Why do MMA fighters fight?

MMA is one the worlds most entertaining and dangerous sports. I can sit through an event and bask in the violence as the canvas gets painted a claret colour. However, on more than one occasion the same thought grinds away in my mind. Fighters put themselves through the weight cuts, not seeing or spending time with family and spend weeks or maybe even months to prepare when they run the risk of getting beat on for 15/25 minutes?

Besides the obvious money and the fame, A fighters life can be more complicated than that. There is always more than meets the eye and something unique that makes them tick! Finding what makes them tick is exactly what I want to find out. To do so, I had a chat with rising MMA talent Denzel Chibondo and Marina “No Mercy” Coffman.

Denzel is an amateur MMA fighter from Northampton England with a 3-2 record. He is someone I try to keep an eye on as his dedication to the sport and the amount of blood sweat and tears he puts into his training. Speaking with Denzel I asked, why do you fight, what does it do for you and how has it impacted your life so far?

 “Umm good question sometimes I ask myself that. Honestly for me fighting has changed my life, my mindset everything. It seems like a really violent sport but it’s actually peaceful. Everytime I have a fight I always think to myself I really want to do that again. The whole thing the build up and the pressure I enjoy it. But I fight because I feel like if I train hard I can be up there with the best fighters around and it keeps my life in check.” 

Now some people will take what they want from this, but what I have took was that Denzel wants to prove that you can actually get back what you put in. This isn’t just applicable to MMA, it’s to every sport, even your job and most importantly life itself, if you put the work in and you keep pushing, eventually you will reap the rewards and it will all be worth it with the sweet taste of success. 

Next I spoke with Marina “No Mercy” Coffman, an MMA fighter from Toledo Ohio. Coffman has made the transition to bare-knuckle fighting so she seemed the perfect person to ask, as her desire to fight and fight often was so evident. When I asked her the same question as Denzel, this is what she had to say.

”I fight for me. I think alot of fighters fight for this and that but I fight for me and because I truly love it. Being a fighter and choosing to be a fighter isn’t easy or comfortable but that’s why I love it. You can’t find many things in life that challenge you the way fighting does. So many things in life are out of my control but when I fight everything makes sense. So honestly I do it for me because I love the violence.”

Well there you have it. Not everyone does it for the fame and/or money. Some people want to fight because it’s their tranquility and peaceful place. I would imagine there’s plenty more people like Marina who just love the violence and love the fact that when that cage door closes, it’s up to you and only you. For me this is an incredible show of heart, fighting solely because you desire to. Regardless of the paycheque or maybe even just for some media attention because for a lot of fighters, this is all they want and all they have.