September 24, 2012

UFC 152

I was introduced to the world of Mixed Martial Arts the other night when I was invited over to a friend's house to watch UFC 152. I have briefly seen people on TV fighting in this style, but I really had never watched anything start to finish, so I wasn't sure what it was going to be like.

The first full fight that I watched was actually pretty gory. One of the fighters got struck on the forehead and had blood all over his face. As the fight wore on, the blood was all over his chest, his head, his shorts, the other fighter's face, body, and shorts, as well as in various places on the mat. For as many 'fight' scenes that I have seen in movies over the years, they all pale in comparison to seeing someone get their head split open in a real fight. (It also exposes the ridiculous performances in the WWE as complete fakes.) In the second fight, one fighter was completely knocked out cold. After you see someone's legs buckle underneath them from losing consciousness, you really can not un-see it.

By the time the main event started, I was getting the picture that most of the participants go into the matches trying not only to hurt the other person as much as possible, but also to literally try and break limbs. It seemed that most of the wrestlers would take any opportunity to do that.

The last fight featured the reigning champ, Jon 'Bones' Jones and the challenger, Vitor Belfort. While Belfort held his own for a few rounds (and nearly broke Jones' arm at one point), Jones prevailed by twisting Belfort's arm backwards into such a shape that Vitor could not do anything except plead for mercy by tapping out. Jones had repeatedly hit Belfort in the face with his elbows causing an immense amount of damage and bleeding to Vitor's face.

After all was said and done, it was one o'clock in the morning, and I was pretty tired. But I woke up the next day thinking about what I had seen. There was no question that I felt very uncomfortable with the level of violence in the fights. (...Making me wonder about what exactly I have been de-sensitized to when seeing violence in movies.) During the program, I was trying to evaluate what I was supposed to be thinking and feeling as a Christian, and I never did feel good about it. It was disturbing to watch two human beings trying to debase and damage each other in order to make one submit to the other out of force.

My initial gut reaction was that there was nothing about this that could glorify God or enhance the human experience outside of general competition. About the time that I thought that, I saw that Jones had Philippians 4:13 tattooed on his right pectoral muscle (I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength). Before entering the ring, he bowed down and prayed. The announcer said that he was the son of a preacher. I wondered, "how is he going to treat his opponent? Will he treat them with the same lack of dignity that the other fighters had shown, or somehow, in Christ, will he be able to fight while giving dignity to Belfort?"

I realize that this is my own private interpretation, but I thought that while they fought somewhat evenly at first, Jones essentially mauled Belfort. He continued to elbow him in the face so many times that blood was freely flowing all over. Even though there is no need to feel sorry for Vitor (he freely signed up for this), it was easy to see that he was dejected, damaged, and debased as a result of his fight with Jones. As a Christian, I thought, is this the way we are supposed to treat others? Could I ever see Jesus in a situation where he would treat someone like this? Part of my disappointment was watching Jon Jones' father jumping up and down with excitement at his son's victory. It disturbed me to see a pastor so excited at the debasement of another human being.

I am sure that someone will say that the Scriptures tell us that in all we do, we should do everything to the glory of God... and maybe that is what Jones attempts to do with his tattoo and by praying before entering the ring. I guess that despite that, it would take a lot to convince me that God's glory can be reflected while damaging, debasing, and discouraging another human being.

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