Champions of the Octagon
Champions of the Octagon

Author: Fiaz Rafiq

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2022-06-21

Total Pages: 310

ISBN-13: 1683584430

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Learn the stories, history, and strategy of the sport's greatest champions—in their own words! Mixed martial arts (MMA) has become one of the fastest-growing sports in the world. With Dana White helping bring Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) to prominence and respectability, as well as Conor McGregor becoming one of the sport’s biggest stars, fans are skipping the squared circle for the Octagon. In Champions of the Octagon, writer Fiaz Rafiq interviews many of the greatest MMA and UFC champions of all-time, including Georges St-Pierre, Holly Holm, Daniel Cormier, Joanna Jedrzejczyk, Randy Couture, and many others. Readers will learn of their upbringings, their introductions to the sport, and how they worked their way to be the best ever. Spending decades covering the sport and building relationships with those who have fought in the Octagon, Rafiq shares never-before-seen interviews and intimate stories from these greats. Learn from Royce Gracie how his family helped bring Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to America, Anderson Silva on challenging boxing champion Roy Jones Jr., BJ Penn on how he got introduced to MMA, Brock Lesnar on using his skills from WWE and bringing them to UFC, Alexander Volkanovski on a quest to dominate his division, Holly Holm on dethroning Ronda Rousey, and so much more. From the early days of the sport and its rich history to today’s stars and the future of MMA, Champions of the Octagon pulls back the curtain on their lives and careers. Including interviews from thirty-six UFC champions (seventeen Hall of Famers), hear never-before-told stories from the fighters who helped build the sport to what it is today.

Octagon
Octagon

Author: J. Ellem

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Published: 2016-08-14

Total Pages: 328

ISBN-13: 9781537143316

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What would you do if you discovered that the world you were born into was a complete lie? "There is a veneer to this world we live in. A kind of covering, like a mask. If you start to peel back the layers, you will see things that you may not want to see..." In the future there is no war, no famine and no poverty. In the future the zombies didn't come. The apocalypse didn't happen and no virus wiped-out humanity. In the future the world is good. There is order, minimal crime and a content, well-fed society. Or so it seems... But if everything is so good, so perfect, then why does Jon Kobe, a First Year law enforcement graduate feel that something is not quite right with the world that he lives in? When the tortured body of a young girl is discovered in an alleyway, branded with a symbol meaning Hell, Kobe begins to see the frayed-edge of his world and the horrors that lie beneath. Below the surface of an idyllic society, awaits the sadistic truth where human lives are just fodder for the entertainment of the privileged few. For Kobe to survive, he must find the courage to abandon everything that he believes in and become something that he is not. Octagon is a gripping, page-turning sci-fi thriller and a brutal exploration of true human nature. Every future has a price. But are you willing to pay that price?

Tapped Out
Tapped Out

Author: Matthew Polly

Publisher: Avery

Published: 2012-10-02

Total Pages: 303

ISBN-13: 159240619X

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An aging amateur takes his shot at glory in the world of mixed martial arts. As a younger man, Matthew Polly traveled to the Shaolin Temple in China and spent two years training with the monks who had invented the ancient art of kung fu. Fifteen years later, his weakness for Chinese takeout and Jack Daniel’s had taken its toll. Firmly into middle age and far removed from his past athletic triumphs, Polly decided to risk it all one last time. Out of shape and over the hill, he jumped headlong into the world of MMA. In Tapped Out, Polly chronicles his grueling yet redeeming two-year journey through an often misunderstood sport. From Thailand to Russia, Manhattan to Las Vegas, Polly studied with the best trainers, concluding with a six-month fight camp at Randy Couture’s legendary gym. He explores the history of fighting sports and joins a fascinating subculture of men who roll around on sweaty mats with one another in appreciation of the purity of contained combat. And in the end, Polly straps on the gloves, gets into the cage, and squares off with a fighter fifteen years younger. An honest and humorous look at a hard-core sport, Tapped Out is a fascinating look into the fastest growing sport in America and what it takes to be an MMA fighter.

