In the early days of the sport, there was debate on whether a cage, as represented by the UFC, was superior to a ring, as exemplified by PRIDE. Some liked the gritty, underground feel of the cage. Others didn’t like the way in which a wrestling heavy fighter could slow the action by pressing the other against the fence, and thus preferred the more striking oriented ring.
The debate is almost entirely settled now in favor of a cage.
One of the major deciding factors is safety. The sport suffered through a long and unfortunate string of fighters flying through the ropes and getting injured.
However, in order for the fence to offer the same protection, the damn door has to be locked. There are a lot of routine tasks in MMA that are important, and checking that door is one of them.
At Cage Titans 27 in Plymouth, Mass. on Saturday night, James Collins fought Marty Navis. It was the amateur debut for both. Either someone failed to properly secure the door, or less likely, the latch failed.
Both fighters went flying out and down to the concrete floor. Navis was okay, but Collins reportedly went to the hospital with rib injuries. The bout was declared a No Contest.
Joe Lauzon, the all-time UFC performance bonus leader, was cornering Navis, and posted a video on Instagram.
Cage Titans is not an irresponsible promotion; they have earned a good reputation regionally, and were not using an ancient ring. In fact, they had just invested in a brand new one.
There will be follow up to see if the equipment failed, or if it was human error. Had the door simply been unlockable, the governing athletic commission would likely have shut the event down. It appears as if a fighter went to the hospital because someone didn’t do their job.
