Bob Sapp discusses his MMA career! Plus answers your Sherdog questions!

Natman2939 said:
It's not hard to believe that someone can get out of their prime and go on a terrible losing streak. You say the bolded line as if it's absurd. Everyone who loses is trying to win (barring the rarest of exceptions)

now with that said, I think the reason I and a few others are asking "when did he say it?" is because the thread title says "Bob Sapp comes clean about throwing fights"

That is very sensational and implies that Bob flat out said "Yes, I threw fights"

You don't have to be an idiot and imply that we're asking that he name each one, but for a headline like "comes clean about throwing fights" I'd at least expect him to either say the words "i threw fights" or answer yes to a question of that nature.

instead what he said could be interpreted as he simply didn't care and wasn't trying very hard, which is not the same as throwing fights completely.
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Yeah this thread should be deleted or the thread title changed.
 
its easy for a guy like Bob Sapp to go to Japan and do all these things. Japanese will throw.money at any large man who will get into a ring. I think its absurd for Sapp to talk about fighters not having an end game when Sapp is only popular for.having a large frame and throwing fights in Japan. Normal fighters who have to train hard and win in America since thats where the best are don't have these things because the culture is so different. Sapp should be thanking Pride and saying he's lucky to have the opportunity from Japan to be there freakshow. He should be comparing himself to a circus act because MMA fighter he is not.
 
He still does movies, and is still a big deal in Japan. He has a pretty nice house in Kirkland, WA, which is a very nice suburb of Seattle, with tons of rich tech people. His house is probably between 700k-1M. Took the money, while he could. Probably is set up for a nice retirement.
 
laleggenda27 said:
Mixed feelings about Bob. The guy has cut corners and been a fraud from the beginning, where he got popped for steroid abuse as a football player, to the end, where he repeatedly took dives as a fighter. By conducting his entire professional life in such fraudulent manner, Bob has cast a shadow over himself as a man. Everything he does has to be called into question, which is its own burden.

On the other hand, he's been able to secure his and his family's future. In the end, isn't that what we all want? So I can't be too judgmental about it.

Either way, he's had one interesting life. He's been a professional football player, a professional fighter, a superstar of sorts in Asia, and had a movie career. How many people can say they've lived such an interesting life? Hopefully the steroid abuse doesn't have serious ramifications for him going forward.
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I have no harsh feelings towards. He flat ass admits he's been a phony and why. At least he didnt try to hide it all like lance armstrong, and most of the fighters using PED
 
As a fight fan I was frustrated by the lack of care Sapp had for many of his fights, then the way he often quit a fight early in the first round even. But I've come to understand something: Sapp does not consider himself as a fighter, he considers himself as a businessman. And for that reason I think what he's doing is just fine. There's supply and demand, and if people want to see Sapp, and pay for Sapp - which happens around the world, in particular in Japan where Sapp has more of an entertainment role these days (see various TV shows he appears in), then that's fine.

Sapp tried to make it in the NFL, but failed. He went into depression, and one day he got a chance to partake in a toughman show. He was discovered, and the rest really is history. He managed to maul one of the greatest kickboxers of all time, twice, which is quite the feat. He destroyed Japanese fighters, and he nearly defeated Big Nog, who at the time was the best. He made a huge splash, and he earned a lot of cash. But I assume around the time of having fought CroCop, and Fujita, he reconsidered what he was doing, because clearly he did not enjoy it. So where you have someone that practices a martial art or MMA their entire life, this was not what Sapp had done, he was basically given an opportunity to make money through MMA and K-1. He did make money, but it wasn't his passion.

Due to his size and personality, he was able to keep making money, and he could've spent it all on drugs, hoes, and nonsense, like too many other people are, but he has invested a lot of it, and he keeps getting appearances in commercials and TV shows in Japan, obviously something that helps paying the bills.

Since he is open about this, and isn't trying to pretend to be a fighter, and gives us a lot of excuses as to why he's losing or why he isn't performing, but instead just says it like it is, I think it's fine.

Of course it's hard to be Mr. Random Average Guy trying to do the same and make equally sound investments when you're struggling to make money in the first place, but even so, Sapp has a point. Where is your end game? If there really is no chance for you to have an end game in MMA in the first place, might it not be more appropriate to look at other options. Is potential glory as a future champion the only thing you are capable of succeeding at, and is this the only thing you care about? Is there nothing else?

There can never be a thousand champions at the same time, all equally famous, popular, and rich. There's only a handful. We praise these people for being legends, and it's true some of them have had fantastic fights and shown us a lot of heart, but look at Gary Goodridge how he struggles these days. What if Big Nog ends up like this as well? Or other fighters? All because of the chance at glory or some such idea.

Like Sapp said, people are trying to run towards the finish line, but they don't even know where it is, so instead there's people running off a cliff. They end up with poor health, incapable of enjoying life, with their family and friends. That cannot be good at all.

