EDITED FROM ORIGINAL And Still… The initial post didn’t really come across as I intended, so this edit is meant to clarify. Congratulations to Thanh Le for retaining his One Championship featherweight belt against Garry Tonon, a fantastic and dangerous opponent coached by some of the sharpest minds in the martial arts. Thanh has trained diligently for decades and every ounce of his dedication, focus, and determination went into this victory. It is such a pleasure to watch one of the true good guys in MMA continue to reap the rewards of his lifestyle. An amazing moment for the Le family. As an aside, watching the Jiu-Jitsu and MMA community fall into a mess of internet beefs between people yelling at one another like their words don’t matter has been disappointing in the extreme. The place I see now does not remind me of the one I was so excited to discover in 2004 at age 19. Being successful at beating people up does not grant any of us a pass for otherwise obnoxious, arrogant, or aggressive behavior. I am absolutely guilty of them from time to time, and it may be true that many of the people who end up being successful in fight sports display some of these traits from time to time, probably in large part due to their being the darker side of the same features that make them so capable in conflict. I am not making fun of Garry for losing this bout. I have lost, obviously—most recently in similar fashion to the outcome of this fight. Everyone who competes loses and any result at a high level could easily have gone the other way on another night. I know the pain he’s feeling now. So does Thanh. Surely he will be back stronger. That said, the same groups and individuals who so aggressively go at others frequently seem to be highly sensitive themselves when they’re on the other side of things—this was the point. We’re not all friends, and don’t have to be, but attempting to treat one another with a degree of consideration cannot be wrong. How you conduct yourself does matter and the world we live is in built by the actions we take. A martial artist is meant to be more than just a “fighter.” I believe that we could all stand to learn from Thanh’s example.
