Tag: Ed O’Neill

Ed O’Neill to Provide Color Commentary at Metamoris II Jiu Jitsu Invitational


(Good work, Ed. Position before submission.)

Al Bundy may have exaggerated his exploits at Polk High, but the actor who portrayed him on Married With Children, Ed O’Neill, actually has real athletic chops to speak of. O’Neill played linebacker in college at Ohio State and Youngstown State University, and was briefly signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers where, according to O’Neill, “I stayed for about a minute.”

While acting in Hollywood, O’Neill discovered the gentle art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He began training under Rorian Gracie and never stopped, earning a black belt in 2007.

“I began studying Gracie Jiu Jitsu over 20 years ago,” said O’Neill in a Metamoris press release distributed Tuesday. “I was actually very hesitant to start, but a 10-minute session with Rorion Gracie was enough to get me hooked. For me, studying Jiu Jitsu has been an amazing experience. In a way it’s given me a second family.”

O’Neill will provide color commentary for the highly-anticipated submission-only pro invitational Metamoris II, which takes place in Los Angeles on June 9th and will be broadcast live on their website, metamoris.com. O’Neill will join his long-time teacher’s son, Rener Gracie, in providing the commentary for the Metamoris II stream.

From what we’ve seen, O’Neill is capable of providing insightful analysis and we all know he can kick ass. We’re not usually big on celebrity gimmick appearances but O’Neill doing fight commentary makes perfect sense to us. Feel free to react to this news accordingly.

The full Metamoris II lineup is after the jump…


(Good work, Ed. Position before submission.)

Al Bundy may have exaggerated his exploits at Polk High, but the actor who portrayed him on Married With Children, Ed O’Neill, actually has real athletic chops to speak of. O’Neill played linebacker in college at Ohio State and Youngstown State University, and was briefly signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers where, according to O’Neill, “I stayed for about a minute.”

While acting in Hollywood, O’Neill discovered the gentle art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. He began training under Rorian Gracie and never stopped, earning a black belt in 2007.

“I began studying Gracie Jiu Jitsu over 20 years ago,” said O’Neill in a Metamoris press release distributed Tuesday. “I was actually very hesitant to start, but a 10-minute session with Rorion Gracie was enough to get me hooked. For me, studying Jiu Jitsu has been an amazing experience. In a way it’s given me a second family.”

O’Neill will provide color commentary for the highly-anticipated submission-only pro invitational Metamoris II, which takes place in Los Angeles on June 9th and will be broadcast live on their website, metamoris.com. O’Neill will join his long-time teacher’s son, Rener Gracie, in providing the commentary for the Metamoris II stream.

From what we’ve seen, O’Neill is capable of providing insightful analysis and we all know he can kick ass. We’re not usually big on celebrity gimmick appearances but O’Neill doing fight commentary makes perfect sense to us. Feel free to react to this news accordingly.

The full Metamoris II lineup is after the jump…

Official Metamoris II Card:
Shinya Aoki vs. Kron Gracie
Braulio Estima vs. Rodolfo Vieira
Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu vs. Brendan Schaub
Mackenzie Dern vs. Michelle Nicolini
Andre Galvao vs. Rafael Lovato Jr.
Bill “The Grill” Cooper vs. Victor Estima*

*Cooper was originally scheduled to face Ryan Hall but Hall has pulled out of the match because of injury.

Doors open at 3 pm PST
Royce Gracie autograph signing from 3-4 pm PST
Broadcast begins at 4 pm PST

– Elias Cepeda

[VIDEO] Ed O’Neill a.k.a. Al Bundy and The Gracies Breakdown Vitor Belfort’s “Nearacle” Armbar


(O’Neill, seen here earning his brown belt the hard way.)

Until Ron Swanson graced the small screen with his mustachioed, government busting, breakfast food-loving presence, Al Bundy was considered to be far and away the manliest man ever created in the history of television, bar none. Perhaps in an attempt to live up to his character’s Polk High legendary athlete status, portraying actor Ed O’Neill took up BJJ some 22 years ago and received his black belt under Rorion Gracie in 2007. An avid MMA fan, we’ve seen O’Neill talk shop with such legends as Chuck Liddell on Fox Sports’ Barfly, but recently, he decided to join Ryron and Rener Gracie for one of their infamous Gracie Breakdowns to discuss and demonstrate Vitor Belfort’s near miracle (or the shortened “nearacle” as we’ve dubbed it) armbar of Jon Jones in the first round of their fight at UFC 152.

