Sean Salmon Admits to Taking a Dive
by Chris Nelson on Sep 2, 2009 6:01 PM EDT
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In his latest "Full-Time Fighter" column for MMA Junkie, former UFC light heavyweight (and eternal star of Rashad Evans' highlight reel) Sean Salmon makes a rather startling admission regarding his last fight, which took place in Ohio back in June.
Salmon says that he was training with members of the Wolfslair Academy in Cheshire, England, when he flew back to Ohio on June 3rd for a match against WEC veteran Allan Weickert (then with a record of 5-6 to Salmon's 16-7) on June 6th. He was set to return to England on June 7th, provided he emerged from the Weickert bout unscathed.
Salmon expected to handle the less experienced fighter with ease. He didn't:
I handled him very easily for the entire first round. He was able to land one very good elbow to my temple. I am embarrassed to admit that my first thought was that, "If he cut me and I can't go back to England, this is not worth it." How in the world could I be in a fight and think that if I got cut, it is not worth the win?
In the second round, I took him down again. He went for an armbar, I defended it (only to prove to myself that he couldn't get it), and then I put my arm back in to give him the win so that I could return to England, healthy. Just so you all know, that is the most embarrassing thing that I have ever admitted out loud.
This is, naturally, only the beginning of Salmon's article. He goes on to explain what a terrible state of mind he was in, how he was battling substance abuse at the time, and how he's fully reformed and rededicated now, heading into a September 11th fight with Ultimate Fighter alum Dante Rivera. And that's great - I'm really happy for the guy.
Still, I can't help but feel that his "admission" not only shows massive disrespect to the fighter who bested him that night*, but also raises questions regarding Salmon's morals and whether this sort of thing (or, worse, legit fight fixing) happens in MMA far more than we diehard fans like to imagine.
* Weickert isn't mentioned by name in the piece, but the fight result is easily located on Sherdog's Fight Finder. Salmon tapped at 2:05 of the second frame. Links to Salmon's pre-fight trash talking can also be found on Weickert's Wikipedia page.
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Disgusting any fighter that takes a dive in an mma fight needs to be stripped of his license and never be allowed to fight again. And to think I actually used to feel bad for the guy getting viciously knock out repeatedly what a joke.
I wouldn’t go that far. If he took a dive in order to win a bet he placed on the other guy then yeah that’s shady. But if a guy takes a dive because his head isn’t on straight that only hurts his record. It’s later coming out and publicizing that he took a dive that hurts the sport.
Saying he took a dive is one way to put it. Saying he quit is another. He could just be making excuses. He could just have no heart. He quit to train at a gym? They told him to not come back if he got hurt? What the hell kind of BS is he trying to feed us.
Yeah that doesn’t make much sense, if he was going back to England for a fight two weeks later where he was getting paid twice as much then it would kind of make sense but he took a dive just to train somewhere? Not buying it.
Walla walla walla I'm an idiot.
by ufc4 on Sep 2, 2009 6:37 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I agree....
I think he just lost, and now, in his mind, this makes him look like a better fighter. When in reality, it shows that he’s REALLY REALLY stupid and has fucked up morals.
I saw the fight and it did look somewhat fishy
█♣█
A wise man told me don't argue with fools
Cause people from a distance can't tell who is who -- Jay-Z
by thetakeover on Sep 2, 2009 7:48 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions 2 recs
If he had been a running back who ran out of bounds instead of getting hit, because he was up for free agency, would we be clamoring for him to never play again?
Completely different situation.
Walla walla walla I'm an idiot.
by ufc4 on Sep 2, 2009 6:34 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
I’ll expand the point and the example:
If you were finishing you’re college career, and were playing in the Blue and Gray bowl, and you knew that you would be drafted as long as you didn’t get hurt. (Let’s pretend you have a bad knee). Would it be acceptable for you to run out of bounds instead of taking a hit? To basically quit, even if it meant your team wasn’t going to get the first down and would therefore lose the game.
Apparently he was worried that he couldn’t go back to Wolfslair if he got bruised up. I am guessing that his worry is that he won’t be able to fight with them and earn a living. I am not saying what he did wasn’t wrong, but I also wouldn’t want to be in a position where winning means not being able to support yourself.
Hey, and thanks for the formatting instructions.
