MMA Misunderstood

[ksgbobo]

I found this as I was checking my email on Comcast. This douche wrote a blog entry about what he thinks MMA should do. What do you guys think?



Tuesdays With Russakoff: A Bite Out of Slice - Russakoff Rules - Comcast.net Community Forums


Biting off a Piece of Kimbo Slice

“[i] dream of tearing off a man’s arm and beating him with it.”

-Kimbo Slice to ESPN the Magazine.

Fantastic quotes like that are a part of the reason combat sports in America are rising in popularity…and yet their existence has never been in more danger. While it is a great time for the proliferation of MMA (see CBS, Spike, and 84 UFC pay-per-views), all of that progress could be lost in an instant.

One blow hits the wrong guy in the wrong spot at the wrong time…and all that you know of MMA could disappear.

Boxing and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) need to start taking the safety of their athletes more seriously than the revenue at their gates. If the leagues don’t mandate head gear during matches and CAT scans before and after fights, they’re one serious incident away from Congress stepping in and changing their rules.

And if that happens no one wins.

I know. You love hand-to-hand combat and you love the gladiatorial (thank “The Intern” for the big word) aspect of blood sports. You want to see knock outs and meat-pulverizing punches, and head gear will rob you of some of that enjoyment.

My answer: get over it. This is not ancient Rome. We are a free society that is supposed to value the sanctity of life more than watching a skull get cracked. And believe me, if that skull gets cracked before these sports self-regulate, Congress will be happy to jump in and “save the day” by ruining your favorite sport.

True, regulations already exist. And yes, no one has died in an MMA match yet. But the operative word in that last sentence is “yet.” When world-class athletes are trained to pound one another in the (head-gearless) head over and over again, an accident is inevitable.

Think about it. Hockey and football—sports where the object isn’t to punch the other guy in the head as hard as you can—require helmets to ensure the protection of their athletes. Baseball now makes its base coaches wear helmets on the off-chance that a ball comes whizzing down the line.

But boxing and MMA leave their athletes to defend themselves.

While some see this as part of the sport that fighters have chosen, look no further than the best hand-to-hand fighters of all time for evidence that even the great ones need more protection than their hands.

Muhammad Ali is a shell of his former self. Is his Parkinson’s a direct result of boxing? No one has proven that it is…but can an intellectually honest person really deny that at least some part of his disability is likely due to the poundings he took?

Or what about Joe Frazier? If you have heard him speak recently you know that his brain is not functioning well enough for any semblance of coherent speech. Smokin’ Joe is still punch drunk 30 years later.

Let’s get these guys some protection. Obviously, head gear and thicker gloves are more controversial options. But, at the very least, can’t we agree on mandatory CAT scans before and after every fight? Where is the harm in closer monitoring of head injuries in sports where the object is to inflict your opponent with head injuries?