Randy Couture is a mixed martial arts fighter who competes in the Ultimate Fighting Confederation. He is paid immense amounts of money to beat people bloody. Strangely, he is also immensely religious.

“There’s two people: Jesus Christ, who stepped up and died for our sins, and the American GI that steps up and dies for our freedom on a daily basis. This fight is for them!” Courture once said, on why he believes in America.

The two things seem as though they would be irresolvable; how can someone simultaneously hold a belief in Christ and dedicate himself to inflicting pain? Let’s be honest, MMA is definitely a sport, but it is also a sport where the ultimate goal is to hurt a complete stranger so much they give in or go unconscious.

One reason might be that fighters like Couture endure such relentless pain in the octagon to remind him of the pain Christ endured for Christians and their sins, or the pain our Marines feel on the front line, or it might just be because they want to hit someone. We can’t be sure.

Boxing has been a socially acceptable part of American life for years. However, in recent years the likes of Don King, accusations of fight fixing and the absence of a unified title have delegitimized boxing’s purity. MMA can fill this void. MMA combines boxing with kickboxing and various forms of martial art producing more complete fighters; however, its underground roots have caused some people to label the sport as too violent.

John McCain wanted to ban UFC after he saw a fight in 1995. As a lifelong boxing fan, he was horrified with what he saw, calling it “barbaric” and “not a sport.” This protest is odd, considering both sports are centered on violence. Boxing enthusiasts would argue that competitive MMA fighting in the UFC is completely devoid of the purity and tradition found in the ring of boxing. Boxing may have tradition, but purity has been lacking in the ring for quite some time. It’s time to give MMA a chance to fill the void boxing has left in the sports world.

“The brutality that happens when the fight is taken to the floor and fighters trying to put their opponent into submission is the purist form of fighting I can imagine,” said MMA enthusiast and junior Ryon Campbell. “This fierce attitude the fighters have not only makes the bouts so fun to watch, but also is what makes the sport even more respectable than boxing.”

Although not everyone will agree with the statement, especially the latter part, what it boils down to is that the styles are just different. Boxers may be able to claim that there is more finesse involved in their sport, but in terms of identifying the best fighters, MMA takes the cake.

If we reconsider Couture’s motivation this makes much more sense. His heroes are the men who overcome obstacles in a cruel world. Okay, so it might be a stretch to compare Christ with America’s foot soldiers, but they both have a cause and both strive to overcome obstacles.

Mixed martial arts fighters may simply be expressing their refusal to give into the hardships they encountered in a world that does not always play by the rules. Consider the backgrounds of most of the fighters involved in UFC. They come from poor countries, raised by poor families with a strong religious upbringing. When religion cannot save them from the hardships of life, fighting can, and vice versa. The octagon becomes their outlet for life’s difficulties, and what can be more pure than that?