Into the Cage: the Rise of UFC Nation Free

FREE INTO THE CAGE: THE RISE OF UFC NATION PDF

Nick Gullo took his notepad and camera behind the curtain at MMA events around the globe for a rare look at one of the fastest growing sports in the world. This article was published more than 6 years ago. Some information in it may no longer be current. But living without Into the Cage: The Rise of UFC Nation television in a small Florida coastal town left him with no clue about the empire White was building in Las Vegas as president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship. Hurricane Katrina forced Gullo and his family to pack up their things and head west, where he would catch up with White and have his eyes opened to the past, present and future of the UFC. Knowing the president gets you unparalleled access and Gullo took his notepad and camera behind the curtain at mixed martial arts events around Into the Cage: The Rise of UFC Nation globe for a rare look at the athletes and personalities behind one of the fastest growing sports in the world. Gullo sat down with Globesports. Q: One of the central themes in the book is finding beauty in the brutality of MMA. What beauty did you find? A: I found beauty in the sacrifice and the hard work that these guys put in. During the eight-to week camp before a fight everything is blocked out and all they do is completely focus on that fight. I found it so fascinating that they would sacrifice whole chunks of their lives in the pursuit of really testing themselves. To me, that's what martial arts is all about. UFC middleweight Lyoto Machida said this journey into the cage is about life. To watch another person strive for something that maybe you don't understand, Into the Cage: The Rise of UFC Nation that you can respect, to me, is beautiful. Q: There are some great backstage photos in the book taken on fight night. I imagine guys weren't crazy about having a camera stuck in their face in that charged atmosphere. How did you manage to get those Into the Cage: The Rise of UFC Nation Cody was like "Get that camera out of my face! I realized that he's going to win a fight in the future and he'll want the photo from the loss to show that low so he can contrast it with his high. This is history, and with the wins come the losses. Before fights I tried to stay as a fly on the wall, but these are also professional athletes. You're fighting to write your name in history and I'm part of that. I'm chronicling this for you. Most of the guys didn't even think about it. They are so locked in and so focused in those hours before they fight that they don't even notice. Q: I think people have a very easy time seeing the physical side of the sport because watching a fight is such a visceral experience — you see blood, you hear the smack of a stiff leg kick, you see a head snap back. I'm not sure the average person understands the mental part of preparing to fight. A: The mental side is everything. You almost win your fight before you enter the arena. During a training camp you have to be per cent mentally present. Your progress and effectiveness is dependent on it. A fight is only one night and your confidence as you step into the octagon that night is dependent on your preparation. If you can't be mentally present day after day after day you're not going to succeed. You don't have a team to pick up the slack in the octagon. It's just you. Q: I've never Into the Cage: The Rise of UFC Nation in a fight or thrown a serious punch in my life. I don't understand the mentality of a fighter. A: As human beings we all seek opportunities to test ourselves, no matter what it is. Do you want to be a great basket weaver? I think we all want to be the best we can be at something and fighters are no different. I'm in my forties and I compete in jiu-jitsu tournaments because I want to test my abilities that I work on day in and day out. I'm not winning money, I don't have anything at stake, but the only to truly test that is in competition. Training doesn't give you the real world feedback. I think it's the same thing for the fighters in the UFC. There's Into the Cage: The Rise of UFC Nation lot of hype talk before a fight about beating each other up before, but after the bout they're hugging each other and have nothing but pure respect for each other. That's indicative of the true mindset: Let's go in there together and test our abilities. Q: There's a quote from former UFC competitor Jon Fitch in the book where you and he are talking about fighting and he says it is "the clearest mirror you'll ever stand in front of. A: It's true. I can't speak as a UFC fighter, but in a sport like this it is just you. There is no one to blame. Did you prepare mentally? Did you prepare emotionally? Did you prepare physically? No matter what the outcome is, if you prepared and executed to the best of your ability you shouldn't be disappointed. Sometimes you win, sometimes you lose. The disappointment comes when you lack in preparation from one of those areas. Q: What is it that has made MMA so popular? Is that it? A: I think we do live vicariously through sports archetypes. It's an important part of understanding not just MMA, but any sport. We're living through these people and they're providing a release. It's just like ancient mythology. There's a reason that we continually recycle our heroes