I’m on Quinn’s side on this one. There’s a nothing “gay” about professional fighting. It speaks to the most primal nature of man, and to do it in a controlled environment with rules and regulations is, to quote the great Howard Jacobsen, the mark of civilized man. There’s a reason boxing is the sport of Kings. To wit: “However barbaric his fantasies, knowing how to distinguish them from reality is, in my view, the mark of a civilised man.” Also, to paraphrase Hemingway, talking about hunting: “When you are in a rebellion against death, as I am in against death, you have to spend a lot of time killing things so you do not kill yourself. When a man is still in rebellion against death he has pleasure in taking to himself one of the Godlike attributes; that of giving it.” Obviously I’m not advocating for rubgy players or Mike Tyson biting the ears of their competitors, but combat within a structured environment is neither gay nor uncivilized. Just the opposite. There is a difference between violence and war (the result of unexpended hostile energy) and the controlled release of the natural aggressive tendencies of man. Just like taking the dog for a walk. blownspeakers For one, I was never chubby. Two, my father didn’t make me do anything. Actually, that’s not true. My parents wouldn’t let me quit baseball half way through the season after I asked them to join and decided I didn’t like fielding balls anymore after two months. Three, a fight in Shine or the ER isn’t in a controlled environment, is a completely inappropriate place to fight (not that there’s necessarily an appropriate place to fight for the sake of fighting only), and it probably involves two people who are drunk. And don’t make assumptions about me. vortexvoid: interesting to see that you fail to mention how gay it is for grown men to pay to see two other grown men pound the living shit out of each other in various degress of un-dress. and just because your dad made you take judo when you were 7 because you were chubby and he was embarassed does not make you an expert. if a fight broke out like this at shine or the e.r. you would be stampeding for the exits crying “butchery!” blownspeakers: It is sanctioned violence. But it’s sanctioned violence in a controlled environment. I did that for a decade of my life and there was nothing at all wrong with it (judo, not MMA for the record). Not to mention that this is sanctioned violence between two consenting adults. I fail to see how this can be any worse than any number of other things that happen between two consenting adults, while keeping in mind that professional football probably still remains the most dangerous (if you’re on the line) of all sports. Also, “it’s a valid opinion” isn’t a defense of a position. While your opinion is your opinion and that’s fine, it’s valid to have the opinion that dinosaurs walked the earth with humans and two men fucking will bring about the end of days. That’s a valid opinion, considering that the definition of opinion is to have an idea about a subject that’s impossible to verify via any sort of fact. skinnyghost: It’s not that I’m reacting that way because I’m a hipster. I’m reacting that way because I genuinely don’t like UFC and the idea that there’s a sport that is basically sanctioned violence kind of bothers me. I think it’s a valid opinion. lamerveilleuse: pwned. blownspeakers: You forgot “/cliche hipster reaction to contact sports” I thought you knew how to use the internet. skinnyghost: -melodramatic jerking-off motion- blownspeakers: “I remember looking at my wife and telling her, ‘I don’t have it no more. [With] these injuries, there’s just no way. My wife, in so many words, called me a pussy, a failure as a man, and a bad example to my children.” —Frank Mir on the motorcycle injuries that almost ended his career, before his match with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, a man who’d never lost a fight via stoppage in his over decade long career. Mir beat him via TKO in the second round to capture the UFC Heavyweight Interim Championship.

I’m on Quinn’s side on this one. There’s a nothing “gay” about professional fighting. It speaks to the most primal nature of man, and to do it in a controlled environment with rules and regulations is, to quote the great Howard Jacobsen, the mark of civilized man. There’s a reason boxing is the sport of Kings.

To wit:

“However barbaric his fantasies, knowing how to distinguish them from reality is, in my view, the mark of a civilised man.”

Also, to paraphrase Hemingway, talking about hunting: “When you are in a rebellion against death, as I am in against death, you have to spend a lot of time killing things so you do not kill yourself. When a man is still in rebellion against death he has pleasure in taking to himself one of the Godlike attributes; that of giving it.”

Obviously I’m not advocating for rubgy players or Mike Tyson biting the ears of their competitors, but combat within a structured environment is neither gay nor uncivilized. Just the opposite. There is a difference between violence and war (the result of unexpended hostile energy) and the controlled release of the natural aggressive tendencies of man. Just like taking the dog for a walk.

blownspeakers

For one, I was never chubby. Two, my father didn’t make me do anything. Actually, that’s not true. My parents wouldn’t let me quit baseball half way through the season after I asked them to join and decided I didn’t like fielding balls anymore after two months. Three, a fight in Shine or the ER isn’t in a controlled environment, is a completely inappropriate place to fight (not that there’s necessarily an appropriate place to fight for the sake of fighting only), and it probably involves two people who are drunk. And don’t make assumptions about me.

vortexvoid:

interesting to see that you fail to mention how gay it is for grown men to pay to see two other grown men pound the living shit out of each other in various degress of un-dress.

and just because your dad made you take judo when you were 7 because you were chubby and he was embarassed does not make you an expert.

if a fight broke out like this at shine or the e.r. you would be stampeding for the exits crying “butchery!”

blownspeakers:

It is sanctioned violence. But it’s sanctioned violence in a controlled environment. I did that for a decade of my life and there was nothing at all wrong with it (judo, not MMA for the record). Not to mention that this is sanctioned violence between two consenting adults. I fail to see how this can be any worse than any number of other things that happen between two consenting adults, while keeping in mind that professional football probably still remains the most dangerous (if you’re on the line) of all sports.

Also, “it’s a valid opinion” isn’t a defense of a position. While your opinion is your opinion and that’s fine, it’s valid to have the opinion that dinosaurs walked the earth with humans and two men fucking will bring about the end of days. That’s a valid opinion, considering that the definition of opinion is to have an idea about a subject that’s impossible to verify via any sort of fact.

skinnyghost:

It’s not that I’m reacting that way because I’m a hipster. I’m reacting that way because I genuinely don’t like UFC and the idea that there’s a sport that is basically sanctioned violence kind of bothers me. I think it’s a valid opinion.

lamerveilleuse:

pwned.

blownspeakers:

You forgot “/cliche hipster reaction to contact sports” I thought you knew how to use the internet.

skinnyghost:

-melodramatic jerking-off motion-

blownspeakers:

“I remember looking at my wife and telling her, ‘I don’t have it no more. [With] these injuries, there’s just no way. My wife, in so many words, called me a pussy, a failure as a man, and a bad example to my children.”
—Frank Mir on the motorcycle injuries that almost ended his career, before his match with Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira, a man who’d never lost a fight via stoppage in his over decade long career. Mir beat him via TKO in the second round to capture the UFC Heavyweight Interim Championship.