Def Jam: Fight For New York meets The Ultimate Fighter?

[SevenStar]

BET is launching it's own fight show along the lines of TUF. Nelly, Ludachris, T.I. and Floyd Mayweather will all coach their respective stable of fighters in hopes of winning $100,000. I think it premiers tomorrow night.


EDIT:

http://publications.mediapost.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=Articles.showArticleHomePage&art_aid=78299

[Vash]

. . .

the hell?

[Pork Chop]

Man, maybe I'll lose some street cred for saying this; but I really don't like this idea.
Floyd has just been trying to get a piece of mma once he got to the top of the boxing world, looked around, and saw that the boxing king is no longer the bamfer on the planet.
The hip hop guys have no business being there whatsoever and just seem to take every opportunity to attach their name to anything that will make them appear more hard.
From the pictures I saw on the underground, it kinda looked like they bus in white cans to knock out.

[MasterKiller]

BAD FOR THE SPORT! (http://www.bet.com/Assets/BET/Published/image/jpeg/7e14a112-b6e7-c160-3d5c-73a2be98a943-ontv_fb_ironring_LilJohn.jpg)

[lkfmdc]

This thing is a Mongolian Cluster F-ck of the worst order. They did a "try out" in NY that was basicly people just beating the crap out of eachother while the guest rappers cheered them on. Not to mention holding MMA fights in NY state is illegal. Did I mention they didn't have enough people so they walked around the street asking random people if they wanted to fight? Subsequently they got kicked out of the NE and went to Atlanta I think.... real low class production, catering to the worst side of human nature

[SevenStar]

Man, maybe I'll lose some street cred for saying this; but I really don't like this idea.
Floyd has just been trying to get a piece of mma once he got to the top of the boxing world, looked around, and saw that the boxing king is no longer the bamfer on the planet.
The hip hop guys have no business being there whatsoever and just seem to take every opportunity to attach their name to anything that will make them appear more hard.
From the pictures I saw on the underground, it kinda looked like they bus in white cans to knock out.

hip hop has pretty much always been tied to three things in some way - martial arts, gaming and art. It's just part of the culture. That's why I mentioned fight for new york in the thread title - rappers, fighting, gaming, etc. I don't really see anything wrong with them having their own team, but they need someone with experience coaching the fighters. I dunno how that's going to work.

Side note: I actually dunno if I am supposed to say this *shhhhh* but speaking of art, hip hop and fighting, I heard from a source that mark ecko is getting his hands around a fight team and also an mma clothing line.

[Pork Chop]

Last weekend I went to Dillard's and saw racks of Tapout shirts.
Jumped over to Spencer's to get my buddy a gag birthday gift and saw at least 4 varieties of mma board shorts (sprawl included).
MMA's really gone mainstream.
Admittedly, tellin people to get their hands off of mma doesn't make sense.

Part of it's that I don't see the point- Floyd was talking trash about mma fighters within the last 6 months and the other 2 guys neither promote shows nor associate themselves with any big names in the community.
Where's their background in mma?
Or is this all there is left to do now that dogfighting's been busted in Atlanta?

Hip hop's always been about martial arts, yes - capoeira in break dancing, wu tang and their kung fu, and the 52 blocks - but MMA really doesn't have a reputation as being an "innercity" thing.
Yeah, you've got fighters who come off a bit thuggish: Rampage, Yves Edwards, and Crazy Horse; but it just hasn't been the main image of the sport - more universal than that.

Now, if this is an effort to grow interest in the inner-city so they have more representation in the sport; I don't have any problem with that- but dressing up like armed robbers/gangbangers and busing in cans so the crowd can cheer on white dudes getting ktfo'd? Is that the right way to go about it?

And mark ecko? sweet geebus. If he should really make that mistake, it will cause me to vomit any time I see those stupid shoes of his; preferably on the wearer.
I mean, Tony Hawk doesn't swoop in and make a game about tagging or hold a contest to find the next great rapper to come out of the 'burbs, why don't more of these guys just stick to what they're good at?

