In the humble beginnings of the UFC, there were no weight classes, no
time limits, and very few rules. Sephamore Entertainment Group (SEG),
UFC's parent company, was working to clean up some problems the company
was having; such as fights lasting 36 minutes and still ending in a draw
(see Royce Gracie vs. Ken Shamrock 2).
During this time, a bigger problem arose. Senator
John McCain of Arizona, the Republican presidential candidate, launched
and all out attack on
what he called "human cockfighting." McCain, an avid boxing
fan, saw a tape of an early UFC match and was appalled at the violence
and brutality. McCain immediately began a campaign to ban Ultimate Fighting
by sending letters to the governors of all 50 states. This cost the UFC
their cable deals and even invoked 36 states to ban the new sport. Senator
McCain appeared on Larry King with Marc Ratner to attack the UFC.
All of which led to the UFC that we know today
with weight classes and unified rules protecting fighters. By doing
this the UFC has been able
to secure sanctioning in an ever growing number of states and has changed
the mind of many of it's protagonists.
Marc Ratner not only changed his views on the sport, but left his position
as Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission and joined
theUFC as the Vice President of Government and Regulatory Affairs.
On Febuary 28th Anheuser-Busch and UFC® announced that Bud Light,
the world’s best-selling beer, will become the new exclusive beer
sponsor for the UFC. I find it quite intriguing. Why you ask? Well, most
people don't know that John McCain's wife, Cindy, is a member of the
Hensley family which owns the third largestdistributer of Budweiser in
the US. Cindy McCain holds over a million dollars of stock in Anheuser-Busch
stock.
With Marc Ratner already on board, a Bud Light
sponsorship shows just how much our beloved sport has grown. I think
that if McCain gets into
the White House,MMA and the UFC will continue to prosper. Senator McCain's
stance now is "The sport has grown up. The rules have been adopted
to give its athletes better protections and to ensure fairer competition."
