Issue 069

November 2010

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

Mark Kerr: Car salesman

The fighting life is apparently behind former UFC and Pride heavyweight Mark Kerr. He’s taken up a new career as a car salesman in Arizona. According to the website of car dealership Infiniti of Scottsdale, the subject of fight documentary The Smashing Machine has been vending automobiles since September 2009. Mark was last seen in the ring losing by TKO to ‘King Mo’ Lawal within 25 seconds of the first round in August last year. He was once regarded as one of the greatest prospects in MMA when he debuted in 1997, until he began a five-fight losing slide in 2000.

Hammer time for MMA

Notorious ‘90s rapper MC Hammer has started his own MMA fighter management company. The U Can’t Touch This performer first revealed the news at the UFC Fan Expo in May, and Alchemist Management has since become a fully fledged firm. Fighters such as Nate Marquardt, Tim Kennedy and Stefan Struve have signed on for Hammer’s services already. The Oakland-born hip-hop artist famously earned millions of dollars in the early ‘90s with his pop-rap hits before filing for bankruptcy in 1996.

UFC Brazil bound?

Brazil, one of the spiritual homes of MMA, could see its first UFC event for 12 years. The birthplace of vale tudo, a bare-bones precursor to MMA, has been a recent focus of the UFC’s expansion, with Dana White saying: “We’re spending marketing money, PR money and we’ve got people down there working for us.” Marc Ratner, the UFC’s vice president of regulatory affairs, has also spoken about the UFC making moves in the South American country, adding weight to the likelihood of a Brazilian event in the near future.

Sweet charity

Occasional author and full-time UFC funny man Forrest Griffin has decided to donate the proceeds of recent book Be Ready When The Sh*t Goes Down to charity. However, he isn’t the only altruistic UFC fighter. Rich Franklin raffled off the arm cast from his broken arm, which came courtesy of Chuck Liddell at UFC 115 in June, in order to benefit a breast cancer charity. Phil ‘Mr Wonderful’ Davis, UFC light heavyweight, also revealed that he wears startling, bright pink shorts to the Octagon for the same cause.