What came first… boxing or MMA movies?

If you’re the type of person who watches fighting movies, you’ve surely noticed the parallelism between boxing movies and it’s cousin, MMA. From how movies such as Here Comes the Boom, and Warrior, borrow the same concepts and model in boxing movies such as the training montages, showing the progress through fights, and the hardship faced by the main character in Creed, Million Dollar Baby, and Southpaw. Creed- is the story of Adonis Creed, the long lost son of the boxing legend Apollo Creed, as he goes from a small time fighter in mexico to fighting for a belt, in the film you see Adonis as he uproots his life in california to move to philadelphia in hopes of being trained and mentored by his late dads greatest adversary and friend Rocky Balboa. After some time and convincing, Rocky and Adonis begin training, showing off the different methods used by trainers and and even taking a classic scenic run through Philly. Throughout the film you watch as Adonis and Rocky battle through their personal, and social problems all while trying to persevere and prepare for the biggest fight of Adonis’s young life. In this film you see how the boxing genre uses training montages and different types of training to show how difficult, and the dedication it takes to become a professional boxer. Million Dollar Baby is the story of Maggie Fitzgerald, a lower class girl from missouri, as she travels to Los Angeles and decides to seek the training, and wisdom from a Veteran trainer Frankie Dunn- a man that doesn’t like to get close to anyone other than his friend Eddie. After some convincing Frank finally agrees to train her. In the film you watch as she trains and goes from a scrawny country girl, into a fit, and an expert boxer. As she continues to train with frank, you get to watch as she works her way through the ranks, beating every opponent unlucky enough to cross her path- some fights being more competitive than others. This film shows how in boxing movies they show how much the competitor has actually improved, through showing the fights and showing the progression the fighter has made from someone with little to no skill into a real contender. Southpaw, is a film about Billy “The Great” Hope, who also happens to be the undefeated junior middleweight champion. In the film, Billy loses his beloved wife, Maureen, in an accidental fatal shooting when a scuffle between Billys crew and his rival fighter’s, Miguel Escobar. In the film, we watch as Billy’s life spirals out of control after his wife’s passing. He loses his belt after he is suspended for punching a referee, and loses his daughter after a failed suicide attempt. Throughout the film we watch ass billy becomes a completely different person. In the gym, Billy has a job as a janitor, due to the courts rule he has to have a job, and trains with the owner of the gym- Tick- through Tick’s training, billy goes from being a hard headed brute it out kind of fighter to a more complex and complete fighter. Out of the gym Billy has also made drastic changes in his life, with his sole purpose to get his daughter, lelia, back from child services. This film shows us how boxing movies use a tragedy or obstacles to make the character persevere and eventually triumph in the film.

MMA movies have borrowed the similar plots and concepts utilized by boxing movies, and switched them to MMA. Warrior is a film about two brothers, Tommy, and Brendan, who chose completely different paths, but both end up needing to join “the biggest mixed martial arts tournament ever assembled”- Sparta- for their own reasons. Brendan, whose youngest daughter needs open heart surgery, and already putting a second mortgage on the house, with a teachers salary, just isn’t cutting it. Tommy, the ex marine who went awol after a terrible tragedy, and now back home, he needs the money to keep a promise he made while in the service of his country. Throughout the film you see the struggle both Tommy and Brendan face, both with their own life, and dealing with their newly sober dad, whose alcoholism forced their mother to leave and take Brendan with, separating him and Tommy. You also witness as both men Brendan being trained by a friend, and Tommy, being trained by their dad, as they train and fight their way through the tournament eventually leading to the biggest family fight. In this film we see Brendan and Tommy as they train, fight in the tournament, and face their hardships throughout the film. Here Comes the Boom, is the story of Scott Voss, a biology teacher at a struggling High School, In the film, the school plans to cut the school’s music program, after hearing the news Scott decides to try and raise the money through MMA fighting. Through teaching night classes Scott meets Niko a former MMA fighter who agrees to train him for extra tutoring. In the film we witness as Scott goes from a guy getting beat everytime he steps in the octagon till when he begins training, and because of his training he starts to develop as an all around fighter who eventually starts to win earning his way to UFC bout, where he will face his toughest challenger yet- with everything on the line.

One MMA film that does not copy the already existing plot and themes of boxing movies is Redbelt. Redbelt is a film about Mike Terry, an owner and instructor a martial arts, although Mike does face hardships and obstacles through money problems and the fact that his training methods- the fighters having to pick a marble out of a bowl, and if they pick a black one they have to fight with a handicap- have been stolen to increase viewership of an upcoming fight. Mike finds out that the entire the entire competition is rigged, however instead of mike training to beat everyone and win, he already has the skills needed to do so, while using his skill he is able to fight his way to the ring and show everyone how corrupt the fight is. Unlike the the constant overlapping themes of other MMA movies and boxing movies, that perseverance will eventually lead to triumph, in Redbelt the theme is about honor and dignity.