Quick question. Would you tap to strikes or get permanent brain damage?

[AnotherOldGuy]

The punch that knocked you down in the first place probably gave you brain damage already, a bit more ground and pound is just superficial damage.
You could always give up your back and get choked out instead.

Leave it to the ref to stop it, they're paid to do it.

Actually that's wrong. Subsequent hits after a concussion tend to be far more dangerous than the initial hit. That's why several major sports leagues (including the NFL and NHL) now won't allow a player into a game again until a doctor signs off that the initial concussion has healed.

There's a fair amount of research on it if you Google, pretty interesting reading.

 

[capnlarge]

I think the correct play here is going into the fetal position to get TKOd and then angrily protesting the stoppage. Bonus points for appealing the decision

 

[OmegaRugal]

Give up your back and give up the choke.

It's what most fighters do. It's essentially tapping to strikes but ... "not".

 

[Ancient Warrior]

Would you tap and have cheeto eaters call you a pussy or would you tough it out and forget the names of your kids at 40?

If you’re a St Pierre fan, why don’t you just say so?

 

[AnotherOldGuy]

If you’re a St Pierre fan, why don’t you just say so?

He might be a fan of any of these guys:

Frank Mir
Mauricio Rua (vs Jon Jones)
Georges St PIerre (vs Matt Serra)
Alistair Overeem (vs Ricardo Arona)
Valentjn Overeem (vs Chad Griggs/Rafal Dabrowski/Gary Goodridge)
Randy Couture (vs Ricco Rodriguez)
Gilbert Yvel (vs Josh Barnett)
Cain Velasquez (vs JDS)
Cheick Kongo (vs Gilbert Yvel)
Bob Sapp (vs Everyone)
Damarques Johnson (vs Amir Sadollah)
Josh Barnett (vs Mirko Filipovic)
Mirko Filipovic (vs JDS)
Forrest Griffin (vs Rashad Evans/Anderson Silva/Mauricio Rua)
Tito Ortiz (vs Frank Shamrock)
Gary Goodridge (vs Don Frye)
Igor Vovchanchyn (vs Mark Coleman)
Ricco Rodriguez (vs Glover Texeira)
Geronimo Dos Santos (vs Guilherme Siva dos Anjos)
David Levicki (vs Johnny Rhodes)
Scott Baker (vs Jason Delucia)
Andre Roberts (vs Gary Goodridge)
Yves Jabouin (vs Jonathan Brookins)
Ian Freeman (vs Valentjn Overeem)
Pat Smith (vs Royce Gracie)
Joe Doerksen (vs Joe Riggs/Matt Hughes)
Antonio Mckee (vs Shinya Aoki)

Lots of names, GSP doesn't particularly stand out.

 

[Ancient Warrior]

He might be a fan of any of these guys:

Frank Mir
Mauricio Rua (vs Jon Jones)
Georges St PIerre (vs Matt Serra)
Alistair Overeem (vs Ricardo Arona)
Valentjn Overeem (vs Chad Griggs/Rafal Dabrowski/Gary Goodridge)
Randy Couture (vs Ricco Rodriguez)
Gilbert Yvel (vs Josh Barnett)
Cain Velasquez (vs JDS)
Cheick Kongo (vs Gilbert Yvel)
Bob Sapp (vs Everyone)
Damarques Johnson (vs Amir Sadollah)
Josh Barnett (vs Mirko Filipovic)
Mirko Filipovic (vs JDS)
Forrest Griffin (vs Rashad Evans/Anderson Silva/Mauricio Rua)
Tito Ortiz (vs Frank Shamrock)
Gary Goodridge (vs Don Frye)
Igor Vovchanchyn (vs Mark Coleman)
Ricco Rodriguez (vs Glover Texeira)
Geronimo Dos Santos (vs Guilherme Siva dos Anjos)
David Levicki (vs Johnny Rhodes)
Scott Baker (vs Jason Delucia)
Andre Roberts (vs Gary Goodridge)
Yves Jabouin (vs Jonathan Brookins)
Ian Freeman (vs Valentjn Overeem)
Pat Smith (vs Royce Gracie)
Joe Doerksen (vs Joe Riggs/Matt Hughes)
Antonio Mckee (vs Shinya Aoki)

Lots of names, GSP doesn't particularly stand out.

I think it does.

First, none of those fighters are in the goat discussion or contention. Listing fighters like Bob Sapp or obscure fighters from the remote regions of history doesn’t add credibility to the argument.

Second, most of those fighters didn’t quit in the opening round of their fight because they were just hurt with an opening combination. They quit because of an accumulation of damage and exhaustion. St Pierre was fresh, he was then wobbled, dropped and looked for the exit sign. I would’ve done the same thing, but I’m not a professional fighter and have no desire to be.

