ISCF Helps Make MMA Legal

Underground
61

Good luck to you too Cam. Obviously from some of your statements you agree that a few thing need fixed. This thread isn't anything against you personally and you can't speak for everyone in the organization. Obviously the IKF/ISCF is lucky to have you on their side and I have a lot of respect for you. I think they have some great people in that organization, but once they are mad at you or find one excuse, they won't let it go no matter what you do. It is a maze to get sactioned IMO.

Well, I hope everything works out for all of us and the sport too. With a more general acceptance of MMA that seems to be happening across the country, probably everyone needs to step back and take a good luck at how they are doing things.

As a side note, I read that you have a kickboxing match coming up? I wanted to wish you good luck!

62

Tripp, yeah, words come across different on here.

"watch what you say" was not a threat or anything but was more referring to the fact that when everyone keeps saying that 'only criminals were denied' it reflects on people like me. I guess what I was trying to get across was to 'watch what you say' because people will take it wrong - I am no criminal and it may give people the impression that I am one. I guess I'll watch how I say things too LOL

63

sounds good. Good luck

Tripp Owings

64

There is no doubt that the ISCFs application rules are structured in a way to easily ignore, block or deny sanction to applicants. This “proper channel argument” is weak and transparent and Cam should be embarrassed to use it at this point. The board members admit they do not apply, they simply call each other and put the dates on the web. No maze for them, how lucky.

A local promoter that has done 1 MMA/Boxing show solely and 2 jointly with an ISCF board member and is now denied that option, MMA only. Yet board members can do MMA/Thai MMA/Kickboxing whatever they want because they “earned it they were here first”.

The ISCF claims it has the responsibility to “provide a reasonable assurance of a profitable undertaking” to the promoter W T F. If they do not think fans will be in GA seats because of a kickboxing event in Iowa that date will be denied a month before and a month after, a two month lock out at the time.

The ISCF openly brags that it answers to no one and is in no way obligated to. This became an issue in GA when I fighter was injured and was told there was no insurance. The ISCF claims the promoter/board member had insurance but will not show it when requested. That to me is more troubling than the allegation of not having insurance. A solid argument to have the AC oversee sanctioning orgs. Show the proof and eliminate this argument if you so strongly object to the AC.

The ISCF can claim that they are fixing these problems and I hope they do but it is my firm belief that the monopoly must be broken and other sanc. orgs. need to be let in. Make no mistake the ISCF in no way, shape or form want other sanctioning bodies allowed in and will use any kind of scare tactics and slander to keep what is so obviously wrong.....The monopoly.

To Cam, you are a champion of the obvious when the obvious is popular, but only when it is popular. You have stood by and watched this corruption and claimed ignorance, you claim to support these ISCF changes (shorten 2 month lockout etc.) when originally you did not. These changes are only being considered because of an uproar in GA and the possibility of losing the monopoly, not because the ISCF woke up one day and decided to try to be fair.

Bottom line if the ISCF sounds appealing to you support them, get them in your state, and befriend them at all cost. I wish the ISCF well in a competitive environment just as I do Wal-Mart, Target, and K Mart. Choice and competition are what make this country great.

Kevin Gittemeier

65

"This became an issue in GA when I fighter was injured and was told there was no insurance. The ISCF claims the promoter/board member had insurance but will not show it when requested. That to me is more troubling than the allegation of not having insurance. A solid argument to have the AC oversee sanctioning orgs. Show the proof and eliminate this argument if you so strongly object to the AC."

I can't believe you are still perpetuating this blatant slander. Does Gauntlet Productions need to have their attorney send a cease and desist letter to you , too?
To continue to perpetuate a lie after it has been proven to be a lie is slander. Are you willing to face those consequences?

I would like to have Kirik please archive this thread in case it is needed in future legal proceedings. This is a topic that has already been handled with legal authority and this thread can be used as evidence.

"To Cam, you are a champion of the obvious when the obvious is popular, but only when it is popular. You have stood by and watched this corruption and claimed ignorance, you claim to support these ISCF changes (shorten 2 month lockout etc.) when originally you did not."

