Here in quiet backwoods hometown of Las Vegas, Nevada USA, I am seeing a lot of marketing for this sport of "ultimate fighting." From the billboards around town, it looks like a gay boy's wet dream. Lots of semi-naked guys rolling around, that sort of thing.
For a month or so, I saw a lot of pictures of the naked torso of the apparent superstar of this sport, Tito Ortiz, looking buff, waxed and bottle-blonded to male near-perfection:



There seems to a new contest at one of the hotel-casinos here every weekend. So what's the deal on this "sport"? Any rules to speak of? Any faces or torsos to watch out for? Am I imaging the gay appeal of this "sport"? What's the deal?

My god, George Kennedy competing in the senior division is in GREAT shape .....

UFC (Ultimate Fighting Challenge) is a great sport. It features guy with various backgrounds in wrestling and/or martial arts fighting. There are rules. They have changed a bit lately so that the sport would be legal. It was banned in several states for awhile.
Ken Shamrock and (I think) Steve Blackman from the pro wrestling ranks started in the UFC. It is very popular in Japan and Brazil.
There are local gyms around the country starting to sponsor matches. Well worth seeing once ... if you like genuine male vs male competition, you will enjoy UFC a lot.
Ortiz, pictured above giving his IQ, is the current star. He isn't the greatest poster boy for the sport but they haven't found anyone to beat him ... YET.
There are several websites: one of the best of www.ufc.tv

Hope this is helpful
Joe

Thanks wrestlin' man,
I checked out the www.ufc.tv page. Now I'm certain that the homoerotic undercurrent I'm perceiving is not unintentional on the part of those hyping this sport.

EXHIBIT 1: All the still photos look like something out of a Frankie Goes to Hollywood video:




EXHIBIT 2: I found on the Ultimate Fighting Page that one of the middleweights is PHIL BARONI. I don't know the sexual history of this guy, but if memory serves me right, he has a lot of experience marketing his nearly-naked physique to gay men in muscle video(s). Now he's marketing himself in ultimate fighting ... a connection?

LINK TO PHIL BARONI PAGE

[ October 03, 2001: Message edited by: Charlie in the Trees ]

Ultimate fighting is fin to watch. They have banned it though in alot of states, including NY. To be honest i never saw the homo erotic side of it..then again im oblivious to that. Just a bunch of gusy beating the hell out of each other

yeah ... i am not sure about the homoerotic side of it either. There are some very good looking bodies among the fighters ... not all are though ... there are some very nice guys among the fighters ... not all are though.

For me it is male vs male competition in the purest form: no equipment, no coach, no teammates to be blamed. You have just yourself and your abilities. And the basic point is not to hit or move a ball. It is to dominate another person to the point where he is knocked out, gives up, or is seen as the victor.

That is competition in the purest form!

Is domination part of the appeal for gays that one-on-one combat sports provides?

Or is the appeal more complex?

I think the appeal is the one-on-one combat and self-reliant aspects of the sport. In a team based sport, you are depending on other teammates to come through and assist you during the contest; whereas, as in UFC fighting, wrestling, swimming, gymnastics, track & field, etc, you are out there on the field of competition by yourself.

The homosexual coorelation to ultimate fighting or wrestling goes to being self-reliant and self-dependent on yourself. When I was competing on the mats, it was my responsiblity ... no one else ... to make weight, to train, to be in shape, or to compete at my best levels. For most gay males, when we are living our lives, working in your jobs, or having fun with family & friends, we are our hardest critics when we don't measure up to our high standards. We can only blame ourselves for not meeting these standards because we make decisions on our own.

Last part, it is very sexual with the muscles, the uniform, the sweat, the adreliane, the violence, and the body contact of ultimate fighting, wrestling, or any other martial arts sports.

Here are some good web sites for ultimate fighting

www.fcfighting.com

www.sherdog.com

Does the appeal of wrestling to gays:

- Vary from individual to individual (in other words, wrestling is different things to different gays,) or,

- Is the appeal basically the same to a wide majority of gays?

Ultimate Fighting is kewl, not really a sexual turn-on, but fun to watch! Pro Wrestling is HOT!!! I LOVE IT!!! A real turn-on!

Pro wrestling is idiotic and disgusting.

(Now us gays have really confused poor "mat".)

i'm as willing to help out and answer a sports question here and there as anyone, because i have had some of my own on occasion (winter olympics -- curling, e.g), but why do i feel like matt's interviewing us? and what's with the exclusive use of the third person?

Time to 'fess up, mat. Are you "a straight"?

Like Thersis said, it's not that anyone minds discussing sensible, sports-related questions, but you seem to have an agenda. Care to share?

"idiotic and disgusting"? That is your veiw on Pro Wrestling! A lot of us, Gays & Straights actually find it entertaining! A lot of people use that same saying for "homo-sexuality" "Let be and let be" is what I think, if you don't like it "f**k-IT" But don't dis anybody who does!

Woops, that was my very clumsy attempt to be sarcastic about "the appeal of wrestling to gays". A thousand apologies to LAKERSRDABOMB and my other wrestling fan friends! (Maybe I should stop hounding Mat, too...)

No Way redsoxbreath! You don't have to be quiet.

I personally can't stand to watch Pro Wrestling. My roommate in college used to watch the Monday night thing, and then Wednesday night deally bobber on one of those TNN or TNT stations every week. I tried watching with him a couple of times, as a roommate bonding experience, but I just couldn't do it. I felt my IQ dropping as soon as the commercials ended. I've even tried watching it with the sound off just so I could look at their bodies as purely sexual objects, and still most of them are more fluffy than cut, and the long hair on most of them doesn't do it for me either.

I'm not telling others not to watch, or saying that people who do watch are bad people or anything, I just personally can't stand Pro-wrestling. Traditional, greco roman and freestyle wrestling between ripped, cut, and short little wrestlers in a gym on a mat though, now that I can dig. I love college wrestling, and Olympic wrestling.

As for Ultimate Fighting, I've never actually watched it, so I will reserve judgement until I have viewed it.