I'm a little surprised that CBS and NBC agreed to televise MMA fights.

I could see Fox doing it, but it's basically the male equivalent of porn. What's a woman good for? Sex. What's a man good for? Ass-kicking. It reduces the participants to their most primitive and objectified status.

Not that I'm saying you shouldn't watch MMA or porn - the viewer is like someone who buys cigarettes - it's probably not great for your mind to be taking in too much of that stuff, but it's legal, and you're just an individual consumer. But if NBC starts televising porn or MMA, then they're like the cigarette companies - making an unwholesome product widely available.

I've smoked in the past, and I've watched MMA and porn in my time (if Showtime would get rid of those stooges announcing, I might even watch more), so I'm not judging anyone. Just making the point that the "who can bludgeon who into submission" contest crosses the line between sport and a kind of violence pornography, and apparently CBS and NBC don't see that. (Or maybe they do, but don't care). I guess you could argue boxing is on that line, too - but boxing has far more rules, and those restrictions make it quite unlike a street brawl. It's also not about which is more violent - the NFL is pretty violent, too, but that violence is just a part of the game along with play calling, route running, passing accuracy etc. MMA is purely about the violence. I think you could draw the same distinction for art-house flicks with explicit sex in them - it's not the sex that makes porn pornographic - it's that there's nothing else.

I'm sure MMA defenders will talk about the skills of the fighters, but I don't see it. Some have more than others, but it's usually just a graceless slugfest, or one guy has the other on the ground and is trying to club him to death with his forearms or elbows or whatever else he can get through the guard.

Bring in Bruce Lee or Jet Li, and I'll change my tune. But I don't think the sport has enough art yet to be anything but a human cockfight at this point.

Of course, that doesn't it mean it won't be hugely successful - porn grosses as much as mainstream cinema I think (or at least close to it).

But I'm just surprised NBC and CBS are airing it - they might as well air the network premier of Forrest Hump.