Kim Couture before her broken jaw. She deserves to compete under the same standard as any other fighter, regardless of gender.
The Kim Couture fight in retrospect
By Jim Murphy
The shocking photos of Kim Couture’s mangled jaw have replaced those
of James Thompson’s partially severed ear as the disturbing fight images of the
moment.You know that her injury was
especially ugly when these pictures are seen not only on MMA websites but the
sort of sites that cater to bloodthirsty degenerates who consider autopsy
photos ‘entertaining’.Steve Cofield
from Yahoo Sports was the first to raise questions about how the fight was
sanctioned and conducted, and a number of others have followed suit.While we applaud and share their concerns
for Couture’s safety—just as we do for all prizefighters--its important to
evaluate them in some sort of context.Herewith, we review the significant questions being raised and try to
provide some answers to them.
Was the
Nevada athletic commission wrong to sanction the fight in light of Kim Couture’s
professional inexperience?
It’s hard to make a case that there was anything improper about the
sanctioning process.Both Couture and
her opponent, Kim Rose, were making their professional debut after a number of
amateur fights.Given that Couture’s
husband is Randy Couture, you could make the case that she actually had a
qualitative edge in experience and training.Typically, the fights that are refused sanctioning in Nevada are those
with a severe competitive imbalance—the proposed matchup between Butterbean and
Mark Hunt at one of the Las Vegas PRIDE events comes immediately to mind.Fighters have to start somewhere, and there’s
nothing to suggest that the Nevada State Athletic Commission (NSAC) was wrong
to sign off on this matchup involving two competitors of a similar level of
experience.
Why was the
fight scheduled for three five minute rounds instead of three minute rounds
typically seen in womens' MMA?
That’s a good question, but there’s nothing in the NSAC rules mandating
three minute rounds for womens' MMA.In
fact, a bout with 3 minute rounds could very well be inviolation of NSAC regulations.Here’s the relevant passage with emphasis added:
    NAC 467.7954Duration.
(NRS 467.030)Except
with the approval of the Commission or its Executive Director:
    1.  A nonchampionship contest or exhibition of
mixed martial arts must not exceed three rounds in duration.
    2.  A championship contest of mixed martial arts
must be five rounds in duration.
    3.  A period of unarmed combat in a contest or
exhibition of mixed martial arts must be
5 minutes in duration. A period of rest following a period of unarmed
combat in a contest or exhibition of mixed martial arts must be 1 minute in
duration.
In other
words, the scheduling of the bout for three five minute rounds was completely ‘by
the book’.With more women competing in
MMA this regulation should probably be amended to provide for different round
lengths for their fights.
Should Randy
Couture (who was Kim’s second) have stopped the fight? Should the ref or ringside physician have
stopped the fight?
With the
caveat that its difficult to second guess those most closely involved with the
action, the answer to the first question is “maybe�.No doubt Randy Couture asked his wife/fighter
if she wanted to continue, to which she apparently answered in the
affirmative.You could make a compelling
case that Randy should have overruled his fighter in this instance.Part of a cornerman’s duty is to make this
sort of call when necessary to protect the well being of his fighter.While we’re at it, this sort of personal
relationship between a cornerman and his fighter might not be a good situation
in itself.The last thing you want to
see in a situation like this is for some strange marital dynamic undermining
the objectivity of the fighter/corner relationship.
As to the
second question, in Nevada the referee has sole authority to stop a fight.Furthermore, the NSAC regulations give him a
wide degree of latitude due to their vague wording:
The referee shall determine whether a contest or
exhibition should be stopped because of an injury to an unarmed combatant.
There’s also
a provision dealing with the risk of serious injury:
The referee may stop a contest or exhibition at any
stage if he considers it too one-sided or if either unarmed combatant is in
such a condition that to continue might subject him to serious injury.
Again, its
difficult to second guess the man closest to the action.There isn’t a provision in the NSAC rules to
stop a fight because an injury ‘looks nasty’.Furthermore, its debatable whether a broken jaw is an injury that
warrants an automatic stoppage.There’sa good deal of boxing precedent that has seen
fighters continue with a broken jaw, most famously Muhammad Ali in his first
fight with Ken Norton.The notion that a
fighter shouldn’t repeatedly take punches to a broken jaw may seem self
evident, but that’s why we’re writing and reading about the fights and not
competing in them. If the fighter and her corner didn’t want to stop the fight
its difficult to suggest that the ref did anything improper in allowing it to
continue.
Is this fight being evaluated under a different
standard than would be used for male fighters in a similar situation?
Undoubtedly,
and whether or not this is appropriate is a subject of much debate.On one hand, if women are allowed to fight in
the first place (and they certainly should be) they deserve to be treated as
fighters first.Assuming the rules don’t
stipulate any differing standards (and in Nevada they don’t) gender shouldn’t
play a part in how a fight is officiated.If a referee wouldn’t stop a fight if a male fighter suffered a broken
jaw, he shouldn’t do so for a female fighter.Kim Couture put in the time and effort to train to fight and to prepare
for this matchup.If she wanted to keep
fighting with an injury that wouldn’t result in a stoppage for a male fighter
she’s earned the right to do so.To do
otherwise is an insult to her as a fighter and is nothing more than outdated
patriarchialism.
On the other
hand, the mentality that women shouldn’t fight still exists throughout much of
our society.A nasty injury suffered by
a female fighter—particularly in the still evolving sport of MMA—would be a
valuable weapon for those who’d like to ban the sport.Clearly, these images aren’t pleasant to look
at even for an experienced fight observer and would be even less so for a
non-fan.It could be argued that there
was a bigger principle at play here than what was best for the fighter, and
that is the overall good of the sport.
