Modern Gladiators
It might be a good time to revisit St. Augustine's cautions about the sin of blood lust, though I'll be the first to admit that a little bit of this stuff is entertaining:
Excoriated at first as gratuitous mayhem, extreme fighting toned down the violence to a degree, and since 2000 has been sanctioned in 20 states, including California, and has seen its popularity and TV ratings rise.
Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, is the leading U.S. brand name in mixed martial arts, in which fighters compete barefoot, wearing shorts and small gloves, protected only by a mouth guard and a cup.
Rules ban biting, hair-pulling, spitting, eye-gouging, groin strikes, abusive language and "small-digit manipulation."
What remains still might cause boxing purists to blanch, though promoters and some regulators say it is safer than boxing because the bouts are shorter, head blows are discouraged and "tapping out" – how a losing fighter signals that he wants to quit – is an accepted part of the sport's culture.
Fans in growing numbers, in person and at home, apparently crave seeing what happens when a boxer and a karate master collide. Over the last year, UFC has presented two editions of "The Ultimate Fighter," a reality series on the male-oriented cable channel Spike TV. The second season's finale, on Nov. 5, drew 2.6 million viewers, said Nielsen Media Research, making it cable's highest-rated program that night among males 18 to 24. Casting is underway for a third season.
My headline refers to these fighters as "gladiators." It's not a perfect analogy, but it's not too far off, either. The Roman fighters were forced into the ring. They were slaves who could win their freedom by fighting. Today's fighters are lured to the ring by the modern "slavery" to fame and fortune. I dislike the term "wage slavery" when used in today's market, since it's nothing like real slavery. But it's still an apt term because it points to a spiritually-enslaved state, just as slavery in the ancient world pointed to a physically-enslaved state.
