*NOTE – The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect that of TheCageDoor.net, it’s employees or owners, sponsors, affiliates and partners. The content of this post and the accuracy of the information here in can not be guaranteed and is the responsibility of the author (listed below)
Author: Drew Ratichek
Title: Proper Security
What’s on their mind:
This is my soap box for the next couple of minutes of your life. We have all seen and heard about the controversy regarding “incidents” that occur at local Houston MMA shows and we have all heard about the complaints and we have all seen the finger pointing and the fallout. I now propose we take steps as a community to rid ourselves of these types of incidents.
Rather than try and figure out who or what camp is responsible I see another issue to address that I believe would diminish the occurrences of these by a substantial amount, enough that we could largely wipe the stigma of this type of bad press and spoiled relations, off of our reputation. What we need is competent security for these events.
Logistically speaking I know that some venues are more difficult to secure but I have seen a fundamental lack of training in the security that is employed at these events. Many of the security guards are missing the development of problems that could be eliminated much earlier and prevent the physical altercations from ever occurring. Security guards are watching the fights and staring around and really have no control over the crowd and that is the root of this issue. When any of us attend a Texans game it is crowd control that prevents major problems in the stands. We know that if we throw beer or trash at others or stand up and cuss them and incite problems someone will come down and take us out. Problem solved. However I have seen many times at many different promotions, the lack of crowd control and so the expectations are not set properly and people expect to get away with this kind of thing. On Friday I had a personal example that is demonstrative of what has become typical across the board. I had friends who attended to cheer on a fighter from American Combative Systems and these people were repeatedly verbally assaulted, had beer thrown on them and were then physically bumped. The situation caused 2 of them to leave due to the racial slurs that were being thrown at them and I ended up sending a couple of our ammy fighters to basically patrol the situation. The security guards in the area were busy watching the fights, by the way. This is a simple matter of education and training. The people who I referenced are first timers to MMA events and are professionals and were only singled out due to the fact that they were Hispanic.
I have worked security, lead security teams, handled personal security and worked with some top level guys in the field. What we are missing is active security to set expectations and prevent the escalation of these incidents. When beer is thrown for the first time the individuals who throw it would be gone immediately and with absolutely no options. Without boring you anymore than I have already I can say that I have seen the flaws in the security and feel confident that with 60 minutes of training prior to an event I or any security professional who understands crowd control could eliminate 80% of the issues. That is all that is required.
Saturday night I again saw security guards who were outmatched and did not know how to properly break up a fight. They grabbed the closest combatant and tried to stop the influx of new people but the actual issue was not handled. The fight grew and the result was innocent people were knocked down and one security guard who appeared overwhelmed actually reached for his gun!! I yelled at him and moved in to help at that point. They were unable to recognize the catalyst and address the route issue to solve the problem. These are training issues and not always man power issues. Being equipped with guns and licensed to carry does NOT make a security guard competent. In fact it could potentially make a bad situation worse.
Let’s not cast stones any more but look at what could be a positive way to end most of this. I am willing to put my money where my mouth is and reach out to any and all promoters who have questions regarding this, free of charge of course, to help right the ship. I will also be looking for local persons involved in the MMA community to step up and be participants in correcting this situation. As Houston grows into a big scene and walks down the road paved by guys like Saul Soliz and now the staff of thecagedoor.net lets all do our part to give our fighters the platform they deserve and eliminate these problems.
Here is a starting point for what I ask:
1. That reputable and controlled persons in the MMA community be willing to volunteer to work at local MMA events free of charge.
2. Promoters provide entrance for free for these persons in exchange for their services.
3. Those who volunteer will stand at the back of spectator sections and work as spotters for trouble incidents while getting free pass for the fights.
4. When ANY issues START to evolve they address them immediately with words only and inform the persons in question they are being watched and will be throw out if ANY more happens.
5. If words and throwing of objects continues of people are still rowdy and inciting issues then either a) two persons escort the individual out or b) uniformed police officer is informed and will escort them out.
6. Promoters must use uniformed police, even if it’s sparing numbers, to respond to spotters issues.
Guys, most of these issues are preventable but are allowed to continue for such a long period of time that they become far more than they ever needed to be. The logistics of who to use, how to train and what type of enforcement could be reasonable expected to work are things I have already worked through. The details I will share with promoters if they are interested.
I ask anyone who has ideas to contribute or wants to volunteer to be vocal and let’s start working forward and stop looking behind us at what has happened. We have too many places to go with Houston MMA to worry about the bridges we’ve already crossed. Let’s learn and move on.
Well said Drew great “soap box ” moment!!
You forgot to be nice… now I am off to watch Road House…..:-P
But, I agree 100% with you Drew, I worked security before not even sure why you would let a person have a pistol as security at an event like this or any with a major crowd. What is this person really going to use it? Excellent way to get yourself killed or several people injured due to mass hysteria.
count me in drew. i was a bouncer for many years and more than willing to work security for free. i love being around the sport in all angles from in the cage to behind the curtains. wherever im needed im there. i also have many police friends who may be willing to work either cheap or for a couple tickets for their family.
Great post. Combine these efforts with some of the schools learning to act right and all the problems are eliminated.
Very nice analysis, Dalton. I agree with you completely. If only you had Wade Garrett with you to teach these boys, we could get this problem resolved quickly.
In all seriousness, Drew is right on the money with his post above. I applaud him for taking this stand and for giving everyone a solution to what seems to be a bigger and bigger problem. I’m sure that the fine folks at Legacy would be interested in your services, and please bring Kelly Lynch with you for our viewing pleasure.
Mr. Wesley…you’ve been warned.
