Unlike their original schematics for Fight Island, the UFC's plans seemed to properly incentivize athletes to compete while also limiting the exposure risk to the staff. A fighter did test positive, and though his treatment was somewhat suspect the containment procedures in place for the event largely helped.
On a personal note, I had a wonderful time watching the fights. Seeing Justin Gaethje rise to the occasion to put a drumming on Tony Ferguson and Henry Cejudo knock out professional excuse-maker Dominic Cruz were awesome wrestler-based storylines I appreciated. There was beer, wine, and cocktails as well as friendly wagering and screaming at the television. Overall, a much-needed escape from the stress of the COVID-19 world.
As I watched I thought about the path wrestling will need to take in order to find this same level of acceptance in the AC (after-COVID) world. As part of my work I think a lot about the topic of the safe return to sports. Some found my early predictions on the shutting down of the NCAA tournament as alarmist, but then, as now, I'm having trouble finding a strong way forward given the current state of affairs in the United States.
We have incredibly far to travel as a society before the myriad stakeholders in youth and collegiate athletics meet their risk tolerance. I'm not a public health expert, but to think that the UFC investment into Saturday's event could be expanded exponentially to accommodate thousands of college football players on hundreds of teams, nationwide, over the course of a five-month season just isn't feasible. The UFC needed the buy-in of 100 fighters, staff, and one state commission. The NCAA will need the buy-in of 100% of member schools, state governments, athletic departments, and the governing body itself. If by some miracle that happens the restrictions and raw number of tests would be well beyond what is affordable for most programs.
Polls show only a small portion of the United States are demanding the country reopen, no matter the loss of life. Losing the elderly, or those with pre-existing conditions is more acceptable to them than the economic downtown. (It also assumes young people are immune, which of course isn't true.) The motivation for may comes from a frustration that not enough people have died in their community to warrant a nationwide shutdown, which is akin to thinking world hunger has ended because you just ate a sandwich.
Really these carnival barkers are playing an active role in avoiding the very obvious, very deadly, and very taboo topic that America has failed. As a nation we are allowing people to die due to a massive void in effective leadership and planning. And because there is no plan (or hopes for one) that loud minority has landed on, "Give Me Liberty and Give Me Death."
It needn't be this way -- for every problem there is a solution. The only real difficulty is believing we don't have, or can't find answers to the problems we face. As wrestlers we know how to navigate out of a tough spot. We've fought off our backs in matches and in the protection of our favorite programs. In 2013 we clawed our way back on to the Olympic program. But all those times we fought off certain defeat was because we didn't give up and we organized, or adapted, and showed humility in adapting to necessary changes.
I know this pandemic has made us miss sports, but with people dying across the nation the sports cannot be our first concern, and we cannot accept that because a few people up top have walked away from the table that we all should follow.
Just as there are sensible solutions and ways that localities can react in more or less stringent ways based on their levels of exposure (Wyoming and NYC shouldn't have the same plan), there is a way for wrestling to adapt in this space. There may even be opportunity for growth, for us to pick up on ideas that have long been laying around (criteria!). But in the short term we will be hamstrung by the fact that sports are a nationwide undertaking and there is yet to be a workable solution.
Also … my parents are grandparents. I'm sure a lot of people who read this article are either grandparents themselves or still enjoy being around grandparents. They should never be sacrificed because someone else wants to eat a hot dog at Wrigley or fetch a beer at the Meadowlands. Yes, they are old(er), but they deserve the same type of respect, humanity and care that was given to the 20-or-so healthy cage fighters who competed last weekend.
We owe at least owe it to them to not give up.
To your questions …
Q: As an avid wrestling traveler, what were the best tournaments you have been to as a spectator, journalist and competitor? Thinking of venues, logistics, amenities, crowds, and competition, broadly writ. Stay safe and keep the flame of wrestling enthusiasm burning hot until competition resumes!
-- Nate S.
The 2016 NCAA Division I Championships took place at Madison Square Garden in NYC (Photo/Tony Rotundo, WrestlersAreWarriors.com)Foley: The best event I have ever attended as a fan was the 2016 NCAA Championships at Madison Square Garden. I live one stop away from the Garden (via the 2/3 express) which meant that my hotel and transportation costs were nearly zero. I wasn't working the event (for once!) and was able to drink adult cocktails while watching the action with my former teammates. I gambled on the outcomes, ate expensive luke-warm hot dogs and enjoyed the event at face value. Also, I think the event itself was one of the best I'd have attended as a journalist, had I been working.
