Dawg Fight

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  • May 24, 2015 at 2:51 pm #25202
    PA Ram
    Participant

    Just watched the film, “Dawg Fight” on Netflix.

    This is perhaps one of the most heart wrenching films I’ve ever seen. It is hard to watch. I stopped several times and went back each time to see where it was headed. “Dawg Fight” is a documentary about Miami’s backyard fights. This is the place where Kimbo Slice came from(although the main person in this film, Da-Da 5000(a former body guard for Slice) takes center stage. He has become quite the promoter of backyard brawls. The fights are literally in a backyard(illegal–although it isn’t enforced and the police are some of the biggest fans). There is no ringside doctor. No pre-fight physical exams. Money is bet. The fighters fight for a little money and the “chance” as Da-Da tells them–to make it to the next level if they’re seen on YouTube or someplace else–and that does happen for a few. For most fighters it is horribly sad and their lives horribly short and tragic.

    There’s a sad hopelessness here. Most of these guys have been in prison. They have records. Their options feel very limited.

    The personal stories of how a very good street fighter who probably never had a chance to go pro but fights through injuries because people manipulate him to do so and later ends up brain dead after being shot by his girlfriend’s brother or a young quirky kid with charm and style and who somehow manages to win even though the crowd considers him a bit of a goofball dies at the hands of a police taser.

    Finally Da-Da gets his big MMA shot(we aren’t talking UFC level here but it’s at least professional.

    At least on camera the professional guys want the backyard stuff shut down fearing that if there are deaths Florida will shut down all MMA. How sincere are they when everyone has a see no evil, hear no evil speak no evil approach to enforcing any of this? I don’t know.

    As someone who does love to watch MMA it caused me to question myself and then I came up with some reasons why it’s okay for me to watch MMA(the most obvious being that there are medical staff available, pre-fight physicals–real referees, etc.). Maybe I’m a bit of a hypocrite but there is a difference between this low level street stuff and professional fighting.

    The thing that isn’t different is exploitation of the fighters.

    Whether it’s the UFC or a backyard brawl–people make money off these guy’s risks and pain–lots of it. And it’s questionable at best that they’re compensated what they should be for their efforts. But they see it as an opportunity and they don’t see a lot of that.

    Even in the big league–these guys have problems that fighting can’t fix–that success can’t cure(hello Jon Jones) so there should probably be more honesty about what’s going on.

    But if I see a big UFC match will I still watch it? I’d be lying if I said no–but I may watch it a little bit differently, and maybe I won’t much have the stomach for it. I don’t know. I do see a difference from what’s going on in the film. But that doesn’t make it pretty.

    "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick

    May 24, 2015 at 5:35 pm #25209
    wv
    Participant

    Great post, Pa.

    This aint a Utopian society
    we have goin here, is it.

    Sigh

    w
    v

    May 24, 2015 at 10:07 pm #25230
    PA Ram
    Participant

    Not Utopian at all.

    The powerful will always exploit the non-powerful for their own gains.

    The film was incredibly sad to me. I’ve never been in those men’s shoes. I’ve never had that few limited options or that sort of hopelessness. While I’ve thought at times that I may have underachieved a bit(just a bit) it doesn’t matter because, I’m doing what I want to do–living a simple life, a secure life(at least as secure as anyone can hope to have)and I’ve provided for my family. They’ve never wanted for anything, never gone hungry, my kids have had the opportunity for higher education. I have no regrets. I’ve been very fortunate.

    I have not been in the sort of desperate situation those men are, from where I am now(middle class), to where I’ve come from(and I would consider that lower middle class to borderline poor). I’ve not had bad choices or less bad choices as my options.

    These men are affected not just by circumstance, but also by the environment that has emerged from that, a violent Darwinian culture.

    I am grateful not to have lived their lives.

    "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick

    May 25, 2015 at 8:49 am #25240
    wv
    Participant
    PA Ram wrote:

    Not Utopian at all.

    The powerful will always exploit the non-powerful for their own gains.

    The film was incredibly sad to me. I’ve never been in those men’s shoes. I’ve never had that few limited options or that sort of hopelessness. While I’ve thought at times that I may have underachieved a bit(just a bit) it doesn’t matter because, I’m doing what I want to do–living a simple life, a secure life(at least as secure as anyone can hope to have)and I’ve provided for my family. They’ve never wanted for anything, never gone hungry, my kids have had the opportunity for higher education. I have no regrets. I’ve been very fortunate.

    I have not been in the sort of desperate situation those men are, from where I am now(middle class), to where I’ve come from(and I would consider that lower middle class to borderline poor). I’ve not had bad choices or less bad choices as my options.

    These men are affected not just by circumstance, but also by the environment that has emerged from that, a violent Darwinian culture.

    I am grateful not to have lived their lives.

    Well, as i have learned more about life
    and politics in my old age,
    I have come to despise…Corporate-Capitalism.
    Thats all i’m gonna say.

    w
    v
    “The basic law of capitalism is you or I, not both you and I.”
    Karl Liebknecht

    “The rule of law does not do away with the unequal distribution of wealth and power,
    but reinforces that inequality with the authority of law.”
    Howard Zinn

    • This reply was modified 9 years, 4 months ago by wv.
    June 18, 2015 at 7:48 am #26542
    Mackeyser
    Moderator

    Like in sex, the difference is informed consent.

    With UFC and paid fighters like in Pride and other MMA venues, they train knowing that they are rules, risks and safety precautions in place. There is risk and risk mitigation.

    Backyard brawls involve coercion based on desperation and manipulation as well as lack of information. It is the very definition of UNinformed consent. Moreover, rather than an agreed upon wage in the form of a clearly written contract, backyard brawls are rife with fighter exploitation.

    I roll BJJ and very much enjoy watching MMA.

    I won’t watch backyard brawls because it’s pretty much like non-consensual porn except substituting violence for sex. I don’t see much difference between these things and “bum fights” and other exploitative videos.

    If that helps you draw a line… =)

    Plus, a well executed rear naked choke with a locked body triangle is a thing of beauty all by itself

    Sports is the crucible of human virtue. The distillate remains are human vice.

    June 18, 2015 at 1:52 pm #26548
    wv
    Participant
    Mackeyser wrote:

    Plus, a well executed rear naked choke with a locked body triangle is a thing of beauty all by itself

    I think Conrad Dobler perfected that one
    didnt he?

    w
    v

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