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The American media’s MMA boogeyman
By Zach Arnold | December 21, 2005
Today’s Sacramento Bee newspaper has a long article on MMA now being legalized in the state of California. If you notice, the main critic for MMA in the article is Dr. Peter Carmel. Here is what Carmel says in the Sacramento Bee article:
Big purses are not worth the price ultimate fighting extracts from its participants, critics say. The American Medical Association is among those critics. AMA board member Dr. Peter Carmel said it’s difficult to condone – medically or morally – a sport whose aim is to incapacitate an opponent.
Carmel, a neurosurgeon, said he has a hard time seeing any sportsmanship in ultimate fighting.
“I’m intrigued by the popularity of the sport,” Carmel said. “I don’t know what that says about our society. I have no doubt if we bring back lions and Christians we would fill coliseums. I’m surprised we don’t draw the line.”
For those of you who are not familiar with Mr. Carmel, he happens to essentially act as the de-facto anti-MMA critic that everyone and their mother goes to in the America media. He appeared recently on the The Big Idea with Donny Deutsch show on CNBC (which featured Dana White, Lorenzo Fertitta, Matt Hughes, Rich Franklin, and Forrest Griffin).
So why do I point out the ridiculousness of Dr. Peter Carmel being used by the American media to criticize MMA? Carmel, on Deutsch’s show, made the statement and claim that if Hulk Hogan (Mr. pro-wrestling himself) thinks MMA is barbaric, then it must be barbaric and stopped.
And people wonder why it’s hard to take certain individuals in the media so seriously.
Erin Bucknell at MMA-Snark.com has more thoughts on the article.
Topics: MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 4 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback | Share This
[...] The man we nicknamed “The American media’s MMA boogeyman” on December 21, 2005 makes an appearance (via quotes in the infamous Sacramento Bee article) in the Chronicle article. A money quote from the article: “What a photo op — to have Arnold with some bloody competitors who have just beaten each other up for entertainment,’’ crowed Democratic activist Gloria Nieto. ‘That’s exactly the image we need for California.’’ [...]
[...] Levitt notes that the sport still has critics, and that the American Medical Association will not endorse it because the medical body claims that fighters risk brain damage due to brain strikes. Who specifically from the AMA is always quoted by the mainstream media for negative MMA quotes? This man. [...]
[...] Childs Walker in the Baltimore Sun has a very extensive and accurately-written article about UFC, titled UFC Fighting To Be Ring Leader. Outside of the quotes from Jim Lampley and a man that I nicknamed The American Media’s MMA Boogeyman, it’s a very good mainstream media article on MMA. Check it out. [...]
Good job.