Your bias is impeding your rationale. I was never against any of that. If you have any evidence to the contrary then we'd all be glad to see it. I never claimed ignorance towards anything and I have supported a change in ISCF policy from the onset. Seems you are just full of slanderous accusations today...

"As a side note, I read that you have a kickboxing match coming up? I wanted to wish you good luck!"

Yes and thanks!! I'm probably going to get KTFO but as long as I have fun, what the hell?!?!?

Peace-
Cam

66

To my knowledge, no "proof" has surfaced. There is still a refusal to provide hard proof of insurance. The GA AC has openly stated his books are open. The GA AC is a governmental agency, providing transparency. It would be hard to prove a statement slanderous without hard proof. A "cease and desist" letter from an attorney carries NO WEIGHT. Has there been an injunction issued, has a case been filed, is there a decision from a court of law on the matter? I could be wrong, please provide actual proof that the papers have been provided or are in existence and I will gladly admit my mistake, here on the forum.
I would say, to anyone, if an attorney is harrassing you for no reason, report them to the state bar(s) to which they are admitted. I have a big problem with threats of legal action putting a chill on the expression of free speech. Again, I could be wrong. I will gladly admit any mistakes/retract statements if PROVEN wrong.

67

I could put some silly thing like TTT to get this thread put to the top. But I just found out yesterday what TTT means and I refuse to ever use it. Seems like something a 13 yr old girl would type.

But I agree with this dude above and with Gittemeier. If the insurance hasn't been shown to the masses then something's being covered up. I might be wrong.

Feel free to send me a letter from an attorney if you want to. But in that letter it wouldn't kill anyone to photocopy the insurance and include it with the letter from the attorney...or just have someone post the name of the company that provided the insurance, their ph # and the policy # on this board so anyone on this site can call and check it's validity. Bet that evidence won't be posted.

I'll show you mine if you show me yours (proof of insurance).

I like the promoter of that event. I think he's a cool guy and a good guy and I told him in a 2 hr meeting that I had nothing against him. He's done amazing things for mma in GA and has helped the sport grow.

But the iscf screwed up and didn't police itself and that's the heart of the issue at hand.

This is my last post....ahhhh; probably not.

68

Additionally, Boxing became governed by state authorities because of the need for it... The movie industry was warned to do something about warning viewers about the content... they devised the ratings system... they addressed the issue internally, thus the government stayed out of it...

Football, Golf, tennis, Baskeball, etc... have industry based regulating bodies. These groups have asserted such a reputation, that the government has never needed involvement in those sports... Whereas Boxing (even with state involvement) has been plagued with corruption and has a reputation that reaks of it... This is why the State Commissions are involved... And a potential attempt at monopolizing MMA is EXACTLY the reason that state commissions should be involved... MMA is of a model that will follow the path of corruption that boxing has suffered from.

I do not endorse sole authority from a private regulating body. Promoters and participants should have the freedom to choose their associations...

69

Grappledog,

"Apparently, the GA Boxing Commission is bad. Would it still be bad to have the GA Boxing Commission regulate MMA if some ISCF people or other people who are knowledgeable about MMA were members of the Commission?"

FYI-The last bill that the GABC backed had a provision for the commissioner to waive all fees and taxes for any promoter he wished. There was no criteria for that given in the bill at all. So, if you are buddies with the commissioner, then he could have given you as many freebie shows as he wanted. This would have happened while the commissioner's political enemies/promoters were paying THOUSAND$ IN FEE$ AND TAXE$!!!!!

That was bad. Fortunately, that bill was not the desire of the people of the state of GA.

70

"FYI-The last bill that the GABC backed had a provision for the commissioner to waive all fees and taxes for any promoter he wished. There was no criteria for that given in the bill at all. So, if you are buddies with the commissioner, then he could have given you as many freebie shows as he wanted. This would have happened while the commissioner's political enemies/promoters were paying THOUSAND$ IN FEE$ AND TAXE$!!!!!"

