Since my last fight in August of 2011, I've received a lot of hostility from certain anonymous parties for speaking out against the officials from RUFF (Ranik Ultimate Fighting Federation) not enforcing unified rules for properly wrapping hands.
To this I say, how dare you try to bully me into silence. I sacrificed my career and my health for your show, and now I have to live with permanent injuries and disfigurement due to your negligence.
Pictured here is my opponent Wang Guan after scoring a knock out victory against me at the first RUFF show in August of 2011. Let me be clear about one thing: Wang Guan did not cheat in any way. He's a very good fighter, he's proved himself against some of the best in Asia in the respective sports of sanda, Muay thai, and K1 kickboxing, and with his work ethic and talents he'll go as far as he wants in the sport of Mixed martial arts. My criticism is not against Wang Guan, or any other fighter, coach, trainer, or cornerman involved in the RUFF show. It is a criticism of the promoters for not following through with their commitment to enforce unified rules.
Prior to signing the RUFF contract, I was assured by the promoter that a professional tape man and cut man would be provided for the fighters to ensure that hands were wrapped according to regulation and also to circumvent any other potential dangers or unfair advantages for any fighters. The UFC does it that way, most U.S. athletic commission now require MMA shows to do it that way. All the other big MMA shows in southeast Asia have done it that way: Martial Combat, One Fighting Championship, etc... How could you run an MMA show any other way and call it unified rules, let alone professional?
The promoters did not follow through with either of these commitments. There was no cut man, there was no tape man. There was only one man backstage who had no understanding whatsoever of the rules of competition, who allowed the fighters to do whatever they wanted with their hands, completely unsupervised, and signed off on everything without regard for the fighters' safety.
To this I say, how dare you try to bully me into silence. I sacrificed my career and my health for your show, and now I have to live with permanent injuries and disfigurement due to your negligence.
Pictured here is my opponent Wang Guan after scoring a knock out victory against me at the first RUFF show in August of 2011. Let me be clear about one thing: Wang Guan did not cheat in any way. He's a very good fighter, he's proved himself against some of the best in Asia in the respective sports of sanda, Muay thai, and K1 kickboxing, and with his work ethic and talents he'll go as far as he wants in the sport of Mixed martial arts. My criticism is not against Wang Guan, or any other fighter, coach, trainer, or cornerman involved in the RUFF show. It is a criticism of the promoters for not following through with their commitment to enforce unified rules.
Prior to signing the RUFF contract, I was assured by the promoter that a professional tape man and cut man would be provided for the fighters to ensure that hands were wrapped according to regulation and also to circumvent any other potential dangers or unfair advantages for any fighters. The UFC does it that way, most U.S. athletic commission now require MMA shows to do it that way. All the other big MMA shows in southeast Asia have done it that way: Martial Combat, One Fighting Championship, etc... How could you run an MMA show any other way and call it unified rules, let alone professional?
The promoters did not follow through with either of these commitments. There was no cut man, there was no tape man. There was only one man backstage who had no understanding whatsoever of the rules of competition, who allowed the fighters to do whatever they wanted with their hands, completely unsupervised, and signed off on everything without regard for the fighters' safety.
The rules for safely wrapping hands were simply not enforced. Many of the fighters dangerously loaded their wraps with tape casts over the knuckles (not permitted under unified MMA rules). Some others used tightly stretched adhesive elastic bandages on top of the gauze and tape, effectively solidifying their fists into weapons capable of breaking bones.
Here's a closer look at that first picture. Notice how the wraps under the glove of Wang Guan's right hand are riddled with red tape? That's the same red tape around his wrist, used to secure the velcro strap of the glove. It wasn't the standard vinyl, duct tape, or athletic tape used to secure the glove strap either. Those are elastic adhesive compression bandages. (For some reason, the promoter provided each fighter with an entire roll of adhesive elastic to seal their gloves.) Not only is it extra adhesive glue helping to create a cast, but aslo, you can see that the 2"wide strips have been stretched tightly to about 1" wide, meaning there is a lot of compression on that hand fusing the bones tightly together into a solid cudgel.
Here's a closer look at that first picture. Notice how the wraps under the glove of Wang Guan's right hand are riddled with red tape? That's the same red tape around his wrist, used to secure the velcro strap of the glove. It wasn't the standard vinyl, duct tape, or athletic tape used to secure the glove strap either. Those are elastic adhesive compression bandages. (For some reason, the promoter provided each fighter with an entire roll of adhesive elastic to seal their gloves.) Not only is it extra adhesive glue helping to create a cast, but aslo, you can see that the 2"wide strips have been stretched tightly to about 1" wide, meaning there is a lot of compression on that hand fusing the bones tightly together into a solid cudgel.
Check out that video. First, understand that it's about 100 times easier to break a brick than a skull. I have a lot of experience breaking bricks with my bare hands. I'm pretty good at it actually. But there's no way I could break the hardest part of a skull with my bare hands. My hands would break first.
