Idealistic MMA fans view fighters as some sort of paragon for all athletes to look up to—as gods—but are they really?
The answer is complicated.
When asking this question about MMA fighters, it’s important to distinguish between what kinds of MMA fighters.
There’s the weekend warrior/low-level journeyman who’s career highlight will be knocking out a below .500 fighter in King of the Cage (or worse).
Then there are low to mid-level UFC fighters. Who will achieve moderate success, but never capture the coveted 12 pounds of gold they call a title.
And then, at the very top, there are the superstars. The men like UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre, UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva and UFC light heavyweight champion Jon Jones, who will all be remembered forever in the sport’s history.
So what of each “caste” of fighter? Are even the lowest fighters of the low gods compared to the couch potatoes and miserable, lazy cretins of the world who haven’t exercised since PE class?
No. It’s hardly fair to call those fighters “gods.” Brave men who are doing something admirable—learning how to fight and testing themselves—yes, but gods, no.
What about the gatekeepers of the UFC, the men who will have the privilege of being in the world’s greatest fighting organization, but will never make it to the top through genetic limitations or other reasons, are they gods?
No. They achieve an intermediate level of fame that shames the common fan but fails to impress anyone outside of MMA.
However, some men from this level do have some level of lasting fame.
Fighters such as Duane Ludwig who have captured records (the fastest KO in UFC history, in Ludwig’s case) or a journeyman UFC fighter who has earned a knockout that will be viewed in highlight reels for decades to come will enjoy distinction for the rest of their lives.
What of the superstars? Surely they must be like gods, right?
Wrong.
MMA fans live in a bubble. More people would recognize Tom Brady or Peyton Manning over Anderson Silva or Jon Jones and the latter two could beat the former two up.
So no, not even the highest level of MMA fighters are the gods we as MMA fans make them out to be—at least not all the time.
But there are times when yes, the highest caliber MMA fighters are like gods.
Moments like Silva’s front kick to Vitor Belfort or submission over Chael Sonnen is when fighters are, for brief moments, living gods.
When they are in the midst of a fight and the movements of their tendons and sinews coincide with the impulses of their neurons to create art out of violence. When they reduce another supreme athlete to an unconscious, helpless pile of flesh and bone in front of hundreds of thousands to the awe of many and the horror of their opponent’s loved ones.
It is these moments that MMA fighters transcend simply being human and forever take their place among the legends, among the many “gods” of the sports world.
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