Those Against

I hear what your saying guy's but surely an MMA GB in the UK could be set up to represent the sport properly. Not so much to clean the sport up ( I dont think it needs that) but to assist promoters fighters and gyms in getting what they want. I have said before that not everyone has the same problems.
Dougie your new venture sounds good mate but when you come to Glasgow and a couple of other council areas you will find that its not the cage they have problems with its MMA and as a promoter they are not interested in talking to you.

Councils here want a governing body to shoulder the responsibilty and liabilty and until you can provide that they will not let you use thier venue's. If a governing body is not the answer then what is.

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Originally Posted by Stumac

I hear what your saying guy's but surely an MMA GB in the UK could be set up to represent the sport properly. Not so much to clean the sport up ( I dont think it needs that) but to assist promoters fighters and gyms in getting what they want. I have said before that not everyone has the same problems.
Dougie your new venture sounds good mate but when you come to Glasgow and a couple of other council areas you will find that its not the cage they have problems with its MMA and as a promoter they are not interested in talking to you.

Councils here want a governing body to shoulder the responsibilty and liabilty and until you can provide that they will not let you use thier venue's. If a governing body is not the answer then what is.

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Simply lie to the local councils & tell them your holding a flower show & that they should go home early as it will be really boring. Just kidding

It is & always will be a delicate & difficult topic, the truth is I am @ present so torn as to whether or not it is the way forward for MMA. I've seen in my time both large & small promotions working very hard for MMA and each enjoying thier own success's, to the point where it is'nt the size of the promotion that is important. One of my concerns/worries is; will the smaller shows with less finance/budget be in a position to afford the services of the GB, as lets be honest in any sport the GB's gift of legitimacy comes @ a price, they are not charities & are clearly for profit. Again I echo my earlier sentiments that fortunately the safety record is good as I believe most if not all people involved in UK MMA are conciencious & have the sports best interests in mind. If that safety record changes & god forbid anything serious happens, then I would seriouslly re-consider my position.

I feel that MMA is in a unique position at the momment. It is regarded as the fastest growing sport in the world and has achieved this with out the interference of a governing body, to get to where it has, is amazing in itself, all credit to all the people involved, fighters, coaches and promoters.

My fear, a fear that I have had since trying to get into council run venues is that without some form of official representation in the sport then it is only a matter of time before some councils try and ban it all together. Again to come back to Glasgow the council here has made it clear to venue owners MMA shows will be frowned upon in the city. These are venues that are struggling to make ends meet and that would like to put on shows but dont want to risk thier licence.

It is upto the people involved in the sport to lay the foundations for a body that represents the sport and not the people running the body. It must represent the large promotions and the small without exlusion and do so in an affordable way. There are ways of doing this but it wont be easy, if we look at other governing bodies we can learn from the mistakes they have made and try and get it right from the start.

Stu

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Originally Posted by Stumac

I hear what your saying guy's but surely an MMA GB in the UK could be set up to represent the sport properly. Not so much to clean the sport up ( I dont think it needs that) but to assist promoters fighters and gyms in getting what they want. I have said before that not everyone has the same problems.
Dougie your new venture sounds good mate but when you come to Glasgow and a couple of other council areas you will find that its not the cage they have problems with its MMA and as a promoter they are not interested in talking to you.

Councils here want a governing body to shoulder the responsibilty and liabilty and until you can provide that they will not let you use thier venue's. If a governing body is not the answer then what is.

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Glasgow is doing ok with MMA shows

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Originally Posted by thaison

Glasgow is doing ok with MMA shows

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Yep the Oran Mor shows, MMA Respect all run in very respectable venues and no problems as far as I've heard.

A governing body if there is one should be founded by people with a genuine love for the sport and be well respected in the community and it goes without saying shouldnt just be there to line their own pockets

I did'nt meen to sujest that Glasgow is not doing well for shows. Sportfight shows have always been top class and I'm gutted I missed the one on Sunday.
The point is, if you want a venue in the city for a crowd above 500 or so then you are stuffed, the bigger venues are council owned, try getting the Kelvin halls they wont even talk to you, even the SECC that are part owned by GCC cant give you a straight answer, they just price you out by wanting 30k for a hall that holds 3000 people then want 10K for seats and 25% of your turn over and thats on top of your card. West Dunbartonshire just do not want to know.

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Originally Posted by Stumac

I did'nt meen to sujest that Glasgow is not doing well for shows. Sportfight shows have always been top class and I'm gutted I missed the one on Sunday.
The point is, if you want a venue in the city for a crowd above 500 or so then you are stuffed, the bigger venues are council owned, try getting the Kelvin halls they wont even talk to you, even the SECC that are part owned by GCC cant give you a straight answer, they just price you out by wanting 30k for a hall that holds 3000 people then want 10K for seats and 25% of your turn over and thats on top of your card. West Dunbartonshire just do not want to know.

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mate they had cage wars and Eurofight at Braehead, thats over 500

I have held many a CW event in council run venues all of which have had capacities in excess of a 1000. Councils are thier own entity, there is no national standard that they adhere to, each respective council pretty much makes its own rules up as it sees fit.

Furthermore those that have raised an objection & to be fair it is a few lol, none have even mentioned the exhistance or lack of a Governing body, they simply don't like the perception of Cage fighting.

I think people need to be clear about the pros and cons of having a GB. It will have both intended and unintended effects.

If more regulations are bought in regarding qualfications for different roles (i.e refs, trainers, fighters) it will make move toward a rigid occupational structure, compared to now, where people often move between different roles. A GB will remove the freedom of doing that. It will change the experience of the sport at a fundamental level.

tbh, I would be just as concerned as to who was left to run a governing body as much as what 'rules' and implementations it could bring in etc..

Ive been shocked of recent with the amount of 'hidden agenda business' Ive encountered in the UK MMA and BJJ scene. It seems there are many people out there flying the 'community/love of the sport/for the fans' flag who are just out to fill their own wallets and would stab anyone in the back if it meant a quick £.

Governing body, IF put into place by the MMA community would have to be 100% trust worthy.