Will Fighter Deaths Stall MMA?
From the time fifteen years ago when presidential hopeful and failure, Senator John McCain, made his “human cockfighting” argument, opponents of the sport were convinced that “extreme fighting” was barbaric and should be banned outright.
Not for the faint of heart, the early bouts were indeed savage and uncompromising in their execution.
MMA is now essentially a ‘legitimate’ sport known as Mixed Martial Arts and the organization called the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), and the UFC is Dana White, a smack-talking ex-boxing promoter and aerobics instructor who serves as the promotion’s president.
White and his friends and partners, the Fertitta brothers, worked with state sanctioning organizations like the Nevada State Athletic Commission to institutionalize the rules of the sport and bring legitimacy to what was a balls-out street fight packaged for cable television.
You now have brands like Bud Light, Burger King, and Harley Davidson duking it out for space on the promotion’s PPV cards.
MMA fights are, of course, still illegal in several states, the largest of them, New York, where MMA remains persona non grata since its inception in 1997.
With the recent deaths of Michael Kirkham and now, kickboxer Adrienne Simmons, the naysayers and bluenoses opposed to MMA competition have new ammunition for their crusade.
Simmons, a 30-year-old female, died Monday afternoon after fighting on a card over the weekend. The Atlanta native was competing in Florida for an event sponsored by the International Kickboxing Federation, and she took a devastating left hook to the head during the third and final round of her fight.
The opponents of the sport won’t likely be bothered to acknowledge the fact that Simmons was immediately treated by an IKF doctor. Their take will clearly be that MMA, like boxing before it, is too dangerous.
On the flip side, the people who love the sport as spectators and competitors have a take that’s hard to argue with in this, our supposedly free society:
“It’s wrong to deny MMA just because some people, usually who know nothing about the sport and have never seen it, don’t want it around,” said the father of the UFC, Royce Gracie not long ago. “If you are not interested in MMA, don’t buy a ticket. It’s un-American to deny MMA fans the fun and entertainment that a live event would bring just because you don’t like it.”
Renewed opposition to MMA in general will be what it has always been, essentially background hiss at full volume used by certain factions intent on moving forward their own agendas. They may well be able to throw obstacles in the way of the sport’s further growth, but they will not be capable of rolling back the hands of time.
Similar Posts:
- Georgia Kickboxer Dies As A Result of Injuries
- Dana White on MMA Safety
- Ex-UFC Matchmaker John Perretti On Michael Kirkham’s Death in South Carolina
- Death of MMA Fighter Michael Kirkham Sure To Have PR Repercussions
- Typical MMA Injuries – Where The Hell Did I Leave My Car Keys?
- Efrain Escudero Has An Electric Personality
- Our Medical Segment – Your Friend the Hematoma With Host Joe Lauzon
- This Is Going to Leave a Mark – Miguel Torres and the Aftermath of WEC 47
Loading ...