Cage fighting’s glorification of violence should not be taxpayer-funded

Premier Chris Minns’ cheer squad support for the brutal sport of cage fighting may be setting his government up for a world of pain with many women.

Minns made an election promise in January 2023 to spend $16 million luring three UFC fights to Sydney. The first event, 13 months ago, sold out in 13 minutes with 18,168 people attending, 52 per cent of them from overseas. The second will be held in The Octagon at Qudos Bank Arena next February. The government claims overseas visitors to the first event injected more than $15.3 million into the NSW economy. It expects the same windfall next year and is working to extend the deal.

The Minns government also hopes the fights will put Sydney in the spotlight courtesy of UFC’s huge pay-per-view television audience and online following which, according to the NSW Office of Sport, numbers more than 700 million people globally, 4.3 million of them in Australia and New Zealand.

Sydney previously hosted a UFC pay-per-view event in 2011. More than 18,000 fans attended, but Kristina Keneally’s Labor government of the day had little to do with it. In fact, the UFC raised funds for the Queensland Premier’s Disaster Relief Appeal following Cyclone Yasi. This year, the UFC signed a three-year partnership with PCYC NSW Fit for Life program to establish a youth mentoring program.

But cleaning up cage fighting’s image is a big ask. The UFC is a mixed martial arts cage fighting competition allowing fighters to use various techniques including boxing, wrestling and kick-boxing. The fights often appear more violent than traditional boxing bouts, and can result in savage knock-outs from kicks and elbows to the head.

When Minns promised to sponsor the return of cage fighting to Sydney, he made sure he announced more funding for women’s health centres across NSW the same day. But women’s safety advocates warned against glorifying violence. Hayley Foster, then chief executive of the women’s counselling service Full Stop, said the strategy would not aid the reduction of violence across NSW.

There is also the ongoing issue of domestic violence with the American CEO and president of the UFC, Dana White. He was filmed slapping his wife Anne at a 2022 New Year’s Eve party in Mexico. White apologised. But the UFC did nothing, prompting Sports Illustrated to describe the lack of consequences for White’s action as a mistake that set a horrible precedent.

Meanwhile, it’s business as usual with White in Sydney.