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Morrison wins, fatal blow to MMA avoided
By Adam Morgan | June 9, 2007
By Adam Morgan
With all the questions looming as to whether or not Tommy Morrison is or is not HIV positive, the sport of mixed martial arts was put at risk Saturday night the moment Morrison stepped into the cage. With MMA just beginning to turn the corner as far as mainstream goes, can you imagine the backlash against the sport if Tommy Morrison would have possibly transmitted the HIV virus to an opponent in an unsanctioned MMA fight? Bye, bye, ESPN. Bye, bye, Sports Illustrated. Make no mistake that mixed martial arts would be the scapegoat that is used if anything like this were to occur in an unsanctioned bout.
This fight was a disgrace to everything that mixed martial arts has come to be. It’s also a disgrace to boxing and its rich history as well. Morrison is not only making boxing look bad but he is making the sport of mixed martial arts look like an avenue for circus freakshow fights, something that the sport is striving to get away from.
In the pre-fight press conference, Tommy had this to say:
“I’m just going to walk out and hit him on the chin,” Morrison said during Thursday night press conference. “I’m concerned about killing someone. I’m not kidding.”
“I’m a little nervous about that — not for myself but for the other guy,” Morrison said. “To me, it just seems like someone signing up for assassination class. He must be out of his mind.”
Afraid of killing someone? Assassination class? How well spoken.
Tommy Morrison won via first round stoppage Saturday night in Arizona. Good for him. Collect your check and move along, Tommy.
You’re not welcome here.
Topics: Adam Morgan, Boxing, Media, MMA | 17 Comments » | Permalink | Trackback |
I couldn’t state the last line any better then you did Adam. I’ve got no place for Tommy Morrison in my universe of mixed martial arts, and I am sure that the other readers feel the same way.
I wouldn’t even call this debacle MMA.
From Sherdog:
Stu has caught the correct. That was not MMA and please don’t ever mention it in the same breath as MMA.
Let’s not get caught up on the fact that the rules were changed before the fight. Did you think it was going to be a ground battle to begin with? No. I don’t think the outcome of the fight would have been any different if the rules were MMA rules. They brought in a boxer and a 325 lb brawler. This fight was never going to the ground.
The fact of the matter is, someone promoted an unsanctioned MMA fight with a fighter who may or may not have HIV and didn’t make him take a blood test. This could have been BAD for MMA, rule change or not.
I think you are being a bit dramatic here. The chance of the HIV virus being passed through a cut are so minuscule they aren’t worth mentioning. It is an overall ignorance of the disease that causes people to believe otherwise.
That being said, if the unthinkable did happen I don’t believe it is MMA that would receive the black eye. Tommy Morrison will always be perceived as a boxer, and even if his opponent won the unlucky lottery and was transmitted the disease the headline would be “Boxer Tommy Morrison”, not “MMA Fighter Tommy Morrison”.
Thanks Adam. I’ve been posting around the usual sites about how close MMA/UFC is to the brink of losing everything we’ve fought for over the last 15 years. This spectacle had the ability derail the entire sport, and for what? To see what a boxing match looks like with 4 oz gloves? Great, lets get back on the barges on the East River circa 1909 and watch the blood bathes that nearly killed boxing a century ago.
Why are any states still even allowing unsanctioned MMA contests anyway? WTF is that? Are we back in ’93 again?
1) It’s on Indian land, so the Arizona SAC had no real jurisdiction. (Although this didn’t stop the California SAC from suspending Mike Kyle for his actions).
2) The appropriate action would be to ban the fighter (Morrison) and his agent from fighting in other states. Notice they’re not fighting in California, New Jersey, or Nevada. If I’m not mistaken, Morrison’s agent was actually the event promoter for this show last night at the casino.
What a load of horse sh*t!.
Whatever some bozo, HIV positve or not, does in an unsanctioned boxing match on an Indian reservation would have no long-lasting effect on a multi-million dollar sport.
If any journalist tried to blame MMA/UFC for the transmission of HIV because Morrison criminally falsified his blood works, Dana would sue them into the dirt…
Like saying that motorsports would be devestated if they found out a racer had a condition that he hid and that caused a fatal accident. Rubbish!
The driver would get nailed, not the sport.
You need to realise that there is no popular support for the banning of MMA in the USA at this time…Its not the 90s for christs’ sake!
I also find the shock horror “The AIDS will get ya” attitude in this article offensive, once again, get with the times.
