Child cage fighting ‘is growing in popularity’
grappling: Eight-year-old Kian Makinson was involved in a cage fight at the Greenlands Labour Club
A dad whose son was caught at the centre of a cage fighting storm claims the number of children getting involved in the sport has soared since the scandal broke.
Kian Makinson, eight, found himself the focus of national media attention when he was filmed taking part in a bout at the Greenlands Labour Club, in Chatburn Road, Preston.
The competition, which took place in front of baying crowds with bikini-clad corner girls, was widely criticised by children’s charities and Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt who described it as ‘barbaric’.
But the youngster’s dad Nick Hartley, 34, defended the sport and his son’s involvement in the event, claiming it helped instil discipline.
Mr Hartley claims clubs across the North West have seen a significant rise in the number of youngsters participating in the sport since the scandal broke in September.
Mr Hartley, of Grizedale Crescent, Ribbleton, Preston who works as a vehicle recovery driver, said: “There are a lot more kids going to look at it and there are more and more kids turning up for the tournaments.
“We did a tournament in Manchester a few weeks ago and there were kids from as far as Leeds and Kent.
“There is a lot more interest (since it was in the press).
“They can see there is nothing wrong in it, it is just like wrestling.
“There is a gym in Wigan and lots of people are asking if they are taking more people in and there is one in Leigh which has seen a big rise.”
Despite the negative publicity surrounding the event Mr Hartley believes the sport is also more popular than ever in Preston.
He said: “Since it happened in the Greenlands there was Kian and the other young lad who took part, but now there are eight or nine young lads going every week.
“You know the kids are being well looked after and they enjoy it.”
Meanwhile Mr Hartley and Steven Nightingale, who organised the Greenlands event, are set to feature in an American prime time television series which examines stories and online videos which have created a sensation.
Journalists from the ‘Caught on Camera’ show on MSNBC, visited the UK to interview members of the Reps MMA gym in Longridge Road, Preston.
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Comments
There are 21 comments to this article
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BigzMMA
Sunday, January 8, 2012 at 11:39 AMComment 18, preston lad, I do not have an issue with the BMA, they know their safety, but in the end of the day, when it comes to combat sports in general, they only focus on the worse side of it. They see each bout from any sort of combat sport from Boxing to MMA resulting in some sort of serious injury that if they were right at least 50% of the time, combat sports, martial arts and any sort of full contact sports would be banned across the country. Children have been, and will still be doing martial arts for decades and nothing will change about that. MMA, or cage fighting to uneducated people like you, is martial arts and a sport as it combines the best techniques in each unarmed martial art worldwide and uses them in a safe, control environment with many rules and regulation in place to prevent serious injuries and make bouts as fair as possible. The Ancient Greeks did compete in Pankration (one of the roots of modern day MMA) naked, but they did so in many other Olympic sports, many of which are still used in our modern day Olympics, like running, wrestling, boxing etc. So do you wish to continue to mock the very origins of the Olympics now just because MMA's roots partly run through one of the old Olympic sports? To insult it because they competed with no clothes means that your insulting many other modern day Olympic sports. I can say that the atmosphere wasn't right, but its like I keep saying, as the government continues to ignore MMA as a sport, children can't compete in MMA bout in the sports halls and leisure centres with very wide open mats instead of the cage as they are controlled by the government so to guarantee a sober, family friendly crowd for childrens MMA is impossible. Children should be allowed to compete in front of an audience so long as they want to and are trained well enough to remain safe and keep in control no matter how frustrating it can get, the limits of only grappling is something I don't mind seeing with the younger ones but as they age up striking should be included, which by then obviously means head gear, gloves, shin guards etc should be worn. See if your so concerned about safety with children doing MMA, why don't you write to the government and suggest having them add MMA as a recognised and endorsed sport, so that way they can implicate my suggestions to keep children as safe doing MMA as they are doing other martial arts like Kickboxing, Tae Kwon Do and Boxing? Finally your last point, I have never had problems with people who hold different opinions to that of my own, but when I see people like you who really don't know what they are talking about when it comes to MMA, brand it as 'barbaric' and insult anyone and everyone who is involved in MMA, from the fans, to the fighters to the promoters and the people in-between. You are uneducated when it comes to the sport, and to prove it I would like you to reply to this comment starting off with what exactly you do know about MMA, such as history, rules, facts, regulations, worldwide opinions etc. I don't mind you doing research on this before commenting, as it at least allows you to get a better idea what the sport is. Openly refusing to tell me what you know about the sport will only back my claim that you are uneducated about MMA. To get you started with something interesting, I will share a fact with you - since the very first UFC event in 1993, there have been only 2 recorded professional MMA related deaths (neither in the UFC, nor in the UK) whereas in the same timespan, Boxing has 70 recorded deaths relating to professional bouts, and in the 100+ life of modern day Boxing, there has been nearly 1000 deaths professionally. Looking forward to your reply.
