By David Mayeda, PhD, FightTicker.com contributor

Last week, I argued here that the discontent being directed towards Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson was unwarranted and should be shifted towards EliteXC and its president, Gary Shaw – the forces that are ultimately driving Ferguson's newfound attention. Since my blog entry appeared, a number of related occurrences have transpired. First, Bas Rutten also defended Ferguson on Inside MMA, even stating that disgruntled fans and fighters should point their fingers at Bas himself and Ferguson's management if they wanted someone to blame. Additionally, Chuck Liddell made a second public statement on the Dallas radio show, "Rear Naked Radio" (reported on MMAJunkie.com), simply reiterating his initial argument that Ferguson has yet to prove himself as legitimate MMA superstar given his lack of high level competition and therefore is unwarranted in receiving this recent level of attention. And finally in the most significant development, numerous MMA media outlets announced that Ferguson was in line to grace the cover of an upcoming edition of ESPN the Magazine, notably a magazine that featured Liddell on its cover in May 2007.

Again, I stand by my initial contention, that Ferguson is not the primary source of blame in this MMA media circus. However, Liddell's statements are not without merit. Sports, especially the combat sports, are filled with examples in which promoters and other media conglomerates push for an individual's rapid rise in the business because of their marketability while other, perhaps more deserving fighters, must merely watch the media train zip by. And this is hardly a new phenomenon. As far back as the 1950s, the combat sports were manipulated by the media. During this time, watching boxing on television was so popular that it severely reduced attendance at actual events, and eventually the lack of gate attendance depleted the number of professional boxers with adequate experience. This led to match-ups that were based more on hype than skill for far too many participants. As boxing historian, Jeffrey Sammons writes of that time, "...television's role in boxing raised the issue of who was in control of the sport." Sound familiar?

Today, numerous MMA fans, fighters, and us internet writers are asking the same thing – who is really in control of the sport? When somebody with a 2-0 MMA record over pedestrian talent makes the cover of ESPN the Magazine, it will surely upset some of those in the industry. When I showed my blog entry about not blaming Ferguson for his hype to my good friend, Dr. Huy Nguyen, he responded by saying, "All really great points ... in the end, it does still upset me that Anderson Silva, B.J. Penn, or GSP don't get ESPN stories." Moreover, Virginia-based MMA promoter and mixed martial artist, Mike Troxel, wrote to me regarding the displeasure that some MMA fans will have of Ferguson being on the ESPN the Magazine cover, "I think you're right. There will be a lot more hating on Kimbo (and I think there should be). In my opinion he personifies every typical stereotype that non-fans have about MMA and that sort of image should be the last thing shown in a sport that is trying to be legitimized in the eyes of all of America."

Considering Nguyen's and Troxel's comments, I couldn't help but think more carefully about the ways promotional powers and media entities manipulate the industry in order to spike ratings. Let's also recall what is not being highlighted about Ferguson. How many readers know that Ferguson was an all star football player for Miami Palmetto High School, but who attended the University of Miami on an academic scholarship (see SubmitToMMA article)? Despite not graduating from college, Ferguson is a highly intelligent individual. Unfortunately, that side of him is rarely, if ever, displayed in marketing pieces, further distorting the image of athletes in general, especially minority athletes. The other angle not making big waves in the MMA media is how Ferguson's move into MMA has stopped him from engaging in illegal behaviors, which began when he worked as a bodyguard for RK Netmedia, a Miami based pornography production and promotion company. Said Ferguson of his move from backyard brawler to MMA in a 2007 interview for SI.com with FightTicker.com's own Pramit Mohapatra, "In a backyard fight, I used to enter those things high. I was smoking before I went out to fight. Definitely it's different. It's not the same." While Ferguson may or may not be a model citizen now, he has surely made significant improvements. Yet these behavioral changes take a back seat to his YouTube scraps, or rather, don't even make it out of the trunk in most promotional pieces.

Now let us return to one MMA athlete who is not making it into to the American mainstream sports world, despite being considered by many as MMA's future – Georges St. Pierre. GSP is widely considered by MMA fans a genetic phenom, who has all the physical tools and a strong enough game in most combat sport disciplines to rule the welterweight division for years to come. Add to this a string of victories over Josh Koscheck, Matt Hughes, and Matt Serra, and fewer are questioning GSP's mental focus in competition. But most importantly, it is critical to highlight GSP's comments in recent interviews. After Pete Sell attempted to criticize GSP by comparing him with MMA fighter, Matt Serra by saying, "GSP is the type of guy that if they were in a bar GSP would back down from a fight while Serra is down for whatever" (interview with FightTicker.com contributor Bryan Levick), GSP responded in a way that exemplifies how MMA does not have to be associated with violence out of sport. Said GSP in an interview for The Winnipeg Sun, "Of course I'm not going to fight in a club. It's just not my thing. If it doesn't involve me personally or my family, I will avoid it. I believe if you're a good person and treat people nicely, that incident wouldn't arise. I think those situations happen to people who are uncomfortable with themselves. Or try to look tough or act like fighters. You attract what you look like. I don't have anything to prove. When I fight, I do it for a living."

To this end, GSP is also in the process of developing the GSP Foundation, which will focus on working with at-risk youth. As quoted in a UFC.com story, GSP stated, "It's important for me because it's time for me to give back to society ... I want to use my name, my credibility, and my stature as a professional athlete in mixed martial arts to help the young kids. I'm going to focus on the kids and the teenagers because growing up I had problems, and if I can help somebody who was like me when I was young, it will make their lives better." Granted, GSP does not represent all mixed martial artists in terms of work ethic, athleticism, or morality. Still, considering his overall athletic success and charitable goals, the fact that he is not receiving the ESPN spotlight is absurd. When MMA fans, fighters, and promoters wonder why MMA is still not as mainstream as we would like it to be, just look at who's being promoted, how they're being promoted, and who's not.

David Mayeda, PhD, is author of Fighting for Acceptance: Mixed Martial Artists and Violence in American Society, the first book to critically examine the sport of mixed martial arts, though interviews with forty MMA athletes.

Non-internet source: Sammons, J. T. (1990). Beyond the Ring: The Role of Boxing in American Society. Chicago: University of Illinois Press. pg. 149.