The Fight Network has some interesting quotes coming from Kalib Starnes after his pathetic performance at UFC 83 against Nate “The Rock” Quarry. Starnes claims that he asked for a release even though reports circulating around the ‘Net are saying that Dana White had released him from his contract. Although it’s purely an interpretation of the comments, Starnes is no longer under contract with the UFC:
“Joe Silva told me that it usually takes a couple of days for their legal department to complete the paperwork and that he would send me all of the paperwork to indicate that my contract has been dissolved,” Starnes said. “Later on in the afternoon, after I had spoken to Joe Silva, a story was released by some reporter from Yahoo! in which Dana White said that he had released me from my contract. I received no documentation on that, and it came after I asked to be released.”
Starnes also claims that because of injuries he sustained during the fight against Quarry, he was unable to fight effectively for the rest of the bout. He claimed that the $10,000 he received for the bout wouldn't be enough for him to fight Quarry effectively and letting himself get crushed due to his injury.
According to the article, Starnes suffered a broken foot during the bout. My analysis yesterday turned toward some type of injury or the rumored comments on the Sherdog forums regarding a spat about compensation over injuries he sustained on the Ultimate Fighter reality show. In any case, a problem was present, and it looks to be an injury during the bout.
His reasoning to run from Quarry still gnaws at my mind. I suppose taking more injuries because you cannot lead with your foot or be effective in a kicking game to the legs against Quarry would hinder your performance, but the backpedaling around the cage didn’t indicate a hurt foot. It comes down to a money problem in the end. Starnes felt that all the money he’d made for the fight would be gone had he continued to fight the way he had early on in the bout. He may have very well been right.
What would we do? Losing face in a fight by using such tactics can tarnish your career and opportunities, but what about supporting a family? It’s a tough situation, and I believe fans need to stop and think about this for a second. Should we throw Starnes under the bus for this performance? My gut says “Yes”, but the logical thinking in this situation strays toward feeling some sympathy in the fact that $10,000 to pay for another huge cut or broken nose to Starnes could cause his family some hardship in the months to come.
Then again, the UFC probably would have picked up the bill for injuries. What about the time off he’d have to take away from his gym? The consequences come into play heavily in this situation, but I will say this, Starnes hurt his career a bit with this performance. He should have mounted some sort of attempt to win the fight quickly instead of working the jab. It was obvious his power was gone from his footwork being affected, but being labeled as fighting tough with an injury is much better than being released.