Ultimate Fighting and Embodiment

Dale C. Spencer is a Banting postdoctoral fellow at the University of Alberta. His interests include embodiment, emotions, violence and victimization. He has published in such journals as Body and Society, Punishment and Society and Criminal Law and Philosophy. He is co-editor of Emotions Matter: A Relational Approach to Emotions (University of Toronto Press, 2011) and co-author of Reimagining Intervention in Young Lives (University of British Columbia Press.

• 1. Introduction 2. Phenomenology and Bodies 3. Time, Space and Sense of Fighting 4. Difference and Bodies 5. Being a MMA Fighter 6. Habit(us), Body Techniques and Body Callusing 7. Narratives of Despair, Loss and Failure: Pain, Injury and Masculinities 8. Emotions and Violence 9. Homosociality, (Homo)eroticism and Dueling Practice 10. Conclusion

"Ultimate Fighting and Embodiment contributes new knowledge to not only the study of Mixed Martial Arts and combat sport, but also to studies of violence, emotion and embodiment in sport. The book is most likely written for a sociological audience and in my opinion, it is also best suited for sport sociologists. Some readers and mixed martial arts enthusiasts might find this book overly theoretic. However, scholars with a sociological background will surely appreciate Spencer’s theoretical analyses... provides the reader with a unique sociological analysis of mixed martial arts, emotions, masculinity and embodiment in sport. It’s a good read for scholars (in particular sociologists) interested in sensory ethnography and studies of combat sports!"Anne Tjønndal, Nord University