Review: Armored MMA Is Like UFC but With Medieval Weapons

A bizarre new sport is reaching audiences online, a testament to the value of social media.

Mixed martial arts (MMA) is on the rise in the United States. In 2023, the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC)—MMA's largest fight organizer—generated a record $1.3 billion in revenue. The UFC's popularity has given MMA a cultlike following and created innovative spinoff sports, such as Armored MMA.

Armored MMA combines MMA's rules and hand-to-hand combat format with the weapons and plated armor of medieval knights. Each match comprises three rounds, two minutes each, fought with shields, swords, or battle axes. The league tours different cities, featuring fighters in eight different weight classes. It thrillingly takes medieval hand-to-hand combat off the jousting fields of Renaissance faires and into a cage match—and then, thanks to the modern-day miracle of apps, into your living room.

While still undoubtedly a niche sport, Armored MMA's growth has been made possible by the broad internet freedoms enjoyed in the United States. I discovered the sport while scrolling my "For You" page on TikTok. Other spectators have found Armored MMA on YouTube, Facebook, or X. This combination of ideas and algorithms competing in a free market benefits both viewers and sports trying to attract new audiences. Restricting competition—which Congress has done by banning TikTok (a move up for Supreme Court review as this goes to press)—hurts consumers and businesses, and, worse, hinders the grand cause of bizarrely cool new competitive sports.