A fighter's record deserves equality

Let me blow your mind for a second. Here are some crazy numbers for you:

-A 15 year NFL veteran who plays all 16 games every season will end up playing in 240 games during his career. It’s unlikely he doesn’t miss a game and this doesn’t include the playoffs, but bear with me.

-A 15 year NBA veteran who plays all 82 games every season will end up playing in 1230 games during his career.

Why do I bring up those numbers? I bring them up because the career of a team sports athlete is measured much differently than that of someone who does an individual sport like boxing or MMA.

-A 15 year mixed martial artist who fights 3 times a year will only have 45 fights when all is said and done.

If a NFL Quarterback wins 70% of his games every year, he goes 11-5 every season and will have accumulated a career record of 165-75. That’s awesome!

If a fighter wins 70% of his total fights, he will go 31-14 for his career. That’s seen as not very good. Most would consider that fighter to be a journeyman. Why is this? It’s not fair that we measure greatness differently in different sports. Stats are stats. I’m calling for equality. Both types of athletes have outside influences that can help or hurt their careers (coaching, training facilities, teammates, etc.). So the next time you want to insult a “journeyman” fighter, dig a littler deeper.