Smashing Machine, The: The Life and Times of Mark Kerr

[Magnum]

It was on last night on SBS. I missed the first 40 or so minutes but taped the rest. Very interesting look at Mark Kerr and chronicals his addiction to pain killers. A great behind the scenes look at some of the fighters, Coleman, Bas Rutten etc, and the MMA scene in general.

Anyone see it?

[Cassius_Clay]

Yeh saw it. That sport nearly makes me literally sick.

Horrible and brutal sport.

See that Russian fag, Igor, knee him in the head 3 times? Cheating prick.

[Magnum]

Yeh saw it. That sport nearly makes me literally sick.

Horrible and brutal sport.

See that Russian fag, Igor, knee him in the head 3 times? Cheating prick.

I love it. Guess you need to understand it more to really appreciate it as a sport. It can be brutal yes, but I dare say there would be more serious injuries in a season of AFL than there would be in top level MMA worldwide. Each to their own.

[PLSC]

Yeh saw it. That sport nearly makes me literally sick.

Horrible and brutal sport.

See that Russian fag, Igor, knee him in the head 3 times? Cheating prick.

yeh and like watching nathan brown and matt maguires injury's were any worse than you would see in mma

yeh the doco is pretty old but still good to catch now and again, his gf is a bitch

[RoosterLad]

I watched this as well last night. I thought it was an awesome doco. Yeah the sport is extremely brutal but seeing the life behind one of the champions like Mark Kerr was great. He should have ditched the missus a long long time ago but then he goes and marries her? She was a wench.

[Cassius_Clay]

I also thought it was a great documentary and found it very interesting.

Comparing it to AFL is stupid as blokes in the AFL dont have the aim to knock the opponent's head off etc.

Most fights end up with 1 bloke getting knocked out. In the AFL 1 in every 4 or 5 games (maybe more) would get knocked out or seriously injured (Broken leg)

I still couldnt believe that Russian guy kneeing Kerr in the head 3 times and seeing Kerr just lay there taking it cos he couldnt do anything else was sickening.

FWIW, surely someone has died in this sport? Its happened in boxing and this sport is 10x worse.

[Cassius_Clay]

I watched this as well last night. I thought it was an awesome doco. Yeah the sport is extremely brutal but seeing the life behind one of the champions like Mark Kerr was great. He should have ditched the missus a long long time ago but then he goes and marries her? She was a wench.
The missus was a little on the weird side however could there be anything possibly worse than seeing your boyfriend/girlfriend etc getting beat up that bad?

[mick ryan]

Watched it all and taped it as well so I can have another look. Certainly different and they are undoubtedly powerful units but I couldn't help but think that they would be hard pressed to beat a top boxer such as Ali who would easily pick them off with head shots. I thought they all had very weak defences whilst they were on their feet.

[Oh Furious One]

There is something insanely enticing and appealing about TSM to me. I watch it at least twice every month and it never gets old. I actually cannot describe here how much that documentary means to me. I first saw it when it came out a couple of years ago, been watching it regularly ever since.

It is very depressing watching Kerr decline in the end like that. It was depressing for me just hearing and than watching him lose to Whitehead a few months ago in the IFL. Back in the day, he was one of, if not the most dominant mixed martial artist alive. He has lost 5 of his last 6 fights and 4 in a row. It would be a travesty if he keeps coming back and continues to lose, thus damaging his record even more, especially if his heart isn’t in it and he is doing it for other means other than victory. I mean, he lost to Yoshihisa Yamamoto, which just pisses me off. The sport has changed tremendously since he was in his prime, but you can’t argue that he wasn’t one of the best.

The documentary in part is one reason why I want to train and compete. This documentary, amongst other things gave me a desire to want to do this. Not because of the negatives that fuel it but because of the rawness of the sport that it portrays. Two athletes pitted against each other. You decide your fate, no one else is to blame for a loss, it is in your hands. That is how I felt the very first time I watched it. You need to know what you have to know, be proficient at it and execute it. The amount of strategy involved is unbelievable.