EDIT: Fight for new york was more pro-wrestling than anything else.

[SevenStar]

This thing is a Mongolian Cluster F-ck of the worst order. They did a "try out" in NY that was basicly people just beating the crap out of eachother while the guest rappers cheered them on. Not to mention holding MMA fights in NY state is illegal. Did I mention they didn't have enough people so they walked around the street asking random people if they wanted to fight? Subsequently they got kicked out of the NE and went to Atlanta I think.... real low class production, catering to the worst side of human nature

yeah, I heard one guy on the radio saying that he trains himself... I think it's safe to say they won't have the best quality fighters.

[SevenStar]

Hip hop's always been about martial arts, yes - capoeira in break dancing, wu tang and their kung fu, and the 52 blocks - but MMA really doesn't have a reputation as being an "innercity" thing.
Yeah, you've got fighters who come off a bit thuggish: Rampage, Yves Edwards, and Crazy Horse; but it just hasn't been the main image of the sport - more universal than that.

irascience from dilated peoples trains bjj. there are some others too. but no, boxing has always been more the inner city art.


EDIT: Fight for new york was more pro-wrestling than anything else.

vendetta was pro wrestling. FFNY was fighting. you could use weapons from the background, and they had fighting styles - martial arts, kickboxing, street fighting and grappling.

[Pork Chop]

irascience from dilated peoples trains bjj. there are some others too. but no, boxing has always been more the inner city art.

No doubt there are others. Dead Prez's "Way of Life" that theblacktaoist likes to use in some of his youtube clips is one of the best descriptions of training life bar none. To tell the truth though if Wutang, Irascience, or DP had put this show on, I doubt I'd be half as uncomfortable with it.


vendetta was pro wrestling. FFNY was fighting. you could use weapons from the background, and they had fighting styles - martial arts, kickboxing, street fighting and grappling.

I stand corrected. Vendetta was the only one I'd seen, not FFNY.

[SevenStar]

yeah, I agree with that completely.

FFNY:

the 5 fighting styles:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rFfqmFTjBZM&NR=1



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1VoflqnYHHM

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m6gtnb8WwEE

[Pork Chop]

It seems I have been PWN3D:



Hey if you didn't know already i was apart of the production of the show. News flash i was LIL John coach officially. Next subject, don't talk about demographic desparities please. Let's look at the facts on MMA in america. It has been marketed to middle class and upper class white americans, only recently has there been a slight marketing endeavor towards the hispanic/ latin culture. I must ask you the original audience has been the nascar/ roller derby/ prowrestling/ weekend suburban warrior fanatic anyway. So why is it an issue over a minority business group getting involved in the big business anyway? In my opinion and it is only my opinion, why not rappers involvement. There is already enough blonde haired blue eyed muscle heads from america involved. Is it to be assumed as I previously said many atime there is a growing fear of chocolate being swirled into the overdosed vanilla sky of MMA land?




These are the very thougts I am speaking of, I have never in my life figured to be a part of anything negative. I look not at an athlete by the color of his skin with hatred or unapproval. I look at the content of his character only. I will be noted as saying I will punch, kick, choke, throw or joint manipulate any nationality equally with predjudice. We as a people have to realize there are things bigger than ourselves. I have dedicated myself to a higher equation of athleticism for years. I probably have done so longer than most of the forum members here. I tell this let not an opinion of another be your decise on what is true on mma because the color of another man or woman's skin.

Okay, so Mr International Shonie Carter's behind it, I feel relieved.

EDIT: more quotes


Really I understand their point but it is flawed, yes arguementative fallacy in every aspect. I will further elaborate on this matter. First of all, did you ever take notice to the fact even the UFC shows celebrities at the the show and have them often comment? Secondly, you have to remember it is about putting butts in those seats. This is what a promoter cares about. The reality of the situation is I do this because I love it and there are many like myself who agree to practice putting themselves in harms way under a guideline of rules unlike our troops overseas. Who entertains them? The combative athlete does. There are those of us who started this sport before many of you even knew what it was, before it was sexy, before the cameras were rolling, before the big titties and the sponsorships opportunities became available to supplement training. You may remember many of the fighter because of trademark move or brand or haircut. Let me ask you this what do you really know about the business and the politics behind the closed doors and back door deals that actually happen as I have witnessed and know about personally?

