Cage is the rage, satisfying public’s appetite for gore

By John Kovach

Extreme fighting has become mainstream because of close regulation and built-in safeguards.

YOUNGSTOWN — How safe is the King of the Cage sport for the two combatants fighting each other inside a giant cage-like arena?

Is the full-contact sport, which consists of boxing, wrestling and a mixture of several different martial arts, including judo and jiujitsu, safer than boxing or Toughman boxing?

Or is this kind of combat, in which each athlete pits his particular martial arts style against the other, a dangerous anomaly that is separate from the mainstream of sports?

The questions bobbed up heading into a KOTC show Saturday at the Chevrolet Centre starting at 8 p.m. — the first such event in Northeast Ohio in four years.

The last KOTC show four years ago attracted just under 10,000 fans to the Cleveland Convocation Center, and the sport definitely has seen a large growth in popularity since then — along with close scrutiny and regulation.

According to Bernie Profato of Niles, a former boxer and now chairman of the Ohio Athletic Commission which sanctions and regulates King of the Cage fighting events, the sport has evolved over the past several years to become safer than boxing and much safer than Toughman boxing.

He believes that KOTC has become a mainstream sport because of the nature of the competitors and the sport, and the close regulation and built-in safeguards of the competition.

“Now we have regulations and rules that make the sport safer. In this sport, the athlete is more-conditioned with a dedicated martial arts mentality. It is a safer sport than boxing,” said Profato, who will be on hand Saturday night along with state inspectors, officials and physicians who monitor the competition closely to safeguard the fighters.

“There are more fouls in this sport than boxing. The big difference between this sport and boxing is that it has an ancient oriental tradition of martial arts. The athletes respect themselves, their opponents and the sport.”

There will be 18 bouts on tap Saturday — eight professional and 10 amateur — with eight of the pro bouts, some involving area fighters, already paired: Chris Canale (Austintown) vs. Brian Rogers (Kent), Jim Bundy (Niles) vs. Victor O’Donnell (Bethel), Micah Bender (Hermitage) vs. Mitch Whitesel (Ashland), Brandon Ezzo (New Castle) vs. John Fields (Canton), Curtis Hall (Ashland) vs. Michael Bogner (Sandusky) and Tony Abbate (Pittsburgh) vs. Mike Wilkins.

Abbate and Wilkins will be in their pro debuts.

Profato said Cage fighters are “trying to use a technique to defeat an opponent,” not just trying indiscriminately to knock the others’ brains out. He said cage fighters do not spar as much as boxers before and during a fight, which reduces the chance of long-term brain damage. He also claims their fans are more educated.

“I definitely believe that it is a safer sport than boxing because of all the stoppages [during a bout]. And it is even more safer than Toughman because the competitors are better conditioned,” said Profato, noting that each bout is three rounds.

Amateurs fight three-minute rounds, the pros five-minute rounds. And amateurs get a 90-second rest period between rounds, the pros 60 seconds.

“Most of the entries have college degrees and even master’s, so they have higher levels of education. It attracts a different kind of fighter and a different kind of spectator,” said Profato, who doesn’t see the negative long-term effects that boxing creates.

“A boxer 20 years from now may not be able to complete a sentence while an [educated] KOTC fighter still will be able to write a thesis,” he said as a general example.

He said a fighter can win four diferent ways — KO, TKO, submission (the opponent gives up) or by the decision of three judges.

“In mixed martial arts [MMA], an opponent can box, kick, wrestle, use judo and jiujitsu and any kind of combative technique,” said Profato. “All techniques can be used to defeat an opponent. The sport looks for the ultimate fighting champion.”

Profato said he has to approve all matchups and that he studies the records and backgrounds of each athlete to make sure it will be a competitive bout before he approves it.

He said fighers are required to have ID cards and be licensed, and their records and backgrounds must be available on-line in the KOTC data base to be selected by the promotor and approved by the Commission.

“We have written one of the top set of amateur rules for the sport. Most of these events in Ohio are amateur and pro-amateur,” said Profato. “You fight according to weight class. We schedule it so that it is a competitive match.”

Tickets for Saturday’s event are priced from $20-$100, and are on sale at the Chevrolet Centre Box Office, on-line at Ticketmaster.com, Our Retail Locations, including Giant Eagle and Macy’s, or by phone at 800-745-3000 (Toll Free Express Line: 866-448-7849).

kovach@vindy.com