« Sunday media review | Home | Monday morning round-up »
Source: CSAC suspends yet another fighter
By Zach Arnold | January 21, 2007
Image credit: IFL.tv
By Zach Arnold
According to a source at the IFL Oakland Arena event on January 19th, fighter Joe Martin has been allegedly suspended indefinitely (the rumor is up to six months) by the California State Athletic Commission for unsportsmanlike conduct after losing to Clint Coronel in a fight on the event.
The referee stopped the fight after Coronel punched Martin in the back of the head and Martin attempted to take down Coronel. It was a controversial stoppage. If the suspension of Martin is up to 6 months, it would certainly take him out of competition in the IFL (and also prevent him from working in all MMA-commissioned states during the time period).
Martin’s suspension is the latest in a string of suspensions by Armando Garcia’s CSAC that has MMA insiders shaking their heads. Previous suspensions include Brian Ebersole for doing a cartwheel in his fight against Shannon Ritch last September (he got an ‘indefinite’ suspension) and Josh Thomson for wearing a “Frank Glamrock is my bitch” t-shirt (he got an ‘indefinite’ or six-month suspension from it). Ebersole is not listed on Frank Shamrock’s IFL team for competition in 2007.
Contact information for the CSAC:
California State Athletic Commission
Sacramento:
1424 Howe Avenue, Suite 33
Sacramento, CA 95825-3217
Phone: (916) 263-2195
Fax: (916) 263-2197
Next CSAC meeting in Los Angeles: January 31st
File a citizen’s complaint against the CSAC: Form here
Topics: All Topics, IFL, MMA, Media, Zach Arnold | 20 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback | Share This
This is getting absolutely RIDICULOUS!! Where is the “checks and balances” on this guy’s powers?? He seems to be a god-damned dictator, doing as he pleases and ruling with an iron fist. I cannot think that anyone would dream to openly criticize him in the media or file a complaint for fear of the “swift and harsh” retribution that would surely follow.
Do other athletic commissions have to honor the CSAC’s decision? If so, this is a huge blow for this guy. 6 months is a long time to be away in what appears to be a pivotal time in this guy’s MMA career.
Not all states that allow MMA have active involvement by the state athletic commissions. Shows run pretty smoothly in Indiana with no visible interference from a state agency.
The general answer is yes.
Indiana is treated as a non-commission state (only three other US states, including Massachusetts, operate as such at this point).
Who is Garcia’s boss? Who hired him?
The people appointed to the commission are by politicians (Governor, state legislature).
PRIDE have better not be thinking of using Nakao on their CA show this summer
And, you know, *sigh*
So, what exactly was the “unsportsmanlike conduct” he’s accused of?
I’ve said before the Athletic Commission should be there to make sure that everyone is safe and that the everything is fair. That is all that they need to do. Things like unsportsmanlike conduct (assuming he didn’t hit the ref or something extreme) or wearing an “offensive” shirt should be things that are dealt with by the organization itself.
According to a Shamrock interview (w/ Meltzer?), Ebersole had taken some fights in Australia during the suspension. While there, he fell for an Aussie girl and has decided to remain there longterm. He is trying to get involved with Aussie fight promotion and will be opening a Shamrock training center.
What’s the possibility that CSAC considers MMA to be the redheaded stepchild they have to deal with and are just doing this kinda stuff because they can, and because they don’t care?
Just heard on the Beatdown that Marco Ruas vs Maurice Smith was cancelled because the CSAC decided the fighters were too old.
Yet Dan Severn still remains an active fighter? And let me get this straight – two guys who appear to have absolutely no neuro-related problems cannot get certified b/c they are “too old”, yet George Foreman, Evander Holyfield et al. have absolutely no problem getting rubber stamped to continue boxing not only at advanced ages and years of constant punishment but also with noticeable decline in cognitive function….simply AMAZING.
Well, they are getting up there in age, they’re right on that. Mo Smith turns 46 this year, and Ruas… well, he always made a secret about his age (and the announcers blamed it on “brazilian vanity”), but he was supposedly already 38 or 39 when he entered the UFC at “The Brawl in Buffalo”, which would make him 50 or 51. If their physicals come back positive – why shouldn’t they fight?
Who’s the CSAC gonna ass rob next?
Does mma even need california?
Just wondering if Garcia has suspended any boxers for unsportsmanlike conduct.
Unsportsmanlike conduct?! Since when is the CSAC the NBA? Hell, even in the NBA you only get a fine, your career isn’t haulted for six months. These guys have a severe authority complex.
The question remains: what did he do? He certainly didn’t pull a Baroni and punched the ref, as Erin (or others) would’ve reported something like that. And throwing a tantrum wouldn’t qualify as unsportsman like conduct in my books…
Once again, look at where the money flows. Would the CSAC ever pull this with a UFC fighter? Probably not. Especially with gates over $1 Million.
The IFL, in all likelyhood, sold around 1,000 tickets for the event. It is within reason to assume that the gate didn’t even pull in $100,000. They had to paper the crowd to get it to 5,000, and it still wasn’t full.
I’m not agreeing with this practice, but this would never happen to Zuffa.
Too answer Preach’s question, basically after the fight was called Martin got up, did a bit of shouting and some arm gesturing (basically the “what the hell?” shrug) and that was it. He didn’t attack anyone, throw anything, invade anyone’s space or swear loud enough for me to hear it. Lasted maybe all of 5-10 seconds.
I hear Gareb Sheamus (sp?) was yelling at the CSAC guys because it was the same ref fucking up the fights all night … Dan Steele or something?