Another nazi fighter exposed

**Hiro Protagonist** · Posted On: 8/31/2009 1:12pm

From mma.fanhouse.com:

MMA Fighter Toni Valtonen Has Swastika, 'White Pride' Tattoos

Posted Aug 31, 2009 11:15AM By Michael David Smith (RSS feed)
Filed Under: M-1 Global

Toni Valtonen is a Finnish mixed martial artist who fights all around the world for Team Finland in the M-1 Challenge, including two fights in the United States this year. A veteran with a 19-9 record, Valtonen hasn't done much in the ring to distinguish himself from any of the thousands of other athletes who compete in MMA.

But he is now attracting attention for something unrelated to his fighting: Valtonen has a swastika tattooed on his shoulder and the words "white pride" tattooed on his back.

Valtonen's tattoos are not exactly a secret -- there are plenty of photographs in which they're readily apparent (see here and here and here for examples) -- but they've been largely ignored by MMA fans and the media, in large part because M-1 has required him to wear a patch over them while he fights.

But the patch over his swastika tattoo came off during a fight that was televised in the United States on HDNet, and the network later acknowledged on its Inside MMA show that it received a complaint from a viewer about it. HDNet Fights CEO Andrew Simon declined to discuss the matter further, saying via e-mail, "We did a segment on Inside MMA this week. Enough said."

Contacted by FanHouse, Valtonen's promotion, M-1 Global, issued a statement saying, "M-1 does not allow Mr. Valtonen to fight with any of these tattoos exposed. Before each of Mr. Valtonen's fights there are patches placed over his tattoos. M-1 regrets the fact that there were still tattoos shown when the patches got loose in the fight. By this statement M-1 wants to state that we do NOT in any way support the views of any individual in particular."

Valtonen could not be reached for comment by FanHouse, but M-1 passed along a statement from him saying, "I had a crazy and rebellious youth, I made some faults in my past and I am not proud of these marks. I regret that I ever had these tattoos made. Nowadays I am a dedicated family man and professional athlete, and I am not involved in any politics whatsoever."

M-1 and Valtonen are doing the right thing, of course, by distancing themselves from those tattoos. But if Valtonen is sincere, he ought to have them removed or permanently tattooed over. Until he does, it's hard to see how M-1 and HDNet can continue having him represent their companies.

Taken from:

http://mma.fanhouse.com/2009/08/31/m...power-tattoos/

And, for some pics, here's one from bloodyelbow.com (main page):

It's an outright scandal that M1 let him enter the ring in the first place.

**Domite** · Posted On: 8/31/2009 2:36pm

Finding it hard to care, personally.

**pharmakos** · Posted On: 8/31/2009 2:44pm

I'm not a Nazi but......................

I don't see finland going all facist on us in the near future. If you were going to draw up a list of the top ten countries least likely to go facist Finland would probably be somewhere on it. So why do you, or the writers of the article, care what some silly sausage who gets paid to get kicked in the head "thinks"? Sounds like someone getting their knickers in a twist over the least relevant **** in the world.

**Sri Hanuman** · Posted On: 8/31/2009 3:00pm

Doesn't seem too significant.

He's not marching into the ring in nazi boots/gear, doing the nazi salute, or promoting nazi propaganda. He's there to fight, plain and simple. If he was doing any of the afformentioned, I'd have an issue. What he does with his life outside the ring, as long as it doesn't involve killing, is his own business. This applies to everyone.

**Ming Loyalist** · Posted On: 8/31/2009 3:01pm

yeah, i agree with domite.

it's hard to find someone who hates nazis more than me, but i really don't see why his beliefs or tattoos should make him ineligible to fight.

i can understand why an org might make him cover over certain tats because the fights would be televised (although i would think profanity and/or sexual situations would be more of a concern IMHO) but to go as far as saying she should be banned?

i believe in individual rights, and although i hate nazis, i do support their right to free speech.

**Gabetuno** · Posted On: 8/31/2009 3:06pm

I'm glad he didn't cover them over. They should remain a scar on his body for the actions of his youth, and it's good to see that he renounces their symbolism and meaning. I'd prefer it if he fought with them exposed, from a logistical standpoint, as a patch or some kind of wrap could affect the fight.

**Hesperus** · Posted On: 8/31/2009 3:12pm

****, even if he goose stepped into the ring in nazi boots/gear, doing the nazi salute, and/or promoting nazi propaganda, I still wouldn't care.

As long as he wasn't killin' people or enabling it.

Anyone who holds such ideology but isn't acting on it is All Talk, No Walk of the highest order.

But he renounces them?

Why the **** does it matter? It's just words and a symbol used long before and far away from Nazi Germany, get the **** over it.

**Sri Hanuman** · Posted On: 8/31/2009 3:21pm

Originally Posted by Hesperus

****, even if he goose stepped into the ring in nazi boots/gear, doing the nazi salute, and/or promoting nazi propaganda, I still wouldn't care.

As long as he wasn't killin' people or enabling it.

Having family members that were exterminated in WW2, I'd hesitate on the goose stepping and salute upon entering the ring.

Then again, I do support freedom of speech for all, without exceptions, so it would be hypocritical of me to disagree. Everyone deserves fair freedom of expression, but I wonder where the line is to be drawn.

Would a Boasnian/Serb/Croad glorifying the extermination of the other ethnic group gain the same media attention? Not sure what to really make of this issue, but as it stands I'm not too bothered by the Nazi thing.