However, we must be careful not to label it a cage fight. There was no striking involved, and no use of punches or kicks or knees; that is why they were not wearing gloves or headgear. What the two young lads in the cage were doing was actually just a grappling match, little different to what hordes of young boys and girls do every weekend at judo and wrestling competitions.
I report on "cage fighting", and the public perception of the sport saddens me: it is not violent titillation for the beer-soaked masses. In fact, I have a problem with the very term "cage fighting": no other sport is defined by the environment in which it takes place. "Cage fighting" is no more a correct title for my sport than "grass ball kicking" is for football.
The fencing is essential to the safe conduct of matches. A boxing ring allows the prospect of participants falling through the ropes, which is extremely dangerous. Unfortunately, the use of a cage also lends itself well to marketing and this has been embraced by unscrupulous promoters, who know that controversy attracts attention and sells tickets.
The correct term for this sport is mixed martial arts (MMA) and, ironically, the fights can often be quite boring. The fighters frequently end up clinched in a stalemate position as they wrestle each other; and with minor shifts for positional advantage going unnoticed by the casual observer, you will frequently hear loud booing from the audience. Human cock-fighting it is not.
MMA was originally conceived as a platform to test the effectiveness of the various martial arts disciplines against each other. Few of us have not sat in a pub and debated whether Bruce Lee could beat Jean-Claude Van Damme, or whether a black belt in karate could beat a champion boxer.
In its early days participants tended to come from one discipline only and the matches were very much "style v style". It quickly became apparent which elements of which arts were useful and over the years, the previously neglected ground-fighting arts of wrestling and jiu jitsu came to prominence. Soon, everybody started to cross-train and today mixed martial arts includes fighting both standing up and on the floor.
Thousands of people practise MMA all over the country, of all ages, including women, because not only is it an outlet for excess energy, but it builds confidence, physical fitness and good character. For youngsters, the gym or dojo will be the scene of hard work, successes and failures. Each mountain climbed provides a sense of achievement, each disappointment, an opportunity to learn from failure and bounce back.
The two boys at the Greenlands New Labour club in Preston were at less risk, physically, than if they played rugby or went go-karting, but MMA is heavily stigmatised. Those involved should have put common sense before self-interest and stopped the fight happening.
It has to be said, children put into questionable situations is not isolated to the MMA world. Child beauty pageants caused a stir for much the same reason, and who has not been to a junior football match and heard a father ranting and raving at the referee about minor decisions?.
Footballers set some of the worst examples for young people; by contrast MMA fighters, despite the perceived brutality of their sport, are often among the most well-mannered, amiable people you could meet. This is partly because their line of work means they have no fragile ego and nothing to prove, but also because their martial arts instructors have inculcated within them notions of respect and good discipline.
The two youngsters actually displayed some jiu jitsu skill, and will probably develop into good martial artists. But being a good martial artist is also about more than snarling your way into a cage for a video to post on Facebook. It is up to coaches, parents, promoters and instructors to be responsible. MMA can be a tool for good, but it easily crosses the line from sport to spectacle – and that is to be avoided at all costs.
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