The MMA Show with Mauro Renallo

Coalition members Kahleem Poole-Tejada and Matthew Kaplowitz sit in with Mauro to discuss the documentaries "A Fighting Spirit" and "New York Mixed Martial Arts" as well as the state of MMA in New York.

LISTEN HERE

'A Fighting Spirit' looks at the NY MMA community in the wake of 9-11

Courtsey of The Fight Nerd:

This Sunday marks the ten-year anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The way America looked at itself was altered immensely on that date, and a decade later the world is a very different place. Memories of panic and uncertainty are still present, but the urge to keep moving forward is even stronger.

In remembrance of this anniversary, MMA news & editorial website, TheFightNerd.com, has released an exclusive short-film that commemorates this event alongside the New York MMA community. "A Fighting Spirit" is a video memoir that interviews members of the NY martial arts community and discusses where they were when the Towers collapsed, how they have coped, and how New York and America have grown stronger.

Directed by Kahleem Poole-Tejada (director of the full-length documentary "New York MMA," which will be shown at this year's Fight Summit in Las Vegas in December) and produced by Matthew Kaplowitz (Editor-in-Chief of http://www.thefightnerd.com/) in association with Ranger Up, the film takes viewers around a tour of downtown Manhattan and provides a glimpse inside several of New York City's top MMA gyms.

It features many NY-based fighters, such as Renzo Gracie, Chris Weidman, Pete "Drago" Sell, and Vitor "Shaolin" Ribeiro, as well as Stephen Koepfer of "NY Combat Sambo", Mark Yehia of "Elite Plus MMA," Rob Constance of "The Renzo Gracie Academy," and Emilio Novoa, President of ADCC North America. Also appearing is UFC middleweight fighter Jorge Rivera, as well as Strikeforce middleweight Tim Kennedy, who adds the voices of members of the U.S. Armed Forces to this emotional piece.



Please feel free to repost the link to this site or embed this film on your sites and/or social media pages. If you would like to speak with the producer for an interview or quotes, please email Matt@thefightnerd.com. Thank you very much for your support!

--
Matthew Kaplowitz
Editor in Chief of TheFightNerd.com
youtube.com/thefightnerd
flickr.com/photos/thefightnerd

Evidence: Culinary Workers Union Local 226 battling Zuffa, LLC with Regard to MMA

Good friend to the Coalition to Legalize Mixed Martial Arts in New York, the Fight Nerd, broke this story a few days ago.

There has been significant debate this year reagrding Zuffa's ongoing battle with Culinary Workers Union Local 226 with regard to the Las Vegas based non-union Station Casino chain owned by majority UFC owners Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta. While there has been little concrete evidence, the rumor mill has been churning out stories that the Culinary Workers Union was, in fact, blocking the passage of MMA legislation in New York.*

Outside of rumor, the only concrete piece of evidence that any union was invested enough to battle MMA here in New York as a means of sticking it to Zuffa & the Fertittas, was this Senate wide memo from earlier this year, which held little sway; as we now know that MMA legislation passed the Senate with overwhelming support.

Still, Zuffa continued to push the story that the Culinary Workers Union was fighting MMA in New York; as a means of fighting their enemies, the Fetittas, on another unrelated front.  Similarly, rumors have been spreading like wildfire across the internet that there was a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) investigation of Zuffa underway. These two rumors, the Cullinary Workers Union blockage in New York and the FTC investigation, had never been formally associated. They still have not, but it now seems more probable.  On August 31st, the Fight Nerd was contacted by...

...the Culinary Workers Union, with a letter addressed to Richard Feinstein, Director of the Federal Trade Commission’s Bureau of Competition. In response to concerns raised by professional athletes, the CWU are encouraging the Federal Trade Commission to investigate possible anti-competitive practices in professional mixed martial arts.

Here is a copy of said letter:

I have heard whispers from legislators who once swore steadfast that the unions were no issue in Albany; now suggesting it could be a problem. Quiet rumblings are suggesting that Sheldon Silver, Assembly Speaker and union supporter, is being influenced in this regard (he is the one blocking the legislation). This would seem contrary to the thoughts of Assembly Labor Committee Chair, Keith L. T. Wright, who is a strong supporter on MMA and claimed earlier this year that he had no knowledge of any union blockage in Albany.**

The bottom line is that the Culinary Workers Union is fighting Zuffa in Vegas and in general (the merits of their complaints are worthy of an editorial all their own). Are they or will they continue to be influential here in New York? Only time will tell. New York's political waters run deep and murky. But, one thing is for sure: regardless of whether the union is actively fighting MMA here in New York as a means to attack their enemies on another front, the negative press Zuffa is gaining from it's non-MMA activities is not good for MMA here in our state. It is tarnishing our sport in the eyes of the sport's opposition.

