Fightville9.30pm Sunday at BUEI‘Fightville’ successfully shatters some of the negative stereotypes associated with Mixed Martial Arts and examines how the sport satisfies the primal urges of its fighters.Filmmakers Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein make no attempt to glorify or glamourise the no-holds barred violence that takes place inside the octagon the MMA ring equivalent or those who inflict it.Instead, they choose to follow the fortunes of two fighters, Dustin Poirier and Albert Stainback.Poirier is a 20-year-old rising star who has used MMA as a productive way of channelling his negative energy.We learn from Poirier’s mother that her son has had run-ins with the law but has transformed his life since taking up the sport, marrying his childhood sweetheart and buying a home.While Poirier is fighting for a better life for his family, his hunger and intensity in front of the camera suggest that physical combat is satisfying some sort of spiritual fulfillment.Inside the octagon, Poirier says, is where he feels most calm and in control.A few rungs behind Poirier is Stainback.Slightly older, more eloquent and with a natural charisma, Stainback seems fascinated by both the physical and psychological aspects of MMA.He admits, in a Freudian sense, he sees his role in the ring as “a protector”, which he puts down to having seen his mother brutally beaten by his father throughout his turbulent childhood.Entering the octagon to the strains of Gene Kelly’s ‘Singing in the Rain’, sporting a bowler hat a clear nod to the dark cult classic film ‘A Clockwork Orange’ Stainback is a showman who knows how to work the crowd but lacks the dedication and talent of Poirer.Both brawlers are trained by ex-MMA competitor Tim (Crazy) Credour, the film’s resident philosopher, who views the octagon as a “canvass” and the fighters as “artists”.The fourth subject of the film is former journeyman fighter, Gil (The Thrill) Guillory, an up-and-coming promoter who helps drum up support for Poirier and Stainback’s bouts.For Guillory, MMA is his livelihood a family business which he goes around promoting around Lafayette, Louisiana, where all the film’s subjects are based, with his wife and two young children.None of the foursome the film focuses on fit into the knuckleheaded, bloodthirsty, pigeon holes sometimes associated with combat sports, helping put a whole different slant on a fascinating subculture, which often receives an undeserved bad reputation.