The real issue with Kyle Maynard

Underground
1

Nobody is or can stop Kyle from testing himself in MMA. They guy is famous and has ties to a number of camps.. find a guy willing to fight, lock the gym doors, have at it.

The issue is him fighting in a public specatacle. Is it responsible for a promoter to advertise this? For CNN to run an "armless legless MMA fighter" peice? Is it even fair to call it MMA if Kyle needs special rules?

Of course an athletic commision is going to deny him, DUH. They make their decisions based on medical facts, not heart and desire.. they in fact specifically make decisions based on medical facts to prevent fighters with too much heart and desire from getting into undue risk.

The dividing point in this issue is should Kyle be made a public spectacle, not if he can fight or not. He can fight anytime he wants. Under any rules he wants.

The issue is, can someone sell tickets for it, can the press have a field day either (as we would hope) to show the courage and determination of this amazing athlete overcoming his disabilities or a sensational peice about how ridiculous MMA is as a sport, or worst case, how a disabled kid got hurt cagefighting, and how the state AC and promoters and bloodthirsty fans looking for some circus show allowed it to happen.

The press isn't going to ask for Kyle's input in how it presents the peice, before or after.

Selling tickets for a show higlighted by a quadripalegic fighting is the very definition of a freakshow promotion. It may not be fair to Kyle, but that's the truth.

If Kyle wants to test himself, he can do so in the gym. Heck, tape it.. put it on youtube. If the important thing for Kyle is to do it for a live audience, do it at a reservation.

Trying to get approval from state regulators for a sanctioned MMA match is nuts. If he needs special rules why even call it MMA. If this is not a publicity stunt then it doesn't matter what they call it, or if he fights in a show or in the gym.

2

It's "NOT" MMA with those rules.

3

I also wonder how he is going to make his walk to the ring. I think a dojo
match is a better idea.

4

If it's not "MMA", then what is the problem granting him a license to fight under the georgia amateur rules?

5

EM that was part of the point also.. it's not about can he fight or not... it's about the production.. can he fight being billed MMA in a sanctioned event.

If the terminology and state approval and audience are what's important, and not Kyle testing himself as an athlete.

MMA is applied to pancrase, ufc, vale tudo, pride.. so many different rules pretty much anything that isn't a long established sport/martial art falls under "MMA".

If Kyle were to try "Ultimate Fighting" Dana would sue his pants (what there are of them) off... or put him on the next season of TUF.

6

antifret, what's the problem with Kyle testing himself under any rules he wants in the gym?

the issue is the spectacle, not the rules.

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For me it's only about the rules. If it's not MMA you don't get to call it MMA and try to get a free ride on the MMA bandwagon.

If you want to do MMA, you need to follow the rules of MMA, or take that shit elsewhere. No exceptions.

It's submission grappling with limited striking on the ground. Call it what it is. And leave our sport out of it please.

Enough already.

8

"the issue is the spectacle, not the rules."
This may sound like a cliche but it's a free country, and anything Kyle does will be a "public spectacle". If he decided to run for president, his condition would be highlighted. If you want to argue that he has a greater risk of injury than another person then fine, but that doesn't seem to your main point. You seem to be saying that people will be going to the fight just to see the amputee guy fight and the promoter and Kyle should be prevented from having a show because it's exploitive somehow. The function of the athletic commission's licensing process is to insure the safety of the athletes (if I'm wrong on this let me know), not to consider the future of the sport and how the media will perceive things. Also, I'm curious if you would have been opposed to Kyle wrestling or playing football in school?

9

WPB,
Kyle would be getting no special ruleset. Because of his condition, he may be considered always a downed opponent. The georgia am rules that everyone follows only allow strikes to the body of a downed opponent. This is a large part of the issue.

"If you want to do MMA, you need to follow the rules of MMA, or take that shit elsewhere. No exceptions."
What are the "rules of mma" as you say? Pride rules? UFC rules? Different states, countries, promotions, etc. each have their own ruleset. Would you consider pancrase to be mma? Some would, some wouldn't? This issue is not over the semantics, it's whether Kyle should be allowed to participate in amateur Georgia MMA (which has a ruleset different from Nevada, California, Japan, Brazil etc).

