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Jim The Kid Hettes was one of the break-out pros of 2009. He ran up a 4-0 record with the quickness. Not once has an opponent taken Jim into the second round in his pro or amateur careers. A purplebelt BJJ trainer at Gracie NEPA, Jim is set to main event Shogun Fights II in Baltimore MD at the end of the month.
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They say March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb. That may be the case in Mid-Atlantic MMA. February was an absolute boon month for the sport with 9 regional fight shows. All the major players were in action, with two companies running two shows each. It was almost ludicrous how much action there was for fight fans in February. And shame on you if you didn’t get out to a show this month. No excuses.
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Fwank, Phil Migliarese & Larry Novak, 2010 Philly MMA Expo

Expo hangover got the best of me yesterday. This is going to be a relatively slow week in the region. There’s only one fight, and that’s up in Dover NJ with Evolution AMMA. Looks like a 16 fight card that might get pared down to a baker’s dozen. A lot of young, new fighters. Only one guy has more than 5 contests under his belt, and most fighters have one or two on their report card.

We’re also waiting on some big news out of Locked in the Cage regarding the main event for their next fight coming up in a few weeks. And I’m hearing some rumblings regarding the next Shogun show down in Baltimore.
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I want to take a second and publicly apologize to Shogun promoter John Rallo. Despite 1st Mariner not knowing how to handle an event like this, all reports from Baltimore have been overwhelmingly positive.

John, a trainer by trade, promoted an arena show attended by more than 4,000 fans and pulled it off without any glaring issues. I’m sure there are some back stage things he’s thinking about. But from what I’ve heard, it was a top notch event. A true show.

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Prospect Watch: Cody Donovan and Carey Vanier 28 yr old MN LW

The first Mixed Martial Arts card ever in the state of Maryland featured two local MMA prospects outside of state lines making a name for themselves at Shogun Fights.

Stock Up – Greg Jackson trained Cody Donovan continued his progression as a complete MMA fighter with his win over Joe Stripling.

The 28 year old Donovan got a late start to his MMA career turning pro in the fall of 2008. Backed by a solid amateur career where Donovan went 5-0, the Colorado prospect has all the physical tools to make some noise on the local MMA scene.

Donovan put on a Muay Thai on clinic with his opponent Joe Stripling becoming the unwilling case study. A series of knees to the body caused the fight to end at the 1:16 mark of round two.

Stock Up – To the surprise of no one, another Greg Jackson MMA fighter also put on one of the more impressive performances of the evening. Minnesota lightweight Carey Vanier recently moved to Albuquerque, where he has served as one of WEC’s lightweight contender Donald Cerrone’s sparring partner.

Vanier 7-2 has fought pro MMA on and off since 2003 with a notable loss coming at the hands of five star prospect and current UFC 155 pounder Nik Lentz. Vanier took control of Paul Mann in the second round, working knees to the body and repeated takedowns to wear down his opponent. The end came when Vanier unloaded with punches on a fallen Mann until the referee called the bout a TKO finish.

With the win Vanier is now 3-0 in 2009.

Shogun Fights Full Results

Binky Jones def. Jason McLean by unanimous decision
Ryan Mackin def. Joe Kelso by submission Keylock 1:57 R2
Dave Daniecki def. Wade Drake by submission D’arce choke hold 2:25 R1
Mike Paschal def. Scottie Ayers by TKO 0:40 R2
Jacob Kirwan def. Brad Pole by submission Guillotine choke 1:05 R1
Joey Kirwan def. Dan Root by submission Rear-naked choke 1:30 R1
Carey Vanier def. Paul Mann by TKO (strikes) 2:09 R2
Cody Donovan def. Joe Stripling by TKO 1:16 R2
Jim Hettes def. Steven Baker by submission Armbar 1:35 R1
Brett Thomas def. Rick Desper by split decision
Steve Deangelis def. Lazar Stojadinovic by unanimous decision

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While doing some leg work to prepare for this weekend’s Shogun Fights event, which will be the first professional MMA show in Maryland, I stumbled across another in a long line of “UFC is human cockfighting” articles. This one, in the Baltimore Jewish Times written by Alan Goldstein asserts that Mixed Martial Arts [are] Just Too Extreme. Alan Goldstein is a boxing fan, and defends the accusation that boxing is more dangerous than MMA by saying, “But the top attractions now fight so infrequently that the risks of serious injury have greatly diminished.”

Here is the reply as I mailed it early today.

In doing reserach for this weekend’s MMA event at 1st Mariner Arena (I will be covering the event for my mixed martial arts website), I came across a very distressing piece written by Alan Goldstein, and I would like to rebut his entire column.

First, I would like an apology from Mr. Goldstein, who calls wrestling fans “gullible”. I enjoyed pro wrestling for many years, even after I learned its “true nature”, and enjoyed it for the athleticism of the participants, and the storylines the wrestlers told through their promos and through the fights themselves. I am many things, but gullible I am not.

But what offends me most, is the manner in which Mr. Goldstein misrepresents mixed martial arts.

