I was watching the UFC® this weekend, well to be fair, I was watching the free prelims on Spike. Anyway, the fights were pretty good without a lot of “hugging”, and I was having a great time – until the Palhares fight.
It started off fine, and his opponent slipped (never fight on the logo!) and he dove in and took advantage of his superior ground game. Still alright. Palhares gets a heel hook on, which is a legal lock, and forces his opponent to tap. Still fine…but he won’t let go. The Ref comes sliding in from off screen (one of the things that makes the UFC® Refs great is their desire to protect the fighters), and signals that the fight is over. Still Palhares won’t let go. Then he gets pulled off by the Ref, finally, but it’s too late. He’s blown his opponent’s knee out. Then Palhares jumps around like a kid with too much sugar, celebrating his “win”, and flexing like he won the Arnold Classics.
This left a sour taste in my mouth for a lot of reasons. Not because someone got hurt – it’s a sport of violence, people get hurt. I have NO problem with accidental injuries, or even guys that refuse to tap getting injured for being dumb (Mir vs Silvia anyone?). The difference is that this guy HAD TAPPED, and the Ref had signaled a win. Palhares weak excuse was that he didn’t know. Really? Was it the tapping out that had him confused, or the Ref slapping his arm saying it’s over? If your English is that bad, stay home.
I hope Dana White bans Palhares from UFC® for life. Seriously, there is no room in the sport for bullies (or morons, if he wants to insist it wasn’t on purpose).
I hate a negative tone at the end of a post, so lets explore the difference between a fighter (like Palhares, or Hardy) and a Martial Artist. Fighters are basically good at one thing – fighting. They don’t have to be good guys, or role models, or smart (beyond the ability to be effective). Martial Artists on the other hand (like Georges St-Pierre) have to be so much more…Martial Arts certainly started with fighting, but to be a Martial Artist you do need to be a good guy, and a positive role model, and you have to want to understand Martial Arts.
Watch the post fight interview from UFC® 111 – you’ll see a humble GSP, talking about how he was unhappy with the way he won, wanting his performance to always be better.
I think, at least to me, that’s the essence of the difference – a fighter always wants to be better than the other guy; a martial artist always wants to be better than himself.
Mr J
