The sport of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) arrived at a tragic but inevitable point in its evolution this week, tragic because the death of 28-year-old Portuguese athlete Joao Carvalho is the worst imaginable outcome, and inevitable because the MMA product has in-built risk and danger.
The violent aspect of the sport is one of the reasons for its popularity, especially among young people and MMA is promoted no differently to the way Romans did with gladiators.
They are placed in an arena called The Octagon. Stripped and caged they fight over three rounds of five minutes.
Where MMA fundamentally diverges from boxing is not just in the presentation but in what is considered an acceptable level of violence and risk to the athletes. In boxing a knock down, or potential brain trauma, stops the fight.
The referee inspects the boxer, who either takes a mandatory 10-second count or is told that his fight is finished. In MMA a knock down, or brain trauma, represents opportunity. It is an invitation, an opening for the dominant fighter to secure victory by inflicting more punishment on an opponent by forcing a submission or ending the bout as Charlie Ward did against Carvalho.
Sports such as boxing and rugby have been criticised for lesser acts considered dangerous to athletes.
However, in MMA the rules give license to attack opponents, who may already be brain damaged. In that respect MMA is an outlier.
In March of this year New York State Assembly voted 113-25 to permit MMA for the first time after years of resistance with some officials calling it “barbaric”. In Ireland that debate is just beginning against the background of the death of Carvhalo and the momentum of popular support for MMA.
What the sport must do is ask itself if such levels of violence enhance or debase the lives of its young fan base.
It must question too whether rules that consent to the assault of athletes after they have been knocked down represent an unacceptable risk to their health and their lives.