Ultimate Fighting's Condemnation Print E-mail

ARPA Notes: It is worth reading Lord's Day 40 of the Hiedelberg Catechism (the 6th commandment) for more reflection on this topic. Section 83 of Canada's Criminal Code bans "prize fighting." Yet this seems to be ignored as ultimate fighting is Canada's fastest growing sport and there is pressure to allow it in Ontario as well.

Guest article for www.ARPACanada.ca by Trent Herbert:  "You know, it is probably more exciting to die in a competition than it is to die, you know, an old man peeing your pants in a bed somewhere."  This was stated by Joe Rogan in an interview about the dangers of fighting in UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship). (1)  These smug words sound great to a neo-pagan world driven by money and vain glory, but they show no fear of God or concern about hell.  This worldview thrives on seeing life from mankind's temporal and limited scope, but fails to think eternally.  As Western civilization rejects Biblical Christianity and becomes hostile towards it, we see this vortex taking it headlong to its own destruction. 

Christianity brought us out of gladiators and paganism, its rejection will bring them back.  "The last known gladiator fight in Rome was on January 1, 404 AD" (2).  Should we expect anything different from those who reject God's value on human life?  No.  Unbelievers will act like unbelievers.  The restraints that have held the West in check for many years are being cast off and humanity will increase in wickedness.  Jesus said, in the context of the end times, "And because lawlessness is increased, the love of many will grow cold" (Matthew 24:12).

How is this lawlessness?  If someone picked a fight with you and you went toe-to-toe with him, using the latest moves you learned from UFC on one another, you would end up in the slammer.  You could be charged with assault causing bodily harm or murder if you happened to finish him off.  There is a reason that UFC is still illegal in some states in the U.S. and provinces in Canada.  The restraints will continue to be cast away, but this is a little testimony that even increasingly godless nations still have some conscience left.  Sure, the Old Time MMA (Mixed Martial Arts) was more brutal, but mainstream media makes more money, so it was time to change.  A little professional touch, call it a "sport" and all is OK.

How is this a sign of people's love growing cold?  If you can watch someone's arm being busted or leg being shattered and you say, "well you should have had more calcium pills before you went into the ring", your heart is cold.  If you cringe for a little while and cheer on the next fight, you are well on your way.  Even my Christian friend, who used to watch UFC in His B.C. (Before Christ) days, said it made him feel sick the first time he watched it.  He needed to be desensitized to it which, given time, will happen, as people's natural sense of human compassion is seared.

It shouldn't surprise us that as people reject God and increase in hostility to holiness they will be drawn into watching increasingly violent things.  James says, "You adulteresses, do you not know that friendship with the world is hostility towards God" (James 4:4).  It won't stop here.  People will want more and more.  The most alarming thing is that professing believers are watching and even defending UFC.

The Scriptures point toward a brutal Neo-Roman empire emerging in the end times.  Interestingly, mainstream gladiators are upon us.  The L.A. Times article tells it all,  The Life of a UFC Wife:  The Modern Gladiators Do Battle, You Feel the Pain. "Now some folks may wonder how any wife can handle her husband's face being torn up or bones broken, but whether she can handle it or not, it can't stop it from happening."   It states, "Welcome to America's blood sport."(3)

How far must it go before we stand up and say, "This is wrong, This is sin."  If you do it you are sinning;  if you watch this you are sinning?  Must we return to Roman-style gladiators before we say it is wrong?  Would knives in the ring make it immoral?  Or will this become an issue of conscience as well?  Did the apostle Paul have to write that the Roman gladiatorial fights were evil for us to say they would be wrong?

"Given over to a Reprobate Mind"

CBS's early show did a segment on children and MMA.  In certain States in the U.S., child cage fighting is illegal, but not in Missouri.  They show a video of young children fighting in an organized event.  The little guy gets kicked in the stomach and is rolling around on the ground.   Dana White, President of the UFC is interviewed about his thoughts.  He doesn't see a problem with it.  Though he says he doesn't want his children to grow up to be fighters he has been training them in MMA since they were three.  Even the commentator shot back at White as he tried to use football as a smoke screen.  They interviewed a doctor who was opposed to such fights because they are dangerous to developing children.  One commentator stated that UFC is "widely viewed as the most brutal [sport], even for grown men."  At the end of the segment White says in his sales pitch to parents, it's "safe and it's fun."  Even someone who supports MMA stated, "How can anyone with a child endorse kids fighting? I’m not talking about having your kids training in MMA and learning technique. I’m talking about allowing them to fight." (4)   The Bible tells us how someone can do it.  Human depravity, which unfettered, leads to human insanity.

"Those Who Love Violence His Soul Hates"

From a human perspective UFC may be justifiable.  These are consenting adults, refs make sure it doesn't go too far and there is some measure of respect between the fighters.  Any man, in his flesh (sinful nature), could be drawn to watch it and even enjoy it.  But the apostle Paul says, "Make no provision for the flesh in regards to its lusts" (Romans 13:14).  Peter says to Christians, "Abstain from fleshly lusts which wage war against your soul" (1 Peter 2:11).  This is the believer's war.  The lust for glory, dominance, submissions, money and victory are part and parcel of these fights.  The raw emotion, anger and adrenaline seething from well-trained combatants pack an eye-catching display.

From man's perspective it might be admirable, but from God's perspective it is damnable.  His perspective is all that matters.  This "sport" is so contrary to the life of Jesus.  As humanity rejects God and goes off into insanity, God's world view is all we really have and need.  Do you love this "sport"?  Do you enjoy its trappings whatever they may be?  God's words should cause us to fear His holy Name.  "Those who love violence, His soul hates" (Ps. 11:5).  This certainly is not just for those who murder, but for those who love the violence of it.

Do you love it?  It matters not, in this case, where you think you stand before God;  it matters that God's Word judges where you walk.  The Word of God says that there will be many surprises for those who thought they were Christians and were not, because they practiced lawlessness.  They didn't lose their salvation;  they were those whom Jesus never knew (Matthew 7:23).  My job is not to judge an individual's salvation, but to call everyone to the standard God has for us.  God's Word stands, and you are not somehow the exception.  I speak as one who has watched many evil things I never should have, but God has been gracious to bring me to repentance.  There is forgiveness in Christ, but let us not be arrogant to think we stand, lest we fall.

"No One Has Died"

Really, that is an amazing statement.  A Christian leader has stated regarding Psalm 11:5, "Clearly in this passage the violence he speaks of is killing (bending the bow) but not fighting as a sport."  Apparently calling it a "sport" somehow sanctifies it.  Roman gladiators was called a sport. (5)  The problem is that when the fighters step in the ring they not only have bent the bow, they have shot it and killed.  1 John 3:15 states, "The one who hates his brother is a murderer and you know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him."

Man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7).  Even the Pharisees didn't get that God was looking at their hearts, when it appeared they were keeping all the laws.  Every time there is a fight in UFC, murder is taking place.  These individuals hate each other.  Though they need to keep their emotions in check, the profanity and cursing in some pre-fight dramas shows a fighter's heart.  Jesus said that if you curse someone, you are guilty enough to go into the firey hell.  One fighter was choked beyond the submission point because of the absolute rage he provoked through his pre-fight antics.  The fires of hatred are stoked to different levels, but they seethe under the surface even in the most composed fighter.

There is no godly love here.  Watching this murder as entertainment is not a display of love either.  Love does not take pleasure in unrighteousness but rejoices in the truth (1 Corinthians 13).  This "sport" is about beating and even maiming the opponent into submission.  The absolute pride of man to make a business out of brutal violence and have fighters of "Pride," stands in opposition to God. (6)  "For God is opposed to the proud but gives grace to the humble" (1 Peter 5:5).  These fighters might appear to be humble on camera, but they have not humbled themselves before God.  The emotion in the ring and outside is not of love and respect for those created in the image of God, but is lust for blood, money and violence.  You can call it a "sport", but God's Word calls it murder.

The apostle Paul states, "Abhor what is evil; cling to what is good" (Romans 12:9).  God destroyed the world with a flood because violence had filled the earth (Genesis 6:11).  The prophets often spoke out against the violence that was part of a society that had turned its back on God.  The apostle Paul speaks that in the last days "men will be lovers of self, lovers of money, boastful, arrogant . . . brutal . . . reckless . . . holding to a form of godliness although they have denied its power" (2 Timothy 3:1-5, emphasis mine).  This was in the context of the visible church.  There is doctrinal heresy, but also practical heresy.  There are those who deny God by their deeds (Titus 1:16).

Sin is like a fire engulfing a house: as the smoke spreads it chokes out the life-giving oxygen, leaving death in its path.  One would think that the most obvious thing that would kill is the fire, but it is not what kills the most, but the less obvious danger of the smoke.  Many books and movies are produced about us being in the last days, and yet on practical lifestyle issues we can be oblivious, if not just silent, without connecting the dots.  It's easy to talk about increased deception and wickedness in the end times, but are we deceived and in some way accepting wickedness for the same reason others are?  Do we cloak it in our justifications, but really, it feels good and we are addicted to high adrenaline media?  Have we been drugged so long on violent movies, watching 1000's of deaths each year on TV, that now two real individuals can beat each other to a pulp and it might even seem tame?!  Have we been deceived?

Are you entertaining yourself to "death?"

The Bible talks about spectators.  "And although they know that such things are worthy of death, they not only do it themselves, but give hearty approval to those who practice them" (Romans 1:32).  You might say, "I've never murdered someone watching this sport."  If you watch a sport like this, inevitably you will take sides and cheer for one fighter or another.  Perhaps silently you feel sorry for the under-dog, so you take his side.  His emotions sear into your conscience and you are now projected into the ring.  If he overcomes his foe, you rejoice with him;  If he gets a beating he won't forget, you pity him.  His enemy has become yours.  Why is it wrong to watch pornography?  You're not really doing what you are watching.  It is wrong because your lust and emotions are drawn into the act.  UFC is no different.  You can be addicted to pornography and you can be addicted to UFC.  If you watch a little nudity on the Big Screen you are watching pornography whether you like it or not.  The word literally means "pictures of prostitutes."  If you watch UFC, you will become increasingly aggressive inside. The Proverbs say, "Do not associate with a man given to anger; . . . lest you learn his ways, and take a snare for yourself" (22:24).  You might not be overtly violent outside, but what is going on inside of you?  This anger and violence will affect you.  Do you dream of being in the ring yourself?  What would you do in that situation?  These are fruitless deeds of darkness; they will harden you.

The Scriptures tell us to guard our hearts for out of it comes the wellspring of life (Proverbs 4:23).  Paul tells us what we are to think on:  "Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, ponder these things" (Philippians 4:8).   You could put Jesus Christ as the example of each of these.  The One who said, if someone strikes you on the cheek, turn to him the other.  The One who said, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you (Matthew 6:39, 44).  Jesus did not strike back, "He did not tap" because He did not fight.  When Paul boxed, he didn't fight against human flesh and blood.  He beat his own body, so that he was not disqualified in his ministry (1 Corinthians 9:26-27).  You don't make up the rules when you live the Christian life, God does.  You don't become missional because you think you can nuzzle up to the world, enjoy its fruit for death and bring people to the Prince of Peace.  Who are you if you defend and watch these things?  The Bible says, as a man thinks within himself, so he is (Proverbs 23:7).  We are called to be separate from the world.  If the world is heading in a certain direction of violence, we had better be sober and alert enough to know it is heading the wrong way.  This is purely for entertainment, enjoyment, money and vain glory.  It is not for the glory of God.

The Psalmist writes, "I will walk within my house in the integrity of my heart. I will set no worthless thing before my eyes;" (Psalm 101:2-3).  As a Christian, do you watch these things in secret? Would you show this in your church?  Amazingly some do.  Would you like to see your son or daughter up there some day getting his or her head beat in?  I think many realize that revival needs to come to North America, but are we willing to take the steps to be separate and come out from among them, so that God's power can be displayed?   Time would surely be better spent hitting the streets and impacting the world for Christ, than being impacted by things contrary to the Lord!

At the end of the day, you may disagree with me and be angry with me.  Do you have a righteous anger because I tell you these things?  What drives me to write these things is my love for you and the Church.  Yes, I love unbelievers as well, and call them to repent and believe on the Lord Jesus Christ to be saved from their sin.  Jesus died and rose again that we might have eternal life.  How can we enjoy the very sins he died for? Inherently unbelievers have a sense that if you are a Christian you should be opposed to this.  They may enjoy your coming along with them, but you will not win their ultimate respect.  They sniff out hypocrisy.  If you speak of the love of Jesus and cheer at the bloodied body on the mat, do they not know it?  Ultimately, God will have the final word.  The question is:  Will human justifications work?

"It's Not Violence"

Some individuals might attempt to say that UFC is not violent.  This would be hilarious if it weren't such a serious issue.  Even the secular media knows it is violent.  If you pick up copies of UFC DVD's for your viewing pleasure, you might see that it is rated R16-V (violence) or Medium level violence.  I guess Sin City's news media doesn't know what it is talking about when it says in a Las Vegas Sun article entitled "The art in UFC's violence," "The first thing you notice is the blood.  The floor looks like a slaughterhouse's." (7)

No longer are you suspended for hurting or maiming someone as in other sports.  In this "sport" you are suspended when you get injured.  Maybe 180 days off for your busted nose. (UFC 73's Official Suspensions list can be found in the footnotes) (8)

"Christians Fight in UFC"

First of all we have to ask, "what is a Christian?"  Especially in North America and the West, the term Christian has become so broad.  Many groups who deny the Deity of Christ and affirm they get to heaven by their good works, call themselves Christians.  Liberal denominations that deny the gospel and the authority of God's Word still call themselves Christians.  Who really are these professing Christians in UFC?  We need to go back to the teachings of Christ.  Unless you are born again, you cannot enter the kingdom of God (John 3:3).  We need to realize that many will say on that day, "Lord, Lord" and pronounce the deeds that they did and Jesus will say they were never known (Matthew 7:22-23).  Anyone can say they know the Lord, but the question is, does the Lord know them?  If they are truly Christians they need to repent; they are wrong.

Secondly, what is the gospel they preach?  Apparently people feel this is a good opportunity to share the gospel of peace (Ephesians 6:15).  After a good fight, let's share the good news!  Let's see some blood so we can talk about sacrifice.  Unbelievable, but apparently true.  What good news are people getting?  Is it that they are to repent of their wicked ways?  If you hate someone, you have murdered him.  Seems kind of hypocritical.  If you lust after a woman you have committed adultery already with her in your heart.  Sounds like a good platform for a lot of repentance as those ring girls make it really easy to lust!  Their purpose is to make your viewing experience even more pleasurable so you will come back for more.  Will you come back?  Ah yes, a great evangelistic outreach!!  May it never be.

We are called to love our enemies and abhor all evil.  We are to warn people about their sin and that they will go to hell apart from Christ.  This "sport" is legalized lawlessness and to enjoy its "fruits" is to say it is OK.  It is interesting that we are evangelistically in a crisis in the West.  People are not afraid to bring evil into their homes to entertain themselves, but are afraid to cross the street and talk to a homeless person or neighbor about Christ.  There is more fear of man than of God going on in the visible church.  MMA is seen as a means to evangelize the missing young men.  Haven't we learned that going with the culture is not working?  The young men need Christ, not MMA.  Christians throughout the world suffer great beatings and death for Christ, and Christians in the west are puddling around, seeking to defend UFC.  How demeaning it is for those beaten for the sake of righteousness!

Listen, Christ died for the very sins people are enjoying here!  Are we to involve ourselves, even using the Lord's money, to pay for an event that creates lust for money, lust for women and violence, all for the sake of entertainment?  May it never be!

What about Boxing, Hockey and Football?

What about Evander Hollifield?  As we have done, we must start with the Bible and then go to Evander.  Secondly, if someone professes to have become a believer, this does not automatically sanctify his activities prior to his conversion.  I am just asking the question,  "Were people involved in seeing him grow as a young believer, asking the tough questions, or did he become an excuse for religious people to continue to watch boxing?"  It has been stated, "if we forget history we are doomed to repeat it."  As Rome came out of paganism, boxing was banned.

". . . in 400 A.D., boxing was banned altogether by Theodoric the Great as boxing being an insult to God because it disfigures the face, the image of God." (9)

Although I would define the image of God differently, I certainly agree with the respect for human dignity.

A couple of people have reportedly died in MMA in official and unofficial fights;  though, more boxers die from fighting.  This shows our heads were not made to be punching bags.  Doctors understand the long term effects that these fighting sports have on people's health.  The British Medical Association states: "In 1991, eleven national medical associations (Australia, Bangladesh, Canada, Denmark, Finland, Ghana, Ireland, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway and South Africa) confirmed their opposition to boxing, and expressed their concerns regarding the dangers of boxing, believing that ultimately it should cease to exist." (10)

Mixed martial arts

"As with boxing the BMA opposes mixed martial arts (MMA) fighting and calls for a complete ban on this type of contact sport." (10)

Should a Christian be cheering at ringside at a boxing event, let alone participating?  The Biblical texts discussed make that clear.  People are created in the image of God.  If cock or dog fighting is illegal, certainly it should be for those who are created in God's image!   Boxing is losing its edge for a reason.  It is tame compared to UFC.

Hockey fighting is illegal (11) and morally wrong.  If you fight in hockey you get a penalty or can be suspended if it is serious enough.  Of course the National Hockey League (NHL) won't ban it, (in the sense of a no-tolerance level as in Europe) because it is a money maker.  The crowds stand up and cheer for a reason.  It is expected.  A little slap on the wrist and off they go.  Then perhaps we may pause to think when a young man cracks his head on the ice during a hockey fight and dies.  This New York Times article says it all:  Senior Player Dies From Injury Sustained in On-Ice Fight. (12)

The nature of the game is that fighting is not allowed.  Hockey can be a physical sport, but if you go out to maim and hurt an individual, that is not a part of the sport.  There are rules and they wear protective gear so that they won't get hurt.  Do individuals go out to try and hurt someone?  Yes, and it is sin.  In a recent article entitled, "Will the NHL ever learn?  Cormier hit shows head shots have no place in hockey," the author states, ". . . violent hits to the head, both legal and illegal by hockey's definition, [are] unacceptable by any definition that includes quality of life." (13, emphasis mine)  They have a name for guys like this:  Goon, which literally means a hired thug or rough criminal.  It seems to fit.  If someone gets hurt during the game, everyone claps and bangs their stick on the ice for a reason (as a sign they are glad he is fine) or stunned if it is serious enough. Yet, in UFC, its very nature is fighting, it is to hurt and maim.  People cheer when the fighters get hurt.  People can try and sanctify it all they want, and call it a sport, but it is legalized criminal activity.

Football again is a physical sport.  But like hockey, if you fight you get penalized for it.  The nature of football is not to allow fighting.  They have rules and wear extensive equipment so that they won't get hurt.  Do guys go out and try and hurt people?  Sure they do.  But again, it is sin.  I remember when Lawrence Taylor tackled Joe Theisman and seriously injured him.  He was calling for help, grabbing his helmet and going crazy because the fellow was so hurt.  His intent was not to maim and harm.  If someone in the stands stood up and started cheering that Theisman was hurt, people would have been outraged.  Theisman says he got the biggest cheer and standing ovation he had ever had for himself as he was carried off.  This is the true nature of this sport.  Again, the very nature of UFC is to hurt, maim and harm your opponent into submission and to glory in it.  The list of suspensions for injuries after every fight night should inform us that it is a very different "sport" indeed. Does all this mean that I am going to defend all that happens in the NHL and NFL (National Football League)?  No, but I think we should recognize the differences.  There is also a distinction between the most dangerous sports and fighting sports.  Apparently, scientifically, cheerleading is by far the most dangerous sport for fatalities and serious injuries (14), and basketball for overall reported injuries (15).

Getting Ready for The Fight

Some have attempted to link the training of soldiers in the Old Testament to the training for a fight in UFC.  They talk as if God is in their corner.  Israel did go out and fight for the Lord and they were to destroy the Canaanites from the land.  Did they train in hand to hand combat, boxing etc?  Sure.  This was a time of war.  If someone killed outside the time of war it was murder.  Joab could have killed Abner in war time with no repercussions, but he killed him at a time of peace and was seen as an evil man.  There is no justification to link UFC to those who are involved in fighting a war that was sanctioned by God.  The Old Testament had a view of those who did and loved violence as evildoers.  As a great warrior, King David, a man after God's own heart, would have some words for these "warriors."

Even the veteran John McCain had some words for the original MMA.  He called it "human cock-fighting."  He tried to drive it out of the United States.  The Voter Fact Check had an article called, "Did John McCain Try to Ban The UFC While Supporting Boxing?" The answer was "Yes," insinuating some hypocrisy.(16)  He has since backed down because people like it, and the sport has changed to add more safeguards, etc. (16)  It is a political "hot potato" when people enjoy it.  Perhaps "hot potatoes" have made it into the church, with many church leaders acting more like politicians than biblical pastors.  It appears that many are more concerned about popular opinion then leading the flock into holiness, where in today's climate, you're bound to become unpopular really fast.

Now some are attempting to link Jesus (the Lamb of God) and the New Testament to MMA.  The article entitled, "Evangelical Churches embracing MMA," highlights the recent infatuation with the sport. (17)  Those who endorse this are trying to link fighting the good fight of faith (1 Timothy 6:12), to cage fighting.    The New York Times article, Flock Is Now a Fight Team in Some Ministries, (an interesting word play on sheep), records a prayer of a pastor before an event.  The prayer was that they would be good representatives of God.  Then it states, "Mr. Renken was offering guidance that was not exactly prayerful.  "Hard punches!" he shouted from the sidelines . . . . "Finish the fight!  To the head!  To the head!"

Somehow male headship, driven by the fears of a feminized church, is modeled by endorsing MMA.  "The man should be the overall leader of the household," said Ryan Dobson, 39, a pastor and fan of mixed martial arts who is the son of James C. Dobson, the founder of Focus on the Family . . . . "We've raised a generation of little boys." (18)  As if this is the answer to our ills!  A feminized church is the result of rejecting what the Bible says about male leadership and this Macho Mania is not the answer.  Only a return to Scripture will solve the problem.

All Things are Lawful

There are many verses that are taken out of context in the Bible and this is one of them.  Paul says, "All things are lawful, but not all things are beneficial" (1 Corinthians 6:12).  Interestingly he is the same one that said we are under the law of Christ and laid out many things that are sinful for Christians.  A reading of the rest of Corinthians would surely show us that Paul was not saying that everything without qualification is lawful!  It was not lawful according to Paul to take a brother to court.  Sleeping with a prostitute was also breaking God's law.  This type of logic will take us to an antinomian (no law) position, which is apparently popular today.  If someone says anything like, "That is sin, you shouldn't be doing that," they are immediately branded a legalist, a moral policeman or holier-than-thou (especially in realms that many deem to be one's personal choice).  If it isn't the blatant sins that anyone at church would say is wrong, it must be OK.  The Bible calls us to maturity "having our senses trained to discern good and evil" (Hebrews 5:14).  We are called to encourage one another daily, lest any one of us be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin (Hebrews 5:13).

Peter says, "Act as freemen, and do not use your freedom as a covering for evil" (1 Peter 2:16).  Perhaps the legalists are those who legalistically hold to their apparent freedom.  Again, "Those who love violence His soul hates" (Ps. 11:5).  Is UFC violence?  Yes.  Do you love it?  If you hate this violence, why would you watch it as entertainment?  Perhaps we are so used to our freedom, we don't know when we are rebels.

Warning

Again, Jesus is our example:  the Prince of Peace, who had done no violence, nor was there deceit found in His mouth (Isaiah. 53:9).  Isaiah sends out a clear warning.  "Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil" (Isaiah 5:20).  UFC is the clearest evidence of an evil "sport" on the road back to the Roman Gladiators.  Interestingly, this "sport" is gaining more acceptance as we continue to head into the end times.  Will you defend it?  Or will you call an evil world to repentance, mourn for these fighters, and pray for their salvation?

My friend relayed a news piece about an interview with the maker of a violent video game.  The game had a gladiatorial flavor to it as prisoners did battle to the death.  The producer mentioned that it is a game now, but that it would be reality some day.  The days are evil.  UFC is not leading people to Christ, but on the road back to Roman Gladiators and eventually to hell.  Will you rejoice with the world until someone dies fighting and goes to hell?  Do you really believe it is better to die in the ring than peeing your pants as an old man somewhere?  Perhaps the better question is:  Where will the fighters, fans and the old man spend eternity?

 

____________________________________________

End Notes:

1. CBC News: MMA Documentary, May 28, 2006.

2.  Wikipedia, Saint Telemachus:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saint_Telemachus

3.  The New Ledger:  Los Angeles Times, T. J. Simers:  "The Life of a UFC Wife:  The Modern Gladiators Do Battle, You Feel the Pain."

Both interview and quote are found on this web-site.

5. Wikipedia, Gladiator:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gladiator

6. Wikipedia, Pride Fighting Championships:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pride_Fighting_Championships

7. Las Vegas Sun, Kristen Peterson:  "The Art in UFC's Violence", May 22, 2008.  http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2008/may/22/art-ufcs-violence/

9. Wikipedia, Boxing: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing

11. Wikipedia, Fighting in ice hockey:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fighting_in_ice_hockey

12. New York Times (Slap Shot, Blogs) , Stu Hackel and Jeff Z. Kohttp:  "Senior Player Dies From Injury Sustained in on Ice Fight", January 2, 2009.

//slapshot.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/02/senior-player-dies-from-injury-sustained-in-on-ice-fight/

13. The Globe and Mail, Roy MacGregor:  "Will the NHL ever learn?  Cormier hit shows head shots have no place in hockey", January 26, 2010.

14. NBC Sports, Live Science:  "Cheerleading still most dangerous sport", June 28, 2009.

15. Live Science, Bjorn Carey:  "The Most Dangerous Sports in America", June 14, 2006.

16. Voter Fact Check:  Did John McCain Try To Ban The UFC While Supporting Boxing?

Recently removed from the web.  Both videos and article.

17. Las Vegas Sun, Elsewhere:  "Evangelical Churches Embracing MMA", February 2, 2010.

18. New York Times, R. M. Schneiderman:  "Flock Is Now a Fight Team in Some Ministries", February 1, 2010.


Scripture take from the New American Standard Version:  The Lockman Foundation, 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1981.


Tags (Click to search for more articles from the ARPA site on these topics)