Former U.S. Navy Seal and ultramarathon runner David Goggins slammed UFC fans who are critical of his extreme training methods.
Goggins, an inductee into the International Sports Hall of Fame, recently appeared on the radar of many MMA fans after sharing a video on social media of him putting Tony Ferguson through “hell week” ahead of the UFC fan favorite’s return to the Octagon on December 16.
Riding a six-fight losing streak, ‘El Cucuy’ is determined to climb back into the win column for the first time in more than four years. To do that, he enlisted the help of Goggins, but not everyone was thrilled with the extreme training methods that Ferguson appears to be subjecting himself to.
David Goggins Snaps Back at ‘Stupid Comments’ From UFC Fans
Fans were quick to criticize David Goggins’ methods, something he did not appreciate. Taking to social media, the New York Times Best Selling author delivered a scathing profanity-laced response, suggesting that UFC fans were both uneducated and afraid of hard work.
“Rather than trying to find flaw in the methodology, try finding inspiration in watching someone searching their soul for every last bit of themselves!” Goggins wrote on Instagram. “I have been a high-level endurance athlete for almost 20 years and trained some of the best athletes around and what we are doing right now is not for the faint of heart.
“When you train a person like Tony, you have to find their limit and once you find it, that is when you have to push them way beyond it. The challenge with Tony is that his limit is way the fuck out there because of his ability to handle so much pain. What you are seeing in this video is a man that has been through 4 days of a no-shit hell week. This isn’t like a football two-a-days or some wrestling camp bullshit.”
“I see the comments that Tony should be sparring or be on the bag rather than doing this kind of cardio,” Goggins continued. “I can tell that the vast majority of you have no idea what the fuck you are talking about. To have the guts- and I mean guts- to allow a motherfucker like me to train him shows exactly his commitment to come back and win again.
“Many of you have no idea what it does to a human being’s mind when their body keeps saying to stop but their mind will not allow them to!!!! There is a lesson to be learned here. He’s comfortable with you all seeing what he is going through be
“I see the comments that Tony should be sparring or be on the bag rather than doing this kind of cardio,” Goggins continued. “I can tell that the vast majority of you have no idea what the fuck you are talking about. To have the guts- and I mean guts- to allow a motherfucker like me to train him shows exactly his commitment to come back and win again.
“Many of you have no idea what it does to a human being’s mind when their body keeps saying to stop but their mind will not allow them to!!!! There is a lesson to be learned here. He’s comfortable with you all seeing what he is going through because this is the exact kind of dedication it takes to reach greatness. Hard work is never pretty!
“This is why it is so foreign to some of you,” Goggins said. “Watching a person work this hard and striving for greatness scares a lot of you. It’s okay. It used to scare me too. I used to be one of those guys making stupid comments about the ones who wanted it like there was no tomorrow. Stay hard!”
Tony Ferguson is scheduled to square off with streaking lightweight standout Paddy Pimblett as part of the UFC 296 main card next month. Pimblett enters the contest on a six-fight win streak and hopes to send ‘El Cucuy’ into retirement with his fifth win in a row inside the Octagon.
