Though he had been labeled a "maverick" by the majority of the press corps, McCain was hardly that; rather, he was he was a very calculating political animal who often saw which way the wind was blowing and hurled himself - with sycophantic media grasping onto his boots chaussure de foot mercurial - in that direction.
McCain purported to become a lifelong boxing fan, and claimed to be a boxer of some note in the Naval Academy, where he gained admission like a "legacy" (his father was an alumnus) and graduated near the bottom of his class. He favored legislation to bring about some federal charge of boxing and would later spearhead efforts to pass through more extensive bills for the reason that quest. He was quite keen on accepting free tickets from the very promoters his legislation would have regulatory authority over. Coincidentally, these gifts and gratuities often landed him ringside, in camera view, throughout an HBO or Showtime telecast.
From the beginning, there is going to be some establishment resistance to mma. The sport, using its lack of structured rules, did not squeeze into the regulations that were organized through the athletic commissions across the country. In fact, the majority of the regulatory people didn?t understand it, and for that reason had no idea how to classify it. It certainly wasn?t boxing, which used hands only, or kick boxing, which allowed for kicks and which was sanctioned in certain states. And it most definitely was not a "worked" sport like pro wrestling, that also fell under the jurisdiction of a few of the athletic commissions.
Plus, there is not really enough mixed martial arts activity happening for that states to accept break to draft regulations for this. If there was the possibility of only a few events per year, why would they go through the procedure for engaging commission attorneys to attract up a brand new algorithm, or approach their state legislature with a bill to become passed, in order to accommodate it?
Besides, there was a growing - and influential - constituency of people who viewed mma as "barbarism" and "bloodsport." Many of these people used a manifestation that was a standard for affordable shots scarpe mercurial as time progressed - "human cock fighting."
When you have pervading mainstream attitudes such as this, the atmosphere is ripe for political opportunity. And affirmed, out of the rubble emerged one of the great political opportunists of recent years.