Enjoy UFC 193? You just paid blood money for a blood sport

Herald Sun

Susie O’Brien

November 19, 2015

WELL, I hope the 56,000 people who paid up to $500 to watch one woman getting beaten up by another woman are happy right now.

You’ve just paid blood money for a blood sport.

I hope you feel as if you’ve got your money’s worth by seeing Ronda Rousey end up in hospital after getting punched and kicked in the head by her opponent Holly Holm.

Holm’s first attack left Rousey unstable on her feet, enabling her to follow up with a left-foot kick to the side of the face. This left Rousey on her back groaning in pain, but this wasn’t enough for Holm. Even once Rousey was down lying on the mat, Holm followed up with a flurry of punches. Rousey ended up with a split lip and concussion and was rushed to hospital.

The other high-profile women’s match was little better, with Joanna Jedrzejczyk breaking her hand in her defeat of Valerie Letourneau over five rounds.

Holly Holm, right, lands a blow on Rousey. 

Could this lead to lasting damage? Picture: Tim Carrafa

Who knows? Rousey may have suffered lasting damage. I just don’t get it. Why pay $500 to watch someone getting knocked out and maybe even getting brain damage?

However, this morning few are talking about the injuries and the violence, but instead about how unsporting Rousey was.

It’s all because Rousey refused to touch gloves with Holm and trash talked her before the bout.

I’d say hitting a woman when she’s down might just qualify as unsporting. Or, maybe, hitting anyone at all, ever.

When your chosen sport involves hand-to-hand unarmed combat with few rules, why would we expect people to be good losers and graceful winners? These are women whose profession is to bash each other up until they pass out, so why are people so shocked when they behave badly out of the ring as well?

Rousey is now reportedly “completely depressed” after bragging for months about how she was unbeatable. A rematch is already on the cards. Let’s hope it’s nowhere near Victoria.

UFC is big business – but at what cost?

People in the crowd, such as veteran Herald Sun reporter Ron Reed, say the entire experience on the night was pretty disgraceful, with members of the crown lapping up the violence.

Reed says he heard others around him say things “cut off his f------ head” and “I want to see blood”. Nice.

Sure, it may be big business, with $10 million of tickets being sold at Etihad alone, and millions more on TV views.

But at what cost? I don’t call it a victory, I call it a disgrace – for both Holm and Rousey and everyone else cashing in on this barbaric sport