Talk:Blake Bowman

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[edit] Bowman's record

After reviewing reliable sources on Blake Bowman, I made three recent major (in the context of this currently stub-class article): I deleted his record table, changed his fight record to 0-0-0, and eliminated MMAUniverse as a listed reference for his fight record. This was done for several reasons. First and foremost, MMAUniverse is a non-reliable source. Second, WP:MMA has standardized on Sherdog (and, in some rare cases, Full Contact Fighter) as the most reliable reference in determining fighter records.

This caused a bit of a problem, because according to Sherdog Bowman is currently 0-0-0, while MMA Universe had him listed at 1-0-0 (he was listed here as 1-1, but even MMA Universe acknowledged that his first fight was not a professional fight). What resolved it for me was his Ultimate Fighter Bio. As has been discussed several times on many fighters' talk pages and on WT:MMA, the UFC has a tendency to inflate or overstate almost all fighters' professional records, including amateur bouts and exhibition fights from The Ultimate Fighter to add credibility to them. However, according to Bowman's The Ultimate Fighter Bio, even the UFC acknowledges him as 0-0-0. Bowman's appearance on TUF was after the "professional" fight listed by MMA Universe, so the UFC had to know about it, but they still chose to list him as 0-0-0. That tells me that it's highly unlikely that the fight was even a professional fight at all.

Based on all the circumstances, Sherdog is by far the more reliable source. I deleted his record table, altered his record, and added a link to his Sherdog profile. If someone can find more reliable documentation than Sherdog on the subject of his record, please post it here and I'll be glad to reconsider. Gromlakh (talk) 14:02, 8 January 2008 (UTC)