By now most of the MMA world has probably heard about Rampage Jackson’s arrest yesterday afternoon in Newport Beach, California. It was certainly a shock to many, but as troubling as his predicament may seem, I would encourage everyone not to jump to conclusions, nor to pass judgement.
When an MMA fighter finds himself in trouble with the law, the immediate reaction of just about everyone in the community is to ask “how badly will this hurt MMA?”
Truth be told, Rampage’s incident won’t. Not really.
If anything the instinctive reflex of the MMA community to hold its breath and brace for a media ass whooping is probably more of a problem than the “bad” publicity that stems from one of these incidents.
The promoters, fighters, media, and fans alike must show more confidence in their sport and stop walking on egg shells. After all, how can the MMA community expect anyone else to believe in the sport if the community is constantly second-guessing itself.
These fighters are human, they’re going to make mistakes, and they will be held accountable for their actions. However, a case of hit and run is not going to send MMA back to the dark ages; forcing deregulation or negatively impacting buy-rates and merchandise purchases.
If Mark Ratner’s latest interview with the TriStateFighter.com is any indication, the UFC and MMA have a long way to go in educating lawmakers about the sport. The fact that Rampage got into trouble isn’t going to do any more damage in the eyes of those that still believe MMA is a sport without officials or one that fights to the death.
Furthermore, consider that the UFC’s core demographic is males aged 18-34. Ask yourself how many of them are truly bothered by this or any other run-in with the law that involves an MMA fighter.
The only negative from this incident that I truly see impacting the sport is the insecurity shown by the MMA community. The potential loss of Rampage Jackson – a superb fighter with a truly marketable personality – might also be a negative, but as I said…we should reserve judgement.
Want some additional food for thought? With arguably the best heavyweight card ever assembled set for PPV and the world’s “Pound-for-Pound King” ready to air, free, on SpikeTV this Saturday night, yesterday’s events could give new meaning to “no publicity is bad publicity.”
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