Book Review: Becoming the Natural: My life in and out of the cage
December 30, 2008
By Elias Cepeda
Simply put, “Becoming the Natural” is all the book fans could have hoped for on one of MMA’s most important figures, Randy Couture Read more
Blood in the Cage by L. Jon Wertheim
December 19, 2008
ISBN-13/EAN: 9780618982615
ISBN-10: 0618982612
If you’ve ever contemplated how MMA (mixed-martial arts) ascended into standard American lexicon over the past years, the remarkably-detailed Blood in the Cage provides the answers. Author L. Jon Wertheim, a senior writer for Sports Illustrated, draws on the experiences of MMA icon Pat Miletich and others to deliver an encyclopedic-type effort that brings readers directly to the heart of MMA’s journey to legitimacy.
Miletich, a former UFC welterweight champion and trainer of many champions, functions as Wertheim’s gatekeeper to the sport. The first chapter begins with play-by-play of Miletich’s first fight – a street fight that Miletich lost, but one Wertheim uses to capture the ingredients of motivation that drive many fighters to compete. He then digs deep into the formative years of Miletich to shed light on his difficult childhood and complex family dynamics. It’s these characteristics that help effectively outline why Miletich represents the perfect subject for Blood in the Cage.
With Miletich, Wertheim was also able to provide vivid accounts of experiences with some of the most-recognizable names in the sport via access to the members of the Miletich Fighting Systems Elite Team through the years like Matt Hughes, Jens Pulver, Tim Sylvia, Ben Rothwell, Robbie Lawlar and more.
You won’t put this book down too many times before finishing it. It’s a very quick read, complete with healthy descriptions of the sports seminal moments balanced with ones talked about on various chat forums but never discussed in the acute detail that Wertheim does. One of the ‘underground’ phenomenoms Wertheim explores is the famous out-of-the-cage confrontation between Tito Ortiz and Lee Murray outside the Funky Buddha Lounge in
Murray isn’t a stranger to Wertheim. If you haven’t already read Wertheim’s Sports Illustrated article “Breaking the Bank” from this years April 14th issue, access SI.com and do so. Wertheim rights a riveting account of how Murray and a crew of bandits conducted the largest cash heist in history – over $92 million.Blood in the Cage also pleasantly surprises in its breadth of inclusion of key industry players. You would expect to see the faces of the UFC, Dana White and the Fertita brothers, and Miletich’s ‘super manager’ Monte Cox mentioned regularly in the book, but Wertheim also successfully blends in a lengthy scroll of the sports other individual contributors .
Wertheim carefully molds their influence and those he had with other fighting organizations into the experiences in the book so as to not dismiss any minutia of history that helped shape MMA.What emerges in Blood in the Cage is a carefully woven chain of experiences you will anticipate as much as a Royce Gracie rear-naked choke.
Blood in the Cage is now available for purchase.
About the author
Jerome Cheatham is a staff writer for InsideFighting.com and is an extreme sports enthusiast with years of training and competing in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and competitive bodybuilding. Cheatham has competed in a variety of BJJ tournaments and bodybuilding shows across the country. Most recently, Cheatham took first place in the Open Light-Heavyweight Division at the 2008 Illinois State Bodybuilding Championships.
BSN ENDORUSH™
December 18, 2008
BSN, the official nutritional supplement provider of the UFC, has an answer to the growing competition in the performance drink market with its red-bottled ENDORUSH™. Available in a 16 FL OZ variety the text on the container boasts the drink has “zero sugar” and is designed to “energize your core.” ENDORUSH™ is primarily a mix of four trademark compounds that it refers to as its ENDORUSH™ Proprietary Matrix. You’ll recognize many of the compounds in the mix, most noticeably the standard staples in similar energy drinks on the market, L-Arginine and caffeine.
On its website, BSN states that ENDORUSH™ is ideal for high-intensity sports, workouts, studying, or a high adrenaline workplace. Yes, I said “studying and a high adrenaline workplace.” That was a new one for me too.
It’s available in four different flavors – Grape Fix, Lemon Lime Fix, Orange Fix, and Fruit Punch Fix and is priced anywhere from $3.00 - $4.00 per unit depending on the purchase quantity. You can find it at standard vitamin and supplement retailers and online distributors.
The “INSIDE” Scoop
Over the course of five days, I tried every flavor of ENDORUSH™ prior to a strength training workout. For testing purposes I tried both the recommended dosage - consuming ¼ of the bottle in intervals over a 12 hour period and my preference of downing the entire bottle thirty minutes in advance.
ENDORUSH™ is quite possibly the best tasting performance drink I’ve tasted to date. It borders on being too sweet and a bit thicker than the standard option, but I found it relatively easy to consume. I’m a big fan of eating a large meal 60-90 minutes before working out, and I would highly recommend you do that if you choose this product. It tends to sit a little heavier in your stomach than its competitors depending on your choice of consumption timeframe and quantity.
The real question is did ENDORUSH™ really provide a rush? Not for me. I didn’t experience the caffeine-jolting energy spike I expected. The caution label clearly states that there are four standard servings of caffeine in the bottle, but I didn’t feel any measurable response. I did, however, feel somewhat more focused and patient throughout my workout. It was very similar to how I felt when taking BSN’s N.O- XPLODE™. Maybe the BSN marketing gods sensed the lack of real energy punch in this product and the result was the abovementioned expanded marketing to audiences in high-intensity workplaces or studying environments rather than just marketing the product as a pure pre-workout performance supplement.
On the positive side, I didn’t crash at all from this product. Hours later I felt fine. No signs of apathy or disruption in mental focus.
About the author
Jerome Cheatham is an extreme sports enthusiast with years of training and competing in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and competitive bodybuilding. Cheatham has competed in a variety of BJJ tournaments and bodybuilding shows across the country. Most recently, Cheatham took first place in the Open Light-Heavyweight Division at the 2008 Illinois State Bodybuilding Championships.
Movie Review: “Renzo Gracie: Legacy”
October 10, 2008
By Elias Cepeda
Gethin Aldous’ new documentary film “Renzo Gracie: Legacy” should be considered an instant classic simply on the basis of it’s scope and breadth - 10 years worth of footage chronicling Gracie and his family - but it also delivers much more than impressive expanse. Read more
Fighting for Acceptance: Mixed Martial Artists and Violence in American Society By David T. Mayeda, PH.D and David E. Ching, M.A.
September 15, 2008
iUniverse 2008, ISBN:978-0-595-47891-0 (1 800-288-4677)
“In recent years mixed martial arts, also known as ‘Ultimate fighting,’ has become the fastest growing sport in American society, but it is also considered the most controversial. Based on interviews conducted with forty mixed martial athletes, Fighting for Acceptance answers these questions:
