Bob Reilly Explains His Stance Against Mixed Martial Arts
by Mike Fagan on Mar 14, 2009 11:04 AM EDT
in MMA News
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Cage Potato has a good interview with New York Assemblyman Bob Reilly on his stance on mixed martial arts. Excerpts:
It’s not a stated goal, though. Even though I grew up a boxing fan and consider myself one still, though I’m not an active fan now, I compare what we should be doing to the difference between amateur boxing and professional boxing. You know how much safer amateur boxing is? A blow in amateur boxing is scored for being a clean blow, not by the force behind it or the damage it causes.
I once had a man come to me and say, ‘My nephew is a jiu-jitsu fighter who does MMA, and he has an advantage because of that. What I’m really interested in is the skill of how he puts his jiu-jitsu skills against a boxer or whomever.’ I asked him, if that’s the case, why don’t people want to watch just jiu-jitsu? Why isn’t that as popular? In other words, I strongly believe, you take the violence out of this and it would lose its appeal. Is it very popular with a certain segment of the population? Certainly. Is collegiate wrestling as popular? No.
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Absolutely not. The only sport I’m against is mixed martial arts. I have people come up to me just about on a daily basis, unsolicited, and say, ‘You’re doing the right thing. This stuff is just brutal.’ People turn this on when they’re scanning through the channels, that’s their only exposure to it, and there are people kicking each other in the head. As one of my aides saw recently, one guy punched the other guy, he was knocked out and falling to the ground, and as he fell the other guy kneed him in the head. People see this and they are really offended and disgusted by it. They see the violence in it. They don’t come up to me and talk that way about boxing or football.
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The argument you just made, I get many emails that make that argument, but this is the role of government. Government says what you can and can’t do. Government says you can’t drive over a certain speed limit or you can’t sell wine in grocery stores or you can’t stage a dog fight…
I offer my own brand of harsh critism over here, but people should really check out this interview in its entirity. Reilly continually demonizes mixed martial arts while giving boxing a free pass on the same points throughout the interview. At the very least, it highlights a major problem with politicians acting without the interests of the people in mind.
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more of what we already know:
that this guy is a complete and total idiot.
im not impressed with your performance
BJJ and college wrestling have a fan base, and MMA aggregates the MA fans into one viable sport. I watch BJJ matches, I watch college wrestling matches. I will have to read the whole thing, but this bit makes it sound like he formed an opinion and is now trying to back it up with an argument, that is not what government should be doing.
governments got plenty to worry about right now
knocking pro boxing back down to amateur safety levels shouldnt even be discussed. i suppose someone has to pay attention to sanctioning and everything but… dang
im not impressed with your performance
I read it, he is just talking out of his ass. No stats and all misdirection. Who would be for starting a grass roots movement to get his opponet elected when his term is up?
I think he really believes that 67% of New Yorkers are opposed to MMA. That’s probably the solitary basis of this blind and stubborn crusade.
"I hit [Evensen], and you could just see it in his head. He went, 'Oh, man. We don't have to do this anymore. I'm good. Thanks for having me. I'm going to go home now." -Pat "The Real Techno Viking" Berry
I think there is some money coming from somewhere to make him stand in the way, otherwise he wouldn’t make the argument in such a retarded, uneducated way. Or he thinks he can issue cut the NY voters and get some votes based on people being uneducated, the John McCain campaign plan from the dark days of the UFC.
This man is a raving lunatic
I thought it was bad enough after reading your assessment at SMG, but the interview itself, in its full context, is fucking madness. Referencing specific PRIDE rules regarding physical damage (which has no association to American MMA), citing scientifically unfounded desensitization to violence, making parallels between MMA and domestic or school violence…. This man is a walking, talking boner.
"I hit [Evensen], and you could just see it in his head. He went, 'Oh, man. We don't have to do this anymore. I'm good. Thanks for having me. I'm going to go home now." -Pat "The Real Techno Viking" Berry
Yep. I… I don’t even know where you’d start with someone like that. There’s nothing really sane or rational in it, so how can you argue against any of it? It just makes me throw up my hands and think, “Oh my god! These people EXIST!”
Also, your sig line is wicked.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
I guess I’m one of the people he refers to, that scare him with their reactions— reactions he seems to suggest are a direct result of recreating the violence we see in MMA.
And yes; I want to put him in a fucking armbar.
