by Jonte Rhodes

Created on: February 17, 2009   Last Updated: April 03, 2009

Mixed martial arts has quickly become one of the most popular sports in the world in the last few years, although before this the sport faced numerous problems. Famously the sport was compared to 'human cockfighting' by senator John Mccain, who was also instrumental in getting it banned from many states. More recently however the senator has publicly stated that the sport has made great progress, and it is now being accepted more readily in most states and provinces.

There are still some states which ban the sport, although this is often a result of the issue not having been raised there than from deep seated opposition. For example New York, famously the home of boxing, still doesnt accept mixed martial arts bouts being held there, although thus far there is no demand from the promotions to hold events there. The likes of the UFC, who tend to stay in Las Vegas or the WEC, who commonly hold events in California or New Mexico, have both stated that they dont need or want New York as a base.

Many people likened mixed martial arts to human cock fighting in the early days of the sport, when it lacked many of the nuances and regulations of most combat sports. For example there were no weight classes, gloves and for the most part, any kind of move was allowed. This coupled with the fact that the fighters often tended to be simply thugs and tough guys meant that human cock fighting became synonymous with mixed martial arts in the opinion of many people.

More recently however the sport has been transformed, with the inclusion of new weight classes, a complex rule system, and also the use of gloves. This as well as many other changes has meant that the sport of mixed martial arts has now achieved mainstream success, and as a result is now allowed in many states. In the past nearly all of the United States had banned mixed martial arts, largely due to pressure from detractors such as John Mccain, as well as certain people within the boxing ruling bodies.

Cock fighting itself of course is illegal, and involves the use of roosters which fight to the death for the amusement of spectators, who would often bet on the result. It was considered a genuine sport until fairly recently, and is now illegal in many countries including the United States. The roosters themselves are conditioned before the fight, and are then fitted with spurs in order to do more damage to each other. Despite that fact that it is illegal in most of the developed world, there are still many places which

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