Seriously. Why MMA or UFC?

Question

Reading all the Q&A's about this, I still don't get it. With the health risks, low pay, possible long term damage....WHY? Why do you do it? I seriously want an educated or at least heartfelt answer from a practitioner, NOT A FAN. This is not an attack, I'm not slamming it, I just want to hear, why do you climb in the ring? I'm not asking to be convinced, just to understand.

Answer 1

SIMPLY TO WALK THE RAZORS EDGE.I dont believe it is neccesary to  take up mma to walk the razors edge however the only real opponent is yourself.There are many ways to prove to yourself you have "the right stuff" without beating the c**p out of someone else.

Answer 2

This is why!

http://www.tapeminatti.com/

Answer 3

Why are there people who are Olympic Sprinters, or Gymnasts? Or Athletes in the various sports that will never get paid. When was the last time you saw the World Champ in Curling get a Nike Sponsorship?

For love of the sport, it fulfills you in so many ways. Much the same way as Martial Arts does anyone. The difference is the true testing of yourself and your skills, the addiction that is trying to reach perfection where perfection is impossible. Trying to be the best you can be, and push your body, genetics, spirit, and mind to their limits.

The self confidence you get from it is unparalelled, it is something that is the hardest workout of your life, but feels like the funnest thing ever (arguably).

There is more to it than that, but it is something you either get or don't get, to stare across at another man, another warrior and to pit yourself against him in a test of wills and skill, there is something more honest and pure about that then any Kata, Zen Parable, or Meditation that I have ever known. Putting yourself through the fire, win, lose, or draw. You get true understanding of techniques and skills as they were meant to be understood, in the realm of combat. Maybe even purer than what it is understood, because it is the realm of honorable combat. While no such thing exists on the actual battlefield, since combat is generally far from honorable...

It is like Chess with your whole body.

Do you like HALO? Playing Sports Games on the Internet?

You have to be a competetive person to truly understand and enjoy it. But there is an honest purity in it. More than just adrenaline, more than just testing yourself, it is finding out the root of who you are, if you have that thing inside of you that when the cards are down, and you are breathing so hard you want to puke, and everything in your body wants to give up... being able to rise above that and push yourself even further.. that true test of your heart...

The truth is no one can make you understand it. Because only a certain type of person is meant for it. The same as a the guy who spends his life, tearing his body apart to do an unglorified sport such as Judo, Water Polo, or Shotput, or however many countless others. They do it for love of the sport, and to give it their all.

Warriors understand it, Competetors understand it. Honestly not everyone is met to understand it, it is good and right that not everyone is met to understand it. But it is also good that there are people out there that do, and that seek to do it.

Answer 4

Well man you make a good point about risks to health and such.  Let's not forget that Mixed Martial Arts practitioners are not all sports based practitioners.  I know at least 90% of America believes that MMA is "sport only based", but nothing could be farther from the truth dude.

The cage isn't something that any MMA practitioner looks forward to in all honesty, but people do it anyway to "confirm" their own drive and determination, not just in the cage, but in life in general.  I've heard many practitioners say that they "test their skills" in the cage and I'm not buying that either.  

The UFC has created a "mob like mentality" or a "monkey see monkey do" mentality with most Mixed Martials Arts practitioners.  That "you have no balls" line that I've heard at many MMA events myself that anger many MMA practitioners into climbing into the cage.  Mixed Martial Artists have lost sight of the "Japanese Virtues" that they first learned when studying the various arts that they've studied to even be considered as MMA practitioners.  This is why my own team ( Team Bushi MMA ) is going back to its roots and forgetting about the sport aspect of MMA altogether.

This sport c**p is for the birds man.  Seems any and all non-MMA practitioners don't even know about "self-defense MMA" or "Tactical MMA" what so ever.  Every one out there thinks that MMA is "Strictly just a sport".  There really is no reason for a man to go into the cage period if you want to know the real truth.  Practitioners just make greedy coporations like Zuffa richer and richer and all the more forget their own roots and the real reason they even began studying multiple art forms in the first place.

There's no reason for any of it....none at all other than pure greed.

Answer 5

I'm with judomofo. It is a sport just like football and baseball, except it has practical uses too...like self defence. Being real though it has much less long term effects than  boxing because in boxing they get knocked unconcience and then get to stand back up and do it again. In mma once you cant intelligentlly defend yourself the fight is over. But all of the bashing that it takes in the media and stuff is from closed minded people that have never even stepped foot in a gym. And as the sport grows(and it is growing very fast) the top level fighters are getting payed very well. Plus sponsorships and whatnot. The health risks are mild and the feeling when its just you and another guy locked in the cage is like no other. If you really want to understand why, then read the book " A Fighters Heart" by Sam Sheridan. I'm reading it now and it is an awesome book about this exact subject.

Answer 6

bc we are crazy, i broke my arm in a fight last night but STILL managed to knock the sucker out bc i have PRIDE and PASSION and also am a master...

Answer 7

Simple. To prove yourself. To know you can win. Through out every civilization you have had combatants. Some forced some choosing to do it. There is no greater test to your abilities then by pitting them up against someone elses.

Answer 8

actually with all the tests its is much sag\fer then otehr combat sports the most common injuries are cuts which you you consider it a few stitche is really not that bad look at boxers with the brain damage plus the money is not bad I mean not everyfighter is the world is a millionaire boxing pays the top tier fighters mayweather etc probably makes more then MMA fighters but when studied the lowest paid fighter in the UFC makes a minimun of 4,000 per fight with a 4,000 win bonus plus bonus for knockout or submission of the nigth fight of the night plus most fighter can make a few thousand off sponsorships evben in undercard fight on the last mayweather payperview 3 fighetr son that card maid 1,500 dollars and one of them I know of won is fight

I love mixed martial arts and by the way MMA and UFc are the same thing UFC is a league within in the sport of MMA so overall the money is betetr for most fighters thne it is in boxing or kickboxing keep in mind most fighters are not going to get to the leval of mayweather