Issue 102

June 2013

THE WILDERNESS, SOUTH KOREA

UFC’S DONG HYUN KIM TAKES PART IN CRAZY KOREAN GAME SHOW DREAM TEAM

There is officially no end to the wacky Asian game shows booking appearances by MMA fighters. UFC welterweight Dong Hyun Kim is the latest, competing alongside MMA pals Kyung Ho Kang (UFC), Myung Ho Bae (Legend FC) and Doo Ho Choi (Deep) in an obstacle course type thing called Let’s Go Dream Team! Season 2.

It seems to pit celebrities (enter MMA chaps) against Joe public in a cross between the slapstick entertainment of Wipeout and the athletic requirements of Ninja Warrior, all played out in the frigid Korean winter (if all the tough guys covering their knees with blankets while watching the action is an indication). 

The fighters had to endure tasks like nudging a ball with their head while shimmying up a narrow vertical gap, and walking from ‘A’ to ‘B’ via wobbly fabric strips.

Presumably Kim and co were unconcerned with career-threatening injuries and any number of painful potential afflictions, because they appeared to be having a right lark on the show. We have absolutely no clue who won – but, according to Wikipedia, losing at a particular point has something to do with buying snacks. We said it was wacky.

TACHI YOKUT TRIBE REINSTATES TACHI PALACE FIGHTS SERIES

The Tachi Palace Fights (TPF) promotion will return, after the operating tribe of the popular event recently U-turned on its December decision to discontinue the series. The Tachi Yokut tribe, which manages the organisation and its namesake casino in California, will now hold two events later in the year, one in August and the other in November. The council also gave the go-ahead to four TPF shows in 2014. As reported in FO several months ago, the tribe had voted to discontinue promoting MMA events after 11 years. TPF helped launch UFC names like Ian McCall and Michael McDonald.

4

At the time of going to press there were four South Korean fighters contracted to the UFC.

SUPER FIGHT LEAGUE GETS FIVE-YEAR SOUTH ASIA TV DEAL

Indian MMA promotion Super Fight League has scored a five-year South Asia TV deal with ESPN Star Sports. Super Fight League will broadcast a year’s worth of live fortnightly events to kick off the agreement. Elsewhere, Super Fight League has been available primarily as a live stream via YouTube. Vijay Rajput, COO ESPN Software India, said: “We believe in offering the best of sporting content to the Indian sports fans across genres and this acquisition firmly reiterates our constant endeavour in this direction.”

11

Between bantamweight to heavyweight male divisions, and flyweight to featherweight female divisions, Super Fight League is expecting to have 11 champions by March 2014. 

MOUNT ATHOS, GREECE

ALEX EMELIANENKO DOES MAN WORK AT ORTHODOX MONASTERY

Aleksander Emelianenko is a lot of things, one of them is a man. We mean, he claims he once killed a bear with a pitchfork and a knife so that’s pretty much an honourary doctorate in having massive cojones, right? Right.

For the past four weeks, at the start of his recently announced (and scrapped) retirement, Aleks has been lending a hand doing dude stuff at a Christian Orthodox monastery on Mount Athos, Greece. 

That includes clearing man-size boulders with only his bare hands and heavy-duty strapping, chopping wood, carving wood and baking bread. Of the latter Aleks posted a photo on his Facebook page with the caption: “Here’s a delicious bread.”

All men should strive to be this manly. All men.