Despite a culture of individualism in the western world, sometimes homogeneous circumstances are to the advantage of all involved. Take for example the UK MMA scene, where there is no standardized rule set, no local or national governing body and nothing to stop a fighter being knocked out one week and fighting again the next. This has led Cage Warriors director, Graham Boylan, to liken UK MMA to “the wild west”.
In a recent interview with Yourmma.tv, Cage Warriors have outlined a stricter set of guidelines for their promotion in an attempt to bring UK MMA up to the same standard as professional promotions in the USA including:
- Two qualified cut-men at each event, so unqualified corner-men don’t have to accept responsibility.
- Three referees on the night.
- Head official Marc Goddard and head cut-man John Tandy to oversee proceedings.
- No Vaseline in changing rooms; all to be applied at the cage door.
- Official in the changing rooms at all times to oversee what is going on.
- Vigilance on fighter safety procedure e.g. a ‘no fight’ policy for fighters getting knocked out or stopped within a certain time frame.
- Hands wrapped by official and signed off.
- By 2012, having qualified MMA medics and working to bring in blood tests and MRIs for all fighters.
- Seminars by head officials to educate other shows and promoters.
These steps may seem obvious to some, but props must be given to Graham Boylan and Ian Dean over at Cage Warriors for being willing to take a financial hit in order to push for standardization and fighter safety across the board in the UK. These measures, along with the quality internet streams and TV deals in UK, Ireland, Canada and Africa will hopefully help to push UK MMA forward and expose the talent pool in the UK to a much wider audience. [Source]