Recently, at an amateur MMA event put on by PRISON CITY FIGHT LEAGUE (Holy cow, that is the best and most terrible mixed martial arts organization name ever), flyweights Mike Pantangco and Jeremy Raser squared off. I’m a little confused, though, since when I watch amateur MMA, the fighters typically wear headgear and shin guards and whatnot, you know, to protect these little baby-punchmens. Of course, I haven’t seen PRISON CITY FIGHT LEAGUE amateur MMA, so that probably explains a lot.
Anyway, Pantangco goes OFF on Raser, hitting him with pretty much anything and everything. Apparently during the middle of Pantangco putting an ass-whipping on Raser, a giant tidal wave of compassion hits him, so Mike drops down and taps out. Pantangco later explained his actions thusly:
“I just feel that there’s no point fighting him because he didn’t train against me and I didn’t train for him and I just feel like we’re amateur fighters. We don’t get money. We don’t get paid, and I know that the only thing I’m going to finish the fight is him to go in the hospital or get hurt. I just feel terrible so I’m just going to give him the win.”
I fully understand Pantangco’s thoughts, there’s no point in beating a dude into a living death for free, that doesn’t help anyone. However, if Raser really was getting thrashed as terribly as Pantangco thought, then the referee is terrible for not stopping the fight. Maybe I’m just an old fashioned JUST BLEED!-type, but until a fighter has battered an opponent enough that “pose for a crane kick” is a viable option, tapping out to spare your opponent any more punishment kind of becomes cocky and humiliating.