Sean Salmon admits to throwing fight

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Sean Salmon is an interesting character in the world of mixed martial arts. He’s been very open about his life and training, even penning a semi-regular column for MMA Junkie called Full Time Fighter. He’ll likely go down as “the guy who got knocked out cold by Rashad Evans”, but it’s still refreshing to see a fighter allow fans an inside look at his life and training.

Perhaps Salmon should be less forthcoming in the future.

In his latest piece for MMA Junkie, Salmon has the following:

I left England and was given a very serious warning: “If you get hurt in that fight, don’t bother coming back.” My opponent for the fight was 6-6, so obviously getting back to England to learn and train with some of the best was my priority.

Seeing how my opponent had just a 6-6 record, I figured I could easily bully him into rolling over for me, collect the easy win, and return to England. But it didn’t happen that way at all. Someone forgot to tell my opponent to roll over and quit.

I handled him very easily for the entire first round. He was able to land one very good elbow to my temple. I am embarrassed to admit that my first thought was that, “If he cut me and I can’t go back to England, this is not worth it.” How in the world could I be in a fight and think that if I got cut, it is not worth the win?

In the second round, I took him down again. He went for an armbar, I defended it (only to prove to myself that he couldn’t get it), and then I put my arm back in to give him the win so that I could return to England, healthy. Just so you all know, that is the most embarrassing thing that I have ever admitted out loud.

First of all, it’s sad that the Wolfslair would treat Salmon this way. To tell a guy that he won’t be allowed to come back and train if he gets injured in a fight seems like a low blow. It’s way out of the norm for MMA training camps.

But the last paragraph is the most disturbing revelation. Salmon allowed his opponent to secure an armbar and beat him, essentially throwing a fight so that he could return to train in England with Wolfslair. I can’t imagine any other MMA fighter I’ve ever met decide that throwing a fight is the best way to advance his career.

No matter what Salmon’s intentions were, it’s shady and it’s an absolute low blow for the sport. It likely won’t become a big story because Salmon’s profile isn’t big enough. It’s still a troubling reveal, no matter what level it occurred on.