By Raul Rangel
SAN ANTONIO, TX, March 5, 2012 – Mixed Martial Arts has been at the forefront of many controversies throughout its short history, whether it be John McCain labeling the sport as “human cockfighting” in the distant past or fighters being reprimanded in recent times for being too explicit on social media. In other sports, most leagues do whatever they can to shy away from controversy. They have put in limits on what athletes can and cannot say in the media, Twitter, or even Facebook. But Zuffa and the UFC have always welcomed this level of engagement – taking both the bad along with the good. They’re of the principle that despite controversy or “bad publicity,” a bright light can shine in if they tackle issues head on rather than shy away from them.
Nowhere is this more evident that two news stories that have surfaced as of late – of the ex-gay porn star landing a shot on first season of The Ultimate Fighter LIVE on FX and of the fighter with racist tattoos that because the center of some controversy following this past weekend’s Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey event.
First up is Dakota Cochrane – who used to go by the name Danny on the gay pornographic website seancody.com. When he told his girlfriend about his exploits she asked him to stop which he complied with happily as he was only doing this work due to hard economic times. Since then, he’s turned his life around and is now happily engaged with the same fiancée he told about his work in the first place. They currently have two children.
As for the latter Brandon Saling, it was recently discussed post-Strikeforce this past weekend that this undercard fighter may have or had ties to racism. Taking on Roger Bowling on the Showtime Extreme undercard, Brandon Saling was part of one of the more exciting fights on the night. Unfortunately for him (and Strikeforce), his fight was not as talked about as his tattoo, the one that reads “88,” a possible Hitler reference. H is the eighth letter of the alphabet so 88 would mean HH or Heil Hitler. Saling also has two lighting bolts in the shape of an S which means Schutzstaffel, the German police (SS) during the Nazi reign. And to top it off, across his stomach reads “WHITE STEEL,” another likely racist inference.
As a credit to the first, Dakota Cochrane has never tried to hide his past. That should be applauded and for the most part, whose business but his are his past choices anyways? He’s not breaking any rules set forth by governing bodies, has passed all pre-fight medicals, and has a record meriting his appearance on the show. (11-2, has beaten former WEC-champ Jamie Varner, and has finished most of his opponents).
In a time where politicians and celebrities run from their past as quickly as the wind can take them, Cochrane has been open and honest about his. Chandella Powell hid about her soft core porn career from the UFC and look where that led her to… When that surfaced, rumors immediately swirled about her potential firing. Not sure if she’s gone or not but the point is – these days everything you do or have done can now be found on the internet, good or bad. When you are honest about your past, you mitigate a lot of the damage.
On the other hand, Brandon Saling is a different story all together. There isn’t a clear answer of his current viewpoints or whether he is a racist. His past viewpoints seem clear as day based on the markings he’s chosen to display on his person but what does it all mean in regards to his fighting career? I hate to say it but maybe he too should be allowed to fight as long as he’s passed all the requirements of the commissions. He can think like an idiot all he wants but that should not hinder his career. As long as he does not bring it in the cage or get caught in illicit (illegal) behavior outside of it, then I guess with this being America and all, it should be fine. I mean Jacob Volkmann says things that could be taken just as bad. As far as the “WHITE STEEL” tat… eh that is not really a big deal; if Cain Velasquez can have “BROWN PRIDE” on his chest then this can be taken as equal in context.
But now, let’s talk about some of the potential backlash that can come from both of these situations. Both Cochrane and Saling might now have proverbial “targets on their back” as some see may hear about their pasts and feel very differently about it than we do; fueled by emotion and rage rather than simple logic as defined by the black and white rules that govern the sport.
Take for instance Saling’s background… it might not go to well with minority fighters or sponsors that put money into fighters or events. It also feeds in to the old school thinking that fighters are nothing but skinheads and/or violent people.
With Cochrane it is different; while he did nothing really wrong or illegal a lot of men see being gay as a sign of weakness; being less than of a man, so to speak. Then there is the argument of a man rolling around with a gay man; which really ticks me off it’s a dumb thing to say. Here is a fact about gay people in America; it is estimated that 1 in 10 people are gay so there is a possibility that they have already rolled with a gay person. And Cochrane has gone of record as saying he’s not even gay anyways, not that it would matter if he was. In any case, Cochrane still has to fight his way into the house and if his record has anything to say about it, he has a great shot of both performing well on the show while also changing America’s (and MMA’s) perceptions about what defines what a fighter is or isn’t capable of – regardless of his background.
Back to Saling… well the news doesn’t look good for him. After some digging by the media after the racist uproar due to tattoos, it was discovered that he is a convicted sex offender that’s been guilty of inappropriate sexual conduct with a minor. Now that’s a different story altogether and one that may keep him out of MMA in the long term.
Bottom line, there will always be controversies in sports, including MMA; It’s how the leagues handle them is what makes this all very interesting. I do like to watch the other sports crumble and get scared when one thing does not go there way, but I really love when MMA proves critics wrong when they tackle difficult issues head on.
This is truly a fighter’s profession at all levels.
You can follow Raul Rangel on twitter @rrangel81 and you can also listen to his weekly podcast Undefeated Radio on iTunes. LIKE TXMMA on Facebook for more in-depth news and coverage of the MMA & grappling scene along with fan contests to win great prizes courtesy of TXMMA.com and much more. Also feel free to check us out on Twitter and Google+ for even more in the world combat sports!
