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Sportsmanship in Local MMA

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“It’s not a fight for me, it’s a sport.” – Bobby Reardanz

I’m not a man of many sports, but I am an admirer of sportsmanship.  We don’t get to see enough of it through main stream media.   With the media giving their attention to the fighters who talk trash and speak the loudest, it’s the humble and respectful fighters who get left behind.  The world does not get to see good sportsmanship in MMA nearly enough.  This could possibly play a factor in the misunderstanding of the sport as a whole.

Take season 12 of The Ultimate Fighter for example.  The coaches were Josh Koscheck, who’s one of the most disrespectful people in the sport, and George St. Pierre, probably the most honorable athletes in mixed martial arts.  The commercials gave Koscheck all the attention for his antics but it was GSP and his values that were the big winner of season 12.

Adam Ward vs Lydell Rhodes

Ward (white shorts) hugs Rhodes after their Bout

In a recent interview with GSP’s Tri-Star training partner Ivan Menjivar on the Verbal Submission radio show, Ivan had plenty to say about respect in MMA.  ”The fans love stuff like that (trash talk) but it’s not natural to me to get up face to face with a guy and touch his nose to my face.  It’s not me.  For me I want to go there, be professional, have a good show with you.  After the fight we can go hang out together, get a drink together.  I don’t fight you because I hate you, no.  I fight because I’m a professional.  Fighting is a beautiful art.  I do my show in the fight, spinning kicks and back elbows, that’s my show.  My opponents have a family like me.  They do the sport because they love the sport, just like me.  We do it for the same reasons so I respect them just like I want them to respect me.

We are used to seeing more sportsmanship in the local MMA scene than we are on the big screen.  Recently we were covering a local MMA event Hoosier Fight Club 6 and witnessed a couple great examples of sportsmanship.  The first came about half way through the event after a match between Adam Ward and Lydell Rhodes.  After 2 rounds of non-stop technical action the fight was ended with a Triangle Choke by Adam Ward forcing Lydell Rhodes to tap at 4:02 of the second round.  Immediately after referee Jeff Mallott stopped the bout, Rhodes sat up in disbelief.  He was then met by a victorious and gracious Ward, who proceeded to hug his opponent and offer up a few words of encouragement.

“I told him that it was a great fight,” said the victorious Ward.  ”I was too out of breath to say anything poetic, but Lydell Rhodes was one of the toughest fights I’ve ever had.”

Bobby Reardamnz and Andy Main kneel for a post fight prayer.

Bobby Reardamnz and Andy Main kneel for a post fight prayer.

Suitably the next act of sportsmanship came at the end of the evening after the main event. Following a magnificent display of hands, submission attempts and submission defense, there came a crowd-moving display of sportsmanship that would have been a tough act to follow.  Bobby “The Believer” Reardanz and Andy Main went to the center of the cage for a post fight prayer.

We caught up with “The Believer” to ask him if the prayer together was planned, and he had this to say.  “No, it wasn’t planned.  I went over to him and congratulated him on his win and he replied with, ‘you’re amazing and have amazing faith.’”

Reardanz went on to say he expressed to Main that he usually prays in the center of the cage, and invited him to join in.  Main said “absolutely” and didn’t hesitate to kneel and pray as Reardanz took lead in the prayer. “Not only did I say one, but after I said ‘amen’, he said that he wanted to say one too, and did.  It was amazing. Having Andy Main go to the center of the cage and pray with me was well worth having a loss.”

We can only hope moving forward that the fans appreciate honorable moments like this as much as they do Chael Sonnen’s trash talk.


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