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The sin of gatekeeping
Gatekeeping is a terrible thing. The practise of using your position of power, no matter how small, to halt, harry and obstruct other people from getting on your level or, heaven forbid, beyond it, is driven by selfishness, greed and, above all, insecurity; that feeling that you’ve gotten where you have in life because of chance and an advantage you were born with, but didn’t truly earn. Believe me, I know how it works. I used to do it.
In a former life I worked in the TV industry. In that arena I met folks who thought themselves characters in Game of Thrones, looking to charm, trick and back-stab their way to the crown. Only, in this context, that crown was writing or directing an episode Newlywed Nearly Dead (look it up). It was pathetic. And it’s what I thought I needed to do to hold on to every precious pay cheque I could convince an odious producer to release from his miserly grip.
I kept quiet about opportunities that could have helped others. I made alliances. I peddled rumours. I did it all because I was terrified I would wake up at thirty years old and be replaced by a twenty-year-old, fresh out of college, who would work themselves to death, for free, to prove their passion and their worth (I did that, too).
It wasn’t until I left TV for good that I realized how sick and twisted that career had made me. When I embarked on something new, MMA writing of all things, I made a commitment to not let my insecurity and anxiety win. To trust in what I was doing, and how well I could do it, and embrace soft skills that not only make you easier to hire and work with, but just make life more enjoyable for everyone (including myself).
When I achieved a role in this industry that came with a modicum of power, I promised myself I would use it to help other people progress in their careers, even if it means they might replace me or surpass me. I’ve been much happier ever since.
By shunning gatekeeping, I now get to enjoy in both my success and that of the others who I’ve helped along the way. I didn’t get punched in the face during the process, though.
Gatekeeping in MMA is not like gatekeeping in the real world. It is driven by similar motivations, but it is also essential for keeping the delicate cage fighter ecosystem in check. There’s no better way to measure a fighter by looking at who he’s beaten. And everyone accepts that, in this world, the only way to get ahead is by bringing down those around you.
The career of an MMA gatekeeper is unheralded, and often, fleeting, but it contributes a great deal to the over-arcing narratives of fighters and divisions; all of which climax with a lucky, albeit very talented, few claiming that ultimate prize.
To be a gatekeeper in MMA you need to be aggressively well-rounded. So much so, that no one can really figure out what you’re best at (or what you’re worst at). You’ve got to be someone who, when matched against anyone, there’s conceivable doubt in the outcome of the fight. You want people to say, “Well, hot young thing should win this fight… but I don’t know…”
The gatekeeper must also be humble and unassuming. The role doesn’t fit well if after a win you get on the mic and call out the division and demand a title shot. These are ‘aw shucks’ guys who want to show you what they can do, not tell you. And they are often self-aware, knowing they are at an age and stage where a title run is likely out of grasp, but that they still have enough guts and steel to hang with younger fighters and still bank some win money (and maybe a bonus, too).
The gatekeeper must also be willing to fight whomever the UFC throws at them.
Cue Neil Magny.
Neil, hold the gates!
Neil Magny, a product of The Ultimate Fighter (back when that show was worth a damn), has been plying his trade in the UFC Octagon for over ten years. But for a seven fight win streak between 2014 and 2015, Magny’s career has been solid, yet inconsistent. Successful, yet not sensational.
Magny’s exceptional talent for remaining available, and ready, to fight anyone, anywhere, anytime has lead him to the record books for most wins and bouts in UFC welterweight history. Looks at any ‘most’ records for welterweight and Magny is either leading or closing in on it.
And he’s fought a who’s who in his career. Taking on a slew of former champions and challengers, including Robbie Lawler, Johny Hendricks, Demian Maia, Rafael dos Anjos, Gilbert Burns and Carlos Condit.
Most recently the UFC have deployed the very agreeable Magny as a gatekeeper at 170 lbs, someone they can use to see who is hot and who is not in the division. Ian Machado Garry and Shavkat Rakhmonov are hot. Max Griffin and Daniel Rodriguez, not so much,
This weekend, at UFC 297, the UFC have asked Magny to guard the gate again. In Toronto, he will be charged with testing out Mike Mallott, a rising prospect who hails from 30 minutes along the lakeshore.
Magny gets this call despite him being ranked in the division. Mallott, who is not ranked, also gets the opportunity to take The Magny Test, and leap into dark horse welterweight contendership, despite Mickey Gall being the best known opponent on his rap sheet.
“For me, I just look at it as an opportunity,” said Magny when asked about the context around this fight and whether he thought the UFC were hoping to kick-start an ice cold market that can get red hot if the right fighter comes along.
Many would think Magny is talking about an opportunity to progress onto a bigger fight, a title shot. Though, that’s not the case here, at least not totally. The 36-year-old also isn’t talking about an opportunity to take on a Colby Covington or a Khamzat Chimaev (someone he called out back when there was a myth that no one was brave enough to do so). The opportunity Magny talekd about is the one he only gets on Saturday night at UFC 297, an opportunity to test himself, in the moment, with no thoughts of what might come next.
