And, why? It's because I think the promoters have not really cared, to be honest with you, or really maybe even considered - I don't know if they care or not - but I don't think they've considered what's going to happen if Gina Carano gets her face opened up and America has to see a girl with a bloody face. Now what you're doing is you are going to be in crisis control mode.
Instead of educating the population saying, "You know what? Girls get cut all the time. Girls serve in the military. Women do all these things and, guess what, [it's] not a big deal." Those cuts, they may be bloody, and just because something creates blood doesn't mean it's particularly dangerous - it may be a bit gory for your taste but physicians are very good at stitching up cuts. Can't remember the last time someone died from a cut on their face or a bloody nose. Now, it may be a bit shocking for you to see for the first time but hardly makes it dangerous.
But, you need to tell the mainstream public that before it happens. Not after because nobody's listening then. Because now I was mortified when I thought, "Did you see what happened to that pretty girl?"
-- Dr. Johnny Benjamin, predicting hysteria and apocalyptic ravings by Americans witnessing EliteXC's version of MMA for the first time on primetime television.
I'm on the fence with the good doctor's argument. On the one hand, he calmly and quietly provides perfectly good reasons to not overreact to the visceral sights of the exceedingly pretty face of Carano bleeding from violence-induced cuts. On the other hand, Dr. Benjamin is, well, a doctor. He's not only qualified to give medical evaluations, he's also an educated American less likely to offer condemnatory proclamations of wrongdoing based on instant judgments.
The question then becomes whether or not those who are not predisposed to enjoying combat athletics will cry foul should any of the fights be particularly bloody or brutal? Has the UFC and the efforts of the sport's ambassadors put enough positive equity in the media bank should disaster strike? I tend to think yes, but it's a tenuous yes...at best.
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