Racism & MMA

[GeneChing]

Here's a topic that might arouse controversy. Let's see if we can discuss this with some civility. I'd hate to have to close this thread later.

Racists Active in Mixed Martial Arts
By David Holthouse

Melvin "Man-o-war" Costa has a classic Nazi eagle and swastika insignia tattooed across his chest and a prison gang spider web inked on his right elbow.

Costa, 26, also is a convicted felon, self-avowed white nationalist and currently the 10th-ranked light heavyweight fighter in King of the Cage, one of the most popular semi-professional "mixed martial arts" (MMA) combat leagues in America. MMA is the fastest growing sport in the country. Television ratings for its preeminent league, the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, routinely outdraw every other sport except NFL football among men aged 18-34.

Not surprisingly, this rapidly rising blood sport is likewise wildly popular among racist skinheads and other young extremists with a thirst for violence. Many white supremacist online forums have recently established discussion groups devoted specifically to MMA; skinhead gangs across the country are raising money by hosting illegal backyard tournaments; and retired white supremacist cage fighter Mike Buell runs a major MMA training school in Arizona whose logo is a Celtic cross (often used as a white supremacist symbol) and the phrase "Hail Victory" (the German equivalent is "sieg heil").

Costa, however, is the first openly white nationalist MMA fighter to become a Top Ten-ranked competitor in a sanctioned organization like King of the Cage, which is a proving ground for up-and-coming fighters, a select few of whom go on to fame and fortune in the Ultimate Fighting Championship.

"A swastika, as far as I hold it true to my own, it stands for the purity of my people's blood," Costa told leading MMA sportswriter Sam Caplan last October. "I do believe in the purity, security, and the survival of the white race. … When I come down that [fighter entrance] ramp and people see me, they know I'm white power." Costa did clarify, however, that he considers himself a white nationalist rather than a neo-Nazi because "[a] neo-Nazi holds Hitler's beliefs to be true down to a T. I don't. I believe in Hitler's point of view as far as racial consonance but I don't believe a lot of [his] things as far as controlling the economy."

By Costa's own account, he was frequently incarcerated for burglary and assault from the time he was 15 until his most recent release from prison in March 2006. His first King of the Cage fight occurred the following April. Costa knocked out his opponent at 1:06 into the first round.

"I don't feel pain. No ****in' brain, no pain!" he said then. Over the next six months he reeled off three successive knockout victories. Southern California skinheads in full dress — boots, suspenders, bomber jackets — began showing up at King of the Cage events in droves to cheer on the Aryan warrior, whose swastika tattoo, outspoken white nationalist ideology and growing skinhead fan base presented MMA promoters with a public relations dilemma.

Last Oct. 18, shortly after Costa's comments and pictures of his tattoos were republished widely on MMA fan websites, Gary Shaw, the live events president of the parent company that owns King of the Cage, issued this statement: "I try not to allow anyone to fight in the cage or the ring that has anything inappropriate either on their gear or tattooed permanently on their body. And that means either ethnic, or racial, or anything offensive to the general public. I was unaware of the situation but I'm in the process of handling it now. Hopefully, it will never happen again."

But it did, less than two months later. Costa fought in a King of the Cage event held last Dec. 18. For the first time, though, he lost. Davis, for his part, did not return two E-mails seeking clarification on his league's regulation of fighters with "inappropriate" tattoos.

Judging by online forum discussions, Costa's growing legions of white supremacist fans seemed far less concerned with his swastika or spider web tattoos than a third tattoo, circling his navel, that boasts, "I have a small *****." The common theory is that, as one fan said, "He might be going for a bit of sarcasm, depending on the actual size of his *****, given the false stereotype about us."

Be that as it may, Costa says, "At least God blessed me with a strong jaw and a big head."

