Sean Salmon Admits to Taking a Dive

[MattHughesRocks]

n his latest "Full-Time Fighter" column for MMA Junkie, former UFC light heavyweight (and eternal star of Rashad Evans' highlight reel) Sean Salmon makes a rather startling admission regarding his last fight, which took place in Ohio back in June.

Salmon says that he was training with members of the Wolfslair Academy in Cheshire, England, when he flew back to Ohio on June 3rd for a match against WEC veteran Allan Weickert (then with a record of 5-6 to Salmon's 16-7) on June 6th. He was set to return to England on June 7th, provided he emerged from the Weickert bout unscathed.

Salmon expected to handle the less experienced fighter with ease. He didn't:

I handled him very easily for the entire first round. He was able to land one very good elbow to my temple. I am embarrassed to admit that my first thought was that, "If he cut me and I can't go back to England, this is not worth it." How in the world could I be in a fight and think that if I got cut, it is not worth the win?

In the second round, I took him down again. He went for an armbar, I defended it (only to prove to myself that he couldn't get it), and then I put my arm back in to give him the win so that I could return to England, healthy. Just so you all know, that is the most embarrassing thing that I have ever admitted out loud.

This is, naturally, only the beginning of Salmon's article. He goes on to explain what a terrible state of mind he was in, how he was battling substance abuse at the time, and how he's fully reformed and rededicated now, heading into a September 11th fight with Ultimate Fighter alum Dante Rivera. And that's great - I'm really happy for the guy.

Still, I can't help but feel that his "admission" not only shows massive disrespect to the fighter who bested him that night*, but also raises questions regarding Salmon's morals and whether this sort of thing (or, worse, legit fight fixing) happens in MMA far more than we diehard fans like to imagine.

* Weickert isn't mentioned by name in the piece, but the fight result is easily located on Sherdog's Fight Finder. Salmon tapped at 2:05 of the second frame. Links to Salmon's pre-fight trash talking can also be found on Weickert's Wikipedia page.

http://www.bloodyelbow.com/2009/9/2/...ts-to-throwing

This happens frequently in other sports so I'm not surprised about it being in MMA...

eh, sounds fishy to me.
He is basically saying he lost on purpose to not get cut?
Not admitting to "Taking a dive" in the traditional sense of being paid to lose.

Sounds like he got tooled by somebody he shouldn't have been tooled by,
and is making a sad attempt to give a reason why.

Yeah, sounds more like he was getting scared and just gave up. Wasn't exactly a pre-planned situation where he went into the fight knowing he would lose on purpose. Just started getting beat up and took an easy way out.

Or, he's making an excuse for getting beat by someone "lower" than he.

[adamt]

sean "the can" of salmon

i like this quote from a poster on another forum

It's a shame that the CSAC is trying to keep Salmon CANNED; that's a RAW deal even if he was SMOKED pretty stiff in his last fight. It's been nearly 8 mos now and Salmon is still taking a dive and swimming against the current in his young mma career.... so hopefully soon he can get back to fresh water and reproduce some more great fights.

Originally Posted by atomdanger

eh, sounds fishy to me.
He is basically saying he lost on purpose to not get cut?
Not admitting to "Taking a dive" in the traditional sense of being paid to lose.

Sounds like he got tooled by somebody he shouldn't have been tooled by,
and is making a sad attempt to give a reason why.

i agree with this. it sounds like he got scared, looked for a way out and found one and now is trying to make excuses why he lost

Originally Posted by Max

i agree with this. it sounds like he got scared, looked for a way out and found one and now is trying to make excuses why he lost

pretty sad too.... I don't know if he thinks people would like him more for losing on purpose...

Seems like a weird tactic lol

http://sherdogblog.craveonline.com/b...09-09-03#19470

“I’m going to confront him with it,” said Profato. “I’m not going to stand for this kind of sh-t. If he doesn’t print a retraction, then he’s out. I’m not going to compromise the integrity of the sport and have someone throw a fight. ... If I had proof, he’d banned for life in Ohio.”

[rockdawg21]

Who is Sean Salmon?