There is a tendency within mixed martial arts to refer to amazing or epic fights as "wars". Commentators, journalists, and dudes sitting in their living room are all apt at some point during an MMA event to exclaim, "what a war" or "this guy is a warrior" or "those two just went to war" or something similar. Am I really the only one that finds this metaphor misconceived? Call me crazy, but until tanks start rolling into the UFC's octagon, and combatants and spectators start wearing helmets to protect themselves from explosion debris and stray bullets, a fight could not be further from a war. A fight takes place in a controlled atmosphere with rules, regulations, and a referee to prevent either fighter from getting seriously maimed or killed. A war denotes armed conflict and entails the deaths and killing of many people. Maybe you can get away with referring to a fight as a "battle"…maybe…but why can't it just be what it is? It's a fight - is that so underwhelming?
I fully acknowledge that I am making a big deal about nothing here, somewhat akin to pondering the existential implications of the question, "Got Milk?", but for whatever it's worth, I think it's healthy to occasionally ponder the innocuous things in life (and to that end, can one ever really have milk? For if you consume it, does it not ultimately leave you? If you cup it, does it not seep through your fingers? Does it not go bad with time? And even with respect to the gallon of milk that you "have" in your refrigerator, in reality don't you in fact have a gallon jug that has milk?).
Now back to war. Is MMA violent? Absolutely. But there is a big difference between a violent sport and mortal combat. Are MMA fighters tough? No question. Can an MMA fighter have a "warrior's spirit"? Sure. But until Genghis Khan or The Last Of The Mohicans step into the UFC, let's hold off on dubbing the contestants "warriors". We don't need to mythologize them, and we don't need to convince ourselves we're watching a modern day fight to the death inside the Colosseum - it's a goddamn fight, and that's all it needs to be.
In truth, I think metaphorical use of "war" occurs without consideration of the word's literal meaning. Consider the hypothetical use of the word "rape" in the same context. Imagine a commentator exclaiming, "Wow, McCreary just totally raped that guy - complete domination!" Or, "every time Oswald steps into the octagon, he rapes and pillages his opponents". One could understand how it would come off as insensitive, distasteful, and just plain inaccurate. I caution that we not repeat this same error in judgement with respect to the use of "war" in MMA.
Now, it should be noted that there are some MMA fighters who actually have been in combat, or served in the military, or lost loved ones to the horrors of war - and some of these individuals have utilized the "war" metaphor - but their intimate familiarity with that word affords them the right to use it however they wish, in my opinion. I would also like to make it clear that it is not my intention to scold anyone for using this metaphor…I'm simply asserting that it's use is without merit. Moreover, I think many trends of political correctness frequently suffocate communication, are ridiculous, and have been going on for far too long - people are way too sensitive about everything, and it needs to stop. So I am not suggesting that the war metaphor is a plight on the sport of MMA that needs to be expunged, or that those who utilize the analogy are disrespectful people - I just think the metaphor is unnecessary and ill-suited (unless there is an MMA body count that I'm unaware of, or un-televised UFC drone strikes secretly taking place).
On a final note, if we really want to break it down, even using the word "fight" may be misguided to the extent that one associates that word with a no holds barred situation. In this sense, UFC "fights" are really "competitions". But even though there is a big difference between an actual street fight (where anything goes and the motivations and intent of the participants are without mercy) and a ring fight (that takes place in a controlled environment with rules and regulations), note that "street fight" and "ring fight" both contain the word "fight", and therefore, I think we can safely continue to call MMA fights "fights".
