Issue 071

January 2011

I read an intriguing psychological theory recently that the offspring of highly successful individuals will often sub-consciously veer away from the same direction in life, often battling to gain the praise of their ‘successful’ parents through another medium. It’s an unusual dynamic, and one that may apply to the likes of Carlos Condit, BJ Penn, James Wilks and Kenny Florian. Perhaps heavyweights are not afflicted in the same way!

Penn’s parents, JD Penn and wife Lorraine Shin, are prominent property owners in the Pu’ueo neighborhood of Hilo. Although BJ’s luster has slipped of late – with New Jersey’s Frankie Edgar having the skill set blueprint to defeat him twice in succession in UFC lightweight title contests – Penn signaled early to his folks that he has sublime physical skills. Condit’s father, Brian, works in political office as the chief of staff for New Mexico’s Governor Bill Richardson, the former Democratic presidential candidate, while his mother, Camille Prevost, is an obstetrics nurse. Condit can recall dinner table family talk revolving around political stories, the major breaking news of the day, but says MMA gave him his “chance to make a mark.” There is a sense of credit, too, I’d venture, for Condit from fans and organizers, as his privileged background is not a subject he looks to broach. It gives him greater cred in his chosen profession, having dipped out of going to university/college, to work as a nightclub doorman, and a lifeguard for a couple years while his MMA career was taking off. James Wilks is the heir to a multimillion-dollar storage company, and attended one of England’s most bespoke private schools, Uppingham. Wilks had the classical gentleman’s education. Bourne’s Witham Hall Preparatory School, aged seven, before moving on to the $40,000-a-year public school. His grandfather, Thomas Wilks, was a paratrooper who fought in the Arnhem assault in World War II. While many of Wilks’ contemporaries remember him as a quiet, unassuming pupil, and have gone on to professions in music and banking, Wilks set up his own gym in Orange County, California, teaching martial arts defensive unarmed combat techniques to American Marines, police and drug enforcement agencies. Ken Florian is the fourth of six children born to Peruvian parents Agustin and Ines Florian. Agustin is a thoracic surgeon, and, although education was important to Ken, sport was what captured him. But it was association football that entranced him for a long time. 

Of course, all four fighters enjoy parental support today. Their parents know that their sons are also involved in a duality within their sport. Making a living as professional fighters, but also pioneers in changing widespread misconception of an activity they passionately believe is a sport. What they did, however, was distance themselves from their parents’ occupations, to make their own way in life. 

Does India really have the DNA for MMA?

Dana White’s global vision marches forward, with Zuffa executives striding into new continents with an empirical zeal underpinned by the vaulting ambition of challenging association football as the next most popular sport on the planet. White’s theory that “the DNA is in us” to watch fight sports at their most raw, and entertaining, is a compelling argument. Five hundred billion people worldwide now have access to UFC events, and with deals being negotiated in China and India, he believes that figure could rise to one billion sometime next year. I fully grasp the entire concept of embedding and eventual acceptance in China. Indeed, you could probably place bets that we see Chinese mixed martial artists given some spotlight in the organization within a year. Indeed, we have already seen Tie Quan Zhang in the WEC. In Mark Fischer, Zuffa have an extremely savvy guy, and Mandarin speaker, controlling the China project.

But India? I’m not so sure. Cricket is obviously the number-one sport there, and the UFC may have already missed the boat. Cricket is part of the lifeblood of the country, bound up in its colonial history with the English, and a source of export pride for the giant nation. I’m just not sure whether the cultural fit is clear with India, though it may sit more comfortably in Pakistan and outlying areas, where warrior cultures flourish.

WEC comes in from the cold

The marriage of the WEC and the UFC was inevitable. Hardcore WEC buffs – savoring the UFC’s ‘little brother’ as if it were a PRIDE-type entity on its own – will howl for some time about the demise of a perfectly formed organization.

The WEC, owned by Zuffa, and as discussed in this column some months ago, was a useful tool for creating two television deals. Given the expansion in UFC events, it was a matter of time before the WEC and the UFC were wedded. The wider picture is that this strengthens the flagship organization in mixed martial arts, allowing Joe Silva, the UFC matchmaker, to plot title fights on almost every numbered UFC event. With the lightweight divisions subsumed, the two new weight categories added in the UFC at 135lb and 145lb draws up a substantial addition to the events. Wouldn’t mind betting that 125lb will also be added once the new markets in China have opened up fully…

Taking cover

And finally… a fighter recently disclosed to me that it is difficult to get, or too expensive to maintain, full medical insurance 24/7, 365 days of the year. Many fighters are only insured at fight time, and the fighter in question intimated that professional mixed martial artists will go into a championship event injured to get their health care paid. That can’t be right. Surely it’s now time for all fighters on contracts in the major mixed martial arts organisations to have full health-care insurance? 

Gareth A Davies is boxing and MMA correspondent for The London Telegraph