The Lighter Side of MMA Part 1
Published by Scoop Malinowski on June 26th, 2008 in History

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Brutality. Violence. Dedication. Sacrifice…these are some of the words often associated with mixed martial arts, the most serious of sports, where one lapse of concentration can be the difference between the agony and the ecstasy. But amid all the technical warfare and machismo, MMA has offered many instances of humor and comedy. Here is a collection of some offbeat moments in the world of MMA…

Tim Sylvia, Former UFC Heavyweight champ: “Rich Franklin and I were at Mandalay Bay, taking pictures with fans. And this fan was so excited that he actually pushed me into the water fountain [smiles]. I stopped myself with my hands. But I still got my shirt all wet. Yeah, and it happened in front of about four, five-hundred people. And I think the fan was more scared. Because he thought I was gonna kill him. But we all had a good laugh about it. I ran upstairs and changed my shirt and we went out.”

Mike Whitehead, Heavyweight fighter: “Heath Herring just rented this house in Vegas and it’s crazy. The house is like weird – you walk in and it honesty looks like Willie Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. The house is like MTV Cribs meets Willie Wonka & The Chocolate Factory. You walk in and you’re like, You can’t imagine this happens in real life. Just so many colors and it’s like every room has a theme. It’s just weird.”

Jim Miller, Ring of Combat Lightweight champ: “During my brother’s fight with Mike Massenzio, my brother accidentally kneed him in the chin when he was pulling back his knee. And he said, Oh, sorry about that. Mike said, Oh, it’s okay. And then he punched my brother in the head – right after he apologized for accidentally kneeing him.”

Mikey Burnett, Ultimate Fighter 4: “Any time with Bas Rutten is a good time. Bas is a wild man. I remember one time, I think it was in Birmingham, Alabama, Bas got me in a strip club. Ken Shamrock and Maurice Smith were there too. We were in a strip club and I got up on a stage and was strippin’ with the strippers. I don’t know how he talked me into that one. I don’t think the bouncers were too happy. But they didn’t have too much to say about it.”

Monte Cox, manager/promoter: “My first no-holds barred show I knew nothing about the sport and had a hard time getting guys to fight. This is in 1996. I got this local kid Pat Miletich and he’s claiming he’s going to make something out of himself, you know, become a champion, marry a French chick and move to the good side of the trailer park. By the time the show comes around, everybody has heard of Pat Miletich, so we wait till the fighters get there, then do a blind draw to see who fights who in the tournament. This guy – Rick Klev from New York gets Miletich. We do a parade of athletes and when Rick’s name is called, nobody comes out. I go in the back and all his stuff is gone and he had run out the back door of the building [smiles]. And at that same show Pat’s former girlfriend sings the national anthem. She’s really good but has never been in front of 8,000 people. She messes up, stops and then argues with the crowd about being rude. Pat’s with all the other fighters standing in the ring and he wants to kill himself. Anyway, the crowd finally stops the catcalls and she starts again. From the BEGINNING!!! I ran back into the locker room to hide!”

Carlos Newton, former UFC Welterweight champ: “Me and Matt Hughes had some fun times. I remember one time for a pre-fight photo shoot we were supposed to walk up to do a pose-down. And I looked up and said, Okay, Matt, it’s a walk off (from the movie Zoolander). And we both just died laughing.”

Mark Coleman, UFC Hall of Famer: “I was cornering Gary ‘Big Daddy’ Goodridge in Brazil. Back then groin strikes were legal. So I’m in Goodridge’s corner for his brawl with Pedro Otavio. Back and forth the whole time. Pedro has been messing with Big Daddy’s cup all night. Goodridge had enough of it. Though I didn’t see it exactly, rumor has it Goodridge reached down into Pedro’s shorts and gave him a real hard squeeze. Pedro lets out a big scream and Big Daddy hits him with a right and Pedro falls to his ass. Fight was over.”

Phil Baroni, The New York Bad Ass: “At a UFC after-party. A fight between two guys broke out. I went behind the Fertitta brothers and yelled, BARONI’S IN A FIGHT! BARONI’S IN A FIGHT!! Everyone’s running over to the fight. They go, Tito, get over there! They’re looking for Tito to break it up. They’re all running over. Tito’s limpin’ over. They all thought it was me [laughs].”

Don Frye: “I had a fight in 1995, they asked me if I was interested to go to Atlanta for like a black-tie event, supposed to be entertainment for the rich people. With caviar and champagne. When I got to the airport, they said, We can’t pay you, do you still want to fight? I’m like, Ohh, okay. What the heck, might as well, I’m here anyway. They took me to a warehouse. One of them real warehouse fights. Potato chips and beer…that was the caviar and champagne. I fought a former Navy Seal. (Frye won “in a couple a minutes, by arm-bar keylock.”)

Stay tuned to this web site for Part 2 of this article coming soon.