A Ronin's Review: Warrior

Image property of Lionsgate and Warrior. We do not own the rights.

As mixed martial arts has slowly begun to infiltrate Hollywood cinema, mma fans so far have been able to come to only one conclusion; MMA and movies simply don't mix well. Films such as Never Back Down and the more streets focused Fighting did little for mma other than to portray it as a sport for thugs and punks. "Human cock fighting" according to John McCain. This portrayal is mind numbingly disappointing as it is the very image that the mixed martial arts world has spent the better part of two decades trying to shed. To make matters worse, the above mentioned films were utterly terrible to boot. On the other hand, the movie Red Belt did much to emphasize the virtue of honor which many fighters hold so close to their hearts. But while Red Belt proved itself to be a decent film and successfully shined a more positive light on the sport, the way the fighting itself was presented in the film came off as cheesy and only slightly above something one might find when watching professional wrestling. In short, fans longing for a movie that truly captured the spirit of mma and portrayed it in as pure a form as possible were left still hungry. Recently, Gavin O'Conner, director of the inspirational movie Miracle, decided to make his attempt to succeed where others had come up short and bring to mma fans, and sports fans really, the film that mixed martial arts truly deserved. The result? Warrior!

 

 

It is with great excitement that I write that Warrior does indeed do what its predecessors could not. And not only is Warrior a good mma movie, it is just good, period. But what exactly is it about this film that separates it from Hollywood's previous efforts? For one, the main characters in the film, Tommy and Brendan Conlon, expertly played by Tom Hardy and Joel Edgerton, respectively, are far too relatable to those of us watching the screen. We have felt that same sense of both anger and abandonment evident in Tommy, an ex-marine who appears to fight for the sake of dealing with his own personal demons, but also just for the sake of fighting...or so it seems. At the same time, we have also felt (and perhaps many of us are currently feeling) the same sense of frustration and desperation in Brendan, a fighter turned physics teacher faced with the financial hardship of trying to provide for his family on a slim salary. But those emotions are not the only high points of this film. Additionally the theme of redemption is also brought to life in Nick Nolte’s character of Paddy Conlon, a former abusive alcoholic father whose ultimate goal is to finally make peace with his sons, Tommy and Brendan, whom he has wronged. Further still, Brendan’s wife Tess, played by Jennifer Morrison, draws sympathy from the audience for loving her husband so much that she would rather face monetary troubles than see Brendan seriously harmed physically in the cage. Truly, one gets the absolute full range of emotions from this film.

 

 

Complementing the characters that have been created is also an exciting portrayal of the fight world itself. Some matches are over in a matter of seconds while others are absolute battles of attrition in which those involved must truly reach deep within themselves to find what they need to keep fighting and attain the victory. The director also deserves to be complemented for his accurate portrayal of the wide array of techniques used in the fights. Outside of one slightly unbelievable moment in a scene where a power bomb (traditionally a pro wrestling maneuver) is used, the motions of fighting are made both life-like and exciting. Punches and kicks are delivered with devastating power and technical beauty. Submission locks and chokes are applied in a way that almost makes viewers want to yell “Just tap out!”

 

 

This brings me to a more critical viewpoint on Warrior however, as the movie, while certainly well done, is not without its flaws. At times during the fights, characters take the kinds of beatings that make fans and non-fans alike think to themselves "the ref should really stop this!" In reality fights are, for the most part, stopped when it becomes apparent that a combatant can no longer adequately defend himself. True to Hollywood's love for the melodramatic however, the fighters within this story sustain far more punishment than any intelligent governing body would allow. This portrayal again threatens to bring on the "human cockfighting" label. Thankfully, the film's other aspects prove themselves so strong that this flaw does not linger in the minds of most viewers. As for shortcomings with the story itself, one can understand any complaints about the movie containing dozens of typical cinematic clichés because...well...it does. But these are the kinds of clichés that we (and specifically I) as movie lovers have come to adore when they are used to inspire which is what this film does...inspire. As cheesy as it sounds, it inspires us to fight for what is important to us whether that is taking care of those we love, rekindling lost relationships, or for the concept of honor.

 

 

I close this piece by offering one last round of applause for this movie. That applause is for the film's unfortunate, but necessary presentation of the outcome of mixed martial arts fights: out of the two men we all want to win, only one will. Yes, this is a downer of a concept but let us also remember that there are a number of times where just as much can be taken from a loss as can be taken from a victory. In short, I highly recommend this film as it is exactly what the mixed martial arts world has been waiting for: a film of true value. Thanks for reading and remember to keep those hands up!

