Verbal Submission: General MMA Thoughts

A lot of happenings in the past week in the world of mixed martial arts. Let’s go over some of it.

Music to listen to: Hare Krsna by The Thievery Corporation

-Events such as Shark Fights are necessary for the evolution of mixed martial arts. I’ve been disappointed by the negativity that I’ve seen from the media about this event.

I think that we’re starting to see a perception that if the MMA event isn’t under the Zuffa brand, meaning World Extreme Cage fighting (WEC) or Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), it’s not worth acknowledging.

That isn’t true. You’re starting to see some respect go to Strikeforce, Bellator and even Dream in Japan, however, when a smaller promotion such as Shark Fights has an event, critics will mock the lower-budget production or the lack of recognizable names outside of those who may have been in the UFC or WEC in the past.

However, I saw some of the fights and it wasn’t as bad as I expected. I thought that the Keith Jardine and Trevor Prangley fight went as expected and truly showed the volatile nature of MMA. Two years ago, Jardine was arguably one victory away from fighting for the light heavyweight title in the UFC. Now, he is on a five-match losing streak and lost to a fighter that normally fights as a middleweight.

Than you had Houston Alexander fighting Rameau Sokoudjou swinging for the fences and trying to gain a knockout. The only knock I had was the terrible officiating. Sokoudjou dominated the first round but Alexander came back to get the stoppage in the second round. The referee let Alexander throw over 50 consecutive punches at Sokoudjou’s head without the loser responding. That’s unprofessional and gives the critics of the safety of MMA more ammunition to critique the sport.

We also saw Paul Daley get back on track with a win and Tarec Saffiedine score a minimal upset over Brock Larson.

-Shine Fights may be setting a dangerous precedent with unsanctioned MMA events on Native American Tribal lands.

The condensed version of this situation is that Shine Fights, a Florida-based MMA promotion, wanted to have an eight-man, one night tournament but were rejected by the athletic commissions in Virginia and Oklahoma. However, the promotion found a way to have the event Sept. 10 at the First Council Casino in Newkirk, Oklahoma in partnership with the Otoe-Missouria Tribe.

The United States Congress passed the Boxing Safety Reform Act of 1996 which was amended with the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act, meaning that there are certain rules and regulations that boxing events at Native American reservations must meet. MMA isn’t under these regulations.

Some have sighted that Zuffa has spent a significant amount of money and time to make sure that it isn’t part of the Reform Act. Its assumed that Zuffa hasn’t done this to avoid sanctioning and in fact has been proactive in helping regulate MMA.

Regulations by state athletic commissions shouldn’t be looked at as an obstacle to run your promotion but as a harbinger to promote safety and the overall integrity of the event.

MMA tournaments are usually not approved by athletic commissions because making one man fight up to three times in one night isn’t safe.

I know the older fans of MMA would like to tournaments and I’ll admit for nostalgia, it would be nice but this is a different time than the late 1990’s.

I haven’t seen the UFC Fight Night from Wednesday or the premiere of the Ultimate Fighter but when I do, I’ll have opinions on that as well.

What are your thoughts?