MMA Media muffs again, King Mo's "O" not illegal
In a rush to be the first site with a witty take on "King" Mo Lawal and KJ Noons' apparent use of canned oxygen, some in the media erroneously reported it to be illegal going so far as to label Lawal and Noons as "cheaters". The only thing is that it wasn't illegal and was, in fact, approved by the Texas Commission's physician according to MMA Junkie.
Susan Stanford, the TDLR's Public Information Officer, today told MMAjunkie.com (www.mmajunkie.com) that Muhammed "King Mo" Lawal and K.J. Noons were within their rights to use bottled oxygen prior to competition.
Additionally, the TDLR found no lapses in officiating with Noon's second-round TKO of Jorge Gurgel or Chad Griggs' second-round TKO of Bobby Lashley.
The regulatory body, which oversees the state's Combative Sports Program, went under the microscope when several reports questioned officials' handling of the event, which took place at the 18,000-seat Toyota Center in Houston and aired live on Showtime.
Cameras spotted Lawal and Noons taking hits off of what was later determined to be portable oxygen cans prior to their fights against Rafael "Feijao" Cavalcante and Gurgel, respectively.
And while many have suggested Lawal and Noons could have gained an unfair advantage with the breathing aid, Stanford said oxygen is not prohibited by the commission (Combative Sports Program statutes do not specifically address the use of oxygen; Stanford said banned substances include Monsel's solution, silver nitrate, ammonium capsules and smelling salts).
"It's my understanding that the physician did consult with the ringside physician, and it was approved by the physician," Stanford said. "It was within (the rules)."
And thus the premature cries of "cheater" were incorrect. Hopefully these same writers will retract those statements and exercise better judgment in the future. A simple phone call or email to the Commission could've prevented this whole mistake. Too bad you can't unshoot the gun.
SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Houston
36 comments
|
0 recs |
Do you like this story?
Comments
Only in Texas though right?
"If I woke up looking like that, I would run towards the nearest living thing and kill it." -Master Shake
We have to take the amulet to the banana king!
For clarity's sake
I’m not talking about the sites like BE, Fanhouse, or anyone else who simply reported it and perhaps speculated. I’m talking about the sites that outright called them cheaters.
/sarcasm
Better known as Black Lesnar
Read me at WatchKalibRun
by S.C. Michaelson on Aug 23, 2010 3:22 PM EDT reply actions
Well I consider most blogging sites part of the media
Hell, I consider myself a small part.
/sarcasm
Better known as Black Lesnar
Read me at WatchKalibRun
by S.C. Michaelson on Aug 23, 2010 3:35 PM EDT up reply actions
ehh thats pushing it…
Theres the sites that report the news, then the columnist on major websites (yahoo, sherdog, fanhouse, SI )
The rest is just bloggers commenting on stories
Hey I reported a story
That counts for something. Hahahaha.
/sarcasm
Better known as Black Lesnar
Read me at WatchKalibRun
by S.C. Michaelson on Aug 23, 2010 4:01 PM EDT up reply actions
Seriously though
MMA is such a niche sport right now, there’s no set in stone hierarchy. I mean there is, but there isn’t completely. The Yahoos, the Sherdogs, the AOLs may break more news (due to sources), but the greater blogosphere isn’t immune to doing that as well.
/sarcasm
Better known as Black Lesnar
Read me at WatchKalibRun
by S.C. Michaelson on Aug 23, 2010 4:03 PM EDT up reply actions
I don't know whether to SMH or LOL at a certain site getting upset over this
A) I never mentioned their name
B) I wasn’t even thinking about them specifically when I wrote this, I don’t remember which site it was, but I remember they had called both of them cheaters
C) Now that I’m reading their article, they reported several incorrect facts and made assumptions, not only against the Commission, but against the fighters and Strikeforce itself
/sarcasm
Better known as Black Lesnar
Read me at WatchKalibRun
by S.C. Michaelson on Aug 23, 2010 3:53 PM EDT reply actions
Yeah I was one of the bloggers that called Mo and Noons cheaters. I posted what Texas had to say about but i still maintain it was shady.
I'm not paid to believe, I'm paid to fuck shit up
A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's left of your unit.
- the Army's magazine of preventive maintenance.