College baseball pitchers do this all the time. They'll protect their arms leading up to the MLB draft.
I don’t see anything wrong with it. Sean Salmon’s responsibility is to himself, not the “integrity of the sport”.
I like using semi-colons; they make me feel smart.
The blue and gray bowl is an exhibition, so not really relevant.
There’s also a difference between avoiding an injury on one play, and throwing a game or match.
It would be one thing (still slightly shady, but I don’t know if I’d call it “wrong”) if he spent the whole first round tooling the guy standing and then spent the next 2 rounds only going for takedowns because he didn’t want to get hurt standing or something like that.
Also, if it was the 4th quarter of a game and getting tackled in bounds would result in the player possibly getting hurt, but keeping the clock running which would end the game, but the player jumped out of bounds, you bet there would be a shitstorm.
I guess the question is how much does a fighter owe us? Do they have to give it their all every time? Even when doing so could threaten your ability to make a living? I, personally, want every fighter to give it his all every time. Otherwise why am I watching? I could watch backyard brawls on youtube or WWF wresting instead if I merely wanted a fix of ’fighting". But I can understand and empathize with someone who feels he may be sabotaging his own ability to support himself if he gave it his all. Being trapped between Scylla and Charybdis is a scary position
There are always issues, but in a sport like MMA, I would hope that they are giving it their all every time.
Week 17 of the NFL season sucks because if a team has already clinched everything, they’re not going to try their best. That said, they’re also not going to go out and try to lose the game.
When it’s something like 1 mma fight, I think you have to give it your all for the entire fight. If he had not answered the bell in between rounds with no apparent injury or just threw in the towel for no reason, everyone would be giving him a hard time and saying that he has no business fighting. I think leaving your arm out when you know you can get out is in the same boat.
It reminds of “Raging Bull”, when Jake LaMotta had to throw the fight otherwise they would never let him get a title shot. Losing to a much inferior fighter so that he could continue with the sport he loved. Now I know the two situations are completely different, but the dilemma of losing to continue your career is, would be, to me, one of the worst decisions a fighter would have to make.
I guess the answer would be to stay out of those situations.
It’s a little harder to avoid the raging bull situation when the mob is involved and they need you to lose the fight.
But in Salmon’s fight, if you’re that concerned about getting hurt, don’t take the fight, or pull out before it starts.
Still leaves people upset and is a shitty thing to do, but it’s 1 million times better than quitting in the middle of the fight.
Lots of fighters fight to avoid injury. This is more akin to a running back going out of bounds. In football the goal is not to get as many yard as possible, its to win the game.
A running back might be able to get more yards overall in the game by avoiding some punishment in order to stay in the game longer and play at a higher level.
If he was that worried about it he shouldn’t have come out for the second round.
I dislike Matt Hughes.
This undoubtedly happens
In all sports. Without question. Probably more often than you think.
Creator of the FightMatrix rating system.
Lame.
There’s a difference between taking a dive for financial gain or taking a dive cause you’re just not into it. But it’s lame either way. And it’s pretty stupid to admit such a thing.
At any rate, taking dives probably does happen in MMA. One would have to be really naive not to realize so.
I love me some Sexyama!
Agreed, I don’t see why he would come out and admit this, doesn’t seem like there’s much to be gained from it.
Walla walla walla I'm an idiot.
by ufc4 on Sep 2, 2009 6:35 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
He wanted to win the fight, but he also wanted to avoid getting hurt.
Should we ban Gina Carano because she covers up to avoid getting punched in the face?
Not every fighter is going to try to win every fight at all costs.
I like using semi-colons; they make me feel smart.
About this, let’s put bob sapp aside for few minutes (or forever), if a fighter is hurt, he should tap to avoid further damage, it won’t look good, but it’s sometimes the smart thing to do.
You don't look like a Tanaka.
Completely Agree
The thing above was a joke. I participate and study MMA, and if a fighter taps out to strikes, sometimes it is just the smart thing to do. But if you are Bo Cantrell… it’s not.
We’ll see how the different states athletic oversights will handle this, now that he’s admitted it publicly. He may have a hard time getting his license next fight around.
