My most recent post was concerning a good Paddy; now on to a bad one.
A few months ago, Irish MMA fighter Paddy McCorry defeated Israel’s Shuki Farage. But it was what McCorry did after winning that made the news.
Talk about a bad sport.
And now I am glad to report, he suffered a defeat at the hands of karma.
An Irish fighter who made headlines for shouting ‘Free Palestine’ at his Israeli opponent missed out on a UFC contract, despite winning his last bout.
Taking to the ring last July in Cage Warriors, Paddy McCorry took on Israeli fighter Shuki Farage, where he was audibly seen saying ‘Free Palestine’ while tackling his opponent on the ground towards the end of the fight.
McCorry would go on to drape himself with a Palestinian flag upon getting the decision win.
McCorry impressed against South Korean veteran Su Wang as he breezed to a unanimous decision, winning, scoring 30-27 on each of the three judges’ scorecards. However, in a night filled with action, he was not one of the four athletes to earn UFC contracts.
Instead, Dana White opted to hand out four contracts to Cody Chovanchek, Thomas Gantt, Iwo Baraniewski, and Hecher Sosa. With five fights taking place in the Contender Series, McCorry was the only winner not to be awarded a contract.
Naturally, a fair few commenters go the predictable (antisemitic) route:
but as one with common sense explains,
Giving a bit of insight to the people in this comment section since none of you have a clue how the contender series works, a win does not guarantee a contract, there has been numerous fighters who have won but didn’t get a contact, some fighters have had to win on the contender series multiple times before they got a contract, it comes down to performance, even though he won, if he didnt show enough, he won’t get signed
Alas, the truth is something else entirely:
Speaking about the bout, White said, “I felt like there was a ton of stalling in this fight. I didn’t see anything, depending on who won this fight either way, that said ‘I have to have one of these guys’ it wasn’t your night brother. You got the win, it was a great. Get back out there and get back to work and maybe we’ll see you again.’
and even McCorry seems to get it:
Posting on Instagram after the fight, he said, “Win but no contract. Let myself down with that performance; not good enough. Back to the drawing board.”
So here’s the lesson for Bad Paddy: next time, try to free your hands instead of trying to free “Palestine.”
