Matt Hamill's Trainer Duff Holmes Takes Issue With His Fighter's Performance

Matt Hamill lost a fight this past Saturday night to Rich Franklin. There is certainly no shame in that. Franklin is a three-time UFC champion and has only lost to two men in his entire 27 fight career; it's how Hamill lost that has those in his camp concerned.

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Blah blah blah, excuses, excuses. Yeah it sucks that Hamill lost, but the fight game is (insert random high number % here).

Hamill will recover from this loss and be a better fighter for it. No worries, mates

Yeah, I think it had a lot to do with "Hero Worship", kind of like GSP v Hughes 1. He will come back a better fighter because of this for sure!

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Posted by Jackelope

Blah blah blah, excuses, excuses. Yeah it sucks that Hamill lost, but the fight game is (insert random high number % here).

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I disagree. I totally hear what the trainer is saying. Why the hell would a collegiate wrestler stand with formidable striker. Even Rich said after the fight that he was surprised that Matt didn't go for any takedowns. And yes there is also the issue of reverence of your mentor too. Rich was his mentor.

It's not excuses... its a big WTF on what Hamill was thinking in there.

Well it seems hamill went with the sean sherk game plan against bj penn, when you are a good wrestler but yet you want to stand and trade. Once again that game plan failed.

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Posted by Mayo


I disagree. I totally hear what the trainer is saying. Why the hell would a collegiate wrestler stand with formidable striker. Even Rich said after the fight that he was surprised that Matt didn't go for any takedowns. And yes there is also the issue of reverence of your mentor too. Rich was his mentor.

It's not excuses... its a big WTF on what Hamill was thinking in there.

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I see what you're saying. However, part of training your fighter is preparing him mentally, which is part of your JOB as a trainer. There are some lessons a trainer cannot impart, and now Matt Hamill has learned those lessons. He will come out a better fighter for it.

I've trained with tons of guys who have had to learn this lesson in one form or another. As I said before, and we can all say again together-

"Fighting is (insert random high % number here) mental."

Hammils just lucky he didnt go for many take downs, otherwise the fight would of been done before the third. Rich would sub Matt without to much trouble imo.

Matt wasn't himself. His stand up is better than that and on the ground he is dominant...flat out. Anybody would have trouble submitting him on the ground. His wrestling is top notch and well adapted to mma. It's unlikely that Rich would have submitted him easy on the ground. Rich fought a great fight but i'm pretty sure he knows Matt didn't bring his best w/him.

So many excuses! The bottom line is Hamill is nowhere near the level of fighter Franklin is and most likely will never be. If Matt fight the fight of his life that night Franklin would have still beat him with no problem, IMO.

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Posted by Jackelope

Blah blah blah, excuses, excuses. Yeah it sucks that Hamill lost, but the fight game is (insert random high number % here).

Hamill will recover from this loss and be a better fighter for it. No worries, mates

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my sentiments exactly

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Posted by gravy13

So many excuses! The bottom line is Hamill is nowhere near the level of fighter Franklin is and most likely will never be. If Matt fight the fight of his life that night Franklin would have still beat him with no problem, IMO.

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That may be your bottom line, but i side with the more numerous posts on this thread that argue the point that you're wrong and you're just coming off as a hater... don't know why you don't like Hamill very much... i think he is very close to the level of fighter that Franklin is, lacking only in diversity and experience. But to say that if he fought his heart out (which is a big one) he would still get beating no problem is going a bit far in my opinion. Again not really sure why you're hating on Hamill so hard. He had a bad outing plain and simple. He will grow from this and I think the next time we see The Hammer, he is going to demolish his opponent.

I'm sorry that Hamill lost, but I'm kind of glad that he didn't implement the gameplan described by his trainer. I would kind of rather see a nice guy get TKO'd than three rounds of lay-and-pray.

"I practically begged Matt to take Rich down," said a clearly frustrated Holmes. "I was screaming at him to stop fighting Rich's fight and fight his fight. I can't explain it. He just had this blank look on his face.

Maybe he didn't hear you.

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Posted by bullettdodger

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Posted by gravy13

So many excuses! The bottom line is Hamill is nowhere near the level of fighter Franklin is and most likely will never be. If Matt fight the fight of his life that night Franklin would have still beat him with no problem, IMO.

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That may be your bottom line, but i side with the more numerous posts on this thread that argue the point that you're wrong and you're just coming off as a hater... don't know why you don't like Hamill very much... i think he is very close to the level of fighter that Franklin is, lacking only in diversity and experience. But to say that if he fought his heart out (which is a big one) he would still get beating no problem is going a bit far in my opinion. Again not really sure why you're hating on Hamill so hard. He had a bad outing plain and simple. He will grow from this and I think the next time we see The Hammer, he is going to demolish his opponent.

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I definitely don't hate the guy. I'm just giving my opinion. So if I don't side with the majority of posts I come off as a hater? That's interesting..... And of course that is my bottom line, this is a message board, correct? Opinions are welcomed, correct?

With that said, I'm just saying that Rich is a way better fighter than Matt and it showed during their fight.

I'll probably get a bunch of flak from this, but my opinion is that we have seen the best of Hamill already.

Don't get me wrong, he is a good wrestler and a good striker, but he isn't great at anything.

He just doesn't appear to have that champions desire within. He's a great sportsman, and an even better story, but like I said, I don't think we'll ever see Hamill take his game to the next level where champions are made.

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Posted by BIGKAT

I'll probably get a bunch of flak from this, but my opinion is that we have seen the best of Hamill already.

Don't get me wrong, he is a good wrestler and a good striker, but he isn't great at anything.

He just doesn't appear to have that champions desire within. He's a great sportsman, and an even better story, but like I said, I don't think we'll ever see Hamill take his game to the next level where champions are made.

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I like the guy but like you said, he just doesn't seem to have that desire.