Listen to Friday’s beatdown on Sherdog. They discuss Morrison in depth and interview his opponent. Morrison to my knowledge has not been able to clearly demonstrate any negitive tests. His clearance for his last fight (In West Virginia I think) had blood tests done out of state and the commission there is not a reputable one. The test results were mailed to the commission by his family doctor, not done by commission doctors.
Regarding this mma fight, his opponent was told by his promoter (who seems to have lied to him) that Morrison would be tested before this fight, but at the press conference the Arizona Athletic Commission said that they would do no medicals as it is on a Native American Reservation and they have no jurisdiction. The Tribal Commission is not testing him - blood, brain, or eyes.
This was a bombshell dropped on Stover’s lap live on Sherdog as he was told that Morrison would be tested before the fight. He may now back out. In any event, Morrison’s recent fights are not in reputable locations or sanctioned shows. There is little medical oversight.
HIV does not go away, though the virus can be at levels such low levels that blood tests won’t pick them up…as in the case of Magic Johnson. Assuming his initial tests were done properly, there is no false positive. While false positives do exist, having working in the medical field for many years, whenever there is a positive result, secondary tests are done to confirm, and third tests if results contradict. I am sure, in his case, being a celebrity at the time, that secondary tests were done.
I smell a rat and I don’t think he would be cleared in NY, NJ, NV, or Cali for example. This is very bad for the sport of MMA…as all unregulated shows are.
I would not step in the ring with him (even if I were tough enough)
the funny thing is, even if morrison wins, mma gains bragging rights. think about it. the former heavyweight champion has to fight an overweight noname in a match that doesn’t allow groundfighting. that just shows how effective a big name fighter would be against him.
If it can’t go to the ground then its not really mma. Also even with all the negative results I would personally want to see his blood drawn and tested if I were to fight him. No fight is worth HIV.
Wasn’t there some consensus that a standup ruleset that allowed clinching, kicking, kneeing, and punching count as a mixed martial art ruleset?
Since savate, muay thai, kyokushion, and boxing rules are subsets of it?
According to Sherdog, Morrison won the fight at 2:08 of Round 1. At the beginning of the card a last-minute announcement was made stating that knees, elbows, and kicks would not be allowed.
In other words, it was a glorified boxing match in a cage.
Edit: Now that I think about it, Stover could have used some standing submissions (like a standing kimura); however, I doubt he has any real grapple knowledge whatsoever and just gets by on “being really big.”
Tommy Morrison Wins, But Don’t Call It Mixed Martial Arts
Michael David SmithPosted Jun 10th 2007 7:20AM by Michael David Smith
Filed under: Boxing, Fighting
The former heavyweight boxer Tommy Morrison won the first fight of his mixed martial arts career Saturday night, but there’s just one problem: It wasn’t mixed martial arts at all.
A week after former NFL player Johnnie Morton embarrassed himself and the sport of mixed martial arts, Morrison did the same, even though Morrison, unlike Morton, emerged victorious. Morrison knocked out John Stover in the first round of an unsanctioned fight in Arizona, a fight that has been characterized as mixed martial arts even though Morrison wore boxing shoes and Stover agreed to rules against grappling and striking with the knees or feet.
Those rules made the fight, in the words of the Associated Press, “a boxing match with five-ounce gloves.”
So it wasn’t mixed martial arts, and it also wasn’t a fight that any sanctioning body would have permitted because Morrison’s HIV status would prevent him from passing any pre-fight physical. Although Morrison, who retired from boxing in the 1990s after testing positive for HIV, claims that test was a false positive, his former agent revealed yesterday that Morrison has tested HIV positive this year. Morrison did not have to take a pre-fight HIV test for this fight because the Yavapai-Apache Nation, which organized the fight, did not require it.
Mixed martial arts gets a lot of negative publicity, and some of it is deserved. But Morrison’s fight wasn’t really mixed martial arts and doesn’t say anything about the sport.
I think this is a problem with the name “Mixed Martial Arts” – while it’s generally used here to refer specifically to UFC-style fighting with both striking and submission, it’s not hard to imagine it being used in any context where martial arts are being gaspmixed – even if they are as similar as, say, kickboxing and karate, or judo and wrestling.
Rules prohibited any kind of ground fighting, and as the card at the Cliff Castle Casino was about to commence it was announced that knees, elbows, or kicks of any kind would be disallowed during the Morrison-Stover fight, which was scheduled for three three-minute rounds.
From Sherdog
I think this can not be called MMA, I like Morrison, and I feel bad for the guy, but he can not claim a win on MMA if he was doing a kickboxing (at best) match
it was unsanctioned, i don’t think anything can be done, other than calling them on fighting an unsanctioned bout. but, then again, i’m not aquainted with nevada state laws on the issue.
