Can the Sport of MMA Survive?

The sport of MMA, or mixed martial arts, has come a long way in its short history of only 15 years. Based typically on a combination of a striking martial art and grappling art, MMA involves a much more dynamic field of competition than traditional boxing. What started out as a brutal no holds barred tough man contest is currently into a respectable worldwide sport with top-tier athletes from every country. It's no longer the "human cockfighting" as it has been called by politicians.

A few months ago MMA in its very first primetime debut. For many Americans, this was her first exposure to the sport. Many people had heard of it will recognize the names of some of the more popular fighters like Chuck Liddell and Tito Ortiz, but few knew what it was actually about, and many had very inaccurate ideas of its rules. Although the national MMA premiere was vehemently criticized by long-standing MMA fans, it was a record-breaking hit for the CBS network on which it was aired. More importantly, it was presented mostly in a professional manner which did well to dispel the barbaric image of its early days, which was unfortunately true. While any contact sport is dangerous, MMA has incurred fewer injuries on its participants then boxing, which results in several deaths every year (MMA has only been linked to one death officially).

The most popular martial arts practiced in MMA are muay thai from Thailand which is a form of kickboxing, or traditional boxing, coupled with wrestling or Brazilian jujitsu, which is based on the Japanese art of judo and involves wrestling and leverage. It was the Gracie family who originally introduced the world on a mainstream level to their Brazilian jujitsu art, defeating many practitioners of other respectable martial arts. Since then Brazilian jujitsu has become a mainstay in mixed martial arts.

Recently many new similar promotions as well as larger promotions backed by bigger names like Affliction, which is sponsored by Donald Trump, have appeared in hopes of cashing in on the growing sport. But it is still a new trend with which many people are unfamiliar and has not stood the test of mainstream appeal. The next few years may make or break the sport of MMA depending on how it is marketed who represents it, and the performance of the newer fighters as many of the titles of earlier generations fade into retirement.