Death Threat Law & Legal Definition: “Under state criminal codes, which vary by state, it is an offense to knowingly utter or convey a threat to cause death or bodily harm to any person.”—www.definitions.uslegal.com

“The offence of utter death threat may be prosecuted by summary conviction or by indictment. If prosecuted by indictment, the accused person is entitled to elect trial by jury and upon conviction is liable to up to five years jail.”—www.defencelaw.com

“I want to fight Brock Lesnar. I hate who he is as a person. I want to break his neck in the ring. I want him to be the first person that dies to Octagon-related injuries.”—Frank Mir, WXDX Radio

Not exactly the usual non-literal metaphor of “I’m gonna kill that guy!” that is heard so often in competitive sports.

In fact, I don’t think that a summer goes by where my son, who plays middle linebacker, doesn’t have at least a dozen other kids telling him that he’s a “dead man” out on the football field (easier said than done by the way).

As a coach, I may not believe such a frivolous threat in literal terms, but make no mistake, I am always conscious and aware of any perceived intent to injure another player, regardless if it’s my son or not.

Contact sports can be very emotional. I take nothing for granted and my responsibility as a coach prevents me from underestimating potentially inappropriate intentions to hurt or injure another player.

Given Mir’s recent obsession with Lesnar, which became stalwartly fuelled by his prior embarrassing defeat, Mir’s comments must be taken seriously by the UFC, as well as the authorities.

They simply must.

We cannot pretend to know Mir’s current state of mind. We cannot make assumptions that Mir is simply “hyping” a fight, and we cannot ignore the potential danger of this incredibly unfortunate situation.

Some of you may be thinking that this is a slight overreaction or that this is possibly even an acceptable level of behaviour in sports (which as a stand-alone opinion, I would have to strongly disagree).

But what if in this particular case, you are wrong?

What if Mir is deadly serious?

I really hope that the Governor of New York State or the Ontario Premier didn’t catch wind of Mir’s incredibly disturbing and irresponsible remarks. Trying to get MMA legalized is tough enough it seems, and this absolutely plays right into the old stereotype that MMA is nothing more than a ruthless, lawless “bloodsport.”

Without a doubt, it makes the UFC (Mir’s employer) and all of MMA in general, look extremely bad.

Even worse, it makes each of its supporters look bad as well (guilty by association). Believe it or not, Mir’s reputation becomes our reputation. It’s like Frank Mir reached out through the media and punched every single MMA fan square in the face.

This absolutely is “one step forward—two steps back.”

Bottom line: it insults and undermines all of our hard work in this sport.

Personally, I have been a long time advocate and supporter of all things MMA and I have taken it upon myself to speak out on the things that I don’t particularly like. I have consistently refused to sit back and accept the negatives of this sport, even if it has sometimes meant that I had to against popular opinion.

I refuse to accept bad behaviour as a natural part of this sport.

I have been a martial artist in the truest sense of the word for my entire life and I believe very strongly in the values of sportsmanship and honour.

I believe strongly in the good things found in MMA (and I hope that if you are reading this—you do to).

It’s the bad things that I have intolerance for and I have never given up trying to make a positive difference.

Frank Mir now has me asking myself “why?”

Why am I putting my personal reputation on the line amongst my friends, my peers, my colleagues, my family members, my children, my players, my community?—trust me, the list is very long.

I speak out and voice my opinions because I love this sport and I believe in its future. Or at least, I thought I did.

Now I’m not so sure.

This whole thing about “hyping” a fight just goes too far in my opinion, even for combat sports.

I believe that all professional athletes have a social responsibility to act in a way that should not be deemed illegal or as a detriment to their sport.  The entire MMA community will now suffer at the hands of Frank Mir who has pushed us back into the stone ages and created a major set-back in MMA’s drive for mainstream acceptance.

So the question is: what should be done about Mr. Francisco Santos Mir?

I’ll just leave you with this:

“After lying on the ice for several minutes, Moore was removed on a stretcher. He suffered three fractured vertebrae in his neck, a grade three concussion, vertebral ligament damage, stretching of the brachial plexus nerves, and facial cuts. To date, Moore has not appeared in another professional hockey game.

Bertuzzi was suspended indefinitely by the NHL, and lost approximately $850,000 in salary and endorsements. The Vancouver Canucks were also fined $250,000, on March 11, 2004, for “…failure to prevent the atmosphere that may have led to [the incident].”

Responsibility, folks.

These are my opinions. If you don’t like them…I have others. Check them out at www.mrjamesryan.com