MMA Is Political Economy (Patreon)

MMA really illustrates political economy.

You hear a "feel-good story" about how a fighter supports their entire family with their earnings. Then you hear how they have a fighter's mentality by saying yes to a fight before knowing who the opponent is. But the real reason is already established, they're willing to take any fight because they need the money to support their family.

What's often touted as a fighter's mindset is just hunger games. Then you see this fighter is limited in their ability but is it because they didn't hire the right coaches? Or is their ability limited by their economic situation?

People complain about how they miss style versus style, unaware that still exists in the prelims or in regional MMA. They're unaware because they don't care about those fights—this is partially why these fighters are paid so little. The other reason is that MMA pays so little—period.

If you barely get paid, you can't pay for enough coaches to make you well-rounded. So you still see boxer versus wrestler in the shadows of the limelight. You'll always see it so long as the pay remains poor. There's nothing to be excited about when it comes to style versus style, just as there's nothing to be excited about worker exploitation. Style versus style means they're walking in with what they already know and can't yet afford to know more than that. The MMA most people pay attention to, the fighters get paid more and can afford to be more well-rounded.

Then, with a fighter from the Global South, who fights like they're from UFC 10—not knowing how to check kicks or get off their back—do they fight like this because they aren't willing to learn? Is it because they're stubborn? Is it because they're closed-minded? (Which I hear way too often—blaming the economic victim.) Or is it because this is the best they can fight with the training they can afford and the knowledge they already have?

The open-world of MMA and its lack of regulations gives us a glimpse of the worst possible world we're all inching toward. Out of 500 fighters on a UFC roster, 480 of them are prelim fighters. Most of MMA is not the UFC. That means the majority of MMA, the reality of MMA, is STILL style versus style. But these living, breathing humans don't count. Just as when the US calls itself the richest country in the world, the majority that is poor does not count.

We don't count.

We don't exist.

Most MMA fans are not rich and they don't care about fighters who are just like them. I would hate to live in a world where we don't care about other people in the same situation as us. Where we say fuck them and die on a hill for the elite.