Keep Talking, Fighters

One of the really unfortunate aspects of Frank Mir’s comments about his supposed desire to kill Brock Lesnar in the cage is that there seems to be a feeling among many that fighters should keep their mouths shut, at least to a certain extent.  Whether detractors say it or not, when someone is raked over the coals (even deservedly) for a comment like Mir’s, it makes everyone else watch what they say a little bit more.  I wonder if one day we will be remembering fondly the days when fighters would speak openly instead of resorting to the PR-speak that makes other athletes so dull nowadays.

Case in point: a relatively slow news week has been bolstered by England’s Dan Hardy, who may not have much of a chance to beat Georges St. Pierre, but can talk with the best of them.  MMAScoops.com got a number of great quotes from Hardy about everyone but St. Pierre, including his good buddy Josh Koscheck and the rest of the American Kickboxing Academy welterweights.

About Koscheck, Hardy said, “British fans will know Koscheck as the Fraggle-haired guy who got sparked out in one round in London a year ago, only to take his loss out on an innocent chair backstage, scoring a split decision points win over the unsuspecting piece of furniture.”  He also said Kos would be getting KO’ed by Paul Daley, and talked about him having “many one-sided losses on his record”.

Hardy also said that AKA’s fighters “aren’t really a team”, citing Koscheck’s accidental dis of teammate Mike Swick when he said Hardy hadn’t beaten anybody.  He believes there is a lack of loyalty in the gym, which is why “Fitch isn’t improving and Swick will never fight for a title.”  Ouch.

He even found time to go off on Nate Marquardt, who questioned the validity of Hardy’s title shot, as well.  “But all I can say is if I don’t curl up into a ball and get blasted in one round, I’ll do better than he did in his title shot against Anderson Silva. I’ve won four UFC bouts to get here, not-so-great Nate had three, none of which were against world-beaters,” Hardy said.

Now, we can go on and on about whether Hardy is crazy, or whether he’s lining himself up for a couple of big-time beatdowns by talking this way.  One thing is for sure, though: he’s entertaining.  Being entertaining, as anyone who has one a UFC bonus for Fight of the Night can attest to, is important these days.  Being entertaining gains you fans, and having fans gains you big money fights and keeps you in the UFC for much longer than being another anonymous fighter.

For the fans, it is truly a win-win situation.  If you were on the fence about St. Pierre-Hardy, maybe these comments will get you to care about who wins after all.  Hardy has annoyed a few people, but he has also unquestionably gained some fans with his candid and amusing style of running down his detractors.

Not to mention, we can learn a lot about what fighters are all about through these interviews and the feuds and situations that inevitably develop.  Take Brock Lesnar, for example.  Justifiably thought by many to be a bit of a jerk after his antics during and after fights with Heath Herring and Frank Mir, we saw a different side of Lesnar when he was interviewed on KFAN recently.  In the interview, he passed up the opportunity to get angry and fire back at Mir, and instead laughed off the situation and cracked some jokes about his rival, winning support from many fans as a result.  With interviews like this, roles can reverse entirely, as Mir can become the possessed weirdo, while Lesnar becomes the relatable guy who doesn’t understand what the weirdo’s problem is.

Would we have ever seen this side of things if Mir and Lesnar alike had restrained themselves to more politically-correct interactions with the media?  Of course not.

Purists may say, “So what?  It’s the fights that matter.”  However, they overlook the human element of all of this.  While fight fans will find just about any fight watchable, there is a reason why people line up to buy a ticket to the UFC at a price of over ten times the amount of a seat at a local show that they passed up the opportunity to attend.  Believe it or not, it’s not just about the skill of the fighters, too…otherwise, more fans would be watching Dream, Sengoku, and other high-level organizations with fighters that are anonymous to all but hardcore fans.

The reason why fans love the UFC is because they know the fighters, and therefore they care about the outcomes.  If you think Chuck Liddell has no business main eventing a pay-per-view because he’s no longer a top light heavyweight, you are missing the point.  Fans care about Chuck the person, which makes them care much more about a Liddell fight than many fights that actually may rearrange the rankings a bit.

See, without having fighters with personalities, fans won’t care.  If fans don’t have a reason to care, fans don’t have a reason to watch.  Sure, title fights and great matchups will always draw money, but some of the biggest fights in MMA history have been “grudge matches”, for example.  Like it or not, this sport has a major edge on other sports because the athletes are real.  It is the only major sport where the average athlete is not only able to speak their mind, but is also a person to whom fans can actually relate.

Sure,  you may get a quote like Mir’s every now and then.  But if it keeps the fans buying tickets, allows us to have characters like Hardy and gives us a new side of fighters like Lesnar, isn’t it worth it?  Aren’t the benefits much more than the costs, which are mostly hypothetical, anyway?  For the sport’s sake, let’s hope that the fighters keep speaking their minds for years to come.

E-Mail Jon Hartley

Tags: AKA, American Kickboxing Academy, Brock Lesnar, Dan Hardy, Frank Mir, Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Mike Swick, UFC