How John McCain Grew to Tolerate MMA, the Sport he Likened to “Human Cockfighting”

In 1996, John McCain called mixed martial arts “human cockfighting.” It was a good jab (never mind the fact that Arizona, the state McCain represented in Congress for over three decades, didn’t officially ban cockfighting until 1998). The term stuck. Even today, with MMA a popular and relatively main-stream form of entertainment, you’ll occasionally hear its critics use his “cockfighting” line. McCain, who died Saturday at the age of 81, may have wanted to destroy the sport in the 1990s, but he will be remembered by some as the man who helped save it.

from Stories from Slate https://ift.tt/2P8SOQ9