Reverend Clint over Fightlinker.com
by ReverendClint on Aug 25, 2010 12:11 PM EDT up reply actions
So let me get this right, the guy who pretty much on a daily basis blasts Shane Carwin and make accusations of his steroid use even though he has not been charged with any offense nor has proof of him actually taking steroids come out decides to write a post calling out another site for accusing these two used illegal substances? Hypocrite
The athletic commision has a detailed list of allowed cage side supplies fighters and their corners can use and canned oxygen isn’t on it.
You’re totally ok with the commision trying to sweep this under the carpet though by saying they approved it after the fact. You just use use any oportunity to shoot your mouth off and try to make a name for yourself.
or has proof of him actually taking steroids come out
Carwin had steroids shipped to his house with his name on it. The only thing missing is a picture of him with a syringe in his ass. And he can’t pull a Roger Clemons b/c his wife would look like Big Foot Silva if she took that.
What other proof do you need?
“Okay, I’d have to see a video of him sticking a needle in his ass, two forms of government ID, a police officer there to verify the whole thing, four or five of my buddies and Neal taking notes, and Shane Carwin’s grandma to confirm his identity.”
MMA fans and the media are acting just like that Chappelle’s Show sketch with R. Kelly.
All it takes is someone in the mainstream media to see what I wrote. Hell, you can copy it and call it your own. Go to PACER and spend the 8 cents a page and wade through 500 pages of indictments, testimony and motions. Honestly wasn’t that hard, then again, I love legal shit.
There’s a reason why Carwin is silent. It’s not like his lawyers and PR people can come out with a Roger Clemens like lie. They never had Roger’s name on documents. All they had was hearsay. Not in Carwin’s case. Especially if he comes out and says “It’s all not true.” Feddy government will be like ‘Nuh uh" and hand down an indictment. So he’s got to be careful with his “denial”. Then again, no one seems to care too much, so he looks to be good.
/sarcasm
Better known as Black Lesnar
Read me at WatchKalibRun
by S.C. Michaelson on Aug 23, 2010 4:43 PM EDT up reply actions
If a major sports star had this much on him, the “sports journalist” would have already pre-fabbed his cross and ordered the hand crafted nails from Italy.
And they wonder why MMA isn't a mainstream sport
Part of the reason is that the fans and media trying to cover up every “bad” thing and paint this rosy picture when in fact it’s not always squeaky clean.
All they had on Tiger Woods was a fuckin 9-1-1 tape and a crashed car. Tiger gave some BS story and, HERE’S THE KEY PART, they did some investigation and found out his was lying and then the roof blew off. No one in the MMA media has done ANY investigation minus myself and the “Fight Lawyer”. No one has even done any followup.
BOLD PREDICTION TIME: If the fans, media, and promoters don’t right the ship, MMA will get no bigger than pro wrestling was at its apex. You can say “Look at the PPV buys.” Yea well look at them. PPV is much more available now than it was then. Look at the buy share. WWF was pulling 5 million buys for Hogan/Andre when you adjust for availability. Wrestling was much more mainstream (in two different eras) than MMA is now. They’ve got a long way to go.
/sarcasm
Better known as Black Lesnar
Read me at WatchKalibRun
by S.C. Michaelson on Aug 23, 2010 5:32 PM EDT up reply actions
The PPV availability angle is a good one,
and one we don’t see referenced, like, ever.
That said, I don’t see the picture quite as bleakly as you seem to suggest. For certain we’re going to see a slowed growth arc if the group doesn’t get its act together, but I think Dana’s got a point when he talks about how fighting is ingrained in human behavior, so it transcends most other competitive athletics for built-in fan interest. Fewer rules equals tighter connection to our primal side.
If I was a hungry man with a gun in my hand and some promises to keep...
by misterjonez on Aug 24, 2010 11:04 AM EDT up reply actions
It's going to take a good 10 years to see the fruits of the trees planted now
I don’t think the picture is bleak. Where MMA is right now is great, they’re making money hand over fist. There are in a NASCAR position. However, MMA needs to quickly grasp roots in the inner cities and make itself more available to learn. That’s going to take several things. People willing to invest and not charge ridiculous amounts for lessons.
Fighting IS ingrained, however many still don’t see MMA as fighting because of the ground aspects. They don’t understand it. Even though most of my street fights ended up going to the ground. We need to educate the fans. With education comes appreciation. if you can teach a bunch of poor kids how cool it is to choke someone out, they will learn the ground game. There’s a reason martial arts became so big in the 70’s in black neighborhoods.
