If you still haven’t made it out out to the multiplex to see The Greatest MMA Movie Ever Filmed™, today might be your lucky day. Lionsgate just hooked us up with a box of Warrior-related goodies — free movie passes, Warrior t-shirts, and a copy of The Men of Warrior photo-book — and we’re going to unload it all in a Fight-Picking Fire Sale.
This Saturday, UFC Fight Night 25: Shields vs. Ellemberger goes down in New Orleans, featuring Jake Shields‘s battle against surging contender Jake Ellenberger, and Court McGee‘s return against South Korean middleweight prospect Dongi Yang. Submit your predictions for these two fights in the comments section below, including the winner’s name, the method of victory, and the time/round of stoppage, if any. Your entry should be in this format:
If you still haven’t made it out out to the multiplex to see The Greatest MMA Movie Ever Filmed™, today might be your lucky day. Lionsgate just hooked us up with a box of Warrior-related goodies — free movie passes, Warrior t-shirts, and a copy of The Men of Warrior photo-book — and we’re going to unload it all in a Fight-Picking Fire Sale.
This Saturday, UFC Fight Night 25: Shields vs. Ellemberger goes down in New Orleans, featuring Jake Shields‘s battle against surging contender Jake Ellenberger, and Court McGee‘s return against South Korean middleweight prospect Dongi Yang. Submit your predictions for these two fights in the comments section below, including the winner’s name, the method of victory, and the time/round of stoppage, if any. Your entry should be in this format:
– Jake Shields def. Jake Ellenberger via unanimous decision, (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)
– Dongi Yang def. Court McGee via TKO, 1:36 of round 3
Please include the judges’ scores if you think a fight will end in a decision, in case we need them for a tie-breaker. The most accurate prediction wins a pair of movie passes, a shirt, and the book. Second place just gets the movies passes. But still, not a bad deal for being the first loser, right? Entries must be in by tomorrow at noon ET, and we’ll announce the winner by Monday. One entry per person, please. Any other questions, let us know. Thanks for playing, and follow Warrior on Twitter @lionsgatemovies!
Though I’ve never done a movie review before, I have seen two or three of them in my day, so when CagePotato.com and Break.com asked me to do a review of the new MMA-themed film WARRIOR, I told them I’ll check my schedule. Under ten seconds later I happily agreed.
With the bar on MMA-themed movies being set to an embarrassing low with such Academy Award-worthy gems as Fighting and Never Back Down, I didn’t really know what to expect from WARRIOR. I actually left Never Back Down out of embarrassment after the chubby sidekick told the main character, “You’ve gotta train Mai Thai.”
Regardless, I did my best Bangs impression and took my Shorty to the movies to go see Warrior. After sitting through previews that accused Billy Shakespeare of being a plagiarizing charlatan and dancing gerbils driving ugly cars it was Showtime!
Though I’ve never done a movie review before, I have seen two or three of them in my day, so when CagePotato.com and Break.com asked me to do a review of the new MMA-themed film WARRIOR, I told them I’ll check my schedule. Under ten seconds later I happily agreed.
With the bar on MMA-themed movies being set to an embarrassing low with such Academy Award-worthy gems as Fighting and Never Back Down, I didn’t really know what to expect from WARRIOR. I actually left Never Back Down out of embarrassment after the chubby sidekick told the main character, “You’ve gotta train Mai Thai.”
Regardless, I did my best Bangs impression and took my Shorty to the movies to go see Warrior. After sitting through previews that accused Billy Shakespeare of being a plagiarizing charlatan and dancing gerbils driving ugly cars it was Showtime!
I was fully expecting campy dialogue accompanied by terrible acting, and boy was I wrong. The plot made sense and unraveled well. All in all, WARRIOR really packs a punch (get it!). Tommy Conlon (Tom Hardy) is a former high school wrestling star and Marine with a past filled with demons, which eventually come out as the movie unwinds. After the death of his mother and going incognito for a number of years, Tommy returns to the home of his alcoholic and abusive father Paddy Conlon (Nick Nolte) to remind him that he’s a piece of shit while also asking him to help him train for MMA competition.
Unknowingly, his brother Brendan Conlon (Joel Edgerton), a retired MMA fighter with a failed stint in the UFC, is now a high school physics teach who spent all of his money on strippers and cocaine. Did I say strippers and cocaine? I meant he spent all his money on surgery for his ailing daughter who suffers from heart problems. Anyways he faces the possibility of the bank foreclosing on his home unless he comes up with some money fast.
