What Michael Kirkham's death could mean for the future of mixed-martial arts events in South Carolina is unclear.
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The sport's proponents, who have rallied to the aid of Kirkham's family, know his death could damage the sport in a state that has held sanctioned fights for less than a year.
"There is some concern that could happen, but I really hope not," said Mark Greubel, who operates Greubel's MMA off River Watch Parkway.
The state's athletic commission has begun an internal investigation into the June 26 fight that ultimately killed Kirkham but has not released further information. Kirkham died Monday at Aiken Regional Medical Centers.
TJ Kirkham said potentially banning the sport in his brother's name "would be like losing him all over again."
Michael Kirkham's death is just the second nationally in the sport, Greubel said.
SOUTH CAROLINA LAWMAKERS made MMA legal July 1, 2009, and the first sanctioned fight was held in November.
Georgia has allowed sanctioned MMA fights for significantly longer under the state's boxing commission.
Both states require contestants to meet a list of prefight medical criteria.
Dr. Johnny Benjamin, a Florida orthopedic surgeon, is a strong supporter of MMA who wants to see the sport grow, but with more regulations in place. He said he believes more stringent guidelines would weed out amateur fighters who aren't ready for mainstream fights.
Kirkham and his opponent, Carlos Iraburo, were making their professional debuts after fighting a combined 10 amateur bouts.
"All you need is to pay the fee and train, and you're a fighter," Benjamin said. "What other (pro) sport allows that?"
He suggests requiring specialists to clear fighters before a match, giving ringside doctors more authority during bouts and implementing stricter training for referees.
MORE THAN 700 PEOPLE attended the 15-fight event at USC Aiken's Convocation Center, general manager Matt Herpich said. The arena was configured for 4,000 seats, but Herpich said he was pleased with the attendance. He declined to say what impact the fatality will have on future MMA cards at the building.
"I may be able to answer that in a few months," he said.
Sam King, the co-promoter of the fight, declined to take questions when reached on his cell phone.
"I have no comment at this time," he said before hanging up.
Kirkham had recently sought the services of former fighter Peter Clemente as his agent. Clemente, who owns an MMA studio and is the host of a radio program called The No Holds Barred Show, said he turned down Kirkham.
Clemente said the sport's appeal is that it mixes technical fighting with brute strength. He said the few states that continue to keep MMA fights illegal will change their minds as state revenues continue to drop. The roadblock, he said, is the misconception that the sport is barbaric.
Greubel, who trains Iraburo, has helped organize a local fundraising effort for Kirkham's five children. He said no one at the fight should feel responsible for Kirkham's death.
"It doesn't leave a good impression," Greubel said. "However, I don't feel like the officials there did anything wrong; I don't feel like the fighters did anything wrong; and I don't think there was any foul play. It was a good, well-run event."
Staff Writer Kyle Martin contributed to this story.
COMPETITORS
- MMA contestants must test negative for HIV, hepatitis B surface antigen and hepatitis C antibody.
- If a contestant fails the hepatitis B surface antigen test, he must pass a hepatitis B "PCR" quantitative test. The quantitative limit must be within permissible limits according to the laboratory where test was administered.
- Blood tests must have been taken be within two weeks of the event.
- The administrator physician may order a CT scan or MRI when a contestant has lost three bouts in a row by knockout or technical knockout, has lost six bouts in a row or has an extensive losing record.
LICENSING
- The commission will not issue a license or renew a license for a contestant who is found to be blind in one eye or whose vision in one eye is so poor that an ophthalmologist, optometrist or physician recommends that a license not be granted. This rule is effective regardless of how good the vision of the contestant might be in the other eye.
- The commission will not issue or renew the license of any applicant who has had any type of cerebral hemorrhage.
- All contestants 35 and older are required to submit a CT scan or MRI to the athletic commission 72 hours before being licensed.
- Promoters' responsibilities include making sure no event starts without a licensed medical doctor or doctor of osteopathic medicine present at ringside or cage-side, and an ambulance with medical personnel on site.