 

 

-The Blue Eyed Ronin

TUF Episode 2 Overview

“Bear witness to the fitness of the modern warrior”

Hello folks, welcome to my weekly dishing on the Ultimate Fighter. This is the second episode so far and my first TUF review. Personally, I think the first episode is really boring anyways…omg that guy has green hair…so we are beginning with the second episode. This season (and the last season on Spike) we have featherweights and bantamweight with coaches Bisping and Miller. And if I am correct (please correct me if I am not), Bisping is the second coach to be featured on 2 seasons of TUF.

Let’s begin, Bisping chooses the first pick for his team, leaving Miller the first pick for the fights.

Bisping                                                                 Miller

Bantamweight

Louis Gaudinot (Green Hair)                            John Dodson

TJ Dillashaw                                                        Johnny Bedford

John Albert                                                         Dustin Pague (District represents!!!)

BJ Ferguson                                                        Roland Delorme

Featherweight

Diego Brandao                                                  Dennis Bermudez

Akira Corassani                                                 Bryan Caraway

Marcus Brimage                                               Dustin Neace

Stephen Bass                                                     Steven Siler

Miller says he picks for his coaching styles. Dana White looks like he slimmed down from last season and he probably gained weight because he was probably busy sealing deals with Fox (ps – I like Dana White so don’t expect me to make fun of him. Not many people can say they have taken a bankrupt business and brought it to success from the brink of failure – I cannot promise the same for the Blue Eye Ronin). The teams begin to train and Siler’s nose starts bleeding and they had to tape his nose up…it kind of made him look like a pig.

Commercials – Hmmm, what am I thinking right now…I hate rain. If you live on the north east coast you have been lucky enough to experience rain for the past forever. I am hoping that this rain won’t dry up for the winter season because I love snow. Like, I am completely in love with snow. Ever since my childhood days in Syracuse, NY I have loved snow like it was my life. What can’t you do with snow – you can make balls and throw it (and put rocks in those balls and throw them…or you can put them in the freezer before you throw…or you can just put it down and go inside for some hot cocoa).

Ah, Bisping’s accent, Bisping isn’t my favorite Briton (that award goes to Gordon Ramsey) but ever since TUF season  3 and his tiff with Ross Pointon and then Matt Hamill says “I love guys from New England,” I have found him very entertaining. Brimage says that Bisping’s coaching is very technical, but with JJ, it’s going to be pretty technical regardless. Miller brings in…space suits? WTF…skipping over that since I don’t believe in crap like that (sort of like colonics except with blood). First fight match of the last TUF season on Spike, Caraway fights Brimage – “classic striking versus grappler” says Bisping, but Miller believes that Brimage does not have the skill to defeat Caraway.

Commercials –  …has anyone seen those BK Halloween commercials, they are so creepy, I mean I guess they are for kids since like they are advertising a toy with it, but still…I want a Droid…I want a smart phone. For everyone who does not know, I have clunky crappy phone since my touch screen broke. Currently that phone is the bane of my existence since everyone I know has at least somewhat of an awesome phone, and mine is this red piece of crap with a battery that can only last 10 minutes when it isn’t plugged in. I hate haunted houses…like seriously, I went in one when I was like 12…never again. UFC Fan Expo in Texas soon, it’s too hot there. If you haven’t noticed, I like the cold, anything that isn’t cold, isn’t worth it…except for hot chocolate.

Brimage just said DBZ was one of the reasons he does UFC. Awesome, I love anime and DBZ was what started it all. My favorite character is Vegeta…I think I am going to watch an episode from the tournament sage before bed. I wonder if Corassoni was named after the Akira from the anime? Brimage is at 157 so he has to cut weight a little. He is worried. I’ve cut weight for comps before too and let me tell you (if you have never done it), it sucks. So Brimage is going through salt baths, runs in sauna suits, and lying down with blankets. Miller says that Caraway is his worst enemy. I can believe that, psyching yourself out never works out well, while pumping yourself up can lead to an ego. But Caraway is pretty level headed, so he’s all good. I see a prank in order – Miller’s team decides to stuff Bisping’s training room with tires and they close the door so that a tire falls and will prevent Bisping from getting in.

Commercials – I have never really been to D&B…well I am lying I have, but I don’t go often. Although there were many a-times I walked to Penn’s Landing in Philly and passed it. I am assuming since they sponsor TUF, you can watch UFC events there. The Ronin and I normally just go to Buffalo Wild Wings to watch events.

