There’s a fun tradition in hockey every year called the “Legends Classic.” From Toronto, Ontario, Canada, past greats and Hall of Famers lace up their skates and play a game in front of thousands in live attendance. Players get to relive their glory days for one night, and fans have the chance to see their favorites play for likely the last time.
Here’s the best part of the tradition: It’s just lighthearted fun. Everybody goes home to their families happy and healthy at the end.
The “Legends Classic” is a great idea for hockey. Why the hell does anyone think we should emulate such a concept in the inherently violent and damaging sport of MMA?
Over the past week, one far past their peak fighter after the other mentioned their interest in giving and taking brain damage once again.
41-year-old Donald Cerrone and 40-year-old Tony Ferguson, who have lost a combined 13 bouts since they faced off back in 2019, both want to fight again. Cerrone has already taken the first step of re-entering UFC’s testing pool, putting him on the road to a potential return.
At the same time, we have heard all about the upcoming launch of the Global Fight League (GFL), an upstart MMA brand with high hopes of presenting a major-league product similar to the UFC or PFL. Ahead of their draft later this month they say a roster of 300 fighters has been signed, including many recognizable names. Unfortunately, some of those names are known from a long, long time ago.
Frank Mir and Andrei Arlovksi, both 45. Hector Lombard, 46. Aleksei Oleinik, 47. And Wanderlei Silva, a 48-year-old recently said in a court deposition that possible symptoms of traumatic brain injuries and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) have shown up in daily life through “depression, mood swings and irritability.”
Silva’s inclusion on the roster, one of the more egregious examples of an old-timer being brought into MMA, made many wonder how it got approved. In the GFL’s mind, as long as others approve of it, it’s fine by them.
“The [athletic] commissions would have the final say on if he fights,” they wrote in an X post. “He was interested in participating, and we offered him an opportunity to enter the draft. It is interesting that so many fans balk at the idea of him competing, yet he currently leads in the poll.”
GFL’s comment, while somewhat side-stepping blame for their decision to sign Silva, has some truth to it: As some express justified disgust, many others cheer on the idea.
None of these promotions would bring back old-timers if the fans didn’t care to some extent. There’s an endless conveyor belt of prospects and amateurs from around the world who can be scooped up and paid even less to fight, so there’s a reason promotions instead opt for talent who haven’t knocked a guy out since the Obama administration.
It’s not MMA, but a strong and recent example of this in combat sports has to be Mike Tyson’s return to boxing last year against Jake Paul. Was it sad, embarrassing and ethically questionable? Yes. But according to Netflix it drew over 100 million viewers, a figure that entertainment as a whole, forget combat sports or just sports, hardly is able to garner for one night. These “washed” fighters wouldn’t be brought back if fans didn’t care to some extent.
Fighters competing grossly beyond their prime is nothing new in MMA. Anyone who followed the sport in the mid-2010s remembers how Bellator was, at one point, notorious for signing such past-peak fighters. But the pattern of recent headlines – Tyson losing last year, both “Cowboy” Cerrone and Ferguson gunning for returns, and GFL’s roster thus far – all of which haven’t been met with widespread “WTF” from fans, had me thinking about this topic once again.
From the top of the food chain to the bottom, people are too comfortable with old fighters stepping back into the cage. Promoters don’t care how much-damaged goods someone is, as long as they have name value. Fighters, whether they are chasing a check or another “moment,” need more people around them saying it’s simply not worth it. Fans need to realize that they too are part of the issue when they support such poor matchmaking which only further hurts those who have taken their fair share of damage in the past.
I hope nobody mentioned in this article ever fights again. Sadly, chances are at least a few will slip on some gloves in 2025.
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