To compare MMA to dog fighting, as so many who misunderstand the sport do, is offensive to the fighters, promoters and fans of the sport. You simply cannot compare dogs fighting on honed instinct to the death, to two men fighting under state sanctioning. Particularly when in most fights, both fighters shake hands and walk out of the arena under their own power. The dog fighting and cock fighting comparison is inflamatory language used by the sports most ardent detractors for no other reason than to fan flames. What kind of person supports human dog fighting? Mr. Goldstein in this instance takes a shortcut and simply calls all of us; fans, fighters, trainers and promoters alike, bad people.

Now, as far as Mr. Goldstein’s understanding of the elements of MMA, many of the styles citied have no influence, if any on modern mixed martial arts. Today’s MMA fighters train heavily in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Muay Thai, boxing and freestyle wrestling. Judo has a minor influence, and Jose Canseco was the last professional MMA fighter to throw a TKD kick in competition. And that ended very poorly for him. Ancient Panktration and Russian Sambo wrestling styles influence European and Japanese fighters, while Lyoto Machida, who is defending his UFC Light Heavyweight belt this weekend is the only karate fighter around.

I must also point out that head kicks to a grounded opponent, the one MMA action that Mr. Goldstein cites in his article, is illegal under unified rules. Just two paragraphs later, Mr. Goldstein admits to witnessing two fatalies as a result of boxing, but in the close to 16 year history of mixed martial arts in this country, there has not been one fatality. MMA fighters do suffer from the same pain as boxers. But as many fights involve highly technical submission grappling, fighters do not take the constant head trauma that boxers endure. And while it may be the difference between smoking a pack a day, and three cigarettes a day, in that respect, mixed martial arts is a safer sport than boxing.

The movies that Mr. Goldstein citied as reasons for the popularity of mixed martial arts are hilariously out of date. I would instead cite movies like David Mamet’s Red Belt, a spectacularly written and performed film that follows a Jiu-Jitsu instructor through a classic warrior’s journey, similar to that of Bruce Lee’s The Game of Death. The Karate Kid hasn’t been relevant in American pop culture for almost twenty years.

He also spoke of Bob Reily’s presentation to the state assembly saying that the sport’s rule’s “speak for themselves”. I believe this is true. State Athletic Commissions like those in Nevada and New Jersey are tightly regulating the sport so that the athleticism and skill is the main attraction. And this includes, as Mr. Goldstein so flippantly points out, ensuring that the fighter’s nails are trimmed. The early days of mixed martial arts isn’t a glimmering example of athleticism. There were fights that were won via groin strike. But its the “No Holds Barred” history that mixed martial arts is fighting against today. The sport is regulated more closely than boxing. Of the four MMA events I’ve attended here in Pennsylvania just since this past spring, PA Commissioner Greg Sirb has been present at every one.

Mr. Goldstein cites Dr. Vivienne Nathanson who doesn’t consider mixed martial arts a sport. Well, Mr. Goldstein failed to point out that MMA is legal in the United Kingdom, and the UFC, the biggest MMA promoter in the world, has staged several shows from both London and Dublin. They have also run shows in Japan, Germany and Brazil. And just to clear up another error in this part of Mr. Goldstein’s article. “Ultimate Fighting” is not a sport. There is no such thing as “ultimate fighting”, its just another term for mixed martial arts, and MMA can be staged in either a traditional boxing ring, or in a caged ring. New Jersey, however, recently stated that they will no longer sanction amateur MMA fights in boxing rings, citing fighter safety.

I would also like to point out that while Mr. Goldstein brings NASCAR, Evil Kenevil, and the Lions eating the Christians into play, he fails to mention that there are numerous studies that have shown that playing football, particularly through to an NFL career, significantly shortens a man’s life span. But, since the NFL has fifty plus years of tradition, and the Baltimore Ravens, Philadelphia Eagles, and 30 other teams make themselves, their municipalities and their sponsors billions of dollars annually, I guess that just doesn’t matter.

I equate mixed martial arts to rugby. Rugby, by the way, is such a safe sport compared to American football, that players don’t require the 5 or 6 pounds of padding. Rugby is a spectacular game of ground control, possession, and teamwork. Its a safe sport, and a great sport. But since Americans misunderstand it, they assume its a violent mess of European savagery. Mixed martial arts, when practiced at its highest levels, can be a spectacular sport, providing knock outs on par with the best boxing matches Mr. Goldestein has ever witnessed, and it can also showcase some of the finest technical grappling, wrestling and submission fighting in the world. This is not a brutal, brainless display of unmitigated violence. This is a contest at the most pure level. This is two men attempting to impose their will on the other.

One fight fan to another, I would encourage Mr. Goldstein to reconsider mixed martial arts.

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Paul Miles is a sports photographer who has shot ringside for Respect is Earned, Kings Promotions and Celebrity Boxing. This, obviously, qualifies him to have an opinion. Aside from editing MAMMA, he also maintains a portfolio site.

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