Since its inception in 1993, the Ultimate Fighting Championship has shaped martial arts practices and entertainment in the United States. UFC brought MMA into the mainstream, making the sport into a multimillion-dollar industry and title fights must-watch TV. But it has also come to attract a particularly ugly brand of right-wing conservatism, particularly as Donald Trump’s presidency made xenophobia, racism, and other forms of white supremacy more acceptable in public. Thankfully, leftists have responded by staking their claim in the martial arts world — and one of the most unique spaces they've carved out is the Southpaw podcast.
The Southpaw name references a fighting stance, but it doubles as a nod at being on the left side of the political spectrum (a “southpaw” is a left-handed fighter). Its tagline, “radicalizing politics and combat sports,” might seem unusual to outsiders. People often think that a) politics have no business in martial arts; or b) martial arts is full of white guys who’d hate-crime somebody in a second. So why would real leftists get involved? To Southpaw’s co-founders Sam and Paul, both of whom requested Mic withhold their last names due to concerns of harassment, these misconceptions are exactly why Southpaw needs to exist.
