All Business

Reading this article by MMA NEWS, March 22, 2011 (http://www.bjpenn.com/profiles/blogs/jardine-i-will-support-rashad) I can't help but smile at the sound of the Jackson camp's turmoil. I bet Dana White is smiling since he has widely been quoted as being frustrated by camps refusing to fight one another.

Thursday, October 21, 2010 - by Damon Martin - MMAWeekly.com

While appearing on The Jim Rome Show on Thursday, White expanded his thoughts on the subject stating once again that he believes anyone in the sport should be willing to fight anyone else, because at the end of the day it's business not personal.

"The bottom line is, and the way that that's been in the UFC, it's been a camp thing. You'll find a couple of camps that are saying, 'oh no this guy's my friend, I'm not fighting him.' What? This isn't personal, this isn't, 'oh I hate him, I'm going to fight him.' You train, you work hard to be the best mixed martial artist you can be, and you're going out to compete against other mixed martial artists to prove you're the best," White said.

I agree with White, it's a business and as a fan, I would like to see the best fights and if the best fighters are in one camp then they should lace up and scrap.

Why is it harder for Mixed Martial Artist to compete with one another if they are teammates? When you compare this sport to other professional sports like football and basketball, a lot of the players have to play against friends and sometimes even family. So what is it about fighting that discourages these professional athletes from throwing down with friends or teammates?

1. Opportunity: In MMA, there can be only one champion and the opportunity to win is very slim. Not everyone who fights in the UFC will even sniff a title shot. So if you are pitted against a teammate, your success could be devastating for the career of your teammate, which I bet would put a definite strain on the relationship.
2. Trust: Trust with your trainer and training partners needs to be solid like titanium. If you hear all the praise heaped upon your teammate (Jon Jones) whose in the same weight class as yourself (Rashad Evans) how much are you going to believe your coach when he tells you that you can win. Without trust, it's hard to go the extra mile or believe in the game plan that was created.

In the end, I think Rashad is making the right choice and I hope this incident will encourage all fighters to break away from committing to a team especially with those in your weight class. It's just a bad situation waiting to happen because like I said before, not everyone will have the chance to fight for the belt and if that is your goal then you better take it when it's staring you in the face.