"At the level of individuals, violence is a cleansing force. It frees the native from his inferiority complex and from his despair and inaction; it makes him fearless and restores his self-respect" (Fanon, 1963: 94)
Is professional combat sport (PCS) violent? Yes. As a consequence of participating, between 15-40% of boxers suffer from ‘symptoms of chronic brain damage’ and most have a degree of brain damage. Some even die in the ring. Paradoxically, some lives are saved by it. We, the audience, love the ‘theatre of violence’. Through pay-per-view sales and merchandising, we make participants millionaires and organisers billionaires. For fans it’s about skill, to organisers it’s profit, to critics it’s senseless violence. However, for some, it has socio-political meaning. I, and many Muslims, enjoyed watching Khabib Nurmagomedov beat Conor McGregor at UFC 229. Let me explain what it meant for us.
Despair and inaction
In April 2018, Conor was arrested for attacking Khabib’s team bus – at this point, I didn’t care. In the pre-fight press conferences, Conor insulted Khabib’s country, family and religion – now I cared. Conor insulted everything Khabib valued and something I valued – he insulted a person for being Muslim. Suddenly, my perception of UFC was coloured by its Islamophobia. Dana White, UFC President, implicitly condoned the bus incident, controversially used it in the fight promotion video and could be seen smirking along with Conor’s insults in the press conference. Khabib remained stone faced. For Muslims, Conor represented bigotry; Dana represented the structure that enabled the bigotry; and, Khabib represented us – tolerant and abashed in the face of abuse.
‘War on Terror’ rhetoric created in the ‘theatre of politics’ has had far reaching consequences. We, Muslims, experience the many manifestations of Islamophobia daily. Religiously motivated hate-crime is up 40% in the UK, with 52% of victims Muslims. And structural discrimination has become normalised through policies such as PREVENT in the U.K., and the Travel Ban in the US. Both were designed with the Muslim in mind, but invisible in the text. ‘War on Terror’ imperialism has also consumed the movie theatre. Recognising this, a group of friends created The Riz Test, which highlights the negative portrayal of Muslims in popular culture. One trend it picks up on is the gendered stereotypes of Muslims, with men depicted as terrorists and women in need of liberation. Take Iron-Man, one of its main villains is Raza, Leader of The Ten Rings, an Afghan-based terrorist organisation. Iron-Man was released in 2008, during the U.S. war in Afghanistan. In the 1963 comic book, which the film is based on, the leader of The Ten Rings was Wong-Chu, a Vietnamese terrorist. No prizes for guessing who the U.S. was at was with in 1963. In Iron-Man 3, Iron-Patriot ‘rescues’ a sweatshop full of voiceless niqabi women. One of the narratives put forward by Western men justifying the war in Afghanistan included the liberation of women.
In Black Skins, White Mask, Fanon (1952: 124-125) discusses the psychopathological impact of entertainment on the subconscious – it can be an escape, an outlet, a cathartic experience. But for whom? When we, Muslims, try escape into fantasy to find our cathartic experience from the pressures of life and Islamophobia, we see the same themes we experience in reality. In realms where the notion of aliens is plausible, a nuanced Muslim is not possible. So, the pressure remains and builds.
Violence is a cleansing force
For Khabib the fight was his catharsis… almost. After Conor’s insults, this was not about showing he was the better wrestler (i.e. making him tap out), this was about smashing him. This was best summarised by a fellow UFC fighter Daniel Cormier:
"Some things aren’t for fight promotion. Religion, family, country. Throwing stuff in Brooklyn. For Khabib it wasn’t fight promotion, it was really personal"
The match ended with Conor tapping out and but the fight wasn’t over. Khabib was left with unspent cathartic energy. He jumped the cage and attacked a member of Conor’s team who had been insulting him throughout the fight. Once Khabib regained his pre-fight composure, he apologised for his actions.
For many Muslims, the four rounds were a cathartic experience. We finally saw someone who represented us successfully fight back and triumph over bigotry. Through PCS, we found release.
Restoring self-respect
"Serious sport has nothing to do with fair play. It is bound up with hatred, jealousy, boastfulness, disregard of all rules, and sadistic pleasure of violence. In other words, it is war without shooting" (Orwell, 1945)
Promoters have long understood fights sell better when there is a narrative greater than the fight itself. Fighters often represent thematic concepts such as bigotry, racism and the underdog. Dana White used this tactic to great success as UFC 229 racked up 2.4m pay-per-view buys, eclipsing the previous record by 60%. The story was compelling enough for viewers like me to change our routine and stay up until 6am to see the drama unfold.
For Western non-Muslims it may not have meaning which I would argue is because they are in a position of privilege. And I accept for some Muslims it is not that deep – we are not a monolith. However, we must all agree violence perpetuated by some groups is normalised, whilst others marginalised. In the theatre of politics and movie, the privileged control the narrative on violence. Between the bells in the theatre of violence, no one controls the script. The playing field is levelled for the underprivileged, outcasts and inferiorised. It’s brutal and raw. It is truth. And in that we find meaning.
References
Fanon, F., (1963). The Wretched of the Earth. Translated by Constance Farrington. London: Penguin Books.
Orwell, G., (1945). The Sporting Spirit. London: Tribune.
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