Do not fear MMA. Embrace it.

Kristen King // Staff Writer

In mixed martial arts, fighters subject themselves to the possibilities of being knocked out or choked unconscious and broken or damaged body parts. For anyone who is not familiar with sports that thrive on the aspect of combat, this can be a scary scenario to witness.

This is one of the many reasons that this sport has continued to uphold the label of “taboo”, but this doesn’t mean that people should completely disregard it. MMA is a legitimate sport and has been for many years now, with people from all over the world supporting and participating in it.

People have embraced the sport for what it is a long time ago, but it is not the same for others. One of the main problems lies in the lack of education concerning the existence of MMA in the sports entertainment world.

Going around each campus, I asked a number of students on whether or not they have heard about mixed martial arts at any point in their lives. Unsurprisingly, I was met with an emphatic response of “no” from the majority of the students I encountered.

Because people are unaware of MMA, it flies under the radar of other mainstream sports like football and basketball. FIU freshman Junior Appo said that he’s only ever heard of MMA once and wasn’t particularly interested in it as a sport.

“It just doesn’t appeal to me because of the level of violence. Why should I support someone being kicked in the head or punched repeatedly in the face? I don’t think I could get fully behind MMA,” said Appo.

Like Appo, many others who fear MMA use the violence argument to justify their reason on why they choose to ignore the sport entirely. While the argument is valid, it should be taken with the smallest grain of salt because violence is found in the majority of sports.

Football players tackle one another to obtain a ball. Basketball players step on one another in the midst of an intense play. Hockey players literally throw punches at each other for one bad play.

In these instances, violence doesn’t receive the same level of outrage as mixed martial arts does.

But, what is the difference between the violence in these sports versus the violence in MMA? Violence is the same everywhere, right?

Nonetheless, violence isn’t the aspect that people should solely focus on when discussing MMA. The uncertainty and entertainment within the sport is what should be focused on.

For FIU junior Johanna Felipe, this is what keeps her interested in every fight.

“I think MMA is such an interesting sport because of the unpredictable quality it possesses,” Felipe said. “A fighter can win or lose in a number of different ways and that’s what keeps me watching whenever there is a fight card on.”

Despite the arguments against the validity of MMA as a sport, I believe it is time for people to embrace it rather than fear it. This sport is unlike any other and because of this, it should be accepted and respected as such.

If you should ever find yourself in the position to watch some fights, do it. You are giving yourself the opportunity to be a part of something that is continuously growing and becoming the world’s most entertaining sport.