A Response to "American Standards are a Bit Off-Kilter"

by The Prophet, ProphetFighting

As the Epic Carnival's resident MMA/boxing guy I thought I'd offer a response to the post from earlier today entitled "American Standards are a Bit Off Kilter". With all due respect to the author who's work I read and admire, I think he's a little bit off base on not only the sport of mixed martial arts, but in his generalizations about American attitudes toward violence.

Ever since John McCain described the UFC as "human cockfighting" its been an easy target for those who want to use it as an example of the depravity of American culture. The sport suffers from the same myopic treatment from the mainstream sports media that boxing does. Big sports media outlets have been almost oblivious to the many great fights over the past decade (like the Barrera/Morales and Ward/Gatti trilogies) but if Mike Tyson--a guy who's essentially irrelevant to the boxing community--commits a crime it's front page news. At some point in the past year the mainstream sports media decided that MMA was now worth their coverage, but have generally done a shabby job at it.

First of all, I'm in complete agreement that dog fighting is a repulsive and inhumane practice. I'm of the opinion that Michael Vick deserves everything that he gets, and that anyone else involved in dogfighting should be prosecuted as well. If anything, the fact that a majority of Americans appear to feel the same is a good thing. The obvious difference between dog fighting and boxing/MMA is that humans have the free will to enter these fighting disciplines. They train themselves mentally and physically to fight, and fight under strict rules designed to protect their safety. Fighting dogs are tortured, starved and abused to "make them mean". I'm not aware of any boxer or MMA fighter that has been forced to compete against their will, let alone one that has been beaten, tortured or starved to make them fight more aggressively.

Simon loses me when he tries to suggest that there's some sort of hypocrisy with the intolerance toward dogfighting and a tolerance toward MMA. The primary mistake is the assumption that the Sobral/Heath fight is somehow representative of the sport of MMA. Every sport has ugly incidents and unsportsmanlike competitors and it is no more fair to suggest that Renato Sobral typifies the UFC and the sport of MMA any more than Michael Vick does the NFL. Sobral is a minor character in the MMA world who's trying to hang on following a series of uninspired performances. The fight didn't even air on the UFC 74 PPV broadcast, which is why it isn't exactly on the radar screen of mainstream American.

Furthermore, the initial and most forceful outrage against Sobral's unsportsmanlike actions has come from within the MMA community itself. At the live show in Las Vegas, Sobral was practically booed out of the building after the fight. He threw his cap to the crowd during the postfight interview, and the crowd immediately threw it back. He received a more negative reaction than anyone at the event--even when Kobe Bryant was shown on the video screen. If Sobral's conduct is what attracts fans to the UFC and MMA, the live crowd at the Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas must not have received the memo. UFC President Dana White expressed his outrage during and after the show, suggesting that it was "chickensh*t" and didn't belong in the sport. White immediately fined Sobral $25,000 (meaning that he probably lost money for his night's work) and suggested that more action would be taken. The Nevada Athletic Commission, who oversees mixed martial arts in the state, is also likely to take action.

Its unfortunate that Sobral's shenanigans have overshadowed what was otherwise an excellent event. The big story out of UFC 74 should be the amazing performance of 44 year old Randy Couture, who not only defended his heavyweight title but dominated a bigger, stronger opponent 17 years his junior. The night also featured an impressive comeback fight by Georges St. Pierre and another crowd pleasing effort from superstar of the future Clay "The Carpenter" Guida.

Sobral's behavior both during and after the fight was reprehensible, unsportsmanlike and had no place inside the UFC octagon. On that the writer of the original piece, myself, MMA fans and journalists and UFC President Dana White are all in agreement. It's simply incorrect, however, to suggest that his actions are typical of the UFC or MMA.

The reality is that while MMA injuries are sometimes gruesome--bloody cuts and broken noses--they are seldom serious. Whether or not MMA--or any sport for that matter--is your particular brand of bourbon is a personal matter but the reality is that in terms of serious injuries MMA is not only safer than boxing but in all of the "stick and ball" sports. The NFL, in particular, is notorious for its prevalence of serious injury both among active competitors but among retired players. There are countless former NFL players who are practically crippled from the physical toll of their career.

Bottom line--there's no more correlation between the criminal form of animal abuse that is dogfighting and any sport, be in the NFL, boxing or MMA. Furthermore, it is completely incorrect to suggest that the behavior of Renato "Babalu" Sobral is representative of the sport of MMA whatsoever. Were that the case, the entire MMA community would not have led the outrage against his unsportsmanlike and "chickensh*t" behavior.

(photo: UFC)