Cockfighting opponents in Oklahoma worry support is growing for weakening the state's ban on the bloody sport

Before Oklahoma became one of the last places in the U.S. to outlaw cockfighting in 2002, it wasn't uncommon to see hundreds of spectators packed into small arenas in rural parts of the state to watch roosters, often outfitted with razor-sharp steel blades, fight until a bloody death.

More than 20 years after the ban took effect, some worry Oklahoma is starting to waver.

A proposal to weaken cockfighting penalties cleared the Oklahoma House. A political action committee is raising money to support farmers who raise game fowl. And in a video since pulled from YouTube, Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt recorded a message supporting the group known as the Oklahoma Gamefowl Commission, saying he would "cheer you on from the sidelines."