/sarcasm
Better known as Black Lesnar
Read me at WatchKalibRun
by S.C. Michaelson on Aug 24, 2010 4:14 PM EDT up reply actions
Ok, we're on the same page.
I think something that the UFC has done, which I haven’t heard much about in recent months, is establish their own ‘franchise’ fitness center. Moves like that are what it’s going to take to penetrate the inner city, which is the access point to a wide segment of popular culture that is still relatively unexploited by the MMA industry.
In the end, it takes less equipment and area to train MMA than it does to train football or even boxing. For boxing you need gloves, for MMA you can train at least two thirds of the game (ground technique and wrestling/transitions) with absolutely no gear at all. It’s got all the ingredients required for a seriously explosive ‘trend sport’ or whatever that would be called.
If I was a hungry man with a gun in my hand and some promises to keep...
Get it straight
So let me get this right, the guy who pretty much on a daily basis blasts Shane Carwin and make accusations of his steroid use even though he has not been charged with any offense nor has proof of him actually taking steroids come out decides to write a post calling out another site for accusing these two used illegal substances? Hypocrite
I’ve never written anything about Shane Carwin (that wasn’t parody) that wasn’t backed up by evidence. I didn’t make any accusations, I presented the facts as they were given in a court of law under penalty of perjury and as they were presented as seized evidence by the federal government. He hasn’t been charged with a crime YET, but in my talks, he will most likely NOT be charged with anything. Nor have I called for him to be charged with anythijng.
And you’re right, in the absence of video of him taking the steroids, no one can be 100% sure. However, there is a thing called the preponderance of evidence. There are sworn statements given by several people, there are seized documents that include signed prescriptions with his name on them, and there are apparently FedEx documents showing it was delivered to him. If you’ll note, I put in phone calls and did actual research before I wrote that piece. A simple call to the commission would’ve gotten the correct info.
The athletic commision has a detailed list of allowed cage side supplies fighters and their corners can use and canned oxygen isn’t on it.
The commission does have a list of allowed things. It also says that items can be approved by the Commission. And the commission did approve them. There’s a reason why the bigger sites didn’t report this yet as it’s best to have most of the facts rather than just report based on speculation.
You’re totally ok with the commision trying to sweep this under the carpet though by saying they approved it after the fact. You just use use any oportunity to shoot your mouth off and try to make a name for yourself.
No, I’m not, if that’s what they did. I’m actually just as upset that the commission is not accepting responsibility for the refereeing jobs done that night. But that story has been done to death. I already wrote on that yesterday. We have no idea if they approved it “after the fact” and can only go by their word. Now, if someone wants to do some INVESTIGATING into whether or not Cavalcante and Gurgel among the other fighters had the same opportunity to use the oxygen, THAT is a story. I wonder if someone will actually follow up on that, especially those that were labeling these two cheaters. THAT is a bigger story IMO.
And I’m not “trying to make a name for myself”. If I were, I would purposefully pick out bigger sites and call them out to try and “feud” with them. The site that’s upset right now isn’t even (at least I don’t remember) one of the sites I was talking about. I didn’t mention any “names”, isn’t that key to trying to make a name for myself?
/sarcasm
Better known as Black Lesnar
Read me at WatchKalibRun
by S.C. Michaelson on Aug 23, 2010 4:38 PM EDT up reply actions
I very much stand by what I said.
It’s my opinion, that’s what’s great about blogging. You can quote me if you’d like. I wasn’t in a rush to be witty or first. I just said what I felt.
Forget it Donny, you're out of your element.
CagesideSeats.com
I don't really go to Cageside seats unless a major wrestling story breaks
Trust me, it wasn’t you.
/sarcasm
Better known as Black Lesnar
Read me at WatchKalibRun
by S.C. Michaelson on Aug 23, 2010 5:25 PM EDT up reply actions
Just saying, I said it and I stand by it.
Forget it Donny, you're out of your element.
CagesideSeats.com
My bad, just I log onto Twitter and a lot of people are talking out their necks
as if I was talking to them. Trying to stir up the hornet’s nest and play victim. Just wanted to make sure you knew that it wasn’t you.
