ONRA:July2,2009

02 Jul ONRA:July2,2009

Posted at 13:35h in Onra by

Will a new commission serve MMA?

Hafa adai.

  • Pat Uncangco lost his professional debut in Japan mixed martial arts Wednesday evening via a unanimous decision after the second round at the Korakuen Hall in Tokyo in Deep 42 Impact.
  • A.J. Aguon is set to compete for the 70 kg URCC Championship belt against Edward Folayang in the Philippines on July 20.
  • Trench Warz 10: Collision features a Guam vs. Saipan card for their event July 31 at the Saipan World Resort.
  • The date has been set for the next Marianas Open Jiujitsu and Submission Grappling Tournament for Aug. 8 at the Father Duenas Memorial School Phoenix Center.I was reading an article written for the Pacific Daily News by Sen. James Espaldon, and it’s a good thing to see that authorities seem genuine about implementing a commission in the best interests of fighters, promoters and the industry. It was good to see that our fighters are respected as athletes and professionals, and that there is consideration for the continuance and longevity of a sport that, although imperfect, has many times over served the Marianas inside and outside of competition.

    Perspective

    From a promoter’s perspective it’s surprising to hear that:

    s Events were never properly sanctioned, and

    s The commission members at the time were sought out as advisors for our events.

    As far as I’m concerned, I always thought they were to be avoided!

    In all seriousness, and with all due respect to the powers-that-be and the powers-that-were, we never sought the help or advice of the commission with the promotions of Jungle Rules or Fury events — they were kind of there to shove it down our throats. This commission cracked the whip, and flexed with the power of the government for us to abide by their rules and processes without offering any tangible resources for us to lean on.

    Going it alone

    We had to solicit our own judges, security, staff and emergency units. We had to solicit our own overseas talent. Not once did the sanctioning of the commission help us secure talent, media or clout.

  • They held us to licensing our fighters, managers, seconds, promoters, ring announcers, fighter alternates (and all the other good stuff that comes with tons of paperwork and elbow grease) that made the promotions game unenjoyable, frustrating, extremely difficult — but, in the end, responsible.

    • It’s interesting that over a decade after the first live MMA event on Guam, there is so much discussion of how we need to be structured and sanctioned.

    Golly gee — and I thought we were sanctioned already! I sure hope all the forms we’ve signed and submitted, all the licensing fees we’ve paid, all the fight purses paid up front and all the contracts we’ve had notarized stand for something concrete.

    Though we may have operated under the Guam Boxing and Wrestling Commission, under authority that now seems never to have existed, promotions were done using a strict process and under strict guidelines. And it was under the influence of the late Jimmy Ferrante that they were done so, because of an ambition from long ago to give our combat sports community an infrastructure to be proud of and a healthy identity in the international athletic community.

    Man, years after all that inconvenience, all that yelling and all that confrontation in the office of Mr. Ferrante, I never thought I’d stand up for those days or stand up for what we were put through. But his intentions were real, and these new intentions are real. Past years have left us with a structure to build on and I think it’s best and respectful that we give credit.

    Different product

    However, we have a different product in MMA than we had before. Whereas before it might have been about containing and taming the unknown, Guam combat has grown into a conscious and focused, industry-intelligent, preparation-prominent entity.

    Hopefully, through consistent and sincere communication, this industry and the new commission can combine and leverage resources to provide a tangible vessel to streamline what’s happening with us locally and internationally. Hopefully, it will realize that rules from within can be just as effective as rules from above and that, if done respectfully and thoroughly, this can be a healthy collaboration.

    We are in a much evolved and evolving combat-sports atmosphere. In a time of new horizons for our fighter-athletes and for our island identity, this new commission-in-the-making hopefully holds sincere the purpose to serve MMA and other combat sports as much as it’s committed to regulating it.

    Confidently speaking, in a venture to enforce rules from within as opposed to from above, this commission can focus and guide this astounding energy to bigger and better places.

    Thanks for dropping by.