New Interview of the Year Candidate: Antonio McKee on The Jordan Breen Show
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 20, 2009 9:11 AM EST
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Antonio McKee was a guest for an extended interview with Jordan Breen on Sherdog Radio Thursday and I pulled these rather...interesting quotes from the interview (quotes taken as close to accurately as possible from the audio interview):
On his style:
Unfortunately my style of fighting is not really what a lot of fans choose to see. But, you know, it's the smart way to go at my age and, not only that, if you can't stop what I do than it's kind of hard for me to stop doing it.
Being humble about his wrestling skills:
My wrestling is so superior, in fact I don't think there is no one in MMA that has the wrestling that I have.
On his goals as a fighter:
I think we get more away from the sport of MMA and we start looking at more of entertainment. I'm a fighter and I'm a prideful fighter so I wasn't necessarily going into this sport looking to entertain people, I'm going out here to get the win.
On what he thinks of people who find him boring:
I think the older people, the people that are smarter, the people who understand ME...and when you talk to the fighters, they'll tell you 'man, I respect what McKee does.' It's the people out there that are watching the sport, and I understand that's how the sport grows, but they have no idea what it's like to be a fighter, what it's like to throw a punch or to get kicked. So most of the people that are really talking the smack, they've never had a fight in their life and in my book they're a bunch of faggots.
On if he finds himself fun to watch:
Sometimes I get bored because I know what I'm going to do. I know that I'm going to go out here, I'm going to take the guy down, I'm going to ground and pound my way through the fight...just enough work to win the round.
...
I don't mind being the boringest [sic] fighter in MMA, as long as I've got a winning record...fine by me.
On the IFL:
Just happened to be that the lowest paid fighters in the IFL were minorities. We were making $4,000 when everyone else was making $6,000.
These quotes don't have the overall impact of if you were to listen start to finish to the interview, but they're still pretty interesting. There is this odd tone that McKee has the entire interview and this whole attitude of his failures to get ahead in the fight game always being the result of things done by others and never through any fault of his own.
McKee is the kind of guy who believes that the only way you should ever be allowed to be critical of someone or talk about the sport is if you measure up to his standards of "not being a pussy." This interview is amazing because he talks about how he isn't a guy who likes to talk smack, but spends the interview talking about how great of a fighter, businessman and coach he is. He has had problems in every promotion he has ever fought for, but despite being the common factor in all these situations it isn't his fault.
He wanted to start a "minority based promotion" so the WFA pulled some shenanigans to get him off the card. The IFL wasn't treating him fairly as a fighter or a coach (even after he says that they agreed to let him fight Jake Shields for another promotion for a big payday). And of course...People who think he is boring are "faggots" (despite the fact that he admits that he is not an exciting guy to watch fight). It's all just so over the top that it's honestly hard to take seriously.
At the end of the day Antonio McKee has 21 wins and 16 of them are decisions. He earned his reputation as a boring fighter, he flat says that he could care less about entertaining the fans. He thinks the guys that are the reason he makes a damn cent off the fight game are faggots should they dare criticize him. This is the worst kind of selfish attitude for a professional athlete. I don't expect guys to fight outside of their element or get beat up trying to be exciting. But don't act like the fans should kiss your ass just for existing.
But hey! Tune in tomorrow night for the MFC 20 webstream broadcast on Sherdog HDNet as Antonio McKee gets another decision win as he lays on top of Derrick Noble "doing just enough to win the round" en route to the MFC Lightweight Title.
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I'm torn.
I basically pick and choose my favorite fighters as the guys I see having the greatest drive and desire to be the best in the world. Dude definitely fails that test.
On the other hand…
not only that, if you can’t stop what I do than it’s kind of hard for me to stop doing it.
is among the truest things I’ve ever read about fighting. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
by Derek Suboticki on Feb 20, 2009 12:51 AM EST reply actions
While true...
he admits a short time after that that what he “does” is “just enough to win the round” he isn’t even trying to dominate rounds. He just wants to do “enough” which is kind of…an odd thing to admit publicly.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 20, 2009 1:27 AM EST up reply actions
Honestly, it isn’t a stupid gameplan. If he can consciously determine whether he’s winning a round or not, he can do just enough to win a round and conservatively gauge his output. He wouldn’t gas that easily if he’s just trying to get by.