Neil Magny fights for the moment
“I’m facing another young up and coming fighter, a guy who has one loss on his record, he’s undefeated in the UFC, jiu jitsu black belt, he has many of his own accolades, so he’s a tough dangerous fighter,” said Magny. “So for me, it’s an opportunity. I get to go out there and test myself against a young fighter, a hometown fighter, it raises the bar for me to go out there and perform to the best of my ability.”
Thinking only about the fight in front of you is another key quality for a gatekeeper. You can’t focus on protecting that gate if you are day dreaming about being invited to the banquet hall once the battle is over. That kind of thinking could get you killed there in the breach.
“It forces me to be on my A-game,” said Magny when acknowledging that he has been matched against a man who is viewed as having more up-side than he has. “I need to go out there and make people say, wow Neil Magny is the mother effing man. I want to showcase where I’m at in my career currently.”
Showing up for the moment is all the motivation Magny said he needs for a fight. The potential satisfaction of slamming the gate shut on a handsome hero’s face doesn’t factor.
“The idea of derailing someone’s hype train, it’s never a significant factor for me, it was never a driving factor for me,” Magny confided. “I never wanted to be the guy who took something away from somebody. I’m always centred around myself, what am I able to go out there and do. What can I go out there and show the world. What can I show them that I represent?”
When it comes to representing the role of a gatekeeper in the UFC’s welterweight division, Magny is uneasy. And you couldn’t blame him for being so. Gatekeeper is akin to being ‘mid’. as the kids’ say. It means your best effort is a base level for what someone who is actually good should be able to do.
“I can go in there and be a gatekeeper or I can go in there and be a contender, that choice is going to be up to me.”
In fights where someone is called a gatekeeper, that fighter is cast as the passive participant. The active participant is the fighter who is trying to get through the gate. The narrative is always built on, how good is that guy? Can they beat this gatekeeper? And if the active fighter loses, then the narrative becomes, I guess he wasn’t really that good. The gatekeeper rarely gets the plaudits they deserve, for showing up and giving their all to keep that gate shut.
“My shortcoming in the past have lead me into being this kind of gatekeeper kind of thing,” admitted Magny in a raw moment, though the word ‘gatekeeper’ struggled off his tongue. “It’s not necessarily a negative, but if I want to change that narrative, if I want to change that outcome, I need to perform on fight night and show Neil Magny is not a gatekeeper, he’s a contender.
“I can go in there and be a gatekeeper or I can go in there and be a contender, that choice is going to be up to me.”
Knowing where you are in space and time
Despite saying he could still be a contender, Neil Magny was also realistic, admitting he could only name Glover Teixeira as someone who had a late career spurt that lead to UFC gold. He said it’s a goal to shoot for, but also enforced that this doesn’t change his mindset of fighting in the moment with no thought about what comes next.
“I’m shooting to be the best,” he said. “I’m shooting to be a UFC champion. I’m shooting to be a guy who is remembered in the sport and the best way I can look at it … there’s an expression, ‘Aim for the moon. If you miss you land among the stars.’ And that’s where I see myself at in the present time.
“I’m shooting for the moon, still. And if, after all these years, I still miss and finish among the stars, that’s still a great career. But for the present time. The moon is still the goal. The championship is still the goal.
“So if settle my UFC career after fifteen, twenty years and people say, ‘Ah well, Neil Magny was one of the best guys in the division, he was a great gatekeeper, he was a good test for all the up-and-coming guys, sure, so be it. But right now, my goal is still to be the best.”
Neil Magny’s legacy
I don’t think we will look back on MMA history and consider Neil Magny as one of the greatest fighters who ever lived. But we’ll still remember him. To be present in the UFC for over 10 years is an achievement in its own. To reach that milestone without going into fights that make us want to close our eyes and pray for a merciful ending (like we do whenever Tony Ferguson, and before him B.J. Penn, suit up for battle).
Because Magny has stayed around for so long, we can’t help but remember him for his durability, commitment and readiness, along with the fundamental skills that have helped him remain competitive for a decade and prevented bad losses and injuries that would have hastened either a retirement or a promotional release or might have created that ick factor I mentioned earlier.
Magny is all over the record books for longevity and, more importantly, winning and at 36 he still has some years to pad those records. He may not have reached the heights of some of his opponents (including those he’s beaten), but he’s been in the game and experienced it at a level that few fighters ever will.
He’s been everywhere, fought everyone and experienced a wide range of moments—positive and negative—in the cage. It’s those moments, chances to test himself against varied and unique problems, that Magny prizes most. And coming through them are achievements he values.
Oh, and thirty plus ZUFFA/Endeavor endorsed cheques (albeit shrunk because of the UFC’s paltry pay policies) are more than most fighters could ever wish for in their careers, too.
But legacy is something we should be concerned about when the time is right, when Magny has decided to hang up his gloves (something he said he wants to do before anyone can pull him aside and tell him it’s time). Right now we need to celebrate the now and a fighter who will always show up and provide a test for anyone who thinks they can do something special in mixed-martial-arts.
Those who pass the test might go on for a big night in the sun. But many others will fade away, never to reach the pinnacle of the sport and never to match Magny for how long and how good he’s been over ten years of fighting the toughest men on the planet.