This is a response to Brandt DeLorenzo’s article about Melvin Costa.
Why is it important to have a stance on this man. Why is it so important that we all run not only to comment, but in paying it mind we HAVE to say “what an idiot” or “he shouldn’t fight for Elite XC/ Rage in the Cage/ whatever company we’ve heard?
Sorry to be the white guy to say this (I know this makes me the target for White Sup. Defender heat), but he has the right to have his tattoo. He has the right to say what he wants as I do anytime I post something here. I don’t have to agree with him, but it’s really heavy handed to always qualify everything with “idiot” and so forth because everyone in our increasingly politically correct culture is so afraid to be labeled a racist or the center of a media fit over someone’s thoughts.
I also don’t think it’s a valid reason to deny the guy work. As long as he’s not using Elite XC or CBS sponsored media to get his feelings across, it’s his personal life.
Look, I very much dislike organized religion. I think people who follow it are rubes. That’s not popular to say, but it’s how I feel. I’m being truthful. I also can’t and never would try to stop those people from what they do. I grew up in Catholic school, and it was my right to debate it.
I understand the business counter argument: “we” - which really is MMA hardcores fans, and seems less at this point to be Elite XC management - can’t have this guy running around messing up the perception of “our” young sport. Okay, that’s valid. It’s also valid that there are racists and/or religious zealots in every aspect of life. Do you think I want to see Matt Hughes talk about his version of God on my TV? Why isn’t that “offensive”? The truth is it’s not, but our culture selectively labels things. In one breath your told life isn’t fair, and in another you’ll hear cries for accountability or fairness to a person or persons who don’t have to be accountable or fair. It’s one of the reasons I find the word offensive so obnoxious. Because you don’t have a legal right to NOT be offended. I myself am injured at times by people’s ideologies and words. But it’s ridiculous for me to attempt to MAKE them stop.
Unless this guy commits a hate crime or suggests others should in an interview, this shouldn’t be shaped as the fake P.C. story it is. None of you, nor me, is that “good” a person. The NFL, NBA, and MLB have criminals too. If MMA isn’t strong enough to combat media critism, than it simply won’t be national. Hardcores will still know how to watch their sport, and life will go on. That in itself has it’s ironies. If some op-ed writer for a major newspaper says for the 300th time that MMA is a brutal anything goes cockfight I can be offended. It would be weak of me to try and get the man fired. I’d find it beneath me to take food from the man’s mouth. Instead, my lobby would be for education and debate. I think the same of the fighter discussed for his tattoo. We are talking about a sport where the object is to strike or submit an opponent using violent tactics, after all. It’s up to you to see the art involved.
Loading ...
March 11th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
I thought this was MMA opinion, not retard opinion
“I don’t agree with what you say, but will defend to the death your right to say it”.
The above saying is the mantra of retards, and it sounds just like the argument to defend Costa’s right to fight.
Costa should be denied a place in this sport, plain and simple.
March 11th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
Hywel,
that was pretty much a completely immature post to someone who was simply making a case for the opposite side of the issue (which was done well, IMO). I can’t give crap like that any credence.
March 12th, 2008 at 4:50 am
Hywel: By wanting to deny Costa the right to fight, you are defending the same type of beliefs that are represented by that tattoo on his chest This is, at best, hypocritical and as already stated, immature.
March 12th, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Immature maybe. Four glasses of wine does that to me.
Brandt, that is entirely the most ridiculous argument I’ve heard in ages. By denying Costa the right to fight, you’re saying I’m guilty of a hate crime? So on that tack, you’d prefer him to be able to put his message out there, because to deny him so would be a violation of his rights.
An analogy for you… A group of twisted Islamic fanatics, delivering lectures on the evils of Western Culture in front of the White House. Is that OK? Because last time I checked, people weren’t too cool with that. But denying them their right to air their opinions to the masses would be wrong, right? Fuck that.
Costa’s presence in the cage (bearing a permanent anti-social, racist and inflammatory symbol) is a hate crime in itself. People like him shouldn’t be permitted to broadcast their views in a public forum, any more than a terrorism-inciting religious zealot.
March 12th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
Hywel: I don’t agree with his message and it wouldn’t bother me one bit if he and any other white power individuals fell off the face of the earth. John is merely showing another side to this story by saying that we shouldn’t just deny him a right to legally fight because of his beliefs. I know that there are other fighters who believe in similar ideals (the younger Emelianenko and Jeff Monson) but few people have said anything about their tattoos. What’s the difference? Why is Costa singled out?
March 12th, 2008 at 8:17 pm
I’ll actually take that a step further. I’d personally be fine with a group of “twisted Islamic fanatics delivering a lecture on…” because they aren’t harming anyone. They are just talking. I’m not a fan of just singling out an Islamic group, simply because it could just as easily be argued there is a
Christian fanatic in the White House. That is, however, completely off the point and as I stated, I’m not into religion anyway. I’m not sure what your view of America might be, but I would like to state not all of us chant “USA” or have an interest in wolrd domination - just for the record.
This is an idealogical difference, Hywel. I understand where your coming from, I just don’t agree words are a crime. I AM a freedom of speech advocate, because if that man’s words influences me to do anything, what does that say about me. Better to debate than battle in this case, IMO. His words can not hurt me.
I’d also like to point out the provision I made in the article about Elite XC and CBS media appearances. I do think it’s grounds for termination if he says anything under those provisions because he signs a contract to fight. If you are counting the symbol on his body, well, again, I’ll have to agree to disagree. Imagine if I decided to campaign against fighters with hands of prayer tattoos or crosses. I personally probably wouldn’t notice or give a second thought to his tattoos or another fighters cross anymore than I care that some fighter thanks God for helping him beat another man up. I completely filter it out as nonsense, and that’s what I hope you will do if this man fights again.
