Ultimate Fighter Championship
Ultimate Fighter Championship
WWE is/was one of the most popular fighting shows to watch in America. Viewers watched men wrestling, but this was a twisted type of wrestling. Some opponents would be hit in the head with a chair while others would be thrown onto tables below the ring. Even though this was popular to watch, all those moves were fake, no one really got hurt.
Now WWE has been replaced with a new fighter show, called Ultimate Fighter or else known as UFC. This is what Plugged In says about UFC:
It is essentially a serialized infomercial for the Ultimate Fighting Championship, the hottest combat sport organization in the country. The show takes 16 wannabe UFC athletes, divides them into teams and has the men fight each other for team pride and individual glory. The last man standing each season receives a six-figure UFC contract. Meanwhile, the contestants share a house where they all live, eat and party together before beating each other up.” (Plugged In)
“All of that testosterone takes its toll on their posh digs as well. Contestants break windows, throw fruit at each other and toss mattresses into the pool. Add alcohol, and things get even more out of control. One contestant gets drunk during a season-ending party, spends the night in the bathroom and wakes up to find his head partially shaved.” (Plugged In)
This type of fighting is totally different from WWE. Opponents use over 74 fighting styles ranging from Kickboxing to Greco-Roman wrestling to Jujitsu. Many young teens and adults watch this show and more than 1 million customers watch it. In one year UFC “broke the pay-per-view industry’s all-time record for a single year if revenue with $222,766,000”. (World magazine, pg. 32)
In 1996 when shown a tape of action in UFC, Senator John McCain condemned it as “human cockfighting” and wrote to all 50 governors to ban UFC events. In the end 36 states outlawed “no-holds-barred” fights, this caused UFC to create stricter rules.
Some fighters use their publicity to share their Christian testimony, Rich Franklin quotes Psalm 144:1 “Blessed be the Lord my strength, which teacheth my hands to war and my fingers to fight.” King David wrote this psalm when he was in war, and hand combat was almost the only way to fight. But Franklin puts this verse out of context, twisting it for his own use. Do you think that God wants us to share our faith by beating up others for the fun of the fans?
In the end UFC is summarized like this: it is a violent show which appeals to the audience’s lust for violence. What type of message will this send out to young viewers if they see that people (especially those who profess their Christianity) can beat others up and get away with it?
Plugged in: http://www.pluggedinonline.com/tv/television/a0003369.cfm
World: Bergin, Mark. “Lord of the Ring.” World Sept. 2007, 32-33