Issue 026

June 2007

Today mixed martial arts is flourishing, but it was not always the case. In its brief history it has limped through years of next-to-no coverage, with Pay Per View and media support almost non-existent. It was partially the internet that carried the sport, with communities of fans rallying around the ailing beast of MMA, spreading the good word and keeping the momentum going prior to the ‘Casino Money’ sized investment of Zuffa which ultimately led it out of the darkness and set it galloping into the future. History should remember one figure in particular for helping facilitate the biggest community of online MMA fans – Kirik Jenness, founder and President of MMA.tv, or ‘The Underground’ as it is affectionately known. 

Like almost everybody with a long history in the sport his interest developed by accident, “I started Tae Kwon Do in the summer of 1973, inspired by Enter the Dragon. I never wanted to do anything but martial arts since that summer.” Determined to make a living out of a hobby, Kirik started teaching martial arts full-time in 1981. Unlike other traditional martial artists he took an open-minded approach to the UFC when he first saw it. “When UFC debuted in ‘93, it would have been a wilful form of blindness to not start learning as much as possible about MMA, which was then synonymous with BJJ. Advent of the UFC was akin to the discovery of the microscope for medicine, or more actually, it is the application of the scientific method to fighting.”

Determined to learn more he bought the Rorion Gracie and then the Renzo Gracie BJJ instructional tapes, which he claims are the coolest things he ever owned. It was his poor memory (“I can hide my own Easter Eggs”) that led to the creation of The Fighters Notebook, and subsequently one of MMA’s most important web communities.

His ability to forget the techniques on the Renzo tapes led to him making notes that he then typed up. After discovering that he could illustrate the text on his Mac he eventually decided to make a manual that became The Fighters Notebook – the first MMA instructional book, contained in a ring binder so heavy that lifting it constitutes a warm up exercise in some gyms.

The Underground’s predecessor came about as a result of guys from the gym convincing him to make a web page to go with The Fighters Notebook. The rest, as they say, is history.

The forum brings together fans from all over the world, with the odd appearance from the sport’s top professionals. Topics range from the raging issues of the day (such as results or news) to the advisory and all the way through to the irreverent (such as the legendary Photoshop threads). Moderators, who help keep the posts within the Terms of Service that people agree to before getting posting privileges, prevent it from descending into chaos. 

When asked about his favourite moments and what the site ‘The Underground’ has brought him Kirik sidesteps the obvious fighter / fan dialogue threads. “My favourite moments are people finding good places to train, even in obscure towns. There has been a marriage or two, which is kinda cool. Caldog was the screen name of a gentleman who ran another page, and was popular across many boards. He passed tragically and the outpouring of grief from people who never met the man was moving. I printed out all the farewells I could find from different forums and bound them, and sent them to his mom. She wrote a few times, and said it was nice to read. That was the moment I realized that the Net can be a community of human beings, rather than a playground. There are hundreds of great members on MMA.tv who live up to that.” 

With many strings to his bow Kirik also runs Island Martial Arts DVD (which has put out instructionals by Tito Ortiz and Chuck Liddell) and other ventures, and he travels at least once a month to officiate in some capacity at MMA and grappling events. Even though he is so busy, he jokes about the viability of making a living through MMA. “Now that MMA is bigger than boxing, the opportunities are probably narrower, but deeper. For a decade, you could work full time in the sport, and become an actual ‘hundredaire’!”

Plans for the future of the Underground? Kirik alludes to developments in the pipeline but is modest about them “I have great hopes for it. But like the saying goes, ‘if you want to make God laugh, tell him your plans.’”  A fitting comment from a man who set out to make martial arts his life and unwittingly helped so many others do the same. If Kirik Jenness was to retire from the industry tomorrow his legacy would live on as one of the instigators in a movement that helped save, and eventually develop, the sport.