Not That You’re Surprised, but Steven Seagal Owes More than $300,000 in Unpaid Taxes


Finally, a Sensei Seagal claim that I don’t immediately label as bullshit.

As hard as we’ve been trying, we just can’t change the subject from holier-than-thou hypocrites around here. At least not in the comments sections of our articles. It seems like the comments sections of every article we’ve written since Thursday have deflated into a bunch of angry, semi-literate geeks who possibly don’t even like MMA calling each other the worst names they can think of before accusing each other of being hypocrites. Coincidentally, I just started reading the comments section of our articles on Thursday morning.

So in that spirit, I’m relaying news to you about a certain lawman who seems to actually fancy himself as Above the Law. It appears that UFC trainer/Actor/CIA agent/Energy Drink Salesman Steven Seagal owes a boat load of money to the State of California. As in, more money than training playing patty-cake with Rafael Cavalcante can possibly be bringing in. To hear it from TMZ.com:

Taking out a boatful of terrorists hell-bent on nuking Honolulu does not mean you can skip out on paying your taxes … so the State of California has filed a giant tax lien against action film star Steven Seagal, TMZ has learned.


Finally, a Sensei Seagal claim that I don’t immediately label as bullshit.

As hard as we’ve been trying, we just can’t change the subject from holier-than-thou hypocrites around here. At least not in the comments sections of our articles. It seems like the comments sections of every article we’ve written since Thursday have deflated into a bunch of angry, semi-literate geeks who possibly don’t even like MMA calling each other the worst names they can think of before accusing each other of being hypocrites. Coincidentally, I just started reading the comments section of our articles on Thursday morning.

So in that spirit, I’m relaying news to you about a certain lawman who seems to actually fancy himself as Above the Law. It appears that UFC trainer/Actor/CIA agent/Energy Drink Salesman Steven Seagal owes a boat load of money to the State of California. As in, more money than training playing patty-cake with Rafael Cavalcante can possibly be bringing in. To hear it from TMZ.com:

Taking out a boatful of terrorists hell-bent on nuking Honolulu does not mean you can skip out on paying your taxes … so the State of California has filed a giant tax lien against action film star Steven Seagal, TMZ has learned.

According to documents filed with the Los Angeles County Recorder’s Office, Seagal owes the Golden State a whopping $335,606.35 for the year 2010. It’s hard to imagine how Seagal amassed such a large tax bill [Author Note: You’ve obviously never needed a good tailor.]– he has appeared in mostly direct-to-video movies for the past decade, with his only real work being a small role in “Machete” in 2010 and his reality show, “Steven Seagal: Lawman.”

Calls to Seagal were not returned.

For those of you who are experiencing déjà vu, Steven Seagal has previously been sued for non-payment to a former movie producer and business associate with mob ties. He reportedly owed that person $500,000. The guy spends that Anderson Silva money faster than The Spider brings it in, is what you should be learning from all of this.

Speaking of which, it’s safe to assume that we won’t be seeing Sensei Seagal at any UFC  events in the near future. Naturally, this is a devastating blow to the entire Team Black House camp – who can they possibly find to take credit for their fighters’ victories on such short notice? Who will troll us on slow news days? Who is left to teach us how to defend against open palm slaps with wrist locks? Also, considering the badass high kicks that Jean-Claude Van Damme has been showcasing at Tristar Gym, maybe Anderson Silva might want to think twice about rallying for that Georges St. Pierre superfight for the time being.

@SethFalvo

Roots of Fight/Black House MMA Fan Art Contest — The Winners!

After consulting with the big-wigs at Roots of Fight and Black House, we’re pleased to announce the three winners of our recent fan-art contest. So who will be taking home ROF’s limited edition Black House apparel line, which includes the Black House Tee and Black House Insignia Sweatshirt shown above? First, a pair of honorable mentions, which were deemed worthy enough to win t-shirts:

“Battle Scars,” by yellow wrkahlc

“Spider and Dragon,” by Ryan G. (click for larger versions)

And now, the top three…

After consulting with the big-wigs at Roots of Fight and Black House, we’re pleased to announce the three winners of our recent fan-art contest. So who will be taking home ROF’s limited edition Black House apparel line, which includes the Black House Tee and Black House Insignia Sweatshirt shown above? First, a pair of honorable mentions, which were deemed worthy enough to win t-shirts:

“Battle Scars,” by yellow wrkahlc

“Spider and Dragon,” by Ryan G. (click for larger versions)

And now, the top three…

#3: “Power & Brutality,” by Stubbsy

#2: “Enter the Black House,” by Artemio O.

