The brawl between Don Frye and Sonny Westbrook generated a literally stupid number of arguments. Frye, 41 at the time, is an MMA legend. The fight with Yoshihiro Takayama alone makes Frye immortal, and that was just one of 31 fights in a UFC Hall of Fame career.
The Samoa-born Westbrook, who was significantly older, provides security for the reality television series Dog The Bounty Hunter, and is a respected, even beloved trainer at Kona Boxing Club in Kailua, Oahu, Hawai’i.
The scrap took place at the Cow Palace Arena and Event Center, in Daly City, California, in 2007. There are competing narratives about what happened, and this was reportedly one of two fights between the pair that night. The cause of the brawl(s) is also a matter of some dispute. To make even a modicum of sense of what transpired, it helps to know the characters.
Frye is wearing a black shirt and jeans. Westbrook is wearing a black and white top with tracksuit bottoms. In the white tank top is Leland Chapman, a Dog The Bounty Hunter cast member, and long-time friend and student of Westbrook.
What Happened
As the video opens Westbrook is throwing a lead right against a retreating Frye. Then, whether because of a Frye strike obscured by onlookers or due to a slip, Westbrook goes prone. Leland appears to want to stop what’s happening.
Westbrook comes off the floor punching in bunches which Frye tries to avoid, with mixed results. In the midst of the chaos, Westrook lands a clean straight left that drops Frye.
A number of onlookers intervene and separate the pair. Both appear eager to continue to engage, Frye even more so. But cooler heads prevail. The whole thing lasts just seconds.
The Lesson
The altercation was hyped as a battle between MMA and boxing, with boxing proving superior. Then misguided MMA fans retorted with a variety of excuses, including:
•Frye won, as he got the first knockdown and then was held;
•Frye was sucker-punched;
•Frye was hit in the back of the head (something apparently prohibited in street fights);
•Frye was held by others;
•Frye slipped, and etc.
The entire premise of the argument is nonsensical. Westbrook had a storied amateur boxing career, but was just 1-0 as a pro. By contrast, years prior to starting MMA in 1996, Frye went 2-5-1 as a pro. And Westbrook has worked with a number of MMA fighters, including K.J. Noons.
The real lesson here is that the single most effective thing anyone can do from a self-defense perspective, is to avoid places with drunk people. Frye conceded in a recent interview that he was drunk. He was also likely on pain pills.
Frye has embraced sobriety, after struggling for years with addictions, and even contemplating suicide. The lesson here is not that boxing is better than MMA for street fights, it’s that you shouldn’t fight drunk.