Against the wishes of his wife he makes a comeback to the world of Mixed Martial Arts. Eventually there is a big-time tournament called Sparta with a winner-takes-all five million dollar purse. I’m not going to tell you whether or not they make it into the tournament, but they do. What follows is an epic mixed martial arts tournament that was a throwback to all my favorite movies from back in the day (all of which starred JCVD). The ending even got me a little choked up and made my girlfriend cry.
Although no cast will ever stack up to the original line up in Predator (body mass alone!) the main cast had a lot of depth and played their roles really well. Joel Edgerton played a real likable guy and I believe I noticed a little cauliflower ear. Tom Hardy was a BAD ASS anti-hero and had traps so big he could catch a bear. Nick Nolte was so grizzled and his skin looked like leather! His character was real old school and I believe he taught Chris Brown how to treat a woman.
I also thought it was pretty cool that for the tournament competitors they cast actual MMA Fighters Erik Apple, Nate Marquardt, and Anthony Johnson as well as Olympic gold medalist and pro wrestling superstar Kurt Angle playing a scary Russian stud which I know sounds corny and unbelievable but he makes it work by not talking (it’s true! It’s true). Other MMA fighters & personalities who make appearances include Roan Carneiro, Yves Edwards, Stephan Bonnar, Rashad Evans, Hans Marrero and referee Josh Rosenthal.
On a scale of 1 to 2, with 1 meaning it blew ass and 2 meaning it was a good flick, it is definitely a 2. So gather up your broskis and make the trip to your local theatre and see WARRIOR!!!
Warrior hits theaters today — will it live up to its “serious MMA movie” hype? (I mean, I think it does, but everybody’s entitled to their own opinion, right?) Come back this afternoon for Nick Newell‘s review of the flick, which will challenge everything you know about film criticism.
Warrior hits theaters today — will it live up to its “serious MMA movie” hype? (I mean, I think it does, but everybody’s entitled to their own opinion, right?) Come back this afternoon for Nick Newell‘s review of the flick, which will challenge everything you know about film criticism.
Warrior hits theaters this Friday, and as you already know, I thought it was a damn good time. Somehow, bjjireland was able to lurk behind the cameras during filming, and got some amazing footage of the movie-making process. For example, these behind-the-scenes videos highlight the fact that co-stars Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton did all their own stunts for the MMA fight scenes, and have the scars to prove it. Also, neither one of them is from the United States, and yet both of them did passable American accents, which is admirable in itself.
The never-before-seen footage continues after the jump, with director Gavin O’Connor helping his actors find their emotional motivation in the midst of a cage-fight. Very cool stuff.
Warrior hits theaters this Friday, and as you already know, I thought it was a damn good time. Somehow, bjjireland was able to lurk behind the cameras during filming, and got some amazing footage of the movie-making process. For example, these behind-the-scenes videos highlight the fact that co-stars Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton did most of their own stunts for the MMA fight scenes, and have the scars to prove it. Also, neither one of them is from the United States, and yet both of them did passable American accents, which is admirable in itself.
The never-before-seen footage continues after the jump, with director Gavin O’Connor helping his actors find their emotional motivation in the midst of a cage-fight. Very cool stuff.
Unfortunately due to some circumstances that are out of my control I will not be able to make my Shark Fights debut on September 10th. I have a staph infection on my face that will not heal in time to be cleared for combat. This is my first experience with staph and it couldn’t have come at any worse of a time.
Having wrestled in high school and college I am no stranger to the existence and possibility of skin infections, but I have never experienced anything like this. I always make sure to shower immediately after practice and regularly clean my gear. None of my training partners have staph so it truly is a mystery as to how I got it. I used a complementary pillow on a recent airline fight and I believe that may have been the culprit.
It all started on Saturday, August 20th. I was experiencing ear pains, my skin itched and my head was sensitive to the touch. I decide to take action and get it checked out as soon as possible. My regular doctor was away on vacation so I went to the walk-in clinic (big mistake). The doctor gave me a pill to fight infection and a cream to fight fungus. The head and ear pains went away and my skin stopped itching so bad, I was under the impression that I would be all cured in about a week. I was wrong. The entire week I avoided any contact to my face. I focused solely on cardio exercises, strength training and hitting pads. I avoided all wrestling, grappling and sparring as to not spread my infection on myself, to my partners and to allow it to properly heal.