First Bantamweight fight, Brimage weighs in perfectly along with Caraway. Dana White gives the fight to Brimage, and Bisping’s team has made a taunt song to Caraway. Hopefully karma won’t bite them in the butt. Bisping finds out about the tires and it seems like this season will be another prank war. Caraway is pretty upset about the song feeling personally attacked. Brimage farted on his interview…I heard it and I wasn’t sure what it was because if you are also like me, you are familiar with Adult Swim’s pranks so maybe Spike decided to do the same thing, but Brimage owned it, so we are ok. Brimage is a striker (leaving me to assume Caraway is a grappler).

The Fight

Round 1 – Fight starts with a few punches and it is quickly brought to the ground. Brimage is having difficulty controlling Caraway and he is trying to take it back to the ground. Caraway almost gets a choke and then tries to manage another but Brimage stays moving. Both seem to be taking coaching direction very well. Caraway manages to get a solid grip and the fight almost ends but Brimage manages to wringle out (getting scolded from the ref over grapping the gloves in the process). They transition with Caraway on Brimage’s back trying to manage another choke. But nothing holds.

Round 2 - Brimage comes out fists a-flying trying to keep the fight standing but Caraway manages a takedown in the fury. The fight manages to go up and down a few times and they both stay moving. Caraway is lying on the floor while Brimage tries to figure out how to get around him. The ref takes the fight standing again. Caraway takes Brimage down again and pins him. Caraway manages a choke and Brimage taps giving team Miller the first win.

Ok ladies and gents, this ends the first overview of TUF season 14. Join me next time for episode 3!

- The Afro Geisha

Make Weight Shake: Banapple Berry Fusion

Making weight is often a difficult and exhausting process, but if you find that you need some extra energy and you don't want to ingest that many calories consider this tasty, b vitamin infused, energizing 254 calorie shake.

Ingredients:

• Almond Milk (see below)
• 1 small frozen banana cut into slices (best to slice banana before freezing)
• 1/4 cup of blueberries
• 1 small apple cut into slices

Nutrition Facts (8oz serving)
254 Calories
Fat: 18.25 g
Carbs: 11.8g
Fiber: 6g
Sugar: 9.7g
Protein: 8g
Calcium: 92.6mg
Potassium: 398mg

Step 1 - Make Almond Milk: Soak one cup of almonds in water overnight. After soaking take almonds and water and blend until smooth. Get a bowl and cover it with cheesecloth. Take almond mixture and pour into cheesecloth covered bowl (this will separate the unblended chunks from just the liquid). Keep liquid and refrigerate. It can be kept for 3 days.

Step 2 - Take almond milk, banana, apple, and blueberries, and blend until smooth.

Step 3 - Drink! (Shake makes four 8oz servings)

UFC 135 Aftermath

Greetings my fellow fanatics of all things martial arts! First, let me just say how awesome it is to be kicking off this blog. The beautiful Afro Geisha and I have some sweet things planned, so be sure to stay tuned for the greatness that is to come! With that’s said, let’s cut to the chase. It turns out there are few better times we could have picked to start writing things up than today, in the aftermath that was UFC 135: Jones vs. Jackson. The event saw a young champion further cement his reign of dominance. Additionally we witnessed what could very well be the swan song of a legend, a return to form for a promising lightweight and an absolute battle of attrition between two heavyweights trying to carve out a name for themselves in the division.  What were the details and what does it all add up to? Well, that’s why we’re here now isn’t it? *SIDE NOTE* I just have to let it be known that I went five for five on my picks last night. Oh yeah! Whaddaya think about that!?

Light Heavyweight Championship Bout: Jon “Bones” Jones vs. Quinton “Rampage” Jackson

What happened? Jon Jones was able to use his sheer length and versatility of striking to completely confuse Rampage. Feeding Rampage a steady diet of leg, body, and head shots, Jones ultimately broke Jackson’s spirit in route to submitting him via rear naked choke for the first time in over 10 years early in the fourth round. I think that saying Jones’ performance was anything less than surgical would be doing the champion an injustice. Outside of seeing some of his takedowns stuffed, Jon Jones did exactly what he wanted, when he wanted to do it. Jackson, for his part, did his best to keep up but Jones proved to be just plain too much to handle.

What does it mean? After watching this fight, I’m beginning to wonder if even the sky can limit Jones. While I had him picked to win, I did expect Rampage to give him trouble and make him earn every inch of the defense of his title. Once again, however, Jon Jones left everyone scratching their heads in amazement. For Rampage, it’s back to the drawing board. I applaud him for showing true focus in the training for this fight, and his great takedown defense, but to truly come back and challenge for the title again, Jackson must evolve. He’s become far too content to just box given his ability to end fights in one punch. He must now realize the deadly truth of how condemning being a one dimensional fighter is when facing well rounded competitors or face the fate of fading into irrelevance in the division.

