Ian Murphy was in over his head and the he fact he was allowed to fight at DREAM 2 in April 2009 against Ronaldo Jacare underscores the profound lack of regulation and oversight of Japanese mixed martial arts. There really is no regulatory oversight of the sport or the actions of individual promoters. The fight culture rooted in sumo and continued in pro wrestling and mixed martial arts is extremely backwards. Fight promoters' first, second and third priorities are making money. With the exception of the top stars, fighters are largely viewed as interchangeable and expendable. Mandatory drug testing is completely nonexistent and there's little elective testing by the individual promotions. Even the simplest steps to protect the fighters well being are unenforced or non-existent.
There's not a state athletic commission in the US that would have sanctioned the DREAM 2 matchup between Ian Murphy and Ronaldo Jacare. Murphy had just turned 22, and as of a couple of months prior to his DREAM 2 appearance was completing his senior season of wrestling at Cal State Fullerton. While he was a standout collegiate wrestler, he'd been seriously training for mixed martial arts for little more than a month. He'd never even had an amateur fight. His athletic background definitely suggests potential as a MMA fighter but at this point he was essentially a novice.
His opponent, Ronaldo Jacare Souza, was in no way a novice. Jacare began training in judo at age 14 and later changed his focus to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Now 27, Jacare is a BJJ black belt and has been called one of the most feared submission grapplers in the world. That was evidenced in 2006 when Jacare fought former UFC heavyweight champ Randy Couture to a draw in a submission wrestling event. Even Jacare's original opponent--tough veteran Frank Trigg--would have found him a difficult matchup. After Trigg was forced to withdraw days before the fight, DREAM management approached Murphy who readily agreed to take the fight.
The fight itself was essentially over before it began. Murphy was visibly nervous to the point of near panic as he made his ring walk. He could be seen taking a few deep breaths to steady his nerves. This underscored the reality that he hadnt any real experience or knowledge competing or even training in a mixed martial arts environment. That training would have taken him to a point where he could at least sublimate the problematic emotional cocktail of fear, excitement, nervousness, uncertainty and confusion. Murphy's amateur wrestling pedigree aside, DREAM might as well have picked someone out of the audience as they would have had a greater familiarity with MMA.
From the start of the match it was all Jacare. Murphy tried to use the only real weapon at his disposal and shot in attempting to take down his opponent. He partially succeeded, but more likely Jacare allowed himself to be taken down. From this point on, Murphy was in Jacares world where he received an emphatic crash course in submission ground fighting. Jacare eventually forced Murphy to tap out to a rear naked choke, evidencing that he'd had no experience on how to defend a basic MMA submission.
Ronaldo Jacare is the one player in this story that can be held blameless. He did what a fighter is supposed to do, which is to try to defeat his opponent to the best of his ability. Virtually everyone else involved in the fight bears some measure of culpability. FEG should never have booked Murphy to fight, Murphys handlers should have never accepted knowing their fighters almost non-existent MMA training and the official in the ring for not stopping the fight much sooner. At least this tale of indifference and ineptitude has a somewhat happy ending as Murphy emerged unscathed, with the exception of having suffered a beating. Still, the potential for disaster and tragedy by involving a completely inexperienced fighter in the event is significant as is the collateral damage such an occurrence would have on MMA worldwide.
Any legitimate regulatory oversight body would have done what everyone else involved did not by refusing to sanction this fight. In Japan, however, there isn't any significant oversight of the sort and none focused on the well being of the fighters. In the United States, the sport is regulated by state athletic commissions in the same way as boxing. In Japan, the sport that grew out of professional wrestling is regulated in essentially the same way. That is to say like pro wrestling its largely anything goes in terms of rules, safety and other issues concerning fighter well being.
Change comes slowly in Japanese culture and in political matters slower still. The two organizations that oversee Japanese boxing (the Japanese Boxing Association and the Japanese Professional Boxing Association) have historically done little and have existed more as money making ventures than regulatory agencies. Its taken some high profile in ring deaths in recent years to even generate talk of reform. Despite some nominal show of concern by government officials little has been done and the JBA and JPBA are more concerned about their turf war as sanctioning bodies than they are doing anything to protect fighters who box in Japan. The promotion behind World Victory Road has done what they can to rectify the situation with regard to MMA by creating a Japan Mixed Martial Arts Commission to serve as the oversight authority for the sport. Unfortunately, without some government involvement its unlikely they can have much of an impact just as the supposed current group in charge of rules in Japanese MMA, the International Shooto Commission, has been rendered largely impotent.