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1st - Badmonkey, you sound like a moron! If you step in the ring and get your ass beat by an amputee then yes it should go as a loss on your record. They knew the consequences when they stepped up.

2nd - If I have mis-interpreted the amateur GA rules, sorry. Under Georgia amateur rules there would be NO special rules for Kyle. Since Kyle is an amputee he is considered a downed opponent. Under GA amateur rules is no striking a downed opponent in the head. Body punches and submission attemps are fair game. The amateur fighters in GA also wear protective gear.

I dont see this "spectacle" happening in the state of Georgia. Now if im not mistaken, Kyle can go across the border to Alabama where there is no sanctioning body to turn him down. Either way, I do agree with Daht.

11

man, people on here are dense.

AMATEUR MMA IN GEORGIA DOES NOT ALLOW STRIKES TO THE HEAD ON THE GROUND. FOR ANYONE. PERIOD. KYLE WOULD BE FIGHTING UNDER THE SAME RULES AS EVERY OTHER AMATEUR MMA FIGHTER IN GA.

12

Antifret,

You missed the point entirely.

Rather than try to re-explain, let me ask you:

What is stopping Kyle from compteting in the gym on his own under whatever rules he likes, aside from desire for another 15 mintues of fame?

13

all he has to do is fight in mexico

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Dana sez: " MMA is a complete fighter "....so you can't be miss'n any parts..........with all this p.c.-crap , you made say "IT" ..................not diss'n=just truth.....

15

Dhat,
"You seem to be saying that people will be going to the fight just to see the amputee guy fight and the promoter and Kyle should be prevented from having a show because it's exploitive somehow."
The above sentence addresses your point. Why are his or the promoter's motives even an issue? Alot of people fight only for 15 min of fame. Maybe he wants to make a point in pubic? Maybe he wants to something to put on his long list of accomplishments? Or perhaps he feels more alive in front of a large crowd of people. The guy has been wrestling for years and has competed in NAGA events, maybe he wants to go to another level? My question to you is are there any safety issues given the current rule set that would justify denying Kyle a license? If there are no safety issues do you think that potential negative publicity to a sport should be reason to deny someone a license?

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"man, people on here are dense. "

No, you are dense.

"AMATEUR MMA IN GEORGIA DOES NOT ALLOW STRIKES TO THE HEAD ON THE GROUND. FOR ANYONE. PERIOD. KYLE WOULD BE FIGHTING UNDER THE SAME RULES AS EVERY OTHER AMATEUR MMA FIGHTER IN GA. "

Fighting under the same rules with the exception of oh... how about NO FUCKING PUNCHES TO THE FACE. EVER. Jesus tits. If that doesn't constitute special rules, I don't know what does. He counts as always down, so he cannot be punched in the face.

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ANY fighter fighting under GA amateur rules can avoid punches to the face by putting a knee down or sitting to the guard position. Kyle is not a special case in this respect.

If you have a problem with a MMA ruleset that allows a fighter to avoid strikes to the head merely by maintaining a down position, then I would probably agree with you (on the whole, I find the amateur rules here in GA to be a bit silly). But the rules being what they are, there is no special case that needs to be made for Kyle if he were to fight. Once again, he'd fight under the same rules as everyone else.

18

antifret,

So, this IS about Kyle and his ego/publicity, and NOT about him testing himself, or any other B.S.,

He's not getting enough attention just being an amazing wrestler, and he needs back on CNN, and doesn't care about collateral media attention.

Thank you for clarifying the situation. I don't see any reason to talk about how the atheltic commission should make a special case for Kyle for any reason other than media whoring, which unfortunately is NOT one of their criteria...

So, their decision is a good one.

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exactly^^^^^^^^^it's un-P.C. but......................

20

Digital,

First person to clarify that in the rules you can just buttscoot or stay on a knee with no penalty.

That WOULD make these the best possible rules for Kyle to compete under.. but still can't fault any sanctioning body from preventing it.

Kyle should just compete on a reservation or in a closed gym any way he wishes.