Katie Bice: This gratuitous brutality is not sport
THE brawl that followed the Conor McGregor-Khabib Nurmagomedov UFC fight told us all we need to know about this repulsive “sport”, writes Katie Bice.
Opinion
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THE Ultimate Fighting Championship is just gratuitous violence dressed up as sport. In case you needed any evidence, last week’s “fight” between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov was exhibit A.
McGregor lost his lightweight title to the Russian in the fourth round, but it was when the fight was over that the trouble began.
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And it exposed the exponents of this bloody brawling for the brutes they are. Both men hadn’t had enough.
Khabib jumped into the crowd and launched a fly kick at McGregor’s training partner. And depending on who you believe, either McGregor was set on by a member of Khabib’s team or the fighter threw the first punch. Either way they were disgusting scenes of men behaving like animals, pummelling each other until they were forcibly separated.
Normally it would be the type of scene to bring shame to a sport. Investigations, lengthy bans, recriminations. But we aren’t dealing with normal people here.
Instead, the incident has become an ugly promotion of sorts in which instead of denunciation of the behaviour, supporters are secretly thrilled by the airtime and online chatter the melee has created for their brand.
Both fighters were banned for 10 days, which means nothing since they were not competing in that time anyway.
McGregor, let’s not forget, has a history. Six months ago he engaged in another tantrum away from the arena of battle. He threw a metal cart at a bus containing his fellow fighters — Khabib among them — breaking the window and causing minor injuries to two.
McGregor pleaded guilty in court to disorderly conduct which required him to complete five days community service and, like a bad joke, an anger management program. Clearly it failed.
The chumps of this “sport” are uncontrollable thugs who would probably be in prison if they weren’t taking part in certified brutality on a public stage.
The no-rules event promotes a mindset among competitors that anything goes — at any time. The wilder and less predictable they are, the greater their star rises.
In Victoria cage fighting was outlawed in 2008 but Labor changed its mind during the 2014 election campaign and it was given the green light.
Let’s hope that despite the lure of the mighty dollar we never see it return to our shores.
Katie Bice is the Sunday Herald Sun deputy editor
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