MMA Epidemic: Fighters bitten by the acting bug

by Zak Woods on Sep 7, 2009 2:38 PM EDT in Off Topic Comment 7 comments

Christopher Walken was infected with a particularly nasty strain of the virus, which is now known as "More cowbell" strain.

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There is a epidemic sweeping the ranks of MMA fighters of a particularly virulent virus called Thespianitis.

The list of victims who have already fell prey to the virus reads like a whose who of the MMA ranks: Quinton "Rampage" Jackson, Gina Carano, Roger Huerta, Cung Le, Keith Jardine, Rich Franklin, Randy Couture, Chuck Liddell.

The population of fighters most susceptible to the disease are those who have been immunocompromised by their popularity and success inside the cage. Unfortunately for fight promoters these are there most popular fighters.

Dana White is not pleased about his A-list fighters positioning themselves to become D-list actors.

"I hate it with a [expletive] passion," White said when asked about UFC fighters who take movie roles. "'You're a fighter; you're not a movie star.' It's so [expletive] funny because fighters want to be movie stars, and movie stars want to act like they're fighters. 'Get a [expletive] grip. You're a fighter, and you're a [expletive] movie star. Alright?'"

It has yet to be seen whether White will begin an immunization program akin to the U.S. Governments recent actions with the H1N1 virus. Though many believe that we will soon see a paper vaccine in the form of new Zuffa clauses.

On a serious not WKR hopes that everyone has a good Labor Day.

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It’s something White’s gonna have to deal with. “Hey, come here and work 4 months for a million or two that doesn’t involve getting your head rung.” Fighters do not make enough money (like most other professional athletes) to turn down huge paydays like this. This is why fighters have a giant Condom Depot patch on the ass of their trunks. You think random.fighter wants a giant C.D. logo plastered on their rear? Hell no.

When MMA paydays approach that of the NFL, MLB, NBA or even boxing, you’ll see less people taking time off to be in some straight to DVD release. You don’t see Brett Favre in movies because he’s made 8 mil a year for the past 15 years. We’ll get to see Rampage look like a chump actor because his average pay for the past 5 years was probably on the order of $500k – not enough to retire on when you reach 40 and can’t make a living as a fighter anymore.

by KrmtDfrog on Sep 7, 2009 4:18 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

yeah,

I mean you can only fight for so long and its not like there is a retirement plan like a pension or a 401K.

Another reason why I think Zuffa should try to help create a UFC fighter’s guild

watchkalibrun.com

by Zak Woods on Sep 7, 2009 4:21 PM EDT up reply actions 0 recs

I agree – hopefully this eventually ends up with fighters getting paid more and provided with more extensive benefits by the promotions they work for. It sucks – I want to see fighters fight – but like it was said, if they can make more money making bad movies, they’re gonna do it.

by Poindexter on Sep 7, 2009 10:03 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs

lil nog and big nog are in expendables supposely

by Silverobot on Sep 8, 2009 6:50 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

Don Frye!

and Tim Sylvia as a stand in for Michael Myers in Halloween..

weoweoweo .deviantart .com -- @antontabuena

by Anton Tabuena on Sep 8, 2009 8:56 AM EDT reply actions 0 recs

I read that Rampage was going to be filming for six weeks starting last Friday. This is weird because the film is in pre-production, the entire cast has yet to be confirmed. And really? They are going to need him for six weeks of filming but he has to miss out on training time and a fight in December. Something doesnt really add up here.

by GangstaBoogie on Sep 8, 2009 2:20 PM EDT reply actions 0 recs