Mixed martial arts is not a sport for the faint of heart. As is the case with most sports, there are countless numbers of Monday morning quarterbacks and armchair corner men. These people can be found in every sports bar and/or bar and grill all over the nation and their knowledge never seems to cease. These are the people who know exactly what should be done in every single situation yet amazingly have never stepped foot in a gym or trained a day in their lives. The difference between being a fan, even a diehard fan, and an active participant is vast and this sentiment is especially extended to the sports’ officials.

Officials have a vital as well as intriguing role in the sport of mixed martial arts as their presence requires intimate knowledge of the rules as well as the participants that are engaging in combat inside the ring or cage and have put themselves in a very dangerous situation; locked in a cage with two men who are attempting to harm one another in a violent confrontation. When one thinks of the type of person that willingly chooses to engage in a sport that was once erroneously referred to as human cock fighting, all sorts of images and stereotypes are conjured up which can make the inside of a cage a very scary place for an official.

One thing that is certain in every contest is the level of unpredictability primarily due to the level of emotion coursing through the veins of the participants, the officials, and the spectators alike. All of this is combine to provide an arena for a very entertaining athletic competition that millions of people have fallen in love with. Below you will see a video of the emotion, the violence, and the passion that is contained within a mixed martial arts contest and the risk that all involved are taking.

“>

Jacob C. Stevens is a lifelong athlete and cerebral martial arts enthusiast who is also skilled in the art of linguistic manipulation, his published work, Afterthoughts and Handgrenades, can be found here…