Untimate Fighting and "NHB"
by Witold
Chrabaszcz
What is NHB?
No Holds Barred fighting is exactly that - once in the ring, anything
goes. In its true form, NHB has no weight classes, no rounds, and no time
limits. In reality, some ground rules are set. Eye gorges, biting, and
groin strikes are illegal. Often, time limits are imposed for practical
reasons. NHB has been called everything from "brutal" to "inhumane" and
has been likened to a modern version of gladiator fights and human
cockfighting.
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The fights take place in an octagon-shaped cage, having fence
instead of ropes.
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US audience was introduced to NHB through the Ultimate Fighting
Championship - an athletic venture of the Semaphore Entertainment Group
Sports, Inc. and it is the UFC that piqued my interest in NHB fighting.
Since its inception in 1993, UFC managed to draw world class athletes, and
put on pay-per-view shows that regularly topped 300 thousand viewers.
But just as UFC gained ardent fans, it gained vocal enemies. Partly due
to SEG’s branding of the event as the "bloodiest, most barbaric show
in history," a number of influential groups started lobbying in favor
of regulating or banning the events. And as time goes on, more and more
states are doing just that.
In reality, however, the show is far from barbaric and the fighters are
far from being the barroom brawlers the media makes them out to be. In
fact, vast majority of fighters are accomplished martial artists in far
ranging disciplines ranging from judo and kick boxing to sambo and
jujitsu. Wrestling fans will recognize Marc Kerr, the 1992 NCAA champion
and the 1994 World Cup champion, or Kevin Jackson, who wrestled at Iowa
State and won a gold medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, or Mark
Coleman, a two-time All-American at Ohio State, a double gold medalist at
the Pan American Games and a member of the 1992 U.S. Olympic team, for
example. The bottom line is that while creating the perception of a
barbaric fighter may be good for advertising and ratings, the truth is far
from it. Despite this, UFC has been attacked from all sides.
The New York Incident
From the very start, SEG wanted to secure New York state as an available
venue for holding the events. New York was, and continues to be, a major
market and one of the critical states for boxing and other sporting
events. But soon after UFC’s inception, the state legislature started to
consider banning such bouts. Because of New York’s importance to the
sport, the UFC sunk more than $1 million/year in legal and lobbying fees.
And it succeeded. The state legislature passed a law that allowed the
sport to operate under the state’s Athletic Commission.
SEG jumped at the opportunity to hold a bout in the state. Preparations
for the event at Niagra Falls begun and everything was going as scheduled.
Trouble struck when rumors surfaced that an event may be held in
Manhattan. Attacks started to mount again. Everyone, including the NYC’s
mayor’s office, went on the offensive. UFC found itself in trouble once
again.
Soon after the rumors surfaced, the commission provided SEG with the
ground rules UFC would have to abide by. In its 100-page-plus document,
the commission required everything from headgear, to making choke holds
and kicks below the knees illegal. Subsequently, in an unprecedented
move, the legislature repealed its earlier bill, and passed a new one,
this time mandating a ban. Less than a day before the tournament in
Niagra Falls was to take place, SEG lost its last-ditch appeal in court.
The event couldn't take place.
At this point tickets have been sold and pay-per-view deals have been
finalized. In order to put on a show, SEG had to find another location
for the tournament. At the last minute, arrangements were made to go to
Dothan, Alabama. At a cost of more than half a million dollars, SEG
chartered a 757 Boeing and a cargo plane to transport all of the
equipment, the fighters and the crew.
Once in Dothan, show organizers resorted to handing the tickets away. One
organizer recalls: "We were still painting the Octagon as the crowd was
coming into the arena." Although the show made it to the air, the sport
has since never recovered - in NY or elsewhere. February 25, 1997 - the
day when then Governor George E. Pataki signed into law his legislation
banning ultimate fighting matches, turned out to be one of the biggest
blows to the UFC in its short history.
The State of Ultimate Fighting
No sooner did UFC achieve its major successes as it did its drawbacks. As
the news spread about this new form of entertainment, so did the outcries
to regulate it or ban it.
State legislature after state legislature, city after city, started to
consider the issue and legislature after legislature, city council after
city council decided to ban it or put such heavy restrictions on it that
the UFC would not be able to put on tournaments in that jurisdiction.
Today, 49 states have restrictions in place in one form or another. Now,
putting on a $1 million show became complicated by attorneys general and
athletic commissioners who consistently try to put up new roadblocks.
Booking dates now involves court hearings and drawn-out lawyer
consultations. For every arena rented, show organizers need to have an
alternative location ready to go.
Time Warner and TCI
While this was a nightmare for those scheduling the events, the bottom
line was that there was always a city where the show could go on. These
were not the most desirable locations like NYC, Las Vegas, or Los Angeles,
but the fact remained that there was a lot of money to be made from the TV
deals. But this too, didn’t last long.
Soon after the New York incident, local cable companies in increasing
numbers stopped selling air time. Then, without warning, TCI–an industry
giant reaching more than 10 million viewers, dropped the show. Soon
thereafter, Time Warner, another industry giant with a reach of more than
12 million viewers, dropped the show. This was a major blow to UFC. The
universe of potential pay-per-view viewers dropped overnight from
approximately 36 million to a little over 16 million.
Ultimate Fighting Today
In an attempt to regain the lucrative deals with Time Warner and TCI, as
well as to appease its harshest critics, UFC has compromised and
instituted new rules such as: no hair pulling, no groin strikes, and no
kicking of an opponent if he is down. With each fight, it seems like
there are new tighter and tighter rules in place. Hitting to the back of
the head, kicking the kidneys, and head butts are no longer acceptable
moves. With each new rule, UFC is moving away from what Rorion Gracie’s
vision (founder of U.S. extreme fighting).
Tournament organizers continue to search for places to hold these
tournaments, however. Past locations include such exotic places as
Kazakhstan and Ukraine. Options for American fans are becoming more and
more limited, but videos of the fights are still available as is the
option to watch some of the matches on satellite TV.
I think that it is rather unfortunate how UFC has been pushed out of major
markets. Most people who familiarize themselves with the sport would
concede that it is a legitimate test of strength, skill and courage.
Furthermore, a reasonable person would most likely agree that UFC is
fairly safe. There are doctors at ringside and pre-fight detailed medical
exams and blood tests are required of each fighter. Rarely do we see more
punches thrown than in an average boxing match. The chain-linked octagon
may look intimidating, but is actually designed with safety in mind-at no
time, can one fighter back the other into a corner. The fence also
prevents a fighter from being thrown out of the octagon. Additionally,
because fighters don’t wear gloves, they are reluctant to throw many
punches because of the high risk of injury to the hand. So far, in the
short history of UFC, no one was seriously hurt. In the history of no
holds barred fights which are quite popular in Brazil and go back nearly
70 years, no one has died.
The bottom line is that the sport is not as gruesome and cold-blooded as
some make it out to be. As a fan of the sport as well as an avid
anti-regulation advocate I hope that NHB fights are given a chance. There
is great demand for the fights and seeing the legislatures regulating yet
another industry is not the way to go.
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