And we gotta say, Bundy O’Neill definitely knows his stuff. His assertion that Jones may actually welcome wrist control from the guard as a way of setting up an elbow strike is an incredibly astute observation to make and one I hadn’t personally considered when dissecting Jones’ game, so a kudos is in order for the Emmy-nominated star of Modern Family. Although Vitor has admitted to easing off the armbar when he heard Jones’ arm pop, the Gracies believe that had Jones not attempted to slam his way out of the armbar, Belfort would have never even come close to pulling it off in the first place. We know Jones claimed that he needed to embrace his Jiu-Jitsu a little more after the fight, and perhaps moments like this confirm that, but the fact that the champ was able to submit a black belt like Belfort with a picture perfect Americana shows that he surely knows a thing or two about the ground game when he needs to.

Check out the full video, which also breaks down Jones’ fight-winning Americana, after the jump.


(O’Neill, seen here earning his brown belt the hard way.)

Until Ron Swanson graced the small screen with his mustachioed, government busting, breakfast food-loving presence, Al Bundy was considered to be far and away the manliest man ever created in the history of television, bar none. Perhaps in an attempt to live up to his character’s Polk High legendary athlete status, portraying actor Ed O’Neill took up BJJ some 22 years ago and received his black belt under Rorion Gracie in 2007. An avid MMA fan, we’ve seen O’Neill talk shop with such legends as Chuck Liddell on Fox Sports’ Barfly, but recently, he decided to join Ryron and Rener Gracie for one of their infamous Gracie Breakdowns to discuss and demonstrate Vitor Belfort’s near miracle (or the shortened “nearacle” as we’ve dubbed it) armbar of Jon Jones in the first round of their fight at UFC 152.

And we gotta say, Bundy O’Neill definitely knows his stuff. His assertion that Jones may actually welcome wrist control from the guard as a way of setting up an elbow strike is an incredibly astute observation to make and one I hadn’t personally considered when dissecting Jones’ game, so a kudos is in order for the Emmy-nominated star of Modern Family. Although Vitor has admitted to easing off the armbar when he heard Jones’ arm pop, the Gracies believe that had Jones not attempted to slam his way out of the armbar, Belfort would have never even come close to pulling it off in the first place. We know Jones claimed that he needed to embrace his Jiu-Jitsu a little more after the fight, and perhaps moments like this confirm that, but the fact that the champ was able to submit a black belt like Belfort with a picture perfect Americana shows that he surely knows a thing or two about the ground game when he needs to.

Check out the full video, which also breaks down Jones’ fight-winning Americana, below.

OK, Potato Nation, O’Neill vs. Seagal in a no holds barred fight to the death: Who takes it?

–J. Jones

Video: Chuck Liddell Talks About How Tough It Was to Retire

(Video courtesy of YouTube/StocktonHeyBuddy)

Chuck Liddell was on the latest episode of Fox Sports’ Barfly alongside actor and BJJ black belt Ed O’Neill, AKA Al Bundy and host and author Mark Kriegel and the former UFC light heavyweight champion and Hall-of-Famer got emotional when talk turned to his retirement.


(Video courtesy of YouTube/StocktonHeyBuddy)

Chuck Liddell was on the latest episode of Fox Sports’ Barfly alongside actor and BJJ black belt Ed O’Neill, AKA Al Bundy and host and author Mark Kriegel and the former UFC light heavyweight champion and Hall-of-Famer got emotional when talk turned to his retirement.

Liddell said the decision was one of the hardest ones he ever had to make and that he realized it was time to hang up the gloves when he could no longer take a punch like he used to in spite of being in the best shape of his career and as ready for his last fight with Rich Franklin as he was for any in his career. According to “The Icemen” although he wishes things played out differently, he has no regrets and he went out swinging.

“I went out the way I fought. I fought my way. People say I should have changed and I should have tried to wrestle more,” the UFC VP of business development explained. “I went out my way. I went out the way that I fight. I went out on my shield. That’s it. Done.”