In the same week that saw Ontario lift its ban on MMA, the British Columbia Medical Association wants to see a countrywide suspension: Ian Gillespie, M.D., president of the organization, told press that “we’re concerned this is a sport different from many others” and that “we know there is an increased risk of concussion.”
Doubtful, since this is almost a requisite waste of the clock: physicians are in the business of promoting health, not condemning it, and there’s little evidence to show combat sports don’t mangle participants. Of course they should want to see it outlawed. But violence is a condition of every form of entertainment, including sports. It’s a way of allowing audiences to live vicariously to satisfy aggressive tendencies.
No one tells police officers or firefighters their job is too dangerous to practice because the occupations are seen as necessary -- fighting is just fighting. But who is the AMA, the BCMA, or anyone to tell a prizefighter what is and isn’t “necessary” in their own life?
It’s amazing how men like Gillespie fail to see their role in perpetuating the same tired clichés, decade after decade, and how their pretentious pursuit of higher living would have the opposite effect if it were ever successful. If fighting were banned worldwide tomorrow, does anyone honestly believe the tens of thousands of men and women who find meaning in it would just stop? They’d go from rings to basements, with even greater opportunity for misfortune.
For a doctor, Gillespie isn’t much of a thinker.