[sanjuro_ronin]

Everyone has a right to be a fighter, if they want to and can pass the physical.
He can't be denied that right because he is an ignorant a-hole.
The type of personalities that fall into the "wannabe warriors" syndrome that effects MMA will love this guy or hate him, those more enlightened will realize how little he matters or how little the sport matters in this context.
Fans of most sports tend to be "wannabes", its not just MMA.
MMA may SEEM to attract these people, with their tattoos and their piercings and their small ****s, but the fact is they are everywhere, in pro Wrestling, in Boxing, in Hockey, in Football and even in soccer.
My sister-in-law has a BF that loves MMA, he loves for the UFC, he will leave a family gathering to go watch it, he talkes about how tough he is and how he beats people up, blah, blah, blah, does he compete?
No.
Does he belong to a gym?
No.
Does he train?
No.
Is he a typical wannabe?
Yes.
Is he a typical fan?
I don't know...

[Eddie]

Racism is everywhere. I live in a country where it is all out in the open (from both sides).

If a guy is a good fighter, and he sticks to the rules, fights clean and with the right compassion (not breaking the guy’s arm after he tapped out etc), he has just as much right to be in the ring as anyone else.

While his ideas about the purity of his bloodline may offend others, he still has the right to live and to compete. There are always someone who will be offended by another person’s conduct, clothes, hair style or whatever.

I’ve seen fights with some Hardcore leftist extremist where the fighters come up against a black fighter (for example), only to have the white guy being humbled by the skill of his black opponent. Theres a certain type of respect one has after being defeated.

Trust me, this sort of thing happens down here every single day. Im sure the problem isn’t as big as most people make it out to be. Though there is never any excuse for this type of thing, its part of life. Its MMA, not point sparring. You are going to attract some real bad azzes.

Just accept it and deal with it.

Nothing worse than people who always cry rasism when ever things arent going their way. Its old and tired.

[bakxierboxer]

Racism is everywhere. I live in a country where it is all out in the open (from both sides).
.......
.......
I’ve seen fights with some Hardcore leftist extremist....

It's "nice" to see that your Leftists (racists) are the same as ours... no matter how hard they try to sell themselves as being other than that.

Nothing worse than people who always cry rasism when ever things arent going their way. Its old and tired.

I'm sure that it is.... I feel that way about it.
But, if someone happens to be running into it all the time, and it's actually detrimental to their living a decent life, I think they've got a real complaint.

[Eddie]

I agree they have a real complaint, and probably valid on all accounts. Just, in the same way that they will allow lets say a Jew, a Black guy, a greek, a German or just about anyone else to compete, so they have to let a racist compete.

My point simply is, we cannot change those guys. But imagine the dissapointment and disgrace to him when he fights a black man and looses.

Trust me, these things have a way of sorting themselves out. Being politically correct only helps with the show.

In the morning I go to gym at the local health club. Theres thi sone elderly black man who always wear the same tshirt from one specific political party. Their slogan (printed on the back of the shirt) says " Kill the Boer" (boer refering to the White Afrikaans - Dutch- people of which I'm one). I've seen many white afrikaans people walking past the guy, slapping him on the shoulder and say ' howsit boet' (how are you my brother - a polite and informal way of greeting in SA). Them ignoring his blatand racist slogans on his shirt probably cooled the situation down and effectively rendered his poltical propaganda as worthless.

If we dont take offence to their slander, they have nothing on us.

Neo Nazi's and who ever else are only big in their own worlds.

[bakxierboxer]

.... Neo Nazi's and who ever else are only big in their own minds.

"Fixed that for ya..."

[doug maverick]

I agree they have a real complaint, and probably valid on all accounts. Just, in the same way that they will allow lets say a Jew, a Black guy, a greek, a German or just about anyone else to compete, so they have to let a racist compete.

My point simply is, we cannot change those guys. But imagine the dissapointment and disgrace to him when he fights a black man and looses.

Trust me, these things have a way of sorting themselves out. Being politically correct only helps with the show.

In the morning I go to gym at the local health club. Theres thi sone elderly black man who always wear the same tshirt from one specific political party. Their slogan (printed on the back of the shirt) says " Kill the Boer" (boer refering to the White Afrikaans - Dutch- people of which I'm one). I've seen many white afrikaans people walking past the guy, slapping him on the shoulder and say ' howsit boet' (how are you my brother - a polite and informal way of greeting in SA). Them ignoring his blatand racist slogans on his shirt probably cooled the situation down and effectively rendered his poltical propaganda as worthless.