Cassius_Clay, these are athletes in a fight. In a fight, you do what you have to do to win. Winning is everything and to win is all there is. Kneeing or stomping a grounded in PRIDE is a standard, accepted by fighters. There is nothing dirty about it at all. MMA is far safer than AFL. Most people would laugh at this, but it is actually true. There are so many ways to end a MMA fight, most without inflicting serious injury. In AFL, you have grown men, in the biggest and best physical shape of their life running and jumping into each other week in week out inflicting injury. MMA fighters only compete four or five times a year with extensive break periods. Most MMA fights are won by TKO, which means the referee has stopped it because one fighter cannot intelligently defend himself or by submission. Knock outs are not as common as they use to be, believe me. Fighters (with the exceptions of the Gracie’s, Enson Inoue and etc) also acknowledge when they are defeated by submission, with broken bones a rarity.

There has NEVER been a life threatening injury in MMA and it has also been proved by medical studies that MMA fighters have far less risk of developing brain damage than professional boxers. Ali would not stand a chance against a top leveled MMA fighter. Most fights go to the ground, his speed would be useless on the ground and his sub defense would be non existent. In the stand up, Ali would most certainly be favorite. But MMA fighters are so rounded in every aspect of the game, it would be inevitable that it would go to the ground and Ali would be exposed with either a submission or ground and pound.

Most people see the sport as brutal and unnecessary violence. Where as myself and a majority of others see it as the greatest form of competition in the world, rivaled by none. I could go on about this for hours. I cannot describe how much I love it, the rawness and competition of it, but then again, I don’t expect many to understand it.

[PLSC]

I also thought it was a great documentary and found it very interesting.

Comparing it to AFL is stupid as blokes in the AFL dont have the aim to knock the opponent's head off etc.

Most fights end up with 1 bloke getting knocked out. In the AFL 1 in every 4 or 5 games (maybe more) would get knocked out or seriously injured (Broken leg)

I still couldnt believe that Russian guy kneeing Kerr in the head 3 times and seeing Kerr just lay there taking it cos he couldnt do anything else was sickening.

FWIW, surely someone has died in this sport? Its happened in boxing and this sport is 10x worse.

yeh and boxing is safer, give me a ********ing break

mma is what it is because the refs arent pussy and let the fights go aslong as possible so the fighter can fight back and show some heart unlike boxing where if you get a cut the fights over

[Oh Furious One]

I get very frustrated with people that suggest boxers could beat MMA fighters. A large majority of MMA fighters actually started out boxing, but adapted and learnt more. Straight up boxers with no other skills have tried and have crashed, burned and failed miserably.

Ali and Tyson, while having a punchers chance on the stand up would be taken to the ground and submitted. With Tyson apparently entering MMA, hopefully he has been training a lot of sub defense. For years and years people have been saying boxers are pound for pound the best fighters in the world. WRONG. MMA fighters are, not only are they trained in stand up, but also in the ground art.

This is why now days we never see boxers coming straight out and competing. Butterbean has done this and while his MMA record is respectable, who has he beat? Nobody, a bunch of tomato cans who weren’t strong enough or smart enough to take him down and when he was taken down, he was submitted.

Also, when people say boxing or kick boxing is safer than MMA. People have died in boxing and there has not been one life threatening injury in MMA. I watched an event with a friend the other day and he treated the sport as barbaric, expecting people to slug at each other. What the average person doesn’t understand is the strategy involved. Unfortunately, I can’t see the sport evolving into the mainstream ever, too many people all too willing to label it barbaric without the proper knowledge or understanding of it.

[Magnum]

There is something insanely enticing and appealing about TSM to me. I watch it at least twice every month and it never gets old. I actually cannot describe here how much that documentary means to me. I first saw it when it came out a couple of years ago, been watching it regularly ever since.