BigzMMA
Friday, January 6, 2012 at 06:33 PMPending Moderation
BigzMMA
Friday, January 6, 2012 at 06:13 PMsydney olymipics, A belt system couldn't work for MMA, unlike single martial arts like Judo, MMA has so many areas to take upon, from the striking, to the clinch, to the ground and everything in-between, it is so much to learn a belt will not be suitable for a sport where so much is used in so many ways, it just can't work. A grading system designed for children can work, but it would need to be in each area specifically, like for example, have the three main areas to work on, which are striking, clinch and ground, and everyone starts at level 1 at each area, and for people to earn the right to compete in front of a paying crowd, they'd have to reach a minimum level on all areas, and if there is an area that is weaker than the other two but meets the required level, they can compete.
preston lad
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 06:52 PMRE COMMENT 11. from BigzMMA... I note your use of the word morons to back up your unhealthy interest in this issue. AND I NOTE THAT YOU DISMISS THE British Medical Association. But then you go on to make the following statement. (there is always ringside doctors and paramedics at bay in case a participate is seriously hurt) In case a participant is seriously hurt?? Your not doing yourself any favours. The ancient Greeks use to participate IN THE OLYMPICS NAKED. Whatever floats your boat sweetcheeks. As the council have banned any event from engaging children in cage fighting ( L.E.P discription, not mine) it would appear that the objections are valid, for one reason or another. As for your rants, because we object, we are not uneducated, we are concerned, which is more than what you are.
sydney olympic
Thursday, January 5, 2012 at 03:35 PMBIGZMMA,How about the younger ones having their fights behind closed doors,with maybee a belts system to show proficiency.Aiming to fight in public when the highest belt is attained.
BigzMMA
Wednesday, January 4, 2012 at 09:11 AMTony Blair, Seriously why are you commenting on this subject? Now I can easily rip into you for just your name alone. If you are the real Tony Blair, then your the real idiot for sending our boys and girls into an illegal war, and if you are not Tony Blair, well that is just sad really, some may even say your gay yourself :L And these people are not uneducated morons as your making them out to be, these people are very intelligent, many of them have a high level of qualifications from education, the reason they do this is not because they need money or it is the only thing our there for them, it is because it is what they want to do and they enjoy it. Why do you keep saying that the grappling aspect of MMA is gay for? There are martial arts that solely focuses on grappling, like Judo, Wrestling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu - two out of three of these are Olympic sports and all are styles used in MMA, so what is so gay about it?
Tony Blair
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 09:01 PM11BigzMMA Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 12:04 AM This is amazing, all the keyboard warriors practically ignored my message and went ahead and started bashing the sport anyway. I'm going to address each person in order to save time. jamesmercer, I suppose that children doing boxing bouts in similar arenas during the height of it popularity in this country is far more acceptable? Remember the difference between this and the example I used is that during this MMA bout, neither child weren't allowed to, and neither did punch each other multiple times in the head for over 10 minutes. Tony Blair (???) Its funny how you hold such a opinion of martial arts, these people train in the gyms multiple times a day for a couple of hours at a time, while - well what are you doing exactly, typing insults about something you don't know and the chance you get to find out exactly what it is and you don't seem to have time to open another tab and look it up do you? Typical keyboard warrior. whyisthat, The sports name is Mixed Martial Arts, and that 'Cage Fighting' is the nickname given by the uneducated morons who believe they know something but are genuinely that dull not to bother realising??? MMA requires discipline, skill, fitness and heart, and these children show more of this that you ........................someboidy would have thought that you could be describing yourself my mate..................muppets that are no good at ANYTHING else and enjoy rolling around with other males....................WHY DONT THEY JUST ADMIT THAT THEY ARE GAY?
