Does a CAN Actually Make Money?

I know one fighter that is a little over .500 with about 20 fights. He barely trains for some of them, will fight anybody on short notice (often a weight class or more above him) and has never been stopped or subbed.

He basically likes to fight and doesn't fear anything, and I've heard he's actually popped a couple tabs of Ex before a fight just to see what it was like. He's completely unclassifiable and a tough dude and it's a free world...i wonder how good he could be if he trained full time.

"I've heard he's actually popped a couple tabs of Ex before a fight just to see what it was like"

well, what was it like?

I really wouldn't call anyone stepping into a cage, ring, etc. a can,
unless they are a shit talker who acts like they are something that they
aren't, or brags about it, then they could be called a can. Anyone else
who has the balls is ok by me, and I respect them for it. Fuck it,
everyone has their own agenda for doing it and most of them deserve
respect.

that's a lovely sentiment, but in the fight game, there are prospects, journeymen, contenders, champions, and cans. if you're not a young kid, and you're not particularly skilled, or amazingly athletic, you're a can. you're there for someone who's one of the other things to smash, and to look good doing it, so they can amass a following on their way towards title contention. i'm sorry if you think that's disrespectful, but the fight game is not a place for people with tender feelings.

^^^ What if they say they're an up and coming cage fighter?

cough*prospect*cough

unless they suck, in which case they're just an idiot.

dahosse, that was addressed to reeakshun, with respect to cans acting like something that they aren't. I've had the privilege of seeing lots of cans lately, and they usually take themselves too seriously.

Remember the Pride cans? Matsui, Otsuka, etc? Those guys each had a major upset or two and kept getting fights.

I don't like the term "can" because it's derogatory. Maybe journeyman or trialhorse is better. Some people need to classify everyone according to a caste system, but most of the guys that get in there are tough, dedicated, and yes, there are ones that clearly shouldn't be doing it.

Look on the databases.....a LOT of dudes just fight once and never again, even if they win. It's the guys that go 1-10 or 0-8 that make you wonder why they keep trying, but since it obviously doesn't affect them the way it would you or me, I don't see it much different than someone just obsessively playing a video game trying to beat it, and failing.

I used to think of some people as "cans" or whatever but having known fighters with losing records and how their bust their ass, and how I would rather have them in a dark alley with me than 99.9% of the people I know, it puts it in perspective for the simplistic term that it is. They are for the most part standup guys with character and committment. Why a guy keeps fighting after losing a bunch in a row is beyond me, but it's a free country and they are doing something few of us could ever have the cajones to pull off.

It's the dudes that show up blatantly out of shape and rob the fans of a competitive fight that you should take issue with. If you're gonna disrespect someone, start there...not the dude that is 8-14 and does his best, trains, bleeds, makes the sacrifices, but often comes up short despite giving it his best. That guy is the backbone of the sport and has been there to test himself, and let other fighters prove themselves so they could move up.

most of the local level shows i go to around the country id say damn near all of the card is made up of cans these days

a journeyman is a very specific term- it's a mid-card kind of guy who's honing his craft. he may not have the best record, but he has the possiblity to succeed at some point through application of effort.

a trialhorse is someone who's missed the mark, and is past his prime, but who's tough and skilled enough to make young up and comers work, or to derail a prospect who's being pushed, but who doesn't have the goods.

they're both different things than a can. a can is someone who'd been set up to lose, bottom line. a stepping-stone opponent, like a journeyman or trialhorse, is not necessarily a can, because there's some expectation that they might be able to pull off an upset.

if a can upsets a prospect, somebody fucked up during the process of making the match. they either overestimated their man, underestimated the can, or pushed their man too far, too soon.

watch you mouth talk cannon like that

I would say a "can" is similar to a giftwrap, someone that everyone except the "can" is aware that has no chance of winning.

No matter how big this sport gets there will always be somebody that just wants to fight, and as long as their are people there like that, up and comers will have some quick wins to get themselves some marketability.

I know of a journeyman who made more to come in and put over a big promoter's new star than the star got with win/show money a few months ago. He's no can by any means but he knew he had maybe a 10% chance of winning the fight. The difference between him and a can is they both know they're probably going to loose but he fights back and get's paid accordingly. A can flops and makes $100 or two. This dude still had a chance, tried to win, and ultimately served as the next step for the new star

lance havok- for sure. look at boxing. guys have got to know going into a boxing match that no matter how tough you are, or how big a punch you have, if you aren't good at the actual mechanics of boxing, you're going to hit a ceiling pretty fast.

the original question was whether being a can is an effective means of bringing in supplemental income, or whether it's for retards and people who need something to be proud of.

It's for retards is the point I was trying to make

I make a decent salary.

mark kerr anyone???? but then again he didn't use to be a scrub

"I know of a journeyman who made more to come in and put over a big promoter's new star than the star got with win/show money a few months ago."

If a can has good management and is fighting an up and comer he will usually get paid more for the fight than the "star".

If the "star" is looking for an easy pay day he doesn't get paid diddly because it's an 'opportunity' to make the big time.

That said he's not making a full time living at it.

Boxing is mature enough that most palooka's know what they are.

In MMA I'm guessing most guys are just having fun fighting and don't realize they are being set up to lose. So they don't get paid for it they way they should.

I think there are "cans" and there are "gatekeepers", cans don't make money but "gatekeepers" (ala gary goodridge in pride) i think can do very well