It makes for boring as hell fights indeed, but you can’t really argue that it isn’t effective.
Editor-in-chief of MMA-Analyst.com
by Leland Roling on Feb 20, 2009 10:22 AM EST up reply actions
Well, yes and no. I mean, what happens if he’s losing a round? Does he just suddenly turn on his super finishing power? Guys who finish tend to be guys who are pushing to finish, or who have set up a gameplan to lead up to moments of finishing opportunity (like jiu jitsu players who will strike to ultimately set up a sub, or the way Rashad baited Liddel for a round and a half to frustrate him and set up his KO punch). If your gameplan is “win every round by just enough exertion of energy”, what’s plan B?
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
Maybe if he wasn’t an independent contractor who gets paid based on the demand for his services this would be a good plan.
Unfortunately most fans pay to be entertained so the demand for fighters who don’t care about being entertaining and insult the fans for wanting to be entertained isn’t that great.
Exactly...
there is a reason the guy is 21-3 but hasn’t sniffed bigger shows than the IFL
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 20, 2009 12:50 PM EST up reply actions
Just happened to be that the lowest paid fighters in the IFL were minorities. We were making $4,000 when everyone else was making $6,000.
I believe when he said “minorities” he was referring to people with IQs less than 100.
woah woah woah
are you saying that minorities have low IQ’s????
im not impressed with your performance
I will play my game beneath the spin light.
by Eugene Schelfaut on Feb 20, 2009 4:25 AM EST reply actions
It sounds like someone doesn’t like to watch Antonio McKee. I can’t say that I blame you there, but neither do I blame McKee for taking the approach he has. If he can make a living doing it like that then great for him. I think that calling fans faggots is inappropriate and disappointing, but to be fair he’s only talking about those that give him crap because of his style. I get that without fans he wouldn’t be getting paid, but I understand his frustration- he’s a successful fighter yet still gets criticized by a lot of people who have no idea what they’re talking about. I can’t say for certain that I would respond much better were I in his situation.
I agree with the direction you are going
but it doesn’t leave him alot of room to complain about his pay if he doesn’t excite or interest fans. Then to throw the implication of racism on top of that…
Perhaps he should consider that he doesn’t get paid well because he does the minimum to succeed, not because he is a minority.
They're one in the same
He doesn’t get paid well because he is a minority. He’s of the minority in the MMA world that does
just enough work to win the round.
It has nothing to do with him being black.
"The path to enlightenment is through suffering"
by RearNakedChoker on Feb 20, 2009 9:16 PM EST up reply actions
A win isn’t just win. To move up the world rankings and to gain fans you have to win decisively. You don’t even have to be finisher as long as you dominate for 15 minutes. But to just do enough to get a win means you are barely better than your opponent. That doesn’t mean much and he isn’t even fighting the world’s elite.
There is a reason...
that Wanderlei remains a top 6 or 7 fighter even with his downward slide in terms of record.
And you hit it right on the head
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 20, 2009 10:31 AM EST up reply actions
here is a good example of how aweosme mckee is
I have never heard of him until right now, and if i have i immidieatly blocked him, out. always be closing mf
WOW
If he would have said listen I’m a grinder. It’s not always pretty but I’m here to get the job done and winning is my main focus. I would have totally respected that. It’s clear he has never had someone around him that cared enough to say hey your being a bully prick and you sound like an idiot. Check your attitude.
by son of miss the mark on Feb 20, 2009 9:45 AM EST reply actions
War Machine vs Mckee
Friday night thissy fighths presnths……… At the who cares arena in beautiful Nowhereville. Two run of the mill slightly average never contenderrrrrrs. Fight for bragging rights of the biggest career killer. No one cares who won
by son of miss the mark on Feb 20, 2009 9:56 AM EST reply actions
I love it
“My ability to lay n’ pray the audience to sleep is second to no one! There is no one else in MMA willing to turn MMA matches into high school wrestling matches like I do!”
all you gotta do is...
