THURSDAY,
January 31st, 2008, AT 4:30 PM,
PT
Don't Sanction
Me???
|
Last November on the web site called
www.mmaopinion.com a writer named John
Philapavage wrote an article entitled "Don't Sanction Me".
Philapavage asked the question, "What's a WAMMA? World Alliance
of Mixed Martial Arts? Well, what is it that it does? Sanction fights? Sanction?"
Philapavage was referring to the new proclaimed MMA
sanctioning body named WAMMA, World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts.
However, all WAMMA is so far is a fancy web site, which is not a stab at
them, it looks good.
On their Champions page it says, "It is the goal of
WAMMA to recognize the very best of the best in Mixed Martial Arts. A fighter
recognized as a WAMMA Champion epitomizes the very essence of a champion in all
respects." However, unlike the
ISCF
Rankings (That not only have many champions but also how, when
and where they won their ISCF titles)
there are no WAMMA Champions listed... Yet...
WAMMA has a rankings page, but again unlike the ISCF that lists not only the fighters names, but
also loads of other info and a fight bio link to FCFighter, WAMMA placed
10 names for each rank on their page and called them "Their"
rankings... But wait, they say, "The WAMMA Ranking Committee is
comprised of the most knowledgeable MMA sports/media experts ever assembled.
WAMMA has assembled a "Who's Who" of MMA sports/media experts from
around the globe." OK.... We scrolled through the names of these
important people, each with impressive bio's, but lets get real here. How many
people do you need to determine the ranking of 10 fighters...? Many to them are
just a name, since their rankings tell you nothing about them.
Godwin Asifo, WAMMA's International Relations
Chair actually said "Without this organization, this sport will sputter
just as bad as boxing has done. What it does is bring uniformity in a lot of
areas that I teach in sport. Rankings for example, judging, referring, and above
all it brings value to the customer, the fan and also the fighter.
Really...? Makes you wonder where this sport has been and how it has survived
this long without Asifo... and WAMMA.
When Philapavage used the title "Don't
Sanction Me" for his article as his attention getter, what caught our
attention was not that he proceeded to slam and bash WAMMA, but how LITTLE
Philapavage really knows about "Sanctioning Bodies."
More so, how little if anything he has ever known about the only REAL MMA
Sanctioning Body in the world, as well as the Largest, the ISCF.
Who Makes A REAL
Sanctioning Body Look Bad...
So this was Philapavage's
opinion as to how worthless a Sanctioning Body for MMA is. Sadly to say, Philapavage
must have been referring to those so called MMA sanctioning bodies such as Paul
Smith's IFC, Frank Babcock's KICK, and other "Kickboxing"
sanctioning bodies that now offer MMA Sanctioning for the mighty dollar since
their kickboxing sanctioning has dried up. The truth is, pretty much all of
these other "So Called" MMA Sanctioning bodies are "Rubber
Stamp" organizations. "Send us some money and you can use our
letters."
Paul Smith screwed so many fighters and venues in
California that he was run out of the state!!! Give a call to Black Oak
Casino (877-747-8777) in California and ask them how much they love him.
The only people Smith's IFC seems to sanctions are either shows he is "Partners"
in the promotion with or people he owes money to. In this case, to save himself
from physical harm, he provides sanctioning in exchange for debt payback for
promoters that need a sanctioning body in replace of a State Commission such as
in Illinois. There's a book of bad work by Smith, and we don't have the room to
type it all in here.
Don't get us wrong though, Kick is even worse... KICK
has their own insurance company owned by Babcock's PARTNER, Ted
Welch. Those who have promoted with KICK will see that Ted's
"SON" Gary Welch, (Gary Welch Insurance in House Springs Missouri)
will sign off on whatever insurance work they offer their promoters. Many of
their promoters have even claimed they have never received an insurance policy
when they sanction with KICK... Why? Because they don't want their
promoters to see that THEY are the ones selling the insurance.
