FanHouse NateQuarry

At UFC 83, Kalib Starnes ran away from Nate Quarry so much that the fans went from cheering him to booing him over the course of 15 minutes, and this week he has become the laughingstock of mixed martial arts (video includes Starnes swearing):

Now Starnes, whose contract with UFC has been terminated, is trying his best to recover from the PR disaster of the way he fought -- or refused to fight. He first gave a brief interview to Mike Chiappetta of NBC Sports in which he sounded defiant and called criticism of him "outrageous," but he later backed down and released a statement that began with this:

"I would like to begin by saying that I was very happy to fight in Montreal, and that I trained really hard for my fight. I know that there were many people, including myself, who were disappointed with my performance, and I would like to apologize to my coaches, trainers and the fans for what happened. It was by far the worst fight of my career."

Starnes is right to apologize, but then he goes on to criticize the "extremely biased articles and commentary" about him. The truth is, the articles and commentary aren't Starnes' problem. The people who watched the fight know what they saw, and what they saw was ugly.

This video, which has been viewed more than 50,000 times on YouTube, shows why Kalib Starnes is the laughingstock of mixed martial arts after his pathetic performance at UFC 83, when he spent 15 minutes running away from Nate Quarry. (Warning, some offensive language at the end):

Now UFC President Dana White has severed ties with Starnes, although there's some question of whether he resigned or was fired. White says:

"I don't care if Starnes says we cut him, or he asked to be let go - at the end of the day if you're a professional fighter, and you are fighting in the UFC in front of your hometown crowd, you have to show up to fight."

There are some rumors that Starnes is happy to be out of UFC and that he wants to sign with another promotion, but why on earth would any promotion want him now? Starnes made a fool of himself on Saturday and alienated MMA fans, and he has a long way to go to repair his image.

Dustin Parkes of Drunk Jays Fans attended UFC 83 in Montreal and reported to us.

Hours after Georges St. Pierre devastated Matt Serra with a series of thrashing knees to his side, my ears were still ringing from the enormous decibel levels reached by the screaming crowds that attend these events. The sheer volume and energy of the frenetic crowd at the Bell Centre had a physical effect on me.

While it seemed that every one in La Belle Province over this past weekend was a fan of the UFC "since the beginning," not all of Canada welcomed UFC 83 to town. Last week, our nation's largest sports radio talk show ignored -- and then questioned the legitimacy of -- the event and mixed martial arts in general.

And even though I'm a fan, I have to admit that walking down Rue De La Gauchetiere on my way into the Bell Centre, I was expecting keg stands and the word party being used as a verb.

Instead I was shocked to find myself surrounded by a knowledgeable and animated audience that cheered with equal enthusiasm for striking and grappling.