[Vash]

It's a good idea to put what, at first blush, appears to be martially untrained, money-motivated, could-be athletes in a ring, have some rappers "coach" them, and call it "mixed martial arts?"

Yeah, I so don't see this putting the mixed martial arts in a worse light.

No sir.

Great idea.

Super.

[Pork Chop]

vash
my point is that shonie carter's coaching things behind the scenes.
that means at least someone's there that knows their stuff.
Mr International's got awesome judo, fought in early UFCs, fought Cung Le in San Shou, was a contestant on TUF, and has been around the game a long time.
I trust him a lot more in overseeing the coaching aspects of mma fighters than Floyd Mayweather Jr.

[brothernumber9]

I watched the first shows last night. Each team's owners/coaches, decided their own methods for picking thier respective teams. So far there was only one team (that they aired) that held a sort of trial bye fire, a sort of MMA tournament to make the team, and that was T.I.'s team.
The other coaches picked their teams based on a mix of some drills and training sets. (at least that's the way they showed it on BET), except for one hothead who was bitter that he wasn't picked at the NYC trials and wanted to fight for a spot on the roster, which they are going to show on the next episode.

A few of the teams have some coaches that are old school MA teachers/Sifus/Senseis that at least have a sense of training and actual fight experience whether karate full contact or MMA. A couple teams have seriously suspect "coaches". No disrespect to 'Crazy Horse' but he admittedly does not train for fights, so he may not make a very good coach. And then there was some other guy who is just a sort of street/thug fighter. I don't quite remember his name, and am too lazy to look it up now, but he was 40yrs old, and at one point said he trained in China and Japan, which I would bet $100.00 was a complete lie. This guy looks to be even a worse coach than 'Crazy Horse'. He may be a streetwise bad a@@ but he looks to know very little about ring fighting from what was aired.

In any case, I will continue to watch. As unsafe or unprofessional as it may have seemed, I am looking forward to the fights from the teasers they showed, and in a way, I'm expecting some of the celeb team owners that like to yip yap all day, to be embarrassed at some point for trying to posture too much at some point in front of guys that can be a bit intimidating without guns or fat a@@ body guards.
I thought it was, and will be entertaining, and way more real in a way than TUF ever was.

[SevenStar]

The other coaches picked their teams based on a mix of some drills and training sets. (at least that's the way they showed it on BET)

that may be all they did. A buddy of mine tried out for IFL, and he said all they were doing was pad drills and grappling drills - at least for that round of the tryouts. They cut him after that, so I dunno what else may have been involved.



I thought it was, and will be entertaining, and way more real in a way than TUF ever was.


yeah, that's what I am expecting.

[Pork Chop]

i don't got cable so i'll probably have to bittorrent this show.
is mike easton really on there?
that guy's a lloyd irvin prodigy (he and mike fowler are off the chain).
i met him before and merryp used to train with the guy; not gonna say he's my favorite person or anything, but it'd be interesting to see how he does.

[brothernumber9]

Anyone see the third episode? Lttle Jon/Mayweather's teams also did fights to vie for team spots. It also seems some of the hip hop guys' super hard attitudes have brushed some of the coaches the wrong way.

Crazy Horse called out every one of TI's guys and TI, and said he'd knock them all out, though it got deflated and they ended up getting back to business.

On the otherhand, Mayweather is not trying to listen to Shonie Carter, and even went as far to imply that he could woop Carter. Talk about a pompous a$$. Mayweather is on a fast track to self destruction, if he doesn't get destroyed first by someone who actualy fights outside the limits of boxing.

A few people got knocked out and once some of the dust settles between the celebrities, the focus will hopefully turn to the fighters more.

lookin forward to it.
'

[Satori Science]

Hasn't anyone pointed out yet that Shifu Novell Bell is coacing team Dipset,

Here is a real gung fu man coaching an MMA team on national TV, seems like a huge oppoturnity for TCMA

Although a bunch of people are probbly about to tell me I'm wrong:rolleyes:....

