MMA journalist, analyst, and radio host Luke Thomas appeared recently on SB Nation's The Insiders interview series, and argued that he and other MMA media members praise fighters because they collectively have a guilty conscience about the unfortunate lot of fighters in the sport..
“You have to fundamentally accept everyone, from manager to gatekeepers at the state commissions, promoters, to virtually everyone - they have the upper hand on fighters in almost every way,” said Thomas, as transcribed by Shakiel Mahjouri for BE. “We pay a lot of lip service [to fighters] and we do this dance to them and we exalt them. We exalt them with our words because I think we all know we have a guilty conscience for the way they are treated.“
“If you’re going to cover issues of substance, you have to operate under the context of what the reality tells you. And the reality tells you that the fighters are uniquely disadvantaged in virtually every case. If you accept that as your driving principal of coverage, that’ll take care of the problem in most cases.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IcrK6_I-dak&feature=emb_title
0:41 - Most frustrating point to get across
4:11 - First impressions of Brian Campbell
5:48 - Creativity in MMA media
8:00 - UFC vs. fans vs. media
12:12 - How to help support fighters
19:51 - Departure from MMA Fighting
23:57 - The name “Bloody Elbow”
25:52 - Disagreements with Chael Sonnen, Brendan Schaub
28:26 - Making amends with Forrest Griffin
29:55 - Guilty pleasures
32:40 - Ranking Luke Thomas’ catchphrases
34:25 - Foreign Film recommendations
40:12 - Luke Thomas roasts Shak and The Insiders