Shogun Fights - First sanctioned MMA event in Md. next month

"Everybody wants to be involved. Everybody is excited," said John Rallo, the Canton gym owner who spearheaded the sanctioning effort and will promote the first event. "To be able to bring an event to 1st Mariner, I mean, Bruce Springsteen is about to play there. So to put on an event in the same place, that's pretty exciting. When I'm able to reach out and actually touch it, that will be something."

Maryland's first professional event - Shogun Fights - will be put on by Rallo, who for years has urged the state to approve mixed martial arts.

Maryland became the 35th state to legalize and sanction mixed martial arts competition last year, but it wasn't until July that the athletic commission agreed to accept dates for shows. It needed time to establish rules and medical protocol and to train referees.

These days, mixed martial arts is highly regulated and accepted in most states (though some, including New York, still don't sanction it). The sport endured its first death from fight-related injuries in late 2007, but advocates argue that it's less deadly than boxing because fighters absorb many fewer blows to the head.

The Maryland State Athletic Commission requires that every contestant be licensed, and to be licensed, they must undergo several medical examinations, including neurological, physical and ophthalmological. There are nine different weight classes, ranging from flyweight (125 pounds) to super heavyweight (upward of 265 pounds) and contestants must fight in a regulation ring with video monitors. They must also submit evidence they are HIV- negative, and do not have hepatitis B or C.

"Our goal from the beginning is the safety of the MMA contestants," Pannella said. "What we wanted to do is get this right from the start."

The Rev. Frank M. Reid III, the influential pastor of Baltimore's Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, said he will attend the event and encourage parishioners to do the same. "It's a positive activity," he said. "The people who participate tend to be in excellent shape, most are very disciplined and most are very personable."

Reid, 58, trains in Brazilian jiu jitsu, a key component of the sport, and watches major events with his son. He hopes that Baltimore will eventually compete for big shows put on by Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) and bring thousands of fans streaming to the Inner Harbor.

"This event is very important because of the word 'first,' " he said of the Oct. 24 show. "At the same time, you open the door to making greater history. With the casino coming in and the hotels, maybe we can make Baltimore a place to come for these events."

The Shogun Fights card will be headlined by local school teacher Binky Jones, a Brazilian jiu jitsu specialist who trains and is an instructor at Rallo's Ground Control Academy. Tickets go on sale Friday.

Rallo said fighters will be paid for appearing and that winners will receive larger shares of purses than losers. He hopes to hand out bonuses for best fight of the night and other categories (a common practice for UFC and other national promotions).

Rallo said he picked Oct. 24 because it happened to be a bye week for the Ravens.

"I'm a season ticket holder myself, so I didn't want people to have to choose," Rallo said.

Although Rallo credits the acceptance of mixed martial arts in Maryland to many people, it's hard to imagine it would have happened without him. He hired lawyers to argue for the sport, and talked doctors, officials and fighters from other states into testifying in front of committees in Annapolis.

"He really led the effort," Pannella said. "When the General Assembly first looked at the issue, they were neutral."

Rallo answered questions from elected officials and eventually helped convince the General Assembly that modern mixed martial arts competitions bore almost no resemblance to the sport dubbed "human cockfighting" by Arizona Sen. John McCain during its infancy in the mid-1990s.

"Even John McCain came around," Rallo said. "Part of the problem was, a lot of places, there weren't any rules. You could hit people in the groin. About the only thing you couldn't do was no fish hooks and no eye-gouging."
In April 2008, the General Assembly passed a bill allowing the state athletic commission to sanction bouts, and Gov. Martin O'Malley signed it into law the next month.

Pannella said the rules adopted by the commission, a unit of the Department of Labor and Licensing, closely mirror regulations established by the New Jersey Athletic Control Board. Nick Lembo, counsel to the New Jersey Athletic Control Board, testified on behalf of the bill to legalize mixed martial arts in Maryland, and he is one of the driving forces behind the push to establish unified rules for the sport.

The commission will test for drugs such as marijuana and cocaine but not for steroids. Pannella said steroid tests would be costly and said the jury is still out on whether they're necessary. High-level fighters have tested positive for steroids in Las Vegas and California and have been penalized with suspensions and forfeits.

The sport also drew negative publicity this year when UFC president Dana White unleashed a profane tirade at a reporter and when UFC heavyweight champion Brock Lesnar made off-color remarks in the moments after defending his title in July.

Despite, or perhaps because of, such edgy moments, MMA has become a major money-maker in recent years, with pay-per-view sales surpassing sales for boxing matches. Reality shows on Showtime and Versus networks about ultimate fighting have become minor hits. Still, Rallo said he was a little skeptical that the 1st Mariner Arena was the right place to stage the first Maryland MMA bout, fearing it might only be half full. But Frank Remesch, the arena's general manager, convinced him otherwise.

Rallo said the promotion would break even with a crowd of 3,000 and that he'd be happy with 5,000. He's also negotiating with Comcast SportsNet to get the event broadcast on cable television. If the show does well, Rallo hopes to run three events a year at 1st Mariner.

"I'm just hoping at our level to run a nice regional event where our fighters can get some exposure," he said. "I hope that one day, our fighters will get to the next level."

The state commission will receive a 10 percent cut of gross revenues. That tax could be an impediment to attracting UFC, which recently ran a sold-out show in Philadelphia, Rallo said. But he's hopeful that the big boys will come to town some day.