Daniel Cormier and Fred Warner discuss why people like violent sports such as MMA and football

Daniel Cormier and NFL linebacker Fred Warner recently weighed in on why people like violent sports such as MMA and football. In a recent edition of the show Multifaceted on Cormier’s YouTube channel, 'DC' and Warner opined that people are attracted to watching violent sports just as they’re drawn to watching a car crash.

Both Cormier and Warner believe that despite the plethora of safety measures introduced to football over the years, it’s still an extremely dangerous sport. The 25-year-old Warner is a top-tier NFL linebacker who plays for the San Francisco 49ers.

Recalling his younger years, Warner highlighted that his mother forbade him from fighting and watching combat sports. Nevertheless, as he grew up, he started gravitating towards fighting, albeit as a fan and not as a competitor.

The California native indicated that he has tremendous respect for MMA fighters, given how dangerous combat sports tend to be. Furthermore, putting forth his opinion regarding why people love to watch violent sports, Warner stated:

“Why do people love watching football, love watching UFC fights, love watching boxing?” Cormier chimed in by simply asserting, “They like the car crash.” Warner concurred and added, “They love the car crash. And they know that they’ll never put themselves in that situation. They’d rather watch somebody else do it.”

Watch Daniel Cormier and Fred Warner discuss the allure of violent sports at the 18:25-minute mark in the video below:

Daniel Cormier on the “very difficult job” of being an MMA referee

The volatile nature of an MMA fight makes MMA refereeing one of the toughest jobs around, and Daniel Cormier recently gave his take on the same. On ESPN MMA’s The DC & RC Show, Cormier notably referenced the purported early stoppage in Jairzinho Rozenstruik’s first-round TKO loss against Alexander Volkov in their heavyweight bout earlier this month.

An MMA referee is tasked with protecting both fighters. The losing fighter is to be protected by the referee by stopping the fight if they’re unable to intelligently defend themselves. The referee thereby saves them from suffering unnecessary damage.

‘DC’ alluded to these facts and explained that Rozenstruik should’ve been more active to show that he was capable of continuing the fight. Defending referee Herb Dean’s decision to stop the fight early, former UFC light heavyweight and heavyweight champion Cormier said:

“A little bit of that is on the athlete also. It's not just on the official because it is a very, very difficult job. That's one of the things that I'm kind of having to watch myself on. It's that you have got to be aware and really present and knowing that these are human beings."

Watch the full video below: