UnderGround Forum >> White fed up with fighters turning down bouts

GeraldHares - 

SinCityHustler - 

GeraldHares - 

Take it from a fighter that in some cases turning down fights is not a cowardly thing. Unless you are already in shape - you can't expect a guy to risk his career on a short notice bout when he's not prepared. THE RISK OUTWEIGH THE REWARD and we have all seen cases of guys being "cut" or ruined by short notice fights. The only benefit for winning a short notice fight is having extra money in your bank account & advancing in the division. The risk....well losing is terrible, because regardless if your 3-0 or 0-3 no one is safe. You get half your money, possibly injured, suspended, embarrased, and could lose your job in your next bout with a loss (some guys have a clause where they can't be cut after a short notice bout) So to tell a guy your a fighter - you should always be ready to fight comes from people who have never competed at that level. Try telling a Doctor to alway be prepared to perform surgery and he will probably tell you to kiss his ass. Anything competitive at such a high level needs the proper preparation & confidence to go in there. Damn the loss, you could be seriously injured by going in there not %100. The next time you decide to tell a fighter to "take a fight" try being locked in a cage with another man for 15 minutes where his tank is full and yours is half empty & see what happens.

Oh yea - on the other hand - if your in shape and you don't take a fight - then that is a true example of BITCHASSNESS! I would never turn down a fight that I felt I was physically/mentally ready for.

Agree with this post and I'll add a couple of things and ask a couple of questions.  First of all, shouldn't the fighter be in shape and although not at peak shape, in fight shape none the less in case his name gets called up?   I think the fighter should want to be in shape and live that lifestyle, as many do.  Many of the short notice fights are at least a month notice if not longer and in the event that the fight is closer, generally guys are being asked to step in that are training for other fights anyways.  I don't see this as a big problem, where others are saying they need the full camp in order to get ready for the specific opponennt.  But if the specific opponent doesn't have additional time to get ready either, that seems like a wash to me.  Perhaps I'm biased because I'm from an era where you didn't get months to prepare for your fight, rather often times you found out who you were fighting at the fighter meeting the day prior to the fight or the day of.  It was your responsibility to show up in shape, ready to go.  thecobra here Gerald, thanks for the reply and hope to see you in the big show soon.  

 

Fighting is not like a team sport - where you compete every weekend or every few days. Who cares if the Lakers lose 3 games in a row or the Saints are 0-4 - they only care about peaking at the right time & getting to the playoffs. In MMA every fight is the playoffs - with that being said - we are not ready for this type of competition all the time - it takes 6-8 weeks of preperation. I couldn't imagine a guy taking a 5 round fight out of shape. He could possible die from exaustion competing against the best in the world. I've taken my share fair of short notice bouts, but only because  I was training for another fight. 

Other than that it comes to loyalty - how can you expect fighters to take short notice bouts to "help" the organization when they are quick to shit on your for losing, not making weight, or looking bad. Fighters like me take short notice fight to hopefully impress our boss & build some credit. In my case I took a few short notice fights - won all by knockout, made it on ESPN, 2-KOTN awards, but I took one boring ass whoopin and I was gone. Life isn't fait but I'm not a fucking race horse that you shoot when his leg is broken. I'm a man with a family to feed. Does that cross my mind when I'm losing a fight? Yes, but I did give it everything I had - When the world of MMA stops worrying about peoples "jobs" then fighters will commit more. A 6-fight contract shoud be six damn fights regardless of how you do. Unless you fail a drug test, cheat, or violate some rules. Having a bad fight should not be punished harder than a guy who uses horse piss to pass a drug test.

Does that answer your question?

If Dana practiced what he preached, he would have stepped up and fought Ortiz at 106 when Coleman had to withdraw from the fight. 

Jacinto - You can look at his picture on the UG news page and it says it all. He is such a wannabe fighter, egomaniac that him and his wife probably both call out his name during sex.

Don't be silly, he doesnt like that Jon Fitch laying shit, when him and his ol' lady go at it, they go for fight of the night! 

Kenso - 

MarcusRenatoBrownBelt - Dana White was a good boxer. He did not have the physical talent to compete and be the best, so he got out of the sport that he loved. It was an admirable decision on Mr. White's part. Now, Dana White uses his fight knowledge and his boxing past and applies it to MMA. It's great that the fighters have another fighter who has been in the ring and knows what it feels like to hit and get hit.

if anyone can criticize a fighter for not taking a shor notice fight, it is Dana White. What is wrong with these fighters nowadays? They need to just hand over their career path to Dana White. Just put it all in his hands. He is the President and Leader of the UFC. He won't do anything to harm you . Stepping up worked great for Ben Saunders and DeMarques Johnson. Yeah, they were cut, but Mr. White will bring them back when the time is right.

Hi Dana!

Samjackson - I don't claim to know a lot about business, and won't offer opinions on it. I just think that much like benches in other sports there should be some guys put on standby for when this happens. Put a guy on stand by, and pay him the show up fee/half pay. This would give you some room in my view, but this is a staffing opinion not a real business one. This way you have a guy ready, and if he's not needed he still gets paid. You would have guys jumping at the chance to be on that list.