If we dont take offence to their slander, they have nothing on us.

Neo Nazi's and who ever else are only big in their own worlds.

there's an old saying that all the comedians and black people say that the most racist person(s) in the world are old black men. it looks like that holds true even in the mother land.lol

i think we all just need to keep ****ing each other till we become one color. but then we'll find something else to hate about each other. its sad really. i mean even amongst blacks there is heavy racism if your of a darker skin tone black people treat you worst then any white racist could dream off.

[BruceSteveRoy]

Racism is everywhere. I live in a country where it is all out in the open (from both sides).

racism in south africa? i find that hard to believe.

[monji112000]

Here's a topic that might arouse controversy. Let's see if we can discuss this with some civility. I'd hate to have to close this thread later.

its a free country say and believe what you want. Just keep it respectful in and around the cage/ring. Watch your back when you go to the parking lot.

[Eddie]

I hear what you are saying Bruce, but I still think its more an issue of genetics. Kenyan runners aren’t the only ones who train barefoot, I mean down here that’s the shoe of choice (barefoot).

I hate this whole rao over the words racism. While I know it’s a reality and I understand the issues, I just think its seriously over done these days.

Cosmo Kramer was recently in court for some racist jokes he made in a comedy act. His closing speech was pretty good. I’ll try find it and post it here.

As for fighters, perhaps all that just adds to the entertainment value of the sport.

[mawali]

There is no racism in MMA! No one is prevented or forbidden from competing.

You are tough enough to fight then that is the main thing. What exists are people who bring negative racist ideology and spit them to the greater audience by written and other vehicle and this comes when major networks are planning to add MMA events to their programming.

The fighter either covers the 'offensive' material or does not participate!
The choices are clear if you want to reach the heights you want to achieve.
If one's ideology is more important then don't participate and go out and preach it.
If you are tough enough, cover up, and win to show superiority, then more power and supposedly more converts! If you end up losing by a big beatdown, then all the talk is cheap. Just another blowhard empty vessel!

What kind of supremacist is surname Costa! It takes all kinds.

[BruceSteveRoy]

What kind of supremacist is surname Costa! It takes all kinds.

lol that was one of the first things i noticed but i let it slide.

so here is the crux of the issue. can he be let go as a fighter from the organization for being racist and displaying it? racism is protected by the constitution as long as the racism does not turn to discrimination. but in essence couldn't a case then be made against the employer for discrimination against the racist if they don't let him stay on? if his right to be a racist protected and he gets fired than my guess is he would never have to fight again. after he sues the company and wins a large settlement he should be pretty set financially.

[Eddie]

Doesn’t your constitution allow for free speech, freedom of religion and freedom of association?

In the same breath, they should then tell other fighters to cover up their religious tattoos cause it might be offensive to non religious people.

I don’t think so. Perhaps you guys should chill a little.

[sanjuro_ronin]

The very nature of free speech is defending the views that you couldn't disagree more with.

[BruceSteveRoy]

Doesn’t your constitution allow for free speech, freedom of religion and freedom of association?

In the same breath, they should then tell other fighters to cover up their religious tattoos cause it might be offensive to non religious people.

I don’t think so. Perhaps you guys should chill a little.

thats what i am saying. this guy is protected even if what he is expressing is reprehensible. i don't know who you are directing the chilling out to. i have no emotional response to any of this. i am just looking at it from the perspective of the legal rights of everyone involved.

but your religion argument, while somewhat pertinent, is a flawed argument. religion on some level is a choice. a person can 'choose' to be atheist or not. when you are talking about being offended by a religious tattoo it can't compare directly to being offended by a racist tattoo as no one is given a choice of race. though that is just arguing semantics and is tangential.

i think the bigger issue is what are the actual rights of the empoyer to take any action against the fighter? as far as i can see his only recourse is to intentionally stack the guy up against fighters that are "better" than him so that he walks away with a losing record and use that as a justification to no longer carry his contract. of course that could completely blow up in his face and the guy could win a lot of really important fights and become the face of the organization. or the chest in this case. That would make things much worse from a PR standpoint. but who knows.