Ever visit the KICK International Headquarters at 483
South Kirkwood Road, Suite number 9 in St. Louis, Missouri? It's what KICK
claims as their Headquarters... Well, don't hope to find anyone there because
all it is is a MAILBOX in a UPS store...
Some fighters have said they hate paying the $25 ISCF Registration fee, which is a one time LIFETIME
fee. However, if a promoter sanctions with KICK, KICK asks for $30 from
each fighter, every 10 months. When Ted Welch is your event Representative, he
is more concerned with getting his $30 fighter registration fee than reviewing
the event check list with the promoter.
KICK's antics are what will get amateur MMA shut down
eventually in every state. Why? It's a documented fact that many states are
keeping track of mistakes and screw ups KICK makes. Their "End
Around Game plan" is to take these mistakes to their state politicians
and use the line, "Look at all these Amateur Sanctioning Bodies
screwing up! We need to start overseeing Amateur events or ban them in our
state!" They won't tell these politicians that the group screwing up is
KICK and NOT ISCF! They
will simply group ISCF in with KICK
as "Just another sanctioning body."
KICK was once a recognized sanctioning body for
kickboxing back in the early 90's. However, they have been nothing more than a
laugh since 1998 as they try to piggyback on the success of other groups who
have accomplished things for kickboxing. Their website, as well as all these
other "So Called Sanctioning Bodies for MMA" don't even have
rankings at all. KICK doesn't have kickboxing rankings either (Pro
or Amateur), yet they will put two "So called" top
contenders together for a KICK title fight.... Hmmmmm... How does that
happen...? Simple, MONEY!
Many Amateur MMA Promoters are required to have their events
sanctioned by what most Athletic/Boxing Commissions call a "Nationally
Recognized Sanctioning Body". This requirement itself is another
laughable issue... We have asked what this means and we have yet to EVER get a
fully explained answer from any state athletic/boxing commission. Every Pro and
Amateur Promoter has choices for sanctioning whether they need to or not. some
choose to sanction while others police their own events. Of those who are
required to sanction their events with a sanctioning body other than a State
Commission, those wanting a legit, fair and regulated show usually sanction with
the ISCF. Those who want to use their
friends and buddies as event officials, allow pros to fight as amateurs and
don't care about giving their fighters exposure outside of their own town will
usually pay the known "Rubber Stamp" fee to other
organizations like the IFC and KICK and ISKA and they
are pretty much allowed to "Do as they please". In most cases,
these sanctioning bodies allow the promoter or his best friend to be their event
representative. Weigh-ins are no big deal in these cases. "Oh your 10
lbs over the weight spread, no big deal, just fight." Fight and make me
some money. Who cares if it's safe or not...
It's a well known fact that fighters on ISCF Sanctioned events KNOW they will be
safe and delt with fairly. As noted above though, some promoters feel the ISCF is a pain in the butt to deal with. So many
rules, regulations and requirements. Instead of assuring fighter and event
safety like the ISCF Promoters, they would
rather pay that "Rubber Stamp" fee and be allowed to "Do
whatever they want to." When you see an Amateur MMA event and it's not
sanctioned with the ISCF, the red flag
questions should go up. If you see one of these other so called sanctioning
logos on their poster, the same red flags should go up. Worse yet are the shows
that have NO Sanctioning at all. Not from a sanctioning body or a State
Commission. THIS is where MMA has, and continues to get bad publicity.
These are the Promoters we should worry about when asked to
fight on their shows. Are you assured as an Amateur you are not being matched up
against a Pro who wants to pad his record? Will you be able to see your opponent
weigh-in? Will you be able to see your opponents gloves? Is he getting 4 ounce
gloves and you 7? Is the referee qualified and able to assure your safety? What
is your opponent wrapping his hands with? What rules are allowed under this
promotion or sanctioning body? You would be surprised what some allow... Do the
judges know how to judge or are they just the promoters friends? Who is the
doctor, or better yet, Is there a doctor? Is he an MD certified in Trauma
reaction or maybe a Chiropractor? Is there an ambulance on site in case of
emergencies? Is the ring or cage well built and padded correctly for your
safety? So many questions... and in the end, the final question is "What
are you fighting for?" |
|
We don't mean money. We mean, WHAT are you
fighting for?