It does indeed sound like a rather bad idea to have a waiver of fees without setting forth the standards for obtaining the waiver.

71

"Let's just say everytime I walk into a gym in Atlanta fighters approach me and thank me and tell me they wish they could speak up publicly;"

*cough---bullshit---couch*

Frankiscool: This happens to me too. It is definitely not bullshit.  You are wrong on this one. Many people want to speak up but with the IKF/ISCF having a monopoly on GA they would be cutting their own throats if they said anything publicly about the organization.

72

"I've spoken to some local ISCF officials about putting on a show in Athens and was met with interest and support."

That's great. Now try to get a date to have the show. Seriously, I understand what you are saying Frank, and I thought I had interest and support too, but getting a date and sanctioning to actually have the event is another story. Why don't you apply for sanctioning and then tell us how it works out? The horror stories aren't from people that thought about having a show, they are from the people that actually tried to have one.

73

"To my knowledge, no "proof" has surfaced."

Shows the limit of your knowledge. All the people that needed the proof have received it and even some that didn't need to see it were privy to it. Just because you or Kevin did not see it means nothing. It was stated (by people that Kevin trusts) that it existed and was seen in a room full of 30 people so Kevin knows it is a lie. So not only is Kevin perpetuating slander he is calling Chris Stoltzman (the guy that runs the school where he trains) a bald faced liar.

"The GA AC is a governmental agency, providing transparency. It would be hard to prove a statement slanderous without hard proof."

Too bad the GA AC has absolutely nothing to do with this incident whatsoever.

"A "cease and desist" letter from an attorney carries NO WEIGHT."

It will if a case is filed and perpetuation of slander has not subsided after the letter was presented.

"Has there been an injunction issued, has a case been filed, is there a decision from a court of law on the matter?"

Not yet..... but it looks like that may be the only recourse to get people to stop perprtuating lies that they know to be untrue in order to slander the ISCF and Gauntlet Productions. If there is one filed, I am sure you will hear about it. Unfortunately, it's not my call...

Peace-
Cam

74

By the way David, who is sanctioning your Muay Thai fights next weekend?

Peace-
Cam

75

LOL @ all of our 'this is my last post' on this thread :-)

76

I would like to know if any of you have fought to help make MMA legal in any state?

I would also like to know what part did any of you play in helping to make MMA legal in Georgia?

The ISCF has done that and been successfull in Georgia and other states. What have yall done?

Tripp

77

"All the people that needed the proof have received it and even some that didn't need to see it were privy to it."

If the ISCF is a de-facto government agency, then it doesn't hurt anyone at all to show a little more transparency. This is what led to the GA AC statement. Like I said earlier, I'll sing "hallelujahs to ISCF" all day if I see some proof. Other than that, all I have stated is that I am unaware of any proof, which is entirely true. You or anyone else simply stating it was so isn't going to be good enough. It would have been a lot easier to simply release the information much sooner. In fact, that would pretty much end all discussion in this area, wouldn't it?

78

I wrote the law in Iowa and worked with the commission to get it passed... that was in 1996.

79

"I would like to know if any of you have fought to help make MMA legal in any state?
I would also like to know what part did any of you play in helping to make MMA legal in Georgia?
The ISCF has done that and been successfull in Georgia and other states. What have yall done?"

No one has ever said the ISCF did not do a great job in this area for GA. These are not the issues raised. These are "red herrings". There may be other agendas out there, I'm asking questions that I would expect to be answered by any governmental org (one which regulates). Wait, wait, wait,..... since I "didn't need to see" the information, I guess I should just stop asking questions. Is that it?

