And, more disturbing still, other human beings take great pleasure in watching them.
Just as the Romans had the gladiatorial arena, so 21st century civilisation has the Ultimate Fighting Championships - so-called because, in this chicken wire, bumper-topped ring, almost anything goes.
There's a list of fouls, including 'eye gouging' and other shameful behaviour, but otherwise the extreme martial arts sport allows all manner of attack - and with a modern-day arena crowd baying for blood, the opponents are visibly twitching to deliver.
The non-televised prelims of welterweights and lightweights seem to result in a variety of pins and submissions, but to be honest I'm struggling to watch.
I'm slightly more comfortable viewing the action on the big screens, but even then I'm wincing and shuddering with each crack and thwack.
At one particularly aggressive shoulder drop I retch without thinking, then apologise to myself and those either side of me. It's a grim business. And a lucrative one. Judging by the banners and accents in the crowd (there's lots of shouting - both supportive and derogatory, especially when half-dressed women do a circuit of the ring brandishing round cards and grinning maniacally), people have travelled far and wide for this.
Between each bout there are adverts for WFC DVDs on the screens too - WFC was banned in Britain until recently, but now it seems to be here with a vengeance.
Roars
Immediately before each fight the opponents introduce themselves in pre-recorded bursts on the big screens. They're dead-eyed statements of intent, but the crowd roars approval for British fighters.
The name of this tour is 'Nations Collide' and competitors are from all over the globe. How about a nice multinational tea dance? I catch myself saying 'Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear' to myself over and over like Miss Marple on a particularly bad murder case.
As the evening progresses the weights get heavier - and the action goes live. The arena is full by this time and the noise intensifies. It's all more than a little unnerving, not to mention gruesome.
Especially with an advert continually broadcast on the big screens mentioning 'blood spilling down'. I'm finding it difficult to be here, and it's only going to get worse with the heavyweights and main card.
I look around, wondering if anyone is here looking at the 'skill' involved, at the speed and accuracy of these men, or is it just the blood they want?
Fewer rules as to the exact nature of the fighting surely mean it is actually more of a spectacle than a sport - if you're restricted only by extreme fouls, how can you really assess anything other than a knockout? A win or a lose. Blood simple.
UFC isn't as 'daft' as WWF, in that there are genuine injuries being sustained here, but surely its 'sportsmanship' can be questioned?
Either way, for me it's all way too disturbing, and a case of never again.
What do you think? Have your say.
*TAKE a look at our gallery from the night and watch our pre-match video, above. Tweet
Comments
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It is fascinating and quite a spectacle to watch to begin with, but after the initial fascination it will get boring and finish up like professional wrestling,
phoney exhibitionism. I do believe that you can find Yobo's who will do it for nothing in the local pubs if you disagree that their team is not the best.
While it is perfectly fair to attend this event and share your opinion on it (positive or negative), this piece is clouded by incorrect facts and misleading content:
* The description 'allows all manner of attack' is misleading, and you do not explain that the list of fouls includes 31 banned offences, including head butts, strikes to the spine or back of the head, downward elbow strikes, or kicks to the head of a downed opponent. Indeed, virtually everything that is allowed in a UFC event is legal in an Olympic sport (be it boxing, judo or wrestling).
* There are no pins in UFC contests.
* The adverts for DVDs were for UFC, not WFC. There is no such group as WFC. Presumably this is a bizarre misprint of UFC, the name which is the focus of this article.
* UFC has never been 'banned' in Britain as you claim. In fact a UFC event took place in London in 2002.
* This is not a 'tour', it is a single event.
* You comment "I look around, wondering if anyone is here looking at the 'skill' involved, at the speed and accuracy of these men, or is it just the blood they want?" In fact the crowd showed great appreciation of the skills, applauding subtleties of groundwork which many audiences would not be familiar with.
* You ask "how can you really assess anything other than a knockout? A win or a lose. Blood simple." Leaving aside the point that this sentence makes no sense, all the matches which go to the time limit are scored by judges under strict criteria set down by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
* The former WWF has been named WWE since 2002. This name change has been the subject of cases in the High Court and House of Lords.
* You comment that the sportsmanship can be questioned. Every fighter shook hands before and after each contest, and every fighter walked back to the dressing room without assistance.
* The main picture caption reads Elvis Sino. The actual name is Elvis Sinosic.
No wonder the world is full of thugs & wannabe gangsters! this is a repeat of Roman times, throw 2 humans into a cage and beat each other, no wonder the world is what it is, I love sport, this is not a sport! BAN IT.
I would like to second the comments made by John Lister (above) in his well presented response.
First of all, i must ask why the MEN chose to send a reporter who opnely admits to knowing nothing about the sport of mixed martial arts (MMA) to cover this event?
I can only assume the intent was to produce a sensationalist article that focuses on all the msot negative aspects of the pursuit.
this article, both online and in print, will rightly be the subject of derision from MMA fans in Manchester and beyond.
Reference to organisations that do not exist (what is the WFC?), bans that have never been imposed (the UFC was never banned in this country) and a total lack of balance in the whole article preclude me - and i am sure many other readers - from taking Emma Unsworth seriously as a journalist.
perhaps the most glaring error is in the printed version, which features a photograph with the caption:
"Brazilian Renato Sobral throws a punch at Australian Elvis Sinosic while a packed Arena looks on".
