DEBATE: Should Baron Geisler and Kiko Matos duke it out in the cage?

The scuffle between actors Baron Geisler and Kiko Matos at a Quezon City bar on May 26 started as a brief, private matter which blew up thanks to social media and instant-video sharing. Now the two have agreed (verbally) to settle their beef in a very public manner, with mixed martial arts company Universal Reality Combat Championship (URCC) founder Alvin Aguilar offering to promote the fight on June 25 at Palace Pool Club in Taguig.

The fight still has plenty of hurdles to clear, with neither man having the time to complete a full training camp. They’d also have to undergo licensing procedures with the Games and Amusement Board (GAB), decide on a weight class, among other things. It’s far from a done deal, but if they do decide to go through with it, is this the right way to handle the matter?

That’s where Rappler Sports editor Ryan Songalia and Rappler Sports columnist Bob Guerrero disagree. Both writers give their take on whether they think the fight should take place. Vote in Rappler’s poll and sound off in the comments section below.

 

Ryan Songalia, Rappler Sports editor: IN FAVOR OF

A man (Geisler) should not be expected to just walk away after extending his hand in peace and then being struck by another (Matos). Some people say “Just be the bigger man” after having their face violated by another’s fists. But for the 99% of other men, they need to throw those hands. I cannot on good conscience tell this man he doesn’t deserve justice.

And so what if the fight is happening for a stupid reason. Most professional fights happen for no reason at all and are generally of little consequence. Fights take place between boxers with losing records all the time; not every fight is leading somewhere. 

This can set a positive example for young people by showing that you can stand up for yourself with dignity and honor. There will be no guns or knives. This is the way men used to do it. If you had a problem, and two men entered into that social contract to fight, the spectators cleared some space and you put your hands up. When did that stop, and people begin shooting each other? If we’re talking about setting a bad example, I’d say the people killing each other on the news are a far more damaging influence to our youth than professional fighters.  

Let’s not forget that this spectacle will benefit charity. How many athletic contests here benefit charity both financially and through exposure?

There is a reason why fighters talk trash before a fight and hug afterwards. Enduring a clean, hard-fought battle fosters mutual respect between the two combatants. So would it settle a dispute? Absolutely, because you leave everything in the cage. You get 3 rounds to get your work done and then it’s over. End of discussion, matter is settled. Once you get inside that ring, or inside that cage, all of the bluster becomes irrelevant and the truth comes out. If you’re not as tough, or as well-conditioned as you said you are, everyone will know. That reality check is enough to humble anyone. 

I respect anyone’s decision if they choose not to buy a ticket. I also respect the right of these two men to fight. Let’s get it on, baby. 

POLL: Should Baron Geisler and Kiko Matos fight in the URCC cage under MMA rules? Vote now!

— Rappler Sports (@RapplerSports) June 4, 2016

  

Bob Guerrero, Rappler Sports columnist: OPPOSED

So two dudes get into a dust-up in a bar. After much smack talk on social media, the pair of actors decide to duke it out in the ring. MMA fight fans and celebrity watchers seem to think it’s a great idea. I would beg to differ. 

Sure, seeing Baron Geisler and Kiko Matos slug it out in an octagon is better than doing it in a bar. It’s plenty safer, since there are no table corners or broken glass in an MMA cage. There’s also no chance of getting arrested. But that doesn’t make it any more correct. 

For me, the reason lies in the video itself. Look at what happens when one of the men attacks the other. The other patrons jump in to separate them. To save them from each other. That’s what society does. That’s what cooler heads are supposed to do in a violent situation: prevail. They should continue to prevail going forward. 

At the end of the day, violence of this sort has no place in society. Sure there will always be conflicts. But they shouldn’t be settled through flying fists. The protagonists in any dispute should always be convinced to sit down and talk out their differences. This is what adults do. This is what mature people do. This is the rational way to act. If they can’t come to an agreement, then at the very least, just ignore each other and stay out of each other’s way.

Of course it’s natural to want to smack someone you don’t like in the face. We are not robots. We are emotional beings. But when we act out our violent tendencies we are reverting to our animal instincts instead of letting our better angels stay in control. We are not apes. We are human beings. Thinking, rational compassionate creatures. Who should know that violence should not be the solution to a barroom conflict.

And yet with this match, we say that violence, even when regulated and in the confines of a “safe” place, is a proper course of action when two people dislike each other. It shouldn’t be. This fight will bring everyone involved to a lower level. Okay, it may raise money for charity, but it will do so by espousing the wrong values.

The message we send to kids observing this spectacle is that, “yeah, it’s okay to try and hurt each other if you have a beef with one another.” No, it isn’t.

You might say that this is a proper MMA match. A sporting event. But I would beg to differ. Mixed Martial Arts contests are sporting contests conducted by sportsmen. They are trying to defeat each other in a game. Not in real life. There is sportsmanship in MMA. There is mutual respect. Handshakes before and after. In this fight, highly unlikely.

They say Matos and Geisler will “settle” this in the ring. Settle what? They have a dispute. Both feel wronged by the other. If they fight, all that will be “settled” is who is the stronger man and/or the better fighter. How is that “settling” anything? It’s really nothing less than a juvenile exercise, a schoolyard scrap between grownups. 

Sure it’s great publicity for the Universal Reality Combat Challenge. Yes, it will give sorely-needed attention to Pinoy MMA. Heck, even this article is giving URCC publicity they need, even if it disagrees with the fight. But publicity at what cost? Publicity that shows young people that violence is a fine way to react when two people have differences? 

So many will indeed watch the fight to see how this passion play of anger, revenge play out. Is that really us at our best?

Besides, neither of these two gentlemen is a mixed-martial arts professional to my knowledge. Do they have the sufficient skill to avoid getting hurt? There will be a referee in the ring for sure but at the end of the day these are amateurs. Maybe with some martial arts background but amateurs nonetheless. 

Maybe I’m just old-fashioned. Maybe I don’t quite understand “man rules” about honor and all that macho stuff. Perhaps I’m just some flower-wielding peacenik hippie who just doesn’t get it. But maybe I think we need to be better than this. 

Geisler and Matos should follow the lead of Justin Trudeau and Patrick Brazeau, two Canadian politicians from opposing parties with policy differences. They met each other in a charity boxing match for cancer research in 2012. The liberal Trudeau won via third-round TKO over the conservative Brazeau in an upset. (Trudeau is now his country’s prime minister.) See the fight here.

After the joust, a big hug between the two boxers. You could sense the respect and admiration. What was present in Trudeau-Brazeau will be absent in Geisler-Matos. We should agree to disagree and be civil. 

Part of the deal with the Canadian fight was that the winning fighter would give the losing one a haircut. (They were both long-maned at the time.) In a supreme show of class, Trudeau only snipped off a token few centimeters off Brazeau’s hair, saying in French, “Patrick is a man of his word, and I am a man who respects.” Watch here.

So I would actually I would be okay if Geisler and Matos fought in an MMA ring, really. But only if they got together beforehand and amicably talked about their dispute, said their sorries and shook hands. THEN they can fight, if not as friends, at least as respectful gentleman engaging in a purely sporting battle. Incredibly corny for some, but for me the proper thing to do.

Save me a front row seat for that bout, Mr. Aguilar. – Rappler.com

Follow Bob Guerrero on Twitter @PassionateFanPH and Ryan Songalia on Twitter at @RyanSongalia