My first column on Sherdog.com is out today and it's a breakdown of the winners and losers from UFC 88. Here's one of the winners, Kurt Pellegrino:
An always-promising fighter with well-rounded skills, Pellegrino couldn’t ever seem to break through intriguing-prospect status. Seemingly unable to cobble together the components necessary for a meaningful career inside the unforgiving cage walls of the Octagon, Pellegrino grappled with anonymity and even identity.
Yet, amidst weight-class changes, personal and familial turmoil and gut-wrenching losses, Pellegrino found a way Saturday to persevere through the sort of adversity that would cripple anyone without an indefatigable will to carry on. If there were ever an underdog pick to root for, Pellegrino is it.
And here's "one" of the losers, the fans who booed Dong Hyun Kim:
Rooting for the home team is rarely objectionable, but is Dong Hyun Kim -- a Korean fighter who voluntarily chose to leave his country to fight for an American company -- really the "away team"?
Like any other fighter under UFC contract competing in America, Kim’s participation in UFC events helps generate revenue for those American entities promoting the fight, to say nothing of how important Kim is for the UFC’s international expansion efforts. Obviously Kim’s contribution in making UFC 88 financially solvent isn’t make or break, but it should prevent him from being unnecessarily booed by Americans driving home in their Japanese imports.
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