The FF-Files: Say What?
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While the Sherdog Fight Finder team frequently fights frauds fervently, the staff also receives pushback from those that disagree with our standard of review. Submitters can prove very sensitive after having their information questioned, with responses ranging from confusion to outright hostility to something in between. Most interactions are pleasant, but some can go off the rails very quickly.
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For every nasty reply, we do receive dozens of responses like “You are the best, bro <3”. We do not seek out confrontation – we are a neutral recordkeeping body – and we would prefer that you treat the staff the way we treat everyone else: with respect and professionalism. The team is made up of those who do this for the love of the sport, and although some of it comes with the territory, staff members should not be subjected to harsh treatment because some submitter takes umbrage with a request. That said, here are some of the greatest hits from grumpy emails and messages this past year. The text, while censored for profanity for publication purposes, otherwise appears as written in communiques from valued members of the MMA community.
“You are a complete f--. I f---ed your mouth. You hueplet,
wh-res. What the f--- are you deleting my fights .. I will file you
with the International Court of Justice.”
This lovely message came from a fighter who attempted to falsely lift his record of 1-4 to something over .500. Between losses across the Commonwealth of Independent States, this fighter attempted to bolster his record and add fights that never actually happened. He did not receive the news well, but he never did manage to file anything with the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands. By the way, what’s a “hueplet”?
“i will complain to you through the world martial arts organization and i will not allow you to misuse my name. this behavior will take your eyebrows off.”
Occasionally, fighters will claim that they never fought for a certain organization, and that they never faced a specific opponent. When the Fight Finder staff receives clear, audible video identifying both of the fighters at that event for that promoter, that fighter has a lot to answer for. Some apologize and try to rectify the situation, while others react aggressively. After calling his opponent “that evil fighter,” this competitor threatened the eyebrows of the staff. No eyebrows were harmed during the making of this article.
“My answer to you. F--- you !!! You are a complete f--, that’s who you are. B----, I sent you all the information. Razuy eyes show that the fighter is fighting. F---, I’ve seen the rest of the battles. Your vile attitude will soon leave you alone with yourself.”
This submitter, claiming to be a fighter’s manager and then later the organizer of the event as well, sent in numerous bouts of a single event in Georgia in 2015. His problem stemmed from his videos for the event, with one video per individual bout: they did not match. In order to register an event’s results in the database, the fights need to take place in the same arena. Ninety-nine times out of 100, if fights billed on one card happen in two different buildings, they did not take place at the same event.
“You were sent the correct tournament, but you didn’t add it as needed. Therefore, you have to deceive you.”
When the Fight Finder staff receives conflicting information about an event, the promoter typically takes precedence. Some promoters can unquestionably be motivated by financial reasons or animus, but more often than not, the official word of the promoter is the best way to get an event up to date. That is, of course, if there is no recordkeeping or sanctioning body keeping this information, like a commission or federation. In this situation for this fight that never occurred at the tournament like the manager claimed, congratulations, you played yourself.
“I do not want to remain a rat. If it was me then I…I fought that evening in China, not this guy…I sent you all the information. Do not make yourself blind.”
Every once in a while, we receive an unusual request, where a fighter writes in claiming that they suffered a loss and not another fighter. When this happens, it is always to fall on the proverbial sword for a popular competitor that fights in higher leagues. On the one hand, it seems noble that a fighter tries to correct the record and assign the loss to the proper person. On the other, it’s scarcely a genuine request: this particular “fighter” wrote in from multiple addresses, spelling his name differently each time with a far different writing style in each. It appears we have a fall guy, and we won’t allow this targeted fighter to take on more losses than he actually suffered.
“Please do me a Solid it means a lot to me and update the site or forward to person still running Sherdog that will. It means a lot to me before I pass which may be soon.”
There is only one thing we say to someone who asks for a rush job because of their impending Death; “not today.” For an overwhelming majority of requests, our approach to processing them is simple: first in, first out. Time and time again, someone will write in the day before an event urging the staff to update this or that information. An unlisted fight card happened many years ago, and you just now remembered it? Then you have the audacity to tell the staff that even though you neglected to say something for years, the staff has to hurry for your sake? Get outta here.
Please send all of your Fight Finder-related requests only to [email protected].
