South Dakota town bans MMA because of a bar fight

M-M-A are still three dirty and misunderstood letters. In many locales, you'll notice that any time a bar fight or scrap goes bad, if it involves someone who's ever stepped in an MMA gym, the blame will be placed on the sport. That's exactly what's happened in one South Dakota town.

A 28-year-old who belong to the Disciples of MMA club in Watertown was involved in a March bar fight. His opponent, Justin Jaton, died and the town has since banned MMA fights. Huh?

Jerrin Stulkin, who trains in Tae Kwon Do, is facing murder charges. (Video from KELO)

Three months later, according to The Republic, the residents of Watertown defeated a measure to allow an MMA fight within the city limits.

KWAT radio reports that Tuesday's vote was 841 people favoring the events and 1,228 people opposing them.

The City Council in May voted 5-3 to allow MMA events, a form of fighting entertainment that some label as barbaric. MMA opponents gathered enough petition signatures to force a citywide vote.

Mixed martial arts fighters use a variety of techniques, borrowing from boxing, wrestling and various forms of martial arts.

Promoter Mike Alama says he'll still hold fights in the Watertown area, but outside the city limits.

Did this really have anything to do with MMA? Of course not. The police description of the incident says it was even a fight.

"The term 'fight' should probably be used very loosely," said Detective Chad Stahl of the Watertown Police Department. "This was an assault."

Randy Leddy, a local bartender and MMA student, called the campaign to smear the sport silly.

"It's very frustrating for me that it has to be linked to MMA," Leddy said. "The cage fighting community had nothing to do with it - it was two individuals and liquid courage."

(NOTE: The Leddy quote appears to have been removed from the original story. It was saved from the story on MMA.tv.)

You still don't believe the fight and MMA are linked? Here's a follow-up story from April talking about how martial arts teaches you that it's proper to walk away from a fight.

With a population of 21,482, Watertown is the fourth-largest city in South Dakota.

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