Scatterbrains AKA This Is A Shoot!!

Once Upon A Time In Michigan AKA The Jihad Needs To Mobilize.

Zach Arnold of Fight Opinion fame has put out an interesting article about the bill being formed to legitimize MMA in the state of Michigan.

From the Grand Rapids Press...

The most troubling aspect of the bill: Promoters of mixed martial arts would be required to provide each contestant with minimum insurance coverages of $5,000 for medical and hospitalization, and $10,000 for accidental death, just three years after the legislature approved new minimums of $50,000 each for boxing.

Until boxing was overhauled in 2004, its insurance minimums, set in 1952, were $5,000.

Given that backdrop, why pass a law providing mixed martial artists with one-tenth the medical coverage, and one-fifth the loss-of-life coverage, of pro boxers?

For those who don't don't have the time to read both articles, here's the summery....

The MMA Bill that being mulled around at the moment has an outrageously high license fee and outrageously low insurance premiums.

This will tremendously hurt the MMA community economically, physically and technically.

Everybody and their mom knows that an average sized dojo or MMA school isn't going to have that much bread on them to get a licence and if they put out a loan, they're going to have to pray to their gods that they get a miraculous sellout crowd just to pay it back. Even if there was booster clubs formed, there's no way grassroots promotions is going to get the cash for just a license.

So who's going to be benefiting from this bill?

Why pro organizations and money marks. That's who.

This same bill that's trying to stifle illegal activity is a wide open door with keys for the likes of "The King of Bay City" Art Dore, Neil "The Knife" Helmkay and all of their associates. The economic opportunities I talked about happening once we regulated the sport....not happening. Events sponsored by local businesses will not happen. None will be created. The only things you'll see behind these events is the business ventures of both men which are doing pretty well as it is. All that possible revenue will be pocketed by the people who need it less and the "Know Nothing" Gangs reign triumphant.

If that isn't a piss in the pants, think of the fighters. Without the grassroot support of the schools, they're all under the shadow of the marks. It would totally be worthless to fight in Michigan if this bill passes because you'll never be able to build a quality record here. Quality fighters would be at the mercy of the mark's matchmaker AKA the marks themselves. Forget that your opponent is 15 to 50 pounds heavier then you or that his skill and technique is on the level of a JV high school wrestler or that his cardio will fall out a minute into the match. never mind if the dude a) is big b) can make the bag bend when he hits it and c) his head is far up the mark's ass, you're fighting him or you won't get paid your $200 dollars. You could be a super quality fighter, but the semi-pros will never know it because of all the cans the mark throws at you. Without quality opponents, no one will know the whole picture of the fighter and therefore the fighter will have to retire or move to greener pastures in Ohio or Illinois. This will in turn, create a desolate community without a fanbase and another lost cause in economic growth and communal pride. Sure, some of our fighters will go on to make it big, but who will really know about them.

It's a very frustrating time for the Michigan MMA community.

The Grunts Are Dying While The Generals Have Their Breakfast.

While we're on the subject of fighting money marks, where in the hell is our major media sources on the subject? Yes I'm looking at you Sherdog and MMA Weekly. You went to cover the Tommy Morrison debacle, yet done nothing to expose the promoter as the failed money mark he is. Sure you can crow about "this wasn't regulated" and "It was on an Indian reservation so it wasn't regulated", but anyway you angle it, you dropped the ball. It is your job, nay, your duty to stop marks from being the scum they are and help real MMA promoters grow. You did none of this.

And you expect everyone to take this sport seriously?

How can it do this when the sport's own media hasn't dropped it balls yet and gone for the jugular on these creeps?

Why is it me and others busting our asses to try to make this sport, our sport, safe as possible and to make sure none of this falls to the wayside and become another pro-wrestling while you guys can't even report on allegations of yakuza activity within the halls of DSE and PRIDE, leading to it's inevitable demise?

