Producer Jane Ray Cage Fighting - an honourable sport of skill and strategy or a safety valve for nature's wrestling instinct? A place to prove one's manhood in recessionary times or a pantomime of thuggery?

The diminutive dancer and broadcaster Felicity Finch examines the phenomenal rise of mixed martial arts and explores why this controversial game has flourished despite disapproval from the sporting community.

Press

"Here's a surreal one for Friday morning: a documentary voiced by Felicity Finch, better known to R4 listeners as the voice of Ruth Archer, charting the exponential rise of mixed martial arts (which is no-holds-barred cage fighting to the rest of us). Finch is laudably open-minded about the discipline, and speaks of the dance-like elegance of some of the moves; but the overwhelming impression is of a dangerously violent sport"
Pete Naughton, The Daily Telegraph, 28th October 2010

"Cage fighting does not sound like a subject that would really interest the typical Radio 4 listener. However, Felicity Finch delivers an enjoyable documentary on the fast-growing discipline of mixed martial arts - as its proponents prefer to call it. She follows fighter Mike Wood as he prepares for his first professional fight and is soon gamely taking part in a sparring session. While she does seem quite taken with the sport, there is a concise summary of the medical arguments for and against it. But what will linger longest are the simple words of Mike's young son, Joe, about his dad's fighting."
David Crawford, Radio Times, 23rd October 2010