The 5 most fascinating people in MMA
Written by Ralph Gonzalez | Thursday, August 28 2008
Fedor Emelianenko's quiet demanor that belies his unmatched excellence as a fighter earns him a place among the most intriguing people in mixed martial arts.
Professional fighters by definition are unique among athletes, but a select few stand out as particularly intriguing individuals.
If we didn't find fighters inherently intriguing we'd be in the wrong line of work here at THE SAVAGE SCIENCE. Even so, among the unique breed known as the professional prizefighter a few individuals stand out. Herewith, our Ralph Gonzalez offers a list of some of the most fascinating individuals in mixed martial arts:
Fedor Emelianenko: The first time I was exposed to “The Last Emperor” was on YouTube.com. Here’s a guy that defies all expectations of a modern day gladiator. The Russian has a quiet demeanor and built like someone you’d expect to fix your plumbing. Butt crack and all. But his performances inside the ring are mesmerizing.As far as the pound for pound list goes, he rules the mountaintop with a 28 and1 record with wins over the best heavyweights the world has had to offer him. The fact that he completely destroyed Tim Sylvia, the former UFC champ, in 36 seconds on Affliction’s “Banned” event, just added to his superman-like mystique. Any Russian that can get more than 14,000 people in conservative, Ronald Reagan territory, Orange County, California rooting for him, instead of his American rival, has to be something special.
Dana White: The president of the U.F.C. is hands down the most brilliant marketer in Mixed Martial Arts. Using the reality show, “The Ultimate Fighter”, as a marketing and recruiting tool for his company not only bolstered the sport but created many stars for the U.F.C. including their current light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.The show produced huge ratings for the Spike TV network and was the main driving force behind the U.F.C.’s runaway success in the Mixed Martial Arts promotion business. White also has the interesting habit of dropping the F bomb more than anyone on the planet. F this and F that. Tito Ortiz doesn’t want to continue with the UFC? “He’s a f****** idiot,” White said of Ortiz repeatedly. Jesse Taylor loses his mind and knocks the window out of a limousine? “You’re not f****** ready for this,” White would say to Taylor on “The Ultimate Fighter” before kicking him off the show. White’s very serious when it comes to this business. F****** serious.Royce Gracie: Gracie changed all notions of what mixed martial artists should be. He popularized the Gracie form of Jiu Jitsu and beat the wrestlers, the kick boxers and all the Karate and Kung Fu practitioners thrown at him. One of my first memories of Gracie was the way he snapped Jason Delucia’s arm in the second U.F.C. event. And who can forget Gracie submitting the much larger Dan Severn with a triangle choke. He’s the man, a sports legend whose influence will always run deep in the Mixed Martial Arts.
Nick Diaz: Who makes for more entertaining interviews than Nick Diaz? He’s MMA’s pot smoking, mayhem inducing, bad boy with a huge following on the internet. The Stockton, California native doesn’t mince words for anyone. I recently called Nick as he drove to a boxing session and asked him about his thoughts regarding K.J. Noons not signing to fight him on Elite XC’s next CBS televised card. He didn’t seem to want to talk about it. “I’m curious about that myself,” is all he’d say. “I don’t understand why he won’t sign.” He seemed genuinely perplexed and, dare I say, pensively quiet for a second.
I figured I’d ask one more question before the eventual hang-up occurred. I asked him what he thought about MMA fans and their fascination with him. He responded like the Diaz everyone loves or loves to hate. “Why? Because I’m the realest f*cking fighter out there. Oh wait! I take that back. Because I’m the best fighter in this MMA sh*t. The best that ever lived period. And that’s why,” Diaz said. “I don’t think people are going to realize it until later. I don’t think I’ll be able to reap the benefits of this thing.”
I let Diaz continue uninterrupted. “Sometimes I ask myself what’s the difference? Neither me or my team are going to be able to reap anything. Neither are many others that are on my level. The fans aren’t going to be able to see how great we were until they see us many years later on a program like ‘Classic Boxing’ and they’ll realize the truth and they’ll see who truly said what and why they did what they did. All that stuff will come out. And that’s all I gotta say about that.”
“Call me later, I’m not supposed to be talking on the cell phone while I drive,” he said then hung up.
An odd conversation? You bet. Will I keep calling Diaz from time to time? You bet. The guy’s a cornucopia of interesting quotes.
Wanderlei Silva: This is one bad Brazilian who takes great joy in the fight game. His menacing stare down, brutal Muay-Thai clinches and vicious knockout wins made him a legendary fixture of the Japanese company PRIDE. His two destructions of former UFC light heavyweight champion, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, were Silva at his best. His face stomp of Yuki Kondo is one of the most brutal displays of his fierce fighting style and one of the most violent fight clips on the internet. After all the wars he’s been in, he’s still at it. Now back to fighting for the UFC, Silva lost his first match against Chuck Liddell by decision and then went on to destroy Keith Jardine in emphatic fashion after pounding him out of consciousness in only 36 seconds.
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