Bar fight leads to death, MMA banned in city

Okay so is this right or wrong. If a guy who trains/teaches MMA gets in a bar fight, should he be held to a different standard than if he was some other kind of athlete?  Should the sport be held responsible? 

Sad story and sucks to see someone get killed in a stupid drunk bar fight. 
 
http://www.argusleader.com/article/20110331/UPDATES/110331031/Watertown-bans-MMA-events-center-after-fight-outside-bar-leads-death?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Home    

The city of Watertown will no longer allow mixed martial arts at the Watertown Events Center, Mayor Gary Williams said Thursday.

The immediate rule change is the result of furious community backlash over the death of Justin Jaton, Williams said. But a two-day MMA tournament scheduled to take place at the Center on Friday and Saturday will go on.

Jaton, a 26-year-old Rutland native, died Thursday morning at Sanford Hospital from injuries sustained on March 13 in a fight with a 28-year-old MMA trainer named Jerrin Stulken outside a Watertown bar.

Stulken is a founding member of the Disciples of Combat fight team, a popular Watertown MMA club. Stulken said last week that he has stepped down as a trainer since the incident, which he called an act of self-defense.

At least 50 people called Watertown City Hall on Thursday to voice their concerns about mixed martial arts events, Williams said. The temporary rule change likely will be followed by a city council debate on whether to ban mixed martial arts from the city entirely or to impose strict limits, similar to those in place in Sioux Falls.

Mixed martial arts events are not permitted on city property in Sioux Falls.

Mike Alama, the owner of Watertown-based MMA promoter Fury Fights Inc., said he's asked fighters at the weekend tournament not to wear any clothing with the Disciples of Combat logo out of respect or Jaton's family.

Alama has held several MMA matches at the Events Center since founding his company in 2006.

Stulken is being held on a $500,000 cash or surety bond at the Codington County Detention Center on alternate counts of first-degree manslaughter and second-degree murder.

- For more on this story, see tomorrow's Argus Leader

This is tragic.  The backlash is equally tragic.  This is like saying that if a baseball player kills someone with a baseball bat, then we should ban baseball.

People are inherently stupid by nature. They see tragedy and their only thought is "Could this happen to me?".
Instead of researching the facts, it's much easier to single out the cause or catalyst of the tragedy and ban it, regardless of the surrounding circumstances.
In this case "MMA" has manifested itself as the catalyst of the evil deed, so in their minds removing it from their immediate surroundings will somehow make them safer.
It's the same story with gun violence. A person gets shot and people scream "just ban the guns and we'll be safe!" instead of looking at the big picture.
People are sheep, and sheeple are ********.

Has there been any further reporting on this? Just curious how he died and if it was really self-defense. Either way i think we are all in agreement. This is stupid to ban the sport from the town because of one instance. SHEEPLE - love it

http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/news/314591/SD-MMA-club-instructor-charged-with-murder-following-bar-fight/

Basically, the victim was knocked unconscious with the first blow and he continued hitting him.  The victim spent a couple of weeks in a coma before he died.  I don't think we'll get a lot of details before it goes to court and whatnot.  I can't find anything on what the fight was about, who started it or how the fight actually went down.  It was probably something stupid between drunks and got out of hand.   

EXACTLY! It was between stupid drunks, who played stupid games and won stupid prizes.

Very sad story. Sounds like culprit was kind of a ******. I'm assuming they were both smashed, it's guys like that, that give MMA a bad name.

It's stupid to ban MMA throughout the city for this incident, I agree.  But this guy should definitely be held to a higher standard and should be put away for 25 years minimum.  If he's an MMA trainer he must have known proper self defence technique that doesn't require you to beat your opponent unconscious.  I don't think he was defending himself at all.  It just looks like he was using his MMA skills in one of the worst ways possible which is bound to hurt MMA's reputation.

Tragedy aside, the outcome is ridiculous.  People die from getting shot in watertown no?  are they gonna ban firearms then? yeah right.  How about they acted so in a drunken stuper/rage, are they gonna ban alcohol now?    Better yet, what if the guy wasn't a MMA guy, but a boxer, are they gonna ban boxing?  What if he was a wrestler and took him down and the other dude hit his head on the concrete floor and died of brain aneurysm, are they gonna ban wrestling?  Ignorant ******s, give me a break and get over yourselves.

I think the majority opinion here is the right one.  Like Geezhound said... People are sheep and sheep are ********.  What does it matter if the "offender" was black/white/hispanc.. if it was a girl/guy.. if they were a janitor, VP or MMA trainer?  It matters not and means absolutely nothing, but the finger must be pointed. 

Sheeple always find it much easier to justify banning the item or act rather than exacting a harsh punishment on the person using the item or performing the act in question.

And it's always easier to ban something that doesn't have an impact on YOUR life. Anti-gun sheeple have never shot a gun just like anti-MMA sheeple have never watched a fight. They only know statistics and percentages.

And eveyone knows that 93.6% of all statistics are made up on the spot.

wow, an MMA instructor kills someone at a bar. 

Sounds like the guys got some serious GnP

they make it a big deal cuz it was a mma guy, always gotta blame someone but im sure tons of people have died in bar fights but since its a mma trainer it should be banned come on... you can hold one man accountable for an entire sport

All we can hope is that cooler heads prevail here after the dust settles.  Just like at work.. never send the retort email in the heat of the moment!  Save it as a draft and come back an hour later.. you'll change the verbiage.  Hopefully common sense sinks in, in the end.

Banning MMA because of this would be like Banning Football because of OJ Simpson.