Third, even the fighters that did quit mostly looked to be on the verge of being unconscious or were spent. St Pierre was definitely hurt, but I think he’s the type of guy that doesn’t like it when he’s not in control and doesn’t know how to handle being on the receiving end of real punishment. Sort of like Brock Lesnar. I think that’s the difference between being a fighter and being an athlete that fights.

Georges is definitely top 3 all time, maybe even number one. But I was skeptical of that loss and and the complete revamp of his “safety first” approach throughput the rest of his career only confirmed my suspicion.

 

[StoneWT]

I would take the brain damage. Then I could barely jump and twist in the cage just enough to shake my massive breasts right before the fight starts. The brain damage would also give me a reason to never admit if I made a really stupid decision in a title fight. Also, I could make lots of money on Instagram because people would feel sorry for me.

Tapping is for bitches.

 

[PlatinumColbyCovington]

While you may avoid further brain trauma, your kids will never respect you

 

[AnotherOldGuy]

I think it does.

First, none of those fighters are in the goat discussion or contention. Listing fighters like Bob Sapp or obscure fighters from the remote regions of history doesn’t add credibility to the argument.

Second, most of those fighters didn’t quit in the opening round of their fight because they were just hurt with an opening combination. They quit because of an accumulation of damage and exhaustion. St Pierre was fresh, he was then wobbled, dropped and looked for the exit sign. I would’ve done the same thing, but I’m not a professional fighter and have no desire to be.

Third, even the fighters that did quit mostly looked to be on the verge of being unconscious or were spent. St Pierre was definitely hurt, but I think he’s the type of guy that doesn’t like it when he’s not in control and doesn’t know how to handle being on the receiving end of real punishment. Sort of like Brock Lesnar. I think that’s the difference between being a fighter and being an athlete that fights.

Georges is definitely top 3 all time, maybe even number one. But I was skeptical of that loss and and the complete revamp of his “safety first” approach throughput the rest of his career only confirmed my suspicion.

Some would argue that Shogun is in the GOAT discussion list,

I think it does.

First, none of those fighters are in the goat discussion or contention. Listing fighters like Bob Sapp or obscure fighters from the remote regions of history doesn’t add credibility to the argument.

Second, most of those fighters didn’t quit in the opening round of their fight because they were just hurt with an opening combination. They quit because of an accumulation of damage and exhaustion. St Pierre was fresh, he was then wobbled, dropped and looked for the exit sign. I would’ve done the same thing, but I’m not a professional fighter and have no desire to be.

Third, even the fighters that did quit mostly looked to be on the verge of being unconscious or were spent. St Pierre was definitely hurt, but I think he’s the type of guy that doesn’t like it when he’s not in control and doesn’t know how to handle being on the receiving end of real punishment. Sort of like Brock Lesnar. I think that’s the difference between being a fighter and being an athlete that fights.

Georges is definitely top 3 all time, maybe even number one. But I was skeptical of that loss and and the complete revamp of his “safety first” approach throughput the rest of his career only confirmed my suspicion.

1) Shogun isn't quite at GSP's level, but he's considered one of the best LHW's (especially for those who saw him in his Pride days). But I was mainly replying to your assumption that the person's comment automatically was about GSP -- Shogun and Overreem for instance both have pretty large fan bases.

2) When fighters tap (to strikes, chokes or locks) isn't a function of the round, its a function of when they can't continue. And exhaustion is something no fighter should ever tap to (and I don't think many do). Exhaustion is normal in many sports, everything from contact sports to track. Top level athletes are used to it and keep going. Again, GSP has tapped twice in over 20 fights, most against top level fighters. Does that seriously strike you as someone who taps as soon as he's up against a good fighter?

3) I think you're simply wrong about GSP not being on the verge of unconsciousness. He's tapped twice in over twenty fights, most of them against top level fighters. He took serious damage in several of those fights (his first fight with Penn put him in the hospital, he took a fair amount of damage from Hendricks, and he was knocked down by Condit). If what you say was correct about him not liking to receive real punishment then he'd have tapped in all three of those fights. And probably against Shields too, given that eye damage is among the scariest in MMA (being blind is not a good way to go through life).

You're right that he became more cautious after that fight, but that argues that he was hurt very badly (ie going unconscious) rather than just tapping because he didn't like being hit, given that it was an exception to his normal reaction of just keeping going. Basically Penn did enough damage to hospitalize him, but that wasn't enough to get him to tap -- I'd argue it took feeling himself black out to make him tap.

 

[MCS]

Tapping to strikes refers to mindset. Athletes fear losing, not what could happen years from now. Some won't tap, they'd rather go out. Aren't willing to surrender. It has nothing to do with smarts, but you basically compare bravery. Not that I agree with it, as there are some situations without a chance to come back. But then you have instances like Sapp's fights where it's a fix or a give up, which no one respects.

 

[DOZERR]

I wouldn't tap because I have more heart than gsp

 

[dangerousD]

Sherbros would never tap to strikes, ridiculous question