Episode 1
http://mixedmartialartvideos.com/2008/03/19/bet-iron-ring-episode-1-video/

cheers,

[Pork Chop]

Hasn't anyone pointed out yet that Shifu Novell Bell is coacing team Dipset,

Here is a real gung fu man coaching an MMA team on national TV, seems like a huge oppoturnity for TCMA

Although a bunch of people are probbly about to tell me I'm wrong:rolleyes:....

Episode 1
http://mixedmartialartvideos.com/2008/03/19/bet-iron-ring-episode-1-video/

cheers,


Nobody told me about this, dang... i gotta bittorrent the show now :-P
I have no cable so i got no other way to watch it.

[Satori Science]

Nobody told me about this, dang... i gotta bittorrent the show now :-P
I have no cable so i got no other way to watch it.

I put the link to the video in my last post,

Episode 1
http://mixedmartialartvideos.com/200...isode-1-video/

BT's promo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRCpfjJjwnI

[SAAMAG]

Man, maybe I'll lose some street cred for saying this; but I really don't like this idea.
Floyd has just been trying to get a piece of mma once he got to the top of the boxing world, looked around, and saw that the boxing king is no longer the bamfer on the planet.
The hip hop guys have no business being there whatsoever and just seem to take every opportunity to attach their name to anything that will make them appear more hard.From the pictures I saw on the underground, it kinda looked like they bus in white cans to knock out.

The bolded part seems to be pretty much it. It's about being from the streets and being gangsta...no naturally showing you can fight or that you're about fighting is going to help that cause.

I also don't think that just because some hip hop artists may enjoy martial arts as a pasttime that hip hop needs to be "connected" to it. Hell...there's country stars, rock stars, comedians, and all sorts of other celebrities that like martial arts. Only genre that's trying to attach itself it the hip hop scene...but again it's for obvious reasons. It goes hand-in-hand with social deliquency. Just when MMA was getting a better image. How does dressing up like you're going to rob a convienence store have anything to do with the sport?

Bad joo joo all around.

[Satori Science]

Its clearly a marketing ploy, but its TV. CLEARLY its a marketing ploy, ya know. It is BET after all;)

I was just stoked to see a reality TV show that looked differnt, that was trying to break new groud and create new format ya know, one that didn't premises itself on a mansion full of white people;)

There was a quote, from one on the MCs from Harlem ware he out and out said

"I'm not checking for fighters from Harlem or from "the hood" or ware I'm from, I'm looking for the best fighters"

In any event I liked the gritty look, and the coaches are very diverse and represent a core of different accomplished African American fighters.

But then its just my take,

[Pork Chop]

so let me get this straight...
alexis aquino gets ticked that he doesn't get considered for the show, which claims to be all about "the best fighters", eventhough he's got an undefeated pro-mma record....
he confronts the coaches/selection people...
they tell him on camera if he wins the fight, he'll earn his spot on the team...
he fights the fight & dominates the guy they want him to beat...
the coaches are so mad with egg on their face that they talk trash about him and boot him from the show (and the chance at $100K) anyway?

shadiness...
possible lawsuit...

sad thing is, with all the lloyd irvin shirts on there, i'm constantly looking for folks i know in the background. lol

yah I'll probably still bit torrent this; but it really is a train wreck.

[Satori Science]

so let me get this straight...
alexis aquino gets ticked that he doesn't get considered for the show, which claims to be all about "the best fighters", eventhough he's got an undefeated pro-mma record....
he confronts the coaches/selection people...
they tell him on camera if he wins the fight, he'll earn his spot on the team...
he fights the fight & dominates the guy they want him to beat...
the coaches are so mad with egg on their face that they talk trash about him and boot him from the show (and the chance at $100K) anyway?

shadiness...
possible lawsuit...



