Even the toughest men on the planet cry sometimes. Take UFC middleweight Jared Cannonier, who admitted in a recent interview with The MMA Hour that he cried after his failed attempt to capture the middleweight title at UFC 276. Specifically, Cannonier wanted to address the stigma surrounding crying for men.
“Crying isn’t a weakness. Crying is a biological thing that we do to release stress, relieve tension. It’s not a weakness. So the fact that the world has led us to believe that our natural bodily functions are bad for us, it’s why I don’t listen to people. Now don’t get me wrong, I wasn’t back there sobbing and needing a shoulder to cry on, needing somebody to hold me and a t** to suck on or anything like that.
Cannonier Cried After Adesanya Loss
It was just something I did to deal with it. It was a frustrating cry. I tensed up, it was frustrating. But I wouldn’t say it was a sad cry or anything like that. It was more frustrating.
But on the way home, I was fine. I wasn’t, like, still bumming out about the fight or anything. It was over. So when I was on the way back to the hotel, I was fine. It sucked, yeah. But I wouldn’t say the sting was still there. It was just a moment in time. I don’t hang onto these moments like that and let them drag me down or weigh on me like that. So if it’s not going to help me, there’s no point in hanging onto these thoughts or emotions.”
The fight itself was widely criticized for being a largely lackluster event, with much of that directed at the then-champion, Israel Adesanya.
“I don’t think it was fair. I mean, we were both in there fighting. But he took the criticism from a bunch of ignorant people. I don’t think the people who were criticizing him — [they] don’t know what they’re watching. So I don’t really listen to what people say. I hold myself in high regard and I don’t [listen] anybody else out there.
The only opinion that matters is the one I have of myself. On top of that, it was two high-level fighters fighting at the highest level. People want to see people going in there, they want to see blood and visceral and people getting smashed up against the fence and getting beat up and stuff like that. But when you’ve got two guys who are good at not letting that happen to them, that’s what you’re going to get — you may get a fight that looks like that. But I had fun in there. It was a good experience for me.”
Do you agree with Jared Cannonier? Let us know in the comments.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oGB5NZ5W1aE