"I hit [Evensen], and you could just see it in his head. He went, 'Oh, man. We don't have to do this anymore. I'm good. Thanks for having me. I'm going to go home now." -Pat "The Real Techno Viking" Berry
And how insane is he when he mentions that the UFC takes 3.5 out of 4 million dollars home? Is he fighting shopping on the internet, too? Because none of that money, from out of state vendors, goes into the local economy, either. It’s such a ridiculous argument, particularly for one that is made by a self-professed boxing fan (for which many productions come from out of state promoters). The dude is asking for PPV numbers, like knowing how much money Zuffa make, by totally legal means, effects how greedy he perceives them to be. And he doesn’t make the slightest mention of how beneficial it is to the local economy where it concerns spending in the city surrounding the event. Hotels, restaurants, bars, shopping. When UFC 87 came to Minneapolis, the local news was all about the influx of tourism and heavy spending in downtown Minneapolis over that weekend.
"I hit [Evensen], and you could just see it in his head. He went, 'Oh, man. We don't have to do this anymore. I'm good. Thanks for having me. I'm going to go home now." -Pat "The Real Techno Viking" Berry
No offence to Bob Reilly, and I’m sure he does not have the internet because nobody comes up to him and says that TV is violent, but I don’t watch fighters like Demian Maia because they are involved in violent KOs.
This man needs to seriously check his head, because he is speaking for minority of people against a majority of states who see things differently, all to further his personal viewpoint.
Congratulations on certifying your viewpoint through the minority voice that you needed to hear to feel justified.
A perfect politician.
It all comes down to...
You can’t teach that old dog any new tricks.
He doesn’t want to accept any type of change, and it’s just his stubborn senility.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
isnt he a democrat
and didnt the democrats just have their annointed run on a platform of change?
not that I believe there is any actual real change
im not impressed with your performance
The Democratc Party is not a hive mind.
by Derek Suboticki on Mar 14, 2009 2:03 PM EDT up reply actions
A few things...
A) I’m a bit offended that after a few very nice e-mails back and forth between he and my staff they decided they didn’t want to do an interview at this time..and two months later interviewed with Cage Potato.
B) Who knew Bob Reilly before this? Now the guy is talked about nationally, even if it is just in our circle. I’d say that even if he doesn’t really believe what he says that he has no real reason to give it up. He’ll just ride this one horse until it dies.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 14, 2009 9:05 AM EDT reply actions
Jesus...
me and his staff. how the hell did I reverse that?
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Mar 14, 2009 1:05 PM EDT up reply actions
he is actually correct about the violence/viewership connection. it may not be as true amongst the hardcore fans but the casual fan is attracted to the violence. in my lifetime the most popular time for boxing was with Mike Tyson and his brutal KOs. also look at who most would agree is the most popular MMA fighter, Chuck Liddell, i would argue this had alot to do with his style of fighting. just listen to the crowd at nearly every MMA show, they boo constantly when the two guys are not trying to knock each others heads off. the UFC plays into this with Ultimate KOs DVDs, i havent seen Ultimate Guard Passes, Ultimate Ground Control or Ultimate Submissions DVDs for sale. this is no different from big hits in NFL, crashes in NASCAR, homeruns in MLB or fights in the NFL but it cannot be denied that violence is a major factor in the attraction for the casual fan.
Agree with #5mmafan
I completely agree with you , violence is of course inseparable from mma and it’s a big attraction for most fans . As you said , most fans look for Cro Cop or Chuck Liddell highlights …and even a well spoken , respectful individual like Fedor is often seen simply battering or soccer kicking his opponents (Gary Goodrige comes to mind) . It’s combat sports and that’s their job , to win the fight anyway they can – the more exciting the better , and nothing is more exciting than a good knock out (arguably) . What do fans talk about more , Rashad’s KO of chuck or a Demian Maia submission ?
HOWEVER , and there’s a huge HOWEVER here , the man saying all this failed to give a good explanation why boxing , horror movies or games like GTA are given a pass when mma isn’t . One could say mma is real while video games are not , well boxing is very real too , and the most shocking KO I’ve ever seen was in boxing (the guy was lying and punching the air out of reflexes or a seizure , and died later from brain complications). To me , this is just hypocrisy – it’s just like banning Marijuana and allowing ten times more dangerous substances like alcohol and cigarettes . Either you reorganize society altogether , or just let people do what they wanna do and don’t interfere .
