Trading Shots: Cody McKenzie says we're 'virgins watching a porno,' but is he right?

Cody McKenzie

In this week’s Trading Shots, MMAjunkie columnist Ben Fowlkes and retired UFC/WEC fighter Danny Downes review some recent comments from Cody McKenzie, who had strong words for all the armchair experts in MMA-land.

Fowlkes: Danny, I know you saw Cody McKenzie’s recent comments about the UFC, and I know a large portion of those comments will likely be dismissed by both UFC executives and the majority of fans as the mad ramblings of another disgruntled fighter who couldn’t hack it. But what I want to ask you about today is one particular comment from McKenzie, which goes beyond complaints about money or power in the MMA industry:

“What drives me the most nuts is how he’ll talk like he knows,” McKenzie said. “All these people who talk about fighting, it’s like a million virgins watching a porno. They’ve never had sex, but they all want to put their input in. It’s ridiculous. They all have their input, but until you’ve been in a fight you have no clue what it’s like. That’s the bottom line. It’s like sex. Until you’ve done it, you have no clue what’s going on.”

OK, I know we both want to snicker about the sex/porno/virgins stuff, so let’s go ahead and get that out of our systems. Done? Good. Now I want to ask you, as a former professional fighter, do you relate to what he’s saying here? Because I would think that you must. He does have a point, doesn’t he?

Downes: I would have reached for a different simile, but the “AK Kid” does make a point. From the so-called media to “keyboard warriors” to promoters and everyone in between, everyone wants to give you career advice. And most of the time, they have no idea what they’re talking about. But wait, I HAVE A RIGHT TO MY OPINION! Yes, you certainly have the right to express your opinion, but that doesn’t make you any less ignorant [insert hot political take about liberals and/or conservatives].

Watching MMA doesn’t make you an expert the same way playing “Call of Duty” doesn’t make you a military tactician. Can you learn things and spot technical errors? Sure, but don’t let the fact that you know the difference between a D’Arce choke and an anaconda choke confuse you into thinking you’re a professional. For as much as people like to bash “UFC Tonight,” at least it has actual professional fighters giving commentary. Brian Stann and Daniel Cormier know how to dissect a fight and explain it. They understand what it’s like to walk into the cage and compete. Everyone else just tries to echo something they might have heard on a podcast.

Now Ben, you’re in the business of giving opinions, even if some might view them as ill-informed. What do you think when you hear Cody’s comments? You go to a Brazilian jiu-jitsu class a couple times a week, so I’m sure it doesn’t apply to you. You even have PRIDE posters!

Fowlkes: If anything, my dear Mr. Downes, I’d say my experience with jiu-jitsu (bro, I go AT LEAST three times a week) and my much more limited experience with the martial arts that involve hitting one another in the face (it gave me a headache, so I stopped) have mostly served to teach me how much I don’t know. You’ll notice I don’t do a ton of stuff on the technical commentary side of things. There are plenty of other people – Jack Slack, BJJ Scout, Robin Black, etc. – who are way better at it, so I leave that to them. Learning a little bit about something is, in my experience, a great way to discover the extent of your own ignorance. Once you’ve been choked out by people who in turn have been choked out by people who in turn would not stand a chance against anyone in the UFC, it gives you an appreciation for the level the pros are on.

But then, I don’t think we want to say that anyone who can’t do something as well as the pros, or even anyone who doesn’t understand it on the same level as the pros, must therefore shut up forever and ever on the topic. For one thing, that’s no fun. Think about what would happen if we couldn’t complain about politics anymore, since so few among us have ever gotten a bill passed. I don’t think you’ve ever directed a Hollywood blockbuster, Danny, but I’ll bet you’ve walked out of a movie theater with some strong opinions about what M. Night Shyamalan should have done in the third act. And please, you want to tell me all about how you’d never let your kids watch TV, people without kids? Obviously you don’t know what it’s like to desperately need that 15 minutes of peace that a “Curious George” episode can provide.

My point is, we all do this. And we feel entitled to do it, because we think we’re smart people with smart opinions. If we also happen to be paying customers of the thing we’re opining about, then forget it. How obnoxious we feel entitled to be is directly proportionate to how much money we’ve spent.

I’m not saying McKenzie is wrong to feel frustrated by it. I’m familiar with that frustration. You know how many times I’ve been told I’m a crappy writer by people who can’t form a complete sentence? Or how many times I’ve had to bite my tongue when some “writer” who’s never done anything more taxing than live-blogging a “TUF” episode launches into an all-encompassing critique of the MMA media? Everybody thinks they know how to do everybody else’s job. That’s not unique to fighters. But particularly when you’re in a career field that depends on other people caring enough to watch and comment on it in order for it to even be a job, isn’t that just part of the deal? Even if McKenzie’s right – and I think he is, for the most part – where does that observation leave us?

