Kenny Monday: Blackzilian manager not man enough to fire me face to face
“I don’t know if they are struggling financially, or what it is. I’m not sure what’s going on here. He wasn’t man enough to come talk to me himself. Life goes on.”
Former three-time Olympic wrestler and two-time Olympic medalist Kenny Monday left a coveted teaching position at Oklahoma State after being recruited by Blackzilians founder Glenn Robinson, under a three-year contract. He was by all public accounts highly successful training the likes of Rashad Evans, Vitor Belfort, and Eddie Alvarez.
Today he was fired, and he has no idea why.
Elias Cepeda breaks the story.
“It wasn’t my decision,” said Monday. “It was Glenn Robinson’s decision.”
“I was blindsided by it. I really don’t know what his reason is. I don’t know if they are struggling financially, or what it is. I’m not sure what’s going on here. He wasn’t man enough to come talk to me himself. Life goes on.”
“I have nothing to hide. I gave my heart to this program. I uprooted my family for this from Oklahoma and moved to Florida for this. It was one of the toughest decisions I’ve made.”
“Everyone I’ve talked to around the world had good things to say. I spoke with Jon Jones and he told me, ‘You’re doing an unbelievable job. I can see the difference in the way your guys fight.’ The world took notice. It is disappointing. It just goes to show you that you never know. I don’t know Glenn Robinson well.”
“I get offers all the time to coach wrestling and MMA… I’ll see what’s available. I love the sport. I think I’ve gotten a lot better as far as how to teach wrestling for the fight – MMA wrestling. I’m growing in that capacity. I’m not done.”
MMA fighter/trainer Greg Southworth suggested on the UG that the reason could be financial.
“Glenn has been hemorrhaging money,” wrote Southworth. “The gym, the team, F3, hiring top flight coaches – especially a wrestling coach from perennial powerhouse Oklahoma State – isn’t sustainable without bringing $$$ in.
“I’d be willing to bet Vitor will leave soon followed by some wholesale desertions.”
However, Rashad Evans spoke with Ariel Helawani, and the dispute seemed to center on personalities.
“It’s something that has been kind of brewing with things not working out with Kenny and the management,” said Evans. “It reached its limit. It became hard to work with him.
“I was Kenny’s biggest backer. I did my best to be the mediator, but when you have strong personalities going head to head it doesn’t make for a good resolution. We all consult about everything. When they came to me about it, I had no choice but to support my team about the decision that was being made.”