You guys are supposed to be the masthead of MMA Journalism. You're the be all end all of MMA information. You're supposed to be exposing money marks and teaching a thing or two to the Stick And Ball media about the sport. In the words of George Clooney in From Dusk Till Dawn, you're supposed to be "A motherfucking servant of God".

But you decide to rest on your laurels.

Congratulations. You won. We made it.

Now pretty please, with sugar on top, do your fucking job.

If you don't want to, that's fine. We'll be grateful to pick up the slack and actually try to make something of this sport.

A Worked Fight In PRIDE!? Unpossible!!

I got to laugh at people who got shocked when Rampage to the media that his fight with Sakuraba was supposed to be worked. That has got to be the funniest thing I head the whole day. We're talking about a time frame where the organization was still under the shadow of Antonio Inoki and Nobuhiko Takada was trying to still pas himself of as a "credible" Mixed Martial Artist. if anything, it just makes that whole period of PRIDE a bit more ridiculous.

Now if PRIDE told CroCop to dive for Dos Caras. Then...I'll be shocked.

Jihad on Art Dore!!

Art Dore. The self proclaimed King of Bay City.

I'm going to make this short and sweet because I feel that if I talk about these guys, I will be giving these assholes free advertisement and I'm much higher then them.

Greg Ahrens did an interview for the Detroit Times talking about how he will ignore the Dept. Labor and Economic Growth (DLEG) prohibiting running the Cobo Arena. Here are the highlights.

These are so slanted it's just....here I'll show you.

State officials said they are considering going to Wayne Circuit Court to request an injunction against the program.

"Mr. Ahrens' events are in violation of the Michigan professional boxing statute," said the state's chief investigator, Barrington Carr, "and are probably a nuisance."

Amateur martial arts events are not covered under the act Carr cited, but the state believes it has jurisdiction over Ahrens' shows anyway because he sometimes pays fighters, and there is "a boxing component" to the bouts.

Ahrens said the purpose is to force state officials to rewrite the boxing regulations to include oversight of mixed martial arts, which are growing in popularity nationwide thanks to a proliferation of pay-per-view events. Then fighters could be paid legally, he said.

That has got to be the stupidest excuse ever on how to get MMA regulated in Michigan. That's like saying I'm going to stab anyone and everyone because there are not specific rules and regulation for blade murder. How about talking to Brett Ratner, Greg? How about sitting down and writing a rough guide on a piece of paper, Greg? How about lobbying Greg?

It goes on.

MMA events "are everywhere now," said Art Dore of Bay City, promoter of Toughman, which has proven a far more dangerous style of ring combat. "In Ohio, I think there are 40 or 41 MMA events this month alone."

Yes, Art. Ohio runs 41 events because they're licenced and regulated. That means they talk and work with athletic commissions. Unlike other people.

If you don't believe me I can get the OSAC Director's email for you. I dare you to talk to him. I triple dog dare you to talk to him. I doubt you have the balls.

No deaths have been reported in MMA events. Fighters, who wear 6-ounce, fingerless, palm-less gloves, are allowed to use any martial art form of striking, grappling, kicking or submission holds.

Dore, however, said at the last MMA event he attended, a down, clearly unconscious opponent was struck three or four times before the referee intervened. "It was pretty brutal," Dore said.

I love this thing that always comes up. You know the thing where the uneducated casual fan yells and screams about how a fight should have ended sooner because the first strike knocked out a fighter and the following strikes that follow seconds after were excessive. And then they go blame the ref for being "too slow" It's like their sense of time is warped and the refs are supposed to have super sharp eyes and super speed to qualify to officiate.

For Art to say something like this either was to show off his ignorance of the sport or a low handed way of bringing MMA down to his level. Either way, it's pretty stupid.

Saturday's MMA event has nothing to do with Toughman, Ahrens said, but "the state is painting me with an Art Dore paint brush." Dore has no part of Saturday night's promotion, Ahrens said, but has been hired as ring announcer "because people love him."

