Everything Martial Arts_ The Misadventures of
Phoenix
My Day With The NJSACB
“A good fight
is like a small play but played seriously.” – Bruce Lee
Fight night for
a fight fan is like opening night to the theatre-goer. It’s exciting, it’s
electric and the fighters are the super stars. I ask you to take your
attention from the stars for a moment and place it on the atmosphere around
them. Setting up that safe and accountable atmosphere for UFC 169 in Newark, NJ
on February 1st is the NJSACB.
The New Jersey
State Athletic Control Board has established it’s stellar reputation by having
had a wealth of ringside physicians, referees, judges, inspectors and other
officials who truly love and care about combat sports. These officials have
great sport backgrounds and know that the safety of the fighter and the
integrity of the contest are paramount.
Dana White,
who’s been super critical (often with good reason) of certain Athletic
Commissions (*cough…Vegas) has on many accounts publicly praised New Jersey.
They’ve been a constant supporter of Mixed Martial Arts and were the first to
establish the unified rules we are all familiar with today.
On a rainy
Saturday two weeks before “show-time”, counsel to NJSACB Nick Lembo calls a
meeting at Tong Dragon MMA for the staff assigned to UFC 169. Even though
getting to Bayville, NJ from my apartment in the East Village is no easy task,
I was psyched when Lembo called to invite me. Living in Manhattan usually means
you don’t own a car. It’s super expensive and parking can be the most
aggressively intense game of Tetris you’ll ever play in your life. In fact, I
think many games you learn in childhood are preparation for living in
NYC. Musical chairs is the child version of dodging for a seat on the NYC
subway! I am pretty sure hide and go seek gets you prepared for living in small
spaces, like a NYC apartment.
Anyway, the car
I borrowed to get out there was such a hunk-a-junk, it probably would’ve moved
faster if 7 elderly people were behind pushing it. It also had an awesome
steering issue that caused me to Kung-Fu-death-grip the steering wheel to keep
it from drifting into another lane. Did I mention it was raining? Reading
this you are probably thinking “why would she put herself through this to go
to some mandatory continuing education for the NJSACB?” The answer is
simply, to prove a point!! I wanted to be able to tell the story about
hard these people work and how they only get noticed or mentioned when
something goes wrong.
I also have a
second and more selfish reason for wanting to attend. I regularly hear
extreme criticism from people who do not like the sport of MMA. Those of
you who are fans know you occasionally get that look that comes along
with that question “how can you even watch that UFC stuff? It’s so
barbaric.” In order to have an educated conversation with non-fans I needed
to be even more informed on the safety and rules of my favorite sport. A quote
from Nick Lembo sums this up perfectly.
“Any combat
sport has inherent risks and there will always be those who will not favor them.
That being said, we need to educate opponents with facts, statistics and with
expert opinions. We don't need to make everyone a fan, but we need to make
critics informed so that they are able to accept and tolerate the sport.” Nick
Lembo
I arrived
determined, inquisitive and with notebook in hand a few minutes after 1pm. It
was packed with familiar and friendly faces. Lembo greeted me warmly. We
exchanged pleasantries and I asked, “So of course you know Keith Keizer (executive
director of the Nevada Athletic Commission) just stepped down. Anyone ya
know interested in the job?” I’m hinting at if he’s going to trade his
winter jacket in for sometime in Sin City. Nick reply’s “nobody I know”.
That must mean-no Vegas for him.
The meeting is
about to commence and I remove my shoes to join everyone else seated on the
mats. This is a room filled with people no stranger to stepping on to mats,
rings and octagons. Many of the attendees are former fighters.
People like Ricardo Almeida, Eric Colon, Munah Holland, Gasper Oliver, Keith
Peterson and Dave Tirelli.
Lembo tells me “While
I don’t think all fighters are going to make good officials, I feel that it can
be of great benefit to have a fighter's perspective. As a base, solid
officiating starts with a detailed understanding and knowledge of striking,
wrestling, positioning on the ground, submissions, and a feel for whose
controlling the flow and location. Some fighters may have a deeper
understanding and knowledge of what is actually happening in the cage. Former
fighters can also be more in tune to what a fighter is going through backstage
before and after the fight. We have several officials with actual MMA fight
experience on the current roster.”
Commissioner Aaron
Davis stood in the middle of the room and thanked us all for coming. He opened
with urging the officials to be ready for the big show.
Then Nick Lembo
addressed the group. “The sport
should be about the fighters. The fight is what the fans want to see. An
official should be there to perform their function, and respect and understand
that the fighter is the one who is placing their safety, their record, and
their future in your hands. In many other sports, the best officials are the
ones that go unnoticed. It is the fighter that is the entertainer and it’s the
fighter who is putting it on the line for the enjoyment of the fans.”
