Smack of Reality: Should Children Be Allowed to Do MMA?

On the news today, I saw a story about children and competing in mixed martial arts (MMA). Apparently, there are mixed martial arts competitions for children under the age of 18 with many being younger than teenagers.

I do not believe that children should be allowed to do mixed martial arts - at least not the kind that is bare knuckle or with lots of hits to the head. The finding that I saw on the news report looks exactly like the real adult mixed martial arts competitions that we see on the UFC, K1, and other organizations in which people really get hurt.

I saw some of the children fighting bare-knuckled or with gloves and a lot of hits to the head. It might be okay for adults to do this but I do not believe that children should be doing this same thing. I saw many of the same submission and choke holds just like the adults.

These are not just children fighting amongst themselves, like they often do with backyard wrestling. What I saw here were professional cages set up in school gymnasiums with dozens of other children and adults cheering them on. It is obvious that everyone was taking it seriously as a real sport.

This type of fighting is illegal in many states of the United States but some states, like Missouri, allow sanctioned mixed martial arts competitions for children. Many other countries allow it as well but it seems to be a new thing in our country with the UFC becoming more popular as of late.

Some people consider this child abuse and I would have to agree because children are being hurt and it is the parents' job to keep their children out of harm's way. This fighting is in opposition to the children's welfare and should be viewed as child abuse and reported to authorities.

In the states where the competitions are legal, I believe that the law needs to step in and be changed before more children are injured. The parents should also be fined or given jail time.

In the news report, they also showed a teacher who teaches children to fight and use submission holds. The difference is that none of the holds use strong hitting or punching. They use loose holds just to show that the hold is there. Once the hold is in place, the children have to let go of each other. There is no punching, kicking, hitting, or any kind of striking that can injure the opponent. The teacher agrees that mixed martial arts should not be done by people under the age of 18.

I am okay with children competing in MMA competitions, as long as there is no real striking, especially to the head, they wear well-padded gloves and once a submission hold is what in place it should be immediately released.