(Come on bro, I’m trying to eat breakfast over here.)
Unfortunately due to some circumstances that are out of my control I will not be able to make my Shark Fights debut on September 10th. I have a staph infection on my face that will not heal in time to be cleared for combat. This is my first experience with staph and it couldn’t have come at any worse of a time.
Having wrestled in high school and college I am no stranger to the existence and possibility of skin infections, but I have never experienced anything like this. I always make sure to shower immediately after practice and regularly clean my gear. None of my training partners have staph so it truly is a mystery as to how I got it. I used a complementary pillow on a recent airline fight and I believe that may have been the culprit.
It all started on Saturday, August 20th. I was experiencing ear pains, my skin itched and my head was sensitive to the touch. I decide to take action and get it checked out as soon as possible. My regular doctor was away on vacation so I went to the walk-in clinic (big mistake). The doctor gave me a pill to fight infection and a cream to fight fungus. The head and ear pains went away and my skin stopped itching so bad, I was under the impression that I would be all cured in about a week. I was wrong. The entire week I avoided any contact to my face. I focused solely on cardio exercises, strength training and hitting pads. I avoided all wrestling, grappling and sparring as to not spread my infection on myself, to my partners and to allow it to properly heal.
Saturday night one week later, just as the winds started blowing and the rain started pouring for Hurricane Irene, my face began to feel funky and the cream the walk-in doctor gave me began to burn when I applied it. I woke up Sunday morning with no power and my face had broken out badly. I continued to take my medication as prescribed. I was powerless to leave my house as Hurricane Irene was causing all kinds of havoc outside. By Monday the storm had subsided, trees were down everywhere, many of my family and friends’ houses had been flooded (thank God nobody got hurt), the power was out everywhere and my face was even worse. I was not able to get an appointment on Monday anywhere as they scrambled to get power back and get operations back in order.
I was able to get an appointment with a dermatologist first thing Tuesday morning and he hit me with the bad news. I had a severe case of staph all over my face and neck. The kind of infection I have had become resistant to the medication the walk-in doctor gave me and the cream he gave me was useless from the get go and actually caused a reaction that made the staph break out worse.
He informed me that it won’t go away for at least two weeks and will still be apparent by the time the fight doctor sees me, and he would not clear me to fight. He put me on new medication and informed me that the infection will spread with any physical contact. This meant three weeks of no wrestling, grappling or sparring before a fight that I wouldn’t get medically cleared to compete in anyways.
Even though I knew the dermatologist was right, I went to my doctor for a second opinion and he just reaffirmed everything the dermatologist had told me. Out of respect for Shark Fights and my opponent Jesse Zeugin I must respectfully bow out of my fight on September 10th in Independence, Missouri.
I would like to apologize to Shark Fights, Jesse Zeugin, CagePotato.com, Break.com, and all the fans who supported me to get this far. The Proving Ground contest was awesome and the promo video was absolutely amazing. I have trained long and hard to get where I am today. Fighting is my life and I love it more than anything else I’ve ever done. I work a full time job to pay the bills and dedicate absolutely all my time outside of that to training and becoming a better martial artist. I hardly see my friends and family. I truly know I have what it takes to make it to the top of our sport and I hope that Shark Fights will still provide me with the opportunity to prove it. I hope to get on their October 15th card in NV and show everybody what I’m truly capable of inside the cage. Thank you for your time, I am sorry for all the commotion and I hope this will all work out and I can fight next month.
Follow Nick Newell on Facebook and Twitter, and stay tuned for updates on his return.
With less than two weeks until Nick Newell‘s fight against Jesse Zeugin at Shark Fights 19 (September 10th; Independence, MO), Break Media Creative Lab spent some time with Nick and put together this killer video profile. (Thanks guys!) The undefeated lightweight — and winner of our Proving Ground competition — discusses his competitive nature and the unique challenges he’s faced during his quest for MMA greatness. Check it out, and stay tuned for more exclusives from “Notorious” leading up to the fight. And as always…
With less than two weeks until Nick Newell‘s fight against Jesse Zeugin at Shark Fights 19 (September 10th; Independence, MO), Break Media Creative Lab spent some time with Nick and put together this killer video profile. (Thanks guys!) The undefeated lightweight — and winner of our Proving Ground competition — discusses his competitive nature and the unique challenges he’s faced during his quest for MMA greatness. Check it out, and stay tuned for more exclusives from “Notorious” leading up to the fight. And as always…
