I know I’ll catch some flak for saying this, but I don’t get mixed-martial arts as a sport. I know it’s become one of the most popular athletic forms of entertainment, especially with the male demographic. It is supposed to include various techniques and forms of fighting such as boxing, kick-boxing and jiu-jitsu, but I never see these techniques in fights. What I see reminds me of what Edward Norton and Brad Pitt started in the movie ‘‘Fight Club.”

Fights usually constitute five five-minute rounds (in top billed fights), in which fighters go at each other with the intent of inflicting bodily damage. I admit it is sometimes entertaining, yet other times it’s somewhat comical. A colleague of mine hit the nail on the head when he said MMA fights have become less about techniques and more about straight-up brawling. Promoters hype fighters experience in various forms of martial arts, yet all I see are two guys sparring like they were involved in a combination of street fight and a World Wrestling Entertainment match.

So I wasn’t exactly surprised to find out that new heavyweight champion Brock Lesner once wrestled in the WWE. At 6 feet 3 inches and 265 pounds, Lesner out-weighed defending champion Randy Couture, a former boxer and Olympic alternate, by 45 pounds and was favored to win the fight despite Couture’s years of experience compared to Lesner’s. I wonder why! Couture spent the majority of the fight trying to unlock himself from Lesner’s grip or hold him to the fence until he could come up with a better strategy that could take Lesner down. Too bad David couldn’t take a slingshot into the cage to fend off Goliath.

With just over two minutes left in the second round, Lesner caught Couture with a punch to the face that knocked Couture down. After taking several strikes to his face, Couture’s reign as the heavy weight champion came to an end when the referee declared the fight over with 1:53 left in the round.

In my limited experience with MMA, I’ve come to the conclusion that regardless of how much analysts or friends suggest that size counts as a disadvantage, it most often is the opposite. It’s the reason Lesner and Kimbo Slice are the stars they’ve become without much skill. Yes Lesner was a former college wrestler, but unless the goal of MMA is to pin your opponent down for as long as possible without action, then he lacks the skill of an MMA fighter.

One assumption that has floated around among analysts as to why MMA has gained popularity in such a short period is in its appeal to the everyday guy with limited skill. Guys think that with a little bit of training and discipline, they too can find themselves within the confines of the cage, even though most have no intent of following through. It makes sense, considering Slice made his way to the UFC by a series of popular Internet-viewed backyard fights.

I interviewed George Lockhart, a Marine sergeant based in Quantico and the middleweight title holder in the American Fight League a few months back, and got a keen sense of how disciplined and dedicated most of these fighters are. I give them the respect that is due. I’m just having a hard time accepting a brawl as a sport. But I’m open to be convinced otherwise.