LOS ANGELES – When Simone Biles, arguably the greatest gymnast in history, pulled out of some Olympic events earlier this week in Tokyo, it reignited a worldwide conversation.
Biles, 24, was supposed to lead the U.S. to what was expected to be a third consecutive team gold medal, but she pulled out of the team portion of the Games, citing mental health reasons. The U.S. finished with a silver medal. Biles also pulled out of the women’s all-around competition – where she also was going after a third consecutive gold medal.
For now, Biles is still scheduled to compete in individual events she qualified for. But the keyboard warriors and armchair quarterbacks have been weighing in for days about her decision to remove herself from portions of the Games.
This includes UFC Hall of Famers Ronda Rousey and Michael Bisping.
One camp is lauding Biles for having the self-awareness to pull out, knowing she wasn’t in the right head space. Rousey, herself a former Olympian who won bronze in judo, made it clear on Twitter that this is where she stands.
But the other camp has been critical of her decision, questioning if she’s folded to pressure and saying essentially that at her level, there should be no excuse. Bisping’s take lies somewhere within that spectrum.
On Wednesday at Bellator 263 media day, which MMA Junkie attended, Amy Kaplan of Fansided asked several fighters to weigh in on the topic. Not surprisingly, there are fighters at Bellator 263 on both ends of the spectrum. Some are Team Biles all the way. And others?
Well, when the term “man up” is used about the greatest women’s gymnast of all time, who is a sexual assault victim of convicted former USA Gymnastics team physician Larry Nassar, it seems pretty clear what side they’re on.
Check out the video above to hear from former lightweight champion Brent Primus, Kiefer Crosbie, Brian Moore, Chris Gonzalez, and Georgi Karakhanyan.
Bellator 263 fighters weigh in on Simone Biles’ mental health – and they’re on both ends of spectrum
