It may have taken two decades, but MMA has now gained both a following and authority in the mainstream sports world. Previously recognized as a niche sport (Lumberjack Games and Redneck Sports are prime examples), MMA is now one of the most popular fighting sports to watch, even surpassing boxing on certain accounts. In fact, the athlete Sports Illustrated recognized as the most dominant athlete alive is MMA fighter and UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey.
One detail recognized about MMA is that it’s a sport its participants can seriously get hurt on purpose. True American football has injuries through tackling and boxing can result in head injuries, but does that even compare to MMA? The goal of MMA fighters is to either hit their opponent hard enough to knock them out (or technically knock them out) or try to make them give up by applying moves designed to inflict major pain through breaking of bones.
What can be more intense than that? Apparently there is a new sport that is exactly more intense than MMA. What if the one-on-one fight became five-on-five brawl? There is an organization that specializes in team brawls known as Team Fighting Championships (TFC). After viewing just one video, it is generally agreed that it is crazy and makes MMA look tame.
According to Times Union , TFC is a new form of fight sport that originated out of Poland . A match consists of two teams of five fighters each, accompanied by five referees. When the bell rings, the teams punch, kick, and knee the living heck out of each other until only one team is standing. In retrospect, the aforementioned description sounds like a brawl with five spectators. Unlike a brawl, there are rules that must be followed. This includes no blows to the Adam’s apple, no groin kicks, no biting, and no spitting. But just like a brawl, the numbers can surely play favorably as in five members of one team beating the pulp out of the last fighter of the other.
From what is shown at the TFC official website , two events have already taken place as shown through uploaded videos. The website also has an official shop that sells TFC gear and the means to apply to participate as a fighter (five people must apply to form one team).
One of the fights has been attached below for viewing. Though it is a controlled and refereed sport, it can be debilitating for some viewers, especially when the remaining members of one team gang up on the sole member of the opposing team.
[Image via Team Fighting Championships]
