Thank you Steve Maze
If there were more coaches with the experience and character of Steve Maze, this would be a better, safer sport.
Gameness is among the most prized virtues in mixed martial arts. That’s a will to win in excess of the will to live. If a fighter is taking a dangerous beating he or she is not stopping.
Referees are trying to balance a fighter’s health and safety with that fighter’s livelihood. It’s an impossible task because this is a hurting game. And as the fighters get more experienced, the balance shifts towards livelihood.
Ask any cop – there are accidents so bad that death is inevitable, even if the victim yet remains alive. There are fights like that too – the end is inevitable, it just hasn’t happened yet. But referees won’t stop it under those circumstances.
So sometimes it is left to the corner to stop a fight. Unfortunately, most coaches are too hopeful or too scared to do so. As an aside, throwing in the towel is not a thing in MMA, but a corner could technically jump in the cage, which ends the bout. The usual practice though is to stop it in the corner. That happened on Saturday night.
Joe Lauzon’s boxing coach Steve Maze deserves credit for calmly telling Lauzon in the corner after Round 2 that he was going stop the fight. Lauzon didn’t argue. And the fight was over.
If there were more coaches with the experience and character of Steve Maze, this would be a better, safer sport. Lauzon has been fighting for over 14 years. He was saved the sort of horrific beating that forces him out of the sport. Now he can make that decision on his own.
Lauzon is tied for the all-time UFC record of performance bonuses. Although he is on a three-fight losing streak, he can doubtless fight again. Or perhaps he will prefer to retire and put together a facility that is the center of elite MMA in New England. In fact, he’s already done that.