Has the Media Finally Embraced MMA?
It seems mma is finally accepted into mainstream as it permeates prime time television, movies, radio, and books. Female mma fighter, Gina Carano will return for a second season after a successful first season on the American Gladiators show. Earlier this month, Gina was the most searched American Gladiator according to Yahoo's search results. Gina was also Maxim's Online "Today's Girl."Former UFC light heavyweight champ, Tito Ortiz isn't the "Huntington Beach Bad Boy" on NBC's Celebrity Apprentice. In fact he is polite and mild mannered as he competes for his charity. Tito also had a cameo appearance on the CBS show, Numb3rs last year, and was a recent guest on Howard Stern's Sirius satellite radio show.
Randy Couture returned as Sgt. Strickland on the CBS show, The Unit late last year and is the lead villain in the upcoming movie The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian. Forrest Griffin had a cameo on NBC's TV drama, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Forrest portrayed an mma fighter falsely accused of murder but was killed off within the first 10 minutes of the show. Chuck Liddell has had numerous television appearances including HBO's Entourage, and guest appearances on Late Night with Conan O'Brien and The Late Show with David Letterman. Chuck's book, “Iceman: My Fighting Life,” is currently on the New York Times Bestseller list.
On the less glamorous side is Ricco Rodriguez, who won the vacant UFC heavyweight title back in UFC 39 by defeating Randy Couture. Ricco is featured on VH1's "celebreality" show, Celebrity Rehab with Dr. Drew documenting his recovery from cocaine addiction.
It seemed like not long ago, the media labeled mma as "human cockfighting" and "barbaric." Now it appears the media has finally embraced mma, notably because the general public can't get enough of these modern day gladiators.
Kimbo Slice: From the Streets to the Cage
Many mma fighters learned to fight in a controlled environment where there's a wrestling mat, boxing ring, head gear and an instructor who oversees it all. Internet sensation, Kimbo Slice learned to fight bare knuckle in the streets and boatyards of Miami. For Kimbo it wasn't about the glory or feeding his ego, it was about survival and feeding his six kids.Over the weekend, Slice made an example out of the UFC's original street fighter, Tank Abbott by knocking out Tank in 43 seconds at Elite XC's Street Certified event. There is an aura of intimidation from Kimbo and it seemed to have affected Tank. He was never in it.
In late 2004, Kimbo Slice lost a controversial underground fight to former Boston police officer, Sean Gannon. The UFC signed Sean Gannon and in his debut bout was quickly dismantled by mma fighter Brandon Lee Hinkle.
But retired mma fighter, Bas Rutten took Slice under his wing and helped him hone his raw street fighting skill. Though impressive, Kimbo's fights still leave many questions unanswered. His striking looks pretty sharp, but how is his ground game (Ray Mercer doesn't count)? His cardio? I can't help but think about Houston Alexander who settled his first two UFC fights with destructive knockouts. But when Alexander faced an experienced grappler in Thiago Silva, he was exposed for his lack of ground defense.
Elite XC's decision to sign and promote Kimbo Slice is paying off so far, but it remains to be seen how long until he faces a better challenge. In any event, if Kimbo is on the card, I'll definitely watch.
American Gladiator, Gina Carano "Crushes" the Competition
Female mma fighter, Gina Carano, known as "Crush" on Fox's American Gladiators television show was number one on Yahoo's most searched Gladiator this week.
Two Goliaths Humbled at UFC 81
During the early years of the UFC, Royce Gracie's jiu-jitsu revolutionized martial arts by defeating bigger and stronger opponents using leverage and technique. Saturday night's UFC 81 was reminiscent of those early days as Frank Mir and Antonio "Minotoro" Nogueira pulled out flashy submissions to decide the outcome in their favor.
Brock Lesnar, former WWE star, was unproven and inexperienced in the world of mma, but did show potential during his UFC debut against Frank Mir. In fact Lesnar dominated the first 1:20 of the round, but then suddenly Mir snaked his legs around Lesnar's right leg. Lesnar appeared as if he got caught in a bear trap as he tried to jump out, but Frank Mir locked in a painful knee bar, that forced the former professional wrestler to tap.
Lesnar should've gotten a "warm up" fight. He may have fared better against a heavyweight striker than a jiu-jitsu expert. But for both Mir and Lesnar, it was a win-win situation. Mir is back in the heavyweight picture and Lesnar performed well enough to have fans look forward to his next fight. The same can be said about Sylvia vs. Nogueira. Tim Sylvia dominated most of the championship bout, but once Nogueira managed a successful takedown in the third round he immediately ensnared Sylvia in a tight guillotine choke, forcing Sylvia to submit.
The heavyweight division has a new champion in Nogueira and all four heavyweights garnered much respect from fans and the media. In his post fight interview, Nogueira respectfully challenged Randy Couture, but it remains to be seen if Couture will accept the challenge.
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