Penick's Take
PENICK: On that damning (if problematic) HBO Real Sports segment on domestic violence in MMA
Jul 22, 2015 - 11:45:42 AM PENICK: On that damning (if problematic) HBO Real Sports segment on domestic violence in MMA

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By: Jamie Penick, MMATorch Editor-in-Chief

HBO's Real Sports program aired a damning segment on the prevalence of domestic violence in the world of mixed martial arts on Tuesday night. The segment focused on the particularly harrowing case of Christy Mack, who was beaten nearly to death by War Machine, the Bellator and UFC vet formerly known as Jon Koppenhaver. Unfortunately, while it shined a spotlight on a very serious issue in the sport - and make no mistake this is a major issue in general - it also presented some misleading and overly extrapolated figures to suggest it's more widespread in MMA.

Throughout the duration of the increasingly soul-crushing interview, Mack discussed her relationship with War Machine up to the events of August of last year, where he's alleged to have savagely accosted her and her male friend Corey Thomas. When the attack on Thomas began, Mack had dialed 911 and set her phone down; pieces of that horrific audio were spliced in during the piece as Mack described how he turned his attention from Thomas to her.

At that point he beat her beyond recognition, cut off her hair with a knife, cut her ear, and threatened to rape her. Mack says she thought at that point she was going to die that night.

"I couldn't breathe," she said. "I couldn't catch my breath. I started convulsing. At that point it felt like I was going to die."

She managed to escape to a neighbor's house when the knife he was using broke and he went searching for another, which wound up saving her life.

This tale is known, of course, but she added other equally disturbing details from her time with him, including addressing the time he said he raped her on Twitter, then said he was joking. Mack says it was no joke, and he made her Tweet out a defense denying anything actually happened.

The segment tied in this extreme example with a number of other cases of high profile professional MMA fighters, including Thiago Silva, Anthony Johnson, Josh Grispi, and more.

Additionally, they interviewed one such fighter accused of domestic violence in the last year, Jason "Mayhem" Miller, who was erratic and all over the place during the interview, and Rener Gracie, who explained some of the techniques which fighters learn and which can be abused in a domestic violence situation.

Here's where things got a bit problematic in their message, as they posted an infographic claiming that the domestic violence arrest rate in MMA was twice that of the general population, and almost three times that of the NFL.



Just how they arrived at those numbers remains a bit murky. It was framed during the program that they researched arrest records for the "top 200" in several weight classes in the U.S., but the numbers remain flawed, both in the extrapolation to make the number seem higher than it is, and in the apples to oranges comparison made with the NFL.

Take the numbers at face value. At 750 arrests among 100,000 individuals, it amounts to a .75% arrest rate in that population. That means for every 100 fighters, that's less than one arrest.

As for MMA to NFL, what are they counting as an MMA fighter? A "top 200" list in different weight classes (of which there is none that would be inherently agreed upon) would feature fighters ranging from the top end of the UFC down to regional events across the country. That's not an apt comparison to the NFL itself and it's 1,600+ rostered players each season.

Comparing the whole of MMA (which again is presented in a questionable format as to what their criteria was for these figures) to the major leagues in the NFL and not all of football makes the comparison nonsensical, and pushes perhaps a story they're trying to frame rather than the story as it is.

Clearly there's a problem with domestic violence in MMA. There's a major issue with professional athletes who know violent techniques using them on anyone, let alone a significant other, but clouding the situation with questionable statistics doesn't help address the problem so much as bring out the pitchforks.

Back to the issue at hand, both Bellator and the UFC have done a poor job handling these issues, despite their released statements condemning domestic violence and claiming that there's culpability for those offenders.

Said Bellator to Real Sports: "Bellator MMA has a zero tolerance policy for domestic abuse. As an example in the case of War Machine, his contract was terminated swiftly."

Of course, that was well after his signing was promoted with a video interview from his jail cell, and after no action was taken following his rape Tweets.

As for the UFC, here's what they had to add:

"The prevention of domestic violence and the education of the athletes is of the utmost important to the organization. UFC holds its athletes to the highest standard and will continue to take appropriate action if and when warranted.

"UFC requires all athletes to act in an ethical and responsible matter, as mandated by the UFC Fighter Conduct Policy. The organization will not tolerate domestic violence, sexual assault, or any other violation of the policy. Every athlete is deserving of due process and all official allegations will be duly reviewed and thoroughly investigated by an independent party."

On top of Dana White's premature claims that domestic violence is the "one thing you don't come back from" in the UFC, it's simply been proven not to be the case. Sure, they've cut ties with several fighters off of these incidences, but they also brought back Thiago Silva initially after his ex-wife left the country and charges were dropped - with Dana White defending the re-signing - they still have Abel Trujillo on the roster despite two convictions for domestic assault against his wife, and have allowed several more fighters on the Blackzilians team to get chance after chance despite a pattern of issues, even with their "independent" investigations.

MMA is a violent sport. Not everyone who partakes is an inherently violent person, but it's obviously an attractive endeavor for those who may be. To the extent that it permeates more in the MMA culture than in the general population is hard to quantify, and the segment itself did a disservice to the conversation with a highly questionable, and massively extrapolated, number.

Regardless, the other side of that argument is that one is too many. Quite simply, fighters shouldn't be able to continue in this profession if they're using their skills to cause harm outside of the cage. Especially if it's coming against significant others and/or children.

There's a problem with allowing violent tendencies outside of the cage to slide, and with allowing too many chances for those who have had run-ins of this ilk. The UFC is very much guilty of that given the examples already presented, and though they're presenting a tough face in their statement, their actions in regards to those who remain on the roster suggest otherwise.

At the heart of Tuesday's segment, Real Sports shined a light on something that needs to be addressed more significantly than it has been. It simply would have served them better to avoid sensationalizing a questionable figure to push a narrative that it's somehow worse in MMA than the NFL, especially when it becomes an easily refutable issue. Domestic violence is a problem anywhere it's happening, so in that light more must be done. For MMA itself, the UFC should be taken to task when they make one claim but their actions don't follow suit. Same with Bellator. Absent clear and consistent reactions, they're simply paying lip service to the issue.