Kamal Shalorus -- 37 years old or not?
by Jonathan. on Jan 11, 2010 2:10 PM EST
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PrintKamal Shalorus made his WEC debut in violent fashion in November, finishing Will Kerr in just over one minute after escaping from a kneebar. It was a stunning debut for anyone making their first appearance on the national scene, a feat made all the more impressive when you consider that Shalorus is 37 years old.
Or is he?
http://blogs.chron.com/fighting/2010/01/brawl_sports_conversations_kam.html
Really interesting story and read. Kamal claims that the birth certificate that he has is actually that of his brother (who passed away at a young age). Apparently his parents couldn't afford to bring him to the hospital for a second one and he believes he is closer to 29 or 30 than actually 37.
The government of Iran says Shalorus is 37, but he maintains that he's much closer to 29. "Maybe I was born in 1978, maybe 1979, maybe 1975. I don't know," says Shalorus. "I said, 'Mom, what happened?' She said, 'Oh yeah, we had another son before you and he passed away. We could not go to city (to the hospital) because we had no money and it was snowing, so we just gave his birth certificate to you.' It's very common where I come from."
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Rec'd - This needs attention!
If he is closer to 30, that would be a huge difference. It could mean his career takes an entirely different route than what is expected of a 37-year old.
The guy's obviously in shape
It’s crazy to think… the guy doesn’t even know exactly how old he is. What a trip
Supporting all Las Vegas MMA. Xtreme Couture FTMFW.
'09 is the year of the FW's.
Kind of amazing some of the things we take for granted in a 1st world country.
I don’t know what I’d really think if I didn’t even know how old I was…
by Jonathan. on Jan 11, 2010 3:03 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs
He’s the guy whose fight brought out the retard in the Sac audience members, right? Chants of “USA”? What idiots.
Back to the article, if I were him, I’d just say I was 25 for the rest of my life.
Shit yeah
Like some age-conscious hipster chick. Come celebrate my 4th 25th birthday ZOMGLOLMAOBBQ!!!!!1
Blackout612- "Wuts teh UFC?"
Ubernoober- "It like two guy who just stand and swing for fence and try to knock each other shit out it awesome"
by Blackout612 on Jan 11, 2010 4:15 PM EST up reply actions 3 recs
You missed it
But there will be another one next year, so don’t worry!
Blackout612- "Wuts teh UFC?"
Ubernoober- "It like two guy who just stand and swing for fence and try to knock each other shit out it awesome"
Im always suprised how often you hear the USA chant. Im actually suprised that no foreign fighter has gotten upset about it because they take it as legitimate anti-foreign sentiment.
I often feel the urge to cheer for foreigners if only because some American’s are so parochial.
And also because I feel sorry for them that they aren’t American.
by John Nash on Jan 13, 2010 1:35 PM EST up reply actions 2 recs
I emailed the main guys for the blog with the article.
Hopefully it does get some attention. The guy is crazy skilled in wrestling and definitely has “heavy hands”.
That's great and awful news.
Fantastic that he’s not in his twilight years and has time to polish that boxing up. If he’s younger, then he’s a great prospect.
It’s awful that this sort of thing is a common practice in parts of the world, and that people don’t have access to basic health care and infrastructure can’t support it.
"Someone is WRONG on the internet. What do you want me to do? LEAVE? Then they'll keep being wrong!"
-Randall Munroe
Haven’t read the piece, but how do you not know within a couple of years how old you are?
Twitter: @Mike_Fagan_13
http://www.sackmikegoldberg.com
lol...seriously
I mean, lets say you start school at 4 years old…you should be able to know how old you are from then on…its not like your in 3rd grade, and you are 5 years younger then everyone else, or vise versa…
Im sure the school system is different in Iran
by TheBiggertheyare... on Jan 11, 2010 10:37 PM EST up reply actions
Also--
Was he adopted or something?
Blackout612- "Wuts teh UFC?"