So people love him. If I come and bring the families of the fourteen people who died in his ring, you think they will love him too? How about those five vegetables? You think I can be a buddy of Dore? You think he'll let me frequent his steakhouse/martini and cigar bar if I call him a scoundrel, a liar and a sad waste of water and carbon wasting my planet's resources?

The state also complains that Ahrens does not insure his fighters up to $50,000 for injury, twice that for death, the coverage for boxers. Ahrens said the 50 fighters expected Saturday night will be insured "$5,000 per occurrence."

That's cool. What insurance company you using?

He could not remember which insurance company issued the policies, he said, but both he and Dore said Ahrens frequently purchases such coverage from an insurance company registered in the Cayman Islands owned by Dore.

So the fighters aren't getting insured and they're not getting paid. In fact, you have fighters pay to fight.

Why are they fighting for you again?

Ahrens said Detroit emergency officials would be informed the bouts will be taking place, but will not be present. "Our doctor says those people just get in the way," he said.

You need to fire your doctor then and fast. Show me one instance where emergency officials are "in the way" of an event? Calvin Ayre had emergency officials on call every time he throws a Bodog card. Hell, high school football has an ambulance sitting just outside the field. Why are you denying emergency assistance?

Or are you lying again?

Ladies and gentleman of the MMA community, I urge you, nay, plead with you to call Jihad on Art Dore and Greg Ahrens. They are hurting the sport in the state of Michigan and are trying to make themselves look like martyrs while doing so. Please send kind, helpful mail to Barrington Carr, head of the Enforcement Dept. Here is the address.

Enforcement Division
P.O. Box 30018
Lansing, MI 48909

email: bcsinfo@michigan.gov

Please send kind and helpful mail that not only shows support to Carr, but also helps him at least understand a bit about MMA and how it needs to be protected from the Dore regime. I urge everyone to get everyone and their grandmothers involved. Please! For the sake of the sport!!

We need to stop The advances of Art Dore. If we don't, I'm afraid that we'll have our first fatality pretty soon.

Is It Enough?

WaPo did an article on MMA and the UFC a couple days back. A bit of it really caught my eye.

Mixed martial arts still faces the stigma of being lumped with the old toughman contests and the old UFC events, which were less structured and regulated than they are today. And there is a fear that, as mixed martial arts spreads via hundreds of local shows around the country, an accident during a fight could have a devastating effect on the industry.
Ratner has been going around the country, meeting with state officials in various jurisdictions to get mixed martial arts licensed and regulated.
"Pennsylvania just came on board," Ratner said. "They still have to adopt regulations, but they have approved the sport to regulate. We are having bills introduced in Michigan and Illinois in the next week to 10 days...."

He's going to introduce a bill into the legislature in the next two weeks. While this is a step in the right direction and I thank Ratner for stepping in, I really have to ask...is that enough? Just introducing a bill and see if it sticks? And once it does pass, what are we going to do between the time of legalizing and regulation? I know there are real itchy fingers who will look for any and all loopholes to make a profit off it when ever possible. Yes Mr. Dore. I am looking in your direction.

Another thing that worries me is if we do get this regulated, how smart would the MSAC be in handling such events. As I have shown, the same people who have shut down Dore's illegal activity and have started proceedings to stop MMA in Michigan had a picture of Tito Ortiz on their homepage. That either tells me that MSAC fully welcomes MMA or that someone really doesn't know how to build a page for athletic commissions. How are we supposed to trust these guys to be sure they won't pull an Ebersol situation? I really don't like going up north to have to talk down to a lot of boxing officials just because they suspended a fighter indefinitely based on the evidence that the Anaconda choke looks "hokey".

Here's what I like to see. Ratner sends the bill. If it doesn't pass, fine. If it does, I want to see a moratorium on all Amateur MMA events until a regulating party can be formed and educated on the basics of running and licensing MMA events. Anyone who tries to run a show will loose licence privileges and will have to pay a thousand dollar fine. This will make sure nothing happens until such a time the commission is ready.

That's just me though.

Thank You Fight Opinion.

Fight Opinion just did a segment about Michigan's MMA problem on their recent podcast. They talked to Arron Crossen who writes for Saginaw Valley State Uni.'s student newspaper, The Valley Vanguard. Here is the editorial he did on the subject. Thanks to Fight Opinion for taking our cause to the public.

Also on the Fight Opinion link is a couple of important email addresses. I'll post them here in case the link doesn't work

Robert Swanson

Keith Cooley

These guys are the former and current directors of DLEG in Michigan. Please write nice and articulate letter to them, telling them that you support their decsion in stopping Art Dore from profiting off of MMA fighters and that you want them to regulate the sport in order to protect said fighters. Also add that, if they do not wish to legalize and regulate MMA, they need to look into making sure that traditional martial arts tournaments are protected and that slimeball promoters do not exploit this loop hole to their own advantage. There isn't nothing more despicable then Art Dore trying to stand shoulder to shoulder with Dr. Ibrahim Ahmed and The Konan Judo Association.

I Expect Behavior Like This From My Little Brother.

Taken from the Machine Shop's myspace site. They held an "amateur MMA" card last Friday. The event was run by ADorable Prods. Can you guess who got paid in that picture? (Hint: She's not wearing panties.)


This is kinda old news. I'm sorry I didn't post it sooner, I was hella busy.

If you don't know by now, Art Dore is acting like a child and is ignoring the C&D order to throw his silly ass "Amateur MMA" card at the Dow Event Center next week. Last Friday, he had culled pay at his Flint event and is basically making fighters pay money out of their pocket to fight for free. Just so he can comply with MSAC .

Where is the money going. It can't be going to the venue they fought in. It's easy for Art to pay for. Can be the concessions. The Machine Shop pretty much gets their piece of the action from concessions. I'm pretty sure Dore can get ambulances at the scene too. He owns the Dow and has OHL hockey playing there all the time. So, it's not like a really big problem to get medics over there stat.

Where does the $25 dollars go to, Mr. Dore? I'm having a slight problem understanding this. How is it that the USJF has to charge judokas to pay just so they can afford venue, labor and acceptable medical service, yet you , an ultra rich entrepreneur, instead of doing the right thing and probably ponying up a sizable amount and let these guy fight for free since you don't feel the need to pay them anyway, decide that notion is just crazy-talk and make them pay possibly a part of their money to pay bills just to fight and rank? It's confusing.

As for him ignoring the C&D, this really shows how, excuse my language, fucking childish he is. Honestly, this reminds me of the time me and my brother were taking lessons in sculling. The instructor we studied under had a dog that loved to fetch for things in the water. We were learning to put boats in the water and how to put the oars in the coxing. My brother, totally not interested in learning anything, somehow got his hands on the dog's floating chew toy and was pretty much play fetch. The instructor caught him, told him not to do that and to listen up. My brother stopped and waited for him to be preoccupied, then he started playing with the dog again. Two more times the instructor told him to stop, the last time he shouted at him to knock it off. My brother wouldn't listen. Because I wanted to actually learn how to row as well as make sure I didn't have to listen to shouting all day from my parents, I took the toy away from my brother just before he threw it and gave it back to the instructor.

Now, what am I getting at here. Art Dore is my little brother. He's totally disinterested in learning to do things properly and instead, goes off to the side and does his own thing. The instructor is DLEG. Never mind that what they're trying to do is overlook the safety of fighters, my little brother wants to make money DAMMIT!! Even if it is off the backs of the battered and bruised. The MMA community is me and the chew toy is MMA. We need to take away MMA from Dore and give it to DLEG so that it can be properly shown to the public (the dog) for many years to come.

A Matter of Time.