Gotta love the homophobic slurs.
That’s just pure class right there. I guess the irony of complaining about minority groups receiving less pay right after using a derisive term for minority group was lost on him.
Although detractors decry (MMA) as a brutal, bloody form of human cockfighting, aficionados know it is a brutal, bloody, totally fucking awesome form of human cockfighting. -The Onion
by The Kittitas Kid on Feb 20, 2009 11:12 AM EST reply actions 8 recs
Shame on all of us who didn’t immediately make that connection. Thanks for the reminder.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
seriously...
I sat up typing this post last night and didn’t even make that connection. AMAZING!
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 20, 2009 12:31 PM EST up reply actions
Especially in the wake of the Prop 8 vote in California, I can’t believe i missed it. It was a headdesk moment, but I’m glad Kittitas brought it up.
"I'm AJB and I endorse this nut-puncher."
Not sure why this was hidden...
I unhid the comment as there was no fighter bashing nor anything other than AJB saying that with the highly publicized vote putting certain subjects in the forefront of people’s minds he can’t believe he missed the irony of the “all these people are racists” meeting “if you don’t like me you’re a faggot”
Just explaining in case whichever other member of the staff that hid the comment comes back and wonders why it wasn’t still hidden. It is in violation of no rules (included no opinion on Prop 8 whatsoever..etc) that I can tell and don’t want AJB to feel like he is being punished with hidden comments…
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 20, 2009 2:55 PM EST up reply actions
Hardly a punishment, just trying to avoid opening a discussion on something as charged as Prop 8.
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
by Richard Wade on Feb 20, 2009 4:29 PM EST up reply actions
Oh man, that comment is so rec’d.
"I see him beating Anderson Silva. I see him picking him apart. Him at a 131 years old...(trails off)." - Tito on Belfort at Affliction:DOR
by Rundownloser on Feb 20, 2009 12:11 PM EST up reply actions
What did he say? I don’t really wanna listen to that long show just to find this nugget of funny.
A man should never waste an opportunity to keep his mouth shut.
So most of the people that are really talking the smack, they’ve never had a fight in their life and in my book they’re a bunch of faggots.
Using faggot as a slur after spending a lot of the interview insinuating that various people/promotions are racist..etc
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 20, 2009 2:51 PM EST up reply actions
GAH!
You’re right.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 20, 2009 2:51 PM EST up reply actions
Brent I’m starting to think your an arm chair QB. (in this case MMA fighter) . The guy might be acting like a doushe but your comments at the end almost make you just as bad. You also said something along the lines of “you loss to Ken Shamrock….so yeah” after Clifton loss to Shamrock. I would like you to enlighten us of how you deafeted Ken. Its fine to call a fighter on something but your starting to go abit over the line.
Not sure if Brent did that but just sharing that it bugs me also. If any sport, esepcially football. I played quarterback in college and the most annoying thing is when you’re watching college football with people and they are like “i could have made that pass” or “he sucks, why’d he throw to that guy”….ya, ok dude, because you and 99% of the rest of the population can’t even take the snap from center, so don’t act like you can make that throw or you even know what defense the defense was in or what reads the QB was making and why he threw where, etc…I know, you don’t, I can recognize the coverage they were in and could have made the pass, you couldn’t have…I can say that about quarterbacking at at least the college level because i played at that level…as for mma, when a dude gets choked out I don’t say “he sucks, I could have escaped, got mount and GnP’d til I KO’d the guy”….no, i couldn’t have and neither can almost anyone who talks like they know more than the people actually doing…I write about sports so I’m kinda clowning on myself here, but theres a quote that I’ve seen thats “those that can do, do, those that can’t do but know how to do, teach, and those that want and THINK they know how to do but don’t know, they write”
Sports on the internet
would be amazingly bland if the only people allowed to write about it were high level athletes capable of participating in the event they are writing about.
