Cultural History Commons^™

"There Are No Rules! Except These 108." The Multidirectional Flow Of Influence Between Sportication, Subculture, And Violence On The History Of Mixed Martial Arts, Jared V. Walters

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The sport of mixed martial arts (MMA), found in 1993, has a very tenuous history. Three influencing factors, sport-related violence, the sportization process, and subculture, have interacted directly with events and individuals through the sport’s history, resulting in these three multi-directional sources of influences having the greatest effect on the direction and development of the sport. MMA, initially promoted as a violent spectacle, became the target of political attacks. Such unprecedented levels and presentation of sporting violence had never before been seen. In reaction, the sportization process of MMA began and the subculture of the sport started to develop as …