Nate Carey vs. Chris Hickok. Thanks and love to Pro Karate Weekly.com


First of all, congratulations to Nate Carey. He'll be off to Cleveland next month to challenge Josh "Heavy" Hendricks for his NAAFS Heavyweight Championship. Good luck Nate. You'll need it.

After reading the Muskegon article about the Caged Combat event that happened this weekend, I would like to applaud the DLEG officials for their restraint and for giving the opportunity for this event to happen. Now they have a big choice ahead of them. Do they or do they not allow the sport of MMA in the state of Michigan. Whichever decision they choose, both will yield benefits and consequences.

On one hand, they can still ban the sport from the state. While DLEG is using the very flimsiest of evidence, the true reason behind it's threats is Art Dore and ADorable Prod. To make a sweeping generalization and ban a sport because you believe that all promoters are like Art Dore is silly and preposterous. It also shows the lack of foresight and reasoning behind any logic about the subject. While I do understand that by banning MMA, they are deterring Dore and his ilk from exploiting a loophole in the MSAC rulebook that states that they don't preside over martial arts events, I can't help it but state that by doing so, they will turn into hypocrites and stifle actual economic growth. A whole wealth of fighters that we have in this state will up and leave to train and compete elsewhere and this will further depress the state economy. Millions upon millions in taxable revenue will be gone and the promise of international business will disappear with it as well.

On the other hand, they can legalize the sport, but they need more then legalization to get it's full potential. They need to regulate it as well. By regulating, they can stop Art Dore from profiting off of the sport as well as letting people who actually know how to run an amateur, semi pro, or pro event know that they are securely backed by the state's athletic commission. NAAFS, King of The Cage, TKO, IFL, UFC as well as many other organizations will knock on our door. All willing to give money to display cards. Money that can replenish our economy even just for a little while. I also can guarantee that schools would love to establish themselves up here based on the potential we have in the martial arts. Following them will be stores and shops that specialize in Fight Culture. Not only will these schools and shops add to the ever increasing revenue that will balloon thanks to regulation, but these school will also instill a sense of "community pride" within communities that truly need it. In a couple years, we could see fighters sponsored by the city of Flint, Buena Vista township or even the village of Kalkaska. Moral boosters to areas who feel that they're on their last dime and are forgotten by the state. Remember! Happy people are productive people.

I truly hope the DLEG is thinking long and hard about this. I do hope they take as much time as possible to think this through and ask the necessary questions needed.

Now it's just a matter of time.

MMA At The Balance of A Very Lousy Set of Scales.

picture taken from the MSAC section of the DLEG site. Why they have a screen capture of Tito Ortiz getting hit is anyone's guess. So is actually getting a pdf of the MSAC rulebook it would seem.


Fight Opinion has recently reported that the state of Michigan is thinking about banning all of MMA thanks to the action of Bay City's most beloved citizen, Art Dore.

Here is the AP article

Simply put, because Art Dore runs a show, MMA is evil.

When I heard about this, I had a sinking feeling this would happen. In late January, there were posters for Xtreme Cage Combat here in Bay City. They were stuck up from Marquette to the ol' Midland St. area. All advertising "No Holds Barred Jiu-Jitsu Fighting". Things didn't get better When Muskegon raised a big stink and now...here we are. Under scrutinization from a negligent government department because a has been scumbag promoter was running...let's be honest...a Toughman version of an amateur MMA event.

As you can tell, I'm not on either side of this farce. And I have good reasons why.

From Mr. Millben of the BCS:

"Our position has been that ultimate fighting is illegal in Michigan. In some of the bouts, people just box each other. What they're putting on constitutes an unlicensed professional boxing show."

Mr. Millben is going to be awfully busy next month. There's an illegal boxing show happening in Dearborn disguised as a martial arts tournament. We don't want any boxing unregulated in Michigan, now do we? The point I'm trying to make is that it's Mixed Martial Arts, Mr. Millben. There are other forms of striking. Not everything is boxing. What's even more interesting is that the MSAC doesn't regulate martial arts events. Millben is trying to ban a sport based on the pretense that people use hands to strike each other for a minute to a round, therefore it must be a boxing match.