Can I ask how you managed print a photograph and caption of a fight that did not take place on Saturday night? Was this a private performance for the benefit of Ms Unsworth before the main event, or was the whole article an ill-researched rush job?
MMA involves athletes of incredible levels of skill and fitness. Many are top level competitors in the singular martial arts that together make up the 'mixed', such as thai boxing, boxing, wrestling, judo and jiu-jitsu.
In future, please find someone who knows what they are talking about to cover events such as these. This article is an inuslt both to the professional athletes that compete in the sport and to the MEN itself, which is one of the more highly regarded of the provincial newspapers.
Come on emma, everyone who goes to or takes part in UFC knows what its about.
There are pletny of normal well adjusted men & women that aren't thugs or gangsters that enjoy UFC.
What's Ronaldo doing there? Diving instructor's aren't required.
What was the reporter on about?? Obviously he knows absolutley nothing about MMA at all and the paper should of sent someone with some knowledge on MMA to the show.
Personally I had a great time and the atmosphear in the arena was amazing and well worth my 6 hour drive from cornwall.
Don't be too hard on the reporter. She would have been told how and what to write before saturday by her news editor. The fact that it was in the news sections of most of the dailies (except The Star who had it in the sport pages) shows how it will take a while for people to accept that it is a sport. The MEN group is facing problems and there will be more redundancies in the near future (30 editorial jobs were lost last year)so think before you write bad comments about a person who is just doing their job under pressure. I can also assume the photographer was working during the day so he would have been tired as his captions were poor.
NO I don't work for MEN or know anyone working there before you ask, I live in Hampshire and I was lucky enough to have been close to the action and it was the best night I have had in a while. I am planning to go to Dublin.
Lets Bring It On
Seems this was written by someone who totally doesnt know what she was talking about. She got names wrong, facts wrong, and was completely biased in her reporting. Might I also add that as I am related albeit distantly to a WWE (not WWF) wrestler that they too, despite the popular belief which Miss Unsworth sprouts, suffer real injuries!
What I find more disturbing is the narrow viewed approach & questionable journalistic integrity of Miss Unsworth & the MEN group as a whole for that matter.
Its abundantly clear based on the piece that Miss Unsworth mind was already a closed door from the moment of taking her seat, though I guess she can take peace of mind that she is not the only short sighted journalist who wrote little of any substance or noteworthy.
To even challenge the credability & create stereotypes of the fans as being bloodthirsty undignified yobs who know little of the skill involved just goes to show your blinkered holier than thou attitude truly is.
As for your ridiculous notion that professional wrestlers do not suffer real injuries is beyond laughable. Feel free to speak to my Doctor as im sure if you dont take my word of the pain ive endured then he would be more than happy to show you my medical records to confirm my injuries from the "daft" world of pro wrestling.
The men & women of MMA are highly skilled, honourable sportsmen who deserve to be held in a much higher regard than the picture you have painted - may I suggest when writing anything of this nature that you at least do a little bit of research before embarking in your quest to tear strips off a sport that you know little or nothing about.
Keith Colwill
It's a disturbing thought that despite centuries of progress, a supposedly respectable publication like the MEN would send someone with such an obvious aversion to fighting to cover a combat sports event. You wouldn't print a report on a football match that moaned "it's just a load of men in shorts, kicking a bit of cowhide around, all seems a bit pointless to me", would you?
This kind of misinformed, reactionary nonsense passing as journalism was infuriating when the UFC was in its formative stages. Now that it has evolved into a highly regulated, professional and safe (compare boxing's rate of brain injuries) sporting event, it's inexcusable.
I still think it's a fantastic sport and it will be around for a very very long time, but so will MMA (mixed martial arts by the way) and if the Nevada State Athletic Commission can pass both boxing and MMA then they must be doing something right.
My wife came with me on Saturday and she is not a fight fan (boxing or mma) but she said it was fantastic. Not only was the production good (we had £25 seats and could still see the octagon very well AND the 6 big screens all around the arena). If you don't like this sport then that's fine.
Good on her!
Pearls of wisdom from the great Leo Branca. Miss Unsworth had better watch out for her job with Leo being around as its clear his insight & writing style is on par with hers, if not better.
I have never read such an inaccurate report before and why I ask does a newspaper choose to send someone who clearly isn¿t going to like the sport in the first place, rather then send someone who is very open minded, with an idea of what the sport is about and will have an unbiased opinion.
This report does not give a fair hearing to this sport nor does it include any actual facts about the event.
After doing my research I notice that Miss Unsworth has never before reported on a sports event - she is the 'shopping mogul' apparently - COME ON m.e.n surely a freelance reporter would have been better than sending her and getting all these very negative comments, I suggest you maybe think next time.
KC,
You should have seen what I wrote before the MEN censored me....you wouldn't have liked it, I suspect!
Mr Branca
I have no issue with people stating what they opinion they have providing its well researched & objective.
Something that Emma Unsworth should have considered when she wrote her slanted drivel.
KC