Darko Stošić he was a guest in to the last episode of the Incubator Podcast and on that occasion he spoke about a number of interesting topics, i.e. current events related to his career, but also the regional martial arts scene in general.
The part of “Hammer’s” guest appearance, however, which attracted perhaps the greatest attention of the audience, is the one in which he talked about trends among new generations of fighters, as well as the phenomenon of “freak fights”, which has been present on a global level for some time, and is increasingly present in the region, primarily under the influence of a Serbian YouTuber Bogdan Ilicbetter known as Granny Pig.
– When I started training in MMA, I swear on my life that I was ashamed to say that I was doing MMA until I had done ten matches, to call myself a fighter. Now the kids play three matches and he is McGregor! It’s sponsors, it’s stickers, it’s Instagram, it’s views, it’s opening a YouTube channel right away, it’s chaos, it’s TikTok, let’s go with YouTubers – one of the most prominent Serbian MMA fighters said practically under his breath and continued.
– Come on, don’t make fun of me, lower yourself a bit, get in line. It’s Instagram, TikTok, YouTube and those networks that drove you crazy. Instagram and views do not fight with opponents. Okay, it’s good for promotion and organization, great, it’s a package, but when you get in there you have to be a warrior, give what’s expected of you and win. That’s the mentality of a fighter. You have fighters, and you have YouTubers and influencers.
This was followed by a part of Stošić’s speech about “celebrity”, that is, “freak fights”.
– Now YouTubers would be fighters and boxers. I would ban all of that. Now all of them are smart, they would be a little worried about MMA because they see that there is “hype” here. Don’t worry, are you normal? People watch it, but I don’t want to be a part of it. My whole career and my whole life I am the same, I keep to my normal. I’m normal, I don’t want to cross that line and act like an idiot for a few views, “likes” and “shares”. I really don’t want my daughter to look at him tomorrow and think: “He was an idiot then”. I’m not from that story, I wasn’t raised that way and I don’t want to be. I want to keep my name and surname and my principles.
– And this, Grandma Prase will give me 100 or 200 thousand euros… Even if you need 100 and 200 thousand euros, you can’t buy me. I’m not for sale, I’m not selling my name and surname for a few euros. And now everyone, if you give them ten or more thousand euros, they run there to “live” and say: “Give me the phone Grandma, give me the Iphone”. Come on, keep it to yourself, have some attitude and be a man. Money is not everything in this world.
