Brian Frank, 39, has been documenting a community of mixed martial arts fighters in his home state of Iowa since April 2009, for a documentary photography project called Fight Night.
Mr. Frank tracks the trajectory of fighters from amateur bouts in local bars to semiprofessional fights in formal sites and, finally, to professional competitions on a national stage.
There is a brutality to the sport, and I wanted to show that to people, said Frank.
Brian said he came to regard the most technical matches as an elegant dance featuring chess-like strategies of attack and defense.
It takes a great amount of will to train … to go in and push your body to the absolute limit, just to take more punishment than the other guy, said Mr. Frank, who estimates that he has seen nearly 500 professional and amateur fights over the last three years.
These are people with families and lives outside the ring, and almost all of them have other jobs. Because they train in the early morning and late into the evening, many fighters spend more time with each other than with their families.”
A million people will watch a UFC fight on pay-per-view. But behind these national and international competitions is a story about where the fighters come from and the struggles they went through to get there.
