Issue 078
August 2011
This is YOUR page to tell us what you think of all things Fighters Only and MMA. Get your feelings off your chest and in their place there could be an FO ‘Flying Knee’ T-shirt! Plus, send us your pictures of you with fighters – and if you can slip a copy of FO into the pic, that’s even more likely to find its way into print.
Got Schooled
In his Issue 27 letter ‘Dangerous Minds,’ Craig Taylor explored whether schools should start teaching mixed martial arts to lead kids away from trouble and crime. I have to concur. I’m 15 and about 14 months ago I was expelled from school after aggressive behaviour and being caught smoking cannabis. However, soon after, my sister introduced me to MMA and BJJ. Without these, I think I’d be lost. I’m now back in school and ready to take my exams and I honestly think that MMA and BJJ put me on track. And in agreement with Craig Taylor’s letter, it really does give me a sense of achievement, goals and some discipline.
Jack Prior
King Chael
Just wanted to tell you guys how much I loved the Chael Sonnen interview from issue 29. I’d been aching to know his thoughts on all the hot topics since he’d been out of the Octagon. It was great reading what he had to say about Anderson Silva, discover why he thinks he’s not a trash talker and read him unleash on the entire UFC roster! A lot of people dislike him for being so outspoken and for having an abnormal testosterone to epitestosterone ratio for the Anderson Silva fight at UFC 117, but he’s one of the most entertaining talkers in the entire sport. He might have been on the wrong side of the law with the money laundering issue, but he’s the man that made 23 minutes of takedown tactics at UFC 117 actually exciting – and one of the best fights in recent history. If people don’t look past their hang-ups with the guy they’re going to miss one of the sharpest minds in the sport for years.
Aside from that I loved the new-look issue and all of the content. I can’t wait for the next issue.
Keli Upton, Arizona
FIGHTERS’ TWEETS
Diego Sanchez (@DiegoSanchez505)
A wolf is what I think might be my spirit animal if I had one. The native Americans believe every animal has one.
Dan Hardy (@danhardymma)
It’s always easy to find your way home when there is a police helicopter above your neighbourhood all day, every day
Josh Barnett (@joshlbarnett)
@MieshaTate You’re already up with me in followers. Damn. Must be the booty. I think I’ll go do some lunges now...
Pablo Popovitch (@PabloPopovitch)
25k followers and growing strong. I should give out some sort of prize when I reach 30k. How about a lap dance from @kennyflorian?
Vitor Belfort (@vitorbelfort)
I really like @justinbieber. This kid is amazing, I want to meet him. I am a Bieber fan.
Rashad Evans (@SugaRashadEvans)
Let me just state for the record I never made a racist statement to [Jon] Jones. Jones’ creditability is gone with his fake surgery!
The posts that caught our eye this month in the online world of Fighters Only
CLAIREPERKINS2: @FightersOnly is the best MMA mag out. I love it. But last issue’s Fact or Fiction got me thinking: can Anderson Silva speak English? Why would a champ play silly games with fans?
RoufuSportSolJa: @dukeroufus Great article in @FightersOnly. Really on point with the emotional attachment to fighters and journey from practice to cage. Good stuff.
Tom Sherwin: Brock’s illness has come back. Stop hating; he nearly died for God’s sake people!
James Havoc Muir: Nick Diaz on Blind Date would have been the best episode ever, lol.
Ste Arrow: Get Michael Bisping in there with Anderson Silva, it’d be a good fight. It’s well and good people say Silva should fight Jon Jones, but at what weight? Because Silva won’t go up to 205lb!
MrM76: Have to say, despite what’s going on with his @ufc career, @sonnench looks like a Sith Lord on the new cover of @FightersOnly!!
GALLERY
I managed to get this picture with Rich Franklin at one of the local bars in Edmonton, AB.
Jack Ryan
My wife with Josh at UFC 129 in Toronto.
Simon Hart
The FO stand was again one of the most popular at the UFC 129 Expo in Toronto, attracting fans and plenty of famous faces too...
Fighters Only’s own Gary Alexander gets caught up in the web of UFC middleweight champ Anderson Silva
THE NEXT MMA SUPERSTAR
Photo of James Hocking taken when he was just two months old.
Sent in by Michael Hocking
FRONTLINE FIGHTERS
This is a photo of my section. We are serving in Afganistan at the moment and as I subscribe to your mag we get to read it each month. Most of us are fighters and train as much as possible.
Dean Spratt
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