Ubernoober- "It like two guy who just stand and swing for fence and try to knock each other shit out it awesome"
by Blackout612 on Jan 11, 2010 11:24 PM EST up reply actions
If he was born in 1978 it's not like there was anything going on in Iran to distract his parents
like massive inflation and a revolution followed by a bloody invasion.
“Dammit Ahmed, what with all this inflation going on I can’t for the life of me remember what year it was that I squeezed little Kamal out of my vagina”
No, it was more like “Do you remember what year Kamal was born? Well we couldn’t afford anything to eat in 1978 because prices went up 6005 that year, so we went to Tehran. But the Shah’s men forced us to flee to Kermanshah right before Saddam invaded and killed your whole family. So sometime between in 79 or 80 when I was in imprisoned by the Basiij, but before your refugee camp was bombed.”
With all those reminders I don’t know how anyone forgets a birthdate.
by John Nash on Jan 12, 2010 7:07 PM EST up reply actions 6 recs
I was gonna say
All they gotta do is saw up your bones.
Blackout612- "Wuts teh UFC?"
Ubernoober- "It like two guy who just stand and swing for fence and try to knock each other shit out it awesome"
This is more or less accurate
He’s my wrestling instructor.
I would hope it is more or less accurate, since much of the excerpt is in his own words.
by Jonathan Snowden on Jan 12, 2010 8:58 AM EST up reply actions
Those are more or less his words.
Blackout612- "Wuts teh UFC?"
Ubernoober- "It like two guy who just stand and swing for fence and try to knock each other shit out it awesome"
by Blackout612 on Jan 12, 2010 12:05 PM EST up reply actions
LOL?
Blackout612- "Wuts teh UFC?"
Ubernoober- "It like two guy who just stand and swing for fence and try to knock each other shit out it awesome"
by Blackout612 on Jan 12, 2010 12:06 PM EST up reply actions
“oh yeah, he passed away.” wow. to selfcritical, how good is his wrestling, he wasn’t even having to put any effort into shucking off Jansen.
Gatti. Dekkers. Pele. Aoki. Kang. Vanderlei. Basillio. Harry Greb.
by theworldsoldestsport on Jan 12, 2010 10:39 AM EST reply actions
His wrestling is phenomenal. I was a little perturbed by how badly he was getting dogged in the live thread when Maynard was boxing all-too-similarly last night and no one was ripping on him for it. Sure, Maynard had better head movement, but Kamal’s wrestling really shone through in his fight (which was against another wrestler, no less). He totally embarrassed Jansen in that department.
Blackout612- "Wuts teh UFC?"
Ubernoober- "It like two guy who just stand and swing for fence and try to knock each other shit out it awesome"
by Blackout612 on Jan 12, 2010 12:09 PM EST up reply actions
So do I, and yes, they know their birth dates. It’s not an all-or-nothing thing.
Blackout612- "Wuts teh UFC?"
Ubernoober- "It like two guy who just stand and swing for fence and try to knock each other shit out it awesome"
Well in Afghanistan and Pakistan, they only celebrate their first birthday, unless they are rich or westernized. Many ppl have a rough estimate of when they were born, and not an exact date.
I'm aware
But to just say “the middle east” like it’s one big, synonymous melting pot is too broad.
Blackout612- "Wuts teh UFC?"
Ubernoober- "It like two guy who just stand and swing for fence and try to knock each other shit out it awesome"
Are you telling me there is a difference between Arabs, Kurds, Turks, Persians, Pushtuns, Urds, Azerbaijanis, Armenians, etc. and that each ethnic group might also have a multitude of religions, languages, or cultures further distinguishing them within their own group?
Unheard of.
Either that
Or I’ve been doing it wrong and there’s The Middle East and Texas.
Blackout612- "Wuts teh UFC?"
Ubernoober- "It like two guy who just stand and swing for fence and try to knock each other shit out it awesome"
Although technically Afghanistan and Pakistan are not part of the Middle East, but of Central Asia, unless you want to include them into the Greater Middle East category.