#1: “Obey/Silva,” by FightChixJake

Congrats guys! Since we already have your e-mails, we’ll reach out today to get your address and size. Many thanks to everybody who submitted — honestly, there were more great entries than we knew what to do with. And special thanks to Roots of Fight and Black House for making this possible; be sure to follow them on twitter @RootsofFight and @BlackHouseMMA.

Reminder: Enter Our Black House MMA Fan Art Contest, Win Gear From Roots of Fight


(The current front-runner: This awesome variation on a Shepard Fairey classic, by ‘Stubbsy’)

In case you missed it last week, we’re currently running a fan art contest with Roots of Fight, and giving away their limited edition Black House apparel line to the top three finalists. The short version: Create a piece of art paying tribute to any Black House fighter or the camp itself, and send it to [email protected] by Monday, June 18th, at midnight ET. We’ll announce our three favorites the next day, who will be picking up the t-shirt and sweatshirt. Now get hustlin’, people…

Related: Black House Tribute Video by Roots of Fight – Featuring Rener Gracie, Mark Munoz, and Bas Rutten


(The current front-runner: This awesome variation on a Shepard Fairey classic, by ‘Stubbsy’)

In case you missed it last week, we’re currently running a fan art contest with Roots of Fight, and giving away their limited edition Black House apparel line to the top three finalists. The short version: Create a piece of art paying tribute to any Black House fighter or the camp itself, and send it to [email protected] by Monday, June 18th, at midnight ET. We’ll announce our three favorites the next day, who will be picking up the t-shirt and sweatshirt. Now get hustlin’, people…

Related: Black House Tribute Video by Roots of Fight – Featuring Rener Gracie, Mark Munoz, and Bas Rutten

Introducing the Roots of Fight/Black House MMA Fan Art Contest!

(Props: YouTube.com/RootsofFight. For further viewing, check out Bas Rutten’s ground-fighting epiphanyinspirational words from Mike Tyson, and George Chuvalo’s Muhammad Ali memories.)

Our good friends at Roots of Fight have previously hooked us up with their Gracie-themed apparel, and now they’re releasing a limited-edition collection that pays tribute to the shadowy MMA brotherhood known as Black House. Check out the video above to learn about the origins and guiding principles of the Black House gym, which has hosted such MMA stars as Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, the Nogueira brothers, Rafael Cavalcante, Mark Munoz, Roger Gracie, and Glover Teixeira.

The new Black House X Roots of Fight series includes a t-shirt and sweatshirt that showcase Black House’s unique logo, which was created by legendary illustrator/designer Shepard Fairey. (Check out images of the gear after the jump.) And it just so happens that we have three prize packages to give away, which include both items. If you want them, they’re yours for the taking — all you have to do is create a piece of art paying tribute to any of the fighters in the Black House stable, or the camp itself. And it has to be really freakin’ cool…


(Props: YouTube.com/RootsofFight. For further viewing, check out Bas Rutten’s ground-fighting epiphanyinspirational words from Mike Tyson, and George Chuvalo’s Muhammad Ali memories.)

Our good friends at Roots of Fight have previously hooked us up with their Gracie-themed apparel, and now they’re releasing a limited-edition collection that pays tribute to the shadowy MMA brotherhood known as Black House. Check out the video above to learn about the origins and guiding principles of the Black House gym, which has hosted such MMA stars as Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida, the Nogueira brothers, Rafael Cavalcante, Mark Munoz, Roger Gracie, and Glover Teixeira.

The new Black House X Roots of Fight series includes a t-shirt and sweatshirt that showcase Black House’s unique logo, which was created by legendary illustrator/designer Shepard Fairey. (Check out images of the gear after the jump.) And it just so happens that we have three prize packages to give away, which include both items. If you want them, they’re yours for the taking — all you have to do is create a piece of art paying tribute to any of the fighters in the Black House stable, or the camp itself. And it has to be really freakin’ cool…

Submissions can be drawings, paintings, photo manipulations, sculptures, or any other variation of badass MMA fan art. E-mail photos or digital copies of your creations to [email protected] by Monday, June 18th; the three best submissions will receive the shirt and sweatshirt from Roots of Fight, which look like this:

We’ll announce the winners on Tuesday, 6/19. Any questions, hit us up in the comments section. Good luck, and thanks to Roots of Fight for making this possible! Follow them on Twitter @RootsofFight.

