Sex and Death in a Man's World

When I watch interviews on TV, fighters often talk about their parents' deaths and about having a rough life. This is set up by TV producers to try to target the audience's emotions.

Of course, we have an interest in what a fighter's life is like. A fighter being human is why we take an interest in MMA. Fighters aren't robots, and covering their training, philosophies and sacrifices is an essential part of what MMA media does.

Lately, it has become more common for MMA media to cover emotional fighter stories on a regular basis. If there is an opportunity to use a personal story to make money and further one's career, whether about the death of a relative or about who dated whom, many fighters will take it.

People are interested in sex and death, which is natural because everyone is born because of sex and everyone will die in the future. I'm not surprised that many female MMA fighters do sexy photo shoots, but they are mostly just catering to the demands of male fans.

Martial arts create violence and injuries. Because of that, sadistic and masochistic emotions are quite common. When fighters and the audience face emotions like that, sex and death become more frequent talking points in the media.

I don't think that fighters must act like "normal" men and women. Human beings can develop any image for themselves that they like. MMA already provides enough interesting personalities that we don't normally see.

We encounter female MMA fighters with a variety of personalities in MMA, but those fighters are surrounded by a male audience in a man's world.

I want competition and performance to have a greater value because that is the core of sports, but demand for sex and death results in fewer discussions about competition. In that regard, I don't think that fighting sports are the same as other other sports and I know that there can be a lack of humanity in this community.

I feel that media should be prudent about how much we talk about sex and death. Websites, TV and MMA organizations can affect how fans perceive fighters and that can have a significant impact on the fighters' careers.

Big thanks to Robert Sargent  (MMA Rising) for English editing.