Sad fact is, no-one would care about Morrison if it wasn’t for his HIV angle, I suggest that if everyone turned the other way and ignored the bum, it would be the best thing for our sport.
The San Jose News was the only news service I could find online covering this fight, so in the future if you think something might be bad for MMA, can I suggest you STFU about it, instead of trying to cast it to the winds.
That is of course if you want to help MMA, as opposed to tryng to make a name for yourself as a 2-bit internet hack by posting sensationalised dribble.
The real danger MMA faces is promoters putting on big-time shit cards like that K-1 abomination in LA, and three quarters of the UFC shows..Fighters like AA, Arona and Silvia, who try to grind out a win, instead of create interesting fights.
Those things WILL kill the sport. If you lose the mainstream bozos, you head back to being a marginal pursuit.
And perhaps I for one would probably prefer that.
I don’t suspect you’re American, so I’m not sure if you realize the tenuous and vacuous nature of the American media that is waiting to capitalize on something – anything – to try to derail MMA from succeeding.
Perhaps you are correct. With that stated, over half the States still don’t have MMA legislation on the books.
People in MMA have tried to ignore him and his ‘challenges’ against Chuck Liddell. However, the issue is starting to be forced upon people inside MMA because the media won’t relent on it. It’s an unwanted problem for sure.
The story was picked up by Arizona-based writer Andrew Bagnato for the Associated Press, which is syndicated in all the major newspapers. The Morrison “MMA debut” story was published in many papers. The Arizona Republic also had their boxing writer push it as an “MMA fight.”
You’ve trolled before on this site and I’ve given you a pass in the past. The leash is shortening.
Thanks for the agreement Zack. I’v been saying the same thing for the last six months. I gotta start my own blog, too.
One thing, anything, if the faithweb crap is true, if anyone digs into the Galveston “thing”, if a zealous journalist who hates MMA ( PTI ) digs into what the sport was in the late 90’s, its all over. ESPN, CBS, and NBC will jump ship faster than an illegal on a sinking dingy.
We have to maintain market penetration until MMA reaches, say, what Nascar popularity was in the late 90’s. Then this crap won’t matter. I mean, heck, Nascar’s founding is about as dirty as it gets, but no one cares today…
It’s gonna take 3-4 years.
I strongly encourage dedicated readers and commenters to create their own blogs and stay active. For a sport that is growing fast, the amount of intensive MMA blogs is actually small in numbers.
Louis. Gotta disagree with you on the transmission of HIV through a cut. Yes, if you and I was standing next to someone with HIV who had a cut, we’d have nothing to worry about. But if you had a situation like the Yves Edwards-Joe Stevenson fight last summer, where both fighters were on the ground and Edwards was bleeding an absurd amount of blood, that is enough blood to transmit through a cut. Or for that matter, Florian-Sherk, were both fighters were cut and most of the fight was on the ground. And while it isn’t as though something like happens every night, there is enough of a risk that an HIV-positive fighter should not be fighting.
“I think you are being a bit dramatic here. The chance of the HIV virus being passed through a cut are so minuscule they aren’t worth mentioning. It is an overall ignorance of the disease that causes people to believe otherwise.”
I think it’s just as dangerous to be flippant about something so serious.
“I think it’s just as dangerous to be flippant about something so serious.”
No one is being flippant. Too many people have the attitude that it’s something you can catch off of a toilet seat. Even with an absurd amount of blood the virus dies when it hits the air, and even our previous preconceived notions about pooled blood have proven to be false. It disturbs me to see the kindergarten attitude that is still prevalent regarding HIV.
[…] Adam Morgan’s article about Tommy Morrison has officially made the rounds. When we mean made the rounds, we’re talking about USA Today’s Sports Scope. To the folks at USA Today — don’t be strangers, come by often. […]
Ya know, what is the meaning of mixed martial arts anyhow. does that mean that all fighters must know all martial art disciplines; or, does that mean that there are many different disciplines used. you can bash morrison all you want, but he has a discipline, which is stand-up. why do you feel it ok to bash him because he is not “all” MMA? As far as the HIV..does he have it or not? if he does, he can’t fight. If he doesn’t, let him fight and possibly get his ass kicked by a true MMA fighter. what does it matter?
Tommy was a disgrace he almost ruined the whole show. He changed the rules and starting crying about this and that ask stove himself he was there.