Georgia MMA in Turmoil Under New Executive Director
Posted by Larry Csonka on 11.07.2012
Read about the political drama inside…
- According to mmajunkie.com, a commissioner with the Georgia Athletic and Entertainment Commission on Tuesday accused a top state official of appointing an unsuitable candidate to run the office following the resignation of its executive director. Until a qualified person is found, GAEC commissioner Rick Thompson has stated that the future of combat sports in the state is in jeopardy. Here are some highlights…
On Their Goal: "Our primary goal is to protect the fans and the fighters so that there are fair and competitive fights," he said Tuesday. "I cannot in good conscience vote for any event permits where someone who's not qualified is matching fights."
On The Poor Hiring: "The secretary of state has appointed someone who does not have any experience in MMA, has no desire to learn it and has stated they won't go to any fights."
Thompson on the Hiring Being Part of a Strategy to Strip The GAEC of Regulatory Power: "He believes he has fulfilled his statutory duties, which he has," Thompson said. "You can appoint anybody to that position. But if you don't have a qualified person, we can't match-make. [The commissioners] don't have the time, and we don't have the knowledge. I trained in the martial arts for 20 years. I'm a blue belt under Andy Foster in Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and I still am not comfortable to match-make. It is a specialty and a full-time job. Secretary Kemp believes it's an administrative job that can be done part time by somebody who is the executive director of eight other boards."
