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[peach]

I dunno why a person with downs would want to fight anyway.

What is your reasoning?

 

[Dastardly Jerks]

I'm torn between wanting equal opportunity for disabled people to get involved with anything that anybody else can...

And this being pure exploitation.

 

[akira28]

What is your reasoning?

seems like an odd choice. Most people I've seen with downs are peaceful pussycats, not competetive MMA fighters.

It seems like the sort of thing he'd have to be introduced to, not something he would have set out to select and become.

 

[Perspicacity]

There is a huge difference between letting people participate and putting on a show for people to mock and laugh at. This is clearly not being marketed as a "real" fight, but as a way to watch a disabled person get injured for enjoyment.

How is it not being marketed as a real fight? That poster looks like any other fight card I've ever seen and makes reference to both fighters' conditions as a tribute to their character - not the drawing feature of the match.

I mean it really sounded like the dude wanted to fight and not letting him did more harm than good:

http://www.winknews.com/Local-Florida/2013-08-05/State-stops-controversial-MMA-fight#.UgLE9tJ_5qy

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla - A controversial Mixed Martial Arts fight between two fighters living with disabilities is canceled just minutes before the match.

One of the fighters has down syndrome and the other cerebral palsy. The state stepped in and shut it down claiming it was unsanctioned. On of the fighter's fathers say it's discrimination.

That fight was set to take place at the Seminole Casino in Immokalee. It's something both of these men told me on Friday was a dream come true. Now they are fighting to find a way back into the ring.

It was a fight that was supposed to be a first of its kind. One both Garrett Holeve, 23, and David Steffin, 28, had been dreaming of, but five minutes before the first punch, the state presented the promoter with a cease and desist letter.

"He cried. It genuinely upset him," says Mitch Holeve, Garrett's father. "He's worked eight weeks in a training camp, training four and a half hours a day for eight weeks getting mentally and physically prepared to do this."

Garrett has downs syndrome and his opponent David has cerebral palsy. The fight was supposed to happen because the match was being held on tribal land, but a letter from the DBPR says the scheduled bout between the two amateur fighters is unsanctioned and against Florida Law.

"He's upset because he knows he's being told he can't fight because he has down syndrome and that hurts his feelings and that angers him" says Holeve.

A representative with the World Fighting Organization tells WINK News, "the safety of the fighters is our number one priority and he doesn't think the decision was made on the basis of discrimination, but solely on fighter safety."

Holeve says his son got medical clearance and should have been able to fight. "I think their decision was pretty arbitrary, discriminatory," says Holeve.

...

Good thing he isn't being exploited?

 

[EYEL1NER]

I caught that Garret ESPN special a while back and was almost in tears at the end. The guy seems really cool and has a ton of heart. It really sucks that the fight got cancelled on the both of them.

 

[freddy]

How is it not being marketed as a real fight? That poster looks like any other fight card I've ever seen and makes reference to both fighters' conditions as a tribute to their character - not the drawing feature of the match.

I mean it really sounded like the dude wanted to fight and not letting him did more harm than good:

http://www.winknews.com/Local-Florida/2013-08-05/State-stops-controversial-MMA-fight#.UgLE9tJ_5qy


Good thing he isn't being exploited?

Unsanctioned MMA bouts should be shut down regardless.