Issue 047
March 2009
This is YOUR page to tell us what you think of all things Fighters Only and MMA! What do you like? What don’t you like? Who do you want to see fight who? Send us your pics of you with fighters-and if you can slip a copy of FO into the pic, even better!
Letter of the Month
The cage is the USP for MMA
I just picked up issue 46, and really like the new look for 2009. As an on and off reader (mostly due to difficulty finding copies at local newsagents!) I’m looking forward to the 2009 issues of the mag, so much so that I’m trying to convince the wife to buy me a subscription! Maybe if you had gone with the six-pack shot of GSP I’d have had an easier argument.
In the letters page of issue 46, one reader writes that he thinks the future of MMA is in moving away from the cage. I respectfully disagree. In this time of credit crunch and recession every company needs a ‘unique selling point’ (USP) to grab attention, and most importantly pounds or dollars (or Euros!). I believe the cage is the USP for MMA. You see a ring, and you think boxing or WWE wrestling. You see a cage and you instantly know it’s MMA.
A friend of mine is a huge boxing fan, and he sees a time where boxing and MMA can be promoted on the same card, which would obviously involve a ring rather than a cage. Personally, I would like to see the cage continue to be used in MMA events well into the future.
Either way, I think over the coming years MMA, and especially the UFC, will go mainstream. The deal with Setanta, such good quality magazines as your fine publication, and the continual matchmaking of the UFC (where you see the fights the fans want, which doesn’t often happen in boxing) will see MMA continue to grow in 2009 and beyond.
Keep up the good work you all do, and look forward to coming along for the ride into the future of MMA!
Ali Pullen, Lochgelly, Fife
Cool photography
Hi guys, happy new year! Looking forward to a year of MMA action! Loving the mag, one of the main reasons I buy it is for the photography. I find it a great source of inspiration, and would like to ask for some pointers for an aspiring fight photographer.
Kieran, via email
Well Kieran, unless you get ringside you might struggle to get decent shots. Remember to try and follow the action as best you can, don’t use a flash, and, most importantly, if you get a good shot let us know as we may print it as our Money Shot!
BJJ
Great job! I buy every issue as they come out! A comment about the article on the Brazilian jiu-jitsu… Although I agree that BJJ competitors are light years ahead of the last generation with innovations, they have become completely inept at taking people down. As you notice in BJJ tournaments, they will pull people into guards or sit down in front of their adversary. We saw Dan Henderson’s last opponent, a BJJ black belt who simply could not take Dan down. In the clinch they are not competitive with a competent wrestler who can strike. If I was a rising grappling star who wanted to convert to MMA, first thing I’d do is get a wrestling coach to learn how to take down people so that I can be in a position to use my superior skills.
Kindest regards and keep it up!
Marc Ste-Marie, Montreal, Canada, via email
GALLERY
My best friend and I went on an extended holiday in Chicago for three months back in 2007. Somehow, we managed to get our hands on a couple of tickets for a live filming of The Jerry Springer Show!
We were rather disappointed with the whole Jerry Springer experience (we were rather naive and thought that the fights were real) until we spotted former UFC heavyweight champion Andrei Arlovski. Needless to say, that brightened up our day!
If only we had known that big Andrei was going to be there, we would have slipped him a copy of your awesome magazine! I’m the one on the right of the photo.
Chris McElwee, Shotts, Lancs
I get Fighters Only every month! I love it and would be lost without it! This picture was taken at Cage Gladiators; I go to every event and bumped into Rampage at the last show!
Antony Nicol, Liverpool
Hi, this my girlfriend Charlotte in the pool on holiday in Corfu, with a copy of issue 42.
Jed Sutton, Clacton-on-Sea, Essex
