CHEERING FOR KNOCKOUTS: I sincerely doubt that the Christians (who have followed culture's lead into accepting UFC as acceptable entertainment) have your quote in mind when they cheer, high-five, and laugh as a fighter gets in a terrifying head blow, bleed, or get knocked unconscious. How could any of this JOY come from one who has the Prince of Peace in them? Why do people cheer for a great play at a sporting event?  Is it because the other team is one step closer to losing?  Is it because they know that the opposing players will have to deal with failure, possible humiliation, and perhaps pain (for example from a hard tackle in football)?  Or is it because they are happy that their team made a great play and they are witnessing someone demonstrating athletic excellence and spectacular skill at that particular sport?  I cannot speak for all people or even other Christians, only for myself.  Nor do I know why other people cheer at these events, but hopefully I can explain why I personally do.  A little background is maybe necessary, so let me start with some history.  When I was young (grade school age), I was super skinny and therefore picked on a lot. Sometimes kids would seek to fight me again even after I managed to avoid it on a previous encounter. I still don't completely know why that is. The best I can figure is that kids, like adults, are subject to sinfulness and can be influenced by evil.   My dad tried to teach me about 5 minutes worth of basic boxing moves (keeping your hands up, jabbing, etc) to compensate for the fact that I was skinny, meek, and more gentle hearted than most boys.  And when a conflict was completely unavoidable his brief lesson did help a little bit (I’m a quick learner).  More importantly though, he told me something that I remember to this day. He said "Don't be afraid. Cuts and bruises will always heal. If it’s necessary, doctors can patch you back up." To his statement I will add this: "But the memory of running away in fear will haunt you forever." I believe that the worst thing to experience in life is not pain. The physical injuries do eventually heal up and the pain usually disappears after a short while. What is much worse than the experience of physical pain is the psychological pain of recognizing your own cowardice. And believe me, I have displayed my fair share of it. The emotional pain of realizing that you acted (or didn't act) out of pure fear lasts much longer than a black eye or a bloody nose. Fear of pain, fear of confrontation, fear of injury, fear of the man or boy who is bullying you. Eventually, I sought some training to learn how to defend myself better. The confidence that comes with organized training and sparring significantly helped to dispel my fear and hesitation.  In the process of training, especially when sparring, I was finding myself occasionally getting hurt. I was also finding though that the more you experience it, the less afraid of it you are.  Not only that, but people would notice the bruise, scrape, limp, etc. and ask about it.  It was interesting and kind of encouraging to realize that martial arts and sparring is completely foreign to most people.  Because of that, it tends to impress them to some extent.  Like someone who can speak multiple languages is to myself, who can only speak English.  For me then, the outward injuries helped other people to see that I was willing to do things that they are afraid of, or at the very least are unfamiliar with. All of that is my attempt to explain that while I have never experienced an actual bout (with judges, a referee, etc), I still believe that I can empathize with the fighters.  And what I am presently trying (hoping) to do is relay to you some insight into their minds. Now, I would not want to watch, let alone cheer violence that is involuntary, such as one man attacking and assaulting another.  But the men in that ring are CHOOSING to get hit and potentially hurt for a reason - they are warriors, and their wounds and bruises are the equivalent of proud battle scars.  I can tell you with confidence that they much prefer to test themselves and compete against one another, even if it includes encountering pain, then to sit on a couch and shudder in fear at the thought of confrontation.  I can guarantee you that they would be much happier losing some blood and limping out of that cage than they would be if they had never competed at all.  These men are not victims.  They purposefully put themselves in that position.  It is the career they chose and the life they lead, and most of them love it. I think this is important enough to warrant restating or rephrasing.  When a fighter receives “a terrifying head blow, bleeds, or gets knocked unconscious”, it’s COMPLETELY different from one person beating up another on a street corner.  These men are both voluntarily participating in this competition.  And even when losing the battle, they are proud to be in it to begin with, which includes any battle scars that they may accumulate in the course of the conflict. So when I cheer, it’s not because another human being is getting hurt or is one step closer to losing the bout, but because I'm witnessing one human being displaying outstanding athleticism, skill, speed, intelligence, and/or strategy in the realm of hand-to-hand combat.  And because I’m watching two warriors who are brave and strong enough to willfully endure the pain that comes with this combat.  If there are any readers who still don’t understand or are skeptical, then I recommend finding a martial arts gym and at least giving it a try.  Maybe talk to and become friends with people who have extensive martial arts backgrounds.  Or perhaps watch a few episodes or seasons of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality show on Spike TV.  Doing so will give you a little better insight into the mind of a fighter and help you to be less apt to label them as barbarians when they win, and victims when they lose.  This will also help you significantly in understanding why I don't feel guilty about watching or cheering during these events.   