AJ Ferrari Is Definitely Going to MMA
I know I’m late on this, but it’s not a fun topic to cover so I put it off for a while. AJ Ferrari was recently kicked the Oklahoma State wrestling team as he was recently charged for sexual battery by the Stillwater Police.
When I first saw the news, I made a terrible mistake. I looked at the comments. Wrestling culture is not a great place as I saw far more people dreaming of AJ Ferrari transferring to their favorite school than people wanting nothing to do with the guy. Hey, I hope that he is innocent. That would mean that nobody got sexually assaulted. You can say a young man’s image was harmed, but A) that’s not as big of a deal and B) Guys can recover from that—look no further than Gable Steveson for a fitting example. But when seeing the posts that have come out involving Ferrari, he doesn’t seem like the most innocent guy out there. I’m not saying he did it, but at first glance, it wouldn’t be impossible to imagine this happening.
And so a future that seemed to be bright as can be after Ferrari won a national title as a true freshman now seems murky at best. Although I haven’t heard of him losing his WWE NIL deal, I really don’t think WWE needs to mess with the sort of headache of giving him a full developmental deal. I don’t think he’s going to find his way to another college program until everything gets sorted out. If he is found innocent, then he can wrestle again, but no college is going to bring him on while he has open sexual battery charges against him (Note: If he was a football player, there is a VERY good chance some team would take him on *cough* Liberty *cough*).
But really, no matter the outcome, it wouldn’t be all that surprising if Ferrari left wrestling altogether. I mean, the goal with wrestling in college is to win a national title, and Ferrari already did that. He has nothing left to prove at the college level, and if his career pursuits are athletics, going back to school isn’t going to enhance his chances of success in any way.
Instead, innocent or guilty, AJ Ferrari will definitely find his way to mixed martial arts. MMA promotions don’t give a shit about alleged crimes, and as Dana White showed, they encourage it when it came to Greg Hardy. It’s not like Bellator is some great vehicle for virtue as they would love to sign Ferrari, especially with their love of collegiate wrestlers. The man is going to have options when it comes to utilizing his physical gifts, and there is no denying Ferrari’s physical gifts.
But there is denying Ferrari. If he is found guilty, it would be great if he was denied the opportunity to make a ton of money in mixed martial arts (because he will very likely excel in it). Making money using your athletic gifts is not a right, and if he is guilty of the crime he was charged with, he should suffer consequences.
But he won’t. MMA is for the sport for the unevolved man. The “fuck your feelings” crowd that thinks being an asshole makes you tough. They will make fun of people that think that a guy who assaults women (in Ferrari’s case, still alleged) probably shouldn’t make a living in fighting.
But I’m sure Ferrari is at least smart enough to not do anything else that could damage his reputa…and he was just recently charged with third-degree burglary. To be fair, the charges were quickly dismissed, but his brother is still facing charges that may be related to the same incident.
Yeah, he’ll be in MMA sooner rather than later.