I have NEVER ONCE talked about how I “could have won a fight” or how “easy it would have been” for someone to do something differently. If you guys are saying I should give every fighter a pass on their behavior because they’re a better fighter than I am…we’re not going to see eye to eye.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 20, 2009 6:27 PM EST up reply actions
Sports coverage anywhere would be amazingly bland. Considering the groups of people in the “able to compete in the sport and at the level they are commenting on” and “able to analyze the situation and articulately outline their points and analysis to fans in an entertaining manner” and “want to do the job” have almost zero cross-over.
First, just to clarify I didn’t say you did or didn’t do the type of thing I was describing, I was just saying from the other posters post that people like that bug me.
Second, I don’t think you got what I was saying, sports coverage wouldn’t be much different at all, it’d just “shut up” armchair QB’s… To report a signing, or an athlete getting arrested, or a future fight or a new stadium in baseball or whatever, thats different from writing/blogging actual analysis on a fight/game and saying “this guy sucked, he should have done this”…Think of it as an NFL game on TV, got the play by play guy, describing the action, then the analyst is going in-depth or saying what was trying to be done, etc…the analyst is usually a former player or coach, because they actually KNOW what they are talking about…..to have a guy telling me or just saying out loud how bad a QB is playing and that he could have made that throw when he doesn’t know the difference between cover 2 or cover 3, or cover 2 cloud or sky, and definately couldn’t read the defense in an actual game…well its ridiculous…
That's the difference...
between regular journalism and “blogging”
This is a blog. I’d handle my analysis differently were I getting paid to do “real journalism”
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 20, 2009 7:08 PM EST up reply actions
I guess…hopefully you aren’t being defensive because I wasn’t implying anyone here at BE did the sort of thing I was talking about, I was just saying in general that it bugs me.
And while realizing this is a blog I guess I choose to look at it as more “professional” than just some random pencil pusher “joe never played sports in his life” writing about how to “easily” score a touchdown every play against a zone blitz and how he could throw 5 TD’s a game against the steelers…
obviously don’t see that on this site and hopefully won’t, I just come here for actual news, which comes quick and is presented well here…i guess its the only “blog” i even visit because I can’t stand people who never played the sport analysing it (as in actual game/fight performance, x’s and o’s, etc)….I guess was my overall point…
Which is fine...
I’m responding more to Ken who seemed pretty upset with me for being “over the line”
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 20, 2009 7:45 PM EST up reply actions
Personally I think a person can lack the skills to perform a certain task and yet have the knowledge and understanding of what the right moves in a situation are for a certain level of competition.
Obviously people saying they could have done X or Y when delivered not out of humor or hyperbole is ridiculous but I also don’t see that very often outside of random posters on the internet.
As far as the analysts who played having all that knowledge, when was the last time you heard one of those analysts actually discuss the cover 2 cloud versus sky when only one corner retreats to cover the deep ball? I hardly ever hear this type of in depth analysis. Seems like its far more likely that Ill have to listen to someone tell me that they just ran a reverse when it was clearly an end-around.
most annoying thing watching a football game on TV is when an announcer calls an obvious end around a reverse…
you get my point and I get yours…I don’t know how to explain what I was saying, its the guy who thinks he can do it or is saying how it should be done but he’s never done it…
I’m sure you’de agree that knowing what the cover 2 cloud and sky coverages are, maybe even being able to diagram it, is VERY different from being under center, recognizing it, possibly having to check off to a different play, then executing it (not to mention doing this in seconds, then taking the snap, making the throw, etc)…its not just the idiot internet person who says “I could have done that,” its the writers (mostly bloggers) that have the “tone” that its so simple to do and while not saying they could have done it, they are coming across as if they could easily do it and/or know they could do it….when they can’t…
not a big deal, just an annoyance to me personally, as is the great example of the end-around/reverse….
oh, and for analysts talking about the in-depth stuff, I guess I’m used to it because one of my TV’s is on NFL Network all day, programs like playbook, etc, they DO go that in-depth, but you are 100% correct, the average NFL/NCAA broadcast, no, they usually don’t go that in-depth at all…
good post though, liked your take on it, glad others out there notice the end-around/reverse thing also…
Dude..
the end around being called a reverse and reverses being called “double reverse” is my biggest pet peeve.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 20, 2009 11:21 PM EST up reply actions
Good to know I’m not the only one who is pissed off by that garbage.
