There will always be parents putting their kids in sports, pageants, or whatever for the wrong reason.  I played on a traveling baseball team made of the best players in my county when I was younger (15-17) and when we were 15 we played in a tournament for 17-18 year olds.  We finished second (which we were all thrilled with) and one of the other player's parents came into the dugout and yelled at us that second place doesn't make you a winner.

Now just because they were obviously living through their kid doesn't mean that the rest of us weren't having the time of our lives driving all over Michigan and Indiana playing a game we loved.

To take things like sports away from kids because their parents might be some sort of weirdo stage parents is unfair to the kids and a really flimsy and weak argument.

My only hope is that parents are smart enough to check out the places and people that provide the training and coaching for these kids to avoid them being used and abused.  Boxing was notorious for that back in the day: prey upon uneducated, overburdened or dysfunctional parents; teach their kids to fight; use them up against each other until the top few emerge as legit pros; leave the rest beat up and out on the street.  But making MMA for juniors "illegal" doesn't stop the problem of parents not parenting.  What it does is stigmatize and marginalize the sport as a whole, and drive the young people who inevitably will want to participate out of the sight of those (parents or coaches) who should be protecting their best interests.

Sam's post struck me as a continuation of the "OH MY GOD, CHILDREN MIGHT BE HURT" hysteria that strikes so frequently these days.  It's like when schools started stripping playgrounds of slides, ladders, etc., because a kid jumps or gets shoved off and is hurt.  The problem isn't the existance of the equipment - it's the lack of supervision, and the lack of knowledge among the kids themselves of their own vulnerability.  If anything, training MMA will teach them the second, and the first is everyone's responsibility.

I posted on 5 oz as well, but I agree for the most part with Sam.

kids have no business FIGHTING full-on mma matches.

They should train it and have competitions, similar to local karate tournaments. But no way should they be having full blown fights without modified rules and additional safety precautions.

I believe most people's reactions that are similar to mine, are in response to the videos on the net showing kids under 10 in full blown mma shows, fighting under the same rules as any other fighter with no additional protection.

Modified rules, padded gloves, good mouthpieces, shinguards, headgear with face bars, etc...and not being held in a bar full of drunk fans, that I would be ok with.