On a recent discussion, Ryan Villopoto and Ricky Carmichael weighed in on Haiden Deegan’s aggressive tactics against Jo Shimoda during the Las Vegas SMX finale.
Carmichael made it clear he wasn’t impressed, calling Deegan’s moves “a chicken way of trying to win a championship.” He pointed out that Deegan had one or two legitimate chances out of the gate but instead resorted to blocking Shimoda for multiple laps, which ultimately cost him. RC added that the strategy not only hurt Deegan’s reputation but also jeopardized his future—highlighting how the broken collarbone now keeps him out of Motocross of Nations, where a strong performance for Team USA could have boosted his career more than SMX.
Villopoto agreed, saying Deegan should have made his statement by winning straight up in the second moto rather than trying to play games with Shimoda. To him, the approach looked “unprofessional” and short-sighted. Both legends suggested emotions got the best of Deegan, leading to costly decisions that backfired.
Still, Carmichael admitted one thing: “To win the championship, he had to do something.” But both he and Villopoto concluded that Deegan’s execution was the wrong way to go about it—while Shimoda proved to be the smarter and more composed rider under pressure.