Bolts from the Blue // "Game over." - Jamal Williams
Bloody Elbow // "Every normal man must be tempted at times to spit upon his hands, hoist the black flag, and begin slitting throats." - H.L. Mencken
by Richard Wade on Feb 21, 2009 12:13 AM EST up reply actions
Totally get where you’re coming from, and yes, having faced a rush I can tell you that it makes decision making about 1,000,000 x harder (just ask the safety that caught the over the middle gifts I threw), and I would never proclaim to be able to do it.
I wish I could check out the NFL network, I’m one of the many who misses out on Thursday football because I can’t get it (don’t get me started on missing out on the combine).
I think my main issue comes not from your valid point but more from athletes who don’t think that media types should be able to talk about the sport at all because they didn’t play the game. As for your issue, you’re right, I can see how annoying it is when the media comes off like that (now that I think about it I can remember a couple of times when I was watching and that happened and I hadn’t really paid attention).
Huh?
I never once claimed to be a better fighter than McKee here. I assume you meant this line:
Tune in tomorrow night for the MFC 20 webstream broadcast on Sherdog HDNet as Antonio McKee gets another decision win as he lays on top of Derrick Noble “doing just enough to win the round” en route to the MFC Lightweight Title.
Which was meant to be funny based on him doing an interview the day before his title fight where he gives no one a reason to tune in and even talks about how he is boring and feels no need to entertain the fans (going so far as to say that anyone critical of his is a "faggot").
You’re taking things a bit too seriously if you think that somehow that quote is “over the line.”
As for the Shamrock line I assume you are talking about:
Clifton shoves him because he is a big dumb hillbilly racist. But whatever…You just got demolished by Ken Shamrock…so yeah.
Clifton is a guy who has a career losing record but goes on endlessly about how awesome he is and how he is “undefeated in the streets” and after getting beat he acted like a little kid initially by shoving the guy that just beat him. I guess you could see that as a shot at Shamrock, but it was intended more as a shot at Clifton. He lost a fight to a guy who had not won a fight since 2004 in just under a minute. You don’t get up after getting knocked on your ass and armbarred and act like tough shit.
Basically man, my job is to blog about MMA. In doing that you don’t compare fighter performances to other professional fighters. Not to how I, or any other “regular joe,” would perform in the same situation. That would be retarded. I would be allowed to have no opinion other than “this guy lost, but I would have lost that fight too…so good for him.”
You’ve decided that how I talk about things is over your personal “line,” many more people like what I write…so maybe I’m just not the writer for you. Because I am flat out never going to give fighters a pass on acting like jackasses simply because they could beat me up.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 20, 2009 6:18 PM EST up reply actions 1 recs
*correction
“Basically man, my job is to blog about MMA. In doing that you don’t compare fighter performances to other professional fighters.”
Should be:
“you compare fighter performances to other professional fighters”
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 20, 2009 6:23 PM EST up reply actions
Wasn't Trying to be a d*ck
Was just pointing that out. Its sometimes better to just let an ass make an ass out of himelf. You obviously seem like a really cool dude. BE is a great site and you guys keep it entertaining. I have been around MMA ALOT in my young life and it sometimes bugs me when people trash fighters (even if they are pr*cks). Just wanted to present a different point of view.
Again sorry if I have caused an arguement or anything you seem way cool.
Nah..
I don’t argue. Well…that’s a lie. I wasn’t arguing HERE.
Contributing Editor - BloodyElbow.com - SBNation's mixed martial arts headquarters.
by Brent Brookhouse on Feb 20, 2009 11:22 PM EST up reply actions
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