Ian Murphy shouldn't have been allowed to fight against Ronaldo Jacare on the DREAM 2 MMA card in Tokyo. That he was demonstrates the almost complete lack of regulatory oversight in Japanese MMA. The fight culture of the country is rooted in sumo and pro wrestling, with individual fighters often viewed as expendable and interchangeable commodities. In some cases even the simplest steps to protect the fighters' safety are not taken.
A matchup between Ian Murphy and Ronaldo Jacare would have almost certainly been refused sanctioning in the United States. Murphy, a very young 22, was a standout collegiate wrestler who as of a couple of months ago was completing his senior season at Cal State Fullerton. Despite this impressive background, hed been training seriously in mixed martial arts for just over a month. He'd never had an amateur MMA fight, and the fight against Jacare was his professional debut. Murphy certainly has an athletic background that would suggest potential as a mixed martial artist but at this time hes almost a complete novice.
Murphy's opponent for his MMA debut was anything but a novice. Ronaldo Jacare Souza began training in judo at age 14 and later changed his focus to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He's now a BJJ black belt and one of the most feared submission grapplers in the world. Jacare's original opponent--tough veteran Frank Trigg--would have found him a difficult matchup. After Trigg was forced to withdraw days before the fight, DREAM management approached Murphy who readily agreed to take the fight.
The actual fight was over before it began. Murphy was clearly nervous verging on panic as he walked to the ring. He could clearly be seen breathing deeply trying to steady his nerves. This transcended mere 'butterflies' that any fighter would have felt walking into a revered venue like Tokyo's Saitama Super Arena for the first time. It underscored the reality that he hadnt any real experience or knowledge competing or even training in a mixed martial arts environment. Murphy's collegiate wrestling background notwithstanding, DREAM could have picked an opponent for Jacare out of the audience at random and achieved a more competitive matchup.
Jacare dominated the fight from start to finish, with Murphy's strength and physical conditioning the only things that kept the fight going as long as it did. Murphy's cornermen were clearly clueless about how to help their fighter. The end came when Jacare made Murphy tap out to a rear naked choke, evidencing that he'd had no experience on how to defend a basic MMA submission.
Ronaldo Jacare is the one player in this story that can be held blameless. He did what a fighter is supposed to do, which is to try to defeat his opponent to the best of his ability. Virtually everyone else involved in the fight bears some measure of culpability. DREAM's promoters should have never offered Murphy the fight, and Murphy and his handlers should have never taken them up on their offer. Fortunately, Murphy was unharmed aside from a decent beating but the potential for tragedy in a situation like this is obvious.
Any legitimate regulatory oversight body would have done what everyone else involved did not by refusing to sanction this fight. In Japan, however, there isn't any significant oversight of the sort and none focused on the well being of the fighters. In the United States, the sport is regulated by state athletic commissions in the same way as boxing. In Japan, the sport that grew out of professional wrestling is regulated in essentially the same way. That is to say like pro wrestling its largely anything goes in terms of rules, safety and other issues concerning fighter well being.
Change comes slowly in Japanese culture and in political matters slower still. The two organizations that oversee Japanese boxing (the Japanese Boxing Association and the Japanese Professional Boxing Association) have historically done little and have existed more as money making ventures than regulatory agencies. Its taken some high profile in ring deaths in recent years to even generate talk of reform. Despite some nominal show of concern by government officials little has been done and the JBA and JPBA are more concerned about their turf war as sanctioning bodies than they are doing anything to protect fighters who box in Japan. The promotion behind World Victory Road has done what they can to rectify the situation with regard to MMA by creating a Japan Mixed Martial Arts Commission to serve as the oversight authority for the sport. Unfortunately, without some government involvement its unlikely they can have much of an impact just as the supposed current group in charge of rules in Japanese MMA, the International Shooto Commission, has been rendered largely impotent.
The sad reality is that with the glacial pace of progressive reform within Japanese political culture any government involvement is unlikely. Even if a death were to occur the lack of progress in boxing regulation when faced with a similar scenario doesn't provide much hope for improved safety rules for MMA fighters. While WVR is trying with their MMA oversight commission the only hope for real change in the near term is for promoters to realize that protecting their fighters is in the best interest of the sport which, in turn, is good for the bottom line.