anniob62
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 07:45 PMOh well done lep yet again, baying crowds? this display took place when the club had just reopened for the evening at around 5.30 pm, and lets face it , it was a display the two lads could not and did not punch, strike or kick, and as for scantily clad ladies just go to any bus stop at 7pm on a friday or sat night and see what the girls are wearing out for the evening, or sit down and watch tv and watch a rerun of baywatch far more to be seen there. From what i read the baying crowds are on here.
BigzMMA
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 09:19 AMpoint exactly tweaks, they could be doing far worse, and it is still martial arts in the end of the day, if you don't know anything about this subject, it is definitely best not to comment, uneducated answers do nothing but make you laughable so best to learn about the sport before commenting.
tweaks
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 09:02 AMBoxing, judo, karate,jujitso, all the same, rather people do this in controled arenas, after all, i bet most people will be cheering are boxers on in the olympics,
BigzMMA
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 12:04 AMThis is amazing, all the keyboard warriors practically ignored my message and went ahead and started bashing the sport anyway. I'm going to address each person in order to save time. jamesmercer, I suppose that children doing boxing bouts in similar arenas during the height of it popularity in this country is far more acceptable? Remember the difference between this and the example I used is that during this MMA bout, neither child weren't allowed to, and neither did punch each other multiple times in the head for over 10 minutes. Tony Blair (???) Its funny how you hold such a opinion of martial arts, these people train in the gyms multiple times a day for a couple of hours at a time, while - well what are you doing exactly, typing insults about something you don't know and the chance you get to find out exactly what it is and you don't seem to have time to open another tab and look it up do you? Typical keyboard warrior. whyisthat, The sports name is Mixed Martial Arts, and that 'Cage Fighting' is the nickname given by the uneducated morons who believe they know something but are genuinely that dull not to bother realising??? MMA requires discipline, skill, fitness and heart, and these children show more of this that you. Kickass (funny name for someone writing something 'serious') You call it sick, yet do you even know anything about the sport, even enough to know that anyone can practice it? Remember that Men, Women and Children have been practising multiple martial arts at the same time for decades, why now single it out just because there is a sport that allows the type of people who knows the true beauty of martial arts can practice everything they know? Frenchwoody, I suppose your an expert on child abuse cases? Again, its martial arts, it can be practice by anyone and your not limited to one martial art, so why insult the entire sport? Look at the Oxford dictionary and read the bit where it says what a Sport is, and you will find that MMA fits the shoe. preston lad, your comments simply made me laugh to be completely honest. For a start, the fact you know as good as nothing about MMA is a comedians standup line alone. You think the BMA knows everything there is to combat sports, well truth is they may, but only from one perspective and it doesn't involve looking at the other side of the argument. Just to some up their beliefs about combat sports, they want Boxing BANNED!!! Now how can you take a group like that seriously when they want an entire sport that has been buried in our roots for over a hundred years and is in our mainstream to be total disbanded? Don't get me wrong I am a big believer in safety in sports, I wouldn't of been a fan of MMA if they still carried the same torch as they did in 1995, but combat sports do everything they can to maintain safety in bouts, from the environment they compete in (cage is there purely for safety, not to drive blood lust as many keyboard warriors are thinking right now) to who is there (there is always ringside doctors and paramedics at bay in case a participate is seriously hurt). And I am not a promoter, I am a fan of the sport who knows what the sport is, something more that you do. The only money transition that goes on between me and MMA is me buying MMA branded t-shirts (TapouT is a multi-million pound company in the USA), video games and tickets for events, so no I do not make a penny out of MMA, but its worth every penny I do pay for it. sydney olympics, In some ways I do agree upon a age limit, but not that old, you guys have to understand that if a child is not able to show off their abilities in what they do if they want to show it, then they will get put off and will not be any good, imagine not being able to play an actual game of football or rugby until you were 16? By the time your old enough to play, you would be into something else, and imagine some of the stars of those sports today that played them younger than 16 if they weren't able to before hand? They may not even bothered doing so by the time they could. 