We supporters of MMA need to remind our legislators that the sport is bigger than Zuffa and the UFC. While there may be two UFC's a year in New York if MMA is legalized, the rest of the year will be left to the community at large (the majority) including many, many other promoters and events. The UFC is certainly the biggest and most vocal game in town, but we need to remind people that they are just a small part of the MMA community at large.

Let Governor Cuomo know you want MMA!


Stephen Koepfer
Founder, Coalition to Legalize Mixed Martial Arts in New York



*See my prior editorials on the subject:
http://nymmanow.blogspot.com/2011/07/more-union-blues-for-zuffa.html
http://nymmanow.blogspot.com/2011/05/zuffas-union-blues-and-new-york-mma.html

**See "Wright is Right"
http://nymmanow.blogspot.com/2011/04/message-to-nys-assembly-and-new-yorkers.html

Book Review. Raw Combat: The Underground World of Mixed Martial Arts

Raw Combat: The Underground World Of Mixed Martial Arts

By Jim Genia

Citadel Press, Kensington Publishing Company

Release Date: October 25, 2011

Review by Stephen Koepfer

Head Coach, New York Combat Sambo

Founder, Coalition to Legalize Mixed Martial Arts in New York

On November 11^th, 1993 the martial arts world was still a landscape of mythological style vs. style debate; what style was best, the most deadly, or the most capable of allowing one to defend against multiple crazed attackers hiding in urban alleyways.  Regardless of such pontification however, the reality was that most chose their style or school based on location; how close was the training hall to my home or office.  Sure maybe Ninjitsu was better that Shotokan Karate, but the Shotokan dojo is only 10 minutes from my house.  We really did not know any better.  We took the word of the great masters who ran our local dojos.  By the time 1993 came along I was a proud Tae Kwon Do black belt, and I thought I was a badass.

On November 12^th everything changed.  I was 25 years old.  My buddies and I gathered at John’s house to watch a new Pay-Per-View event called the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC). According to advertising, it would be what we had all dreamed of. This was not going to be an insular Tae Kwon Do or NASKA Sport Karate tournament; the glorified games of tag we were used to. The UFC was touted to be a No Holds Barred (NHB) all out battle to see once and for all what style was at the top of the martial art food chain.  There would be no weight classes, foam dipped gloves or booties. No face protectors or chest covers. With the exception of a few gentlemanly rules, there were no technical restrictions.

By the morning of November 13^th, martial artists across America were struggling to accommodate the shocking reality that most of what they had been training held very little practical application whatsoever.  Like smelling salt abruptly waking an unconscious man, the UFC reminded us that we had divorced the martial from martial arts. Some folks kept drinking the Cool Aid, convinced that their grandmaster really knew all the deadly secrets and could defeat those TV fighters if given a chance.  Others, myself included, made a radical shift in how we viewed martial arts, training, and fighting.  Raw Combat is our story.

Within two years I had left my Tae Kwon Do club to train San Shou (a Chinese form of full contact kickboxing) and entry level grappling.  Four years later I fought in my first “mixed martial arts” bout (the term MMA did not exist yet).  I lost to a kid fresh out of Riker’s Island, but I was bitten by the fight bug.  Unfortunately, it was too late.  By 1997, this type of combat sport had been criminalized in New York and many other states.  Still, my peers and I kept training. We fought kickboxing bouts, competed in the new and evolving grappling scene, and tried to become the best fighters we could.  By 1999, I had been the corner man for several amateur fighters; I found a new coach (a Russian expat who trained me in Sambo); and by 2003 I opened my own club and started to train amateur and professional fighters myself.

Raw Combat: The Underground World of Mixed Martial Arts, written by veteran journalist and New Yorker Jim Genia is much more than the book’s title suggests.  What Genia offers readers is far from a simple gritty look at underground fighting.  Raw Combat is a rare, often humorous, and intimate glimpse into the world of New York Mixed Martial Arts (MMA).  It is a love letter to the sport and community he has covered since the beginning.  For me, it was a walk through memory lane.  Reading about longtime friends, gyms, and events past and present often brought a smile to my face or heaviness to my heart (RIP Paul Rosner and Gene Fabrikant).  New York, where MMA competition is still illegal, is a time capsule.  Jim Genia is our official historian.

