Time to Step Up and Be Heard
Published by Charles Jay on August 24th, 2008 in Operation Cleanup

 Print |  Email |  RSS

Commentary on MMA history…..as it’s happening

Here is a letter that was sent out by Nick Lembo, who is the general counsel for the State Athletic Control Board in New Jersey:

August 18, 2008

Dear Interested Parties:

Re: Association of Boxing Commissions Professional and Amateur MMA Rules
Committee

The deadline to submit your comments to the committee is FAST
APPROACHING. Only one month is left to submit your comments for
consideration by the Committee. The deadline to submit comments for
consideration is September 17, 2008.

Items that will be discussed by the ABC Committee and sub-committees
include, but are not limited to, smothering, standing foot stomps, knees
to the head, striking to the back of the head, weight classes, downward
pointed elbows and amateurs.

We are interested in any comments from any promoters, matchmakers,
managers, seconds, trainers, fighters, officials, media, fans or other
interested parties.
All comments will be passed on to the Committee for their consideration.
Please feel free to submit your comments in writing by September 17,
2008 to:

Nicholas Lembo
State Athletic Control Board
Hughes Justice Complex
PO Box 180
Trenton, NJ 08625

The Association of Boxing Commissions, through its President, Tim
Lueckenhoff, has formed a nine member committee to conduct a thorough
study of the current rule set for professional mixed martial arts to
determine what, if any, justification may exist for amendment to the
Uniform Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. This committee will also recommend
rules for amateur mixed martial arts.

The intent of the ABC and President Lueckenhoff is to find uniformity
and unification so that the rules of MMA are the same in each
jurisdiction in which this growing sport is authorized.

Nick and his committee have appointed advisory boards for fighters, industry people and medical personnel, and also sent his communique to many of us who are associated with the press and other parts of the industry, who will hopefully formulate some ideas and pass them along.

I’ll chip in as time progresses, and you will see results of my own contemplation right here on the website. However, my first suggestion isn’t necessarily for Nick, but for all the people who are reading this. Inasmuch as this involves the regulation of MMA, what is being presented here is a golden opportunity, one that is highly unusual and may not come again.

Nick doesn’t have to do this. In fact, some in the organization would rather he didn’t.

I’m assuming, if you’re reading this, that you love the sport. And if that’s the case, the last thing you want are a bunch of politicians in Washington stepping in and taking over a sport they have absolutely no emotional stake in whatsoever.

Does anybody want that? Isn’t that something you would do everything you could to prevent?

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not saying you can keep it from happening if the politicians ultimately want it bad enough. But you can make them a lot less relevant. The committee formed within the ABC, and the suggestions Nick is looking for, are not designed for the purpose of stuffing some federal bill where 400 members of Congress who’ve never seen an MMA fight will be determining the future of the sport, and your livelihood (if you are involved in the industry).

I’m one for private governance, as a form of self-governance, but whichever way you slice it, I am not for the intervention of the federal government in something like this. And while I recognize that while ABC members are political appointees and thus appendages of government, many of them are also protective of their own right to operate without federal involvement.

Because the ABC, as I have mentioned time and again, is a trade association, you could reasonably interpret it that the procedure actually promotes a quasi-private approach to tackling the matter. What we also have here is a a chance to offer input that will shape the rules the sport will operate under, regardless of the jurisdiction.

This, in effect, becomes the closest thing to a democratic process; in fact, something that has never been offered through the ABC as it concerned boxing, and certainly was never even considered under the reign of Greg Sirb, who was, for the most part, threatened by input. That’s why I had to undertake it myself, by writing not one, not two, but THREE electronic books – Operation Cleanup, Operational Cleanup 2, and Body Shots (copies available upon request). The people in the ABC, feigning interest, have often in the past nodded their heads, and proceeded to move on. And it often took someone virtually hitting them over the head to make them stand up and take notice, because there was no way they could avoid it.

The difference here is that (a) Nick is a straight shooter, (b) Nick knows and cares about mixed martial arts, and (c) Nick is perfectly willing to listen.

I know that a lot of people have thoughts. A lot of people have complaints. This is the ideal way they can be aired and digested by someone who is in a position to make a difference.

For someone like Nick, this ain’t his first rodeo. It should be noted that this is generally the same process Lembo and Larry Hazzard went through when they collaborated on the first incarnation of the unified rules for mixed martial arts, except this is quite a bit more inclusive.

So speak now, or forever hold your peace. Or your piece. And if you have comments, feel free to send them over to me as well.

contact@mmamemories.com