Sean Salmon's Admission May Result in Suspension
by Leland Roling on Sep 3, 2009 5:45 PM EDT
in MMA News
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Our own Chris Nelson posted the story late yesterday regarding former UFC fighter Sean Salmon's column over at MMAJunkie.com titled "Full-Time Fighter" in which Salmon reveals that a plethora of personal struggles and stress resulted in a bad decision at a June 3rd bout with former WEC fighter Allan Weickert:
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.
Disappointment from fans was expressed within the MMA community over the course of the day today, but the Ohio State Athletic Commission found out about Salmon's admission of potentially "throwing a fight"... and they aren't too thrilled. Jake Rossen at Sherdog.com writes:
Ohio State Athletic Commission Executive Director Bernie Profato told Sherdog.com/ESPN.com Thursday that Salmon was putting himself in danger of exile.
"I’m going to confront him with it," said Profato. "I’m not going to stand for this kind of sh-t. If he doesn’t print a retraction, then he’s out. I’m not going to compromise the integrity of the sport and have someone throw a fight. ... If I had proof, he’d banned for life in Ohio."
Rossen followed up with Sean Salmon regarding the issue with some big-time backpedaling from the former UFC fighter:
Sherdog: The passage causing controversy is when you say he went for an armbar, you defended it, then you put your arm back out there knowing he’d secure it again. You said you did that to "give him the win." Is that a statement you stand by?
Salmon: Not exactly. I’m certainly not backtracking, but I should’ve worded it like—I didn’t fight that armbar with everything I had. That’s how I should’ve worded it. He got my arm, put me in a tricky position, and I felt like I could’ve defended it, but in my head I was already quitting, already giving up. I had more fight in me. That’s the only way to explain it. I had more fight in me. I wasn’t done. Bottom line, I took the coward’s way out.
....
Sherdog: But people are going to say you’re backpedaling because of the controversy that’s come down.
Salmon: I can see why you’d say that. I’m setting the record straight. When I wrote that column, the last thing in the world I thought would be an issue is the armbar. I didn’t take the time to think it out and write exactly what I was feeling at that exact moment. I thought the focus on the article would be about putting your life back together.
Rossen is right: people will be saying that he's backpedaling on the issue, and this isn't a small issue by any means. From an early viewpoint, it looks like Salmon realized his mistake in openly stating that he gave his arm in order to keep his job with Wolfslair as a training partner to Michael Bisping and Cheick Kongo. This could very well get Salmon the boot from competition in the United States.
UPDATE (By Kid Nate): Zak Woods points out something else to consider:
For the record Salmon was a huge favorite in the Weickert fight pulling odds of -550 to Weickert at +325.
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He needs to receive a ban. He took integrity away from himself, his opponent and the sport of MMA. This kind of shit makes me sick to my stomach. I played college sports til I destroyed my knees. I would KILL to have that ability to compete (again) in any sport at his level.
We can now question every fight he has ever had, for any promotion. Being an admitted coward once, makes me pause. So how many times in his career has he looked for the easy way out? The backroom/underground whispers can now start about his UFC fights.
In my humble opinion we need to wave good bye to Sean get him a ticket to Japan and let Mayhem show him the ropes.
This will also ensure that fighters will go to great lengths never to be honest or open about their past. and never admitting anything no matter how long ago it is.
by Dooda on Sep 3, 2009 6:05 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
this is the point right here. Nothing like punishing a guy for being honest when not even provoked to do it. Result will be absolute jokes like steroids in baseball with guys simply saying they didn’t do it, and that is okay. I’m glad the guy was honest, and these things should be considered. i am sure he is not the only one to ever do simply like this. the athletic commissions have their own issues, and it is a shame this is how they want to handle this.
Nope
The point is – if you’re going to be a fighter and fight then go and do it and leave everything in the cage.
I see no problem with anyone pulling out of a fight due to whatever reason. Especially if you’re not in the UFC or on another big show.
Sean Salmon is giving the sport a bad name. He needs to be banned. End of story.
BANNED? No way dude. Like people don’t make mistakes? What if he was just looking back at his life and trying to figure things out and was like, you know what, I sort of threw that fight. I didn’t have my whole heart in it. Maybe at the time he wasn’t fully conscious of the fact that he was sabotaging himself? Have you never had moments of self-reflection like that? And he’s sharing it with the public which is very often the best way to be honest with yourself and to heal or get better or become stronger or whatever it is that he’s trying to do. The punishment is already in the act. This to me is a personal thing. If they’re going to suspend or ban him, they accomplish nothing. They’ll never catch another person doing this because no one will ever reflect upon them self with any kind of honesty. They’ll be so terrified of the consequences.
This is something that the commission will never be able to catch unless one volunteers the information. So you ban the one guy that admits that he was a douche in one of his fights. What about the hundreds of other fighters that do it on some level, and where do you draw the line?
