Since the UFC’s inception in 1993, there has been a constant struggle to legitimize the sport with the general public. Whether it is John McCain’s comments referring to it as a “bloodsport” or more recent homosexual remarks from legendary boxing promoter Bob Arum the sport has faced much criticism.
The mixed martial arts faithful have challenged these accusations and insults for years, but the stigma around the sport is still alive. The national television deals that Elite XC and Strikeforce signed and the UFC’s video game deal prove that the sport has began to reach the mainstream audience however there is still a long way to go.
There is still a common misconception among members of society that mixed martial artists are trying to “kill” or “mame” eachother inside of a cage and this is something that the sport has tried to get away from throughout the years.
Over the past two weeks however, unintelligent comments by a few high level UFC fighters have done little to help the sport escape the poor image so many people have.
In an interview with Mark Madden on WXDX Frank Mir Stated “I hate who he is as a person. I want to break his neck in the ring. I want him to be the first person that dies due to Octagon-related injuries. That’s what’s going through my mind.”
Only a few days later, Marcus Davis states that he hopes Dan Hardy “dies of aids.” These are not the first death wishes that have came up in the UFC and likely will not be the last. Before their UFC 94 bout, B.J Penn stated during the primetime series that he wanted to kill Georges St. Pierre.
To be fair both fighters did apologize for their comments afterwards however this does not excuse the fact that it was said in public. Idiotic comments such as these do not only hurt the reputations of the fighters who say them, but it looks bad on the sport as well.
I completely understand that trash talking is part of the fight game. Like in professional wrestling, building up a fight is important because the sports success is so dependant on pay-per-view buys. Fights such as Ortiz vs. Liddell and Penn vs. St. Pierre are among the best sellers because of the animosity built up between the fighters.
When we look at other sports, idiotic remarks resulted in punishment either through suspension of severe fine. National Hockey League player Sean Avery was suspended six games in late 2008 because of a comment about other players falling in love with his “sloppy seconds.” Last year when Serena Williams threatened to shove a tennis ball down a judge’s throat she was fined $82,500 and another comment would have raised this to nearly $200,000.
Perhaps the most serious situation was with MLB pitcher John Rocker in 2000. In an interview with Sports Illustrated, he said he would not play for either of the New York teams because he would not want to take a train “through Beirut next to some kid with purple hair, next to some queer with AIDS, right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time, right next to some 20-year-old mom with four kids.” For these inexcusable comments, Rocker was suspended for the entire spring training and the first 14 games of the regular season.
Obviously there are many differences between mixed martial arts and any other professional sport. Not only does it take a completely different mindset to fight, but the amount of times a fighter competes per year in comparison with other sports is much less.
Perhaps suspensions are not an option due to fighters only getting paid for when they fight. When a football or hockey player gets injured or suspended during the season, they often still recieve compensation due to their contracts. Fighters are paid on a fight by fight basis. Simply put, if you are not fighting, you are not making money.
This is not acceptable behavior by world class athletes and perhaps its time that Dana White put his foot down. These fighters who come out and make public death threats or wishes need to be reprimanded for their actions or such activity will continue to happen and make the sport look bad. White needs to do something to curve this activity and set an example that death threats should be left out of the sport.
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Amber
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Singh is King
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Studog
i agree with you fully about how Dana should put the kibosh on this sort of stuff, but it would come off as a bit hypocritical when Dana is doing it too. i seen a video a while back that Dana wishes death on Loretta Hunt and Steve Mazzagatti, so its as they say “monkey see, monkey do” lol.
what ever happen to free speech?
free speech is a great thing, BUT when your trying to uphold a certain image (high level pro sports) you have to be willing to cater to ALL audiences. some people are bothered by cussing and stuff like that, but when was the last time you heard someone say the got upset over someone NOT cussing? so if group A doesnt like statements like the one Mir made and group B could care less ether way, then you might as well tell Mir to watch his mouth and then everyone can be happy.
I agree R.J. -sounds like my arguement on James Toney – I know title contention is important, BUT when you are trying to uphold a certain image (superiority in your version of combat sports) you have to be willing to cater to ALL audiences, i.e. entertain the masses… and prove your point, in the end – feed that sucker to a high level striker with an even HIGHER LEVEL ground game..
RJ, where you been? how was your visit with Dennis? hehe.. I was wondering what you think about the Toney thing…
As for the free speech thing… I agree that theres a time and place for it. How about a guy exercising free speech in a day care or kindergarten lol.
Also, how should Dana go about punishing guys? not with fines, so what then? spankings?
Oh! how about Tyson? look at the kind of stuff he’s said over the years, Mir and Davis don’t even come close man lol.
lol ive been so busy lately man, i still check in but i havent had time for one of my long winded posts lol.
James Toney….. i still dont know what to think. im not even sure i believe Toney will actually fight, after watching some of the videos of him talking about it, it makes me think hes already done what he was trying to do by getting everyone talking about him. when they book him in a match, then i’ll start to worry about the health and welfare of the CHUBBY, OLD, BOXER lol.
and you hit it bang on with the free speech thing, there is almost no jobs out there that you can just say what ever is on your mind and no matter what way you slice it these fight are doing a job and should treat it that way.
I think that if Couture can get a license then Toney can too – period – now if he gets chewed up and spat out in dramatic fashion .. that would indicated he has NO business being in a cage – honestly, I think if he fighter Kimbo … he will win in round one, he has more accurate hands, and he has knockout power with the pillows…. OMG with the 4oz gloves…. in that sort of fight, I would worry that Kimbo might get REALLY hurt …
no doubt the commissions would license Toney im more thinking hes gonna turn down every option presented. with the way Toney talks about MMA (“im not gonna LET no man take me down and lay on me”) hes not been educated very well on the sport, and even a guy as limited as Kimbo would (could) take him down and maul him. dont get me wrong, i like James Toney… AS A BOXER! having said that, in MMA i hope Toney get himself embarrassed and never talks of it again.
You guys crack me up. Do you all really think Toney will ever stop talking **** about MMA even after he gets pulverized? of course not, that’s what we love about his personality. He is a master self marketer, just like most pro boxers had to learn to be, years ago.
He signed a multi-fight contract, so it’s not like he will only
fight one & be done. Now is calling out Lesnar…lol.
Toney vs. Lesnar?
(Brock Lesnar rd.1 via homocide)
on last nights inside MMA (Toney was a guest) he was calling out everyone, including Anderson lol. he actually said Anderson better stay at middle weight because if he moves up for a fight with Toney hes gonna get hurt lmao. with all his talk, im gonna predict he receives an embarrassing, one sided asss kicking at the hands of ANY fighter they put him in with.