This is what former Strikeforce light heavyweight champion Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal had to say about MMA fight fans to Pro MMA Radio:
I love the sport, but I don’t like the culture. There’s a lot of fans that aren’t educated and they don’t care to get educated, they’re stupid, man.
Good fighters…when they lose? All of the sudden they’re cans. Look at Fedor. He went undefeated for how many years and all of the sudden he lost a few fights and he’s a can, he sucks. You know what I’m saying? C’mon, man.
When Michael Jordan signed with the Wizards, did he suck? When Ali got beat by Trevor Berbick, did he suck?
A lot of these MMA fans, they don’t understand any other sport. Ask them to name five boxing champions, they probably could name none. Name five top-level kick boxers, they probably can’t name none. Name three top international wrestlers. They couldn’t name none.
They don’t take time to research top-level stuff. They just listen to what the announcers say and don’t take the time to research.
I think it’s downright impudent of Lawal to suggest fight fans are uneducated and stupid. The fans are the ones who dig deep down in their pockets to ensure fighters like Mo Lawal can make a living and continue to live a lifestyle they’ve all too often become accustomed to.
PPV buy rates, endorsements and remuneration checks would be non-existent without the fan base. So for someone like Lawal whose mainstay is fighting, his remarks were preposterous and nonsensical, to say the least.
It’s the lack of respect and sudden acquisition of wealth inherent in some fighters like Lawal that gives him the effrontery to make such a statement.
In a nutshell, Lawal is biting the hands that feed him. Lawal’s outburst might be construed as one suffering from an acute dose of amnesia.
I know most hardcore fans will acknowledge what fighters like Fedor Emelianenko have achieved in the sport, but it’s still their right to blow hot and cold. That’s show business.
The casual fan won’t be coerced into researching about a fighter or MMA in general, and neither will the most ardent fan. They will do that at their own behest.
Naming five boxing champions, five top-level kick boxers and three top wrestlers doesn’t and won’t make a fan an authority on the aforementioned sports and the same applies to MMA.
I would go so far as to say that many MMA purists have more of an understanding of the melting pot, which is mixed martial arts, than Lawal himself. Just because a fighter competes in a sport doesn’t make him/her an expert in that field.
MMA is an ever-growing sport; maybe in time fight fans will do in-depth researches on the sport as a whole, and maybe they won’t, but that’s their prerogative.
Lawal should remember: There are a myriad of sports that a fight fan can follow and subsidize with their hard-earned cash. Being knowledgeable in one and not in the other doesn’t make a fan unlettered or asinine.
In regards to MMA: Not having a vast knowledge of the sport doesn’t imply a fan is uneducated or stupid.
On a more personal note, I suggest that Lawal should concentrate on his upcoming clash with Roger Gracie and hope he gets a result.
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