Haiden Deegan is more than Dangerous now, he is the Dominator, on and off the track.
The real deal, with real speed and real determination to win at any cost. This means everything to him, impressive given his families well-off financial situation.
Deegan hasn’t finished outside the top two all season and ran down Tom Vialle more than once, but, more than that, he wants to ruin the competition mentally. This is Carmichael, Stewart, Herlings level of competitiveness. Arrogant, cocky, cold and ruthless is the persona – and he backs it up every time.
Take a look at these quotes after Southwick, prickling at criticism, motivated by others doubt, and wanting to show his rivals they can’t beat him. This is out of the Ronaldo, Michael Jordan playbook, doubt me and I’ll show you and everyone else I’m the best.
“I had to prove a point when I came here, after last year kind of the narrative was I couldn’t ride a sand track”, said Deegan. “So, I had to come here and show everyone that I could. And it was a big motivator, I felt like if I could win at this track that proved I’m pretty much unbeatable, so I had to put out a good race here.”
“I saw that second moto, Tom dropped maybe a bike length. And I just smelled blood,”
“That last five minutes I get another spur of energy somehow, I don’t know if it’s just how I raised, doing motos, working hard, and especially growing up (eating) healthy too, I think that helps,” Deegan continued. “I don’t know, once I saw that, it was just balls to the wall, send it to the end. It got real close, real tight at the end. Jo was sending it, we almost came together, then Tom ended up going down, and then, yeah, I just rode it in for second.”
“Smelled blood,” “Proved I’m pretty much unbeatable.” This is mental warfare, Vialle is hearing this, Deegan doesn’t care, he wants him to hear it.
Vialle is the least likely person to crack under pressure on track or with mental games off it, he was cold as ice in GP’s, it was Geerts who had his speed but couldn’t put it together enough to get that MX2 world title title off a stubborn Vialle.
Now, Vialle is in Geerts position and Deegan is where Vialle was in GPs. When Vialle has the speed to win he finds a way to lose it, when Deegan is losing he finds the speed to win it. Even Vialle is struggling against the all out attack on every flank from Deegan. It’s relentless, whatever you do, he will find more.
This is next level, most riders can’t do that, they can’t find speed when the chips are down just based on desire. Deegan can.
They don’t call him Dangerboy for nothing 🤯 #ProMotocross #SMX #SouthwickMX pic.twitter.com/nmepfULViC
— Pro Motocross (@ProMotocross) June 29, 2024
This isn’t Jett Lawrence evoking Stefan Everts vibes with superior technical control and race management within his limit, this is Ricky Carmichael, Jeffrey Herlings, James Stewart win at all costs, whatever it takes, find the edge, ride the edge and ruin them. Take away all hope and beat them again for good measure and crow about it on the podium, just incase.
This is ruthless. This is planned, this might even all be preparation for taking on Jett Lawrence – when oil meets water!
Smooth v all-action. The only way to beat Jett Lawrence is to ride out of your comfort zone. It’s how Carmichael had to ride to beat Everts and McGrath. Deegan is the only one since that can do it and get away with it (so far).
Get comfortable being uncomfortable now because that’s what it will take to even challenge Jett Lawrence in the future. It’s the match-up everyone wants to see already. The polarizing hype v the polarizing hype with very contrasting backgrounds and delivery style on their results.
The rivalry will be huge and probably explosive, and then there is the incoming Prado joining the party! Three stars from three contrasting continents ready for battle on US soil.
So, expect Deegan to be flying that American flag again, literally, as he battles Australia and Spain, trying to find any marginal gain he and the family can think of to win.
It will be prime time must see TV. And that’s exactly what the Deegan’s want and American SX/MX will benefit from.