Mr. Robert Swanson, director of the Department of Labor and Economic Growth.:

"The potential injuries to participants in these types of contests or exhibitions are often costly and potentially life-threatening."

I'm...I'm sorry. Are we talking about the same sport? I could have swore he was reading the wrong notes. Seeing as MMA hasn't had a death yet and boxing has had 1,344+ deaths so far in this decade. But then again, We're talking about a sport that frowns on verbal or physical tapout. How dare we provide alternative entertainment other then a guy out of his wits trying to out box the guy who knocked him stupid. THAT'S UNAMERICAN!!!

Honestly, do these guys do any research before opening their mouths? You would think that by doing so, they would at least try to creatively beat around the bush. What is it about boxing where even if a whole murder of doctors can bring mountains of evidence that boxing is dangerous, the commissions would deny it as "opinion"? I guess we'll never know.

Don't think I'm done yet. I still have ABhorable...I mean ADoreable Productions to work on.

To start things off, Art Dore is a hypocrite. During the "dark days" of MMA, Art Dore was the front runner of the anti-MMA colition. All to make sure the government got off the back of his miserable Toughman operations. So while MMA was the "bad boy" of the 90's, his cock fights still went puttering along till 2003. After 14 people dead and 5 people turned into vegetables, Dore decides to stop Toughman...to promote MMA. Think about it. This man operated illegal boxing matches in America, left fourteen corpses and five vegetables...and he's still operating. Now he's trying to promote MMA.

from head henchman Gregory Ahrens:

"Amateur martial arts are exempt from regulation of the state. We intend to comply with the law."

Yes, but there's a difference with you Mr. Ahrens. To me, amateur MMA has amateur fighters who are trained in MMA school. So, if this was a true amateur event, you'd have guys from schools like Eastland Combat Club, Dan Severn gym, Griffin-Rawls, Jorge Gurgel BJJ, Strong Style, Playland, etc. etc. Right? Wrong. You put out an ad for fighters on your posters, asking them if "they got the guts" and give them contact information. What's the matter. Afraid to pay REAL fighters with REAL money? How much were you going to give these guys anyway? $50? You probably were going to give the whole "waiver to medical service" bit on the contract too, weren't you?

Let me put it in focus for you if it hasn't bit you yet Mr. Aherns. Amateur martial artists are TRAINED to fight. Guys on the street with beer muscles aren't.

Mr. Aherns:

"Anytime you get into a fight is life-threatening."

Wait a second. Don't you really mean....

"Anytime you get into an Art Dore fight, it's really life-threatening."

Honestly folks. I can write a book on how an Art Dore MMA will go down. You get your blood pressure and alcohol level checked by a doctor that was recommended to Art by a wino from John's Bar who will do something that has nothing to do with medical assistance during your fight. You'll step into a rickety ass cage with someone 50 pounds overweight and hasn't had a lick of fight experience since 6th grade. The ref hasn't had a lick of experience in MMA fights and will have moments of spacing out. Remember that when your eye gets gouged out with a pointed elbow and your face turns to oatmeal after a minute of ground and pound. "But what if I survive?" you say. Forget it. The judges are two guys who know nothing about MMA and Art Dore. Make that three guys who know nothing about MMA. Forget it kid. It's a lose/lose situation. All you get out of it is $50 anyways.

So...how's the future look for MMA. Right now, pretty bleak. The name "Art Dore" is an instant shut off for any government official. Even if Mr. Aherns was true to his word and even cleans the mats when he's done, it still won't do any good. I don't even think Ratner will be able to crack this state government. It might even get criminal if Ratner does try to clear things up. Dore's been known for giving state reps "a piece of the action".

There needs to be some kind of guarantee that scumbag money marks like Dore are stopped. Something to make sure that amateur events are REAL amateur events. Do I see that happening with our current state government? Not bloody likely.