All of it
Just lump it all together.
Blackout612- "Wuts teh UFC?"
Ubernoober- "It like two guy who just stand and swing for fence and try to knock each other shit out it awesome"
My roomate and his family are from Bangladesh
But they know their birthdays, and I am almost 100% sure that those are their actual birthdates.
yes they are, and of course, all followers of Islam are the same right? i think the financial situation of his family had much more to do with his age discrepancy than his religion did, and the argument that they are all Muslim so therefore the same is laughable. The dude lived in a place so poor that when he got sick his parents took him to the local veterinarian!!!
i could care less about your roommate or his family. i wasnt talking about them. i was referring to Kamal and where he came from, and the fact that his parents took him to the vet when he was sick. pay attention to what you read, it usually helps
You could care less? So that means you DO care, right? If you’re gonna use a cliche, at least use the proper grammar.
I was the one that said they are Muslim and from the same continent as Kamal, and you said that it was irrelevant, which it is not.
Why are you so fucking bitter?
that should have read couldn’t….i throw myself at the mercy of the Supreme Grammatical Court and request clemency. please Hammer…dont hurt me……lol
i’m not sure where you are getting that i am bitter. all i was trying 2 say was that being muslim has nothing to do with the fact he has no real idea what age he is…the fact that he came from a region that is worse that dirt poor is why he doesnt know.
Btw, the chinese and russians are from the same continent as your rommates family, and some are muslim, does that make them the same? not even close.
these types of age discrepancies occur all over the world, and the cause is almost always the same….lack of resources to keep track of the information. that has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with money. My own Grandmother lied when she was 16 saying that she was 18 to get a job back in the late 40’s and the company took her word for it, because they had no way of checking with records being extremely spotty back then where she lived(Tennessee). that’s not a problem any more, seeing that we spend the money to maintain vital statistics virtually everywhere in this country. we didnt say, " Hey we’ll just count the christians because muslim’s dont care about their ages" or “Just give every muslim family one birth certificate and they can all just use the one”
you might also want to read a few of the last posts at the bottom of the list here and you will get a few examples of how the info can be wrong or duplicated several times over. it’s always about effective record keeping, which goes directly to the financial situation of the time and place that the records are kept(if they are kept at all)
This is not Uncommon
The only reason my dad knows how old he is is because of the difference in years between himself and his oldest sister, who had a birth certificate. Same goes for the rest of his siblings.
It’s less of an access to medical care issue and more of a cultural thing—in some places, birthdays are not a big deal (and not celebrated), so documentation of the date of birth is not common. Mom, on the other hand, grew up in the same country but in a more Westernized family and got cake and candles from the start.
I guess it becomes an issue if / when a fighter’s age starts showing in the cage and athletic commissions have to renew licenses…
My mom, who was born in the 50’s in Arkansas, has a birth certificate that is almost a year off. Once day a few months after she was born, my grandpa stopped off at the birth certificate office, but he gave the wrong date. It’s not a muslim or middle eastern thing; it’s just a matter of effective record keeping. Which you don’t have as much during a revolution, which is when this guy was apparently born.
"an excellent example of why most MMA "journalism" is a joke. Pseudonyms like "toxic" and shitty writing like that dopey article"--- Joe Rogan.
My grandfather who was born in a tiny town in Oklahoma has 2 birth certificates with 2 separate names and 2 separate bdays. We arent quite sure why lol
But anyways, I can see how someone born in a 3rd world country with no access to a hospital might not be so sure when he was born.
"He will lie between resentment and regret. He shed his grace. As certain as a snake sheds its skin. Laid waste to a wealth of talent--his curse being blessed with treasures that just were not gold enough"
This, my Grandma isn’t sure of her birth date and she’s American. I can believe this.
The man know simply as "Christmas Cheesesteak"
by Neil Manich on Jan 14, 2010 10:15 PM EST up reply actions
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