Fair enough,
I know the scene your talking about but clearly missed some of the subtext,

[Satori Science]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03riLnjZNNo

Sifu Novell is not happy it would seem,

[diego]

Last weekend I went to Dillard's and saw racks of Tapout shirts.
Jumped over to Spencer's to get my buddy a gag birthday gift and saw at least 4 varieties of mma board shorts (sprawl included).
MMA's really gone mainstream.
Admittedly, tellin people to get their hands off of mma doesn't make sense.

Part of it's that I don't see the point- Floyd was talking trash about mma fighters within the last 6 months and the other 2 guys neither promote shows nor associate themselves with any big names in the community.
Where's their background in mma?
Or is this all there is left to do now that dogfighting's been busted in Atlanta?

Hip hop's always been about martial arts, yes - capoeira in break dancing, wu tang and their kung fu, and the 52 blocks - but MMA really doesn't have a reputation as being an "innercity" thing.
.
bjj and muay thai come from some of he most gangsterist **** holes on earth:)...

[jackmcmanus21]

bjj and muay thai come from some of he most gangsterist **** holes on earth:)...

ghettos in Brazil and Thailand are a lot different than here in the USA.

[diego]

ghettos in Brazil and Thailand are a lot different than here in the USA.

kids in north america pick up fighting skills from relatives who spent a lot of time in the feds...street kids in brazil fighting on beaches and street kids in thailand stabbing each other in alleys is not much differant than american drug dealer kids fighting in arcades...the climate is ripe for champion talent.

[SAAMAG]

Natural talent is natural talent, it will be there regardless of whether someone is ghetto/gansta/from da streets. None of that means shiet.

[diego]

Natural talent is natural talent, it will be there regardless of whether someone is ghetto/gansta/from da streets. None of that means shiet.

I seen some crakheads that won't go down...you get beat up since you wore diapers it helps in the ring;)

[Pork Chop]

I think the "thugs are stronger" argument's pretty much played out and proven false.

In basketball you've got the europeans coming in and making a strong presence.

In boxing you've got guys like:
Calzaghe, Hatton, Marcos Antonio Barerra, the Klitschkos, and even Muhammed Ali
who were never thugs, but reached the highest levels in the sport.
Manny Pacquiao, one of the most interesting active boxers at the moment, grew up poor but was never some kind of thug.

More often than not I think, the thug type gets shown to have questionable heart in the ring...
Sonny Liston; or that guy that sucker punched his opponent after the fight with just hand wraps on (and I believe later went on to kill Max Kellerman's brother).

I believe guys like BHop are good boxers IN SPITE of their thuggish past, not because of it.
You could make a solid argument that Tyson's thuggish past is what destroyed him.

The best thai boxers of all time (off the top of my head) would include Diesel Noi, Samart Payakroon (sp?), and Somluck - all of whom are pretty stand up guys.

When it comes to Brazillians... the Gracies were kinda rich kids.

"empty barrels make the most noise"
Talking & acting tough are totally different than actually being tough.

I'm not sure which crack addicts you're talking about, the ones that I saw were always wasting away, missing teeth, and had a hard enough time standing up straight when they WEREN'T being hit.

[brothernumber9]

I missed the show the other night. What happened? Also, I'm surprised no one has mentioned the TUF premier that came on last night. 8 fights in one night, with Rampage crackin one liners on the side. Was pretty good.

[kamikaze]

It's actually good to see MMA catering to the african & latino community, but I think a lot of changes really do need to be made in order for this show to be taken seriously. I don't have problems with rappers involved in this show, but they have clearly shown their lack of knowledge in this field, and I feel that lets down true mma fans. Do you think the rappers will get together with the coaches to learn more about this sport, and make better decisions to improve the team? I hope so. My fingers are crossed.

It's cool to see older traditional martial artists as coaches, but how can they really prepare these fighters in mma? They're one-dimensional in a multi-dimensional sport! The only person that knows anything about MMA is Shonie. My money is on him. It would also be cool to see a match between "Mr. International" and "Pretty boy Floyd", but Mayweather won't do it. He'll just hide behind his money, and continue to bash mma (even though he owns a mma team).
:confused:

Despite all this, Iron Ring is not too bad so. Every new shows starts off a little shaky, but will improve with time. There's probably a lot of people that invested in this, so I'm still showing my support. Good luck to all of you guys!

