Jon Koppenhaver, better known as War Machine from The Ultimate Fighter, is getting further and further “out there” these days. War Machine posted an article on his website stating that he plans to move to the Philippines and live like a king for a while. Overall I think this guy has good intentions in life, but man is his head messed up. Check out his more entertaining excerpts from his latest rant:

So I have pretty much decided that in the next couple of years I am gonna move somewhere LESS CIVILIZED. After all, civilization and LAWS are in place to protect the WEAK anyway. Me being the Alpha Male, Spartan, SAVAGE that I am…I see no need for this type of B.S.

So the plan is to move to the Philippines in the next two years. There the money I make in the UFC will make me very wealthy and there I will not have to hold back when someone deserves to get smashed.

I wont have to be less of a man in order to prevent getting in trouble with the “law.” I will be able to live my life how I want and deserve to live. I will train all day and fuck all night. Maybe one day I will find a wife, if not it’s okay. I will bring my boxing coach and my jiu-jitsu coach with me. Build a team from scratch…this will be a great life. Hopefully before I am 55 I will die in a knife fight outside of some bar. Avoiding the midlife crisis all together.

This is the life of an Alpha Male like me. We are not supposed to grow old and wait around to die. We are supposed to fight, kill and fornicate. Tempt fate more and more with each passing year…and just as we start to become weaker and older a younger Alpha kills us and takes our place.

More bizarreness at WarMachineMMA.com

Former UFC Light Heavyweight and Heavyweight Randy Couture is coming out with another book.
Becoming the Natural: My Life In and Out of the Cage hits the shelves on July 22, 2008. It is co-authored by popular mixed martial arts writer an analyst Loretta Hunt and unlike his previous book, this one delves into his childhood. Here is the book’s description from Amazon.com.

Randy Couture — voted “The Greatest Fighter of All Time” by viewers’ choice — recounts his record-breaking career, which has made him an undisputed UFC legend.

Randy Couture wins fights with the seemingly effortless ease with which lesser mortals eat or breathe. He’s the only athlete to have held championship titles in both the heavyweight and light heavyweight divisions of the UFC, and he’s the only six-time title earner in UFC history.

In Becoming the Natural, Couture tells his story for the first time, beginning with a childhood spent in search of an elusive father figure, followed by the pure adrenaline rush that accompanied his first wrestling bout in grade school. In 1997, at the age of thirty-three, Couture made his UFC debut, defeating two opponents in the heavyweight class and then scoring a TKO victory against Brazilian phenom Vitor Belfort to earn the nickname “The Natural.” He won his first heavyweight title that same year. At the age of forty, he defeated five-time defending champion Tito Ortiz for the undisputed light heavyweight title. Couture retired in 2006, only to reemerge the following year and seize the heavyweight championship title once again.

Becoming the Natural is the remarkable story of one of the world’s most gifted and dedicated athletes — a born fighter whose skill and showmanship have helped to lift mixed martial arts out of the shadows and into the mainstream.

Contrary to the basketball flick White Men Can’t Jump, UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre might even have Wesley Snipes beat. Check out the spring on St. Pierre during this training clip. You’ll have to go about three minutes into the video to get a look at him leaping (easily) over five consecutive 44 inch hurdles but it’s worth it. Although he’s not throwing around monster weights a la Matt Hughes, his weight lifting routine is impressive none-the-less.

Sports Illustrated has put together a list of 10 mixed martial arts fighters that you’ve probably never heard of, but you soon will. This SI.com article does a nice job of recognizing talented, yet relatively unknown, MMA fighters on the rise. One of their stand-outs is Jim Miller “with his only loss being a decision against Frankie Edgar. Miller dominated Bart Palaszewski in his last bout, and though he still may be a few wins away from really making waves, he’s worth keeping an eye on.”

The rest of the top 10 up-and-coming MMA fighter list includes Jake Rosholt (Oklahoma State wrestling champion), Cain Velasquez (explosive UFC newbee), Deividas Taurosevicius (Gracie fighter with power), C.B. Dollaway (cast member of this season’s The Ultimate Fighter), Ronaldo Souza (submission wiz), Mike Massenzio (takedown machine), Johny Hendricks (NCAA wrestling champ with KO power), Wilson Reis (young and fast BJJ blackbelt), Andre Gusmao (big, strong light heavyweight with IFL experience).

Check out photos and more details of these fighters here at Sports Illustrated.

Some episodes of The Ultimate Fighter I think Mac is a really interesting guy and a deep thinker who takes the fight game very seriously. Other times I think he’s a moody pain in the ass. Today I’m thinking Danzig is a pretty damn talented individual. Besides being impressive in the cage, Mac is also an impresive photographer. After browsing through his photography collection, I have a new found respect for the guy. Here are just a few of his photos. Check out the rest on his photography site. I actually didn’t believe this was the mma fighter Mac Danzig, but instead some other Mac Danzig. A check on his blog proved that this was indeed his work.

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Watch out GI Joe, there are some new kids on the block.

It was only a matter of time before big name mixed martial artist took on alternative life forms. Round 5 MMA has just released a set of figurines, collectibles, dolls, action heroes, whatever you want to call them, of some of the UFC’s most popular fighters. Currently these things are going for $16.99 which doesn’t seem like too bad of a deal.

From their press release today:

“This first series showcases the most exciting championship fighters to date, in their most well known poses,” said Barron Lau, Marketing Director of Round 5. He continues to explain, “Series 1: Champions, will include fan favourites; Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, Tito ‘The Huntington Beach Bad Boy’ Ortiz, Matt Hughes, and Randy ‘The Natural’ Couture. Each collectible is expertly sculpted, stands 6” tall and is fully pose-able. Select characters even include accessories such Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson’s signature chain. Each fighter had direct input in the design and development of their own collectible figure including the look, feel and pose. We are honoured to be releasing these collectibles at a time when the sport has achieved so much success.”

They haven’t announced what other fighters they have in store for future development, but I can’t wait for them to try to unveil a Tim Sylvia or Fedor Emelianko with abs.

Unfortunately I can’t embed this video, but you can check out their commercial HERE