Last week, UFC welterweight fighter Mike Pierce told a story that involved Rick Story, under orders from coach Pat White, supposedly beating on a rookie MMA fighter at the Brave Legion gym where he used to train. Well, you knew a response would be coming, and Rick Story has finally released his side of the story.
OK I figure this is one of the best places to start. What Mike Pierce said about me hitting Abel when he was on a knee saying stop is BULL SHIT. Abel wasn’t some random person off the street either. At the time he was 1-1 as a professional and had been training with us for 3 months. He was a 4 time All-American for William Penn college in Iowa and actually beat me at nationals my first match my junior year at Southern Oregon University. What Mike also decided to forget to say is how many times Abel had tapped him that week in training (I think 2 by guillotine). What Mike also forgot to admit was how well Abel did in sparring against Brad Blackburn (at the time current UFC welterweight). Abel was new to our team but not new to the sport and not a poor defenseless kid. Abel did have Vertigo and had taken time off. Pat would not let him sparr without a doctors note saying he was cleared. I had talked with Abel before the session and asked him how his Vertigo was doing, he said he was cleared but to be safe I told him I would only throw body shots. We do sparr hard at BRAVE LEGION but not stupid. I would never hit anyone that was telling me stop. Anyway we have a rule too, if someone is rocked drop the intensity down to 10% and only throw to the body so your partner can recover to continue and we don’t fall into the habit of stopping when someone is close to being finished. Pat would never encourage the continuance of hitting someone that says stop. Anyone that has half a brain would realize this wouldn’t be something that could be kept secret for very long. How come this sounds like an isolated incident? Probably because it’s a lie. If it happened before it wouldn’t be something you could contain. Anyone that knows me would agree that I am not that kind of a person, and I am confident when I say this. Mike and Pat were never friends, Mike had been kicked off our team before because he wasn’t a team player and it was just a fact their personalities clashed. The only reason we let Mike back on the team is because I told Pat I wanted him as a practice partner. I never not got along with Mike but he wasn’t the kind of person that I would like to go hang out with I personally though Mike was very self-centered and selfish and had a huge ego. As far as me being brain washed its far from the case. I am friends with Pat, we hang out and do things all the time and I cannot say the same for when Mike was on our team. I decided to invest in our gym BRAVE LEGION and have been running strong with our team ever since. Pat is an awesome coach a great friend and only has our teams best interest in mind. I listen to Pats coaching and don’t think listening to my coach is a bad thing. Pats coaching has brought Mike and Myself to the UFC in a short period of time. Supposibly I am brain washed because I am still listening to my coach who got me into the UFC after ten months of training and working with my business partner to make sure my investment and my team succeeds. If this is brain washed well I guess I am guilty. I am a college graduate, spent 8 years in the National Guard and was a Platoon Leader for almost two years. I make my own decisions but work as a teammate with my coach and business partner Pat White bottom line, and because Mike is not a team player he probably wouldn’t understand this concept…..