[SevenStar]

I also don't think that just because some hip hop artists may enjoy martial arts as a pasttime that hip hop needs to be "connected" to it. Hell...there's country stars, rock stars, comedians, and all sorts of other celebrities that like martial arts. Only genre that's trying to attach itself it the hip hop scene...but again it's for obvious reasons. It goes hand-in-hand with social deliquency.

This connection is not new. martial arts, graffiti and video games are among things that have been associated with martial arts years, as I mentioned above. Most notably, wu tang clan, but there are several hip hop artists who train, and many of them incorporate it into their lyrics. It really has nothing to do with MA making them better fighters / delinquents. Hell, where I grew up, a guy who had to be "taught" to fight was a wuss. training in a martial art was not a way to establish street cred...until you used it on someone.

[SevenStar]

I think the "thugs are stronger" argument's pretty much played out and proven false.

In basketball you've got the europeans coming in and making a strong presence.

In boxing you've got guys like:
Calzaghe, Hatton, Marcos Antonio Barerra, the Klitschkos, and even Muhammed Ali
who were never thugs, but reached the highest levels in the sport.
Manny Pacquiao, one of the most interesting active boxers at the moment, grew up poor but was never some kind of thug.

More often than not I think, the thug type gets shown to have questionable heart in the ring...
Sonny Liston; or that guy that sucker punched his opponent after the fight with just hand wraps on (and I believe later went on to kill Max Kellerman's brother).

I believe guys like BHop are good boxers IN SPITE of their thuggish past, not because of it.
You could make a solid argument that Tyson's thuggish past is what destroyed him.

The best thai boxers of all time (off the top of my head) would include Diesel Noi, Samart Payakroon (sp?), and Somluck - all of whom are pretty stand up guys.

When it comes to Brazillians... the Gracies were kinda rich kids.

"empty barrels make the most noise"
Talking & acting tough are totally different than actually being tough.

I'm not sure which crack addicts you're talking about, the ones that I saw were always wasting away, missing teeth, and had a hard enough time standing up straight when they WEREN'T being hit.

I have seen crackheads beat up people on several occasions. One of them used to box when he was younger.

As for the ghetto hardness thing, yeah it's played out. But it does have some validity, just not among people training to fight.

[SAAMAG]

This connection is not new. martial arts, graffiti and video games are among things that have been associated with martial arts years, as I mentioned above. Most notably, wu tang clan, but there are several hip hop artists who train, and many of them incorporate it into their lyrics. It really has nothing to do with MA making them better fighters / delinquents. Hell, where I grew up, a guy who had to be "taught" to fight was a wuss. training in a martial art was not a way to establish street cred...until you used it on someone.

Hey Seven....

I know what you're saying man...that the connection isn't new...the 70's it was the whole kung fu connection and now it's going more towards MMA. All I'm saying is that it's the only GENRE of music that constantly tries to attach itself to things. The only reason I don't like it this time around...is because it's degrading MMA and martial arts as a whole with the image it's representing. They don't know what the hell they're doing and are just trying to leech on for rep. You gotta see the negative connotations associated with that scene as it is in that show.

But who knows...maybe it will get better, and they'll drop the whole gansta b.s. and practice the arts for the arts, and not because they want to attach themselves to it.

[Pork Chop]

I have seen crackheads beat up people on several occasions. One of them used to box when he was younger.

As for the ghetto hardness thing, yeah it's played out. But it does have some validity, just not among people training to fight.

I guess I just haven't crossed paths with any athletic crackheads - all the ones I met were old or women.

I think a good fighter has to know hunger; the desire for something strong enough that it lets him ignore what his body's telling him. Kids that grow up poor tend to know this more intimately than kids that grow up rich; but I don't think it's limited to one or the other. I've known a lot of lazy a$$ rich kids; but I've also met quite a few lazy a$$ poor kids too.

