NSW Premier Chris Minns says it’s a GOOD thing for kids to learn to fight like UFC stars

Self-confessed UFC fan Chris Minns has promoted the violent cage fighting competition’s safety record as he revealed he is all for kids learning to fight like the stars of the octagon.

The NSW Premier promised to bring blockbuster UFC fights back to Sydney as part of his election manifesto in January and took center stage as Israel Adesanya lost his middleweight title to Sean Strickland in the port city on Sunday.

Minns said the sport would provide “entertainment, jobs and tourism dollars” and “enhance Sydney’s sporting reputation and showcase our state to the world” as he sold cage fighting to NSW residents – and on Monday he praised it for a ​other reason.

The NSW Premier watched Sean Strickland (right) beat Israel Adesanya (left) in a huge upset – and later admitted his wife wouldn’t let him take their kids to see the fight card

The Prime Minister appeared on 2GB presenter Ben Fordham’s program and was asked whether he had taken his children to the fights at the Qudos Bank Arena the day before.

“No, I didn’t do that, my wife wouldn’t let me do that,” he replied.

Fordham then said, “If your son said he wanted to be a UFC fighter, what would you say?”

Minns’ answer was illuminating.

“I have to be honest with you, I think it gets a bad rap, especially when it comes to boxing when you have jiu-jitsu and wrestling, which is the foundation of the sport,” he said.

‘In many cases it is not as dangerous as the head blows that occur routinely, especially in professional boxing, and as a result many parents allow their children to participate in wrestling, jiu-jitsu or grappling, for example.

The UFC is known for its spectacular striking and wrestling, with huge punches like this one by Felipe dos Santos in Sydney on Saturday occurring regularly

Tai Tuivasa is pictured being knocked down by Alexander Volkov at UFC 293 in a scene repeated at most cage fighting tournaments. Despite the sport’s obvious risks, Minns has praised the sport for being safer than professional boxing

“I think it’s probably a good thing.”

Minns’ comments are likely to sideline campaigners against violence and child safety.

The UFC has come under intense criticism over injuries to fighters, especially as repeated concussions have been proven to cause the fatal and incurable brain disease chronic traumatic encephalophathi (CTE) in athletes.

Western Australia even banned cage fighting in 2013 before the ban was lifted in 2017.

When he made his campaign promise about the UFC, Minns was slammed by women’s consultancy Full Stop, which accused him of helping to promote violence by spending $16 million to bring the events to NSW.

“We would prefer not to see taxpayer dollars being used for events like this that glorify violence,” said Hayley Foster, CEO of Full Stop.

Professional boxers wear gloves with much more padding than those used by UFC stars like Justin Tafa (pictured as he knocks out Austen Lane in Sydney)

“We have very problematic messages that we send to men and boys in our communities about what it means to be a real man.”

Last week, Minns defended bringing the UFC tournament to Sydney in light of headliner Strickland’s controversial behavior.

The American admitted to punching a fight fan at Bondi Beach and posted the following post on X, formerly known as Twitter: ‘I’m in Sydney and I thought I’d be surrounded by dirty liberals (sic). Gay and trans flags everywhere… Literally zero… maybe America is the problem, lmao!’

Strickland defeated Adesanya by unanimous decision to capture the world title in what many fans and experts consider one of the biggest upsets in mixed martial arts history.