THE CANADIAN PRESS
TORONTO — Just days after fulfilling his dream to fight in the UFC, Toronto welterweight Sean Pierson has had to put another on hold.
The 34-year-old mixed martial arts fighter was due to start his Toronto police training on Tuesday. But Toronto police balked, citing concerns over Pierson’s former nickname — Pimp Daddy — and the time fighting might take away from police work.
Pierson, who won his UFC debut on Saturday at UFC 124 in Montreal, says there are no hard feelings.
In a perfect world, he would love to be both a police officer and fighter — but understands that it not possible at the present moment.
"It’s funny, like the way that it’s turned out in the media is like it’s me versus them," Pierson told The Canadian Press. "And it’s not the case. I completely understand and respect the stance that the Toronto police department has taken and I fully understand why.
"For me, I was . . . privileged enough to have two opportunities in front of me. One was being a Toronto police officer and then another dream of 14 years to compete in the UFC.
"Unfortunately for me, they’re both happening at the same time. So timing is more of the issue."
A spokesman for Toronto police offered a slightly different viewpoint, saying Pierson’s "provisional" job offer was withdrawn earlier this week.
"We raised concerns with Mr. Pierson probably 12 to 15 months ago and they focused on two things: his fighting name and the amount of time such a secondary job would involve and the effect it would have on being a police officer," said police spokesman Mark Pugash.
"The fact that it was mixed martial arts was not relevant. And he gave us undertakings on the two areas that we raised concerns, but unfortunately he did not resolve our concerns to our satisfaction."
Pierson, however, said the police "never took anything off the table completely for me.
"They basically said ‘We have some concerns, right now we want to hold off and investigate what’s going on in your life right now.’ And I fully appreciate that."
Pierson said he has applied to different police forces over the last four or five years "and it was a concern with all of them.
"So it’s not something that was new to me, but I thought I was past that."
Pierson knows his fighting shelf life is short, so he wants to pursue his UFC dream rather than have regrets later in life.
"So I’m the one choosing to go to the UFC and I’m the one hoping to be privileged enough that in the future there might be a door still open for me for my other dream, which was to be a police officer and help the community in some way or another."
Pierson’s pro record of 11-4 dates back to 1999, although he stepped away from the sport several times.
Pierson was one of the last additions to the Montreal UFC card, called in as an injury replacement for T.J. Waldburger against Matthew Riddle.
He made the most of the opportunity, impressing UFC president Dana White who said the Pierson-Riddle slugfest should have been named fight of the night rather than the main event between Georges St-Pierre and Josh Koscheck as voted upon by the fans.
St-Pierre and Koscheck each got a $100,000 bonus as a result.
"I will take care of those guys," said White, suggesting cheques would be in the mail for Pierson and Riddle.
The performance was all the more impressive in that Pierson received a call from Toronto police on the eve of the fight citing its concerns about him joining the force.
"This was very difficult to deal with two days before my fight," said Pierson, adding he did not blame the police for the unfortunate timing. "I was an emotional wreck, as much as I hate to admit that.
"Because like anybody else, any father out there, I need to provide for my family first and foremost. So I had some major concerns and I was a little upset."
Pierson, who is married with a young son, is a former Canadian university freestyle champion and national champion in Greco-Roman. He studied business administration and computer science at Brock and went on to work at Dell Computers, quitting his job earlier this year with the idea of joining the police.
He said he had shed Pimp Daddy, a nickname bestowed on him by a Montreal promoter in years gone by when he was known for his flamboyant ring entrances.
"I just sort of went with it back then," he said of the nickname, speaking in an interview before the UFC fight. "I didn’t think anything of it, thought it was funny but I understand that to some people that’s not so funny the word pimp.
"To me it was reinventing my career anyways, so losing the nickname was a smart decision on my part, I thought."
Pierson said he thought he had distanced himself from the nickname but acknowledges it’s hard to escape the past with the Internet these days.
Pierson’s website, under construction, shows a picture of him walking out wearing a hat, track suit and wielding a cane.
Pierson said back then he saw fighting as fun rather than a career and his ring entrances reflected it.
"Music, stupid hats sunglasses, girls, whatever they were throwing at me I was like I’ll use it," he said.
Toronto police has had a UFC fighter in its ranks before.
Rob (Maximus) MacDonald joined the force after appearing on "The Ultimate Fighter" reality TV show and fought three times in the UFC in 2006.
MacDonald quit the Peel Regional Police in suburban Toronto to go on the TV show. He then got a job with the Toronto police, whom he praised for supporting his MMA career.
He left the force in 2008 to take up a position with Gym Jones, an elite gym in Utah.
Heavyweight Mike Russow, also on the UFC books, is a Chicago police officer.