In the ISCF, fighters are
ranked and are RECOGNIZED as Fighters whether Amateur or Pro in three
areas. The News pages here, the Event
page and the Rankings.
Even today, if you fought on an ISCF show
5 years ago, your name and accomplishments are still recognized on our past news
pages. Even former ISCF Champions that are
retired can be found on our Past
Champions page.
EVERY ISCF Title ever won
is either listed in the Rankings if still active, or on our Past Champions page.
Fight on a show sanctioned by these other so called sanctioning bodies and you
are forgotten about once you walk out of the ring... That may be fine with a
promoter looking to save a few dollars and get that much desired "Rubber
Stamp" of approval to make his state commission happy, but is that OK
with YOU as a fighter?
Philapavage went on to say "Sanctioning bodies
don't promote fights. Companies like the UFC and Elite XC promote them - and
quite well." That's correct John, Sanctioning bodies DON'T
Promote events. However, you will see the ISCF
Promoting the Annual Amateur "Golden Glove" style Amateur MMA
Championships (ISCF Amateur MMA World Classic) every
year. An event open to EVERY Amateur fighter as long as they are TRUE
Amateurs. This is the same type of Tournament the Amateur Boxing Sanctioning
Body, USA Boxing hosts as well.
Philapavage went on to say, "Sanctioning
bodies don't create fighter unions or take care of fighters. Theoretically
managers and agents, or even fight teams/camps take care of the individual
fighters." That's true too. However, we don't know of any Boxing or
Kickboxing sanctioning bodies that do these things, so no big deal here. That's
not the job of a "Sanctioning Body".
Philapavage went on to say, "Sanctioning
bodies don't make rules and regulations for MMA fighters or promoters. State
Athletic commissions do that." Actually John, this is where you
are wrong. Yes, today a lot of States make their own "ADJUSTMENTS"
to the rules of MMA. However, it was sanctioning bodies such as the ISCF that first started creating MMA rules and with
the help of others, the first official "Unified Rules" came to
be. In the beginning days of MMA nearly all the State Commissions knew anything
about MMA, and many still don't. The ISCF
has been and still continues to be asked to review rules and regulations for MMA
in many states, and will always do so to help improve the State's knowledge of
the sport.
Philapavage went on to say, "All it seems
sanctioning bodies do is create and promote their own independent belts. While
that might be attractive if everyone was going after those individual world
titles, they aren't. Fighters are going after UFC belts because they're the
championships of the leading fight organization. And since the UFC isn't
recognizing anyone else's belts, and even Elite XC and Strikeforce aren't, then
why should I. The outside sanctioning doesn't even seem to fit into lowly IFL's
team plans."
Actually John, the ISCF
is not and does not "Promote" the ISCF
titles. Promoters who sanction with the ISCF
can request ISCF Titles on their events.
However they are still allowed to have their own title belts for their own
promotions. What the ISCF HAS done
is create a Legitimate and Justified Amateur Rankings so that when there is an "ISCF" title bout, everyone can be assured that
it is between two "LEGIT" top contenders. These ISCF Amateur titles come from the TRUE
Foundation of MMA and those looking to be a part of the Future of MMA as top
contending Pro Fighters.
