MMA and UFC in Brazil
If you think about sport and Brazil, probably the first thing that will come to mind is football. For many people, this country is synonymous with the beautiful game and that’s hardly surprising.
But when I first arrived in Brazil, it was another sport that surprised me. Or perhaps I should call it a ‘sport’. There are quite a few competitive activities that spark arguments over what constitutes sport. Golf is one. Darts, snooker and pool are others. I think it’s fair to say that if you can play your chosen ‘sport’ whilst enjoying a few beers with friends in a bar then it’s more of a game.
Regardless of whether you view it as a sport or not, Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and especially the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) are a seriously big deal here in Brazil.
UFC in Brazil – kind of a big deal. In fact the Brazilian Gracie family were involved from the outset, with Rorian being a co-founder and his son Royce being the first ever tournament winner.
A few months after I had settled in Rio, Mrs Eat Rio and I were invited to a meal at a friend’s house. There were 3 couples in total and about half way through the meal, one of the guys checked his watch and announced that it was ‘time’. He turned on the TV and I found myself watching UFC.
Everyone continued their conversations as before, though now the other two guys at the table were glancing up at the TV occasionally and making the odd comment about the fight. Everyone else continued as normal.
Apart from me…
I sat there transfixed, jaw on the floor, unable to tear my gaze from the brutal carnage that was unfolding on the big screen TV in front of me. Fighter A was smashing the shit out of Fighter B’s face. With his elbow. The canvas, as well as both fighters, was becoming increasingly red with Fighter B’s blood. It was like watching a car crash – I was filled with horrified fascination and although I kept trying to ignore it, my attention was continually pulled back. It wasn’t an enjoyable experience.
Since those early days I’ve learnt some more about MMA and UFC. Firstly these competitions are not just brutal punch-fests (at least not always). This being Mixed Martial Arts, many fighters specialise in wrestling, judo, jiu-jitsu and other well respected fighting styles that have an emphasis on skill and technique over brute force and aggression.
UFC is glitz and glamour, with flashy lights, girls in skimpy outfits and big money prizes. MMA is the combined fighting style that is used at UFC. I was amused to see that someone felt strongly enough about this distinction that they were compelled to tell the world.
Another thing I learned was that UFC is mainstream here. It isn’t just young men who watch it. If you go out to the bars of Rio on a UFC fight night, you’ll see groups of guys and girls all crowded around the screens and engrossed in the fights.
Provolonderson Silva
And as if to confirm just how mainstream UFC now is, I recently heard that Anderson Silva (Brazil’s recently fallen UFC hero) was involved with one of the TV channels I indirectly work with during my day-job. No big deal, I thought – must be Combate, the fighting channel for the SporTV station. Wrong! He was on Gloob.
In case you haven’t guessed yet, Gloob is a kids channel. What on earth was a UFC fighter doing on Gloob?
In fact you can hear Anderson tonight (20th December) at 19:45 on Gloob. He is voicing the character of a ferocious fighting cheese called Provolonderson Silva who will take on the title character in kids animation “Osmar, a Primeira Fatia do Pão de Forma” (Osmar, the first slice of bread in the loaf).
SPOILER ALERT: Provolonderson is defeated by a sneeze from Osmar who is allergic to dust.
If you prefer your fighting with more blood and brutality, you can see Anderson attempt to regain his UFC middleweight crown on 28th December.
What do you think of UFC? Noble sport or base brutality for entertainment’s sake?
You beat me to it in writing this post!
Boxing has always been my guilty pleasure, mainly because I’ve never been in a fight in my life and I deplore violence. And when I first saw UFC on TV back in the UK my initial reaction was pretty similar to yours.
Again, similar to you I got more exposed to it here, particularly when my wife and I ended up doing the subtitles for the Ultimate Fighter reality show which was sold to Fox in the US (long story). I must admit I’m very much a regular viewer of the big fight nights now, even preferring it to boxing.
One thing which helped me understand MMA a bit more was listening to the Joe Rogan Experience podcast. He’s one of the commentators on UFC in the US, but he’s also a comedian. On the show they talk about a whole load of things (politics, social issues – not just MMA) and it’s a really good listen. Well worth trying out!
Thanks for the podcast recommendation – with a commute like mine I can always do with some more listening material!
I generally don’t watch UFC (though I probably will try to catch the Anderson Silva re-match), but I too found myself becoming drawn into UFC over time. I think the turning point was one night when I stumbled upon a Brazil vs Britain night. There was a bit of needle as my wife and I watched that one! :D I think it ended honours even which made us both happy!
Al those sports are barbarian. However, there is something primal about watching two guys punching each other until one of them cannot stand up. It is horrifyingly fascinating, and maybe nobody is totally immune.
Expat bloggers should organize a league. I would love to see Tom vs Alex for instance – or perhaps Tom and Alex vs Rachel (with the two dudes receiving a major ass whipping). I can ref.
The first rule of blog club is that you do not talk about blog club.
The second rule… [you know the rest] ;)
It’s not my thing and I have managed to ignore it completely, assuming it to be a minority thing until recently when I attended a birthday party at Pistache in Botofogo. There was a big screen showing a TV channel with various old fights while the usual disco music was playing and people were eating, drinking, talking and sometimes dancing. This screen seemed a bit odd to me, and at times amusing as the fighting seemed to fit the music.
Eventually, the big fight of the night came on live. The lights were dimmed and the music was replaced by the sound of the TV. To my amazement, everybody watched and nobody seemed to think there was anything odd about this. The fight was rather one-sided and ended quite quickly to big cheer which presumably meant the right man had won in the eyes of the party goers. Then the lights came back on, the screen was switched off and the dancing resumed. Most odd.`
i didn’t ask, but presume the lady whose party it was had been aware of this when she chose the venue.
I guess that shows just how mainstream it really is. Still it does seem odd to effectively pause the party to watch one guy pummel another!
And don’t get me started on the way that so many bars and restaurants have one or more TVs playing… ;)