Joe Schilling did not make any friends with his just recent fight at a bar, the video of which has gone viral. However UFC light heavyweight Anthony Smith says there’s more than meets the eye with this former kickboxing champion.
By now most of us have seen the viral video of Schilling knocking out a patron at a bar. It has received a lot of pushback, with people saying that this was not the way a professional fighter should act.
That said, Anthony Smith seems to think it is a little less cut and dry than it initially appears. Speaking on SiriusXM, Anthony defended Joe, saying that he knows Schilling and if he says that the guy at the bar deserves to be KOd, then there is likely a reason for that.
“I guess the difference in my outlook is, I just know Joe. Like if you take five fighters and you put them in the exact same situation, you put me, Joe Schilling, and just three fighters that are notable, and you say ‘If someone’s going to get in your face and flinch like they’re going to hit you, who’s going to respond first?’ It’s going to be Joe Schilling every single time,” Smith said.
“It’s not great, it’s not a great look for the sport in general, but there is a part of me that empathizes with Joe. He’s crazy amongst crazy, like he’s crazy even amongst a room full of people like me… And that’s the weird thing, is like he’s super respectful… He’s a super nice guy, he really is. He’s not the type of dude that just runs around, KOing common folk. That’s not him.
“So I guess in that situation I just think alright, that dude must have really been being an ass, or maybe (Joe) really thought he was going to get hit,” Smith added. “The fighter reaction is real. I’ve been woke up out of a dead sleep before and been ready to fight.”
🎙️"He's a super-nice guy … he's not the type of dude that just runs around just KOing common folk." — Anthony Smith tells Ryan McKinnell why there may be more than meets the eye in the viral Joe Schilling video 🔊@RyanMcKinnell @lionheartasmith
⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️ pic.twitter.com/SwaAZIZRXr
— MMA on SiriusXM (@MMAonSiriusXM) June 30, 2021
Was Joe Schilling In The Right?
That is ultimately a question that will be up to a judge to decide, if the legal actions being levied against him move forward. Although it is worth noting that his side of the story is that the guy was being rude and saying racist things about someone who worked at the bar, and that Joe felt threatened by the guy.
Moreover Joe claims to have gotten messages since the incident, with people saying that the man he knocked out was a general bad guy, with a history of abusing his girlfriends. Although these messages should be taken with a grain of salt without any way to prove their legitimacy.
When it comes down to it, Anthony Smith may be absolutely correct about the type of person that Joe Schilling is. That being said, there is still a level of restraint that should be shown when you are a professional fighter in that situation.
