It’s an interesting theory, posited by an angry news source: A reporter who is not a mixed martial arts fighter cannot write about the sport in a news story.

The theory is nonsense, of course, and tantamount to saying we can’t cover murders if we’ve never killed anyone.

The story in question ran as the A1 lead Wednesday and was about the University of Virginia’s College at Wise decision to no longer host "cage fights" like the one in early April that resulted in several injuries and sent one fighter to a hospital.

FIGHT SANCTIONER David Probst, the owner of a Tennessee-based news and community Web site called Ground N Pound, accused reporter Daniel Gilbert of getting the story wrong but has offered no specifics.

Probst "sanctioned" the UVa-Wise fight, meaning he simply gave the promoter an extensive rulebook and was on hand April 5 for the contest. Such amateur fights are not regulated in Virginia.

David Holland, who oversees the state Professional Boxing and Wrestling Program, has no problem with Ground N Pound although he concedes the GNP is not state certified. The article even went so far as to say that Ground N Pound had earned Holland’s confidence and quoted the state regulator as saying, "They’ve always complied with anything I’ve asked of them."

The story was a classic straight-down-the-middle account of the April 5 event, UVa-Wise’s decision to not host another one, and background on mixed martial arts fights. Probst was quoted at length advocating his sport and noting that there are rules in place to protect fighters – unlike the anything-goes "Tough Man" bouts.

RATHER THAN calling the newspaper to discuss his concerns of "one sidedness," Probst took to his Web site to denounce Gilbert, "his editor" and the newspaper.

"This guy is a joke, someone got in his pocket or the pocket of his editor and he went on a rant," Probst wrote at his Web site about the reporter. "When I talked with the guy it was clear he wouldn’t know an arm bar from a candy bar. He had no business being on this story."

Probst continued: "This clown re-worded, stretched and took out of context everything he wrote. Either the writer or editor has a motive for doing this work of fiction, I’d just like to know who got into their pocket to make it happen. ... I had always thought the Bristol paper printed news, not fictional stories to fuel their own hidden agendas."

There are no hidden agendas here. We don’t accept bribes. Nothing was stretched or distorted. The article featured no opponents of mixed martial arts and let Probst advocate the sport at will. One sentence stated: "Probst, an ex-fighter, said elementary school physical education is more dangerous than mixed martial arts."

THIS NEWSPAPER has never taken a position against mixed martial arts fights. Quite the contrary: In an editorial Friday, we opined that the state of Tennessee should lift its ban against mixed martial arts fights, but should regulate the sport and keep children out as spectators.

A follow-up article Saturday noted that Lee County High School now was having second thoughts about hosting an upcoming cage fight and noted that Virginia performs no criminal background checks or drug screens on amateur fighters.

"If someone has a criminal record for shoplifting or auto theft, we’re not going to pay much attention," Holland said. "If we took those fellows out of boxing, there would be no boxing."

An arm bar, by the way, is any move in which a fighter isolates and hyper-extends an opponent’s elbow, often while keeping the opponent’s arm between the aggressor’s legs.

A CANDY BAR usually consists of chocolate or caramel nugget and generally is more pleasurable than getting the crap beaten out of you by a half-naked man.

It’s a fine quote though, although I would have gone with so-and-so doesn’t know an arm bar from an armoire. It packs more literary punch and panache.

So long, Kathy

While we’re on the subject of UVa-Wise, we lost one of our senior reporters to the school. Kathy Still, who spent more than 20 years covering the coalfields for this newspaper, worked her last day Friday and is going to work for her alma mater.

"I’ve covered just about everything in Virginia counties where coal is produced," says Kathy, a Buchanan County native. "Court cases, government, features, coal, timber and economic development are some of the beats I’ve covered. I think I’ve been touched the most by the people in the coalfields and how they have opened up to me over the years."

UVa-Wise had been knocking on Kathy’s doors for years and she no longer could say no. The school is getting a crackerjack newswoman and human being.

Trivia winners

I made a reference in last week’s column to "all the nude that’s fit to sprint" and asked readers for its relevance.

It’s a takeoff of The New York Times’ slogan: All The News That’s Fit To Print.

The winners were Patty Caldwell of Bristol, Tenn., and Dan Devenney of West Conshohocken, Pa.

J. Todd Foster is managing editor of the Bristol Herald Courier. He may be reached at jfoster@bristolnews.com or (276) 645-2513.