Amateur MMA fighter Mike Pantangco has become a viral sensation after he tapped out of a fight that he was clearly winning. Pantangco reasons that, because neither fighter was being paid, there was no point in continuing to injure his opponent after he had established himself as the better fighter.
“I just feel that there’s no point fighting him because he didn’t train against me and I didn’t train for him,” he said.
“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.”
Pantangco has been hailed by defenders as a rare paragon of courtesy and sportsmanship – but his motives have been questioned by critics, who allege that the move was calculated to advance his career and further humiliate opponent Jeremy Rasner.
“I am sorry for all you guys think I did him wrong or disrespect him,” Pentangco has said, according to the Courier Mail. “I know what I did and I am mad about it that I didn’t give him a fight.”
“But guys [we’re amateur] fighters. We don’t get paid … and if I would keep going I would’ve hurt him more and maybe he get in serious injuries and maybe that make him stop doing what he loves to do.”
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