80

Here you go Tripp. This was written about me by the IKF/ISCF with a few updates:

Johnny Walls has been in the martial arts game for many years. He started out as a competitor and competed in various grappling tournaments and fighting events. Johnny went undefeated in Submission Grappling and won a Championship in Karate during his brief fighting career. After two knee injuries and severe head trauma sidelined him, he turned most of his attention to managing other fighters and covering events for various martial arts magazines and websites. Walls has been published both as a writer and as a photographer in several magazines. Walls had one of the first MMA news sites on the web - Johnny's Fighting Page and he went on to create the first Mixed Martial Arts multimedia website on the Internet - BloodyKnuckles.com - in 1997 and was the first person to build a website around video from various combat sports. At its peak BloodyKnuckles.com was receiving nearly 50,000 page views per day and nearly one million video clips were downloaded from the site, further increasing the exposure of Mixed Martial Arts fighting around the world. When No Holds Barred fighting was temporarily dropped from cable Pay Per View, Johnny began streaming the live audio of the show over the Internet for fans that could not see the broadcast due to the cable blockade. Thousands of fans tuned in throughout the world to listen and chat live through his website, keeping the sport and fans together until its triumphant return to cable systems worldwide. He was also one of the founders of the PMNA - the Pro Mixed Martial Arts movement in North America. This organization organized letter writing, email and phone campaigns, and gathered MMA fans by the masses to contact their government leaders and PPV providers in attempts to get MMA sanctioned and back on PPV.

Due to the high cost of providing the video and audio to visitors of his website, Walls started his own hosting company - RealityHosting.com - to provide a resource for affordable website hosting for Martial Arts organizations. Since the inception of RealityHosting.com it has evolved into a World Wide business specializing in Website Hosting and Designing, as well as Domain Name Registration Services. As many other Mixed Martial Arts websites came onto the Internet, he turned his attention away from BloodyKnuckles.com and focused towards RealityHosting.com as a new way to assist Mixed Martial Arts, Kickboxing, and many other combat sports organizations and schools. Hundreds and eventually thousands of Martial Arts websites began seeking out Walls for his design and hosting skills.

In 1999, Walls launched AggressionRadio.com. He attended most major fighting events and was the first person to stream live MMA and Kickboxing audio play by play from ringside over the Internet for fans to listen in. Soon after he devised a way to provide live photos, so that fans and families of fighters not only got to hear the results - they got to see them too. Later that year AggressionTV.com was launched and he began streaming video of entire Mixed Martial Arts events over the Internet such as HOOKnSHOOT, World Extreme Fighting, SuperBrawl, and championship fights from the International Kickboxing Federation. In 2001 Walls was brought to Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates to design and stream live photos and video from the Submission Wrestling World Championships. In 2002, Johnny and his brother Jason Walls (a 5 year world champion in multiple fighting organizations) opened Reality Training Center in Charleston, WV, where they teach Boxing, Kickboxing, and Mixed Martial Arts. Johnny has continued to help various fighting organizations by lending his site and hosting skills to organizations such as Shooto, HOOKnSHOOT, IKF/ISCF, and The Ultimate Fighting Championship.

If Walls is at an MMA event chances are he’s involved in more ways than one. Johnny is an official judge, matchmaker and commentator for various fighting organizations. He has appeared on PPV and DVDs worldwide. Walls currently does a monthly online video magazine (the only one of its kind in MMA) and is also helping the scene in Asia where he was recently a guest in Cambodia for an event. He has also helped with events in Thailand and the Philippines. Whether it’s designing a poster, DVD authoring, photography or matchmaking, Walls has proven he is vital to the sport and any event no matter what role he takes on.

AggressionTV.com now provides on demand and live broadcasting to Martial Arts, Kickboxing, and other combat sports organizations (powered by RealityHosting.com). The most recent AggressionTV.com live video broadcast drew nearly 5000 viewers from all over the world. Walls also sports an impressive mailing list of over 10,000 fans of the sport which guarantees great exposure for any event. He also runs an email discussion forum called The Combat List that includes many of the big names and founding figures of the sport. Walls has also branched into other areas – recently sponsoring world champion axeman Arden Cogar, bringing the AggressionTV.com logo and address to millions of viewers on ESPN and the Outdoor Life Network, and also by sponsoring a new Muay Thai school in Phnom Pehn, Cambodia.

In 2004 Walls was named the East Coast representative for Shooto and has remained active in various ways trying to bring the sport of MMA to the states that still do not sanction it.