There is little doubt fighters are a completely different breed to the rest of us, putting their bodies through unimaginable hell in training just to reach a boxing ring or a MMA cage, never mind what they go through in an actual fight, and often for very little financial reward.
Fighters compete for different reasons, aspirations of being a champion or simply to put food on the table or pay the bills, most simply love the thrill of it and do it for the joy of it, it’s what they do, it's what they are.
Whatever level a fighter is at, the pressures are there. Ronda Rousey a once so dominant champion, her career over when it was seemingly at her peak. The sight of Rousey after her fight with Nunes, is one of the saddest sights I have ever seen in MMA. Rousey had the look of a fighter, suddenly realizing her time in the sport had gone.
The mental scars of that defeat and her previous loss to Holly Holm are still there, even a few years on, the mental state of fighters we all to often forget or don’t think about, especially the ‘trolls’ who seem to take great delight in abusing fighters online.
Our heroes often leave the sport broken mentally as well as financially. Many foolishly come back, they miss the spotlight, they need the money, it’s all they know. When they leave the phone stops ringing, many just want that want that phone to ring again, they just want to feel wanted again.
Fighters enter the ring or a cage with an awful lot resting on how they perform, win or lose, jobs are on the line, will they get another payday, will they get that elusive title shot.
Only last week Meatball Molly McCann went from immense pride making her UFC debut in her home town to being left “heartbroken” by her defeat in just a few short minutes.
Liam McGeary the former Bellator light heavyweight champion told me after his last defeat, with his battered leg leaving him in complete agony “I don’t get paid enough to hurt like this.”
That one sentence says a lot about what they put themselves through, and for a pay-day which in most cases doesn’t reflect what they do, not even close.
Most fight fans watch their chosen sport with a hint of jealousy, thinking in their heads they could do it, but in reality they know they can’t, fighters can and they do, without the reward or the respect they truly deserve.
