CNN.com isn’t thought by everyone to be the most impartial news source, but its seems that they put out a pretty interesting piece on the psychology, money and lure of mixed martial arts as a sporting event. The article is fairly well balanced, and well worth a read. Here’s a small blurb:
In the increasingly popular mixed martial arts competitions, bloodied and battered fighters can knee, elbow, and kick each other in the face.
Violent sports, movies and games enjoy popularity and profitability because of the excitement and “forbidden fruit” factor, say psychology experts.
“There’s a rubbernecking syndrome,” said Paul Boxer, assistant professor of psychology at Rutgers University. “When you see a body splayed out, you couldn’t help it. You had to see.”
It good to see main stream media actually taking the time to do a realistic piece on MMA, and as the sport continues to grow, expect the scrutiny to continue.