You seem like a decent guy and I don’t think you should pay this guy any mind, though I appreciate that you came back to talk. I find your argument just as “ridiculous as you find mine, but I don;t think you’re “wrong” to feel the way you do. I respect the passion you feel for this.
March 12th, 2008 at 8:20 pm
Aleks Emelianenko is a new one on me. Would like to hear any evidence of him having publicly come out with something untoward.
I went to a discussion group with Monson and asked him many questions about his political beliefs. I found him to be sympathetic to communist ideals, yet woefully uneducated on the practicalities of government. His answer as to his political philosophy: “I don’t really believe in government.”
Monson identifies with a political ideology that was warped by a dictator (Stalin) and was indirectly responsible for the deaths of millions. It wasn’t communism that killed the people under Stalin, it was Stalin who killed them.
Costa is different because he aligns himself with a political ideology that inherently promotes racism. Say what you will of the benefits of Nazism (go ahead and try, there were a few experienced by Germans during the period 1933-39, but they are the by product of an efficient government not the ideology itself) the fact of the matter is that anyone who directly identifies with and publicly states his alignment with Nazi ideals is a racist.
That is the different between Monson and Costa. Many fighters have tattoos of Che Guevara, anarchy symbols and other political statements, often taken without fully understanding their meaning, but Costa is the only one to have a prominent display of such distasteful political beliefs.
In case you haven’t guessed I fully and vehemently oppose Costa’s right to brandish such distasteful and malicious tattoos in public, and unless he were to have them removed or covered, I see no reason why he should be permitted to fight in the cage.
March 12th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
John, your post popped up as I was writing mine. Thanks for replying to my earlier more passionate comments.
We’re obviously not going to agree, and that’s fine, this site is called MMA Opinion after all.
I’m by no means an advocate of thought control or restriction on freedom of speech, but I feel there are limits, and this is one of them.
March 13th, 2008 at 12:07 am
The only problem with “limits” is that there needs to be a group to properly enforce the free speech limitations. It wouldn’t be an easy job and someone would always complain. As for Aleks, he has a full back tattoo with Nazi Germany verbiage. A quick search will pull it up (I can’t easily find it on my Blackberry right now). I’m glad you are taking the time to share your view beacuse that’s what I want in MMA Opinion. Like I mentioned in the comments section of Sam Capla’s article earlier this week, Gary Shaw should have foreseen the issue with Costa’s tattoo, but he probably didn’t expect a TV deal to pop up so easily either. He took a risk.
March 13th, 2008 at 12:22 am
Hywel, I’ve read some of your work with fighters only and generally find it interesting (though, I’ll admit that I find that the advice in terms of training techniques tends to be stuff that we’ve known in America for about 15 years).
If you disagree with racism, that’s fine. So do I.
What I don’t disagree with is the prospect that a fighter should be allowed to fight because he’s a good fighter.
Frankly, I’m not being opinionated when I tell you that if Gary Shaw released Costa because of what he is saying, he’s be sued for a large sum of money. That’s not how things work overseas, but the 1st amendment has been interpreted to protect that right in this country, and so EXC is still very much subject to that.
I offer you that as a simple legal answer as to why your solution is logistically impossible.
In terms of your opinion, the best part about being pro-free speech is that I’m not going to say you can’t say that, only that I disagree. (frankly, I think that about 90% of what the Sherdog guys write is stupid, and I disagree with it, but I’m not going to say that they shouldn’t write it, and if I did, I wouldn’t have nearly the amount of comic fodder that I am blessed with)
I think that Melvin Costa should be released because he’s a bad fighter, and there are people who disagree with me on that, but I don’t think that it’s smart for KOTC to have him around. While he might be a polarizing figure, I believe that this guy has the same impact on crowds as a micro-version of Kimbo Slice (which is to say that he’s a gimmick) and this always ends up in a fighter asking for more money than we know he deserves.
That said, I would only like to point out that Brandt made a slight mistake (at least from what I am aware) as Monson is not a racist (rather, an anarchist and political activist). Aleks Emelianenko, on the other hand, is a well known gang member and has a swastika tattoo. (though there’s speculation about his racism)
March 13th, 2008 at 12:29 pm
What about the recent Mexican sensation to hit the MMA scene? He has a tattoo across this chest that says “brown power”.
Is that ok?
March 13th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
Josh,
we kind of have to keep the training stuff pretty straightforward - aiming at the club level guy who wants to improve rather than the experienced athlete, but thanks for the feedback. It’s always appreciated.
Did some googling on Alek’s tattoos.
“Gott Mit Uns”, meaning “God is with us” in German. This slogan was written on belt buckles of German soldiers in the 2nd and 3rd reichs.
“Fortune favors the bold” in German.
Couldn’t find any mention of a swastika.
Definitely unnerving, but overtly racist. Interpretations could vary. Unlike Costa’s, which are blatant.
March 13th, 2008 at 9:33 pm
Hywel: Why would Aleks, a Russian-born, put a German tattoo from WWII era Germany on his body? It’s pretty obvious, haha.
Josh: The hammer and sickle tattoo on Jeff Monson’s body represents Communism. It was bad enough that millions were killed during the Nazi regime, but some figures are showing that Communism killed up to 100 million people worldwide. Not exactly better than supporting Nazism. I’ve been a Monson fan because of his BJJ background and I’m not entirely sure what aspect of Communism he fully supports , but the numbers are still there. While I agree with many of his other views and I assume that he supports the working class rights aspect, I don’t agree with that symbol any more than a swastika. I realize I am going further than most with this argument, but I’m just trying to explain a little as to why I put Monson’s name out there in the first place!