Anyone in Boston who thinks mixed martial arts (MMA) is too violent for children under 18, has never been to Fenway Park when the Red Sox are playing the Yankees.
That sound is the crowd, by the way, hootin’ and hollerin’ as Jason Varitek uses his catcher’s mitt to go deep on A-Rod.
I know what you’re thinking, those are hardly “fights” by the existing definition of the word. No problem, just direct your attention to the stands, where fans have a tendency to rumble on a whim. That’s assuming they don’t wait for you out in the street like these guys.
At least when you throw hands in Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC), there is a referee and a cageside physician.
Why Boston wants to ban MMA for being too violent for children under 18 is something UFC President Dana White doesn’t understand, especially considering his roster of athletes look like saints compared to the New England Patriots, who had the honor of employing a murderer named Aaron Hernandez.
White vents to MMA Junkie (via USA Today):
“The ball-kicking continues, even once we get here. This Murphy guy. You elect a politician to hopefully go out and bring in jobs, create revenue in your city, bring in events that bring revenue to your city. This guy comes out and he’s saying all this (bleeping) stuff like ’18 and under’ (not allowed at the event) and all this other stuff they’re doing to us. Then sure enough, this hearing, 25 of the Culinary Union members are there. And this guy busts out a video of Chael Sonnen talking about Anderson Silva in Brazil. First of all, this is the fight business. This isn’t the nice business. This is the fight business. And when people ask me about it, I’m like, ‘Wait a minute. We’re in Boston, aren’t we? Don’t the Patriots play here? (Bleeping) Aaron Hernandez just murdered somebody and possibly murdered two other people. Are the Patriots going to get chased out of town now? Are they going to do 18 and under? You want to get scared? Go to a Red Sox-Yankees game. Little kids are there. People are screaming and yelling horrible things, and fights are breaking out because of different jerseys you’re wearing and all kinds of stuff. Are they going to make that 18 and under (not allowed)? This guy’s a complete hypocrite and a total jackass.”
The jackass in question is Boston City Council President Steve Murphy, who backed a petition to ban children 18 and under from attending any and all MMA events in “Beantown.” The petition (read it here) to save our children was sponsored by Unite Here, the culinary union waging war against ZUFFA — parent company of UFC — because of the way Station Casinos is run in Las Vegas, Nevada.
See how that mess is unfolding here.
While UFC Fight Night 26, which goes down this Saturday night (Aug. 17, 2013) at the TD Garden will go off without a hitch, the promotion is in no big hurry to go back after having to jump through several hoops, including last month’s social security fiasco.
The Cradle of “Liberty” and “Modern America?”
As if.