I'm not ashamed to admit it: I love watching MMA, or mixed martial arts. The UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) is the most popular brand of MMA right now. Mixed martial arts is probably known to some of you as "cage fighting," where two combatants punch, kick, wrestle, and do what may seem like any dirty trick in the book to beat their opponent into a bloody mess.

However, mainstream MMA (if there is such a thing) is actually quite disciplined. There are rules governing what you can and can't do. And many of those rules prevent fighters from inflicting long-term damage on their opponents.

The many skeptics disagree and consider MMA a brutal, primitive brawl put on to entertain bloodthirsty fans. I imagine that many conservative Christians could be considered skeptics. I don't anticipate seeing Dr. James Dobson at a UFC ringside anytime soon.

Philippians 4:8 says "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things."

I"ll admit that MMA doesn't exactly exude purity and loveliness. However, I feel like it's energetic, athletic competition in a very physical setting, and there's nothing wrong with that. Again, I bet many disagree.

How about you – is it cool for Christians to be fans of MMA? Or is the bloody violence something we should not be taking in?

[http://www.revelife.com/681927321/the-ufc-and-mma-is-it-ok-for-christians-to-watch/]