NEGATIVE INFLUENCE ON KIDS: What is this teaching our kids? Kids are mimicking this sort of thing every day on the streets. Kids are not going to see this as training for self defense. A good answer is "don't let your kids watch it". Sure, fine, that works for my kids, but what about other kids that I can't control? I don't want some kid going all UFC on my son. The same thing goes for video games and movies. Regardless of your opinion, it is leaking into society through the kids who's parents let them watch this sort of stuff. Even then most kids can at least know that games and movies aren't real.  Fighting has been around as long as boys have been interacting with each other on playgrounds, long before the UFC started selling its events on pay-per-view.  Boys challenged and fought each other when I was a kid, when my dad was a kid, and they will be doing the same thing for my son’s generation.  That’s what boys do! Does that make it good or right?  No, it’s absolutely wrong and even pointless, but it is normal.  Heck, turn on a nature channel and you will see the male animals fighting each other to determine either who the leader is and/or who will get to mate with the desired female. What is frightening is not so much when boys fight, but when they don’t fight fairly and either have a bunch of friends help them, or pull weapons out instead of their fists.  That is what I am afraid of for my kids.  If anything, I’m hoping the popularity of MMA will bring back plain ole street fighting amongst kids, instead of them shooting or stabbing each other. If what I have said doesn’t help you, and you still cannot shake your worries and fears about your children becoming a victim of a UFC-inspired attack, then you may want to recognize that it is unlikely that the UFC probably isn’t going to disappear anytime soon, and there are actually numerous other MMA organizations that are now clamoring to grab a piece of the growing fan base.  You might therefore want to consider actually using your concerns to do something positive, and give your child an advantage by taking him/her somewhere to actually learn how to defend him/herself.   MAKING MONEY OFF OF VIOLENCE: …it [the UFC] has turned into a money making event by selling violence and promoting that violence as acceptable behavior. …why do we need to put it on TV? The answer of why is to make money from violence. Paying money to watch an MMA event is no worse than paying money to watch a James Bond (or some other action) movie, a horror movie, a boxing event, or (worse than all of the above) a pro wrestling event.  They all contain some form of violence that is being used as entertainment.  Although MMA is obviously more realistic, at least they take place in a controlled environment, with sanctioned rules and referees to enforce them.  Even if the UFC (and other MMA promoters) were a non-profit organization, they would still have to a) pay their athletes, b) pay for running the event, c) pay for promoting it, d) pay their administration’s and employees’ salaries, etc. But I see no reason why they shouldn’t make a profit, just like boxing, kickboxing, and any other combat competition does, or any other professional sport for that matter.  Some men enjoy watching football and choose to pay for the extra football channels and watch the ads that support their chosen sport during their hours of TV viewing.  But as for me, I don’t care much for football, except for a few of the big games (Superbowl, BCS Championship, etc).  I much prefer to watch MMA, and I am willing to spend my money to see it, or to support establishments who are showing it to their patrons.  That’s what is so great about capitalism.   PSALM 11:5 (Prince of Peace): Psalm 11:5 seems pretty clear. At some point (if one is an avid viewer) they're going to have to honestly ask themselves deep down while watching: am I really ENJOYING this? What do I WANT to see occur? Because let's face it - the draw for 95% of viewers are the big hits, pain, and brutality of these moments. In this light, Psalm 11:5 seems very clear. It’s never a good idea to use only one or two verses to describe the character of God (or Jesus), because you can easily find anything to suit your purposes.  I personally like Psalm 144:1 and Proverbs 20:30 to suit my own.  But you cannot understand the character of God by simply looking at one verse, nor one chapter, nor even one book of the Bible.  Similarly, while Jesus is our master and savior, if you only look at the quotes and stories about Jesus, then you are still not seeing or understanding the character of God in its entirety (or as much as He is willing to let us try to understand).  To do that, you need to incorporate the entire book of scripture.  For example, the Old Testament gives a much better understanding of God the Father, while the books after the Gospels demonstrates and explains the work of the Holy Spirit in and through God's church and its people.  All are about God, but they focus on different aspects of his character. God's character in the Old Testament was not shy about encouraging war and sending His people to conquer others (even innocent civilians) through combat.  Now, as a Christian we are supposed to follow Jesus, but as I said in my previous article, Jesus didn't put himself in the position of soldier, or law enforcer, protector of a family (wife, kids), etc. When Jesus is described as the "Prince of Peace" in Psalm 11:5, is that referring to internal peace (in our hearts) or external peace (in the world around us)?  Philippians 4:7 states that "You will experience God's peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus."  If we accept Jesus as our savior, then does that mean that we must avoid confronting evil or testing ourselves physically, lest we violate the presence of peace with the potential conflict that results?  Or was Jesus primarily bringing peace to men's souls? Is it possible to follow Jesus as the Prince of Peace AND at the same time be an Old Testament warrior (like David) AND have his Holy Spirit flow through you unto others and into the world (like Paul)?  I believe the answer is yes, and that is what I am personally striving for.