Source: South Carolina Athletic Commission
I compare MMA bouts in the same way as cockfighting, dogfighting, and hog/dog fighting. Cockfighting, dogfighting, and hog/dog fighting are all illegal as they inflict injuries and sometimes death as these beasts battle it out in a ring. As you can see the same thing happens in MMA bouts. You have human beasts pummeling each other and inflicting pain on their opponents that can result in death. The human body can only take so much abuse no matter how big and mean you think you are. The MMA is a barbaric and inhumane event that only sick people get turned on to watching. Many of the same spectators would surely be appalled at seeing dogs fight, or would they? The ONLY thing that makes this MMA legal is the fact that they are not using weapons in the ring. Well, you know certain blows to the head or torso with kicks and punches can inflict the same damage as a weapon can as we saw at the USCA Convocation center. This is not a sport and should be banned. This is no different than cockfighting and it should be treated as the same. I will be contacting my state senator and representative asking them to work to ban this barbaric activity from SC.
Where's the confusion in perception? The MMA is a violent and dangerous competition. To enter the competition you need to be well trained and in the best physical condition imaginable. This is the ultimate competition of man against man. mano e mano. It is up to each contender to prepare himself in every way, because the potential to be injured, maimed or killed exists in every match. It's not for everyone.
As other people have noted, MMA has a better injury and death record than almost all other contact sports, like football, boxing, soccer, rugby. The sport with the highest injury and death record is cheerleading. Curly123053 make sure you call for a ban on this as well when you contact your senator, as this sport does not even require contestants to be licensed or medically tested. Unless you are not speaking out of principle and concern for the participants...
curly: You are all over this sport's rare death. People are sometimes killed in many sports. What about baseball, football, boxing, racing, skiing, snowboarding, sky diving etc. just to name a few? Please, just let people live their lives and you live yours. " A coward dies many deaths yet the valiant lips taste death but once". Shakespeare.
cliff: mano a mano = hand to hand. BTW, good post! Happy 4th ALL !
Ruled an accidental death? Jeez, when you get a guy as helpless as you can on the mat (it ain't a mat, it's rough canvas over plywood) , and kick his head, punch and elbow his head as hard as you can, then choke off his air supply, it ain't accidental. It's the blanking object of the sport. Brain damage--the best way to end a fight. Tap outs aren't very exciting because nobody really gets all that hurt. Get off it, all you whiners. This is real sport for real athletes. It's the only place you can literally get away with murder! That guy who killed the other guy has a great future that will follow his reputation. MMA is as safe as any sport whose object is to kill your opponent anybody who thinks there's some other object is an idiot. THAT's the difference between martial arts and football, rugby, and other sports. All martial arts are intended to kill your opponent. Some of the gentler ones just break bones, or cause dislocations, etc. But the striking sports--boxing, MMA, Karate, and so on--there's your real money sports. I really enjoy "womens" MMA (not sure some of are really women, if you know what I mean), but they're vicious and brutal, and because they're not as strong as men the fights last longer. I say it's too bad we can't bring back real gladiator bouts with iron bars or something less lethal than tridents and battle-axes. Couldn't have that in civilized society, but iron bars would make for a good, bloody fight with less chance of deaths. I wonder why they're taking up a collection for the family of the dead guy? Isn't the promoter, or the state, or the industry or something supposed to provide insurance or something? Only seems fair. The guys go out and get their brains bashed out for our enjoyment--you know they'll all be brain dead at 50--I thought for sure there'd be some pension and injury insurance or something like that. Guess not. Guess you'd better be rich or have good insurance if you want to be a MMA fighter.
curly - Don't you think it's a bit ironic for someone with a profile picture declaring "Don't tread on me" to be calling for the outlawing of an activity that two consenting adults choose to take part in? I mean, these are individuals who know the potential dangers of their participation in the sport but choose to do so anyway. Perhaps your profile picture should say "Don't tread on me, but feel free to tread on everyone else."
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