I caught up with Chief Commissioner Todd Grossman to clear up a few Misconceptions.

I spoke to Todd Grossman this morning. As you all know I can be a bit brutal with some of my questioning. I’ll say Todd kept his composure and answered the questions carefully but not as well as I’d like.

I asked Todd about the upcoming UFC event this weekend at the Garden. He said he was excited the event was coming to Mass and it’ll be a pleasure to watch.
I had asked about the Symposium that is going on today at 6pm. I asked if he’d comment on why certain commissioners weren’t even aware there was such an event. He said our lady chairman Latisha Adams would be speaking at the event. He had no idea why the other commissioners were not invited, he stated “Sal Carrillo has put the event together with Action Sports and I heard about it from him” “It’s a public event so anyone can come” “I don’t want to get into personal invites” My opinion here is, If you have the opportunity to have your deputies and fellow commissioners at such an event that they can learn from, it would behoove you to do so. It’s a great learning experience for them.
I asked Todd of some misconceptions that are circling about the area pertaining to the MSAC. I asked him if the UFC was receiving any preferential treatment, more so than any of our local shows. I also asked if the commission cared about the local shows and local MMA in particular. “ Dan, he says “That’s ridiculous, Local promotions have to thrive for MMA to survive at all” “We love the local scene and want to do everything we can for local promotions”
I asked Todd about the qualifications to become a deputy commissioner. He quickly replied “You just fill out an application and submit it to the MSAC.” THAT’S IT! I replied…you don’t need any training or anything?? Todd quickly began to back peddle a bit and said, “well the application asks of your experience in martial arts….” “We try to hire the most qualified and knowledgeable people Dan” So I told Todd of my experiences at Bellator with his “Qualified and knowledgeable Deputies” I said “Todd at Bellator while getting my hands wrapped I had a deputy harass me about gauze covering my knuckles, he explained that was illegal and started to undress my wraps, another deputy agreed with him. Until Dave Hood came in and explained their ignorance to hand wrapping “legally” did I get to continue and lost about 30 minutes of prep time before my fight. I explained that type of situation and an argument ensuing in front of me is detrimental to me. Its stressful enough fighting on TV in your home state and on a very big show. I didn’t need the added stress. No apology….
My next question was if Dave Hood and Ryan Parker would be working the dressing rooms at the UFC. Todd replied “Yes they will” When speaking of choosing the officials for shows and other deputy positions, I asked Todd what he thought of Ryan Parker and he said “Ryan Parker, I consider an expert”
If Todd admitingly enough doesn’t consider himself even an expert, because he said to me “Dan, keep in mind we have only been doing this for 6 months now, some people may think that’s a long time but we are all very new to this and are doing what we can” Then why wouldn’t The commission consult the experts such as Ryan Parker, Joe Esposito, Kevin MacDonald, when choosing the deputies, referee’s, and judges for any of the events? Why are they taking this on blindly? Are they comfortable risking the safety of fighters with the minimal experience they have? What is holding them back from making a phone call to the experts?

Lets get into the good stuff shall we?
I asked Todd who would be refereeing at the UFC this weekend. He replied with 4 names. Mazzagati, Herb Dean, Rosenthal, and Eves Levine. I said “and who else?” He said “That’s it” So I asked him “Todd, i’m confused here, The largest show in New England shows up at our doorstep and we have representing Ma. Our fighters, Judges, commission, shit even the president of the company (UFC president Dana White i.e. South Boston) is from Mass but why not the referee’s?” I mean, not one ref from Mass?” Todd said, “Not everyone will get a chance” I asked him what made him choose those 4. Todd said, “ I CHOSE the 4 best referee’s in the country to referee the event and I don’t think anyone can dispute that”. So if you chose the referee’s, under what criteria did you choose them under? How do you know if someone is good enough to referee at the next level? Todd replied, “The local referee’s haven’t demonstrated…You just know it when you see it Dan” So Todd, you don’t think say, Kevin Macdonald, Gary Foreman, John English, Gary Eblan, or Steve Rita have what it takes? Let me ask you this Todd, Lets say a state isn’t commissioned for MMA but yet a referee steps in and pretty much single handedly commissions the state for about 4 years, sets up judging clinics, referee clinics, and judge shadowing for this particular state…. would that demonstrate what it takes to referee at the highest level? Todd replies, “ Not everyone will get there chance Dan” “I know what your talking about, I don’t have an issue with Kevin. I happen to think Kevin is a good guy and a great referee.” “Kevin knows why he isn’t refereeing this event, you can ask him Dan” “Its about his Behavior”. I said Todd, Kevin has stated that you have a personal grievance with him is that true? Is that why you wont let him ref the UFC? No answer…let me ask you another question Todd. Did the commission vote on who would ref the UFC event? Did they have a say? Todd said, “ No we did not vote on it. So, you just picked whom you wanted to ref? Todd said, “no I don’t know who picked the refs….” Are you sure? You told me you chose the 4 refs because they were the best in the world. Todd said, “I don’t want to talk about the referee’s anymore Dan or Kevin Macdonald, can we move on with another question?” Sure

Anyways, moving forward. I asked Todd if he frequented this site. His reply, “ I have no interest reading about people posting from their basement under fake names!”
“What fake names” I replied. Anyways, I tried to educate him that its pretty easy to notice the real from the fake and some of the fake names are just nicknames of fighters we all know. I told him, people on there are generally good people and they are the community you are appealing to. They are the fans, fighters, coaches, promoters, etc. We voice our opinions on northeastmma.net rather than driving to Boston to make a 10am meeting during a workweek. Food for thought Todd, check it out.

Next topic, Fake Medicals. I asked Todd what his thought on fake medicals was. “What are you talking about?” he said. Todd, everyone fakes their meds, so what are you guys doing to fix it? Come on, Photoshop man. All you need to do is take your old meds or even someone else’s and just change a few dates and names…what has the commission done to stop it? I heard that you even caught someone with fake medicals in the last few weeks. What did you do? Todd-“ umm well, there is an investigation going on and I cant really comment on it” So you do know what im talking about then? Well did the fighter in question still get to fight after giving you fake medicals? Todd “ I cant comment”. Oh, I heard he did fight. Good luck with that.

Ok, I don’t want to make this whole article a hate fest on the commission so I’ll add this. Todd did call me back when he said he would and he did say he hopes to make things locally better here in Massachusetts. He said to me, would you rather be like Nevada, and California, and Vegas? Vegas is in Nevada but sure, I would. He said the reasoning for things like the medical requirements and such is because they are looking for only true professionals to fight here. If you cant get a few tests done and submit the proper paper work in an orderly fashion then your not demonstrating the acts of a professional before you even get in the cage. I totally agree with him.

He also asks that we give them some slack. We asked for this commission and they brought it. They got the rules together in a matter of weeks and were able to pull off a show in no time. He admits there are some kinks to iron out but with time they will do that.
In closing here, I think we are a far way off from prefect. I’m afraid the MSAC may be turning into a dictatorship rather than having to answer to someone above them. They do have a boss in one way or another. The legislature, the people. They are not listening to the people. In no part of my interview did Todd ask of my concerns or opinions on how they are conducting themselves so far but who am I right?