Bill to ban mixed martial arts fights called ‘slap in the face’

Photo by Stefan Tell/Flickr

ALBUQUERQUE — He was one of a handful of legislators who voted against a ban on cockfighting in 2007, but Senate President Pro Tem Tim Jennings is now comparing cockfighting to mixed martial arts (MMA) to justify a bill he’s introduced that would ban the popular sport in New Mexico.

Jennings believes his bill, SB 688, is about “fairness” given the ban on cockfighting, he told The Albuquerque Journal.

“If we set all these goals out that capital punishment is inhumane and cockfighting is inhumane, what do you do with people beating the heck out of each other for money?” Jennings told the Journal.

But Alberto León, chairman of the New Mexico Athletic Commission, told the Independent that the comparison between the two isn’t plausible.

“First,” León says, “combatants in mixed martial arts are conscious human beings who are informed of the risks involved. Plus, there are strict regulations in place to protect and safeguard the health and safety of the participant, unlike cockfighting.”

The manager of Jackson’s Gym in Albuquerque, Ricky Kottenstette, was a little blunter.

“It’s absurd,” he said. “Strict rules have been developed to make this sport safe — it’s probably safer than boxing. Whereas in cockfighting they actually strap razors to the legs of the birds.”

In cockfighting, two roosters that are bred for fighting are put into a ring, often with blades attached to their legs. The outcome is more often than not a dead bird. The practice is now illegal in New Mexico.

Mixed martial arts combines varying elements of different fighting styles and is a regulated sport in 37 states, including New Mexico.

In the Journal article, it was pointed out that U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Arizona, once said the sport was akin to “human cockfighting,” and Jennings used that term in an interview with KOB Channel 4 about the bill.

But McCain has since reversed course, saying in 2007 that “[t]he sport has grown up. The rules have been adopted to give its athletes better protections and to ensure fairer competition.”

León said this was true for New Mexico, which has a regulatory framework to protect the health and safety of participants in the sport.

“I’m not aware of any debilitating or incapacitating injuries resulting from participation in mixed martial arts since our commission started regulating [the sport],” he said.

And, he continued, if the bill was adopted, it might actually produce the environment that Jennings implies exists now.

“If it were banned, there would be a proliferation of unsanctioned events and possibly even underground events, which would potentially result in grave injuries to the participants without the benefit of doctors, EMTs, ambulances, etc., which are now required by our commission,” León explained.

The sport is hugely popular in New Mexico, he added.

“It’s bigger than NASCAR, if that tells you anything,” Kottenstette said.

And New Mexico should give itself more credit for the talent and expertise that exists here, he said.

León agreed, saying that New Mexico is a mixed martial arts “hotbed” with some of the “best training facilities in the world and some of the best trainers as well.”

Plus, he said, it also provides a significant boost to economic activity in small town New Mexico.

“Mixed martial arts creates jobs and an economic infusion in many areas of the state,” he said. “It’s not uncommon for an event in a small town in New Mexico to be attended by one or two thousand people.”

For these reasons, Kottenstette called Jennings’ bill a “slap in the face to New Mexico, especially to the fans here.”