It is very depressing watching Kerr decline in the end like that. It was depressing for me just hearing and than watching him lose to Whitehead a few months ago in the IFL. Back in the day, he was one of, if not the most dominant mixed martial artist alive. He has lost 5 of his last 6 fights and 4 in a row. It would be a travesty if he keeps coming back and continues to lose, thus damaging his record even more, especially if his heart isn’t in it and he is doing it for other means other than victory. I mean, he lost to Yoshihisa Yamamoto, which just pisses me off. The sport has changed tremendously since he was in his prime, but you can’t argue that he wasn’t one of the best.

The documentary in part is one reason why I want to train and compete. This documentary, amongst other things gave me a desire to want to do this. Not because of the negatives that fuel it but because of the rawness of the sport that it portrays. Two athletes pitted against each other. You decide your fate, no one else is to blame for a loss, it is in your hands. That is how I felt the very first time I watched it. You need to know what you have to know, be proficient at it and execute it. The amount of strategy involved is unbelievable.

Cassius_Clay, these are athletes in a fight. In a fight, you do what you have to do to win. Winning is everything and to win is all there is. Kneeing or stomping a grounded in PRIDE is a standard, accepted by fighters. There is nothing dirty about it at all. MMA is far safer than AFL. Most people would laugh at this, but it is actually true. There are so many ways to end a MMA fight, most without inflicting serious injury. In AFL, you have grown men, in the biggest and best physical shape of their life running and jumping into each other week in week out inflicting injury. MMA fighters only compete four or five times a year with extensive break periods. Most MMA fights are won by TKO, which means the referee has stopped it because one fighter cannot intelligently defend himself or by submission. Knock outs are not as common as they use to be, believe me. Fighters (with the exceptions of the Gracie’s, Enson Inoue and etc) also acknowledge when they are defeated by submission, with broken bones a rarity.

There has NEVER been a life threatening injury in MMA and it has also been proved by medical studies that MMA fighters have far less risk of developing brain damage than professional boxers. Ali would not stand a chance against a top leveled MMA fighter. Most fights go to the ground, his speed would be useless on the ground and his sub defense would be non existent. In the stand up, Ali would most certainly be favorite. But MMA fighters are so rounded in every aspect of the game, it would be inevitable that it would go to the ground and Ali would be exposed with either a submission or ground and pound.

Most people see the sport as brutal and unnecessary violence. Where as myself and a majority of others see it as the greatest form of competition in the world, rivaled by none. I could go on about this for hours. I cannot describe how much I love it, the rawness and competition of it, but then again, I don’t expect many to understand it.

Well said OF1 :) My thoughts exactly. It's true there are far less serious injuries in MMA. The 4oz gloves will knock someone out where as in boxing you can repeatedly get hit in the head without getting knocked out. This causes tremendous damage to the brain, the brain getting knocked around in the skull, over and over again - thus long term brain injury. There has been many studies to support this. Also there has never been a death associated to MMA. And yes Ali would get utterly schooled if he stepped anywhere near a pro MMA ring.

Also, you said you wanted to train for MMA? I understand exactly where you're coming from. I currently train jiu jitsu 3 times a week and the fighting game is enticing. I simply dont have the cods for it though. Jiu Jitsu gives me the competitive element to satisfy me, without risking my nose being busted in :) BTW: Do you currently train in any art?

[drew_j]

I also thought it was a great documentary and found it very interesting.

Comparing it to AFL is stupid as blokes in the AFL dont have the aim to knock the opponent's head off etc.

Most fights end up with 1 bloke getting knocked out. In the AFL 1 in every 4 or 5 games (maybe more) would get knocked out or seriously injured (Broken leg)

I still couldnt believe that Russian guy kneeing Kerr in the head 3 times and seeing Kerr just lay there taking it cos he couldnt do anything else was sickening.

FWIW, surely someone has died in this sport? Its happened in boxing and this sport is 10x worse.

