Ivan Dobrorezov:

Why am I against trash talking in armwrestling?

It's just my thoughts on this topic, I'm not claiming this is the ultimate truth. Treat it protectionally, like an old man's grunting; an old man from the Soviet times when the most thing about sports was the respect for your opponent. I understand that trash talking is a way of advertising and a way of makikg many. But there are many ways of making money, ways that don't always fit in our inner barriers.

Despite the world's faultiness I would like to believe that sport is the part of it that we build ourselves by following the rules of honor, fairness and respect. It's the only world where people become better on purpose, both physically and mentally. Is it naïve?

I won't argue. And even if sport is not foreign to intrigues and dirty talk of any sort, I would like for the really big (figuratively big) athletes to stay away from them. And about the argument that “you can't sell a duel without trash talking”, of course I understand everything, but I also remember Fedor Emelianenko's words:

“I understand the people who are trying to bring attention to a duel with aggressive speech, and who want to intrigue the public with them. Personally, I don't pay much attention to it, I'm not going to scream at the top of my lungs to catch the attention of a few more spectators. I've always thought that a warrior should, above anything, talk about his fighting abilities, and it's the only thing that could ever add any value to a duel.”

If you think about armwrestling, the first people who come to mind are people like John Brzenk or Andrey Pushkar who didn't need any trash talking to stay who they are in our sport – legends.

Or there's this one guy – SCHOOLBOY – who follows his own separate way and gathers millions of views on his channel without any trash talking. I wish armwrestling only prosperity but I really don't want this “dirt” to get into our sport. Even as a price for money.

Why did we all just decide once thath McGregor's road to UFC is the only way to make money, I don't understand, there's so many other “rich” sports in which they totally do without throwing dirt at their opponents.

And what money are we talking about?

For now armwrestling is only interesting to the fans of this sport. With trash talking, wihout trash talking or with anything else. No trash at this stage can attract regular spectators “from the outside”, they really don't care if two people they have no idea about swear at each other on Instagram.

So what is this all about? Armwrestling fans will watch an interesting duel without trash talking. And don't get mad at those who think differently. As I said before, these are just the thoughts of an “old nag”. I don't condemn anyone, and I don't teach anyone!

Don't swear, hug more!