MMA is often criticised for its sheer brutality – anyone who’s seen a blood-soaked fighter after a bout might well come away with that conclusion – but key figures in the sport maintain that it’s just misunderstood by the general public.
One such figure, former UFC Women’s Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey, defended MMA in a recent interview, and even went as far as to say that it’s such a good outlet for aggression, it could solve America’s mass-shooting problem.
She made the comments in a clip from the upcoming documentary The Hurt Business: A Deeper Look At MMA, which puts forward the notion that mixed martial arts fighting doesn’t promote violence, but keeps it confined to a safe space.
Rousey’s view on the subject is likely to be a controversial one, but she seems pretty sold on the idea that putting people in cages to beat the crap out of each-other could fix some of society’s deeper ills. She explained:
“It’s a human instinct to fight, and if you try to suppress it entirely and put everyone in a bubble-wrapped society, that’s when people end up going nuts and shooting movie theatres … If any of those people that had all of that aggression built up in them had some sort of outlet, I think that we would have a lot more societal health.”
She also defended the artistry of MMA, saying:
“It’s not violence for the sake of violence. The word ‘art’ is in it for a reason. When I go in there, yeah, I’m fighting, but really what I’m trying to do is outsmart the other person. It’s a puzzle to be solved … I’m not going in there and spazzing out, swinging my hands – lifting weights so I can swing my hands even harder. It’s more mental and tactical than anything else, and I think it’s the purest, most beautiful sport in the world.”
You can watch the relevant clip from the documentary below:
Source: NY Post.
Photo: Josh Hedges / Zuffa LLC / Getty.