Good suggestions Drew. The only possible roadblocks I can see are
1. You have to hope the “spotters” dont decide to take matters into their own hands.
2. Is there any liability on the promoters or the Venue?
3. How many spotters? and once again liability is always a concern if one of the spotters gets hurt or they hurt someone else.
In my opinion the Arena does an excellent job of security with a lot of police and a lot of t-shirt security. They also have metal detectors at the door. It is impossible to stop all incidents that occur unless every fan gets a personal security guard and even then it wouldnt matter if two people decided they wanted to fight.
If it gets to the point where you are able to definitively identify the trouble makers then ban them. I hope it never gets to the point where the fighters suffer but I fear that is what may end up happening.
Great article. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience to ‘right the ship’.
I agree 100%. We teach our soldiers “riot control” before deploying. It’s training that particular unit may not need but it doesn’t hurt to know a little bit about how to control a crowd before it gets out of hand. Not all security guards are trained to spot potential problems. We need to be proactive. Great post.
At the moment when I wrote this I was really just “sounding off” after seeing some sad displays made….tonthat end it’s not thoroughly thought through regarding the suggestions.
Mick- I agree. Liability is always an issue. Researchbwould have to be done. As far as spotters taking matters into their own hands like everything else it requires a system of accountability. In this case those people would be removed also and would not be offered the position again on a discretionary basis. Also selection would be key. People who are level and seem trustworthy and genuine without somethingbtonprove would probably rather allow others to handle the dirty work. Btw…the aren does a great job with security. I’m very pleased with your events.
One key thing I saw this past weekend were security guards who couldnt identify properly whonthey needed to detain. On Saturday’s there was a virtual comedy of errors as they grabbed the wrong people time after time and the longer a fightbgoes the more peoplenget involved. They continually grabbed the people pushing in to get involved and failed to address the issue that ended it. That and the gun incident isnwhy I jumped in. When they did grab the fighters they were pulling them into each other and holding the guy who wasn’t the aggressor…so he was restrained and kept getting hit…then I grabbed thebother guy. Separation is key. I’ve broken up fights of 10-15 guys alone by separating the instigators first and everyone else calms down. Clearly on Friday security dropped the ball repeatedly in many areas. To be clear this isnt Eric Garcia who dropped the ball but security themselves. These guys were watching fights while this stuff was brewing. Basically ammy hour (pun intended). When there is beer throwing, threats, pushing, racial slurs and multiple complaints and security does nothing expect it to escalate. The message security sent was effectively “do what you want without consequences”.
Bottom line: we can’t change humanity or other behaviors but we can set up parameters to control it and makenthe experience good for the rest of the people who are there.
Not to put down GP shows at all because I love those shows, but the venue itself has alot to do with the way security will be. If you look at the Verizon Wireless Theater, security is included in the price of the venue. You best not sit in the wrong section at that venue because you will be asked to move by security. It’s kind of the same thing at Arena Theater, just a little more relaxed but still not as bad as convention centers like Pasadena or Humble. These security personel could be hired for any venue. They are unbiased and are trained and all have different roles they play during an event from ticket takers to ushers to crowd control. And yes it will cost money, so ticket prices will go up, but I will guarentee the 4oz crew and the SFC family will still show up. A few dollars more per ticket will not stop family, friends, teamates, and most fans from coming to these shows. They might talk a little bit of shit on here for a few days about tickets going up but they will still buy the ticket and once the show starts they will forget how much they paid to see a great, show without any issues in the crowd. Another thing these venues that are made for these kind of events do is stop serving alcohol at a certain time. Minute maid, 7th inning. Reliant, mid 4th quarter. Verizon concerts, right before the 3rd to last song begins. That will also encourage people to leave the venue quicker after the show is over because they are not sitting there trying to finish their 5$ beer they just bought 30 seconds before the main event ended. Now again, i’m not bashing GP but when you do a show of ANY kind in a small town convention center, your getting what you pay for and unfortunately that usually means no “real” security. Well there’s my 2 cents.
Not serving beer would most likely eliminate the fighting issues.
Not serving beer would also eliminate ticket sales. No bueno.
The eliminated ticket sales would most likely be from the person who could not control his or her self. My family and I were at the fight when all four fight’s broke out (at different times of course). Before the first fight broke out I heard a loud deep clapping sound from about 50 feet away. I looked at at my wife and said ” somebody just got tasered.” A few seconds latter and the police where removing a lady from the area and that’s when the first fight broke out. In my opinion it had something to do with the lady being tasered, but in the cop’s defense one of the police officer’s did intervene in a altercation concerning the lady during the first 2 or 3 cadge fights. I don’t think the last fight had anything to do with beer, the last fight broke out when Tony from SilverBack was unable to continue due to a unintentional knee to the head. Ending his chance to win the title due to state law, even though the fight in the crowd was wrong I can understand the anger of not seeing the fighter you are going for not get the win let a lone the title when he or she has not done anything wrong. But we should all adhere to the rules and respect the decision of those in the position of authority. If not there will be no events to go to. So does beer really taste that good when theirs nuthing to cheer about?
Yes, beer is always good. But this isn’t about controling the people that can’t handle their alcohol. They are everywhere you go. The football games, baseball games, fights, or even at the bar. My point is, if the venue has a security team for ushering, tickets taking, and crowd control, and a supervisor to keep up with all the team, then the event WILL run smoother as far as the crowd goes. Beer, broads, and brawls are all part of the show. Plus, beer is a money maker. It is all a business. Beer almost has to be sold. I’m not saying I wouldn’t go to a fight if there was not beer, but I’m. A Die hard fan. I don’t think a lot of casual fans will show up. I could be wrong though.