Mixed Martial Arts

Antonio Legarda

ENGL 1301

Essay 3

October 23, 2009

Title?

Mixed martial arts can trace its roots back to the 1930s in Brazil, under the name Vale Tudo, which when translated it literally means “everything goes”. Despite of the name, most of what is considered “dirty fighting”, such as groin strikes, biting and small joint manipulation, is not allowed today and was not allowed back then. However, head stomps, kicks to the head and things of that nature where allowed under the PRIDE fighting organization, which built its roots in Japan, and helped project MMA into its world status today. In 1993, the UFC organization brought MMA to the United States. The goal was to find “the Ultimate Fighting Champion” through a tournament of the best athletes skilled in the various disciplines of martial arts, including karate, jiu-jitsu, boxing, kickboxing, grappling, wrestling, sumo and other sports. The winner of the tournament would be crowned the champion. Despite the popularity of MMA and its rapid expansion at a world level, there are still a few roadblocks that the sport needs to overcome in the states. MMA today is banned in many states like New York, Vermont and West Virginia and there is no State Athletic Commission in many other states. This comes as a surprise to me because since the start of UFC 1 back in the early 90s, there hasn’t been a single death in a major professional organization. To put it in perspective, football has more than four times as more injuries than MMA, and boxing has a total of 70 deaths since 1998. MMA is not the average street fight, and is not the bloodlust sport most people make it out to be. Truth being told, it is one of the most regulated sports today, with time limits, judges, ringside doctors, weight classes and about 30 other rules that make the fights safe for the fighters. Fact is that most of the MMA champions today have years of discipline in certain martial arts, such as ju-jitsu, wrestling, boxing, sambo and some are...