The Smashing Machine documents the life of Mark Kerr and how he fought, survived, and eventually went down in a violent and bloody fight on the ring. This film is a documentary of the deadly fight on the ring. The ring where the athletes fight have become a modern-day Coliseum and the fighters modern-day gladiators. Kerr had to fight his dependence on drugs and eventually, he succumbed to his friend and mentor, Mark Coleman. The world of the UFC ring is governed by a set of rules. It is a business that invites people to buy tickets to the show and watch two men battle it out.
Literally, the lives of the fighters are on the line. Sports such as boxing, wrestling, and martial arts are violent. Their violence should be a cause of concern for people and other people concerned with human rights, the health and the overall welfare of the men who fight in the ring. This kind of fighting, however, is a little difficult to ban for the simple reason that people continue to patronize them. There are two views here. Probably, there will always be people who are willing to fight physically even without the prospect of profit.
However, the prospect of profit does a lot of things in encouraging people to join this kind of sport. Another reason for the popularity of this sport is that thousands of people are willing to pay for their chance to watch men fight and bruise each other. This might be a concern of psychologists and biologists. Perhaps, aggression is embedded in the psyche of humans and people are but looking for ways to let this aggression out. Nonetheless, the business of no-holds-bar fighting has a lot of ethical issues and concerns.