It really irks me how he throws in the bit about people coming up to him on a daily basis saying he’s doing the right thing. What a bunch of bullshit.
Yeah, who got the final Death Blow? 'Cause I thought that Hawaiian guy had it comin' to him. - C. K.
by monkeyfightclub! on Mar 14, 2009 10:41 AM EDT reply actions
Can someone please offer these guys stats when they bring up these points about boxing being ok yet MMA is “brutal” ?
Someone ask these tools how many people have died or can’t form a sentence after 10 years in the sport as opposed to minefield of googoo talk former boxers and those that have died in the ring. So sick of these ill informed figures giving a sport like boxing a free pass simply because it’s more mainstream. They really don’t know what they’re talking about.
Why MMA is perceived as barbaric...
Another thing we need to realize here is that mma is perceived as more barbaric than say boxing because a couple of things – first there were the first UFC shows which allowed EVERYTHING (head butting , blows to the groin , u name it) , these may have caused some people to turn away from mma forever and not give it another chance. Then there’s the cage – it’s only my personal view but I feel that if the sport was in a ring maybe those people would have a better opinion of it . The cage may give someone new to the sport associations with dog fights (those are held in pits usually but u get my drift).
Third , u have more blood than in boxing because the small gloves cut faster.
Forth – and maybe the most important – u don’t have a count . When someone drops his opponent is allowed (and encouraged) to fall with him and finish him off . This often leads to spectacles of a fighter getting completely KOed by a headkick or a right hook or whatever and then , while being unconscious , 2 , 3 or even more hammer fists land on his unconscious body completely rocking his head . This is quite a spectacle that u don’t get to see in boxing , it can cause someone to think that it’s barbaric and simply unfair – the dude was out , why hit on his unconscious body ?
I of course completely understand that a 10 seconds count is impossible in mma but yeah , I can get people who see those brutal KO’s and think they’re just cruel…
I agree with you
I know MMA fans don’t want to hear this but the sport porbably still needs some fine tuning of the rules in order to get it accepted. I think elbows should be made illegal becuase they create cuts very easily and prematurely end fights (would Bloody Elbow then change the name?).
I like it as it is , screw New York...
I like the use of elbows , it makes the ground and pound more interesting and diverse (and even allows for freak KO’s like Anderson Silva once did in cage rage) . I don’t think disallowing it would do much good for the acceptance of the sport , the only thing that could help is having 10 seconds count when someone is knocked down or eats big shots that stun him in ground and pound – but that would completely change the dynamics of the fights (NOT for the better!) , it would kill the excitement of the fight , and it wouldn’t be mma as we know and love it.
I think the sport is great as it is , violent – for sure , let’s not be naive about it – the violence adds to the overall excitement – I’m not saying lets watch people kill each other , hell no , but a few KO’s every now and then or some blood from a cut are fine by me . Would anyone be as interested in mma if it was like combat sambo with head gear protections and all that bleh ? Probably not .
It’s legal almost anywhere in the world , if NY can’t accept it – tough for NY , not for the sport…
looks like the entire mma community, meaning...
ufc, strikeforce and all other promotions need to get into politics. the writing is on the wall that this dick needs to be voted out of office. if the mma community got behind an opposition candidate of his and threw some money at the new candidate it could get over the reilly stumbling block. ufc would probably lead the way but if other organizations have any sense they should kick in some cash as well.
ilowyn’s sig line FTW. This is why you’ll never hear me talking about shoes – I would sound like a fucking idiot.
by Derek Suboticki on Mar 14, 2009 2:00 PM EDT reply actions
Plain to see: All About the Money
Taxes, folks. Taxes.
Standard tax rate from UFC live gate is 3. The thieves, coercers and new-age highwaymen want 10 for their nefarious little schemes.
End. Of. Story.
Honestly, I find it absurd that no one can pin this clown down during an interview. It’s not that hard, really. When he starts blabbering about “them taking the money back to Las Vegas”, just ask him about concerts, boxing events, the circus, or any other traveling show that plops down in NY for a night or two. That money goes elsewhere, too. Of course, you’ll invariably receive some sort of political doublespeak for an answer, but at least you’ll know that he’s full of feces. Heck, he’ll probably know that you know.
oh - we don't want elbows banned...
If they did that, Tito FOR SURE would never fight again. And if he did, he wouldn’t have any tools. Must leave elbows in the sport.
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