again and again. Another reason the fight game is so great is that you see these individuals from different backgrounds sacrificing and overcoming hardships to achieve their goals. Or maybe they fail, but they pick themselves up and go again. Q: Dana is so unlike the head of every other major sports organization in the world — blunt, profane and easily accessible at the events and on social media. You've been close with him for a very long time. What's something even the biggest UFC fan might be surprised to know about him? A: He's a great dad. Something that I love the most about him is how close he is with Into the Cage: The Rise of UFC Nation kids. He's a great father and a great human being. Into the Cage: The Rise of UFC Nation UFC thing is his job, but that's completely separate from the real person that he is. People love him because his life is a continuation of that fighter overcoming story. I knew Dana when we were kids and neither of us came from anything. I know in his life a lot of people told him he'd never amount to anything, so he's got a very inspiring story that not a lot of people are aware of. A: I think that's exactly where it is going to be. They will never be able to replace Dana and they will never be able to replace Joe. You see the new announcers, and I love them, they're great, but everyone is already wearing suits and ties. You're already seeing it happen. To me, the two most fascinating people in the UFC are Joe Rogan and Dana White because they are so outside the norm of what you'd expect. Joe personifies what the UFC is — the merging of sports and entertainment. Into the Cage: The Rise of UFC Nation Dana, where have we ever seen anyone as the president of sports organization who is just so real? The book covers the period from the Ultimate Fighter reality show taking off up to the deal with Fox. That Fox deal was the start of the real mainstreaming of MMA. We'll see the effects of that over the next few years. It seems to me, as a fan, that they're moving it towards that NFL-type model. That was always the plan — to move it to the mainstream and Fox is a mainstream network. Q: The book closes with your thought that MMA is the most misunderstood sport on the planet. We're not an MMA publication, so plenty of people will see this who don't buy pay per views or think the sport is too violent. What would you like those people to understand about the sport? A: This book is the story of me coming from the outside to try to understand what this sport is about. The lesson I drew about MMA is that it is a very disciplined sport these guys are dedicating their lives to and it is evolving as we watch. That is what's so fascinating. There's a whole human ancestry thing too. The first thing in cave drawings we saw, in terms of sports, was organized combat. The guys are protected, they're wearing gloves and there are referees. I just don't look at it as fighting. It's hand-to-hand combat. Into the Cage by Nick Gullo: | : Books

Nick Gullo. In the lates, a VHS tape circulated through the martial arts underground. The grainy video,Gracies in Action, showed a slim Brazilian fighter in a traditional gi fighting a boxer, a wrestler, and finally a karate master. Art Davie saw the tape, and with Rorion Gracie, devised War of the Worlds, a combat tournament featuring fighters from every discipline. Inthe Ultimate Fighting Championships debuted Into the Cage: The Rise of UFC Nation Denver, Colorado, and 86, home viewers paid to watch. Here you will find the history of mixed martial arts; an in-depth appreciation of mixed martial arts styles; a behind-the-scenes look at The Ultimate Fighter; and a glimpse into life with a fight team and what it takes to face an opponent in the Octagon. Lavishly illustrated with almost remarkable colour and black and white photographs, and never-before-told anecdotes, Nick Gullo gives UFC fans unique access to the training, lives, and careers of some of MMA's most celebrated fighters. Above all, Into the Cage chronicles the hero's journey embarked upon by some of the toughest, most skilled fighters in the world. Fascinating, uncensored, and insightful, this remarkable first-hand account reveals the world's most compelling and fastest growing sport as it has never been seen before. Both an accomplished photographer and journalist, Gullo travels the world with his best friend, Dana White, to each UFC event to interview the fighters and capture images of the fights. He is an insider of the sport Into the Cage: The Rise of UFC Nation has captured it in this book like never before. The author lives in Huntington Beach, California. Behind the scenes at MMA: ‘This journey into the cage is about life’ - The Globe and Mail

