gov.au/crime_community/crimeprevention/ncv.html">National Committee on Violence</a> in 1990 weighed into this debate when considering the means by which Australians could reduce the levels of violence in our society. The authors of the report stopped short of recommending an outright ban on boxing, although a minority report recommended a review by the appropriate medical and sporting bodies regarding the control of boxing and its ultimate elimination as a sport. </p>
<h2>Is it civilised to celebrate aggression?</h2>
<p>Given its history, its Olympic and Commonwealth Games status, that it involves consenting adults, and the allure it has for millions of fans, there will be no change to the legal status of boxing in the foreseeable future.</p>
<p>Medical specialists and the mild-mannered among us might have hoped that the sport would have declined in popularity by now, either because of the number of deaths and brain injuries it causes, or through its reputation (especially in the US) for corruption. However, it appears to be as popular as ever. The tragic death of young Braydon Smith might, once again, challenge some participants to reconsider their pastime, but it won’t be the state that says that they have to stop it altogether.</p>
<p>Cage fighting elevates these concerns to another level entirely. The gladiatorial battles that drew the masses in the first century to the Roman Colosseum were a reflection of the cruel society of the day. One might question, watching the UFC channel and any other cage-fighting event, how much more civilised we have become in the intervening two millennia. Prime Minister Tony Abbott, himself a well-known pugilist in his Oxford days, in 2010 <a href="http://www.abc.net.au/pm/content/2010/s2992270.htm">called for</a> a “kinder, gentler polity”. </p>
<p>We should heed Abbott’s words, not only because of the dangers such fighting poses for its participants, but for the way in which it tends to de-sensitise us to the deliberate infliction of harm and to normalise aggressive behaviour in the minds of us all, especially our youth. </p>
<p>While criminologists may stop short of linking organised violence to the <a href="http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/4530.0">more than 400,000 assaults</a> reported each year in Australia, cage fighting has no place in contemporary society.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/38901/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rick Sarre does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>
The death of a 23-year-old boxer and the lifting of cage-fighting bans in every state but Western Australia raise the question of why we allow violence that would be criminal outside a ring or cage.
Rick Sarre, Professor of Law, University of South Australia
Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.