The reality,
however, is that there is always going to be a certain percentage of the
population that just doesn’t enjoy fighting.There’s going to be an additional percentage that doesn’t think women
should be allowed to fight.No matter
what kind of ‘spin’ or PR treatment this demographic is given they’re never
going to like fighting.Seeing Kim
Couture fighting with a broken jaw may serve to reinforce their disdain for the
sport, but there’s really no reason that decisions on how to properly conduct a
fight should be made for the benefit of this group.
Conclusion:
The only
thing that may be subject to question is the decision of Kim Couture’s corner
to allow her to continue with the broken jaw.She’s subject to a different standard in this regard—not one based on
gender but rather on experience.If
Muhammad Ali, the world heavyweight champion and greatest prizefighter in
history, says he wants to continue with a broken jaw you let him.If a fighter suffers that same injury in
his(or in this case her) pro debut, the same decision might not be the correct one no matter what the fighter wants.
As far as the
regulatory oversight of the fight, there’s nothing to suggest that it was
handled inappropriately at any level.While you can second guess the referee’s decision to not stop the fight,
he was well within his rights to allow it to continue.Certainly there should be some deliberation
regarding the need to amend specific regulations for the benefit of female
fighters, but under the existing guidelines there’s little room to criticize
any of the officials involved in the fight.
A male fighter
who’d ‘gone the distance’ despite suffering a broken jaw would have become a
cult hero overnight.Kim Couture
deserves similar respect for her toughness and heart. While a case could be
made that the fight should have been stopped early, clearly she didn’t want to
quit which is a testimony to the sort of will that should be admired in any
fighter.While its important to always
be mindful of fighter safety, in this instance its also important not to forget
the courage of the fighter involved.
Wulv:
You say "gender shouldn’t play a part in how a fight is officiated." And I fully agree. My wife, an athlete and coach is the first one to shout when Women athletes are treated different than Men. BUT You also state, "With more women competing in MMA this regulation should probably be amended to provide for different round lengths for their fights." That is a double standard. If Women are to be treated equal in sport, and MMA, there should be standard rules across the board. Thinking Women cannot hang in there as long as men is completely wrong.
Friday Jun 27, 2008
Jim Murphy:
Thanks for your comment--I guess there's a fine line between having rules that address the obvious physical differences between men and women and those that treat women as '2nd class athletes'. For example, female fighters are required to wear chest protection and aren't allowed to wear groin protection in some states, while required to in others.. In Nevada, they're also required to submit a pregnancy test as part of the prefight licensing and I'd imagine this is a requirement in most other states. Hard to argue with this sort of 'different treatment' in terms of safety equipment and the thought of making male fighters take pregnancy tests is absurd (though admitedly could be the basis for an Adam Sandler screenplay).
I did some research about the 3 minute round for women. With the caveat that I could have missed something buried within the bureaucratic regulatory mess of state government, there's nothing specific addressing the length of rounds for women in Nevada, California or New Jersey nor in the unified rules. Some mandate 5 minute rounds for MMA, but make no distinction between male and female fighters. Whether this is by design or because women's MMA is a somewhat recent phenomenon here in the US I don't know. Florida--where EliteXC has run a number of shows including their big CBS debut--does have a rule mandating 2 or 3 minute rounds for women. 2 minute rounds for professional fighters of any gender is absurd. I'd be interested to know the decision making process that led to 3 minute rounds--sure sounds like an arbitrary decision since there's no gender distinction made in any of the major boxing states for round length.
On balance, I agree that there doesn't seem to be an apparent reason why women couldn't go five minutes. I don't think anyone would argue that in general terms women don't have the same strength as men, which makes gender based adaptations appropriate in some sports. I'm specifically thinking of 'ladies tees' in golf. Endurance is a different matter--for example, I'm far from an expert on marathons but a quick Google search verifies that races like the NYC and Boston marathon have the same length course for men and women. They do give women a 'head start' but this is more a function of logistics and doesn't give them a competitive advantage--they've still got to run the same distance.
My point was ultimately that its incumbent upon officials to use the same criteria for both genders when calling the fight--meaning, for example, that they shouldn't call for a stoppage in a women's fight sooner than they would in a men's fight. Maybe this needs to be codified in the regulations somehow, but I guess since refs are (rightfully) given significant leeway in how they evaluate these things it would be little more than a platitude. Still, a line in the rule book saying something like 'male and female fighters shall be subject to the same criteria of judging and officiating' wouldn't bother me.
I'm going to do a little more research on the origin of the 3 minute round in women's MMA--like many fans, my first introduction to the 'distaff' version of the sport was the EliteXC bout between Gina Carano and Julie Kedzie so my knowledge in this area is far from comprehensive.
Saturday Jun 28, 2008
Mike Wilkerson - 2GuysTalking:
There are other site reporting that she was "reaching out to shake hands" when taking the first jaw-breaking punch, and I'm really surprised that someone that's so tied to Randy's level of professionalism would say/be encouraged to say something like that. Watching the replay - zowie - I don't see a "handshake offering" in the least.
Kim is another bright shiny spot that I think has been thrown into some very large spotlights, and I look forward to seeing where her career, her husbands instruction and inspiration, and our support of Women's MMA stars/memorable efforts are taken in the future for sure.
Thursday Jul 10, 2008
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