Issue 056

November 2009

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

The Brazilians are back!  

Brazil is the spiritual birthplace of MMA, as it was home to the Gracie family (who pioneered BJJ and organized the first UFC). You’d be forgiven for thinking their dominance is over, but check the statistics. Though only two of the five UFC title belts are held by Brazilians, only three UFC title fights this year haven’t featured a Brazilian participant, those being Penn vs Florian, St Pierre vs Penn and Mir vs Lesnar.  

Everyone wants to be in the movies

Rampage Jackson is lined up to play B.A. Baracus in the new A-Team movie, Strikeforce middleweight champ Cung Le is pursuing an acting career with an appearance in the recently-released Pandorum (more info on page 40) while Gina Carano is rumored to be starring in the new Steven Soderbergh movie! At this rate, will there be any fighters left?  

Randy with the UFC for life?  

He’s just signed a new six-fight contract, which will take him up to at least 50 years of age, effectively meaning he will see out his career with the UFC. Does this contract lend new meaning to the phrase “fo’ life”?  

Mousasi doesn’t like his nickname

Up and coming European fighter Gegard Mousasi doesn’t like his moniker ‘The Dreamcatcher’. “My friend came up with it, so blame it on him,” he said. “I don’t like nicknames, to be honest. I told Strikeforce that I didn’t want to use a nickname, but they put it up anyway.”