By Staff Writer, Jonathan Gonzalez          

No holds barred.

Blood and sweat douse the ring.

Two bodies lay motionless, yet still breathing.

Thousands of spectators watch this madness.

It is more intense than any boxing match and surpasses any professional wrestling match by miles.  It is violent and brutal, and has even been banned on television on several occasions.

Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is not your usual “win or go home” sport.

UFC or “The Octagon” is a savage sport that involves two fighters trying to either knock each other out or win by submission.  Much like boxing, UFC is broken down in weight divisions.  However, this is where the comparisons with boxing end.  The fighters are allowed to use their hands and feet to perform any mixed martial arts combos.  A referee can stop the fight at any time, if he feels that one fighter is not able to compete anymore. 

First founded in 1993, UFC has slowly emerged into the mainstream thanks to home video and pay-per-view fights.  Last month, UFC had its highest selling pay per view ever, selling over one million rights to view the event.  This massive exposure has allowed critics to call UFC nothing more than “human cockfighting” and an excuse to watch people fight until death.

This brings up a big question: is UFC, in fact, a sport?

A sport is usually defined as a complete workout of the body that involves team play.  Boxing is considered a sport, even though it does not follow this rule.  UFC should be considered a sport, because their fighters are well-trained talented athletes.  Tito Ortiz, one of the best and most famous American mixed martial arts fighters was once quoted as saying, “We fight, we train, we compete like any other athlete yet people look down on us like violent monsters.”

So why do so many people disown Ultimate Fighting?

A few years ago Arizona Senator John McCain led a letter-writing campaign to boycott UFC citing that it “corrupts American youth.”  These actions made UFC restrict its fights and even banned certain attack tactics including groin strikes.

It is predicted in the next few years that UFC may overtake or at the very least be at the popularity level of boxing.  With a reality show and a recent television deal with HBO, UFC is only bound to grow and appeal to more people.