Punching each other in the face is an activity that isn’t too rare among male friendships. The amicable reconciliation that can occur afterwards is often run of the mill as well. At UFC 150 in Denver, fight fans will get to see two friends and former training partners not only beat each other up, but get paid to do so. Donald Cerrone and Melvin Guillard have taken a bout against each other, knowing that they will be facing opponents who know them very well. When the cage door closes, the friendship will be left on the outside.
Guillard and Cerrone are two lightweight fighters who find themselves on the cusp of reaching the upper echelon of contendership at 155 pounds. They’ve recently suffered setbacks that have pushed them down the ladder a bit, but wins in their last performances have brought them to this point. Both fighters have admitted that they formed a friendship due to their time training together at Greg Jackson’s MMA team, but that friendship didn’t stop them from taking this bout. As the sport of mixed martial arts continues to grow, and roster spots in the Ultimate Fighting Championship become more valuable, we can expect to see more friendships tested, as fighters will not be able to quickly disregard the idea of fighting individuals that they consider comrades.
UFC President Dana White has tried for years to get longtime teammates and close friends Josh Koscheck and Jon Fitch to fight each other. They have both remained near the top of the welterweight division for a long span of time, but have refused to face each other time and time again. Jon Jones and Rashad Evans were once in the same boat, but incessant prodding from the outside eventually forced these two individuals apart and into the cage at UFC 145. While they haven’t dismissed the idea of becoming friends again down the line, it was very apparent that the minute they agreed to face one another, the damage to their relationship had been done.
Another example of friends that are seemingly headed for a confrontation without the animosity, such as Guillard versus Cerrone, are Daniel Cormier and Cain Velasquez. Two of the top heavyweights in the sport, Cormier and Velasquez are closer than training partners –- Cormier is Velasquez’s MMA wrestling coach. However, they have both had to face the questions about a potentially looming battle. Velasquez is considered by many to be the number one contender to the UFC’s heavyweight title, while Cormier is the top Strikeforce heavyweight, who will eventually be brought into the fold of the UFC’s division. They’ve discussed the idea of fighting over the title as the only situation in which they would step into the cage against each other.
As the sport continues to grow and the UFC continues to fill its large number of planned shows, we may be looking at a point where friends can no longer turn down fights against each other. The upper levels of each weight class are becoming more and more bloated. If UFC executives ask (which means they tell) a fighter to fight an opponent who is also a training partner, he will not have the leverage that Koscheck and Fitch once had. With so many fighters and cards available to the UFC, they can quickly be replaced, and lose out on that potential “bright lights” moment. Younger, less established fighters will have to be more open to taking fights that may see them standing across the Octagon from individuals that they hold close to their heart. The UFC truly holds the matchmaking power in this position, and whether they want to or not, these fighters may find themselves signing to take bouts that they would otherwise not.
Athletes compete against each other within many different professional platforms. Still, the idea of punching, kicking, and choking their close friends isn’t something that many of them look forward to doing. When Melvin Guillard and Donald Cerrone step into the cage against each other this Saturday, fans and experts alike can expect their contest to be a preview of a trend within MMA that will begin to happen more frequently.
