(This piece appeared in 8CountNews on November 24, 2008)

by Mark Lorenzana

I want you to hit me as hard as you can.

This is the famous line of Tyler Durden, one of the main characters in Chuck Palahniuk’s iconic novel, Fight Club. The novel was adapted into a film of the same name and starred Brad Pitt, Edward Norton, and Helena Bonham Carter. The book became an international bestseller and the film became a pop culture phenomenon. Both featured the same plot, white collar guys meeting up in bars after work and knocking each other’s heads off, all in the name of stress release—and entertainment.

Of course, underground bare-knuckle fighting or fisticuffs depicted in the book and in the film is illegal. And not long ago, Mixed Martial Arts or MMA had a similar problem, as it had difficulty finding its way into the mainstream audience. Take the case of the Ultimate Fighting Championship for instance. The UFC is one of the earliest MMA organizations and back then it had a few limited rules. And it didn’t help that the UFC was marketed as “no holds barred”, prompting some legislators to label it as “human cock fighting”. Eventually the UFC reformed itself and slowly embraced stricter rules (and distanced itself from the bare-knuckle label by enforcing the use of four ounce MMA grappling gloves), becoming sanctioned by state athletic commissions, and making it the pay-per-view giant that it is now.

Even so, a lot of people still think MMA is nothing but a barbaric blood sport that pits two sadistic (and masochistic?) street fighters against each other. And more often than not, they view the fighters as unthinking brutes whose only mindset is to punish and hurt another human being.

Nothing could be farther from the truth. Take two of its practitioners, for instance. Chuck Liddell has a bachelor’s degree in Business/Accounting from Cal Poly. Rich Franklin was a math teacher and holds a master’s degree in education. Both could have stuck to their academic pursuits but decided to take up fighting as their profession. Collectively, Liddell and Franklin are just the tip of the iceberg.

And who can question these guys’ hearts and work ethic? It takes a lot of courage to take a pounding and never quit, to fight amid blood and guts, and it takes strong will and dedication to prepare yourself physically and mentally for a big fight much like a prizefighter does in training camp.

The goal of the honorable duel of medieval times was often not so much to punish the opponent as to gain satisfaction. Rather, it was to restore one’s honor by demonstrating a willingness to risk one’s life for it. And in my opinion, fighting in a cage or in a ring is no different.

So the first question that begs to be asked is: Why is MMA so popular and why do a lot of people watch it?

Maybe this question is best answered by other questions. Who could forget the David and Goliath battle between Royce Gracie and Dan “The Beast” Severn in the early days of the UFC? How could have the gangling Gracie, with an almost 80-pound weight disadvantage, beat the much bigger and stronger Severn? Who wouldn’t be mesmerized with the way Anderson “The Spider” Silva gracefully dismantles his opponents? Or who wouldn’t be awed by Chris “The Crippler” Leben’s courage and devil-may-care attitude each time he steps into the Octagon?

The other question that begs to be asked is: Why do MMA fighters do what they do?

Unlike the sadistic and masochistic brawlers in Fight Club, MMA practitioners don’t ply their trade just because they need to scratch a bloodthirsty itch. They are legitimate athletes and sportsmen and they passionately perform at the highest level for their audience as any rock band or performance artist.

would. They have work to do, and thankfully for them (and woefully for the most of us), it’s not a boring nine to five desk job.

This is the way they put food on the table, this is the way they pay the bills. They just do their jobs the best way they know how:

By hitting each other as hard as they can.