Welcome to the Octagon
Welcome to the Octagon

Author: Gerard Brennan

Publisher: CreateSpace

Published: 2013-05-09

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 9781484933329

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FIGHT CARD MMA: WELCOME TO THE OCTAGON Belfast 2013 Mickey The Rage Rafferty has gone through some tough times, but he's not ready to tap-out just yet. The Belfast widower has to take care of his eight-year-old daughter, Lily. However, his main talent is fighting and the only way he can make enough money off it to support his girl is to take dodgy underground matches paying off in bloodstained cash. Mickey's trainer, Eddie Smith, doesn't approve. He wants his most promising student to step into the cage as a real martial artist, not as a fool for thugs and gangsters. With Eddie on the verge of cutting him loose, Mickey is up against the cage – crushed between fast cash and a legitimate career. Mickey has some big decisions to make and some even bigger opponents to face. The MMA life can be harsh, and it's never easy ... Welcome To The Octagon. Praise for WEE ROCKETS “Gerard Brennan stands apart from the Irish crime fiction crowd with a novel rooted in the reality of today's Belfast. The author's prose speaks with a rare authenticity about the pain of growing up in a fractured society, shot through with a black humour that can only come from the streets. Wee Rockets is urban crime fiction for the 21st century, and Brennan is a unique voice among contemporary Irish writers.” – Stuart Neville “In Wee Rockets Gerard Brennan has written a fast paced, exciting story of West Belfast gang culture; brimming with violence, authentic street dialogue and surprising black humour. This is a great debut novel. Brennan takes us into the heart of Belfast's chav underclass, in a story that lies somewhere in the intersection between The Warriors, Colin Bateman and Guy Ritchie. This is the first in what undoubtedly will be a stellar literary career.” – Adrian McKinty "Brennan impressed me hugely with his debut novella The Point, and Wee Rockets has cemented my opinion that he belongs among the top rank of Northern Irish crime writers." – Loitering With Intent "So assured and mature you'd think this was his eight or ninth book, not one of his first." – Spinetingler Magazine "This is a tremendous book and I urge you to read it." – I Meant To Read That

The Philosophy of Mixed Martial Arts
The Philosophy of Mixed Martial Arts

Author: Jason Holt

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2021-09-09

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1000450449

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Mixed martial arts (MMA)—unarmed fighting games permitting techniques derived from a variety of martial arts and combat sports— has exploded from the fringes of sport into a worldwide phenomenon, a sport as controversial as it is compelling. This is the first book to pay MMA the serious philosophical attention it deserves. With contributions from leading international scholars of the philosophy of sport and martial arts, the book explores topics such as whether MMA qualifies as a martial art, the differences between MMA and the traditional martial arts, the aesthetic dimensions of MMA, the limits of consent and choice in MMA and whether MMA can promote moral virtues. It also explores cutting-edge practical and ethical topics, including the role of gender in MMA, and the question of whether trans athletes should be allowed to compete in the women’s divisions. The contributors to this anthology take down, ground and pound, and submit many essential questions about this fascinating recent development in the culture of sport and spectacle. This is important reading for anybody with an interest in combat sports, martial arts, or the philosophy, sociology, culture or history of sport.

It's Time!
It's Time!

Author: Bruce Buffer

Publisher:

Published: 2013

Total Pages: 298

ISBN-13: 0307953912

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Presents a behind-the-scenes tour of the world of mixed martial arts from the perspective of the UFC announcer's career, sharing lesser-known stories about famous figures and controversial fights while revealing the discovery of his famous brother.

Broken Before Battle
Broken Before Battle

Author: Suzette Howe

Publisher: Showuhow2.com

Published: 2018-06-12

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 9780692127797

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Mixed martial arts (MMA) is often identified with violence and greed, but is that an accurate portrayal? Many MMA fighters grew up having to overcome bullying, gang activity, drugs, and violence. Success as a fighter is their opportunity to share life-altering concepts and inspire others through the sport they enjoy.

Erie County Fair
Erie County Fair

Author: Martin Biniasz on behalf of the Erie County Agricultural Society

Publisher: Arcadia Publishing

Published: 2014

Total Pages: 128

ISBN-13: 1467122068

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From its humble, pioneer beginnings to its current incarnation as the largest independent county fair in the United States, the Erie County Fair in Hamburg, New York, is a beloved western New York institution. Annually, over one million people flock to its historic fairgrounds located just south of Buffalo to celebrate agriculture, showcase time-honored traditions, keep the spirit of competition alive, and, most importantly, come together as a community. Through vintage photographs, Erie County Fair presents a visual narrative of the fair's history and stimulates cherished memories rooted in decades of excitement found at this annual summer gathering. The continuity of the American county fair spirit is most evident through these images from the archives of the Erie County Agricultural Society.

Amazing Traces Of A Babylonian Origin In Greek Mathematics
Amazing Traces Of A Babylonian Origin In Greek Mathematics

Author: Joran Friberg

Publisher: World Scientific

Published: 2007-04-18

Total Pages: 497

ISBN-13: 9814476307

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A sequel to Unexpected Links Between Egyptian and Babylonian Mathematics (World Scientific, 2005), this book is based on the author's intensive and ground breaking studies of the long history of Mesopotamian mathematics, from the late 4th to the late 1st millennium BC. It is argued in the book that several of the most famous Greek mathematicians appear to have been familiar with various aspects of Babylonian “metric algebra,” a convenient name for an elaborate combination of geometry, metrology, and quadratic equations that is known from both Babylonian and pre-Babylonian mathematical clay tablets.The book's use of “metric algebra diagrams” in the Babylonian style, where the side lengths and areas of geometric figures are explicitly indicated, instead of wholly abstract “lettered diagrams” in the Greek style, is essential for an improved understanding of many interesting propositions and constructions in Greek mathematical works. The author's comparisons with Babylonian mathematics also lead to new answers to some important open questions in the history of Greek mathematics.