Matt Lindland is a candidate for the Oregon House of Representatives. He's also a professional mixed martial arts fighter. His opponent is using his career against him in attack ads:
That was a commercial that Lindland's opponent, Suzanne VanOrman, is running, in which she criticizes Lindland for being a professional fighter and misrepresents the sport of MMA.
VanOrman says, "I like baseball, football, love basketball. But cage fighting? That's not my thing. My opponent gets paid hundreds of thousands for his brutal fights. But I know something about the ultimate fights, too. For me, the ultimate fight was raising two teenage sons alone. Or running a head start program to give a better start to thousands of kids. I'll leave the head butting to my opponent. And I'll stay focused on the fights that really matter for our families."
First, let's deal with the misrepresentations. VanOrman refers to "ultimate fights," but Lindland fights for Affliction, not the Ultimate Fighting Championship. More significantly, she refers to "head butting," even though head butting is not permitted in mixed martial arts.
And then there's this: Lindland was an Olympic silver medalist in Greco-Roman wrestling. He used sports to represent his country, and now he's using sports to make a living. Is VanOrman really suggesting that there's something wrong with that? MMA is no more brutal than football. Does VanOrman think a career as a professional football player should disqualify someone from elected office?
The bottom line is that MMA is a completely legitimate sport -- but many people are ignorant about MMA, and VanOrman wants to appeal to their ignorance. Is that the kind of leadership the people of Oregon want?
Matt Lindland Runs for Office, Opponent Attacks Him for Being an MMA Fighter
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10/19/2008 9:52 AM ET By Michael David Smith
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- Michael David Smith
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Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Good things of martial arts
Self confidence
Respect for others
Respect for rules
and so many more
On a personal note. My son was not doing so well in school about two years ago. I put him in judo and since then, all of the points above are things that judo help him with
His teacher at the beginning did not like the idea of putting my son in a combat sport but made a 180 degree opinion change once she saw the results
The closing paragraph was very well written. Good point
Right on the money as always with your comments--THE SAVAGE SCIENCE is actually based in Portland and as you're no doubt aware the area is a hotbed of MMA. Methinks she may be shooting herself in the foot with this approach, particularly in Lindland's district. I'd be willing to wager that the understanding of the reality of MMA here in and around The Rose City is a lot higher than the national average.
And way to look like an out-of-touch elitist....
Thanks for posting this--I don't watch local TV had hadn't seen this before...
Lindland only got into the olympics by suing. He was beaten in the trials and then whined about it until the guy who was legitimately on the team by beating him got bumped in favour of him. He also has a track record of dirty fighting in wrestling. Sure Matt has self confidence, but respect for others and respect for the rules are quite absent in him. It sucks that it's an attack on MMA, but it couldn't be directed at someone more deserving.