Mark Driscoll changed my life - he introduced me to the UFC. For those who don’t know, UFC stands for “Ultimate Fighting Championship”, and it is the number one promoter of mixed martial arts events in the world. The sport is already huge in America and Europe, and they are putting on their first Australian show in February.

Mixed martial arts is a new sport, and is essentially a combination of boxing, kickboxing, wrestling and jiu-jitsu. The fights are full contact, and for protection the fighters wear only light gloves, a mouth guard and a groin guard. Sometimes it is called “cage-fighting”, because the fights take place inside a mesh cage rather than a ring.

It’s well known that Driscoll is a huge fan of this sport. After hearing him mention it on his blog a few years ago, I rented a DVD and immediately became hooked. But I’ve encountered some raised eyebrows. Should Christians be watching full contact martial arts? And not just MMA - what about boxing? Or wrestling even?

I haven’t been able to track down a good essay presenting a Christian case against MMA. One former minister told me that it was not appropriate viewing material for a Christian, but he gave no reasons. I believe that Broughton Knox wrote an essay against boxing, but I’ve been unable to find it.

For many, their first gut reaction to the sport will define their position. But it may be worth spending some time to work through the issue properly. I predict this sport will become enormously popular in Australia over the next few years, especially amongst young men. If this happens, it will be good if we have done some proper thinking on the subject beforehand.