I've only attended a few events as a journalist, but when you add in those events where I worked in a media capacity it's a competitive list. The first event that comes to mind is the 2017 World Championships in Paris. The hotel was connected to the arena, the food was world class, the nightlife was one-of-a-kind and the structure of the event was without fault. There were strict rules in place (maybe too strict in some cases) about where you could travel as a member of the press, but in a weird way it was less stressful for most because the rules kept everyone's roles very simple. Also, the storybook ending of Kyle Snyder beating Abdulrashid Sadualev to win the team title was absolutely brilliant for fans of the sport. Also, Eric Olanowski arrived at the Charles de Gaulle Airport for the return flight home and realized that he'd forgotten to bring his luggage from the hotel, which gave me the perfect amount of schadenfreude satisfaction to cap off the weekend.
I also think of the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio because I was able to see firsthand just how perfect an operation can run with more resources. They had insanely tight rules but it forced a lot of creativity that otherwise may not have been unlocked by me and our media team. The 2019 World Championships in Nur-Sultan were also really well done, though I wasn't able to travel out of the arena as much as I liked since we were so busy with work.
Oddly, the 2014 Cadet World Championships in Snina, Slovakia, was also one of my favorite events. They served sausages and cold beer in the parking lot before the finals, which made the evening session all the more pleasant.
It's been a second since I've competed at a wrestling tournament, but I have fond memories of the 2004 NCAA Wrestling Championships in St. Louis. Also, I think the space given to the athletes at the 2018 World Championships in Budapest was some of the best I've seen.
Q: The California state schools announced they will keep their campuses closed for the fall semester. The California Community College wrestling season takes place in the fall (starts in August). Do you think that season will happen?
-- Mike C.
Foley: No. The NCAA stated clearly that unless students are in school there will be no college sports season this fall. The community college teams are not going to risk that exposure especially when the state will have guidelines that will make it impossible to hold a competition.
Q: It seems pretty obvious the world will never be the same after this pandemic. What do you think the biggest change to wrestling will be when the sport does eventually return?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Post-vaccine? I think wrestlers will have to prove they have taken the vaccine or vaccines. It will be like a yellow card you would carry when traveling to certain nations to prove you have any number of vital vaccinations. I also think there might be requests for athletes to shower before practice and competitions. Also medical checks will include temperature checks as well as other biometrics.
The temperature checks could be problematic, because when you sweat to cut weight it spikes your temperature. Assuming that does get implemented you'd see a massive drop off in weight cutting.
Off the mat we will continue to see a reduction in the numbers of college programs as schools go online and close their campuses. There will be a decoupling of the non-revenue sports from the educational model, starting in college but moving its way into the high schools as the level of risk to the institutions increases.
Gloomy outlook, but until there is more information on the vaccines and cures we owe it to ourselves to be prepared for what's coming.
MULTIMEDIA HALFTIME
Top 5 Active American Wrestlers
Jazz and Wrestling
Q: Mike Novogratz tweeted out that he would love to see a mini tournament with Kyle Dake, Zaurbek Sidakov, Jordan Burroughs and Frank Chamizo. Do you think a one-off PPV wrestling event like this could happen during these times if they took UFC-like measures where all the athletes were tested beforehand and held in front of no fans?
-- Mike C.
Foley: Absolutely could but would be tough to envision any two competitors who might meet in the coming Olympic year choosing to go through the process of self-isolation and limited training only to maybe lose the match and a possible mental edge on their opponent.
I think that this is a great idea, but I think that logistics and how much training these athletes receive would be a huge factor in any decision to compete. I'm not aware of any, but does anyone in the comments know if any senior-level athletes in America are still training?
My best guess is you could get Bajrang, Chamizo and a few top Americans to train at some location, go through testing and then have a small event with a PPV crowd. But again, it's essentially a large donation to those athletes since I'm assuming the testing, housing, and other protocols would eat away at any other gains seen in selling the event.
Anthony Echemendia wrestling Joshua Saunders at Who's Number One (Photo/Sam Janicki, SJanickiPhoto.com)Q: Anthony Echemendia is very good in freestyle. Have you seen much of him? What are realistic expectations for him in college?
-- Mike C.
Foley: I've only seen him compete a few times and that was only online. I'm not sure how he will translate to the college mats, but I'm guessing with that speed and determination he's a three-time All-American and NCAA champion.
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