I don’t know if this is a licensing issue. The tricky thing about MMA is that it’s legitimate to give up. Obviously, this isn’t as honourable as tapping to a legit armbar (provided he’s even telling the truth—maybe it was a legit armbar), but if he didn’t throw the fight due to outside interference or because he bet on his own fight, I don’t see how they could deny him a license.
On the other hand, I also don’t see why any promoter would sign him to fight now.
by kid_eh on Sep 2, 2009 6:54 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
There’s a big difference between covering up in an attempt to show the ref you dont want any more, or tapping from strikes, and giving a guy your arm. Covering up or tapping shows you’ve just been overpowered and you know it. Rather than let a guy repeatedly punch you in the head (we’ve all seen the debate on early stoppages, but there’s been some pretty brutal late stoppages too), you tap when you know you’re ready to call it a day. I’d call that sensible. Giving a guy your arm purposly to let him sub you is completly different. Thats throwing a fight, you’re losing on purpose.
"If he cut me and I can't go back to England, this is not worth it."
Also, what the hell is this all about!?..Fair enough, in hind sight he too is questioning it but thats still one of the most ridiculous excuses i’ve ever heard. What does he expect, to turn up at Wolfslair’s door with a welt under his eye and all of a sudden he cant train there? He obviously hasnt thought that one through.
Sean Salmon admits to taking a dive quitting in his last fight, to me sounds like a more appropriate heading. When i think of taking a dive i can’t think of anything other than a boxer taking a dive to fix a bet.
This. I think the title of the article is more irresponsible than than Sean Salmon quitting in a fight for personal reasons.
if he wants to quit a fight on the up and up
he can tap out at anytime for any reason.
pretending to get caught in an armbar and tapping out is taking a dive.
I chose that over Chris’ original headline of “throws fight” because to me throwing a fight had an implication of fight fixing for gambling purposes.
Follow me on Twitter @KidNate
I reckon that pretending to get caught in an armbar is one of the best ways to get out of a fight that you have no interest in continuing. Admitting that you did it on purpose at a later date is one of the stupidest things he could have possibly done and is extremely disrespectful to his opponent.
I never understood how in a sport as dangerous as MMa, that fighters could have multiple fights lined up.
Stuff like this is bound to happen on the lower levels. Not as likely in the bigger shows as most fighters don’t have multiple fights lined up. Then again, if in Japan…. You never know….
This should be #1 on the list of things Salmon should have kept to himself...
Jeez, how stupid can a guy be? I’d rather people think I got beat by a lesser fighter than think I’m so morally devoid that I’d throw a fight.
He’s going to have a HARD TIME finding promoters who are going to take a chance on him.
Next time Sean, just keep it to yourself.
It is so easy to do works in MMA. Especially given that subs don’t have to be properly applied because most don’t know the difference. I’m sure it happens all the time. Most of Tony Bonello’s fights were said to be works and just look at Coleman-Takada. Also I believe there were some works in early UFCs too
This isn’t really that uncommon. Fighters who give up their back and are gassed very often let a rear naked choke sink in so they can have the fight end. I’ve seen people do it on numerous occasions (lifting their chin to allow the arm to sink in), professionally and in class watching others spar. Some consider it a more honorable way to lose, getting choked out instead of giving up from exhaustion.
I’m not mad at him. It’s his career, his fight, his life. He didn’t do it for anyone but himself, for his own reasons. People need to realize that he’s trying to cleanse himself of the guilt and move forward. Forgiveness is divine.
Also, some people need to stop living in this fantasy world that athletes are somehow immune to the trappings & temptations of regular life. Some people seem to be idolizing these guys too much. If y’all really knew the secret goings on of MMA, you probably wouldn’t be fans anymore. They’re just people. Get used to the controversies, they’re not going to stop any time soon.
"The path to enlightenment is through suffering"
by RearNakedChoker on Sep 2, 2009 10:12 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Wouldn't it have been funny if...
The guy he was fighting snapped his arm…
That would have taught him a lesson about worrying about a cut.
by Miketsi on Sep 2, 2009 10:12 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
Yep. Karma.
'He built his whole reputation as a waffle house chef. They’ve been serving him up ham and eggs with a side of canned tomatoes' - Don Frye on Fedor Emelianenko
by Well Read Idiot on Sep 3, 2009 8:18 AM EDT up reply actions
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