Issue 027

July 2007

The former Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC), 61 year old Ratner was for many years one of the most respected and influential men in the boxing world. He started working for the NSAC as an inspector in 1984 and worked his way into the top position by 1993.

With an excellent reputation among sportswriters, other athletic commissions, and television and pay-per-view companies, Ratner may have been one of last year's biggest signings for Zuffa. In March 2006 he announced his resignation from the NSAC, and declared his new role as Zuffa's Vice President for Regulatory Affairs. His association with Zuffa owners the Fertittas dates back to the 1980's, when Lorenzo worked with him as an NSAC board member.

Today, Ratner is a passionate advocate and enthusiastic fan of MMA, but it wasn't always that way. Eleven years ago he was such a vociferous critic of the UFC, he appeared on 'Larry King Live' alongside future US presidential hopeful John McCain in a debate with UFC star Ken Shamrock and then-owner Bob Meyrowitz. Today, Ratner explains his opposition back then. "Their whole thought process, their whole marketing was based on 'no holds barred' and 'anything goes'. We could never have a sport with that philosophy in the state of Nevada. It just couldn't happen." When asked what changed his mind, Ratner gives a straightforward account. "Slowly SEG [previous UFC owners] began putting in place more and more rules and by late 2000, they and the New Jersey State Athletic Commission had a workable, codified set of rules. That's what it needed to be approved: clearer, stricter rules. I couldn't be in Trenton [New Jersey] that day in 2001 but I was on the phone with them, and New Jersey and SEG hammered out these rules that Leading Men Marc Ratner Regulation Pioneer are basically what we use today in Nevada."

When asked about his current role, Ratner explained "Its my job to make sure we're approved and regulated in as many places as possible. Right now I'm delighted that we're in 22 states and working on Illinois and Michigan. I'm hoping we'll have approval in those states by the end of the summer. We recently had Pennsylvania approved, which opens up the possibility of a show in Philadelphia or Pittsburgh. We won't go into an American state without an athletic commission but here in the UK there's not even that kind of thing in existence. I know a lot of MMA goes on in the UK but I'm shocked that for the most part there's no serious medical testing and a lot of mismatches. We want to elevate the sport, to make it safe."

Ratner explained how a promotion like the UFC, so insistent on being part of a regulatory framework in the US, would handle that side of things in Britain. "We'd love to see the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC) have an affiliate commission that regulates MMA. For this show we're making the fighters do everything they'd do as it would be done in Nevada. We've got four British doctors, a consulting doctor from the US and we've brought over experienced inspectors too. I'll essentially be the athletic commission for this show and its hard being self-regulating. We'd much rather work with a commissioning body. We've invited the BBBC to this show and I think this is a good test for them to take a look at this and see there's room for both sports to co-exist, both here and in America."

When the conversation turned to how and whether he enjoys MMA as a fan, Ratner is very clear about his initial thoughts after UFC were sanctioned in Nevada.

"The first event I went to live was a Tito Ortiz fight in Nevada. I'd seen the sport before on DVD and video but that was the first time live. My first impression, and I'm still surprised by this even today, the place was three-quarters full, ninety minutes before the main event. You just don't see that in boxing. I liked the pace of the shows as well. As a live event it's very fast. HBO insist on the ring being cleared thirty minutes before the TV show starts. It just kills the crowd."

Ratner went on, "I'm a fan of the athleticism. Fighting for a five minute round is incredible. I'm still learning all the time. The more I see, the more I understand what's happening on the ground. Comparing it to boxing, I don't know, the best thing I can say is that it's like I have two children. The older one is boxing, the younger one is MMA, and I love them both."

In a better position than most to comment on the ongoing, and very tiresome, subject of boxing vs. MMA, Ratner was diplomatic towards those in the 'Noble Art' but is clearly frustrated at some of the ignorant things being said. "I think a lot of the boxing people who are negative about the sport are hearing footsteps behind them. They're worried about it and really they'd be better off just not saying anything."

Finally, we asked what, if anything, he thought needed adding or removing from the current NSAC rulebook. "I think the rules always need to be fine tuned. I'm absolutely against kicking or stomping on the head of a downed opponent. That's just not what the sport's about. Our goal is to have a set of rules worldwide that are the same. Just like soccer. One set of rules all over the world."