This weekend one of the biggest fights in the
UFC history happened between Conor McGregor and Khabib Nurmagomedov, and what
stood out was everything but sportsmanship and respect. The whole build up to
this event started with controversy, and unfortunately, it ended in the same
tone.
Khabib drew first blood when he confronted
Artem Lobov, a training partner of McGregor. Conor, the Irish flamboyant and
charismatic fighter, responded by throwing a trolley into the bus which would
take Khabib’s team. This, in turn, led to legal trouble to the “Notorious” and
set up the pre-fight cold war game.
As expected, McGregor did his research and
displayed his renowned trash talk, which helps him selling his fights and
reaching audiences far from the fighting world, although this time, he might
have gone too far with it. When the discussion gets to family and religion
issues, it may be over the limit, especially for people who put a high value on
it.
Anyway, Khabib, before the fight commented on
this situation, saying “we have to think about the younger generations (…) I
want to be a good role model”. Just after dominating the fight he jumped over
the cage and rush to fight Dillon Danis, another training partner of McGregor,
who was trash talking Khabib.
And this culminated into a big brawl in which
Conor also got involved with members of Khabib’s team who jumped into the
octagon. After the whole scene, the Russian fighter apologised for his
behaviour in the press conference, but still, right after that, he asked:
"Why are you talking about me jumping over the cage, when Conor talked
about my religion, my country, my father and even threw a trolley at a
bus?"
In this occasion, it is pointless to find
someone to put in all the blame for what happened. As a matter of fact, both
athletes created this outcome. If we had to pick, McGregor had his worst moment
when he hit the bus and Khabib stood out negatively when he jumped over the
cage after the fight.
As outsiders, we can focus on the controversy
and superficial comments, or we can realise that these are just two great
fighters who had bad moments. They may be extreme opposites, both in their
personas and their fighting styles, but there is one thing in common: they are
great inspiration sources for their followers.
While this fuss is all over media and covers
front pages, that certainly was not the case when Lebron James inaugurated the
"I Promise School". Why is that? Is it because there are so many good
things happening around us, that when something bad happens it is news?
Perhaps.
At age 33, Lebron James, already one of the
greatest basketball players ever, builds a public elementary school
specifically aimed at “at-risk children”, which means students who require
temporary or ongoing intervention in order to succeed academically.
In an effort to develop the community of his
hometown, the NBA star put together an educational organisation which is
unique. This school will provide several things:
- Free tuition, uniforms, bicycles and helmets;
- Free transportation within two miles;
- Free breakfast, lunch and snacks;
- Food pantry for families;
- General Education Diplomas (GED) and job placement services for parents;
- Guaranteed tuition to the University of Akron for every student who graduates.
What should be more important: a post-fight
brawl, or a great athlete showing his commitment to the development of a world
with more opportunities? This is for us to reflect upon. As we know, media go
with the flow of what the public wants and what keeps people entertained.
"Choose the world
you see, and see the world you choose"