Sapp is in a unique position, but even so, I think some of the things he says is sound and it's something people should consider.
 
Great interview, seems like the big guy's earned some sagacity over the years.
 
You know what's fucked up .If Bob took MMA seriously and fought at his best he more than likely could have been a huge star .
 
Shlemenko should call him out, for the biggest grudge match in MMA history!
 
People forget how he was feared back in the days and would beat Hoost in a kickboxing fight and almost beat Big Nog in MMA...
 
Raff01 said:
People forget how he was feared back in the days and would beat Hoost in a kickboxing fight and almost beat Big Nog in MMA...
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very true.
I liked this interview.

I can honestly say he regained a great deal of my respect that he had lost prior (not that he should care what I think)- I hadn't considered some of those things from that angle, and I admire his candor.
 
I think for a variety of reasons it is unrealistic to assume he is going to come out and admit he threw a fight, didn't try AT ALL, etc-

1. im sure it would open him to being sued by an ex promoter who would believe Bob has some cash to be repaid in a suit.
2. it would be VERY disrespectful to an ex-opponent, who for all we know in no way participated in his act.

imagine you were "Fighter X", and he were to come out and say "ya, there is no way X would have beat me, but I threw the fight"-

a very unfair and unsporting thing to say, being retired, to tarnish an individual who very may well have been there to fight.


Konster said:
Good for Sapp. He made his money, gives no fucks. I like that.
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definitely this.

Instantclassic3 said:
Bob clearly discusses only taking these fights to pay off his medical bills and talks about being a turtle and curling up during his fights. Do you need him to clearly state every fighter he threw a fight again? Simply look at his record you can determine where he started giving up in the first round. Unless of course you think he's been losing these fights but trying to win them?
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this, maybe gentler, but agreed- if you have seen the fights the last few years, its NOT fear. most of them he didn't give himself a CHANCE to win, even by accident.

Norwegian said:
As a fight fan I was frustrated by the lack of care Sapp had for many of his fights, then the way he often quit a fight early in the first round even. But I've come to understand something: Sapp does not consider himself as a fighter, he considers himself as a businessman. And for that reason I think what he's doing is just fine. There's supply and demand, and if people want to see Sapp, and pay for Sapp - which happens around the world, in particular in Japan where Sapp has more of an entertainment role these days (see various TV shows he appears in), then that's fine.

Sapp tried to make it in the NFL, but failed. He went into depression, and one day he got a chance to partake in a toughman show. He was discovered, and the rest really is history. He managed to maul one of the greatest kickboxers of all time, twice, which is quite the feat. He destroyed Japanese fighters, and he nearly defeated Big Nog, who at the time was the best. He made a huge splash, and he earned a lot of cash. But I assume around the time of having fought CroCop, and Fujita, he reconsidered what he was doing, because clearly he did not enjoy it. So where you have someone that practices a martial art or MMA their entire life, this was not what Sapp had done, he was basically given an opportunity to make money through MMA and K-1. He did make money, but it wasn't his passion.

Due to his size and personality, he was able to keep making money, and he could've spent it all on drugs, hoes, and nonsense, like too many other people are, but he has invested a lot of it, and he keeps getting appearances in commercials and TV shows in Japan, obviously something that helps paying the bills.

Since he is open about this, and isn't trying to pretend to be a fighter, and gives us a lot of excuses as to why he's losing or why he isn't performing, but instead just says it like it is, I think it's fine.

Of course it's hard to be Mr. Random Average Guy trying to do the same and make equally sound investments when you're struggling to make money in the first place, but even so, Sapp has a point. Where is your end game? If there really is no chance for you to have an end game in MMA in the first place, might it not be more appropriate to look at other options. Is potential glory as a future champion the only thing you are capable of succeeding at, and is this the only thing you care about? Is there nothing else?

There can never be a thousand champions at the same time, all equally famous, popular, and rich. There's only a handful. We praise these people for being legends, and it's true some of them have had fantastic fights and shown us a lot of heart, but look at Gary Goodridge how he struggles these days. What if Big Nog ends up like this as well? Or other fighters? All because of the chance at glory or some such idea.

Like Sapp said, people are trying to run towards the finish line, but they don't even know where it is, so instead there's people running off a cliff. They end up with poor health, incapable of enjoying life, with their family and friends. That cannot be good at all.

Sapp is in a unique position, but even so, I think some of the things he says is sound and it's something people should consider.
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this, X 1,000. quality observations.

anyone offended by him in recent years deserves being upset. in my opinion his recent fights were no different than wrasslin.

you may as well be mad at Stone Cold, too.

if anyone is to be angry at, it would be promoters who continue to pay someone who has self-branded timidity into an occupation.
 
It should also be noted that Sapp has done a handful of movies, including The Longest Yard remake with Adam Sandler. Lots of big names were in that movie.

Im sure that's where a good portion of this alleged fortune came from.
 
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