These larger organizations and their promoters may tell you
they could care less about ISCF Titles and
the ISCF Rankings, but we know for a fact
that nearly EVERY MMA Promoter not only knows about the ISCF Rankings, but have admitted to the ISCF that the ISCF
Rankings have been where they found fighters for their events. This was and
still continues to be the same reality with the ISCF
sister organization for Kickboxing, the IKF
( International
Kickboxing Federation)
The IKF, like the ISCF is the only Kickboxing Sanctioning Body with up
to date rankings in the various styles of kickboxing for both Pro and Amateurs
that also include fighter and trainer contact information. No where else can you
find a fighter, see where he/she stands among his/her peers and there is a
trainer and contact number to call to book him or her on your event. So don't be
fooled when a non ISCF Promoter or
matchmakers of these larger pro shows doesn't want to admit they use the ISCF Rankings to find fighters. Not only have they
told us they do, but modern web technology can tell us who visits the ISCF web pages, and you may be surprised how often
those visits from TOP MMA Promoters are.
As for the comment "The outside sanctioning doesn't
even seem to fit into lowly IFL's team plans." The truth here has
nothing to do with the ISCF, who
sanctioned all of the IFL (
International Fight League) events last
year whether needing an outside sanctioning body or not. The ISCF is continuing this relationship with the IFL for 2008. In States last year where Athletic
or Boxing Commissions did not over see MMA, the ISCF
oversaw the entire event and where there was a State Commission involved, the
ISCF did just like a Pro Boxing
Sanctioning Body would which is allow the State officials to oversee the event
in front of them. The IFL has made
a lot of changes for their 2008 season that have restructured their entire
company from the leadership down. One of those changes was having their events
in venues that offered them the best deal or promotional package to come there.
Those deals came from places like Mohegan Sun and Las Vegas, who
both have Commissioned Venues and not locations such as Chicago, Illinois... So
the IFL's plans had nothing to do
with "outside sanctioning".
This brings us to Philapavage's last issue or opinion
as he wrote, "The only thing I do know that sanctioning bodies will
bring to MMA is rankings." Well, we don't need to go back into that
again as we already did. NONE of these other "So Called'
Sanctioning bodies even have rankings. They sell titles to any promoter willing
to give them their money and they could care less what the fight records are of
these title contenders. Even if they did, they have no rankings so how do they
determine a Top Contender like the ISCF
does? They don't. It's all about the "Rubber Stamp" everyone.
Philapavage went on to say, "Alphabet soup
sanctioning bodies rely on top ten rankings to supply their organization with
opponents. I think rankings are random and subjective opinions that are often
laughable and best left to opinion columnists like me for content fodder 4-6
times a year. They aren't something for anyone to take to seriously."
Again, we already discussed the reality of this above.
Philapavage ended his article with, "There's a
reason UFC doesn't get locked into their own ranking system. You need to be
flexible when booking fighting. Rankings invite disappointment and eventual
indifference of fans and analyst alike. So why should I want or encourage
outside sanctioning as a fan when it doesn't seem to add anything as a fan or
supporter of the sport Anyone?"
Most fans will never know a good sanctioning body is involved
in an event. unless, thy follow the news and rankings on a web site like the
ISCF has. The ISCF
allows opportunities for the fans to get more involved in the sport. As for what
Philapavage had to say, a reply here may be better with a question... "Do
you honestly think the UFC Champion is the BEST in the World?" Of
course not, at least not always anyway.
First off, we are not slamming the UFC. The UFC
deserves praise from EVERYONE in the world of MMA no matter how many
things they do or have done that may have upset any of us. If not for UFC's
TV deal with Spike TV, MMA would still be a sport needing to get
recognition. That Spike TV deal brought the sport to the front lines and
made it the fastest growing sport in the world!
So give UFC credit for trying to make better match-ups,
but even UFC is loosing top fighters to other promotions just like a top
football team will lose top players. The fighters fighting for a UFC
title are surly the most recognized due to UFC's excellent TV exposure.
Some of those UFC fighters may very well be the Best in the World.
However, not all of them. More often than not, the two contenders for those
titles were two fighters that the "Promotional Company" such
as UFC came to terms with and signed a deal with. This is the reason "Promotional
Companies" do not have rankings. If they did, they would be obligated
to assure the top two contenders fight for their title. But what if they can't
come to terms with one of those fighters and can't sign one of them? No big
deal, just move on to someone else... Now someone else is marketed as the other
"Top Contender".
