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Trading Shots: Was Kajan Johnson right to blast fans – and Dana White – for boos in London?

Was Kajan Johnson right to call out fans for booing at UFC Fight Night 127, or was it representative of a disconnect between fighters and fans? MMAjunkie columnist Ben Fowlkes and retired UFC and WEC fighter Danny Downes discuss.

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Fowlkes: Help us out here, Danny. We need a (retired) fighter’s perspective on something that happened at UFC Fight Night 127. As you may or may not have seen, Kajan Johnson won a very close split-decision over Stevie Ray on the prelims in London, then was met with boos during his post-fight interview. He didn’t care for that, and didn’t mind saying so.

“Guys, that was an amazing fight. You guys have no reason to be booing right now,” Johnson told the crowd. “We’re two of the best martial artists in the world right now, competing and bleeding for you. We deserve nothing but your respect. Anything less is disgraceful. You should be ashamed of yourselves.”

Johnson continued that criticism backstage, and even blamed it on UFC President Dana White, who he said sets the tone for an MMA culture that’s disrespectful to fighters.

“In my opinion, it stems from the top,” Johnson said. “A lot of the time you’ll see Dana White giving the fighters so much grief. If you don’t go out, just sling leather and bleed for them, then he’s talking all this smack. And because the leader of the organization acts like this, then it’s so much easier for the fans to act like this. So it really upsets me, and it’s a huge problem that I have with it.”

I’m torn on this, Danny. I respect Johnson’s willingness to speak up on labor issues and fight for the respect he feels he and other fighters deserve.

At the same time, no, that was not “an amazing fight.” In fact, I distinctly recall the ref telling them both to pick up the pace after a pretty slow first round. But beyond that, does Johnson get to tell fans how to feel about his performance? Those people paid for their tickets. If they want to boo, either because they didn’t like the fight or the way the decision went, isn’t that their call to make?

There has to be some way to respect the sport and the fighters, but still have fun and express yourself at the event. Right?

Downes: I’m a little torn, too. If you listen to Johnson’s full comments, he makes some solid points on the type of fights that people want to see.

He’s right to say that fans would rather see a bloody brawl than a chess match. Forrest Griffin vs. Stephan Bonnar is credited with the rise of MMA in the U.S., and that wasn’t exactly a tactical masterpiece. At the same time, his whole justification for scolding the crowd comes off as sanctimonious.

The gall of people who paid money to watch cage fights to not show the proper decorum! Fans weren’t booing the fight itself (although it was within their right to do so) – they were booing the result. The majority of the fans in attendance wanted Ray to win. It was a close fight, he didn’t get the nod on the judges’ scorecards, so they voiced their displeasure.

Later backstage, Johnson admitted this was probably the reason for the boos, so his comments in the heat of the moment make even less sense in retrospect.

Perhaps that’s all this was, though. He had just finished a close fight and he’s relieved to hear his name called out. All of a sudden, he has a microphone thrust in his face and he hears the boo birds. As the adrenaline is still pumping through his system, he’s not thinking things through. So he reacts emotionally and calls out the fans.

Fighters are very defensive when it comes to their craft. Especially in the heat of the moment, they aren’t thinking clearly. The confidence you need to step in and fight someone can border on hubris. It’s also why the “best shape of my life” cliche occurs so frequently. You really do feel like the best realization of your fighting self. And now someone is going to tell you that you weren’t that great?! Them’s fighting words!

I also think a lot of it has to do with the disdain fighters have for non-fighters, which includes the fans. They’d never say it out loud, but you’ve been in enough gyms to hear how fighters talk about people who don’t fight. Some comments are of the fairly innocuous “they only want to see brawls” variety, but it also dovetails with a certain kind of arrogance.

Fighters feel like they have a mental fortitude that you “normies” don’t possess. So are you in awe of our power, Ben? Or now that you know that we look down on you are you going to get your hit pieces ready?

Fowlkes: I have observed that attitude, in gyms and elsewhere, so it’s not exactly news to me. What always surprises me about it, though, is how many fighters seem to believe in their heart of hearts that everyone wishes they could do what fighters do. As if pro fighter is the ideal career, and anybody in any other field ended up there as a sort of consolation prize.

It makes some degree of sense, from a fighter’s perspective. This is obviously what they want to do, simply because there are so many reasons not to do it that you must really love it to continue chasing that dream. But they don’t always seem to realize that “normies” can be fans of the sport and appreciate what fighters do without even remotely wanting to trade places with them.

But maybe fighters do need to understand some things about the fan mentality just so they can put this stuff in perspective. Should fans try to appreciate the sacrifices fighters make and the risks they take every time they get in that cage? Absolutely.

But let’s be real, fighters aren’t doing any of that for the fans, no matter what they might say to the contrary. They’re doing it for themselves. They’re doing it because they want to, and because of the rewards they hope to receive for it.

The fans? They’re there for a few different reasons. A pro fighting event is high-stakes inspiration for some people, a living morality play for others, but when you’re buying tickets for a UFC show in your town it all falls under the budget category of “entertainment.” Booing and cheering, even the obnoxious woo-ing, that’s how the fans express their feelings about what they’re getting for their money. It’s also their way of joining in and being a part of the show.

Fighters don’t always have to like it, but shouldn’t they at least understand it?

Downes: Yes, they should understand it, but I think you’re trying to elevate a much simpler idea. If you pay money for something are you entitled to do whatever you want? You’re correct to point out that fans are looking for “entertainment” when they purchase tickets to an MMA event.

Think about everything else that falls into that category. Are you understanding when there’s a delay in getting your fancy charcuterie board at whatever fancy restaurants you frequent? What do you mean you’re out of the duck liver pâté?!

Anyone who’s worked in the service industry knows what happens when customers’ sense of entitlement goes too far. Did that happen this weekend? No, but we should think about what the limits of fandom are.

You don’t read the comments section of articles you write. Why is that? There are a lot of reasons, but part of it is because you don’t think some readers “get it.” Some of it’s justified. Like when people criticize the types of articles MMA websites run. Why are there stories about Ronda Rousey in the WWE? Because we have the analytics and numbers to show those articles get eyeballs.

I would venture a guess, though, that part of it has to do with that same arrogance/self-assuredness we just attributed to Kajan Johnson. When people aren’t in your particular industry, you make assumptions about their level of knowledge.

You know what happens when you assume? Sometimes that position is justified. Sometimes you get too caught up in your own perceived intelligence that you do the other thing. And sometimes you do that with a microphone in your face.

For complete coverage of UFC Fight Night 127, check out the UFC Events section of the site.

Ben Fowlkes is MMAjunkie and USA TODAY’s MMA columnist. Danny Downes, a retired UFC and WEC fighter, is an MMAjunkie contributor who has also written for UFC.com and UFC 360. Follow them on twitter at @benfowlkesMMA and @dannyboydownes.

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