UFC
The Psychology of Submitting
Mixed martial arts is unique in sports in having a major percentage of its outcomes decided by a choice: to endure pain and risk injury or to tap out. The science of how pain works within the body is widely understood. What is less clear is what...
Julie Kedzie and the Early Days of Women's MMA
It's been a long time coming for the Indiana native, who started fighting back in 2004, when she was just 23 and women's MMA was barely in its infancy—a freakshow for some, but a world of possibility for a few. We called up Kedzie to ask her what it...
Women's MMA Comes of Age
Back when the sport was so new it wasn’t even on SpikeTV yet, to even witness two ladies duking it out wearing four-ounce gloves in a cage was a rarity of almost “freakshow” quality.
The Ultimate Fighter's Passage to India
The Elite Football League of India launched this summer to yawning indifference from audiences in the sub-continent and curious derision from observers in the US. Importing American football—shoulder pads, helmets, down markers, and all—to a country...
No Hot Stove Here
The perpetual nature of MMA's “fighting season” means fans can't luxuriate in their opinions about fights and fighters for too long. Events like Saturday's UFC come around with enough regularity to turn predictions into dust.
The Return of Georges St. Pierre
Reigning welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre will be back in the ring for UFC 154 on Saturday, facing interim champion Carlos Condit. Will it be a dream fight?
UFC Fighters Want to Get in Bed with the Swoosh
Junior dos Santos, the current UFC heavyweight champion, is reportedly in talks with Nike about an endorsement deal. The Nike deal would be great for dos Santos for any number of reasons, and not all of them monetary.
Weightless History
MMA is so new that it’s unhaunted by the nightmare of history. There are no curses in the sport, no doomed fighters, nor tragic figures with hexes placed on them or their ancestors. And when the better fighter wins, the crowd moves on.
Bloody Detachment
Moments like the Evan Dunham-TJ Grant fight, when an injured fighter leaks blood all over the cage but keeps fighting like nothing happened, are litmus tests for MMA interest. Casual fans will recoil, brutes will be delighted, but deep-down MMA fans...
Necessary Violence
I hate real fighting as much as I love MMA. I believe it's no gladiatorial free-for-all, but a real sport with rules and a value system. But fighters are predisposed toward violence, and sometimes I just want to see good fighters fight.
Being Forgettable Is the Deadliest Sin of All
There’s no fate in this world worse for the enterprising and ambitious MMA fighter than allowing a fight to go to a decision. “Don’t leave it in the hands of the judges” is basically a commandment. No one wants to lose, or to be ignored.
A Bad Ass in Twilight
Trumped-up anger and staged indignation can be found anytime by anyone with a remote control these days, but true self-awareness after years of self-delusion is rare on television, but that's exactly what Phil Baroni, washed-up MMA dude, displays on...