Competitive Bloodshed

Figure 1 - UFC fighter Conor McGregor with his two championship belts

Do you know who this man is?  For those of you that don't, it's UFC lightweight champion and former featherweight champion, Conor McGregor.  Conor is the face of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, which is the most popular blood sport in the United States today.  Blood sports can be defined as "a category of sport or entertainment that involves the killing or injuring of animals for the pleasure of spectators, or more broadly sports that involve bloodshed" (1).  Blood sports have been around for centuries.  The origin of human blood sports began with the gladiators of ancient Rome.  Today's blood sports include boxing and mixed martial arts.  Blood sports that involve animals began in Europe with the royal families of early European monarchies.  Animal blood sports have seen a rise in popularity today, especially in the United Kingdom.  Due to the cruel nature of these games, there has been much controversy surrounding animal blood sports in today's society, but human blood sports have become the forefront in modern entertainment.

It is human nature to be intrigued by violence in society, and the Romans were the first civilization to turn this attraction to sport.  They were a violent society to begin with, due to

Figure 2 - gladiatorial battles of ancient Rome in the Colosseum

their many military triumphs.  "This appetite for violence not only manifested itself in Rome's imperialist policy, but also in its most well known sport - the gladiatorial combats" (2).  Those warriors fought to the death for the entertainment of the public in a famous arena called the Colosseum.  Gladiators were the superstars of their day (2), and the most famous were rewarded with fame, glory, and fortune (2).  Fighters like McGregor are the modern day gladiators.  He is a mixed martial artist, which is a full combat sport that can be performed either standing or on the ground, and features striking and grappling from all martial arts (3).  Along with MMA, boxing is also a modern day human blood sport, although not as popular.  Boxing is a stand up punching match between two fighters that wear big padded gloves.  Although these two are the main blood sports of modern entertainment, they differ in many ways.  The main way that they differ is in intensity, MMA can be described as a much more savage sport with a no rules feel to the fight, whereas boxing is a sport that has a more tamed feel and is built on respect.  Despite their differences, they have evolved from the ancient tradition of gladiatorial battles and have turned into the blood sports for today's society.

Figure 3 - a fox tossing tournament

Animal blood sports are defined as practices that involve bloodshed or include the death of animals for sport.  These began in the 16th to 17th centuries and are still being practiced today.  Originally, the blood in blood sports didn't refer to the blood of the animals being shed, but the royal blood of the people that participated in the events, because it was a thing only done by royalty (4).  Ancient examples of these games were very simple and very gory.  Fox tossing and goose pulling are two popular ones that featured very simple rules and a high death toll.  Fox tossing consisted of throwing animals in the air and seeing whose throw could reach the greatest height, and the object of goose pulling was to try and pull the head of a greased goose clean off without letting it slip out of your grip (4).  Modern animal blood sports involve more animal on animal combat, including hare coursing and badger baiting.  These games feature wild animals being hunted and ripped apart by dogs (5).  The dogs that are the best at this kind of hunting are called sighthounds, as they are able to use their speed and vision to catch the quick animals rather than their sense of smell (5).  These modern day blood sports are illegal and are seeing a rise in popularity, especially in the United Kingdom.

Animal blood sports are very cruel and unforgiving to the animals because of their inability to defend themselves during the participation of these games, which has led to these types of practices being illegal.  There are many reasons as to why blood sports are illegal, some being that they promote animal cruelty, they go hand in hand with illegal gambling that

Figure 4 - an ASPCA ad

happens with the participation of these events, and they lead to the selling of illegal drugs at these events as well (6).  In the UK, government agencies have been tasked with confronting the crimes and putting a stop to them (5).  In the United States, illegal blood sports such as dog or cockfighting, are being cracked down on by local police forces and some animal welfare groups such as the ASPCA or PETA.  What started out as a leisure sport played by European royalty has become a cruel, widespread game that is being tracked down and stopped by authorities all over the globe.

References

(1) Blood sport. Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blood_sport 

(2) The Gladiators of Rome: Blood Sport in the Ancient Empire. Ancient Origins. Retrieved from http://www.ancient-origins.net/history/gladiators-rome-blood-sport-ancient-empire-002574

(3) Mixed Martial Arts. Wikipedia. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_martial_arts

(4) Blood Sports - A Cruel History of Sports. Topend Sports. Retrieved from http://www.topendsports.com/sport/blood-sports.htm

(5) Brutal Blood Sports are on the Rise in the UK. Vice News. Retrieved from https://news.vice.com/article/brutal-blood-sports-are-on-the-rise-in-the-uk

(6) ACT Newsletter - Animal Bloodsports. Petfinder. Retrieved from https://www.petfinder.com/helping-pets/animal-cruelty/animal-cruelty-animal-fighting/

Figure 1 - https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/dsc_8765.jpg?w=960&strip=all 

Figure 2 - https://www.realmofhistory.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/07/12-facts-ancient-roman-gladiators.jpg 

Figure 3 - https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_AQmDA4PDAXznhVvXo0_j1MIOmjSbMBkyyPGroCR6OvJuZPodD14YzfhpAEAWCdNa0QQUlMAAQFu4BbifhXE5r5XaSxg3DIes2yzZ_J63XA3aAwygLM0lCBcp-55RFxeQ7AEmOuaZ12I-/s1600/THE+SPORT+OP+FOX+TOSSING+A+FAVORITE+AMUSEMENT+AT+THE+GERMAN+COURT+200+YEARS+AGO+PRINCESSES+AND+THEIR+LADIES+PARTICIPATING+IN+IT.jpg 

Figure 4 - http://myhero.com/images/guest/g261992/hero91123/ASPCA-&-mei-mei.jpg