What makes fighters like the REEM and Weidman keep going?

They like free cookies after weigh ins.
 
I don't know if the Reem or Weidman are people to be admired, because they got brain damage, but if anything you have to admire their tenacity.
TS, I would admire their tenacity more, if I didn't knew what UFC pays them. After Weidman lost his title he makes on average 300K per fight and he won only 1 fight. And I think after the JDS win Reem signed a very lucrative contract guaranteeing him 800K per fight no matter if he wins or losses.
Even if they wanted, they won't even sniff a title anymore, they are in there to show up and earn their paycheck, nothing more. They are shopworn beyond belief and the game has passed them by (more for Weidman) and I think they both know it deep inside, even if they don't admit it.
 
I guess almost nobody here keeps track of any other pro sport. Athletes across the board hang on far longer than they need to and it's almost always because they all know they will never ever get paid anywhere near as well doing anything else, and most of them don't know how to do anything else. There are only so many cushy talking head TV jobs out there.
 
Several reasons:

1) The buzz you get from competing live, in a fucking cage, in front of thousands of people live and millions world wide cannot be replaced by finding a new hobby like knitting.

2) Fighting is all most of these dudes know. It's their job. It's how they earn a living. If they're being offered employment, why would they stop?

3) There's always the what if... What if they can get back to where they were?

I'm feeling this post for the most part but...knitting? {<huh}
 
ANDY_ALDO.0.0.png
The champ champ - only fighter to win a championship belt multiple weight classes above his own championship weight class.. and never forget Giblert..
 
Just because of one loss, people start acting emotionally.
This is just one day in the job of a MMA fighter. You win, you lose.
Overeem is still a great fighter, especially in a division like HW.
 
For the Weidman beating Silva was like the biggest high you could get from a drug.. A thrill he wants to relive again, so he wants to keep chasing "gold" so he can feel that euphoria again of being champ, even calling out the unbeaten Jones with the belief it's his fate to beat him but the thing about Weidman is nobody has sat him down for an intervention yet so with like 5 losses in a row he still thinks he will win the title.. Even at lhw. He will eventually go to Bellator.
 
Cos they are still one of the best in the world. Better than 99.999999% of the population.

Despite, the rerarded things I see on here, they are still bloody good.
 
My guess as to how they are thinking:

Reem
- "I've been counted out multiple times. Counted out in Pride. Counted out in 2014. Those fools "
- "Just 3 years ago I nearly landed that choke on Stipe and got the belt"
- "I'm younger than DC, just 2 years older than Stipe. Both of them have been badly KO'd recently. So I've still got a shot"

The Chris:
- "I've only fought top 5 level opponents for the past 10 fights. Maia, Munoz, Silva x2, Lyoto, Vitor, Rockhold, Yoel, Gegard, Gastelum, Jacare, Reyes. No shame in a few losses against that murderer's row"
- "I was doing fine until I lost in most of my losses, which proves I can hang with the best and never get completely dominated"
- "At least Rockhold isn't doing any better than me"
- "I subbed Gastelum, who did better against Israel than Whittaker did"
 
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Reem has been doing this for a long time he is a warrior and great fighter and he makes great money so for Reem he is getting paid a lot to go out here and fight . And the heavyweight division is full of guys winning and losing and the Reem always bounces back .

Reem probably has the mind set that a fight is a fight it could go either way and you win some and you lose some . He's a professional and also loves fighting and has well and truly set himself up .

Weidman I think difference here is he can't string together any wins and is probably trying to make as much as he can before its all over .
 
I thought everyone knew....prize fighters fight for.....money. is that really a secret?
 
Reem makes a lot of money from fighting.
Last time I've seen him talking, he didn't look at all like he had CTE.
He is 4-4 in his last fight, against some top competition.
He is not on a huge losing streak, like Weidman.
 
well Reem is one of the highest paid fighters, i don't know why but he is.
Good management. He was a huge name at the time the UFC signed him.

Strikeforce HW champ and the Dream HW champ. Also his first fight was against Lesnar so that probably played into the negotiations.
 
The same reason miners go to work after seeing their friends get killed.

The same reason military men get back up after being wounded.

The same reason roofers climb ladders after falling off a house.

The same reason the Germanic tribes built ships to raid other countries and take over the world.

Because they are men, its their job, and money.
 
Several reasons:

1) The buzz you get from competing live, in a fucking cage, in front of thousands of people live and millions world wide cannot be replaced by finding a new hobby like knitting.

2) Fighting is all most of these dudes know. It's their job. It's how they earn a living. If they're being offered employment, why would they stop?

3) There's always the what if... What if they can get back to where they were?
This.

My family will occasionally get mildly excited when aunt Diane crochets a nice winter hat, but I have yet to see 15,000+ people stand up and scream about a knit scarf.
 
These guys literally paid to fight when they were younger. Now they're getting paid to do it. People need to realize that pro athletes or artists, w/e do what they love to do and get paid for it. That's why i don't understand why sherdoggers always try to compare what these guys do to their own burger flipping jobs. Its not a job. Its much more than that. Do any of you play sports? Most of non pros pay to play.

It's not about winning or being the best. It's about getting in there. Having something to look forward to. A goal. It makes you feel alive. Sure they're sticking around too long but that's why they do it.
Cats who've never played any sports wont get this at all
 
In defense of fighters who don't realise when it's time to quit:

* They only do a few minutes of competition per year. Compare that to the hundreds of hours spent in the gym. It's hard for them not to base a lot of their career decisions on the area where they have most data: training. If they feel faster and stronger than the other pros they train with, then they feel like they've still got it.
* Imagine having worked on a technique for ages in the gym and not being able to use it in a fight. Of course you wanna go again!
* There's a lot of randomness involved in competition. In team sports - fans understand this. One team might lose a ton in the beginning and no one will say "They are shot", instead people will go "Rough start, maybe they'll do better later on in the season".
In MMA, with only 1-3 "games" per year, it's of course hard to act like that. But a lot of fans don't even seem to recognise the idea of randomness at all. Lose 3 in a row and many fans will think you're past prime. I'm sure fighters don't quite see it like that.
 
-Fighter spirit
-Money
- what avenues wait for fighters after retirement? Jobs that pay less.
 
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