I was recently contacted by a fellow Bleacher Report writer named Jeffrey Klein about the sport of MMA.  Jeffrey ran across an article on the front page that I had written about an upcoming MMA fight. 

He informed me that he enjoyed the article but came away wanting to learn more about the sport of MMA. He was curious as to why the sport was getting so much attention and wanted to know why he should be interested. 

This article is the result of his request.  It is also directed towards other potential MMA fans that were subject to the recent downright awful display of MMA in the form of the EliteXC event broadcasted on CBS. 

That event was not a fair representation of the sport and gave most hardcore MMA fans a nightmare or two. 

In this article, I will start by giving you a brief MMA history and some key background information.  I will then move on to discuss some great fights and the best fighters in the world currently.

Finally, I will conclude discussing how you can learn more about the sport, and most importantly, discuss why you should love the sport of MMA.

A Brief MMA History:

MMA was introduced into the consciousness of the nation with the formation of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) in 1993. 

All fights took place in an eight sided octagon (still used today). The only two rules were: no biting and no eye gouging (like Pankration in ancient Greece). 

Fighters were specialized in a specific martial art.  They essentially wanted to see what would happen if a 300 pound sumo wrestler fought a 150 pound Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter.  It was bloody, brutal, and difficult to watch. 

As each UFC event passed, there was more and more backlash.  John McCain was outspoken against the sport, and many states in the United States decided to ban the “no holds barred” fighting. 

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