America is on a fast track towards violence and absurdity

Image courtsey of Wix

On Saturday night in New York City, Jon “Bones” Jones delivered a spinning back kick to the body of Stipe Miocic so violent that the latter immediately folded to the ground. Jones went down, too, to keep on punching Miocic until the referee broke them up.

The whole scene was rather extreme. Of course, it was part of Dana White’s Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), by far the most popular mixed martial arts promotion in America. 

The UFC today has a market cap of over $10 billion.  But just eight years ago, Bleacher Report was posting articles with titles like, “Is Martial Arts Simply Violence for the Sake of Violence?”

It’s hard to imagine that article getting posted today, when 51% of people aged 18-24 consider themselves a fan of combat sports.

That proportion is just 12% in people aged 65 and older. So, the violence of the UFC went from fringe to mainstream, and rather quickly. It’s not clear why.

Maybe we’ve realized that there isn’t anything wrong with two men consenting to beat each other nearly to death for our entertainment. Maybe it’s a return to old form, a longing for the ancient gladiators of our western tradition.

Or, maybe America has become a fundamentally angrier, more violent, and less caring country.  Either way, it’s changed, and Jon Jones and Dana White are undoubtedly central to that change.

Back to the octagon on Saturday. Once the referee stopped Jones’s final blows from connecting with Miocic’s head, Jones leapt to the center of the ring and pointed to the crowd.

Then, Jones hit the “Trump dance” – you know, when our President-elect raises his fists and swings them in rhythm with his bending knees to the tune of “YMCA.” The camera turned to Trump, sitting in the front row.

Trump smiled on before dancing a little himself, surrounded by a patently absurd entourage. All the main characters from Trump’s most recent season of American Politics Reality TV were there – RFK, JR., Elon Musk, Tulsi Gabbard, and even rockstar Kid Rock.  

“It’s just a different feeling in the air right now. Everyone seems to care about this fight,” said Jones after describing the significance of Dana White being seen with Trump across the campaign trail.  

Somehow, Trump’s brand of Americanism is tied up with our most violent new sport. Somehow, that doesn’t feel weird, either. It makes sense on a vibes-based level.

Trump taps into our most base, hateful, and violent human inclinations. The UFC does the same. It’s not surprising, but it is scary, that they’re using one another to catapult themselves from extreme to mainstream.