I was distracted by the UFC fights but I wanted to say something about the #TUF20Finale after watching the prelims again earlier today.
Specifically I'm referring to Bec Rawlings.
Between the #TUF20 season, the Finale Weigh-ins & how she fought in the Finale I feel she did herself & her "brand" a lot of harm.
When she was on TUFtalk Karyn Bryant brought up her past history and asked if the way Bec had behaved during TUF20 could be described as her being a "bully". Rawlings said she didn't see it like that at all, and offered excuses (or call them reasons, depending on whether you believed her explanation or not)
Then at the Weigh-ins she showed a total lack of respect/professionalism (in my opinion) by flipping off her opponent for the face-off.
And in the fight we see Rawlings CLEARLY target the injured knee of her opponent, a knee that Bec KNEW was already damaged.
Turns out that Heather Clark won that fight... and that unfortunately only makes Bec look worse. I'm not saying that had she won everything Rawlings had done would have been "OK", I'm just pointing out that when you act like that & then lose you look very foolish.
Rawlings (The other "Rowdy" female UFC fighter besides UFC Bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey) basically played herself by her words & actions. If she were a guy people would most likely call it being a dick or a douchebag... and I honestly believe that the UFC will be less likely to book her for a fight because of the negative way she behaved recently.
It's one thing to act that way & win... but to go that route & lose cheapens your stock, and in an atmosphere where bad hype can derail your momentum it's not good for a fighter to be their own worst enemy.
Bec's actions might have put her int he same boat at Nate Diaz - who is most likely in hot water with the UFC execs from failing to meet required pre-fight obligations, walking out on an interview, complaining/talking badly about the promotion, missing weight & then losing his fight.
With more than 550 fighters on the roster fighters have it rough getting a fight... it makes ZERO sense to make that even harder by becoming "hard to want" when it comes to the promotion figuring out who to give a fight opportunity to.
In addition to all of this... I say anyone who would purposefully target an injured part of their opponent's body is not a nice person, or even a decent one.
IF anyone wants to defend that type of unprofessional (not to mention :poop: -y) behavior, don't bother. Responding to this telling me I am wrong on this specific aspect of my rant will only make me have less respect for you as a fighter as well as a person.
Don't be the fighter who is known for purposefully ending another fighter's career - and no matter how much you don't like that fighter (Or even if they are a crappy person) it's not going to make up for your :poop: -y actions.
But for someone who went through what Rawlings did to act the way she has only makes her less sympathetic - and I feel what she has said & done will probably lose her some fans.
I can say that for me, it has effected the way I view her as both a fighter & as a person. I started off TUF20 as a big fan of hers... but what I have seen of her since that first episode has resulted in me not being as much of a fan of hers as I once was.
Hopefully Bec will realize that the way she is behaving isn't in her best interest and she will go back to being the person/fighter that fans could like & respect.