A brick is static, rigid, flat, and secured on the sides thus creating a weak spot in the middle. A skull is elastic, non-static, round, and an unstable surface that deflects oncoming force. There is no weak spot on a sphere. A brick is hard, but it's not reinforced to withstand blunt force. A skull is also hard, but still much more flexible. The frontal bone also has two layers, with a hollow pocket in between creating tremendous resilience against blunt force.
In other words, when you hit a brick with your bare hand, your bones will fly all over the place, but if you hit hard enough, the brick crumbles because it absorbs 100% of the oncoming force. If you hit a skull with your bare hand, your bones will also fly all over the place and most likely snap in the process while the skull remains undamaged. A round object simply cannot absorb that kind of pinpoint force from a bare human hand since the force, and the hand itself folds around the target.
However, if you hit a skull (or a brick) with an inflexible solid object with a small contact surface (like a hammer, or an illegally wrapped hand) the striking surface will not bend around the target, thus putting most of the blunt force into the contact point of the skull. In other words, you punch a hole in the head.
The dent in my skull is about the same size and shape as the first two knuckles of Wang Guan's right hand. This means that upon impact with my skull, the bones of his hand did not move, bend, or change position at all- proving that the bones were locked into place with the red elastic adhesive.
Only one punch connected with my forehead in order to cause the break. There can be no mistake. This picture is photo evidence of what myself and my cornermen saw firsthand. This picture is also published on the RUFF homepage for the world to see.
I'm bringing this up again to refute the magical thinking of my detractors. To claim that no fighters loaded their wraps as they have done is not only blatantly false (and provably false) but it is also akin to ascribing Mr. Wang with supernatural powers. Again, he's a very good fighter, but he's still only human.
Again, I'm not accusing Mr. Wang of cheating nor directing any criticism toward him. He did nothing wrong. His cornerman simply used the materials provided by the promoter. The RUFF promotion never once explained unified rules standards for taping hands to the fighters. Never once, did they attempt to enforce these standards. RUFF was supposed to be the first sanctioned MMA show in China under unfied rules. It was RUFF's responsibility to teach those rules to the participants, not the other way around.
My criticism is toward the promoters. I have asked for nothing more than a commitment to enforce these rules in the future, and yet the only communication I have received on their part has been contemptuous. That is why I will continue to speak out.
How dare you try to silence me. Play by the rules, or go home.
A brick is static, rigid, flat, and secured on the sides thus creating a weak spot in the middle. A skull is elastic, non-static, round, and an unstable surface that deflects oncoming force. There is no weak spot on a sphere. A brick is hard, but it's not reinforced to withstand blunt force. A skull is also hard, but still much more flexible. The frontal bone also has two layers, with a hollow pocket in between creating tremendous resilience against blunt force.
In other words, when you hit a brick with your bare hand, your bones will fly all over the place, but if you hit hard enough, the brick crumbles because it absorbs 100% of the oncoming force. If you hit a skull with your bare hand, your bones will also fly all over the place and most likely snap in the process while the skull remains undamaged. A round object simply cannot absorb that kind of pinpoint force from a bare human hand since the force, and the hand itself folds around the target.
However, if you hit a skull (or a brick) with an inflexible solid object with a small contact surface (like a hammer, or an illegally wrapped hand) the striking surface will not bend around the target, thus putting most of the blunt force into the contact point of the skull. In other words, you punch a hole in the head.
The dent in my skull is about the same size and shape as the first two knuckles of Wang Guan's right hand. This means that upon impact with my skull, the bones of his hand did not move, bend, or change position at all- proving that the bones were locked into place with the red elastic adhesive.
Only one punch connected with my forehead in order to cause the break. There can be no mistake. This picture is photo evidence of what myself and my cornermen saw firsthand. This picture is also published on the RUFF homepage for the world to see.
I'm bringing this up again to refute the magical thinking of my detractors. To claim that no fighters loaded their wraps as they have done is not only blatantly false (and provably false) but it is also akin to ascribing Mr. Wang with supernatural powers. Again, he's a very good fighter, but he's still only human.
Again, I'm not accusing Mr. Wang of cheating nor directing any criticism toward him. He did nothing wrong. His cornerman simply used the materials provided by the promoter. The RUFF promotion never once explained unified rules standards for taping hands to the fighters. Never once, did they attempt to enforce these standards. RUFF was supposed to be the first sanctioned MMA show in China under unfied rules. It was RUFF's responsibility to teach those rules to the participants, not the other way around.
My criticism is toward the promoters. I have asked for nothing more than a commitment to enforce these rules in the future, and yet the only communication I have received on their part has been contemptuous. That is why I will continue to speak out.
How dare you try to silence me. Play by the rules, or go home.