S: I cannot believe you actually enjoyed watching that, what is wrong with you? That was brutal, the way he was hammering his fists onto the other guys face. Don’t you feel sickened? That guy broke his arm at the end and everyone cheered. I cannot believe mixed martial arts is actually a legal sport, and not only that, it is popular.
A: Of course it was brutal, but so are many other things. Do you know how much that guy took home, the one who lost and broke his arm? A couple of hundred thousand dollars. That is more than you and I can earn in a year. More importantly, both of them consented to it. They knew the risks and took them with full understanding.
S: So what? The free gladiators were paid and they knew the risks too, but both of us would agree that it is correctly banned. Consent can only go so far, if I stand up right now and beak your arm and you tell the police you consented to be breaking it, I will still have committed a crime. Just because the violence is televised and inside a ring doesn’t make it okay. In fact it should make it worse – god knows who is watching on the other side, kids, most probably.
A: Why should it be okay for a soldier to risk a certain and horrific death, coal miners and construction workers to regularly lose life and limb, but bad when a MMA fighter takes a few punches in the face. They face greater risk, for a comparatively fee, and a relatively non-existent chance of fame. Fighting is as much a career path as any other.
S: Because armies and construction are necessary, two people beating each other up for someone’s entertainment is not. Not only that, it promotes violence, and we have enough of that as it is. The want a career, they should go play football or cricket.
A: Like no one has ever had any injury in those sports right?