[Suntzu]

i fought Terrance Hill.... i know Mike Easton is a monster(they made the 1st round in NY)..... and i trained with Binky Jones and Tenyah Dixon(both of them didn't make the show)..... not crackheads imo.....

i've only watched 1 episode.... the rappers are annoying..... actually Nelly came across pretty normal.... but it IS BET..... imagine if Mtv did the same:eek:

mma doesn't have a squeaky clean image anyway..... BET will not make the image better or worse.... what it will do is open it up to more kids(who sadly watch BET like its the greatest thing on earth) who may or may not know it even existed..... that to me is not a bad thing....

the real fun is when we put the 2 fan bases together.... the drunk loud mouf wannabe thugs side by side with the loud mouf drunk hillbillies..... Dr Kings dream realized :D

[Pork Chop]

WTF!?! Binky didn't make it?
Geeze
I gotta catch this show just to see how bad it is...
Bad thing about not having cable anymore is that i gotta go out of my way to torrent stuff and I've just been reluctant with that one - too busy watching contender asia; which is like oxygen for me, I need that stuff.

[Suntzu]

http://www.dailymotion.com/relevance/search/iron%2Bring/video/x4sb5u_ironrings01e02_sport

this is the only ep i watched..... people gotta remember its entertainment..... and "black" entertainment:rolleyes: at that.... so its gonna be more "raw" than the mainstream would like.... and that's by design ofcourse....

i'm all into Contender Asia..... but that show is visibly more European than the US version.... i mean where is all the hyper-masciline trask talk and drunken pranks :confused:

[Pork Chop]

i'm all into Contender Asia..... but that show is visibly more European than the US version.... i mean where is all the hyper-masciline trask talk and drunken pranks :confused:

Yodsenklai trash talks a little; but really, I don't miss the trash talk. Maybe I'm not a "normal 'merican" but I can relate a lot more to the guys on Contender Asia. A lot of the nonsense that goes on on TUF really turned me off to MMA.

I'll watch that show here in a sec...

[Shaolin Wookie]

I seen some crakheads that won't go down...you get beat up since you wore diapers it helps in the ring;)

No, it just means you got beat up a lot, and now you're wearing adult diapers from the brain damage that resulted from those incessant beatings.

It's the crack, not the beatings that make him invincible. (But only in his head...it's kind of like Achilles.....).;)

[Shaolin Wookie]

I guess I just haven't crossed paths with any athletic crackheads - all the ones I met were old or women.

I think a good fighter has to know hunger; the desire for something strong enough that it lets him ignore what his body's telling him.

Are you weaving a metaphor that fighting is like crack?

BTW, all crackheads have an "inner Tyson" that only comes out if 1) they're broke, and 2) you have crack in your pockets, and when the crackhead asks if you've brought enough for the whole class when you take a snuff, you say: "Back off, beeyatch! This is independent study!".

[mattb]

..... imagine if Mtv did the same Don't they have already have a show called "the ultimate fighter"? Oh wait, I get the realworld and ultimate fighter mixed up all the time, sorry. ;)

[GeneChing]

Can't those hip hoppers just play chess (http://ezine.kungfumagazine.com/forum/showthread.php?t=41817)? ;)

'Iron Ring' is more circus than serious (http://www.philly.com/inquirer/magazine/20080513__Iron_Ring__is_more_circus_than_serious.h tml)
By Kéita S. Sullivan
Inquirer Staff Writer

Ask BET's Reginald Hudlin why mixed martial arts is the newest muse among BET's reality television offerings, and he will take you back to tales of rooting for the greatest fighters to ever step into a ring.

"You know when we were kids, the question of whether Muhummad Ali or Bruce Lee would win in a fight? Well, mixed martial arts can answer that today," said Hudlin, 46, president of entertainment for BET. "I have followed the Ultimate Fighting Championship since my brother [Warrington] introduced it to me during the days when UFC had no gloves and few rules.

