While we're on the
subject of UFC 167 . . .
It's been a while
since I've been impressed with Rory MacDonald. The last time I
remember liking him was when he suplexed Nate Diaz through the mat
three times. But since then?
I mean, I know that
MMA guys are going to, as a group, have some tough guy nicknames.
How many are called something-something assassin? But the moment I
cooled on MacDonald was when he started calling himself “Ares”.
I find it hard to
say that MMA fighters oughtta research their silly superhero
nicknames, but Ares . . . ? Really?
The Greeks had a
number of war gods . . . well, almost all of them, including
Aphrodite, had a war aspect. But the least respected of the
Olympians was, without a doubt, Ares. Generally, when he appeared at
all in Greek mythology, it was to be humiliated. But if you were
serious about war, you were probably going to be into Zeus and
Athena, maybe Apollo or Hermes. Ares was a pig, brutal and stupid, a
bully who ran away if people confronted him. One of his ceremonies
was, and I kid you not, involved puppy killing. It's kind of hard to
get into a dude whose actual religious ceremonies involved raising a
puppy for a year and then killing it. What a asshole.
So, anyone so
arrogant to want to call themselves literally a god and then so
ignorant as to choose
Arex is going to rub me the
wrong way. Then he started walking around in suits and thinking he
deserved a title because he was all but crowned long before he got a
title shot. He started to come off as a used car salesman,
superficially nice but coated in a thin film of slime.
Which is to say,
thank you, Ruthless Robbie Lawler. It is good to see you returned to
top contention. ATT has been good to you, clearly, balancing your
aggression with better control and technique. I totally want to see
a title eliminator between Robbie Lawler and Matt Brown. I'm not
sure I'd be on Lawler's side because I have something of a man crush
on Matt Brown, but it would probably be a hell of a fight.
On the other side
of things, I'm still pretty neutral about Johny Hendricks. Sometimes
he comes off as really down-to-earth and humble. Other times? Not
so much. He recently said that if GSP couldn't handle the pressure
of being champion that he should retire and give up the belt.
Well, duh. This
whole business with GSP people have been saying he can't quit
fighting and keep the belt. It is interesting to note that at no
point did GSP say that's what he intended. He said, instead, that he
was having a hard time and was stepping back from fighting. Clearly,
if he stays away too long, yes, he should be stripped of the belt.
We should also bear in mind that Dominick Cruz was out two
years and didn't have his belt taken from him. (FWIW, I'm
against that. I more or less feel that any champion who doesn't
fight for more than a year, whatever the cause, should have the belt
taken.)
At the same time,
everyone has been casting what's wrong with GSP in
psychological terms, which is weird since GSP
hasn't said exactly what is going on, except that it's
personal. Medical issues are personal, for
instance. Indeed, I strongly suspect that GSP's problem is primarily
physical, that he's got a bad knee that is probably limiting his
training and explosiveness in fights – which is why he's getting
hit so much, lately, I think.
But here's the
thing, Johny, GSP owes you precisely nothing. He didn't make the
decision, after all. He did what he was supposed to do – he showed
up for the fight and he fought a tough fight. Just because you and
Dana don't like the decision doesn't mean that GSP owes anything to
you, not the least little bit. He is well past the point of needing
to prove anything to anyone, given that he's the UFC's biggest draw,
their winningest fighter with the longest current winning streak and
is without doubt the best welterweight in the organization's history.
For you to say anything about GSP is fucking arrogant bullshit that
makes me hope that GSP spurns you and you take another fight and
lose, slide into depression and doubt and get booted from the UFC.
Then you'll take a spot in the World Series of Fighting and get
knocked out in three fights in a row and retire to Texas in shame and
defeat. Your lack of interest in the personal well-being of one of
the greatest fighters who has ever lived is, frankly, disgusting and
shameful and it makes an absolute mockery of your vocal Christianity.
It makes it hard to like you, moves your confidence into arrogance
and makes me wish for your defeat and, indeed, humiliation. Just
saying.
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