UFC: Alright, It's Time for Jacob Volkmann to Shut Up

Family Guy has deteriorated in recent years. It still has moments of brilliance, but it’s definitely not what it once was. It’s probably not in lumpy milk territory as far as an expiration date goes, but it isn’t as fresh as it once was.

However, when it was on, it was really on. No topic was off-limits, and quite often it was celebrities who took the brunt of the heat. In one instance, Chris was forced into rebellious behaviour by a zit with a mind of its own—not exactly high theatre, but entertaining nonetheless.

One of his first acts of rebellion was to graffiti the town with spray paint, and one of his first targets was broody crooner John Mayer. “That’s enough, John Mayer,” he sprayed on a brick wall.

It was funny because, with such simplicity, yet without any of the traditional hallmarks of graffiti, it conveyed a message that all of us could relate to just a little bit. That’s enough, John Mayer. Just play your guitar and sing your songs, and cut the rest out. It’s just…enough.

Well, now that piece of animated graffiti has a new target to which it could be applied, albeit a name that far fewer people would know to see it sprayed on a wall. That target is UFC lightweight and general loudmouth Jacob Volkmann.

Volkmann has made waves recently with his insistence on calling out US President Barack Obama, challenging the head of state to a fistfight in a post fight interview and continuing his crusade essentially any time a microphone is put in front of him.

Thankfully, he’s irrelevant to the lightweight division, so those mics are few and far between, but he’s still managed to get himself put on administrative leave from his job as a high-school wrestling coach and even earn a visit from the Secret Service for his troubles.

Simply put, nobody wants to hear Volkmann speak about anything, much less about his political proclivities. He hasn’t earned any credibility with his mundane performances in the Octagon, and he’s done even less to garner interest with his verbal jabs. People just don’t care, because he hasn’t done anything to really care about.

Yes, controversy creates cash. That’s undeniable, and one would like to believe that Volkmann is trying to get himself noticed by making that his mantra.

You needn’t look any further than Chael Sonnen and how he revitalized his career through controversy to see that a mixed martial artist can get rich pretty quick by saying the right (or wrong) things. However, the things that Sonnen says are at least feasible on occasion, or are things that he’ll have to back up when he’s standing across the cage from a target of his trash talk.

Volkmann, who hasn’t beaten anyone of consequence and wouldn’t be picked out a five-man lineup by 90 percent of MMA fans, is trying to pick a fight with the President of the United States and using the UFC as a soapbox for his own opinions and ideas. It’s not so much controversial as it is just stupid.

The problem with the persona that Volkmann is portraying is that it’s too involved. Calling out the President, disagreeing with his policies and drawing attention to yourself through heavy issues simply doesn’t play well in sports.

At a time when the world is down in ways it hasn’t been for 70 years, people are watching sports to get away from big issues, not have those issues shoved in their face by some unknown on a UFC prelim.

Looking again at the Sonnen parallel, most of his silliness is centered around bits that are so polished they have to be rehearsed. He says his few things about Anderson Silva, talks about his next opponent, makes an outrageous claim about some other target and he gets out of there.

He might mention being a Republican sometimes, but it’s rarely deeper than that. There’s nothing so heavy that it makes people turn away, or get so lost in thought that they enjoy a broadcast less as a result.

So basically, Volkmann needs to stop. He needs to focus on winning fights and not drawing negative attention to himself for things that people don’t want to hear from him anyway.

To put it another way: That’s enough Jacob Volkmann. It’s just…enough.