This is no slam again
to UFC. It's clear to many that they make the best effort possible to
match up the top fighters. The purchasing of Pride and matching up UFC
Poster Boy Chuck Liddell with a wild card like Quinton Jackson (Right)
is proof enough of that. However very few thought Jackson was going to
beat Liddell, who was marketed by loads of media as indestructible.
People will debate rankings forever, just like in Kickboxing,
Boxing or any other "Individual" sport that requires a
ranking. However, at least in the ISCF the
rankings are firm and in print. They are made up of fighters who you, as a
fighter, trainer, promoter or fight fan can actually see what they have
accomplished. You can see that they have "Earned" their
position in the Rankings. Before going to or after seeing an event, anyone can
go to the ISCF Rankings 24/7 and look up a
fighter to see who he or she really is and where they stand in a Legit
Neutral Ranking System, not the web page of the promoters event. The ISCF has no reason to rank a certain fighter higher
than another. There is no potential profit or gain from a PPV or Promoted event.
Just "FIGHTERS" who have honestly EARNED their spot.
So next time you plan to fight on an unsanctioned event, or one
of those "Rubber Stamp" sanctioned events, ask yourself "Why?"
As a fight fan, next time you go to an event with a title fight, ask "How
did this guy become a contender for a title shot?" And you may also
want to ask "What kind of a Title is it?" Is it a Legit Title
or a "Joe's Promotion Title" with two guys the Promoter came
to terms with...
From Philapavage's article, he must think that WAMMA,
(World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts) was attempting to be on the
cutting edge by offering "Sanctioning' to the world of MMA. The
leaders of WAMMA claim they hope to break "new ground"
by creating stability in the sport of MMA. New Ground??? Really? WAMMA
claims they will administer a rankings board for all MMA fighters, regardless of
organization, will sponsor championship bouts, with the winners getting a WAMMA
championship belt recognized globally and that many they have spoke to have
expressed positive reactions towards the formation of a sanctioning body.
Hmmmmm... They are talking as if there have never been any MMA
Sanctioning bodies before them...
While others continue to make claims of what they "Want
to do" the quiet ISCF has been
doing this with integrity and honesty since 1999 sanctioning more pro and amateur events
than ANY other MMA Sanctioning Body in the world with a proven excellent track
record of fighter safety as well as overall integrity. Some of these other "So
Called" sanctioning bodies should either take a lesson from the ISCF and run a legit sanctioning body or just close
their doors, because it's clear as day they are not doing anything to better the
great sport of MMA!
As for what WAMMA offers the sport, their expectations
are high and intentions seem good so time will tell what they can offer and for
how long. it doesn't appear they have any interest in sanctioning Amateur MMA,
only the top pro events... That don't want or need sanctioning. To expect that
any large organization such as the UFC or IFL
need them or want to align with them to succeed, they need to step back and take
a better look. Like in any sport, those with the TV Deal will always be the
leaders, no matter what they do, right or wrong, ethical or not and the truth
is, UFC doesn't need anyone...
The
ISCF Mission For Mixed Martial Arts...
"Safety,
Credibility, Fairness, Recognition, Support & Unification of Mixed Martial
Arts Around The World"
"The goal of the International
Sport Combat Federation is to regulate safe and fair rules and regulations and
help provide exposure and opportunities for local, regional, national and
international competition among amateur and professional mixed martial arts
fighters, trainers, promoters and officials. We will, through adherence to and
enforcement of these rules and regulations, strive to make competitive mixed
martial arts fighting a safe and fair sport as we continue to help bring
exposure to and enhance the present as well as the future of the sport we serve,
Mixed Martial Arts."
Steve Fossum, President International
Sport Combat Federation
ISCF MMA NEWS-
ISCF EVENTS - ISCF RANKINGS -
ISCF
SANCTIONING -
ISCF RULES - WEIGHTS - GYMS - JOIN - CONTACT