If the Scarecrow, Tin Man and Cowardly Lion were a Sports Editor

Phil Rothfield is his name and he is the latest hypocrite to speak out about the brutality of MMA. He thinks that it is so violent, brutal and bloody that it should be banned. He has managed to pull off the rare Wizard of Oz Triple Crown. In one post he demonstrated; the lack of heart like the Tin Man, the brainlessness of the Scarecrow and the exact courage of the Cowardly Lion.

If he was against combat sports I would disagree with him but I could at least respect his position. Instead he is about hyperbole to get himself some attention. Oh yeah, trolling is what they call it. Well, like Gandalf, allow me to bring some sunlight to this little troll. If you do not like the violence of people hitting each other I get it. If the article had at least been well written than it might not be so bad, but it is a poor example of an editorial. Of course it has done exactly what he wanted, bring him a lot of attention.

He makes broad statements and provides bad or no examples to back them up, other than the fact it was bloody. He also had a lot of questions so I will do my best to answer them for him.

He starts the article with, “SINCE (all caps means he is serious and wants you to pay him attention) when is kicking, elbowing, kneeing, punching and stomping an opponent classified as a sport?”

All of those are legal in Muay Thai. According to Wikipedia, Muay Thai became a sport in the 1600’s under the reign of King Naresuan and was more brutal then. The current rules came about in 1921. So close to a hundred years under current rules for Muay Thai and five hundred years as a sport. It has been twenty years for MMA as the UFC just put out a nice documentary about their first two decades. I almost thought he did not know how to use Google but apparently he does as later in the article he references it.

And why are the competitors allowed to do all this inside a cage when it is illegal in the streets?

Seriously, this guy is a sports editor? Maybe things really are the opposite down under and their sports editors do not know or understand sports. Illegal on the streets describes many sports, and certainly the best ones. If you removed all the illegal on the streets element of boxing, then we have dancing. Fuel TV would go under since all racing is illegal in the streets. Most of rugby, football and really all combat sports as well. It is a stupid question without a point that looks good, but it does not make you think. Okay, it does make you think that the author is really lazy and the article can be summed up in two sentences. MMA is too confusing and I don’t like it. I do not want to take the time to write and research an informed article, so I will say it should be banned for its bloody brutality.

Why aren’t the fighters at least made to wear headgear?

Really, are you sure you are a boxing fan? For the same reason that boxers do not wear headgear.

Why aren’t fighters getting protection from blood diseases?

Again, boxing. The same deal as boxing, they are tested for blood diseases like boxing.

He is really caught up in the blood which is usually just a superficial wound. It looks bad but it is rarely from a serious injury and it is just a cut, that may leave a scar. He says, “I know the UFC has statistics to prove there are no more serious injuries than in boxing, but that’s not the point.” Okay, what is the point. It is apparently not safety because there is no way you could still be a boxing fan because of the death of one fighter this year due to injuries he sustained inside the ring. There is currently another in a medical induced coma. Again, he is more concerned with people bleeding than he is whether or not they are really getting hurt.

He also makes the statement, “If you really want to make yourself sick, Google, “UFC worst injuries.” The images are seriously disgusting.” I am sure they are, as they would be for any sport. There was a sickening injury in college basketball last year when a player broke his leg. It is apart of sports and it is unfortunate but it does not mean that you ban the sport because of a few isolated instances.

He ends the article with “The injury risks they face in rugby league and all the footy codes. At least their sport involves a large degree of skill – and it’s not just a contest to violently bash another person into submission.”

Alright, your argument is that rugby and soccer require more skill, and that makes their violence acceptable. Well rugby is club sport that a lot of people play recreationally and millions of people play soccer. In one you run around with a ball and spend most of the time in a pile of people. Basically a guy could show up, they could explain the rules and he could play. Soccer is running around kicking a ball. Something that literally takes no skill beyond running and kicking. Try doing that with any of the different combat sports much less one like MMA. Just go down to the gym and just start fighting guys that train there and see how that goes. It would not go well because you would need to learn the skills involved in the sport.

The MMA on Saturday combined; Muay Thai, Karate, Wrestling, Boxing, jiu-jitsu, Tae Kwon Do, and Judo. It breaks down like this, boxing is checkers to MMA’s chess. If that is too simplistic for you than boxing is Algebra and MMA is Calculus. Boxing is just one element of MMA which involves multiple disciplines. This is the problem that happens with a lot of old people who are boxing fans. They watch MMA and they do not understand it so it must be bad and wrong. The classic fear of that which is strange and foreign to us. It something that happens as people grow older their minds become more and more closed.

What is annoying is that it totally worked for this guy. He has received more attention for this post in a short time than his previous blog posts. He gets to sit down and talk to Dana White, who even Tweets to him. I can’t even get Dana to retweet an article much less actually speak with me.

For the record I am a fan of combat sports and appreciate the skill involved in all of them. If you want to read a more informed breakdown of the Mark Hunt and Antonio Silva fight then check back here later in the week. It is funny how brutal and savage two friends can be with each other. This is another element he left out of his post. The fight he was condemning for its brutality took place between two former training partners who are still friends. He either did not know that or chose to leave it out because it did not fit his narrow point of view.