He wants his
staff to be happy and focused that night.
“If you are
doing a job because you enjoy it and want to be there doing it, you will
probably do a better job. We are here because we all love it.”
He was really
pumping us up! I don’t think he was doing it on purpose but it felt as
inspiring as a football coach in the locker room on a big game day! It’s so
fitting since UFC 169 is on Super Bowl weekend and the Super Bowl will be in
New Jersey!
The day was
split into topics; Judging, Inspecting, Refereeing, Cuts and Hand Wraps. We
covered so many topics that I took the time to only highlight a few
below.
Judging
We shuffled over
to the television to review a few fights with significant rounds that were
highly affected by judging. We viewed Antonio
“Bigfoot” Silva vs. Mark Hunt, Matt Hughes vs. Renato Verissimo and GSP vs.
Hendricks and a few others. Each fight
had different scenarios for us to learn from.
We watched in
total silence and with a fervent intensity. We even silenced the commentary to
be even more objective and not be swayed by anything perhaps Rogan or Goldberg
might say. When it comes to good judging there are two key words: Dominance
and Impact.
Dominance meaning who’s controlling the fight. Even
if the fighter is on his back he can have an effective and active threatening
guard. Prior issues with judges unfamiliar with grappling have made the mistake
of not taking active guards into account. Dominance is about effective
aggression and
shouldn’t be confused by activity.
Impact meaning which techniques are creating the
most impact, effectiveness and to what target areas. Judges ask themselves do
these techniques limit their opponent’s offense? Are they slowing him down?
Creating damage?
Inspectors
Our next area of
attention went to the Inspectors. Now these guys often get confused with being
in the fighters entourage or security. Don’t be fooled, these guys won’t
be sipping champagne with the fighter at the after party. These guys are
assigned by the commission and on you like glue from the second you report to
the arena till you complete your post fight urine test. The inspectors even get
in the cage with the fighter in between rounds. They are looking for things
like; illegal hand wraps, cheating on medicals, ingesting narcotics, and so
much more.
There’s all
types of things inspectors have look for now. Recently, during UFC on FOX Cody
McKenzie
fought with the actual price tag
still attached to his shorts! What was he thinking?
REFS
Once a fighter steps in the Octagon the refs are the ones enforcing the
rules. Refereeing that night will be seasoned professionals Dan
Miragliotta, Keith Peterson, Gasper Oliver and Herb Dean. A big topic of
discussion was what to do during an illegal foul such as an eye-poke. The
last UFC in New Jersey, I59 had an inordinate amount of eye pokes. We reviewed
the proper procedure in detail. It goes like this; A Ref notes the foul, puts the fighters in neutral corners and
if necessary calls in the ringside physician to evaluate the eye. The physician
advises the referee whether or not to continue the fight or let the fighter
have some more time. Unlike with groin shots the fighter is not
guaranteed five minutes. The physician ultimately makes the final call.
Lembo also clarified the ‘No-elbows behind the neck’ rule, the illegal
area is specifically the nape of the neck.
Taking command of the room next was a woman who knows her stuff, total
badass and ringside physician Dr. Sherry Wulkan. Dr. Wulkan’s reviewed
important things to take note of when a fighter is cut. A doctor will stop a
fight not because of a cuts excessive bleeding but also by a cuts location. If
a cut is in a bad area it can damage facial nerves. A cut may look small
on the outside but can be extremely deep. Physicians check the depth of the cut
as well.
Hand Wraps.
Last on the list was a review of proper hand wraps. While most people think
of the use of plaster of paris to make the wraps like a hardened cast, there’s
also an issue of under wrapping hands. In all weight classes, the bandages on each contestant’s hand
shall be restricted to soft gauze cloth not more than 13 yards in length and
two inches in width, held in place by not more than 10 feet of surgeon’s tape,
one inch in width, for each hand. The rules
for properly wrapped hands must be followed to a “T”. Under no circumstances
are gloves to be placed on the hands of a contestant until the approval of the
inspector is received and the inspector puts his or her signature all over the
wraps.
The meeting ended and I said goodbye to my Jersey friends. I got
back in the hunk-a-junk and Kung Fu-death-gripped the wheel until I made it
home. I spent the entire ride thinking how worth it this trip had been. It was
illuminating to see this angle of fight culture. I realized the jobs it
creates, the value of the professionals involved and all the patchwork that
goes into an amazing show. I believe it’s important to take into account
what these professionals do and remember that it is always in the best interest
and safety of the participants.
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After the fights Saturday night, when you’re done celebrating your
favorite fighters and have given your commentary; think about all the people
you didn’t see and clap for em’.
