Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Breaking News Chris Garland Backs Out of Grudge Match With MMA Instructor Ed Clay
Posted by Brantley Hargrove on Wed, Apr 15, 2009 at 6:10 PM
Gym employees say Garland showed up to the gym on 490 Allied Drive about an hour before the match and forfeited. The ground rules Garland set struck Pith as curious to begin with--no strikes. From the cheap seats that sounds like a pure Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu match, Clay's bread and butter. Take Garland's karate strikes away and you aren't left with much.
Said a nonplussed Clay in his office: "It's like me going up to a boxer and sayin', '8-ounce gloves, boxing match.' The rules he set--fantastic! I'm not gonna get punched."
When asked whether he'd consider fighting Garland if he changed his mind, Clay didn't say no, but he also didn't sound too keen on preparing for a match that may or may not happen.
Comments (16)
Showing 1-16 of 16
What a pussy! Chris Garland talks smack then backs out. He new that Ed would have hurt him. Unreal!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
like
dislike
Call it what you will, but if both fighters aren't willing to utilize all their training and use a neutral ground with an unbiased ref then it would not be a true test of abilities. Why would Ed agree to a fight that only monopolized on his strenghts with a ref from his school. Why would either individual of that caliber want to fight without getting paid? Would it be smart to sanction a fight, charge admission, and use mma regulations (isn't Clay a mma man?) to prove who the tough man is? It would make sense for Ed to challange Chris to a real MMA fight and not to try and stir some stuff to make himself look like a bad ass.
i agree with george. full out fight, mma rules, somewhere besides one of the fighters gym. get it over with. both are young, both should be able to fight whenever , whereever.
you cant tell people karate will get you killed and not jump at the chance to prove it by fighting someone who represents "karate" and beating him with your eyes closed
mr. hardgrove, you take away garlands strikes, and you are left with someone who would choke you out before you could blink. its easy to write shit . say it to his face. you will be getting coloring books for christmas.
Yo Mike, Ed is more than welcome to say "karate will get you killed." Still a free country slick. Ed wanted to fight, Chris said he wanted to fight Ed, but no striking. The reason Ed said he would "grapple" with Chris (Chris' idea) is that he wanted to end the fight quick so that Chris had to take on one of Ed's white belts. Now I know neither of these guys but I was there both days at Ed's gym waiting for this match to take place. Yesterday, 4-15-09, I saw Chris at the gym wanting to talk to Ed. Now I'm not sure if you heard the phone call, but Chris was acting as tho he was wanting to beat the hell out of Ed. He told Shane Messner "set it up." Like I stated before, I know neither of these guys but if Chris is going to be a bad ass, then he should atleast back it up. I'd rather take an ass whuppin like a man than back down like a punk. Just telling you what I saw.
I agree with you GTone. Chris is the one who called talking shit and acted like he was going to show Ed how "talented" he was. Then he backs down! The bottom line is Chris new he was going to get takin to school by Ed and wanted to save himself from a good ole fashion ass kickin. I would have respected him much more if he would have gone in and gave it his best shot.
We obviously have two talanted individuals in their own right. Did Garland think that he bit off more than he could chew? Do you think it would be better for both parties to utilize an unbiased arena and ref? I agree that Garland looks to be hot headed and shot off his mouth. I just saw the you tube of Clay and he appears to have a opinion as well. Both appear to be cocky. I would like to see the real deal and have a real fight, not an hot headed emotional pissing contest. Who is the bad-ass of Nashville?
"say it to his face. you will be getting coloring books for christmas."
Stereotype fulfilled. What a bunch of meatheads. (I'd watch the fight though.)
Why would he get coloring books for Christmas? Dude's a writer, if he can color, he can still type. heh
why doesnt tim come go to chris's school and say that to his face? doesnt sound like you respect him anyway
Please remember Chris CALLED NMMA talking shit about Ed. Ed did not call Chris and challenge him. Ed is a business man and a trainer, hell he said himself he hasn't fought in 6 years. Chris is the one irate going crazy on the recordings. Ed has no reason to fight Chris or anyone else to prove him self, so of obviously if Chris made the challenge he should come to Ed.
Chris Garland has a reputation in the Martial Art community for being a psycho, a liar and CHALLENGING other schools sensei's and eventually backing out. So it does not surprise me one bit when I heard the recordings and found out that he backed down.
I truly think chris is skitzophrenic. A sign of the disease is "visions of grandure." And a "distorted reality." Chris claims to be a Ranger when 17, however he graduated from Beech when he was 18. He claims to have been born in Japan, raised in Korea, was a Navy Seal, he put a bird in his hand and punched a board killing the bird, he is 0-1-1 in MMA however bills himself at 6-1, basically he is a liar and the sad thing is I don't really think he knows it....
I wanted to add that I understand why some would be offended by the "karate will get you killed" statement. In my humble opinion sport karate which is widely popular nationwide, with after school programs, etc WOULD get you killed by someone with knowledge of ground fighting and various other martial arts combined. I think that is Ed's point. To be truly ready for any martial art, you must study SEVERAL martial arts, wrestling, submissions, muay thai, jiu jitsu, boxing and even karate for example.
I would guess that when Ed opened his academy he wanted people to think "outside the box" and realize that there different and arguably better academies to learn or send your children to other than traditional strip mall karate dojo's. And the advertisment has obviously worked.