Yes there has been a single death in MMA to my knowledge. A Russian guy who's name eludes me. And that was in an unsanctioned event

It frustrates me some what when people with very little experience with MMA pass comment on the dangers of this sport. Statistically in both deaths per year and deaths per participation combat sports (this includes boxing) is way down the list of the most dangerous sport. It may surprise you that the most dangerous sport in the world is Equestrian and it’s by a fair margin, yet you don’t see the AMA lobbying governments to shut down local pony clubs. In the 70 odd years MMA has been a recognised sport pre say I’m aware of 1 death world wide. To put that in perspective 32 people died in Victorian hospitals last year due to medical malpractice. Maybe groups like the AMA should look at fixing up the problems in their own back yard before they start point fingers at anyone else. The sad fact of the mater is that people who make up these groups are more horrified that others are offending their sensibilities then the actual statistics and human wellbeing they purport to uphold. If you think watching two grown men fight is barbaric, fine, don’t watch. You have mine and every other fight fans complete support for you to uphold your principals. But please show some mutual respect and leave us be. This is not your field of knowledge and you look like a fool when you try to pretend it is. – Rant over.

P.S. Casius: Please don’t take this as a go at you personally. It started out as a response but before you know it I got on my soap box a bit and then rewrote the whole post. So consider it an open letter

[Oh Furious One]

Yes there has been a single death in MMA to my knowledge. A Russian guy who's name eludes me. And that was in an unsanctioned event
That was more straight up Vale Tudo, rather than MMA, wasn't it?

Magnum, I'll PM you about your question.

[drew_j]

That was more straight up Vale Tudo, rather than MMA, wasn't it?

Magnum, I'll PM you about your question.

It was an unsanctioned Russian fight to my knowladge. I'll get back to you.

[Oh Furious One]

It was an unsanctioned Russian fight to my knowladge. I'll get back to you.
I have heard about this fight, but I was under the impression that it was just an unsanctioned Vale Tudo fight with no referees or stoppages. I wouldn't consider it MMA. Any more information would be good.

[Presti_is_god]

The guy who died was American i think, fighting in Ukraine. He had a fight not long earlier and got KO'ed and was not cleared by doctors but fought anyway, he wasnt choked to death or anything like that. Its like being concussed then getting repeated punches to the head, your going to do serious damage to yourself.

Think he was American anyway, Maybe he was Russian and had the KO fight in America then went to Ukraine.

Also with those knees to the head, That was the 1st show that those rules were changed, So much of fighting in instinct, we saw someone whos name i forgot kick a downed opponent in UFC on the last show, The ref screwed up bigtime he shouldve stopped the fight, penalised Igor and gave Mark recovery time but he gave the fight to Igor. The fight later got overturned to a No Contest.

[drew_j]

The article where I got my info was on a site called BJJ.org. Which is now been blended into Onthemat.com so I can't find it. It should be in there somewhere, but I got to work as the boss is on my arse.

[likka]

I still couldnt believe that Russian guy kneeing Kerr in the head 3 times and seeing Kerr just lay there taking it cos he couldnt do anything else was sickening.

Fantastic doco, cannot believe he married his GF in the end though. Who marries someone that pulls a gun on you?

There are different sets of rules in MMA. In most you can knee in the head whilst they are down, in this particular tournament it was illegal.

Did you see the first set of matches with Kerr, he was the master of the knee to the face.

Must admit it took me a bit of time to get used to the violence. The knees to the head of the Russian in the final bout of the doco were brutal.

[Oh Furious One]

Knees, soccer kicks and stomps to grounded opponents are what make PRIDE so much more appealing, in my opinion. You will always have people suggesting that it is dirty, but it’s completely legal, accepted by the fighters and that is needed to be understood.

The athletic commissions in most American states disallow this, but they need to allow knees to grounded opponents at the very least. This will encourage more work on the ground, provide more possibilities, give fighters more of an arsenal and open up the north/south position. Does anyone else agree with this?

[drew_j]

Knees, soccer kicks and stomps to grounded opponents are what make PRIDE so much more appealing, in my opinion. You will always have people suggesting that it is dirty, but it’s completely legal, accepted by the fighters and that is needed to be understood.

The athletic commissions in most American states disallow this, but they need to allow knees to grounded opponents at the very least. This will encourage more work on the ground, provide more possibilities, give fighters more of an arsenal and open up the north/south position. Does anyone else agree with this?