"I practiced capoeira [a Brazilian combination of martial arts and dance] for many years and have a respect and admiration for martial arts myself. Everywhere I go, people are now asking me about Iron Ring."

Since March 18, BET has been offering weekly half-hour episodes of Iron Ring, a series featuring team owners who include rappers and personalities such as Ludacris, Nelly, T.I., and Lil Jon and the best pound-for-pound pugilist, Floyd Mayweather. The last original installment will be televised May 20.

The owners and coaches host camps inviting fighters from the region to try out for their three-man teams. The fighters go from presenting their skills in the form of conditioning, sprinkled with a lot of macho banter, to fighting for places on teams that consist of a heavyweight, middleweight and lightweight. They compete for a grand prize of $100,000.

MMA fans and athletes - and I'm both - have mixed feelings about the Tuesday night show. The format looks as if the producers went back to a time of less-refined competition - more like a brawl. Even the ring used for the competitions is outside the proven designs of the UFC's cages or the International Fight League's traditional ring, arenas that afford fighters good angles of attack and defense with safety measures in place.

During a recent episode, team owner T.I. shouted out to a competitor from ringside: "Get offa yo' back, you can't win a fight on your back!" Obviously, T.I. has never heard of Brazilian jujitsu, which allows many victories from that position.

The lack of knowledge, the fighters' skill (or lack of it), and the quality of the coaching can be sore spots for long-time fans.

Philly MMA fighter Lamont "Badass" Lister, 29, (5-3), who was not chosen after tryouts for the show, said, "In the end, I'm glad I wasn't chosen to be on the team. Since there were no doctors present to look out for the fighters to determine the damage, we were at risk, and none of the referees were as familiar with the sport as I would have liked."

Chosen for the show was Deep South competitor and father of three, Primus Moore, 29, (1-0), a middleweight at 185 pounds. A former standout high school wrestler from Georgia, he is his own strength and conditioning coach, working to expand his training to get some boxing within his arsenal.

Martial-arts legend Abdul Mutakabbir, 56, who has spent 45 years studying combat, was the coach for Ludacris' team.

"This first season lacked the spiritual core of a bushido warrior. It was too much emphasis on the celebrities, not enough focus on training the fighters or on the actual fight," Mutakabbir said. "We needed more emphasis on the interaction and mind states of the fighters. I really want the show to be a success, but we need to take the circus act out."

He's offered the show's executives insights to improve the format and make the show "more polished" for next season.

Followers of Mixed Martial Arts through the decades might find entertainment from Iron Ring, but they should not expect to see an orchestra of beautiful techniques, a grand chess game of anatomy and skill.

The heavily padded ring doesn't lend a fighter much of a chance to use angles for attack and retreat. It's too small and it's not safe if the fighters happen to fall out of the ring. It creates more of a back alley brawl than a match between two skilled fighters.

The contenders seem unevenly matched, in skill and conditioning. Funny thing, though, you may keep watching, believing the show has the potential to get better.

My 17-year-old brother loves it for the hip-hop representation and all the gab that comes with the fighters' bravado. I'm a hardcore fan and I just rattle off five or six opponents who could destroy the opponents he's rooting for. He doesn't recognize the names. It dawns on me, though, that his demographic is the viewership for this show. These are his great fighters.

Iron Ring has been rated in the top 25 prime-time cable shows watched by African Americans, according to Nielsen. Not surprisingly, 50 percent of the Iron Ring audience is female compared with about 30 percent for most top cable sports shows, according to BET, and the it averages 813,000 viewers per week. It is among BET's top programs this year, according to the network.

There's no question that as the audience for fighting and combat shows increases, so will the fan's understanding of this fighting art. The show needs to be seen by all fight fans, and that will be part of the effort to bring Iron Ring into overall acceptance as legitimate MMA programming.

Part of the charm was chuckling at the ignorance of coaches and owners wanting to see bloodsport. They mean well, but there simply weren't enough people with MMA experience involved in the show to gain the loyalty of hardcore fans seeking good mixed martial arts fighting. But we can't help but watch a fight.