Leading up to and immediately after his UFC 203 loss to Mickey Gall, much of the world has treated Phil CM Punk Brooks like he’s a heroic Make a Wish foundation child. He’s so brave, I’ve heard.
He’s trying to make his dream a reality.”
Professional fighting is brutally hard, and every athlete puts in years upon years upon years of grinding, has to overcome injuries, and faces the thrilling loneliness of walking into the ring. Within the context of professional MMA, Brooks didn’t work particularly hard, certainly not for a long time, and he got paid far more than most UFC athletes, with a lot less on the line.
He was given an opportunity by gimmick-loving promoters, to the tune of a $500,000 show-purse, and he took it. Good for him.
For me, however, there is nothing inspirational about a millionaire taking shortcuts and using his clout to make a plaything out of an otherwise professional sport’s league. Furthermore, Brooks’ delusion heading into UFC 203 wasn’t very endearing.
He promised to choke or knock Mickey Gall out. He mocked Mickey Gall’s record and said that the brown belt was not a real pro.
Brooks mocked how little Gall – who has trained in mixed martial arts for nearly a decade, since he was a teenager – was making to fight at UFC 203, compared to the pro-wrestler. Basically, Brooks looked his gift horse in the mouth and acted like a deluded jerk.
He can certainly be forgiven much of his defensiveness given the harsh spotlight of fame he lives under. The neophyte can also be forgiven a lot of his delusion because his teammates and coaches told the world and him that he was ready to fight and to win.
He was lied to but didn’t know enough to realize it.
Given the historical constancy of corruption in prizefighting, fair and good matchmaking is one of the most legitimizing keys in combat sports.
Brooks’ fight weakened the UFC’s hard-earned claim to legitimacy, even as it endangered his own health. I wrote last week’s column because I was concerned for his health given how poorly prepared he was to fight.
I said his fight with Mickey Gall would get ugly, fast. It did.
Brooks grew an instant cauliflower ear, got cut open in seconds, and then took a bunch blows to a head that he’s said had been concussed many times during his days as a professional wrestler. Phil Brooks didn’t have a clue out there, and his inevitable loss was a punctuation on the most embarrassing fight in UFC history.
Afterwards, he said that he’s better than that. He isn’t.
How we perform on fight night is exactly how good we are – whatever we do is exactly what we were able to muster under the parameters we knew would be in place. Of course, we can all improve after bad losses.
There are few things more demoralizing than losing a fight. I’ve personally lost a fight even quicker than Brooks lost his Saturday.
It’s an awful feeling that hurts to the core of your manhood. What Brooks does now, will demonstrate how much he actually loves MMA.
He says he loves it, but it is a lot easier to enjoy something when everyone is going easy on you in the gym and you’re promised a huge payday for doing it. It is much harder to get up every day and continue your training with no payday coming your way.
Phil Brooks is not good enough to get paid for training and fighting MMA. At his age, he likely never will be.
Still, if the rookie loves MMA and jiu-jitsu, truly loves it, he’ll continue training. He’ll do it for himself.
Roufusport is close to Chicago, where Brooks lives. He can still get there frequently without too much trouble. I know Chicago area fighters who do just that, each week because they see the value in training at such a high-level gym.
There are also great gyms in Chicago for Brooks to continue his training.
Brooks can continue to train and learn and improve, for the rest of his life. Maybe, he’ll enter the novice divisions at some local jiu-jitsu tournaments in a few months. Maybe, after a few more years of consistent training, he can do a local smoker with another guy in his 40’s.
Phil Brooks can and should continue to train and compete for the love of it, but he has no place fighting on anyone’s television.
If Phil Brooks’ UFC experience was the spark of what will become a lifelong love of martial arts, then that is beautiful and worth it. If he walks away from real training after taking his first beating, then all this ridiculousness was for nothing.
Referee mistakes and the teep heard around the world
About the author:
Elias Cepeda has served as a writer and editor covering mixed martial arts and combat sports, as well as public and cultural affairs, since 2005. He began as a staff writer for InsideFighting, and not long thereafter became publisher and editor of the page. Cepeda then went to write for Yahoo! Sports’ boxing and MMA pages, and edited their Cagewriter blog. He was hired away by FOX Sports, but after several years departed over philosophical differences with the executive leadership around important issues of journalism ethics. A student of and sometime competitor in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and MMA since 1999, Elias brings a unique and vibrant presence to reporting, and enjoys trying to highlight shared humanity and connect common experiences from seemingly different worlds.
We are honored that Elias is writing a weekly column for The UnderGround.