100% I'd take knees and kicks to the head of a downed fighter over elbows any day. Elbows lead to first man cut syndrome, this I don't like. Knees and kicks if ref'ed properly finishes fights decisively. This is one concern I have for Heath Hearing if he goins the UFC. His best weapon is knees to the head from north south/front control or opponet in turtle.

[Oh Furious One]

I’m not a supporter of taking away from fighters arsenals, especially on the ground but I agree with you in saying that I would prefer knees and kicks to the head of grounded opponents in the UFC over elbows.

Nobody likes to see a fight end with a cut, but ideally I would like elbows kept too. Taking them away would be disappointing, as it limits the ground and pound to an extent, which is a big advantage in a cage and while they do gain cheap victories, they have always been a part of the game.

Although there are no elbows in PRIDE and you can’t go wrong with their rules overall.

[red+black]

I posted (http://www.bigfooty.com/forum/showthread.php?t=176395) about Smashing Machine 18 months ago when it was making the rounds at the Australian Film Festivals (Melbourne, Sydney, Perth - that I knew of anyway). Definitely watch out for your local film festivals in future cos they usually have some great sports docos. I also saw Year of the Yao last year, and The Backyard (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0309326/) a few years back. Find it if you can, a gruesome documentary:

Lightbulbs, fire, barbed wire, mousetraps, staple guns, thumbtacks and glass are weapons of choice in The Backyard. This undercover documentary takes you deep into the controversial arena of backyard wrestling where the limits are constantly being tested...and broken. The Backyard follows several backyard wrestlers in different countries as they pursue their dream to become professional wrestlers.

The Lizard, Chaos, Scar, Heartless and Sic inhabit the violent and often bizarre world of backyard wrestling. They fight with glass plates, staple guns, light bulbs, fire and other homemade weapons. This compelling undercover documentary is not for the faint of heart, taking you deep into a world where very often pain and blood are the price of glory.

http://img96.imageshack.us/img96/5861/thebackyardcg9.jpg

[T-I-G-E-R-M-A-N]

yeh and boxing is safer, give me a ********ing break

mma is what it is because the refs arent pussy and let the fights go aslong as possible so the fighter can fight back and show some heart unlike boxing where if you get a cut the fights over

PLSC boxing refs aren't pussy mate and i have to say MMA is a bit more dangerous, fantastic sport though elite sportsman and great to watch. It's good they stop a fight after a uncontrollable cut has been made above they eye, which can lead to a boxer becoming blind with blood streaming above the eye. Anyway thats my point of view which means nothing.

[drew_j]

I’m not a supporter of taking away from fighters arsenals, especially on the ground but I agree with you in saying that I would prefer knees and kicks to the head of grounded opponents in the UFC over elbows.

Nobody likes to see a fight end with a cut, but ideally I would like elbows kept too. Taking them away would be disappointing, as it limits the ground and pound to an extent, which is a big advantage in a cage and while they do gain cheap victories, they have always been a part of the game.

Although there are no elbows in PRIDE and you can’t go wrong with their rules overall.

Possible -=*SPOILER!*=-

Higlight to see first section.

Chris Leben in TUF 1 got done by a cut from an elbow in a fight he shouldn't have lost IMHO. Not in the sense he was jibbed by the rules but in the fact that it's a sad way to see a fight stopped. Still an awesome way to see a fight stopped though. Barage of elbows that is.

[Oh Furious One]

I agree. It is a sad way to end a fight, especially in his case on TUF after he came back. But nether the less, I don't believe in taking another weapon away from fighters. The GNP would be limited a lot in the UFC, which would just cause more stalling. PRIDE can get away with it because of the knees, kicks, stomps and their card system.

If the UFC or more importantly the athletic commissions were to ever take away elbows, I would expect the return of knees. You can’t just limit the ground to submission and punches. Funnily enough, the UFC can actually promote with knees, kicks and stomps to a grounded opponent in multiple states. They just choose not to, unfortunately.