Skinheads, Nazis, white supremacists flock to "mixed martial arts" and "cage-fighting" -- what else would you expect from the dumbest of the dumb?
Kickin' Ass and Takin' Names
Arts
By David Holthouse, Intelligence Report
Posted on March 18, 2008, Printed on March 18, 2008
http://www.alternet.org/story/79976/
Melvin "Man-o-war" Costa has a classic Nazi eagle and swastika
insignia tattooed across his chest and a prison gang spider web inked
on his right elbow.
Costa, 26, also is a convicted felon, self-avowed white nationalist
and currently the 10th-ranked light heavyweight fighter in King of the
Cage, one of the most popular semi-professional "mixed martial
arts" (MMA) combat leagues in America. MMA is the fastest growing
sport in the country. Television ratings for its preeminent league,
the Ultimate Fighting Championship, or UFC, routinely outdraw every
other sport except NFL football among men aged 18-34.
Not surprisingly, this rapidly rising blood sport is likewise wildly
popular among racist skinheads and other young extremists with a
thirst for violence. Many white supremacist online forums have
recently established discussion groups devoted specifically to MMA;
skinhead gangs across the country are raising money by hosting illegal
backyard tournaments; and retired white supremacist cage fighter Mike
Buell runs a major MMA training school in Arizona whose logo is a
Celtic cross (often used as a white supremacist symbol) and the phrase
"Hail Victory" (the German equivalent is "sieg heil").
Costa, however, is the first openly white nationalist MMA fighter to
become a Top Ten-ranked competitor in a sanctioned organization like
King of the Cage, which is a proving ground for up-and-coming
fighters, a select few of whom go on to fame and fortune in the
Ultimate Fighting Championship.
"A swastika, as far as I hold it true to my own, it stands for the
purity of my people's blood," Costa told leading MMA sportswriter Sam
Caplan last October. "I do believe in the purity, security, and the
survival of the white race. ... When I come down that [fighter
entrance] ramp and people see me, they know I'm white power." Costa
did clarify, however, that he considers himself a white nationalist
rather than a neo-Nazi because "[a] neo-Nazi holds Hitler's beliefs to
be true down to a T. I don't. I believe in Hitler's point of view as
far as racial consonance but I don't believe a lot of [his] things as
far as controlling the economy."
By Costa's own account, he was frequently incarcerated for burglary
and assault from the time he was 15 until his most recent release from
prison in March 2006. His first King of the Cage fight occurred the
following April. Costa knocked out his opponent at 1:06 into the first
round.
"I don't feel pain. No fuckin' brain, no pain!" he said then. Over the
next six months he reeled off three successive knockout victories.
Southern California skinheads in full dress -- boots, suspenders,
bomber jackets -- began showing up at King of the Cage events in
droves to cheer on the Aryan warrior, whose swastika tattoo, outspoken
white nationalist ideology and growing skinhead fan base presented MMA
promoters with a public relations dilemma.
Last Oct. 18, shortly after Costa's comments and pictures of his
tattoos were republished widely on MMA fan websites, Gary Shaw, the
live events president of the parent company that owns King of the
Cage, issued this statement: "I try not to allow anyone to fight in
the cage or the ring that has anything inappropriate either on their
gear or tattooed permanently on their body. And that means either
ethnic, or racial, or anything offensive to the general public. I was
unaware of the situation but I'm in the process of handling it now.
Hopefully, it will never happen again."
But it did, less than two months later. Costa fought in a King of the
Cage event held last Dec. 18. For the first time, though, he lost.
Davis, for his part, did not return two E-mails seeking clarification
on his league's regulation of fighters with "inappropriate" tattoos.
Judging by online forum discussions, Costa's growing legions of white
supremacist fans seemed far less concerned with his swastika or spider
web tattoos than a third tattoo, circling his navel, that boasts, "I
have a small penis." The common theory is that, as one fan said, "He
might be going for a bit of sarcasm, depending on the actual size of
his penis, given the false stereotype about us."
Be that as it may, Costa says, "At least God blessed me with a strong
jaw and a big head."
© 2008 Intelligence Report All rights reserved.
View this story online at: http://www.alternet.org/story/79976/
Scotius
cbee16...@a23g2000hsc.googlegroups.com>, PopUl...@hotmail.com
says...
What makes you think that MMA is for "the dumbest of the dumb"?
King of the Cage fights are often between beer bellied losers, but the
UFC has some very skillful fighters in it, and there's nothing neo nazi
about most of them.
I don't particularly think it's cool that some of them seem more
interested in proving their tough by how many tattoos they have, but
there are pros in there too who have none, and who are pretty
interesting to watch.