False Kimo Leopoldo Story a Lesson for B/R Writers

If you limit your MMA Internet surfing to this site and the mainstream sports media outlets, you might not know that former UFC fighter Kimo Leopoldo was reported (and supposedly "confirmed") dead this week, only to surface and hold a press conference proclaiming that he was "pretty sure he's alive."

I first heard the news Tuesday morning on my way to work, as the morning talk show hosts for Bay Area sports radio station KNBR briefly mentioned it in passing, reflecting on how it was one of the "many weird and sad occurrences" lately in sports.

On one hand I'd like to think that I can trust a media outlet like KNBR—"The Sports Leader"—to report accurate news. On the other hand I'm not surprised that they would take misinformation regarding MMA from other outlets and pass it along to listeners, because even as the sport blooms into the mainstream conscience, most veteran journalists still don't have the respect for MMA to apply strict journalistic ethics to it.

It reminds me of how Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon used to rip MMA prior to its mainstream explosion on their show "Pardon the Interruption." They took to ESPN's airwaves to label MMA a "bar room brawling" sport and insisting that primitive violence such as eye-gouging, biting, and groin strikes were legal, which of course was a complete lie.

It always bothered me that those journalistic ethics somehow flew out the window when blow hards such as Kornheiser and Wilbon decided to spread lies about MMA. If they had gone on record saying it's perfectly legal to go head hunting with a hockey stick in the NHL while trying to downplay that sport, their jobs probably would have been in jeopardy.

And even now as the mainstream sports media has all of a sudden pulled a 180 and accepted MMA (dollar signs anyone?), we still have a situation like the false report of Leopoldo's death, which is probably just as much due to a lack of overall respect for the craft of journalism as it is a lack of respect for MMA.

A recap, for those unaware:

A popular member of one of the original and most popular MMA Internet forums, who is known for being a first rate Internet troll, yet is a former MMA fighter with strong ties to many current popular fighters, started a rumor that Leopoldo had died in Costa Rica.

It was likely intended to just be a joke on a few friends and the forum community in which it played out, and it wasn't that hard for many to believe.

Leopoldo, who gained immediate fame in the UFC when in his first fight he nearly defeated original UFC champion Royce Gracie (Gracie wound up bowing out of his next fight that night), is known for his struggles in the past with drug addiction. The Southern California-based fighter has enough of a name to make him newsworthy, but has been out of the spotlight enough lately that it would be hard to immediately verify any story regarding him.

What ensued was a media storm that fooled everyone, and has Leopoldo's attorney's threatening a lawsuit.

Somehow along the way, TMZ caught wind of the troll job and turned it into a story, reporting it as fact. No doubt other media outlets have let down their guard regarding TMZ, as others jumped on board and ran with the story.

By the time Leopoldo found out, he had to deal with a host of friends and family that were scared, saddened, frustrated that this story was out there, and they might be unaware of his passing.

The first lesson for anyone who follows the media is to be wary of anything coming out of TMZ. They will obviously run with anything in order to be the ones who "broke the story." Apparently, they are immune to the age-old journalistic standards that require actually verifying a story from credible sources (ie: not an Internet forum where anyone can post), and no one is bothering to hold them accountable.

There is also a lesson to be learned for the writers at Bleacher Report, since the bottom line here is also that anyone can sign up and post something.

If you're going to fancy yourself a journalist in training, or one right now, make sure you know what goes into the trade. Don't fall for bogus claims, sensational stories, and false advertisements that have no proof or merit. As this story showed, anything posted on the Internet can take off like wildfire and affect a lot of people.

We all want to be the one to break some random or stunning news. But no self-respecting writer wants to be the guy throwing crap against the wall just to see if it sticks.

And with the dust far from settled in this bogus Kimo story, I guess one piece of silver lining is this: At least it didn't originate here.