10 would be a better age, as the children can get a few more years experience training so they are better at it but it doesn't want them to go do something else, I believe martial arts whilst growing up is a good thing and we need to make sure they have some motivation so they will carry on training. Diesel10 again nice to see a more decent answer, but my response is similar to that of sydney olympics, but when you think about it, children can do kickboxing, tae kwon do, and judo competitions at leisure centres and sports halls, so why not MMA? Ask the government, because they don't want to recognise it as a sport, yet you can see Worldwide that every country is giving MMA a good platform such as the USA, Canada, Brazil, Japan, the Netherlands, the Middle East and Australia (and considering they don't legalise 18+ rated games this must be something worth paying attention to), so why not the government? In this country, even though it is not banned the government doesn't get involved in it either, so we are free to make our own rules up, but all promotions follows the Unified Rules of MMA made by the States, and if you spend time looking at it, you'd find it is a brilliant system, but it isn't something we have to follow which is why our government must take control and if nothing else, ensure all promotion are made to follow these rules, otherwise you will get the odd promotion who will fall out of line and do something, or don't do something like simple drug testings or ensure paramedics are present. and finally, angryman9, telling by your name I wasn't expecting a good comment from you, but at least an expected one. Again do I have to go over the stereotype thing with you personally? This sport is international, so how can it be a chav sport when the sport's roots lie within an ancient Greek Olympic game, Eurasian martial arts competitions that began since the late 19th century, a Brazilian martial art and spending around 10 years being purely practiced in the USA before coming here? the answer - not possible. So for mostly everyone now, please try to actually learn something on this matter before answering, whereas all your 'opinions' comes from backless claims, everything I say can be proven by facts and findings made by science, universities and government backed research.
angryman9
Monday, January 2, 2012 at 07:02 PMYet another chav pastime for the brain dead. No wonder children are so aggressive. This country is a joke. This is NOT a sport,it is an obscenity.
Diesel10
Monday, January 2, 2012 at 05:14 PMThere is two different issues here that seemed to have merged into one. Firstly kids learning MMA, wrestling, boxing or whatever is one thing and, in my opinion, shouldn't be knocked if done safely and is taught by those with knowledge and the relevant qualifications and-or experience. The other issue, and this is the very, very wrong part, is children doing this in front of adults in clubs or pubs and having 'bikini clad' women parading between rounds whilst spectators knocked back the drink. That is where it has been misappropriated and why it caused a sensation, and rightly so.
sydney olympic
Monday, January 2, 2012 at 03:42 PMIf adults want to partake in MMA ok no probs,If kids want to take it up and learn the ropes with reguards to fighting at an older age then fair play to them.BUT and its a BIG BUT,There is something not quite right about a baying crowd egging on little kids to hurt each other,MMA bouts should begin at 16 for younger lads-lasses at least they can make their own decisions by then and hope fully take defeat on the chin and not in tears.
preston lad
Monday, January 2, 2012 at 02:17 PMBIG MMA QUOTES 1 "Mixed Martial Arts is a very popular sport anyway, the fastest growing sport in the world today and it will break our country's mainstream within the next 5 years. America has now just done it, so it will happen soon." 2 "Before the keyboard warriors who will bash the sport on this article speak, just remember one thing, an uneducated answer will face more criticism than this article will." I think you will find that people dont have any issues with ADULT MIXED MARTIAL ART1 And as for saying its the fastest growing sport in the world. CLAPTRAP. COMPLETE AND UTTER CLAPTRAP. Even Mr Hartless states that 8 or 9 children have turned up , I can assure you that more than 8 or 9 children got bikes this Christmas, or fishing rods, It may be growing in this country, but not to the extremes that the childs father states. And as for uneducated answers. The BMA have serious concerns with the children taking part in this sport. Is mr Hartless more qualified than the uneducated British Medical Council, Or is he just taking things too personnel and he cant see the wood through the trees, ? and Is BIG MMA the organiser of the events and making money out of it all. Answers on a postcard to, i,m talking gibberish, the planet zog, zogsville.
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