Critics of the Ultimate Fighting Championship – or “human cock-fighting,” as John McCain so elegantly put it – wrongly assume that the participants are somewhat limited outside of the cage. The truth is, however, that MMA fighters are perhaps the most educated class of professional athletes.

It comes down to economics. While mainstream sports are  integrated into America’s free public education system, martial lessons have always been – and continue to be – expensive (with some exceptions, check out last year’s NY Times piece on Winchester High School’s MMA Club). If you were training in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the late 90s, odds are you were brought up in at least a middle class family.

Many UFC superstars, such as Rich Franklin, not only obtained four year college degrees, but went on to pursue Masters degrees. College wrestling, in fact, is perhaps the biggest feeder program in the sport. Think about all the recent TUF winners who came out of elite college wrestling programs: CB Dolloway (Arizona State), Ryan Bader (again, Arizona State), etc.

Professional boxing, by contrast, has long been viewed as a way out of poverty, in this county – by the Irish, Jews, and Italians in the 30s and 40s, by the African American community in the 80s and 90 – and throughout the world, by Eastern Europeans in the last decade.  College football and basketball players often leave school after a year or two, especially if they’re expected to be a first round draft pick. Future MMA stars – wrestlers, mainly – are far more likely to finish college.

While the situation may change, as the sport grows in popularity and becomes more accessible (which a good thing), let’s hope that the foundation which has been laid by champions such as Brock Lesnar (University of Minnesota, class of 2000) and Rashad Evans (Michigan State University, class of 2003), to keep our sport at the head of the class.