UFC 100, Violence, Blood, and Sportsmanship?
Tuesday, July 14, 2009 at 2:00AM 
Jon Jones after choking out Jake O'Brien
UFC 100 was a huge milestone for mixed-martial arts and it is now covered like a mainstream sporting event. Over 200 media credentials were given out. There was a two day fan expo at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center in Las Vegas. UFC 100 was one of the toughest tickets to get as it sold out on pre-sale.
There were some ups and downs for the UFC. The revenues from the event from pay per view and the arena gate were huge but there were some controversey regarding the main event as the winner Brock Lesnar acted more in line with his former employer, the WWE, than what the organization was trying to promote. Not a good idea for Lesnar to flip the bird to the fans and trash the lead sponsor of the event, Bud Light. In another bout, Dan Henderson knocked out his opponent, Michael Bisping, but adding another punch to the unconcious fighter on the mat may have been overboard especially when he told fans afterwards that it "was to shut him up".
Los Angeles Time columnist TJ Simers had a scathing column on UFC 100. His main point was how he thought MMA fans were blood thirsty and loved violence. One of his comparsions was with the basketball. I wondered why he didn't compare it with football, where a few athletes die or get paralyzed every year, or boxing, which has a long history of maimed participants. How about when a pitcher in baseball throws at a hitter? MMA so far has a good record for stopping fights before serious injury has resulted.
I shot some bloody photos. Cuts from the head tend to bleed much more than other parts of the body. The actual damage to the fighter is minimal. Although it does further the stereotype of MMA as human cockfighting.
Mac Danzig suffers a nasty cut from an elbow from Jim Miller
Brock Lesnar dominates Frank Mir
Dan Henderson knocks out Michael Bisping
Dan Henderson adds an extra blow to Michael Bisping
Dan Henderson celebrates by climbing the Ocatagon after defeating Michael Bisping
Reader Comments (2)
Harsh images, i don't even wanna think what did TJ Simer felt...
everyone who signs up for mma knows exactlyyy what they are getting into. All the risks. And they get beaten up just as bad in training on a frequent basis. It seems harsh to people who have never tried it, but regardless of your squeamishness, there are rules and it is a competition. Dan henderson's punch could be related to how coaches challenge plays in football long after play was completed, or controversial winning goals in basketball that always seem to count, if not just for dramatic effect.
In retrospect it does seem a little over the top to finish a fighter thus, but anyone who knows of michael bisping, knows he is as much a famous trash talker, as he is a fighter, and over the course of the TUF show, he provoked the sleeping giant that Den Henderson is, over, over and over again, and Dan said nothing until he spoke with his fists in glorious fashion. I am a huge mma fan, and I really would just like to see it treated by the public as the next greatest competition the world has produced, like every other sport before it, and fighters should be penalized as equally as other pro-athletes, even though other athletes that could neverr handle their training are paid more than three times the best mma fighters in the world.
my opinion.