MMA & Boars

Franz, a Swallow-Bellied Mangalitsa boar

I remember reading a while ago about MMA and cauliflower ear. Men fight and traumatize their ears. The results are distinctive: ugly and misshapen ears.

Science has shown that scars from fighting increase the attractiveness of men to women for short term relationships. I've heard that in Japan and Brazil (where guys grapple a lot), cauliflower ear is more common than here and than there's a sizable group of women who think that men with cauliflower ear are attractive.


Unlike pigs, humans strategize. In the past, men purposefully scarred themselves in dueling clubs to increase their attractiveness to women. It worked. These days, some grapplers purposefully avoid treating their ears, so that they get cauliflower ear. If you read the New York Times article on it, it is clear that some guys are just itching to have cauliflower ear.

Brad Pitt in "Fight Club"

With pigs, relationships are always short term. Pig breeders know that sows will stand quicker for scarred up boars that look awful than younger, prettier boars.

I find this stuff fascinating.