MMA’s Full 38’ 4.09.08: Documenting MMA Part Two - SEXUALITY

Posted by Sid Needelman on 04.09.2008

Sexuality has become a topic in MMA just like every other aspect of the lives of these athletes. This week we look into how sexuality has been recently documented in MMA. We will discuss the first openly gay male fighter, gender roles and being involved in sexual activity in the days before the big fight.

Sexuality and Gender Roles:
The New York Times, while once was a great end all for information has become a slightly mocked version of itself with scandals, obvious bias and the need to mention John McCain's quote whenever talking about the sport of mixed martial arts. Luckily, in a recent article the focus shifted from that take on the sport to another topic, one that has not been over played. Openly male homosexuals in the sport. It is true that a passerby my see a screenshot of one man in tight vale tudo shorts and another in board shorts clinging closely together on the ground and assume there could be some latent need being taken care of by such a sport. However, anyone who has trained knows that when rolling around practicing technique, that sex is often the last thing that comes to mind. I personally had to focus on breathing, where my opponent's focus has turned and how much longer I had before the buzzer went off signaling the end of the sparring session.

Shad Smith is likely not the first gay fighter but he is the first openly gay male fighter to at least got attention. In the New York Times article he says:
"Smith is gay, and I know of no other professional fighter who is openly so. "I was always scared that my mom and dad would find out and wouldn't like me, and my brothers wouldn't like me," he said. "I was petrified, because I didn't want anyone to find out. And I would try to be the toughest person around. That way, no one would suspect, no one would ever say it, no one would think it.""

It is true, being tough is important to intimidate an opponent, or just to be respected in the local gym. As stated in the examination of the sport, "Fighting For Acceptance," today's fighters mirror the male figure depicted in the movie Fight Club. Where once gender roles were defined in a way that pounding on one's chest like a gorilla would be the sign of dominance, but today's male must often stir their attention away to buying items and away from their instinct to hunt (Mayeda, 171). And just like in the movie, the suppression may not always hold, and some men need an outlet for the biological urge to act as historically manly. In the movie it was underground fight, just as how this sport started.

That does not mean there is no bond with people you train with. It is not merely a person to beat up that you train with, but someone who becomes like your family. Jason "Mayhem" Miller is quoted saying that the bond between training partners can becomes "intimate, you know, without the sexual connotation" (Mayeda, 180).

And just think about all of the fighters you have seen cry in the cage or the ring… there is little shame in not strictly portraying a tough male exterior.

Sex Before the Fight:
Another case where the sport is documented in respect to sexuality was in the premier issue of Extreme Fighter. In an expose by Jeff "Wombat" Meszaros, (52, 53) the author mentions how both Muhammad Ali and Rickson Gracie were famous forefathers of their respective fight sports, and choose not to partake in sexual activity in fear of losing something before a fight. It could have been energy, drive or superstitious luck, but both would avoid such in the days before a fight.

However, not all fighters agree.
Mario "Big Hurt" Rinaldi said as quoted from the article, that the more fun you have in bed, "the higher your testosterone test levels are… So have at it." One study sighted by the article supports that finding.
Below is Mario posing for the camera while watching his training partner's and teammates fight on the broadcast of UFC's Ultimate Fight Night from the party he was attending at Sobe Knockouts, a retailer located on South Beach and at SobeKnockouts.



Sex Sells
Sex also sells. Sex is for sale with ring girls and when they have drop dead gorgeous women modeling men's shorts. Gina, the Elite XC sometimes poster girl and sometimes trouble maker, may not be as famous as some of the better female fighters out there who do not look the same way she does.

For more detail on how MMA and MMA's sexuality as documented, grab a copy of the above mentioned book, magazine and newspaper article.


And finally, in a quote that just relates sex to fighting by Dan Henderson, a quote that did not make the Fighting For Acceptance book, which shows how great what is included is:

Interview with him on Nov. 29, 2006:

David Mayeda: Have you ever felt like quitting?

Dan Henderson: Quitting the sport?

David Mayeda: Yeah.

Dan Henderson: Yeah, occasionally, but not that much. I mean, I was the same way in wrestling though. It's not the competition, it's the training that just ah, breaks you down. You know, physically, and the nagging injuries, you get tired of that. You get tired of not being able to go out and have a vacation over the summer cause you're training for a fight almost every summer. So yeah, but kind of like a stripper, you get used to the cash. It's kind of an easy thing, and I'm only gonna do it for a couple of years, and then a couple of years go by, and a couple more years, and pretty soon, I'm forty-year-old stripper slash fighter.

You can get this book here HERE