Since NHB and similar combat sports were criminalized by New York’s Governor Pataki in 1997, the rest of the country has moved on.  As NHB fighting evolved into regulated MMA, state after state saw the merits of the new sport.  By 2000, the foundation of what would become the formal rules for MMA had been approved by the California State Athletic Commission.  Following California’s lead, that same year, the New Jersey State Athletic Control Board sanctioned the first regulated MMA event (The International Fighting Championships) and in 2001 adopted similar more refined rules; complete with weight classes, a long list of fouls, and the strict safety, medical and technical requirements expected of any professional combat sport.  By 2009, the Association of Boxing Commissions formally approved and adopted New Jersey’s rules as the “Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts.”  It was only a matter of time before the sport of MMA was ubiquitous in the United States; except for New York that is (and as of this writing Vermont and Connecticut as well).

What Genia offers in Raw Combat is a detailed timeline of the trials and tribulations of a martial art community abandoned and forsaken during this time of evolution.  He allows readers to peek behind the curtain into a community forced to live in the past, presently struggling to participate in the sport it cherishes.  

Underground or unsanctioned fighting is often used as an example of why MMA should be legalized in New York.  Poor oversight, questionable safety precautions, and lack of regulation threaten the well being of the athletes.  If New York were to legalize and regulate MMA, underground fighting would vanish as it has in surrounding states. This can hardly be denied and Genia clearly demonstrates this to be the case.  

However, I have often felt that the case against unsanctioned fighting has been overstated; misrepresented.  The “underground world of mixed martial arts”, as the book’s title calls it, is often presented as a bone crushing dark place where bloody animalistic instincts rule and respect for humanity and civility are absent.  Uneducated mainstream media often suggests that no self respecting legitimate athlete would sink to such a level as to participate in these types of events. 

As one reads through Raw Combat, it becomes very clear that the membrane between the worlds of regulated MMA and unregulated NHB fighting is much more permeable, and much less threatening than people unfamiliar with the sport like to think.  As I read through the book, I was confronted with fond memories of heading to New Jersey to watch Bart Vale referee BAMA Fight Night, an unsanctioned show hosted by then unknown Big Dan Miragliotta at his Bayside Academy of Martial Arts. Big Dan is now one of the most respected referees in sanctioned MMA, seen in the ring or cage at just about every top shelf show there is.   

Raw Combat reminds us UFC Lightweight Champion Frankie Edgar and many other now known athletes got their start in unregulated events.  We see that the cast of characters training fighters for regulated events in New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, etc., are more often than not the same folks participating in unregulated shows in New York; most commonly the Underground Combat League (UCL).  We learn in Raw Combat, that while regulation is without a doubt safer and better for our sport, the folks who participate in unregulated shows are not the villains they are often presented as; regardless of whether they make it to the big show or not. In fact, we learn that customarily, despite the primitive nature of many underground events, it is mutual respect and sportsmanship that still rules the day.

Contrary to the book’s title, Genia spends plenty of time sharing his observations and experiences from the world of regulated MMA. We learn the history noted New York fighter and former Bellator Welterweight Champion Lyman Good.  We follow the rise and fall of underground boxer turned pro MMA fighter, Kimbo Slice.  Genia shares the heartbreaking story of my friend and former student Kaream Ellington, the local would be champion that could not escape the demons of his past.  We are treated to behind the scenes stories from the UFC and Pride Fighting Championships as well as many east coast MMA shows that launched the careers of several fighters including Sportfighting, the Mixed Fighting Championships, Reality Fighting, Caged Fury Fighting Championships, and Ring of Combat.  Likewise, we ride the rollercoaster of such failed leagues as the International Fight League and EliteXC.

While I do feel at times the book may not clearly delineate the line between NHB and MMA, critical when educating new fans, when all is said and done Genia offers us an important piece of history gleaned from nearly two decades of being the quiet guy sitting in the back with a notepad.  Raw Combat has something for both fans of MMA and newcomers alike.  For the average reader who was not there as I was, Raw Combat makes them feel like they were.  While Genia stakes his claim as official historian for the New York MMA community, his witty tongue-in-cheek style allows him to play court jester as well.  And in that role, he reveals some honest truths about our sport.  Most importantly, Genia reminds us that the roots of Mixed Martial Arts lie firmly in New York and that we have been denied our birthright since 1997.