In the lates, a VHS tape circulated through the martial arts underground. The grainy video, Gracies in Actionshowed a slim Brazilian fighter in a traditional gi fighting a boxer, a wrestler, and finally a karate master. Art Davie saw the tape, and with Rorion Gracie, devised War of the Worldsa combat tournament featuring fighters from every discipline. Inth. Inthe Ultimate Fighting Championship debuted in Denver, Colorado, and 86, home viewers paid to watch. Here you will find the history of mixed martial arts; an in-depth appreciation of mixed martial arts styles; a behind-the-scenes look at The Ultimate Fighter ; and a glimpse into life with a fight team and what it takes to face an opponent in the Octagon. Goodreads helps you keep track of books you want to read. Want to Read saving…. Want to Read Currently Reading Read. Other editions. Enlarge cover. Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Open Preview See a Problem? Details if other :. Thanks for telling us about the problem. Return to Book Page. Preview — Into the Cage by Nick Gullo. Dana White Introduction. Inth In the lates, a VHS tape circulated through the martial arts underground. Get A Copy. Kindle Into the Cage: The Rise of UFC Nationpages. More Details Other Editions 3. Friend Reviews. To see what your friends thought of this book, please sign up. To ask other readers questions about Into the Cageplease sign up. Lists with This Book. This book is not yet featured on Listopia. Community Reviews. Showing Average rating 3. Rating details. More filters. Sort order. Aug 08, Alex rated it it was ok. Should have been titled "Dana White is a god". Pure UFC propaganda. Mar 08, Olivia Witherite rated it really liked it Shelves: Super informative. Feb 29, Kirsten rated it really liked it Shelves: dat-non-fiction-dosweet For those of you who doubted the sincerity of my interest in and fairly newfound passion for UFC, I hope the fact that I demolished this book is proof that I'm seriously amazed by and into this sport. Some people were hatin' on this book because they claim it For those of you who doubted the sincerity of my interest in and fairly newfound passion for UFC, I hope the fact that I demolished this book is proof that I'm seriously amazed by and into this sport. Some people were hatin' on this book because they claim it's just a giant praise-Dana-White-he-is-the-greatest, and while there are elements of that I mean, his best friend wrote the book, I'd hope that MY best friend would make me sound amazing if they wrote a book about me, too I found that it gave me, as a relative novice fan, a great overview and glimpse of how a UFC event is formed, and where it's all come from. I mean, now Into the Cage: The Rise of UFC Nation can sling around names like Tank Abbott, Royce Gracie, and Georges St-Pierre and have some idea what I'm talking about, which is a thrilling experience, and as a ps if you think UFC now is intense, WOOF just go back and watch the earliest events where people were ripping ponytails out. You heard me. Could this book have been more balanced? Sure, but I think Gullo made his point and created a literary environment that was both voyeuristic and nostalgic, and it was pretty magical to be a part of. I've gotta give a major shoutout to Nick Gullo and his photography, too. This book was impeccably put together, with gorgeous, huge black and white photos of blood and rawness and beautiful people luxuriously Into the Cage: The Rise of UFC Nation out on high gloss paper with bold black text on white backgrounds. I love how cool UFC makes me feel. I also very, VERY much so want to get into kickboxing or something, because datfire and datintensity? Bring it. Bring it on hard. That was an amazing book. Nick Gullo is a personal friend of Dana White for years now, that what make this book that good. But going as personal in the behind the scene, as possible this is the work that Nick providing us. From the beginning and struggles of the UFC to adding the woman in UFC to Training camp before a fight backstage before a fight and thoughts of what going on during fight from is point of view, dana white p That was an amazing book. From the beginning and struggles of the UFC to adding the woman in UFC to Training camp before a fight backstage before a fight and thoughts of what going on during fight from is point of view, dana white point of view and variety of fighters point of view You will also have a nice collection of illustrated pictures in this book. Jul 10, David Pettit rated it it was amazing. Fantastic Into the Cage: The Rise of UFC Nation If only it could have been longer. Rob rated it it was amazing Apr 24, Ta0paipai rated it liked it Jul 12, Michael Varhol rated it really liked it Oct 09, Loredana rated it really liked it Oct 16, John rated it really liked it Mar 04, SasaB rated it liked it Aug 25, Scott Smith rated it liked it Feb 28, Edward A Register Jr rated it it was amazing Mar 24, Andrew Ryan rated it really liked it Nov 19, Chris rated it really liked it Feb 19, Simon rated it liked it Oct 11, Viktor rated it really liked it Nov 19, Ivaylo rated it liked it Dec 19, Paras Shah rated it liked it Feb 28, Cody rated it liked it May 29, Into the Cage: The Rise of UFC Nation rated it it was amazing May 20, Chris rated it liked it Jan 14, Taina da Rosa Bourckhardt rated it it was amazing Jan 03, Derobo rated it liked it Nov 06, Sceadugenga rated it liked it Jul 05, Jamie Into the Cage: The Rise of UFC Nation it it was amazing Mar 02, Ken rated it really liked it Jul 30, Ashwin rated it really liked it Jun 01, Joey rated it liked it Dec 29, There are no discussion topics on this book yet. Readers also enjoyed. About Nick Gullo. Nick Gullo. Books by Nick Gullo. Related Articles. Into the Cage: The Rise of UFC Nation You Ready for Some Football Here in the United States, it's football season. It's time of great rivalry, wearing of team colors, and obsessing over the Read more Trivia About Into the Cage: Th No trivia or quizzes yet. Welcome back.