Dedicated as the fastest growing sport in North America, and
contagiously growing worldwide, the MMA (UFC in America) has been demanding the
recognition it deserves. It’s amazing how a community gains such strong support
for its followers. Fans take immense pride in their favorite athletes, fighting
styles, or perhaps the most unique, their country in the MMA world. Other
sports such as the NFL or NBA have extreme fans as well, but most “fans” are
subject to change based off trades, horrible records and other conditions. It’s
rare to see a whole nation backing up a single athlete, besides in the Olympics,
with such vigor and intensity.
I believe that a small portion of this enthusiast nature can
be described by the Social Identity Theory. This theory claims that a person’s
sense of who they are is built around their group association. As people, we
often associate ourselves with others for a sense of belonging, for it bonds
people together. What greater reason is there for the country of Brazil or
Mexico to bond together in a fight against America? This theory isn’t limited
to nations and culture, but it can spread out to finding commonalities in
different martial art backgrounds, weight classes, life stories and more.
As this sport grows, the Social Identify Theory also increases
the different views possible by the groups. Dividing other people into “them”
and “us” based clusters, the status of a group can climb up the social ladder
by basically using a form of extreme stereotyping. This only intensifies the
fans belief in their group, culture, and athlete(s). With only this one theory,
it’s already understandable how this can grow into such a superior, worldwide
fan based compared to other sports that are mainly constricted to its own country
such as basketball and Americanized football.
To find more about this theory and links to UFC click here.
Have your own ideas you'd like to share? please comment below!
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