I recently decided to make a post on the forums asking the other participants if they felt partly responsible for the head trauma that MMA fighters receive and if they felt any remorse about it? Now, I intended the question to be a sort of loaded question and already implying that we are all partly responsible for some of the brain damage that these athletes incur in their chosen profession. I expected to get some push back from the other fans and that many would say it is a free country, or that these are grown men and they can do what they want etc. I was surprised at the result.
Many people said just the opposite. Many agreed that they did indeed feel bad about the mental state of some of the athletes retiring from MMA (as well as boxing and football). Most people think that there should be more stringent oversight and that athletic commissions should do a better job of forcing fighters to retire at certain points. A famous case is one man who has been knocked out completely unconscious four times while fighting in professional MMA, and he still wanted to fight. He eventually did decide to retire but it was refreshing that many of the fans and MMA journalists encouraged him and his management team that he should retire, and they had no interest in watching him fight any more. Although it is entertaining to see two trained men engage in a technical chess match is fighting, it seems that very few people actually want to see people hurt, which may sound paradoxical to an outsider.
I'm glad to hear you got some feedback on a post. In my forum it's hard to get anyone to respond. I think that was a well thought out question because I could see how it could go either way. It's awesome members responded with such positive digital citizenship. It's also refreshing to see that there are people out there with compassion. I think many onlookers don't care about the well being of the fighters as long as it's a good fight and they are getting to see their favorite fighters perform. So I was shocked too see that people to care about these fighters well being and have opinions to support the idea of enough's enough.
ReplyDeleteWhat an interesting post to make in the forum! That is such a sad thought but it is so true, you do wonder how much of the responsibility is on us as viewers for letting these men go through what they do. I agree we definitely need more oversight for these sports. It is interesting to hear about the range of responses you are receiving.
ReplyDeleteI think the question that you posed is interesting and thought-provoking. I am encouraged by the fact that many of those who responded to your post sympathized for the retiring athletes that they cheer for on a regular basis. I think it would have been much more discouraging if the responses had leaned the other way.
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