Alex Volkanovski's coach Joe Lopez has labeled Wollongong Lord Mayor Gordon Bradbery a "hypocrite" but has invited him to visit his Freestyle MMA Gym to "educate himself" about the respect and discipline martial arts training instills in young people.
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As first revealed exclusively by the Mercury on Tuesday, Cr Bradbery remains vehemently opposed to presenting one of Australia's greatest sporting exports the keys to Wollongong City, saying he will not endorse "blood sport."
The Lord Mayor doubled-down on the position in subsequent media interviews in Wednesday, raising the ire of the long-reigning UFC featherweight champion's legion of fans, both in the Illawarra and beyond.
Currently in Mexico following Volkanovski's UFC 290 victory over Mexican Yair Rodriguez, the typically mellow Lopez told the Mercury that the Mayor's comments smacked of ignorance and "made him look like a fool."
"This isn't the first time he's done it," Lopez said.
"What blows me out is that he talks about being inclusive and being this man of the community, yet because he doesn't agree with it, we're out. That's not inclusive at all, he's a hypocrite.
"Alex is doing probably promoting the city more than any other athlete ever has. Internationally, he's put Windang on the map. I'm in Mexico at the moment and when I'm walking down the street people are pulling up and wanting to take my photo because they know who I am.
"It says something about how far reaching Alex and the UFC is. For [Cr Bradbery] to be so arrogant about the sport... it doesn't worry me [personally] that much, what worries me about it is just how he's putting the sport and the martial arts down with his own arrogance because he doesn't understand it.
"It's just his arrogance because he's not educating himself on what it is. All he needs to do is come in and do one lesson and he'll learn that it's all about discipline, treating people with respect, all those things."
Lopez said he'd be willing to offer the Mayor membership at Freestyle, on the house, to witness the benefits and virtues of martial arts training for young people.
"I'll give him 12 months free membership, gloves, equipment, everything," Lopez said.
"He can come down and watch the little kids and see how disciplined and respectful they are. Then he can see the amount of teenagers that come in and train after that.
"They'll all come up, shake his hand, introduce themselves... you don't get that in a boxing gym, or a regular gym. I think it's lacking in society today, but our kids love it because it's about discipline.
"Any martial arts instructor worth his salt, if they find out one of their students is bullying or doing something wrong, they'll either throw them out or do something to straighten them out.
"I've thrown heaps of people out in my gym for that specific reason. I've said, 'mate, if you can't respect people. I'm not going to teach you how to fight and then go and hurt some, poor kid or person because you can't control yourself'."
While the UFC had somewhat inauspicious beginnings, mixed martial arts is now a fully regulated sport, with current NSW Premier Chris Minns having pledged $16 million to bring three UFC pay-per-view events to Sydney over the next four years - the first coming on September 10 this year.
It's a long way from the days of having to hire old VHS tapes from the back Blockbuster Video, but Lopez says it's frustrating to still encounter rigid views of the sport so many years after first setting up his Freestyle gym.
"Ten years ago I had a fight card all booked at the Uni (UOW). Then the week before the event came on, the Vice-Chancellor found out that there was a cage fight and he kicked me out of the Uni with one week to go," Lopez said.
"We had to find a new venue and change everything in a week. Once he left, they called me up and said 'we want you in here'. Now they love having us there. It was just one guy who, again, wasn't educated.
"They've just got this assumption that there's two guys getting thrown in the cage and there's no rules regulations, nothing. I said it to him then it's a government-regulated sport. It's not some underground thing where people are just punching on'.
"We've got rules, regulations, we're governed by the state government. We've got to tick all the boxes, it's a recognised sport. If it was boxing or taekwondo or one of the other [combat] sports, Alex probably would've been given the keys to the city a long time ago."
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Mitch Jennings
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
Sports writer. Sport is my passion, rugby league my first love.
