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Barking up the wrong tree

By Zach Arnold | May 29, 2007

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Warning: Very graphic and disturbing video about dogfighting

Pardon the pun, but I make no bones about what we are cover on tomorrow’s edition of Fight Opinion Radio. One of the hot topics we will be discussing is the mainstream media’s fascination of trying to tie in the dogfighting allegations against Michael Vick in relation to the growth and public acceptance of UFC. If you have listened to sports talk radio, both Michael Vick and dogfighting defenders have been coming out of the woodwork to try to link UFC to their cause. Despite all the various rebuttals from hosts like Colin Cowherd, it is clear that UFC is getting tarnished by a lot of people with the dogfighting brush in media coverage.

Here’s this person, who says dogfighting is no big deal (somehow managing to name-drop George W. Bush and Barack Obama).

I want to hear your thoughts, questions, and feedback on this topic. In fact, I encourage any of you bloggers out there to write about this topic and post a link to your article(s) in the comments section. What I want to know from you is this — how should we address this topic on our radio show?

You can either post a comment here on this article or send our lead host Jeff Thaler an e-mail at [email protected]. Make sure that for the e-mail title you use “Radio: UFC/Dogfighting” so that we can recognize your responses quickly and read some of them on the air.

Topics: Media, MMA, UFC, Zach Arnold | 15 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |

15 Responses to “Barking up the wrong tree”

  1. Matthew Watt says:

    Good job Zach, I am getting frustrated with the same rhetoric that these uneducated individuals are uttering about the UFC and “dogfighting”. I have a midterm on Friday that I need to study a lot for, but I will try my hardest to send you a email.

    And since I have bashed your show in the past (and you can still cheer up just a bit), last week was a very good show. Enjoyed listening to it.

    I need to stop sending comments in a rush and actually proofread them.

  2. I don’t have the stomach to even consider the topic but I have two suggestions for you:

    1. Think about if you want to fan the flames of this debate. As we mentioned in the whole Boxing vs MMA debate, boxing is actually responsible for pushing this angle and it hasn’t helped them at all.

    2. If you’re going to discuss it, I recommend bringing Sam Sheridan onto the show. I skipped over the chapter about dogfighting in his book “A Fighter’s Heart” because it’s something I consider so discusting it makes me sick to my stomach. But I imagine he knows more about it and it’s actual connections to MMA and it’s fighters than anyone else.

  3. Torgo says:

    The thing that hurts me most about this is not so much that people are trying to make MMA look bad, but the people who are trying to make dogfighting look like it’s no big deal. It’s sick the level of acceptance it has, and I had no idea.

    Perhaps the punishment should fit the crime. The UFC should hold a charity benefit in conjunction with law enforcement: UFC fighters VS dogfighting promoters. No tap-outs allowed. It can be part of their community service.

    OK not really, I’m just venting.

  4. The Citizen says:

    This has been going on since the beginning of time. Like pimping, animal fights are part of many a country’s history. I find it very peculiar that this is the counter point to a mainstream ufc. Our masters have some very sick ways of pouring loads and loads of stories into our lives. If people enjoy a good dog fight and have the fights in a place where it doesn’t bother me, (which is seems they are doing) then go on and have fun. Perhaps if the ufc fighters wore cowboy gear it would make everyone feel more comfortable? Sometimes I think everyone has got to shut the hell up.

  5. I almost threw up watching the video, Zach, but I think it’s good for people to watch to see just what we’re dealing with here. I’ve never seen an MMA fighter as messed up as any of those dogs. EVER.

  6. klown says:

    There is absolutely no comparison between 2 adult, consenting, sane, responsible, trained atheletes competing with each other – and imprisoning, torturing, abd brutalizing helpless animals for gory entertainment. There should be absolutely no tolerance of such a practise, it needs to be utterly eradicated, and those who profit from the business need to be hit with the full force of the law (and the law should be strengthened if necessary). As advocates of a civilized sport, we need to be a the forefront of condemning and combating practises like dogfighting, along with the rest of the sports community.

  7. UFCDaily.com says:

    Props for covering the issue. SportsCenter has been showing clips of dog fights and I turn the channel or turn off the TV when they are on. Its just disgusting

  8. AJAX says:

    I couldn’t get through the whole video, but I’ll sure miss Shogun jumping on peoples faces!

  9. Jim Murphy says:

    There is absolutely no comparison between 2 adult, consenting, sane, responsible, trained atheletes competing with each other – and imprisoning, torturing, abd brutalizing helpless animals for gory entertainment. There should be absolutely no tolerance of such a practise, it needs to be utterly eradicated, and those who profit from the business need to be hit with the full force of the law (and the law should be strengthened if necessary). As advocates of a civilized sport, we need to be a the forefront of condemning and combating practises like dogfighting, along with the rest of the sports community.

    I couldn’t have said it better myself…there is absolutely no comparison between two consenting, highly trained, superbly conditioned athletes competing against each other–with any number of rules, regulations and oversight bodies involved for their protection and the abuse and torture of helpless, scared and mistreated animals in making them fight to the death.

    And big kudos to the observation that we as fight fans need to be at the forefront of the condemnation and opposition of dogfighting. Not only is it simply the decent thing to do, allowing the media comparisons between UFC and dogfighting is not only an insult to professional fighters but serves to minimize the barbaric treatment of dogs at the hands of these depraved criminals.

    And props to FightOpinion for helping to bring attention to the inhumanity of dogfighting and the stupidity of a comparison between it and MMA.

  10. Jim Murphy says:

    Think about if you want to fan the flames of this debate. As we mentioned in the whole Boxing vs MMA debate, boxing is actually responsible for pushing this angle and it hasn’t helped them at all.

    IMO the “boxing v. MMA” debate is a media creation that a number of boxers and MMA fighters have been hookwinked in to.

  11. The stupidity of mainstream media comparisons of UFC and dogfighting…

    FightOpinion is simply one of the best boxing/MMA sites on the Internet and a daily “must read” for fight fans. Today they’re taking on a topic that is very important to me–the depravity and inhumanity of dogfighting.
    Here&#8…

  12. SL says:

    I blame Andrei Arlovski.

  13. […] Michael Vick. I warned that the media would immediately try to lump MMA with dogfighting (examples here and […]

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