The Sports Informant

OK, so by the definition of the sports term, “heartbreaker” might not be the right word for Saturday night’s fight. But when you learn to care about someone’s personal success, whether his loss was close or not makes no difference on the wrenching experience.

Sacramento fighter James Irvin’s loss to Anderson Silva on July 19 was a heartbreaker. Yes, Irvin lost in 61 seconds by a brutal knockout that left him wincing in obvious pain on the mat on national television. No, it wasn’t a back-and-forth battle that Irvin narrowly lost in the final seconds. Yet, when the fight ended, I couldn’t help feeling like I’d just been dumped by a girl I really liked.

It’s so hard to watch someone you know personally get beat up. I’d done a feature story on Irvin for our newspaper (which can be found on SacUnion.com) a few months ago and also talked to him before Saturday night’s fight. The guy’s a cool cat who is very good at what he does. Silva was just better.

I waited weeks to see Irvin’s dream come true. After a hard-fought career to get him here, and after overcoming a devastating knee injury, he was lined up to fight Silva, labeled “pound-for-pound the best fighter in the world,” with a shot at becoming a household name with the biggest win of his life.

Fighting Silva is a tough task for anyone, though, and even Irvin admitted several fighters ranked above him bowed out at the opportunity to face the 185-pound champ in his new 205-pound weight class. No one wants to get embarrassed in front of the whole nation, and while others knew that was a possibility and passed up the fight, Irvin eagerly accepted, knowing this was his best chance to really make a name for himself. A win meant stardom, as he’d no doubt shake up the Mixed Martial Arts world with a stunning upset victory. A loss meant nothing but a sore jaw, as he was expected to lose all along by anyone in the fight game.

So when it all turned out like everyone said it would, most of the nation shrugged their shoulders and moved on. Meanwhile, back in the Sacramento area, I watched in horror as a man representing our fair city in a sport I’ve grown to love had his dreams shattered in just over one minute of the match.

I know Irvin will recover. All of these fighters do. Guys holding championship belts right now at nearly every weight have had to overcome a punishing loss at one point of their careers. Still, it doesn’t take away the pain right now. We all watched a man we hoped would shake up the world become another victim of the best fighter in the world. That hurts no matter how you look at it.

In the end, I applaud Irvin for having the guts to take a chance. We all come across opportunities like this in life, whether it be quitting a cushy job to start a new career or draining your life savings to give your daughter the wedding of her dreams. Some of us take that chance and see the fruits blossom into something we never could have imagined. Some of us take the chance and fall flat on our faces. But at least we all took the chance, because if we didn’t, we’d always wonder what could have been.

Instead of always wondering if he could have stood toe-to-toe with the best in the world, Irvin did it, and no matter how much it hurt that night, he’ll never have to worry that he passed up the chance of a lifetime.

To quote a movie I get made fun of for loving (The Replacements), “Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory lasts forever.” Although he’ll only get the first two of the three, he would have never had a shot at the third without the heart of a champion.