After the so-called boxing "match" two weeks ago between Mike Tyson and Clifford Etienne, a big than...

1. Lords of the Ring | Fox News
After the so-called
boxing "match"
two weeks ago
between Mike
Tyson and
Clifford Etienne, a
big thanks needs
to go out to Roy
Jones Jr. and -- I
never thought I'd
be saying this -
-?the players in
the Ultimate
Fighting
Championship.
Between the UFC
event in Atlantic
City, N.J., on
Friday night and
Jones' history-
making
heavyweight bout
against John
Ruiz?in Las Vegas Saturday, fight fans were treated to some legitimate fisticuffs that not only lived
up to all the hype, but was worth the price of admission.
As a Tae Kwon Do black belt and a former wrestler and martial arts competitor, I have an affinity for
a good fight. I'm not talking about barroom brawls or even the early days of the UFC, but two
proficient and well-trained practitioners of sport going toe-to-toe in the ring.?
Just as a Marine, Navy Seal or Army Ranger trains to be ready for a mission, serious athletes train
hard to win. With that training comes a?sacrifice and?discipline that is rarely appreciated outside of
the fight world. To the untrained eye, it's easier to see the potential danger?in the competition?than
it is to see through to the?heart of a champion. In the ring or on the mat, there is nobody to pass the
ball to. There are no substitutions or strategic time-outs. There are no excuses.
That attitude carries over into the workplace, where goals are?exceeded?and failures are learned

2. from and more importantly, owned up to. It also carries into?private life, where true champions take
pride in treating others with respect, love and generosity.?
It's no coincidence that the Six Sigma corporate exec training made famous by former GE honcho
Jack Welch's autobiography (Jack: Straight From the Gut) awards "black belts" to the
program's?graduates. In light of all the ethics-challenged CEO's that have been exposed over the
past year,?it is clear?they should have earned their black belts the?old-fashioned way.
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Fight games have always been the stuff of controversy. There are legitimate pros and cons to all
sports, but the?harshest criticism?always seems to?fall on?mixed martial arts competitions.
Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona led a successful crusade in the early '90s to get Ultimate
Fighting banned by state athletic commissioners and by pay-per-view providers. Since then the UFC
was acquired by Zuffa, a Las Vegas-based entertainment firm, which instituted rules and regulations
that the senator praised in an article?in NY Newsday last year.
"I am pleased that the new owners of the UFC have adopted rules to better protect the safety of its
fighters," he said. "I hope that this change signals that this previously barbaric and exploitive style of
fighting will evolve into a true sport."
To that point, ESPN boxing analyst and host of the cable network's?Around the Horn Max Kellerman
says, "It already is a legitimate sport."
The nation's?evolving?pre-eminent boxing authority furthered?his point. "Is golf a legitimate sport?
OK, if Martians come to Earth and say, 'Send us your best athlete for a competition, and if he wins
we won't destroy the planet,' who would you rather send, Tiger Woods or Tito Ortiz [a UFC
Champion]?" he said.
Kellerman says professional?boxing's biggest problem today is it?doesn't have a centralized
authority -- like the UFC does in Zuffa or, say, football does in the NFL?-- making future plans for the
sport.?
"UFC is a brand with people in charge and that has an intrinsic advantage [over boxing]," he said.
"It's not a localized sport without real rules. Boxing has all these factions that care only about the
short-term gains for themselves," he said.
Max came out swinging himself when I brought up the topic of Tonya Harding's pre-card fighting
debut at the Tyson event.
"Here a columnist from a big news organization asks?me?about Tonya Harding. It's a self-fulfilling

3. prophecy. Editorial decisions are made by news organizations like FOX or ESPN to cover boxing
when something bad or out of the ordinary occurs. It becomes a sideshow," he said.
I agree with Max. The difference between professional boxing and the UFC is the UFC started out as
a sideshow a decade ago. There were no holds barred and no weight classes. It was not unusual
for?a 140-pound man to go against a 300-pound opponent. Sen. McCain was right to come out
against it. Today the sport has changed. The new?owners have?reinvented the UFC into?fair and
safe?competition. Meanwhile a lot of professional boxing faces legitimacy issues.
In martial arts, there are different styles and techniques. As children we wanted to know who would
win in a fight between Spiderman and Batman. The same question looms in the martial arts world,
and has since the days when Bruce Lee created a mixed-bag style of martial art called Jeet Kune
Do.?
Who wins if a kickboxer fights a jiu-jitsu fighter? Ultimate Fighting answers that question.?
Former U.S. Olympic Tae Kwon Do team member Kevin Padilla, a fifth-degree black belt who has
fought and won in some of the world's biggest competitions,?says the character one develops from
practicing martial arts is unique among all sports.
"If you have a good instructor as a role model it can enhance anything you do in life," he says. "And
if you excel at it you reach a point of self realization that you can achieve something that is
extraordinary --?that's not like winning at soccer or baseball --?because so many others accomplish
that. When you're a martial arts champion you have that 'I can do anything' attitude."
Words?to live by.
Mike Straka?is the project manager for FOX News's?Internet operations and contributes as a
features?reporter and producer?on FOX Magazine (Sundays 11 p.m. on FNC) and as?a reporter?and
columnist?for FOXnews.com.?
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