I cannot see how any event that calls upon participants to beat each other to a pulp can be called a sport and so am baffled that anyone would want to watch such things as boxing or kickboxing, or other mixed martial arts (MMA), which seem to have even fewer protections against injury than boxing. In the past we did have other dangerous contests such as duels but were able to ban them presumably because they had no redeeming value. But boxing and MMA do require some level of athletic prowess and thus seem to escape opprobrium. As long as the people in involved in MMA are consenting adults with full knowledge of the possible dangers involved, there seems to be little to be done other than look away
These things are bad enough when the combatants are ordinary people but what is one to make of a recent kickboxing event between two people like these?
Democrats in Florida have condemned a professional mixed martial arts event in Orlando at which an openly racist fighter derided his beaten opponent as “a short little fucking Jew prick”, and a spectator was ejected for waving a giant swastika flag.
…The Duel Arena kickboxing event at the downtown venue featured a headline fight between Paul Miller, a convicted felon and self-professed antisemite who served prison time for weapons offenses, and Ben Azoulay, a Jewish “manosphere” influencer who has a conviction for the sexual assault of a 15-year-old girl.
After the fight was over, several brawls broke out in the crowd. Miller, who goes by the nickname of the gypsy crusader, assailed Azoulay over the arena’s loudspeaker system using the racial epithet and appeared to give at least two Nazi salutes from the ring.
…Miller, according to the Anti-Defamation League, is a far-right extremist and white supremacist who used the gypsy crusader moniker on inflammatory social media posts long before his transformation into a mixed martial arts fighter.
In 2021, the US attorney’s office for the southern district of Florida noted he had called for a race-based civil war before his 41-month prison sentence for illegal possession of firearms by a convicted felon. He did not respond to a request for comment.
Azoulay, meanwhile, has his own controversial past. In February, California’s Beverly Hills unified school district apologized for allowing him to address a Jewish student club at the city’s high school.
Azoulay was convicted in 2011 in relation to the rape of a minor, and maintains an Instagram account with more than half a million followers. His misogynistic social media commentary has included advice for women to “keep a man’s belly full and his balls empty” in order to keep him.
They seem to be a lovely pair, no?
These are really bad people. The event was hosted in an arena owned by the city of Orlando that defended allowing the event on First Amendment grounds, while the Kia company the venue is named after distanced itself from it.
The city’s statement, posted on the X account of the Kia Center, said in part: “As operators of public venues, the City is bound by the First Amendment. This means we cannot deny access because we disagree with the political ideology, opinion, or perspective, irrespective of the message.”
…Kia, in a statement, also condemned the incident. “As Kia America is the naming rights partner of the Kia Center, we are not involved in its operations or security protocols,” a spokesperson said.
“However, we appreciate the prompt action taken by venue personnel to address the situation. Such behaviors are in stark contrast to the values of respect and dignity that we, and our employees, fully support and promote.”
But reading about this gave me an idea. Rather than banning such people or activities, which immediately raises howls of protests of censorship from the usual gang of right-wingers, perhaps they should go in the opposite direction. If we have to have MMA events to cater to the bloodlust of people, perhaps it should be a requirement that to be eligible to take part in such an event, each participant must have an odious history of being racist, antisemitic, Islamophobic, homophobic, transphobic, pedophilic, misogynistic, violently abusive, or any combination of those qualities. Then the thought of them beating each other up would not disturb me so much since it would be a kind of poetic, if rough, justice.
Who knows, I might even become a fan of this ‘sport’.
driver please stop this human species, i wish to disembark
An activity where the ultimate goal is to inflict a concussion so severe that the person loses consciousness should not be a sanctioned sport. That this is not only a sport but one that is also seen as a glamourous event attended by celebrities is beyond my understanding.
I’m starting to think that an armed society may not in fact be a polite society after all…
Next level, give them both guns. That’s even more constitutional, it’s first and second amendments together, right?
Sheesh.
Well,
I guess it’s better than bear-baiting, bull-baiting, cock-fighting, dog-fights, or rat-baiting.
At least it’s confined to our own species. But I’d like to join Bebe and get off this particular merry-go-round.
It wasn’t right, or fun, the first time around. It isn’t fun, or right, now.
Normally, I’m against two people trying to inflict long-term brain damage on each other.
In this case, I might be persuaded to make an exception.
@6 Adam Lee — And in this case, even the slightest bit of damage would likely mean brain death anyway, right?
A battle royale would be even better.
With this pair, how would you tell?
Arguable either way. Boxing encourages knockouts, and then provides the person with a countdown to regain their footing, potentially allowing a person already concussed to resume fighting as long as they can give a decent semblance of being alert and oriented. MMA by contrast encourages multiple methods of ending a fight quickly, such as submission, which need not result in any lasting brain or other injury but rather discourages continued fighting by pain and the threat of injury if the person continues to struggle. Additionally, if a person is downed by say a head blow and possible knockout, the attacker is encouraged to continue attacking the downed opponent, usually resulting in a swift end with no chance for a punch-drunk fighter to struggle onward.
I don’t follow any, but I don’t mind the idea of combat sports. Informed consent of course is key, emphasising that this requires consent paired with the ability to make an informed decision free of coercion. This criterion instantly rules out animal fighting. With that given, it then becomes a contest of physicality and skill, and can be impressive to watch. Visual media introduce fight choreography, changing the concept of violence to a form of artistic expression (and perfected by Hong Kong era Jackie Chan in my opinion).
The lowest rung on the combat sport ladder that I have seen is professional slapping. There is no skill involved, as all entrants must stay absolutely still and unguarded so that the opponent can land a clean hit on them without challenge. The strike is always with an open hand… but this is a worthless sop to safety, as the strike must also always be delivered to the undefended face using the full weight of the arm, and the goal is specifically and solely to knock the opponent unconscious. Repeated for emphasis: other combat sports permit and perhaps encourage unconsciousness as a form of ending a fight; this one permits nothing but unconsciousness.
It is championed by Dana White, who used to present himself as both a canny businessmen and a respecter of skill and prowess, but now encourages boorish thumping while brown nosing Trump. Maybe the boorishness was there all along, but even a pretence at anything other than boorishness has been discarded. Oh and the cherry on top: the debut of his professional slap tv show was delayed by a bit of bad press. He had been seen slapping his wife in public.
From now on, race warriors and wing nuts should be encouraged to do “thunderdome” rules fights.
In the past, boxers had no gloves. If gloves are removed, they will have an incentive to not knock out their opponents, and brain damage will be reduced.
The audience will probably think this is a retrograde step but I don’t care.
Also, stomp out cock fighting, dog fighting and bull fighting. Events that require the death of an organism serve to make people coarse and without empathy.