The sad reality is that with the glacial pace of progressive reform within Japanese political culture any government involvement is unlikely. Even if a death were to occur the lack of progress in boxing regulation when faced with a similar scenario doesn't provide much hope for improved safety rules for MMA fighters. While WVR is trying with their MMA oversight commission the only hope for real change in the near term is for promoters to realize that protecting their fighters is in the best interest of the sport which, in turn, is good for the bottom line. - 30215
There's not a state athletic commission in the US that would have sanctioned the DREAM 2 matchup between Ian Murphy and Ronaldo Jacare. Murphy had just turned 22, and as of a couple of months prior to his DREAM 2 appearance was completing his senior season of wrestling at Cal State Fullerton. While he was a standout collegiate wrestler, he'd been seriously training for mixed martial arts for little more than a month. He'd never even had an amateur fight. His athletic background definitely suggests potential as a MMA fighter but at this point he was essentially a novice.
His opponent, Ronaldo Jacare Souza, was in no way a novice. Jacare began training in judo at age 14 and later changed his focus to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Now 27, Jacare is a BJJ black belt and has been called one of the most feared submission grapplers in the world. That was evidenced in 2006 when Jacare fought former UFC heavyweight champ Randy Couture to a draw in a submission wrestling event. Even Jacare's original opponent--tough veteran Frank Trigg--would have found him a difficult matchup. After Trigg was forced to withdraw days before the fight, DREAM management approached Murphy who readily agreed to take the fight.
The fight itself was essentially over before it began. Murphy was visibly nervous to the point of near panic as he made his ring walk. He could be seen taking a few deep breaths to steady his nerves. This underscored the reality that he hadnt any real experience or knowledge competing or even training in a mixed martial arts environment. That training would have taken him to a point where he could at least sublimate the problematic emotional cocktail of fear, excitement, nervousness, uncertainty and confusion. Murphy's amateur wrestling pedigree aside, DREAM might as well have picked someone out of the audience as they would have had a greater familiarity with MMA.
From the start of the match it was all Jacare. Murphy tried to use the only real weapon at his disposal and shot in attempting to take down his opponent. He partially succeeded, but more likely Jacare allowed himself to be taken down. From this point on, Murphy was in Jacares world where he received an emphatic crash course in submission ground fighting. Jacare eventually forced Murphy to tap out to a rear naked choke, evidencing that he'd had no experience on how to defend a basic MMA submission.
Ronaldo Jacare is the one player in this story that can be held blameless. He did what a fighter is supposed to do, which is to try to defeat his opponent to the best of his ability. Virtually everyone else involved in the fight bears some measure of culpability. FEG should never have booked Murphy to fight, Murphys handlers should have never accepted knowing their fighters almost non-existent MMA training and the official in the ring for not stopping the fight much sooner. At least this tale of indifference and ineptitude has a somewhat happy ending as Murphy emerged unscathed, with the exception of having suffered a beating. Still, the potential for disaster and tragedy by involving a completely inexperienced fighter in the event is significant as is the collateral damage such an occurrence would have on MMA worldwide.
Any legitimate regulatory oversight body would have done what everyone else involved did not by refusing to sanction this fight. In Japan, however, there isn't any significant oversight of the sort and none focused on the well being of the fighters. In the United States, the sport is regulated by state athletic commissions in the same way as boxing. In Japan, the sport that grew out of professional wrestling is regulated in essentially the same way. That is to say like pro wrestling its largely anything goes in terms of rules, safety and other issues concerning fighter well being.
Change comes slowly in Japanese culture and in political matters slower still. The two organizations that oversee Japanese boxing (the Japanese Boxing Association and the Japanese Professional Boxing Association) have historically done little and have existed more as money making ventures than regulatory agencies. Its taken some high profile in ring deaths in recent years to even generate talk of reform. Despite some nominal show of concern by government officials little has been done and the JBA and JPBA are more concerned about their turf war as sanctioning bodies than they are doing anything to protect fighters who box in Japan. The promotion behind World Victory Road has done what they can to rectify the situation with regard to MMA by creating a Japan Mixed Martial Arts Commission to serve as the oversight authority for the sport. Unfortunately, without some government involvement its unlikely they can have much of an impact just as the supposed current group in charge of rules in Japanese MMA, the International Shooto Commission, has been rendered largely impotent.
The sad reality is that with the glacial pace of progressive reform within Japanese political culture any government involvement is unlikely. Even if a death were to occur the lack of progress in boxing regulation when faced with a similar scenario doesn't provide much hope for improved safety rules for MMA fighters. While WVR is trying with their MMA oversight commission the only hope for real change in the near term is for promoters to realize that protecting their fighters is in the best interest of the sport which, in turn, is good for the bottom line. - 30215
About the Author:
Ross Everett is a noted freelance writer specializing in CFL football and mixed martial arts. He will be covering UFC 103 for a number of online and broadcast media outlets. In addition, he will be providing UFC 103 results for TV broadcasts in Australia.
