Issue 137

January 2016

Do you want to own a small piece of regional MMA history? Well, for the bargain price of $9,900 Canadian dollars you could have snapped up the fighting arena from Cranbrook’s Battle at the Border organization. Promoter Isaac Hockley listed the octagonal cage on classified website Kijiji, saying he no longer needed it after moving on to another career.

Seoul, South Korea: Big trouble

Prosecutors in the Korean capital issued an arrest warrant for Hong Man Choi. Two friends took legal action against the seven-foot-two giant for fraud after he allegedly failed to repay loans of ?1 million (about $900) and ?25 million (about $22,500). The larger claim was later withdrawn. The Korea Times reported that Choi was staying in Japan.

Fort Worth, Texas: Lethal weapons

In a ground-breaking case, former Team Takedown 145lb’er Jamal Parks was sentenced to six years in jail after his hands were considered ‘deadly’ because of his MMA skills. Parks, 5-1 as a pro, admitted beating up his friend and a police officer in 2013, and pleaded guilty to the charge of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon. Prosecutors said it was unusual but appropriate for the crime because of Parks’ fighting ability. 

Stockholm, Sweden: Mad Dog doc

Scandinavian filmmakers at Roadlake Productions are the latest to turn to Kickstarter in an attempt to fund an MMA feature film. They had hope to raise KR200,000 (about $23,000) to complete a movie that followed Reza Madadi from his prison release to his comeback UFC appearance in Dublin, Ireland, in October. However, much like his Octagon return, this campaign ended in disappointment, as it only raised KR3,960 (about $450).

Dublin, Ireland: Daly bashes model

UFC strawweight Aisling Daly hit the headlines in her home country for slamming (not literally) a beauty queen for her fitness regime. Former Miss Universe Ireland, Lynn Kelly, has been criticized for her super-skinny social media posts in the past, and caused controversy again by claiming her workouts were so intense, they caused her to vomit. But the former TUF contender struck a blow for women striving for a healthy body image when she said: “Vomiting after training hard is not normal. I think you should be kind to your body. Exercise, look after it like the beautiful machine it is.”

Singapore, Asia

A partnership with Chinese events company Wujie means Singapore-based promotion One Championship is set to bring more than two dozen shows to the world’s most populous country in the next two years.