Your Majesty, in fairness, Paul Daley appears to have improved as a fighter and as a person since that UFC 113 incident on May 8, 2010. He is on a five-fight winning streak (Paul Daley, Ricco Rodriguez Earn Important Wins at BAMMA 5) and has observed sportsmanlike conduct hence.
Let it not be forgotten also that 24 hours after that fight which he lost by unanimous decision, Daley apologized “to the UFC and the Athletic Commission for what I've done as well as the fans and sponsors that support me. I would also like to offer my sincerest apologies to (opponent) Josh Koscheck who did not deserve the cheap shot I threw.”
He may have inadvertently forgotten to apologize to Your Majesty, but his subsequent good behavior proves that he truly deserves our forgiveness.
Nevertheless, the sad state of affairs remains that the ignominious image of his post-fight sucker punch won't blur easily in the minds of MMA fans. In today's Information Age, anyone interested can click and watch its video anytime on select websites.
Worse, his very own compatriot added another video-immortalized post-fight scene of infamy inside the Octagon last Saturday night in Sydney: The Count himself, Michael Bisping, telling the beaten Jorge Rivera after the stoppage to “Go home, loser” (or something to that effect) and spitting in the latter's direction in UFC 127.
“In fairness,” Bisping, just like Daley, apologized afterward.
I chose not to dwell on Bisping's illegal knee strike during the fight, as I find it presumptuous (though very tempting) to assert that it was intentional all along. Our featured columnist, James Ryan, already wrote a persuasively excellent piece on that (UFC 127 Results: Disrespectful Michael Bisping Spits, Illegal Knee to Embarrass UFC Fans).
Just the same, Your Majesty, while it's true that both of these fighters have apologized for their actions, it should really be a conscious and conscientious effort on their part to be dignified at all times. Not necessarily because they are aspiring for knighthood (are they?), or that Your Majesty is an MMA fan (is Your Majesty?)—it is because they are England's top MMA ambassadors, whether they like it or not.
And yes, we also duly acknowledge that having class must start with His Majesty the King himself, The Great MMA Promoter who habitually cusses.
UFC 127: Penn vs. Fitch Results, News and More
Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com
No comments:
Post a Comment