Opinion: The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of the Ali Expansion Act

Editor’s note: The views and opinions expressed below are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Sherdog.com, its affiliates and sponsors or its parent company, Evolve Media. Circumstance and geography last week conspired in such a way to allow me to write about the surreal but predictable political entanglement of Donald Trump and one Tito Ortiz, much to the discontent of the “Stick to MMA, idiot!” crowd. This week’s political MMA conversation is a bit more pressing, more to the heart of the sport.Markwayne Mullin, the Republican representative for Oklahoma’s 2nd district, on May 26 introduced bill H.R. 5365 into the 114th Congress. The bill, co-sponsored by Massachusetts Democrat Joseph Kennedy, seeks to amend 1996’s Professional Boxing Safety Act to include “fighters of combat sports” under the safety provisions of said Act. Quite simply, the official political trumpet has been sounded for the Muhammad Ali Act to apply to mixed martial arts. Poetically, the bill was introduced on the same day that the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act was enacted by the 106th Congress back in 2000. The Ali Act was an amendment to the aforementioned Professional Boxing Safety Act that expanded its legislation to fight coercive, exploitative and anti-competitive practices on the managerial and promotional side of the boxing industry. For years, its potential implementation was a consistent and polarizing hot-button MMA debate, especially as the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s stranglehold on the industry grew. An unbeaten MMA veteran in his own right, Mullin seemed like just about the best potential congressman to take up this cause; and hey, he even has bipartisan co-sponsorship from a Kennedy. You can read the bill in its entirety here, and if you’re so inclined, you can look at Mullin’s congressional voting history here, campaign donations here and a quick and easy distillation of his political views here. In short, Mullin is a cattle man who owns a plumbing company and other small businesses. His primary political focus is the energy industry, which is where most of his campaign contributions come from, and he has most of the opinions you’d expect from a devoutly Christian Pentecostal Republican congressman from Oklahoma. He’s also a clever identity politician, too, insofar as he claims he doesn’t view himself as a politician. He has used “A rancher. A businessman. Not a politician!” as a campaign slogan and portrays himself as a classic anti-partisan idealist. Before we get to the MMA nuts and bolts, let me say that if the Ali Expansion Act proves successful, it would be a wonderful political feather in Mullin’s cap. Anytime sports get worked into Congress, there’s some added sex appeal to the story above and beyond a slate of bills that appear mundane to the average person. Mullin just took office in 2013, is only 37 years old, appears dedicated to bipartisan bridge-building, has strong Christian fundamentals and, as “the cagefighting politician,” appeals to the ongoing Republican obsession with classic hard man masculinity, as best exemplified by the political ascent of Tom Cotton. Cotton, now 39, parlayed his time as a U.S. Army Captain — with tours of Iraq and Afghanistan, plus a Bronze Star — into a seat in the House of Representatives. After just two years in Congress, Cotton became the Junior Senator from Arkansas. Essentially, if Mullin’s political career was a premium cable drama, the Ali Expansion Act is definitely the legislation he would be pushing. Not only is Mullin …

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