Issue 048
April 2009
Write to us, including your contact details, by post to 200 Portland Road, Shieldfield,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, NE2 1DJ or email us at [email protected]
Growing up in the 80s
Like most kids my age, I was taken with karate and kung fu movies. I even persuaded my parents to let me join a karate class off the back of the Karate Kid movie. It only lasted a few classes before I realised it was going to take work to get a black belt and learn a flying kick. Anyhow shortly after that, I managed to get my hands on the UFC 2 video, and thought karate sucks! Kung fu doesn’t work! And for the most part, I was right, until recently.
Lyoto Machida proves over and over how effective the ‘hit and move’ style of karate can be. He has tweaked his style to be more effective, just like the wrestler learns stand-up, just like the boxer learns BJJ, and in doing so, has turned around perceptions (or mine at least) of a once overlooked dimension of combat. We are in a very exciting era of MMA, and UFC 95 proved it. As the new breed of fighter emerges with each new year, I guess it’s true what they say, it’s not what you do, but how you do it.
Kieran Shaughnessy, Manchester.
This is the fighter’s poem, I know what you’re thinking. poems and MMA are like chalk and cheese, but I thought I would give it ago, see what you think.
The blood, the guts, the glory,
The pride, the passion, the danger.
Controlled aggression in the cage,
Like it or love it, the sport of the age.
The courage, the ability, the skill it takes,
The entertainment, the intrigue, the money it makes.
The number one`s and the records they break.
The favourites, the nemesis, the heroes it took,
To build a sport which made us all look.
Chris Windsor, via email.
Christianity in MMA.
I am writing to commend you on the Christianity in MMA. I found this article very interesting, my father and I have had several discussions on this matter as before becoming a born-again Christian we always enjoyed the boxing together. Since turning to religion he has changed his views on fighting, saying it’s not a Christian sport and I always explain that many MMA fighters are Christians, so I found this article very informative and I will be passing it on to my dad!! Love the magazine, keep up the good work
Rachel Davies, Newport, South Wales via email.
DREAM Shows
After reading issue 46 I remembered that I was still to catch up on DREAM shows. I put on DREAM.4 just to watch the main fights, but with Matt Benyon’s article fresh in my mind I decided to put off my college work and watch the whole thing. I’m glad I did, Darren Uyenoyama vs Hideo Tokoro was a great fight (in the vein of Alvares vs Hansen but a bit more scrappy). I hope more people follow Matt’s advice and watch the whole card rather than just the last two, as I intended to. Keep up the good work guys, I’m a Muay Thai fighter with a 0-1 record (attached a “calm before the storm” picture of me for you)
Kieran McNairn, Arbroath.
Kelly Crigger in his article ‘All Bark and No Bite’ misled people of the role of the United Nations. His comparison of Zuffa to America and WAMMA to The United Nations might be an accurate description of how Americans see the international community, but the article fails to say that WAMMA is not a brain child of the UFC that it no longer feels it needs. Zuffa did not create WAMMA in order to limit the power of any one institution gaining a monopoly, and thus the comparison falls apart in many ways, particularly from a European point of view.
I commented before on Ryan Harkness and how much I enjoyed his article, he’s fast becoming exceptional in my opinion. I empathised and connected with his writing of ‘Old Dogs and Young Guns’ in light of the fact my favourite fighter (Jens Pulver) just lost his third in a row. Harkness is right that there will always be new fighters to replace those previous generations, but perhaps he underestimates why some of the oldies have such a loyal fan base. The fans know and identify with the person as well as the fighter, that sort of thing doesn’t take off and appear overnight. It takes time to enjoy a fighter for more then putting on a good show, and that’s why saying goodbye or watching your old favourites wane is so distressing.
Goes without saying that I like the new amendments to the magazine, you truly do a wonderful job, and while I might write the odd critical letter after each of your publications, know that only the people who catch my attention attain my feedback.
David Duff, via email.
Hey guys just wanted to send in this photo of Dana White reading my issue of Fighters only in Dublin. Dana was cool and took some time out to read 2 articles he hadn’t seen and have a chat. Dana loves the mag, so do I!
Shane O Sullivan, Dublin
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