Mixed martial arts is slowing becoming a full-fledged sport with a strong fan following. But why? I suppose I’m in the minority that believes that MMA is not the coolest thing in the world and that the Octagon is not the alter that all sports should pray to.

I think it is unnecessary to have this considered as a ligament fan sport. While the generation of college-aged knuckleheads that is making this phenomenon so popular would certainly disagree, this weekend’s display of UFC 100 was the perfect example of why this stuff belongs in DVD and Pay-Per-Views and not on my local, or national, for that matter, sports show.

I understand that the stuff pulls great ratings and everyone loves to see a knockout but this is not boxing. This is barbarianism. The entire event is made to embrace what it is a violent back alley sport that at one point needed an audience. Now that audience has been formed, the players in charge are finding it hard to break free from what made them successful and move on to what will help the sport grow.

The cage, the octagon, the being lead down a ramp like a WWE match all played into the niche audience Dana White was going for. The underground, the slight twinge of illegality, all made the sport what it is. The old fans liked when a man was lead into a ring wearing a dog collar and leash. The barbarianism of the men fighting inside a fence like a Jet Li movie made the sport cool—just like cigarettes used to be.

Now that the fan base and public viewing has expanded, some of this stuff has to go. Joe Rogan, and don’t get the wrong idea, I like him, still does the broadcast and the kids love him because he was an openly admitted pot-head and hosted the Man Show for a few minutes. Still, he adds to the trashiness of the whole thing. The fighters look like backroom brawlers and the crazier you are the better. The last class act, Chuck Liddell, is gone and the classy mystic of the sport left with him. And now they’re just stuck with metal cages and guys screaming profanities about the sponsors.

It worked in the beginning. Now it’s not going to. My dad will watch boxing if it’s free and he has nothing else to do, most older gentlemen are like this. But if you want those guys to throw out the money to watch a fight as the sport of boxing goes quietly into the night, you can’t keep it the same.

Most people probably think I have an issue with Brock Lesnar’s obscene gestures towards the crowds that he later apologized for. I don’t. I could care less, you’re there to watch a man get his head pummeled into the canvas until he bleeds out, is knocked out or gives up. I’ve seen the same crowd standing outside a bar at three in the morning watching the same pummeling and hand signals, so I’m not going to get offended by a little birdie.

What upsets me is the fact that we can have a man knockout his opponent and proceed to bash in his face after he hit the floor and the fight was over. At least in boxing there are rules to keep guys from dying and still some have.

So when is the first MMA guy going to die? Will the fans cheer when he or she does? I bet they will.

Because this activity was formed from the animalistic urges men get when they have too much Jim Beam. MMA fighting requires strength, athleticism, passion and a desire to beat another human being to death.

I don’t want to put a stop to the sport; I’m not an activist for PETA. I just want a little more class in how the whole thing is handled. Kids have enough to deal with without believing that the more muscled and rage-bent you are the tougher and more popular you’re going to be.

Fighting should be seen as a last resort not a way to get noticed. And unless MMA fighting wants to end up just being a fad as we tune out of it and into the next one like, beer pong, then they will clean up the act. Don’t ever stop.

Just put a little Windex on it.