Nate 'Rock' Quarry - As a fighter I never said no to any fight put in front of me, as long as I had a full training camp and time to train. It seems to me that Dana is complaining about fighters not taking last minute fights.
What's the worst that could happen?
Well, you lose half of your years income because you're not in shape and you lose the fight. Your opponent has been training for 3 solid months, peaking at just the right day to be an explosive warrior that can go for a full 15 minutes. What's the saying? "Lack of conditioning makes cowards of us all." Something like that.
So you lose a fight you might have won. You lose half your income, sponsors dry up, your next fight your on the undercard, so you lose half of your sponsorship money as well.
Then there's the injury factor. We fighters becoming better strikers we're seeing more and more six month suspensions. That's as soon as a bone breaks. Six months off. Then you add in another 3 month training camp, you don't work for 9 months. We're now seeing more and more orbital floor fractures, an elbow landing from on top. Or even in the case of Big Nog, his arm was broken. That was 9 months off there.
A fighter's job is to fight. Oh yeah, and win. Well, if you want to be successful and fight a long time. As I say over and over, you're not defending your village from marauders. This isn't someone breaking into your house in the middle of the night. This is a SPORTING event. As soon as money is involved and people are building their future off of it, they need to do what is in their best interest.
The UFC is a promotion. Their job is to make money. If they don't make money they go out of business.
Someone gave me some advice recently I wish I would have gotten years ago. "Their job is to make money. Your job is to not be stupid." If you don't remember that you will have a very short career and you will be very broke at the end of it.

Nice to get an inside prespective on this. 

Nate 'Rock' Quarry - As a fighter I never said no to any fight put in front of me, as long as I had a full training camp and time to train. It seems to me that Dana is complaining about fighters not taking last minute fights.
What's the worst that could happen?
Well, you lose half of your years income because you're not in shape and you lose the fight. Your opponent has been training for 3 solid months, peaking at just the right day to be an explosive warrior that can go for a full 15 minutes. What's the saying? "Lack of conditioning makes cowards of us all." Something like that.
So you lose a fight you might have won. You lose half your income, sponsors dry up, your next fight your on the undercard, so you lose half of your sponsorship money as well.
Then there's the injury factor. We fighters becoming better strikers we're seeing more and more six month suspensions. That's as soon as a bone breaks. Six months off. Then you add in another 3 month training camp, you don't work for 9 months. We're now seeing more and more orbital floor fractures, an elbow landing from on top. Or even in the case of Big Nog, his arm was broken. That was 9 months off there.
A fighter's job is to fight. Oh yeah, and win. Well, if you want to be successful and fight a long time. As I say over and over, you're not defending your village from marauders. This isn't someone breaking into your house in the middle of the night. This is a SPORTING event. As soon as money is involved and people are building their future off of it, they need to do what is in their best interest.
The UFC is a promotion. Their job is to make money. If they don't make money they go out of business.
Someone gave me some advice recently I wish I would have gotten years ago. "Their job is to make money. Your job is to not be stupid." If you don't remember that you will have a very short career and you will be very broke at the end of it.

Nate 'Rock' Quarry - As a fighter I never said no to any fight put in front of me, as long as I had a full training camp and time to train. It seems to me that Dana is complaining about fighters not taking last minute fights.
What's the worst that could happen?
Well, you lose half of your years income because you're not in shape and you lose the fight. Your opponent has been training for 3 solid months, peaking at just the right day to be an explosive warrior that can go for a full 15 minutes. What's the saying? "Lack of conditioning makes cowards of us all." Something like that.
So you lose a fight you might have won. You lose half your income, sponsors dry up, your next fight your on the undercard, so you lose half of your sponsorship money as well.
Then there's the injury factor. We fighters becoming better strikers we're seeing more and more six month suspensions. That's as soon as a bone breaks. Six months off. Then you add in another 3 month training camp, you don't work for 9 months. We're now seeing more and more orbital floor fractures, an elbow landing from on top. Or even in the case of Big Nog, his arm was broken. That was 9 months off there.
A fighter's job is to fight. Oh yeah, and win. Well, if you want to be successful and fight a long time. As I say over and over, you're not defending your village from marauders. This isn't someone breaking into your house in the middle of the night. This is a SPORTING event. As soon as money is involved and people are building their future off of it, they need to do what is in their best interest.
The UFC is a promotion. Their job is to make money. If they don't make money they go out of business.
Someone gave me some advice recently I wish I would have gotten years ago. "Their job is to make money. Your job is to not be stupid." If you don't remember that you will have a very short career and you will be very broke at the end of it.

dc1000 - didnt read the whole thing

guys can't take fights on short notice because they are cycling PEDS

WWETopTeam - I'm fed up with Promoters Offering Short Notice Fights To Fighters.... Stacking the Deck in Favor of Whoever it is they would like to promote.

Thank You For Sharing your Opinion on this Subject Matter.....it is Great To Hear Different Thought on the Topic.

Ludelow - 

dc1000 - didnt read the whole thing

guys can't take fights on short notice because they are cycling PEDS

i got VTFD's for that