Bas Rutten Releases Thinking Man's MMA documentary; Bruce Lee Musical Will Hit Broadway; and Chuck's Combat League Knocks Out Competition
Bas Rutten Releases Thinking Man's MMA documentary; Bruce Lee Musical Will Hit Broadway; and Chuck's Combat League Knocks Out CompetitionBy Jon Sattler |
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Bas Rutten Explores MMA's Cerebral Side Bas Rutten’s new MMA documentary, Potent, sets out to answer the question, What makes a champion? Eschewing the trash talking and over-the-top hype of today’s fight promotions, Potent emphasizes the “art” in the mixed martial arts by exploring the cerebral side of the sport with many of MMA’s greatest innovators and pioneers, including Dan Henderson, Frank Shamrock, Mario Sperry, Vitor Belfort and Dean Lister. The film weaves together interviews and behind-the-scenes training footage that captures the mental toughness and creativity fighters need to succeed in the ever-evolving sport. Bruce Lee: The Musical
At Black Belt, we like to consider ourselves Bruce Lee experts—after all, we’re working on three Bruce Lee books—but we never imagined that Lee’s life would be getting the Broadway treatment. Tony-award nominee David Yazbek, co-creator of The Full Monty and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, is writing the tunes for the production. Early speculation suggests that the show could hit theaters as early as 2009. Kickboxing Mystery Novel Goes Pulp Dorchester Publishing recently released kickboxer Ron Shade’s first adventure, A Killing Frost, the debut novel of the popular private-detective series, as a mass-market paperback. Written by taekwondo expert and police officer Michael A. Black, A Killing Frost might be fiction, but it contains action that’s based on real-life experiences and authentic martial arts training. In it, Shade is hired to locate a missing illegal alien whom cops aren’t too concerned about, but when the man is found floating facedown in a canal, Shade seeks justice in an underworld of death, conspiracy and cover-ups. Black, who’s collaborating with Julie Hyzy on a new novel called Dead Ringer, started learning judo, jujutsu and karate as a kid in Chicago. He became a military-police officer after graduating from college and was stationed in Korea, where he earned a black belt in taekwondo. After the military, he shifted to law enforcement. As an ode to the times when his martial arts knowledge saved his skin on duty, Black created Shade as a private investigator who can deploy his kickboxing skills as deftly as he can use his crime-scene talents.—Patrick Vuong Chuck’s Combat League Goes Global
Now that the "Chuckabee" political juggernaut has come to an end, Chuck Norris will have more time to focus on his World Combat League, which will be airing in more than 100 countries next season. The reason for the WCL’s success: knockouts. "It's the most exciting three minutes of mixed martial arts anywhere," Norris says. "The WCL had a 34-percent knockout rate, which is tops in any sport. If a fighter tries to slow the pace of the fight down, they will be penalized for passivity." To ensure that all those potential viewers tune in, we recommend a Black Belt Hall Fame match between Norris and Bill Wallace. Wii’s Ninja Reflex Hits Stores Here’s more proof that ninjas are sneaking their way back into pop culture: Ninja Reflex for the Nintendo Wii and DS hits North American and European stores soon. While it won’t make you a master of the shadowy arts like Black Belt Hall of Fame member Stephen K. Hayes, Ninja Reflex does contain six tongue-in-cheek challenges that will test your reflexes, coordination and reaction time: Shuriken—defend the courtyard from attacks. Hotaru—test your quickness against the flash of a firefly. Hashi—catch flies with chopsticks. Koi—capture fish with your bare hands. Nunchaku—crush incoming aerial assaults. Katana—strike down demons in a bamboo forest. Ken Shamrock Shares Fight Card With Son Black Belt contributor Stephen Quadros will be calling the action March 8 for Cage Rage 25: Bring It On. The event—taking place at London’s Wembley Arena—features a heavyweight matchup between Black Belt Hall of Fame member Ken Shamrock and U.K. strongman Robert Berry. Shamrock, a former King of Pancrase and UFC Superfight champion, holds memorable victories over Bas Rutten and Dan Severn. Also on the card is Shamrock’s son, Ryan, who will be fighting fellow 135-pounder Giorgio Andrews. Although he’s only 19, Ryan Shamrock won his first fight decisively with a first-round guillotine submission over Josh Besneatte at the Feather Falls Casino in Oroville, California. MMA Roundup
Anderson Silva wants to fight a boxing champ. Dana White wants the UFC to be sanctioned in New York and Massachusetts. Ryan Shamrock wants to be a professional fighter like his father Ken. And Fedor Emelianenko just wants his kids to be happy.
UFC 82: Pride of a Champion The bout between Anderson “The Spider” Silva and Dan Henderson was billed as a clash of the champions, an epic title fight between the two most dominant middleweights in the world. And it was—until the second round. Silva picked the PRIDE champion apart with precision strikes and then sent him to the ground with a knee to the head from the muay Thai clinch. Once the Spider wrapped Henderson up in a body triangle, it was all over. The two-time Olympic wrestler couldn’t escape, and Silva sunk in a rear-naked choke, forcing Henderson to submit with just eight seconds left in the round. Movie Offers Realistic Treatment of Mixed Martial Arts HOLLYWOOD—Summit Entertainment has entered the race to be the first production company to offer a credible depiction of the mixed martial arts with a teen-oriented action picture called Never Back Down which is scheduled to hit theaters nationwide on March 14, 2008.
The movie offers a smart and stylish treatment of the grass roots of MMA, touching on questions of popularity, loyalty, self-discovery and the origins of the fighting impulse. An effective ensemble cast led by Djimon Hounsou (Amistad, Gladiator, Blood Diamond) as the jiu-jitsu instructor keeps the story from veering into clichéd territory. However, the MTV-flavored treatment of the teen elites who “sponsor” the underground tournaments provides enough eye candy in the form of bikinis, hot cars and flashy acrobatics to entertain even the most jaded of moviegoers. —Edward Pollard UFC Announces Major Deal With Bud Light The Ultimate Fighting Championship announced a major sponsorship deal with Anheuser-Busch, making Bud Light the exclusive beer sponsor of the UFC. “Landing Anheuser-Busch and Bud Light is huge for us, our fighters and especially our fans,” says Dana White, UFC president. “We’ve got the number one selling beer in the world and one of the top marketers in all of sports as our sponsor. If our TV ratings, pay-per-view buys and venue sellouts weren’t enough, this definitely cements UFC as a major player in sports business.” Because Zuffa owns both the UFC and World Extreme Cagefighting, Bud Light will be the official beer sponsor of WEC events. Feeling Lucky, Chuck? Type “find Chuck Norris” into Google’s search field and hit the “I’m feeling lucky” button. Go on. We dare you.
MMA Fighter Still in American Idol Running Mixed-martial artist Kristy Lee Cook survived the second cut of Fox’s American Idol Season 7. Kristy Lee Cook, a 24-year-old from Selma, Oregon, says, “I’m not your typical girl. I train with UFC fighters. Self-defense is good to know. In case you get in any kind of situation, you won’t need a bodyguard.” Cook’s battle for a record contract continues Wednesday, March 5 at 8 p.m. |
