Bad Mouth = Bad Taste
In a follow up to a recent post of here “Tired of fighters excuses” staff writer Matthew Wheeler gives his thoughts plus add the recent comments by all of a sudden talkative Chael Sonnen.
We are coming to a split path for fans in MMA where some want the sport to grow and are willing to sacrifice while others are fine the way it has been. The way Dana White cuts fighters from the UFC has been successful for him, but I believe it puts stress on the fighters to do whatever it takes to stay in the organization. Recent examples would be Rumble after the Koscheck fight, Jay Silva after losing to Leben, Tito Ortiz for a few years, and Chael Sonnen after the Maia fight. It’s like these fighters are seeing guys like Brock Lesnar flipping off the crowd and how much PPV numbers sold, and taking note. I guess they figure if they stir up a lot of commotion, win or lose Dana is going to keep them. This, in my opinion, leaves a bitter taste in True mixed martial arts fans mouths. I am sure it sucks to lose or have embarrassing fights on your record, but there are such things as class and dignity, in which fighters like Jamie Varner have lost. The more fighters bash each other, the more this wonderful sport that we love turns into the WWE.
Martial arts have always been a class above the rest when it comes to opponent respect, but I fear we are straying away from it just to boost some ratings or stay in the money. I would rather have a loyal fan base due to being humble like Chuck Liddell, than having deep pockets and a bad rep like Tito Ortiz. Even blasting out that the other fighter sucks because they used grappling or BJJ to end the fight as an easy way out. I hope more examples like Ben Henderson, Nathan Marquardt, Chuck Liddell, and Vitor Bellfort arise and stay mature and full of class win lose or draw. If not, our interest in the sport will dissipate and the MMA fan base will be the laughing stock of sports Organizations worldwide.
Here are a few examples of recent bad talk;
Tito Ortiz “I was fighting with a bad/broken/fractured _______ and couldn’t do my best”
Jay Silva “He was a bitch for saying he was going to stand with me, then taking me down”
Anthony Rumble Johnson“I was getting the better of him in that fight that’s why he bitched out and rushed a takedown”
Chael Sonnen
“I’ll tell you. People don’t know what UFC stands for. The athletes are forgetting. It’s the F that’s confusing everybody. Some guy’s think this is the Ultimate Mitt-Hitting Championships, they think it’s the Ultimate High-Altitude-Training Championships, the Ultimate Let-Me-Go-Away-In-Seclusion-And-Eat-All-The-Right-Food-For-30-Days Championships. This is the Ultimate FIGHTING Championship. Now while these guys are out there swinging a sledgehammer and flipping a tire around, I’m throwing fists at a partner’s head, neck and chest. I’m fighting in practice everyday.”
“Women belong in the kitchen not the cage”
“I would imagine who knows what Anderson’s doing. At the end of the day, who cares? If he wants to leave the division, leave the sport, who cares. Beat it, nobody tunes in to watch him anyways, and his little fake ‘I don’t speak English. You want me to let you in on a secret, Anderson Silva speaks perfect English. He just has such a low amount of respect for you and all the rest of the media that he pretends he doesn’t. I’ve had conversations with Anderson Silva in perfect English, and on top of that he’s so boring to listen to that he and his rocket scientist manager, Ed Soares, who is also about as exciting as watching grass grow, have decided that Ed is better on the mic than Anderson, so just let Ed do the talking.”"
“It’s quite ironic that all the media comes on and talks about how great this guy is for reasons that are completely un-understandable to me. How great Anderson Silva is, and all of us fighters are in the back going, ‘jeez, they’re out there massaging his ego, Anderson hates them so much, he pretends he can’t understand them. That guy’s no more the top fighter out there than Bigfoot is roaming the woods. That is an absolute myth, and all these guys can buy into it, but there’s a young man out in Portland, Ore., that is not signing up on that bandwagon. If Anderson ever signed to fight me, which is highly unlikely, he’ll be getting a verbal beating like you’ve never seen. And his language barrier won’t be the point of interest.”
“Sorry GSP but your cheap and scared”
“I believe I can beat any man god puts in front of me”
Jamie Varner
“I came to fight, He came to grapple”
“I came to box he came to kick box”
All coming after he shot for takedowns and had sub attempts in his fight.
Not including Tito Ortiz (Bad seed) do you think that this talk is bad for MMA and bring it a step closer to the WWE? We want to hear your opinion on this matter.
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Honor & Respect are definitely pillars when it comes to martial arts, but a lot of people who are in mma do not have a traditional martial arts background. Some of them just want to be fighters and are people who come from rough neighborhoods and want to fight. They don’t care, they just like fighting or picking fights. Some people do come from good camps where there’s a level of respect and they may or may not be from a bjj, karate, tae kwon do, kung fu, judo background. Some camps are just fight clubs, where they’re there to learn how to fight. They may have the discipline to fight, but not to keep their mouth shut. To stay in the spotlight and continue having people talk about them, you’ll have your chatterboxes. Most people like a the humble good guy to win, but in order for that to happen you need a villain. Everyone who trains is an ambassador to the sport and everyone who is unfamiliar to mma will judge one person as how everyone is like. Sometimes we need villains, but really everyone should shut up and put their skills to the test.