Issue 025

May 2007

By Hywel Teague

I've been in the game a few years now, and while I’m not exactly ‘old school’ I’ve seen enough to blow away any romantic ideas that mixed martial arts doesn’t have its problems. 

It is easy to forget that MMA is still in many ways a fledgling sport. The early days of MMA (not so long ago) were much like the Gold Rush during the Wild West period. Everyone dashed out West, looking for his fortune. To be precise, people saw the popularity of the UFC and wanted a piece of the action. Just as in the Wild West, these were lawless times, with copycat events springing up all over the world. No holds barred events featured bouts between untrained or out of shape fighters, without thorough pre-fight medical checks. Huge weight differences were commonplace, as were mismatches between fighters with vast differences in experience. 

Look at the UFC and other promotions and the way in which they work closely with state athletic commissions and you’ll see plenty of examples of how it is done properly. Fighters are vetted for medical conditions and drug tested, and cards are subject to scrutiny so as to eliminate any cases of mismatches. Post-fight suspensions are handed out to stop injured fighters from becoming potentially seriously hurt, and pre-fight lockouts are enforced to make sure a fighter does not go into a fight carrying an injury. 

It is partly in thanks to organisations such as the UFC that the rules and regulations that we take for granted nowadays are even in place. Way before Dana White and Zuffa LLC got their hands on the failing UFC it was controlled by a company called Semaphore Entertainment Group (SEG). They had practically bankrupted themselves by not only turning the former spectacle into a legitimate sport, (with gloves, time limits and all manner of rules) but by winning favour with various athletic commissions around the USA. It was this long, hard slog that caused them to finally throw in the towel and sell the UFC for a laughable two million dollars. 

White and co. picked up where SEG left off and implemented further defining changes. Their relationships with athletic bodies grew to the point where they could once again go to states where they had been unwelcome. Over time (and with allies in numerous athletic bodies) the UFC hired a one Marc Ratner. Though you may not recognise his name, Ratner is one of the most influential people in combat sports. He worked with the Nevada State Athletic Commission from 1985 in a number of high profile roles, until being recruited by White to work with the UFC. His job is to liaise with athletic commissions around the States and to facilitate sanctioning in areas where the UFC is not yet active. 

Listen to White though and you get a slightly different, friendlier story. Whereas some might say that Ratner simply acts to further the UFC’s domination of the USA MMA scene, White will tell you differently. His version is that Ratner’s work will standardise MMA across the country, therefore forcing those who have until now cut corners and operated unsafely to shape up. 

Depending on what mood you’re in, you could plump for White’s ‘working for the greater good’ story, or you could see it as a strategic move by a company known for their ruthless business acumen. 

Either way, Ratner’s work in standardising MMA rules across the USA means that regulation will be brought to every corner of the American community. Of course, there is one outstanding area in the MMA world that until now has relied on self-regulation and governance: the United Kingdom. 

Unlike the USA, the UK never went through that ‘Wild West’ period in which anything went. Unlike places like Scandinavia, Eastern Europe and Russia, we didn’t have ‘no holds barred’ events that lacked rules, regulation, control or sanctioning. But we shared, and still share, some traits with these ‘outlaw’ promotions. Sanctioning or governing bodies were and still are a distant dream. Boxing has the British Boxing Board of Control, but what do we have? Not much really, only

a small yet anarchic amount of co-operation between existing promoters. 

When questioned, the UFC basically said that they would be using the standard MMA rules they adhere to in the USA, but were not working with any local sporting authorities when they put on their shows in the UK. But even though there won’t yet be a formal body overseeing the actions of those ‘tin pot’ promotions (some may prefer to call them grass roots) the very presence of the UFC bodes well for the future of the sport. 

With an established history of dealing with uncooperative authorities, the (re)appearance of the UFC in the United Kingdom will institute a change of attitudes as to how the sport is perceived. Fears of ‘toughman’ or even ‘dogfight’ style contests should hopefully be a distant memory, but as old attitudes change, those out there who are operating with sub-standard levels of care for the fighters will soon see themselves struggling to stay afloat. In short, the UFC will raise the bar, which can only be a good thing for those presently skulking underneath it. Gentlemen, your time is up.