North Vancouver amateur MMA event erupts in post-fight chaos

**PizDoff** · Posted On: 6/29/2010 3:39pm

North Vancouver amateur MMA event erupts in post-fight chaos

Vancouver-based MMA trainer Marcus Hicks had to be physically restrained Saturday after his downed fighter continued to be beaten despite a referee's stoppage at a North Vancouver amateur MMA event.

Brazilian Adam Santos had little trouble stopping Team Denarious fighter Neil Menard at International Fighting Challenge 8, having knocked Menard down and thrown a few unanswered blows at the stunned fighter. Referee Jason Williamson stepped in to stop the fight, but Santos continued throwing punches until he was physically dragged off his opponent, according to MMARingReport.com.

This reportedly led to Hicks storming the ring, unleashing a verbal tirade against both the winner of the fight and the referee, leading to his own teammates and commission officials pulling him back from the fray as others entered the ring to join the confrontation.

Hicks, a journeyman fighter not known for keeping his opinions to himself, is a mainstay on the B.C. amateur MMA circuit both in and out of the ring. He recently debuted female fighter Sarah Marshall at a Richmond 'MMA at the Rock' event on the back of just four jiu-jitsu lessons. Marshall has since racked up a 1-1-1 record.

Santos left Sao Paulo, Brazil in July 2008 to teach and train at Team Narita MMA in B.C., telling the Sun in June 2009, "If I had a regular job working from 8am to 6pm every day, I wouldn’t be happy. I wake up and do what I love every day. When I get older I’ll be able to look back and say I tried my best to achieve my dream.”

The chaotic scene Saturday night punctuated an otherwise uneventful affair at the Top Rank Martial Arts event at the West Ballroom of North Vancouver's Pinnacle Hotel, but saw dozens of people enter the ring from both fighters' camps in exactly the kind of display that has had north shore municipal officials second-guessing their athletic commission in the last six months.

Top Rank has been associated with controversy before, having previously allowed a female fighter to appear less than 24 hours after she lost a fight in another event. The promotion has also accused of allowing professional fighters to appear unpaid on amateur cards and allowing weight class mismatches, such as when the 180lb Alan Day was pitted against the 230lb Santos on a Top Rank card in June last year.

The commission that oversees MMA events in North Vancouver has been criticized for being too close to the promotion, being as it is composed of people who have worked with Top Rank for several years as consultants, ring doctors and marketing officials. North Vancouver Council recently ceased funding the commission, with Councilor Mary Trentadue telling the North Shore Outlook she has heard nothing from the commission since approving its creation, adding, “It’s hard for me to get really interested about it.”

In response to coverage of these controversies, the athletic commissioner Mike Pattenaude and promoter Mike Hammoud have banned The Vancouver Sun from attending Top Rank events.

http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Nor...573/story.html

Bad news, hope the regulation gets more tightening up so it decreases the chances of serious injury in the future

**Rath** · Posted On: 6/29/2010 5:46pm

Sounds like it needs more regulation and an unbiased committee.

**elipson** · Posted On: 6/29/2010 6:54pm

http://www.mmaringreport.com/other-e...lenge-8-2.html

Never heard of the Promotion before. Or any of the fighters.

That's retarded that they would ban the Vancouver sun from their events. That is just inviting the sun to start bashing on them and MMA in the area.

**Petter** · Posted On: 6/29/2010 7:05pm

Originally Posted by elipson

http://www.mmaringreport.com/other-e...lenge-8-2.html

Never heard of the Promotion before. Or any of the fighters.

That's retarded that they would ban the Vancouver sun from their events. That is just inviting the sun to start bashing on them and MMA in the area.

To the Vancouver Sun’s credit, though, that article seemed pretty explicit about condemning the promotion and the commission, not the sport.

In fact, the Vancouver Sun’s “UFC primer” did not read as negative toward the sport in general. It reads as well informed to me, and if its publication is at all indicative of their editorial policy, I wouldn’t worry overmuch. A few highlights:

Originally Posted by The Vancouver Sun

They fight in a cage, admittedly, but this is less about preventing escape than it is about the fact that, if you grapple in a boxing ring, you tend to fall between the ropes and land on your head. Or someone else's.

There are rules, and they're all about fighter safety. No eye-pokes, biting, groin kicks, headbutts, punches to the back of the head or kicking a guy when he's down - oh, and no running away. Timidity is not acceptable. There are no Matt Cooke's in MMA.

MMA fighters do not fight until death or disfigurement. In fact, fights regularly end with the loser not having suffered more than a twisted limb or a choke hold. A well-placed triangle choke or armbar is something that will stop the largest, strongest, meanest fighter in his tracks, causing him to say 'uncle' in seconds potentially without a punch being thrown. And when that happens, nobody mocks the loser; MMA is one of the few sports where surrender is an acceptable form of loss. After all, the alternative is a snapped arm or blown knee, and nobody wins bonus cash for knee surgery.

In fact, MMA fighters tend to take so little damage during their careers that it's not uncommon to see them still competing at an elite level well into their 30's and 40's. Randy Couture, a former Marine and one-time member of the US Olympic wrestling team, is one of the superstars of the sport, and is still a title contender at age 47.

MMA fighters are not, for the most part, thugs and barbarians. Occasionally they'll talk nasty to one another in the lead-up to a big fight, but afterwards you'll usually find them hugging in the centre of the cage, or in St Pierre's case, bowing or dropping to a knee in respect.