What if Patrick Cote looks back at his fight with Silva and thinks, “you know what, subconsciously I knew that I couldn’t win that fight. It was perfectly clear to me that I had no chance with Silva. So my subconscious and body did what my conscious wasn’t prepared to do and threw my knee. I’m just realizing this now”. Okay that sounds ridiculous to some probably, but really where do you draw the line? There’s a million different levels of people throwing a fight in some way. You ban the guy from admitting it you’re basically sending the message that this type of thing has to remain a secret. Fighters are human and this stuff is going to happen. Everyone needs to just accept that it’s going to happen sometimes.
If he said he didn’t fight the armber with all his might because he wanted to quit in the fight, that is no different from letting yourself get RNC’d when you are done.
The issue is that he said he put his arm back into an armbar, and is now backtracking. Different kettle of fish.
'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 4, 2009 7:24 AM EDT up reply actions
Steroids is a completely different situation.
First, the legality or steroids in baseball was a very murky gray area, it seems like players were encouraged to use, and there was no testing, so why wouldn’t you use. Secondly, baseball is in the exact same spot. Many more players used than the people who’s names have been leaked from the list or put on the Mitchell Report, but only the people being named are punished. That is why no one is confessing, if you are caught/confess, you get punished. If 10 people rob a bank and 1 of them gets caught, he can’t say, “you can’t punish me, if you don’t punish us all, don’t send me to jail.” The people that get caught get punished. That’s the way the world works.
He definitely could have avoided all of this in 2 ways. Not doing anything wrong, or not opening his mouth about doing something wrong. He stupidly did both of those things, so now he has to face the consequences.
???
He quit. This is nothing new. Fighters get in fights, realize they aren’t going to win, and look for a way out. Some turtle up, some leave their necks out on take downs, and some don’t defend subs. How is this any different? Should we REALLY be punishing this? No one likes it when a fighter quits, we can usually tell and we think less of the fighter, but an official punishment?
agreed
Its obvious when a person “gives up,” and I’ve seen it in plenty fights, that is definately not what his article was about and it’d be a shame to ban him.. Even though it is a dbag move to say the other guy couldn’t win on his own, ppl say that kind of shit all the time
by Austin Martin on Sep 3, 2009 6:23 PM EDT via mobile up reply actions
If you want a way out then
tap the floor and GTFO the cage.
by rainmaker6 on Sep 3, 2009 10:47 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
the commisions stance
pleases me. the director being so angry to curse shows the genuine reaction that he wants the sport’s image to be of legit athletes.
by cagefightonacid on Sep 3, 2009 6:51 PM EDT via mobile reply actions
I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt
Giving up in a fight isn’t the same as deliberately throwing a fight for nefarious reasons.
If that is indeed what he did.
I finish beers at 1:55.
I can't believe some of you guys are buying his bullshit!???
His first statement was basically: ‘I gave him the arm bar so that I could head back to England’.
And the fact that he said ‘this is the most embarrassing thing I’ve ever admitted out loud’ adds weight to the fact that he’s just admitted to something very serious!
He then realises that he could get in a lot of trouble for his admission so he comes up with the whole ‘I was mentally beaten bullshit’!
Personally, if I was him, I would have just denied writing it at all! Bingo!
He should definitely be banned I think, just for being stupid! Not a really harsh ban but he should definitely be banned for a little while!
-550!?
Wow that changes everything, at -550 it really looks fishy. Still it doesn’t make sense to talk about it. This story doesn’t make much sense. I’ll stay away from it until they announce something.
You don't look like a Tanaka.
he said he was supposed to own the guy and thats why he scheduled a fight that soon after… but it was not going to plan
Dont get down on Forrest, no one has moves like Anderson Silva.
So what if they ban him? He can still make a living fighting
Dont get down on Forrest, no one has moves like Anderson Silva.
more news
From Nick Lembo of the New Jersey Athletic Commission:
I have discussed this matter with Ohio Athletic Commissioner Bernie Profato today. Ohio has placed Sean on administrative suspension pending an October hearing. Although we do not have to honor the suspension, because is it not medical, we have chosen to do so. Promoter Lou Neglia has already been advised that Salmon needs to be replaced on the contest.Salmon will not be fighting on the Sept. 11 Ring of Combat in Atlantic City.
Follow me on Twitter @KidNate
^win
I hope the other states follow suit.
This is way to big. If he (or someone affiliated with him) didn’t make more money for losing the fight than winning it then “no go” on suspension. Tank and Butterbean allowed to fight and give up after 3 mins. That’s their plan they make great money doing it. Before commissions, but Royce apparently should have been banned for life for throwing in the towel before the fight even really started.
Fat Lawyer commissioners and there “protecting” sports! As others have said it’s no different than giving up the RNC. If you find your in over your head then yah give up. He like most everybody else thought he was going to cakewalk through that fight, thus the huge difference in the line. It didn’t happen. He gave up. Get over it. Not everybody wants to be that guy listed in Sherdog’s Fightfinder as “Tapped for no apparent reason.”
All that being said Promoter’s should blackball him from events unless he’s fighting Kalib Stearns.
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