The Other Bench Apropos of Nothing #1

I felt some nostalgia with the montage at the beginning showing Royce Gracie. I watched the first few UFCs years ago (back when they were not "respectable") and he seemed invincible. Not to be, of course.


Speaking of MMA, did you see the David Mamet film Red Belt? I thought that it was very good. It does an especially good job delving into the effects of having a code of honor:

Interesting. Having Couture star in it lends it an air of realism.

I have not seen the film as I generally avoid these types of films; I've found them, in the past, to be absolute garbage. This one looks like it could be quite good.



Here is a highlight reel of the latest seemingly invincible competitor. It is not the greatest video, but it will give you an idea of this guy's capabilities. He taunts opponents and then dodges their attacks and counters at will. He will connect with devastating combos and, at other times, takes people down with what looks like a light tap. Because of his cocky attitude, I am not a fan, but there is no denying his skill:

That was cool. There are some things that you do miss out on when you disconnect all television.


Red Belt may look like a conventional film, but it is from writer/director David Mamet House of Games, Homicide, The Spanish Prisoner who has never directed that type of film, to say the least. He did it because he has studied jiu-jitsiu for years. He really takes the code seriously, and it comes off in the film. The only thing that I did not care for was the ending (or should I say the coda) because it seems like a bit of a stretch. But it is well worth seeking out.


But the reality is, that there is but one fight:

That is an awesome fight. The obvious reply would have been to link to Southpark's cripple fight, but I can't find a decent video. This will have to do instead:



Plus, the lighter side of MMA:

Yes, I wanted to post the "Cripple Fight" alongside it, but for some reason I could only find the stupid "remix" versions.

Speaking of the lighter side of violent sports, any Malcolm in the Middle fan worth his salt will enjoy this:

Not sure if you've seen this story. This one is particularly viscious and isn't funny at all. But check it out:

Yikes. No, I missed that.


But it does force me to trot this one out again:



That is a somewhat annoying remixed version, but it has the advantage of showing it repeatedly in slow motion -- which confirms that the punch was indeed real!

Horrible background music track, but check this one out:

I understand getting caught up in the heat of the moment, but punching someone when they are on the other side of the rope is a bit difficult to conceal from the referee.

Crazy:



Nasty with a comeback:

All that the first one needed was for the ref to go down as well!


How about a different kind of Sucker Punch?



It will be interesting to see how Zach Snyder does when he is not adapting a comic book or someone else's film.

I've seen that trailer and I wasn't too sure what to make of it. It'll be interesting to see how the film is received.

A different kind of scene about fighting back:

Youtube fought back on that one!


Another one of the hardest punchers in boxing history. Marciano used to train by wading into the ocean up to his neck and throwing uppercuts underwater for hours until he could no longer move his arms:

Son of a . . . .

Marciano was awesome. One of my favourite boxers.

This guy has a powerful, powerful roundhouse:

Shnikeys. He has a powerful roundhouse above AND below his waist!


Not sure if you continental types are familiar with the game, but here is a rather nasty NFL fight from a while ago:

Not a fight, but still entertaining:

Have you seen Invictus yet? The New Zealand team in the film does the same thing.


Mind you, they do have fights during the matches as well:

No, Invictus is another movie I never got around to watching.

Not sure if you've ever seen this VW ad. It involves a fight:

That was awesome.



Here is the granddaddy of all Volkswagen commercials:

That was classic!

Not as clever, but still fun:

That was cool.

The classic Volkswagen commercial is even funnier when you make the Dr. Evil-like realization that it was made in the Sixites. That "entire fortune of one hundred million dollars" is more like 100 BILLION dollars when adjusted!


I do not much care for Brittney Spears, but the Bob Dole cameo at the end of this one is classic (it was when he was also doing ads for Viagra):

The ending makes up for the rest of the ad.

Did you ever see this ad? Poor Timmy!:

That was funny.

Timmy -- did you say Timmy?

And then there was this guy. Check out some of those low blows!

Some not-entirely-on-the-ball refs!


Poor quality video, but check out the low blow in the second clip -- and the batter in the number four position: