# In years to come, will boxing and other combat sports be seen as barbaric blood sports? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [July 22, 2011, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-years-to-come-will-boxing-and-other-combat-sports-be-seen-as-barbaric-blood-sports/590014 "2011-07-22T19:12:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![brewha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@brewha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brewha)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-years-to-come-will-boxing-and-other-combat-sports-be-seen-as-barbaric-blood-sports/590014/21 "2011-07-25T14:31:27Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Y’know, that’s sort of an interesting sub-question: is grappling someone for the win more violent than punching them unconscious? (You can of course still do the latter in MMA, but the former is an option; is it a worse or better option?) Really depends on the grappling. If you are doing collegiate wrestling, the goal is to overpower your opponent and pin them. Not really much violence at all. In MMA, submission fighters are often very violent. Repeated strikes to the limb or joint they want to weaken is part of it. Then, they often try to punch their opponent in the head to get them disoriented or to give them an opportunity to get a submission hold since they will be protecting their face and not protecting the joint. ---
**Author:** ![Acid\_Lamp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Acid\_Lamp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acid_Lamp)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-years-to-come-will-boxing-and-other-combat-sports-be-seen-as-barbaric-blood-sports/590014/22 "2011-07-25T15:11:23Z")
> [@marshmallow](#): > > For all this talk about how it’s obvious that Roman games were barbaric and how far we’ve evolved morally does anyone doubt that modern day gladiatorial games would be wildly popular? Imagine Obama giving the thumbs up or down. Or hell, everyone could send a vote on their phone. Everyone would be rooting for their favorite gladiator. Everyone at the office would talk about it. It’d be television platinum. In the current economic climate I bet the most popular division would be the white collar crooks. I’d watch it. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-years-to-come-will-boxing-and-other-combat-sports-be-seen-as-barbaric-blood-sports/590014/23 "2011-07-25T16:52:00Z")
I’d attend. ---
**Author:** ![Darth\_Ayebaw](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darth_ayebaw/32/9870_2.png) [@Darth\_Ayebaw](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Ayebaw)\ **Post date:** [July 25, 2011, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-years-to-come-will-boxing-and-other-combat-sports-be-seen-as-barbaric-blood-sports/590014/24 "2011-07-25T17:57:17Z")
There’s a major amount of interest in death films of one sort or another online. Not to mention Hostel/Saw/ect, which can display stuff with almost the level of realism as a camera in the Colosseum. If anything, as soon as the tech exists, virtual gladiatorial matches which are indistinguishable from the violence of the real ones will be taking place, be it on computers or with large holographic setups in actual stadiums. ---
**Author:** ![Sierra\_Indigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Sierra\_Indigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sierra_Indigo)\ **Post date:** [July 26, 2011, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-years-to-come-will-boxing-and-other-combat-sports-be-seen-as-barbaric-blood-sports/590014/25 "2011-07-26T02:25:55Z")
> [@BrainGlutton](#): > > Quite the reverse. We’re going to progressivily desensitize to violence until we have _The Real American Gladiators_ show/league (basically UFC with edged weapons added). 🙂 > > Tonight! > > In Madison Square Garden! > > For a purse of $500,000! > > **15 al-Qaeda enemy combatants versus the East LA Crips!** > > Tonight’s weapon of choice: **Chainsaws!** > > To ensure a vigorous contest, all survivors of the losing team **will** be crucified! I like your ideas and wish to subscribe to your newsletter. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/in-years-to-come-will-boxing-and-other-combat-sports-be-seen-as-barbaric-blood-sports/590014.md?page=1)