A matchup between Ian Murphy and Ronaldo Jacare would have almost certainly been refused sanctioning in the United States. Murphy, a very young 22, was a standout collegiate wrestler who as of a couple of months ago was completing his senior season at Cal State Fullerton. Despite this impressive background, hed been training seriously in mixed martial arts for just over a month. He'd never had an amateur MMA fight, and the fight against Jacare was his professional debut. Murphy certainly has an athletic background that would suggest potential as a mixed martial artist but at this time hes almost a complete novice.
Murphy's opponent for his MMA debut was anything but a novice. Ronaldo Jacare Souza began training in judo at age 14 and later changed his focus to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He's now a BJJ black belt and one of the most feared submission grapplers in the world. Jacare's original opponent--tough veteran Frank Trigg--would have found him a difficult matchup. After Trigg was forced to withdraw days before the fight, DREAM management approached Murphy who readily agreed to take the fight.
The actual fight was over before it began. Murphy was clearly nervous verging on panic as he walked to the ring. He could clearly be seen breathing deeply trying to steady his nerves. This transcended mere 'butterflies' that any fighter would have felt walking into a revered venue like Tokyo's Saitama Super Arena for the first time. It underscored the reality that he hadnt any real experience or knowledge competing or even training in a mixed martial arts environment. Murphy's collegiate wrestling background notwithstanding, DREAM could have picked an opponent for Jacare out of the audience at random and achieved a more competitive matchup.
Jacare dominated the fight from start to finish, with Murphy's strength and physical conditioning the only things that kept the fight going as long as it did. Murphy's cornermen were clearly clueless about how to help their fighter. The end came when Jacare made Murphy tap out to a rear naked choke, evidencing that he'd had no experience on how to defend a basic MMA submission.
Ronaldo Jacare is the one player in this story that can be held blameless. He did what a fighter is supposed to do, which is to try to defeat his opponent to the best of his ability. Virtually everyone else involved in the fight bears some measure of culpability. DREAM's promoters should have never offered Murphy the fight, and Murphy and his handlers should have never taken them up on their offer. Fortunately, Murphy was unharmed aside from a decent beating but the potential for tragedy in a situation like this is obvious.
Any legitimate regulatory oversight body would have done what everyone else involved did not by refusing to sanction this fight. In Japan, however, there isn't any significant oversight of the sort and none focused on the well being of the fighters. In the United States, the sport is regulated by state athletic commissions in the same way as boxing. In Japan, the sport that grew out of professional wrestling is regulated in essentially the same way. That is to say like pro wrestling its largely anything goes in terms of rules, safety and other issues concerning fighter well being.
Change comes slowly in Japanese culture and in political matters slower still. The two organizations that oversee Japanese boxing (the Japanese Boxing Association and the Japanese Professional Boxing Association) have historically done little and have existed more as money making ventures than regulatory agencies. Its taken some high profile in ring deaths in recent years to even generate talk of reform. Despite some nominal show of concern by government officials little has been done and the JBA and JPBA are more concerned about their turf war as sanctioning bodies than they are doing anything to protect fighters who box in Japan. The promotion behind World Victory Road has done what they can to rectify the situation with regard to MMA by creating a Japan Mixed Martial Arts Commission to serve as the oversight authority for the sport. Unfortunately, without some government involvement its unlikely they can have much of an impact just as the supposed current group in charge of rules in Japanese MMA, the International Shooto Commission, has been rendered largely impotent.
The sad reality is that with the glacial pace of progressive reform within Japanese political culture any government involvement is unlikely. Even if a death were to occur the lack of progress in boxing regulation when faced with a similar scenario doesn't provide much hope for improved safety rules for MMA fighters. While WVR is trying with their MMA oversight commission the only hope for real change in the near term is for promoters to realize that protecting their fighters is in the best interest of the sport which, in turn, is good for the bottom line.
About the Author:
Ross Everett is a staff handicapper for Sports-1 and an authority on UFC betting. He's a noted expert on sports handicapping and stock investing theory. He contributes to a number of websites providing insight on how to bet on CFL football, MMA and boxing.
No comments:
Post a Comment