/sarcasm
Better known as Black Lesnar
Read me at WatchKalibRun
by S.C. Michaelson on Aug 24, 2010 4:18 PM EDT up reply actions
posted this over in the Bloody Elbow comments too
http://thegarv.com/King-Mo-Speaks-on-Loss-and-Oxygen-Can.html
KALIN: Before your fight you were seen using an oxygen can that is considered a banned substance. What’s the story there?
KING MO: My manager and coaches approached the athletic commission before the fight and asked them about it. They said that it’s cool. The can is nothing but pure oxygen. It’s oxygen in a can. It’s like 95 percent oxygen. It’s like sucking in a little oxygen through a can. That’s it.
perception is reality
by Marvin Malehooves on Aug 23, 2010 10:07 PM EDT reply actions
This whole thing was stupid, it's canned air, no big deal.
Semper Fi'
WatchKalibRun.com
Pain don't hurt...
The thing about air is, your lungs can only convert so much oxygen
So breathing in a puff or two of canned air doesn’t help at all outside of a few seconds long pick-me-up. They say that divers get twice as long or some shit on their site, but divers’ lungs have already been trained to maximize oxygen conversion, so of course it’s going to help them more. It’s not going to substantially help the average person.
Pure oxygen is a calming mechanism. It makes you relax and when your mind relaxes, your breathing is controlled.
/sarcasm
Better known as Black Lesnar
Read me at WatchKalibRun
by S.C. Michaelson on Aug 24, 2010 4:21 PM EDT up reply actions
I understand all that
but it’s not bad for your health so who cares?
If steroids were safe we should all be taking them…but they aren’t
Semper Fi'
WatchKalibRun.com
Pain don't hurt...
I never cared about the oxygen
It was everyone else. I just don’t like fighters being labeled as cheaters without doing some basic fact-checking. Meanwhile, you’ve got a cheater with tons of evidence and everyone seems too pussy to say something about it.
/sarcasm
Better known as Black Lesnar
Read me at WatchKalibRun
by S.C. Michaelson on Aug 24, 2010 7:56 PM EDT up reply actions
I honestly don't care about steroids either,
but I’m in the minority on that one.
Semper Fi'
WatchKalibRun.com
Pain don't hurt...
I do only when it's getting a competitive advantage on another
Not because of some BS health risk thing. If you wanna harm your body, go right ahead.
/sarcasm
Better known as Black Lesnar
Read me at WatchKalibRun
by S.C. Michaelson on Aug 24, 2010 9:00 PM EDT up reply actions
Legalize 'em
Fuck it.
Semper Fi'
WatchKalibRun.com
Pain don't hurt...
by RolloTomasi on Aug 24, 2010 10:08 PM EDT up reply actions
This is seriously the best option available.
People will always do things to their bodies that cause long-term ill effects in the pursuit of glory. It’s just part of human behavior.
Unfortunately, like with marijuana, there’s too much bureaucracy established for persecuting users to just toss it aside. What would the police do if they had no pot busts? You’d have a significant decrease in ‘needed’ officers on the street.
This is the problem with increasing limitations on behavior. Once you do it, there’s not really any going back to having it legal.
And I’m with SC on this one, in that the only part that upsets me (significantly) about steroid use is when it creates an uneven playing field. If everyone can use them, then the field is level even if one person decides not to use them. It becomes a similar situation to high altitude training, with some people choosing to do it and others choosing not to.
If I was a hungry man with a gun in my hand and some promises to keep...
says who… maybe they put something else in/on the can.
I'm not paid to believe, I'm paid to fuck shit up
A slipping gear could let your M203 grenade launcher fire when you least expect it. That would make you quite unpopular in what's left of your unit.
- the Army's magazine of preventive maintenance.
Reverend Clint over Fightlinker.com
by ReverendClint on Aug 25, 2010 12:14 PM EDT up reply actions
lashley not getting mount back after his cut check and the 2 gurgel ko's
are bigger stories than this fanboy/anti king mo/kj noons hate parade
People do not like to think. If one thinks, one must reach conclusions. Conclusions are not always pleasant.
- Helen Keller
Exactly.
Where’s the follow up on that? Leshley a) not getting mount back and b) the pisspoor cutman job is a bigger story. As well as the Gurgel hits.
/sarcasm
Better known as Black Lesnar
Read me at WatchKalibRun
by S.C. Michaelson on Aug 24, 2010 4:22 PM EDT up reply actions

by 














