Ok, so Tito allegedly fought Griffen knowing that he had partial tears of ligaments in his knee and a bulging disc in his back. I can understand the rational behind it. It was a big fight for the UFC and he didn't want to pull out last minute.
But now Dana is popping off about Tito pulling out of his fight with Ken in June or July and it got me to thinking...when does fighting hurt go from being courageous to just plain stupid? I mean, obviously Dana wants the fight to happen for 1 reason...$$$. But should making money supercede what's in the best interests of the fighters health and career wise?
Tito has just fought a tough fight with these injuries already so questioning his loyalty would be a little unreasonable. Questioning his sanity were he to fight again with the same injuries wouldn't be out of the question though. Should he really be expected to fight again a few months later before those injuries have a chance to heal? What could the long term ramifications of that be? When is enough enough? I'm just starting to get the feeling that the expectations placed on some of these fighters are becoming more and more unreasonable.
Tito obviously felt a lot of pressure not to pull out. If he bails on short notice he leaves the UFC hanging, his sponsors will be disappointed, and merchandising of his clothing line will suffer. There is a lot of pressure for him to show up and perform.
To his credit he showed up and gave 100%, when he probably should have dropped.
I worry this injury will sink his career. He's had knee trouble before. A bad knee can take away his hopes for a title shot.
You know Chuck will throw a lot of low kicks if they ever have a rematch... its not good.
1 - Professional versus amateur. In this case we are talking about pro's. Look what the "refuse to tap" mentality can do for a pro's career. On the other hand, no fights = no pay.
2 - The old line, "Are you hurt, or are you injured."
People need to work through pain, and everyone can picture that teammate or friend that develops a limp whenever they pussy out.
On the other hand, I am still paying for injuries that I made worse by being a "warrior" or stupid depending on the perspective.
My last two surgeries, hernia repair and ACL/Meniscus had really fast recoveries because I was smart.
I was at 100% quicker for those, but I am still dealing with the back injury that I ignored through college.
Depends on the injury. In Tito;s case I think its pussy ass - you could tell Shammy wasn't 100% in their previous Tito vs Shammy fight, but Shammy fought anyway.
I say unless Tito needs a wheel chair, get his ass in the cage.
You can fight through pain, and most fighters are usually banged up
come fight time. But if you have a serious injury that threatens your
health or livelyhood it would be stupid to risk it all on one fight.
Dana is pissed because he cares more about the UFC, than he cares for
the health of his employees. If Tito truly has a torn ACL, MCL, and
bulging disks in his back those are MAJOR injuries. And many athletes
have had to retire because of them.
I think it = Warrior. But I dont think that someone should be expected to fight hurt either. If they do, that's f'ing badass, but if not, it's their body. I mean really, if Tito badly messed up his knee fighting on it injured, it could have some serious long term effects.