Issue 122

December 2014

Things we hear, things we see, things we know.

UFC president given belt as 'Undisputed Blackjack Champion'

The Palms Casino Resort in Las Vegas has presented UFC president Dana White a tongue-in-cheek title belt for being so successful at its blackjack tables. White was famously banned from the The Palms in 2012 for winning so much, which caused uproar among employees who benefitted from his generous tips. After returning, White left again earlier this year when management capped his per-hand limit at $5,000, down from $25,000. The casino conceded defeat in September, giving the promoter a UFC-style belt which called him the ‘Palms undisputed blackjack champion’ and noted he was a 24-0 winner by TKO.

Former vice-presidential candidate getting into MMA

Former US politician Sarah Palin has taken a shine to mixed martial arts. Palin, the former governor of Alaska, gained worldwide fame when she was the Republican nominee for vice president in the 2008 presidential election. In September she toured the gym of World Series of Fighting flyweight Chad Robichaux in Texas for over an hour and was “fascinated” by the sport, he said.

Teenage Rousey was in a band, loved punk rock and Pokemon 

It turns out UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey was a moderator on a forum for the game Pokemon Stadium 2 when she was 16, played in a band with friends and loved punk rock. ‘Rowdy’ confirmed a couple of years ago she frequented the gametalk.com message board but it was only recently someone unearthed a forum profile she wrote in 2003. She said aside from judo she played in a band with friends called Blondes in Calculus, and her favorite artists were Goldfinger and Sublime. Under ‘Wants for self’ she listed: “Bunny ears, real ones.”

Returning standout 'DJ Taiki' trying out for UFC's Japanese reality show

Former Deep bantamweight champion ‘DJ Taiki’ has confirmed he’s looking to get on the UFC’s new Japanese reality show. It’ll be an eight-month TV series where eight 135lb’ers and eight 145lb’ers fight the others in their weight class on real Vale Tudo Japan cards. The winners will be decided via the best win-loss record and should become national stars. Fx Dream competitor Taiki, 16-9-7, is on an eight-fight unbeaten run but recently took a year out from MMA.