There’s a new phenomenon that’s reportedly becoming popular where young males do their best to one-punch KO unsuspecting people on the street. They call it the “Knockout” game. More and more media The story has been picking up traction in many major news outlets.
As the game has gotten more and more time in the limelight, UFC commentator and analyst Kenny Florian spoke out against it:
The stupidity of this is mind boggling. Is this the world we are living in now? What happened to kids playing sports? What happened to going out and watching a funny movie? What happened to video games? What happened to respect and common decency? Never did I expect to give a “these kids these days” kind of speech but nothing sickens me more than seeing kids in the United States doing ignorant things such as knocking people out for fun. Not only can they severely injure and even kill someone, but they themselves risk death in the process. One such teenager got shot a couple times and ended up in jail for his attack. It is the ultimate irony if kids are doing this to see how “manly” they are. There is absolutely nothing manly about knocking out a person who is not expecting to be hit and there is certainly nothing funny about hurting anyone.
Bellator Lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez also weighed in on the issue:
It’s the most cowardice thing you can do in my eyes. So, if you’re listening, and I want to get some video of some real fighters who are on this discussion and see how they feel about it. But, in my eyes it’s the most cowardice thing you can do. Is hit somebody isn’t looking at you and hit somebody who isn’t prepared for you. If you want to be a real man and you want to be courageous and you want to have the respect of your peers and people around you, you should prepare and be ready for a real fight from someone who’s also prepared for you.
With the threat of this game growing in media attention, I fully support both Florian and Alvarez speaking out against it. Violent attacks like that against an unsuspecting victim are absolutely deplorable and should not be celebrated as a sort of fun hobby. However, some doubt has been raised regarding whether or not this is actually a real trend and not just a few incidences being exaggerated by the media. Regardless I definitely support both fighters in their efforts to be a positive influence.