Florida State University Libraries Electronic Theses, Treatises and Dissertations The Graduate School 2013 Fighting Culture: Toward a Cultural Economy of the Ultimate Fighting Championship Michael E. Armstrong Follow this and additional works at the FSU Digital Library. For more information, please contact
[email protected] THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE OF EDUCATION FIGHTING CULTURE: TOWARD A CULTURAL ECONOMY OF THE ULTIMATE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSHIP By MICHAEL E. ARMSTRONG A Thesis submitted to the Department of Sport Management in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science Degree Awarded: Summer Semester, 2013 Michael Armstrong defended this thesis on June 28th 2013 The members of the supervisory committee were: Joshua Newman Professor Directing Thesis Michael Giardina Committee Member Jennifer Proffitt Committee Member The Graduate School has verified and approved the above-named committee members, and certifies that the thesis has been approved in accordance with university requirements. ii This thesis is dedicated to my parents whose continued support made this whole process possible. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to acknowledge the help and support of my supervisor Dr. Joshua Newman, and the members of my committee, Dr. Michael Giardina and Dr. Jennifer Proffitt. Their feedback and guidance was instrumental in completing this project. I would also like to thank all those in the Department of Sport Management, the wider College of Education, and Florida State University for encouraging and advancing my academic career. Finally, a special thanks goes to my colleagues in the Tully Media Lab for putting up with me, lending a hand, and keeping me more or less sane throughout this project.