I found myself itching for more MMA recently so I decided to check out DWCS and I was pleasantly surprised by the fighting but came away a little conflicted about the whole thing.

For anyone who hasn't seen it the conceit of the show is that young hungry fighters come on to make a big impression on Dana White and hopefully get a UFC contract. It's pretty clear from watching their backstorys that a lot of these fighters come from pretty desperate situations and they're pinning all their hopes for a decent life on making it to the UFC.

What isn't clear is what if any compensation they receive for traveling to Vegas and fighting on the show or what it really means for them if they get a contract.

Although I've been casually following MMA for years I'm pretty ignorant of the economics of the sport. Essentially I'd like to find some justification as to how DWCS isn't just a step up from watching bum fights on ESPN and the best I've come up with so far is that if they don't succeed on the show that's the universe's way of telling them to stop trying to make a living by fighting.