Issue 022
February 2007
Eddie Goldman is one of the most experienced and respected journalists within combat sports today. A well-rounded reporter and writer, he was a pioneer of internet radio shows back in the days when most people were still on dial-up, and he has consistently and tirelessly worked towards furthering the credibility of the sport.
Eddie is the host and producer of the weekly No Holds Barred podcast and he also runs the No Holds Barred blog at NHBNews.com. Objective and confrontational yet supportive and sympathetic, Goldman has old-school ethics and a pedigree that few of today’s practising journalists can boast of.
“My role, more than anything, is as an activist, to get points across,” says Goldman. “I’m somebody that came of age in the 60’s, there was great upheaval and we were fighting for a lot of goals. I’m doing the same thing now or combat sports. That may not always come across in my writing, but it’s true.”
Though he loves both sports equally, “Boxing has declined in the USA, they’re doing a terrible job of drawing in young people. [In MMA] the key thing is the internet. It is far more accessible to young people, they don’t want to read newspapers. It’s taken steps to build up its athletes.”
What is it for Eddie that MMA has that boxing doesn’t? “One word: Submissions. The first show I saw was UFC 2. I didn’t know much about it. I watched it and I was totally taken by it. I came from a wrestling background, I wrestled in high school. The prominence of grappling and submissions was unreal for me. That got me hooked right there.”
Such is Goldman’s love of grappling, he fees that MMA should be given a moniker much like boxing, and borrows the Brazilian’s term for jiu-jitsu to describe how he sees the element of grappling in MMA. “Boxing is the sweet science – grappling is the Arte Suave.”
Goldman’s resume reads like a list of combat sports publications. He is or has been a senior contributing editor at ADCC News, a senior contributing editor for TapouT, an editor and writer for BoxingRanks.com, MaxBoxing.com, TheSweetScience.com, and numerous other publications and web sites.
He was featured in and also performed the role of narrator in the award winning documentary The Smashing Machine, a film that closely looked at Mark Kerr’s drug problems. He has also done TV work as a colour commentator and analyst for IFC mixed martial arts events and USKBA kickboxing broadcasts and videos.
He is a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America, the National Wrestling Media Association, and the National Writers Union. He was vice-president of the National Wrestling Media Association from 2003 to 2005 and he was voted Journalist of the Year 2000 by the readers of Grapplersworld.com. With awards for excellence in boxing journalism also under his belt, Goldman’s position as one of the pre-eminent journalists in combat sports today is secure.
If you want one quote to sum up Eddie Goldman, it is this: “To succeed in the fight for justice, you need a fighters’ culture.” awards for excellence in boxing journalism also under his belt, Goldman’s position as one of the pre-eminent journalists in combat sports today is secure.
Myspace: www.myspace.com/nhbnews
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