Anderson Silva Not Impressed With Manager Ed Soares’ Performance


(“Do you need a manager?”)

Anderson Silva wants Ed Soares to take his name out of his mouth — at least when talking to reporters about the career decisions of his marquee client.

Silva took exception to Soares’ recent interview with GLOBO recently during which he explained that Silva will likely retire after competing four more times in the Octagon. The usually jovial Brazilian fighter refuted Soares’ assertion and hinted that he may split with his longtime manager as a result his insolence.

“Not true. As one of my coaches, I still have many bottles to sell. I think we keep fighting for another six, seven years. Four years ago, I was a little stressed,” Silva explained in an interview with GLOBO this week. “I decided with my teacher Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira that after another year I would stop. He said he had no reason to, and then I stopped to think, I had one more fight, and then said, ‘I will postpone my retirement for some time.”


(“Do you need a manager?”)

Anderson Silva wants Ed Soares to take his name out of his mouth — at least when talking to reporters about the career decisions of his marquee client.

Silva took exception to Soares’ recent interview with GLOBO recently during which he explained that Silva will likely retire after competing four more times in the Octagon. The usually jovial Brazilian fighter refuted Soares’ assertion and hinted that he may split with his longtime manager as a result his insolence.

“Not true. As one of my coaches, I still have many bottles to sell. I think we keep fighting for another six, seven years. Four years ago, I was a little stressed,” Silva explained in an interview with GLOBO this week. “I decided with my teacher Antonio “Minotauro” Nogueira that after another year I would stop. He said he had no reason to, and then I stopped to think, I had one more fight, and then said, ‘I will postpone my retirement for some time.”

Silva also spoke during a television appearance this weekend on Tela Nitida the about the seemingly growing rift with Soares that began to form when the much maligned manager began telling the media that they weren’t interested in a fight with Chael Sonnen in spite of the fact that “The Gangster from America” is the UFC’s top contender at the moment, unless Dan Henderson decides to drop down to middleweight again. Adding to their tension was the fact that Silva took issue with the recent mocking photograph Soares posed for with Sonnen, who in recent weeks has turned up the insults targeted at “The Spider” and his wife.

“Unfortunately my manager is American, he speaks Portuguese but he is American. But I’m putting myself as a Brazilian… Whether you are in the UFC or not, when I’m outside my country i’m going to represent my country well and I think everyone has to position himself in the right way,” Silva explained. “His position was not good, was not cool, as a manager he needed to have a more professional attitude. He was not professional and I don’t know why… I think it was not cool. But everyone knows what’s best, he is a grown man and he is going to deal with the backlash of what he did. First thing is that nobody can talk for me except myself. Second is that I don’t have a contract with anybody, except with Nine9 and my sponsors, so anything can happen.”

It looks like Soares, who was dropped by Junior dos Santos a few months back is about to lose his meal ticket and there’s a pretty good chance that if he does, Silva’s training partners like Nogueira and Jose Aldo will follow suit.

Anderson Silva’s Proud Reaction to Big Nog’s Win Over Brendan Schaub at UFC Rio (VIDEO)

Just minutes before Anderson Silva faced Yushin Okami for his 15th consecutive win at UFC 134, he was backstage in his locker room with his Black House teammates watching his BJJ coach, Antonio “Rodrigo” Nogueira.

Just minutes before Anderson Silva faced Yushin Okami for his 15th consecutive win at UFC 134, he was backstage in his locker room with his Black House teammates watching his BJJ coach, Antonio “Rodrigo” Nogueira beat Brendan Schaub with a first round KO. “Big Nog” was the underdog in the eyes of critics and the sportsbooks, but to the surprise of many and to the complete admiration of his entire Team Nogueira, Nog brought home the win. Anderson Silva and his teammates were not short on showing their hometown pride over the impressive victory. Watch the video below: