“It’s rigged!”
“It’s fake!”
“The fighter threw the fight for money or fame.”
You know how much trouble you get in if anything is off or the fight is rigged in a professional fight, especially ones where huge money is involved? The FBI is all over this sport presently, if you’ve been paying attention. If someone’s going to rig a fight, 2026 would be the absolute dumbest time to do that.
It’s just REAL. And real outcomes aren’t always fun.
The stakes wouldn’t be so high and the sport so amazing if we all got the storybook ending we think we want. That’s what makes this sport great: the highs, the lows, and the unknowns.
Any fighter who gives it their all, steps into a fight turns their life around, to become the best version of themselves and to inspire others has my full respect.
It’s one of the hardest sports in the world and the most vulnerable. And to reach career heights and then come back after a 5, 10, or 17 year layoff takes balls most people don’t even know exist, especially when it’s not something you have to do but something you choose to do.
You wonder, “God, why did it have to go that way after all the sacrifice and hard work?!” But ultimately His will be done. Then you live, you learn, and you move forward.
The journey isn’t over, in a way it’s a whole new beginning. If you’re not failing, you’re not trying.
Respect.