Minister for Sport wants to ‘strictly regulate’ MMA, but let’s not forget his sporting gaffes

Minister for Sport, Shane Ross, has labelled MMA "quite disturbing" as he revealed plans to regulate the sport in Ireland.

Conor McGregor has made history in the UFC and Dana White has spoken about hosting an event in Croke Park on 11 different occasions now but the sport is not yet even recognised legitimately in Ireland. Ross says that's under review but his comments on the issue wouldn't exactly fill you with too much confidence.

"This is something that we have under review,” he told the Irish Daily Mail. "It should be, at the very least, strictly regulated. I find some of the scenes in it quite disturbing.

"I think the rules should ensure that there is an absolute absence of brutality or savagery or anything like it. We are reviewing this, to find the best way of regulating it to ensure it is as safe as any other sport."

Quite disturbing. Ross seems to be a keen follower of rugby. A sport with a very real and a very rife concussion problem. A sport which clears a tackle like Sam Cane's of foul play. A sport with Dylan Hartley. In one man alone, Shane Ross would've watched the English rugby captain biting fingers, gouging two different men, clotheslining another, headbutting another and elbowing another. And that's just what was caught on camera. This is a sport where Clive Woodward deems the above as acceptable. https://twitter.com/Shane_RossTD/status/653377255897477120 But the problem isn't just in the apparent hypocrisy, the Minister for Sport has been wrong many times before. He made a few gaffes in Rio during the Olympics. When Thomas Barr almost shook the world to finish fourth in the 400m hurdles final, he wasn't even congratulated by Ross. Well, the Minister for Sport tried to at least. https://twitter.com/hughcahill7/status/766312422256902144 During the same Games, he almost rubbed salt into the wounds of Katie Taylor - another combat sport legend. Hours after her shock loss, after her heartbreaking interview and even when the dust had settled, Shane Ross arrived onto the scene. Everyone knew what was going to happen. Actually, everyone knew what had already happened. https://twitter.com/GaverageJoe/status/765274178354307072 Now he's deliberating over the future of MMA in Ireland.