Welterweight Bout: Josh Koscheck vs. Matt Hughes

What happened? Matt Hughes came out looking to prove that he could still hang with the best, and for those of us feeling nostalgic over the iron grip he once held on the division, it looked like he might do it. Hughes got a few good punches through before reality set in. Koscheck brought the hammer down on any hope Hughes had of staying meaningful in the shark tank that is the UFC welterweight class, and pounded Hughes out in brutal fashion. My hat goes off to Hughes for looking to make a real fight of it, but Koscheck, for all his failures at championship level glory, will not be going away anytime soon.

What does it mean? Yes, Koscheck had to overcome a few hiccups early on, but he proved that he’s still up there within the welterweight ranks. He won’t be challenging for the title again anytime in the near future, but he’s got a solid place for himself battling it out amongst the elite of the division. Hughes on the other hand (and I hate to say it) may have finally come to the end of his career. He made statements leading people to believe that he still has some fight left in him, but as far as I’m concerned, there is no shame in walking away now on what has been an epic career.

Heavyweight Bout: Ben Rothwell vs. Mark Hunt

What happened? Mark Hunt threw everything but the kitchen sink at Ben Rothwell including several takedowns and submission attempts….something NOBODY saw coming from Mark “take me down to beat me” Hunt. Rothwell wouldn’t go away despite taking some of Hunt’s best power shots and getting out grappled, but from the middle of the second round on, he looked as if he might have a heart attack. Hunt tired quickly after, and from that point on it was a match revolving around who had the most gas left in their tank. At the end of the bout, it was Mark Hunt who proved himself to be the better fighter.

What does it mean? Ben Rothwell needs to sit down and seriously re-evaluate his game. Even though Hunt has made great strides in improving his ground skills, the fact remains that Rothwell got out grappled by a man who, up until last night, was a laughing stock amongst fans for his lack of submission defense. Hunt turned some heads and demonstrated that he’s not done learning all of the facets of MMA by putting in some solid work into developing his skills on the matt. If he wants to truly make an impact on the heavyweight division however, he must also put some major time into taking care of his cardio. A few more minutes, and it might very well have been Rothwell on the winning side of things.

Heavyweight Bout: Travis Browne vs. Rob Broughton

What happened? Travis Browne looked like he was getting warmed up in the first round against Broughton. From then on however, both men fatigued and the rest of the fight was really not the conquest we expected from Browne considering the brutal knockout win he was coming from going into this fight. Granted, he won the fight both standing and on the ground aside from a late kimura attempt from Broughton. But the way in which he won was only ho-hum.

What does it mean? As with Mark Hunt and Ben Rothwell, both fighters need to but some serious time in on the stairmaster. Whereas the Hunt/Rothwell fight was at least entertaining, this fight was almost a burden to watch. Browne still has potential, but absolutely must up his endurance in order to continue making a splash. Broughton proved here that he might best be used as a low-to-mid tier gatekeeper for up and coming heavyweights.

Lightweight Bout: Takanori Gomi vs. Nate Diaz

What happened? Once again, the lengthier fighter in Nate Diaz absolutely flustered the powerful but one dimensional Gomi. Diaz established his reign early on and just dominated to the point that he was even just taunting Gomi to try and land anything significant. In desperation, Gomi took the fight to the ground where he found, like he did when facing Nate’s older brother Nick, that the Diaz Brothers’ ground games are not to be messed with. Diaz locked in a triangle choke and quickly transitioned to an arm bar for the submission victory.

What does it mean? Nate Diaz re-affirmed his status as a potential contender with his return to the lightweight playing field. His lack of strength and his inability to deal with high caliber wrestlers are still issues he needs to address, but he’s still a handful for anyone he faces. Gomi, I’m afraid, is just too much of a one trick fighter to be competing at this level. The “Fireball Kid” who ruled the Pride lightweights with his powerful boxing and solid wrestling has become a shell who just swings wildly in the hopes that the game ending punch will land. If he sticks around, Gomi needs to do some epic levels of work to break out of the funk he’s in.

Well my friends, that is UFC 135 in a nutshell. I had a lot of fun watching and writing on this event, and I hope you’ve enjoyed following it. Until next time, keep those hands up and stay ready for the next hit to come from the unpredictable world of MMA. And before I go, special thanks to Buffalo Wild Wings for providing free showings of the fight.

- The Blue Eyed Ronin

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