Mom, It's MMA, Not WWE!

"What on earth are all these magazines?"

"FIGHT! . . . Grappling . . .Black Belt . . .?"

"What on earth have you gotten into now?"

"(Big sigh) . . .It is all about MMA, mom."

"MMA? This is exactly what you went through before and it broke my heart to see you so broken up and disappointed when it all ended! Why do you do this to yourself again and again? Don't you realize that you are getting too old to behave like this?"

(Long exhalation and 'what can you do' shoulder shrug.)

Mothers! Can't live with them and never outgrow the criticism that comes with having one.

So, after our last family occasion, it was time for another round of "Mother told you so."

Yes, I am guilty of having once "loved and lost" after a rather long love affair with the WWF in my younger years.

I was young and gullible and easily impressed by super-athletic looking men in tight outfits.

Sports have always fascinated me and being a fickle woman, I deal with one only to discard it when it fails to meet my expectations and progress on to a new love.

Once, many years ago, I dragged my young family to "professional" wrestling events.

I loved the air of excitement, the lights, the enthusiastic crowd of fans — no matter where you sat there were like-minded fanatics who would talk with you about the stars of the day. How refreshing!

For a long time it held my imagination . . . I was enthralled!

Then for some reason it began to sour. I learned the matches were choreographed beforehand and the winners were predetermined. It was a phony sport — my worst nightmare — all an illusion with no true athletic achievement involved: the best athlete did not always win!

Disillusionment, shock, disbelief . . . what had I dragged my family into in my quest for excitement? And then the shame!

Lectures and "I told you so" from my more-sensible and much more-grounded and realistic mother. Boy, can Mother rub it in!

Well, not this time! Mother, this is not like WWE (formerly WWF)!

This is Mixed Martial Arts and it is real and it is a sport based on strength and skill. Nothing is predetermined and in MMA, you never know what will happen.

There is no money-hungry Svengali pulling the strings and determining who will be a star and who will play the fool. There is no Vince McMahon in MMA.

"Well, dear, this seems a lot like what you went through in the 1970s and early 80s. It left you depressed and broken hearted to have devoted so many years of your life following the fights and learning all about the fighters simply to have all your faith in the sport dashed when you discovered it was never even real.

"You will see, dear. Don't forget that Mother warned you."

I won't forget. This is not the 1970s and I am not young and naive. It is 2009 and I am 63, which would make Mother 87.

I am old enough to know better now.