Downes: That’s the real question. What’s a fan to do? How will they get by without calling Conor McGregor “overrated” or telling everyone that Tony Romo sucks? Everything doesn’t have to be sunshine and lollipops. There can be valid criticisms even if they come from unqualified sources. What we have to realize, though, is that we don’t need to have an opinion for everything. Think of a Twitter timeline on fight night. People feel the need to editorialize every … single … moment. It’s OK to let some things go. Goldberg mispronounced something! I can’t wait to point it out!

It’s nice to have an avenue to express a thought, but not every thought needs to be expressed. Fans, media and fighters need to have a filter. Stream of consciousness may have worked for James Joyce, but it’s a terrible idea for mixed martial arts. Can’t we just watch things anymore? No, we want to show everyone how smart we are. The problem is, we confuse snark for intelligence. If that were the case, high school sophomores would be the smartest people in the country.

“When you’re in a career field that depends on other people caring enough to watch and comment on it in order for it to even be a job, isn’t that just part of the deal?”

I agree with that. When you do something publicly, you’ll be the object of justified and unjustified criticism. Simply saying, “it goes with the territory,” ignores the fact that opinion-makers have responsibility. A journalist, for instance, has the power to influence public opinion. It’s a power that should not be taken lightly. The media can build or bury a fighter in ways that PR firms could only dream of. Does that ever enter your mind when you’re writing? Should those thoughts even enter your mind? Would humanizing your subjects hurt your objectivity? Does admitting your own ignorance weaken your authority as a commentator? Should we just think of fighters as fighters, or as people, too?

Fowlkes: You’re right about the responsibility that comes with the power. That is something media members should think about, and something we probably need to be reminded of every so often. I think this is part of the benefit of getting out on the road and getting some face time with the people you write about, whether it’s at an event or in their gyms. Not only do you get to know them better and increase your odds of understanding them well enough to write something worth reading about them, you also get to see them as people. It keeps you honest. If you know there’s no chance of you ever speaking to the people you write about, your odds of lapsing into reflexive jerkishness only increase over time.

For fighters, it seems like strange and difficult territory to navigate. Here you are, better and more knowledgeable about this thing than almost all the people watching and commenting, but that doesn’t necessarily make you right and them wrong. McKenzie rightly feels like he could beat up most of the people who said he wasn’t UFC caliber. He knows more about fighting than they do, no doubt about it. At the same time, how much do you have to know to watch a fight and tell that the dude standing up at the end is probably better than the dude in a crumpled heap on the floor? Isn’t that one of the great aspects of this sport? There’s a brutal simplicity to it. It’s usually not too hard to tell who’s winning and who’s losing.

Again, I’m not saying fighters have no right to get annoyed when a bunch of armchair senseis try to criticize their technique. I’m sure I wouldn’t like it either if I were in their shoes. I’m glad some of them are willing to take the inevitable heat that comes with pointing out the absurdity of it, because we need to be reminded of that from time to time. We’re not as smart as we think we are. That doesn’t necessarily make us dumb, though.

McKenzie might know more than most on the topic of fighting. He also probably knows less than others. Tell me, you think he’s never watched a Georges St-Pierre fight and mumbled to himself about what GSP ought to do? You think fans are the only ones punching above their weight class, as far as knowledge and experience goes?

Downes: That’s a fair point. Fighters aren’t equal in terms of ability or IQ. Even if you’ve competed in a high level MMA promotion, it doesn’t mean that you’re an expert either. You may know more than PRIDE4EVER_420, but that’s not really saying much.

I find it interesting that you think it’s helpful to interact with the people you write about beyond a simple interview. I wholeheartedly agree, but it does present difficulties. As a former fighter, I want to give competitors the benefit of the doubt. When they air their grievances, I’m certainly more receptive to their problems. More than that, though, I made friends during my time as a competitor. How should I report on Roufusport? If we’re being perfectly honest, my time there has certainly given me advantages and access that I wouldn’t have received if I were some nerd with an English degree from SDSU. It also places me in an awkward position. It’s what they call a conflict of interest.

It’s nice to be able to view people in total, and more than a by-product of their profession. Unfortunately, as much as I like the idea of humanizing fighters, I wonder if objectivity suffers. When I see journalists injecting themselves into stories or trying to hang out with professional fighters, it makes me uncomfortable. There’s certainly a difference between interacting with fighters to offer a more educated analysis, and doing it to post online about how you’re hanging out with “celebrities,” but where’s the line? Even as fans, should we ever get to the point where we’re unwilling to criticize someone because we like them personally? It’s an uncomfortable position. But then again, so is a million virgins watching a porno.