New Book Exposes Underbelly of Ultimate Fighting and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA)

Jan. 23, 2013 - PRLog -- The UFC, or Ultimate Fighting Championship, has exploded in popularity with stars like Georges St-Pierre and Anderson Silva earning widespread recognition in North America. My new book, Pound for Pound: The Modern Gladiators of Mixed Martial Arts, captures the inner workings of the UFC—as well as other major fight organizations—in an engaging writing style.

Pound for Pound traces the five greatest mixed martial arts (MMA) fighters of all time—Georges St-Pierre, BJ Penn, Anderson Silva, Maurício Rua and Fedor Emelianenko—through their humble origins, baptism by blood and fire, and rise to the pinnacle of MMA, where the sword of Damocles constantly threatens.

I am a Toronto-based writer who traveled throughout Canada, the US and Brazil in order to conduct interviews, visit gyms, attend fight events and research the stories of each fighter. Through my work as a journalist for ESPN.com, FoxSports.com, FIGHT! Magazine, Sportsnet Magazine and CagePotato.com, I obtained special access to all five of the fighters, as well as their teammates, coaches, managers and other key insiders.

This is a story that goes beyond recounting tales of sports glory. Rather, issues like social justice, poverty, corruption, organized crime and health risks are examined deeply throughout the book. In the end, the fighter bears all responsibility for their careers:

"The mystique of watching a spectacle where either participant can be severely damaged makes it compelling right up to the end. Yet the audience can get up and walk away when the fight is over, while the people who performed as the main attraction are entrenched in an all-consuming lifestyle that they have sacrificed nearly everything for."

If you would like a review copy of the book or an interview, I can be reached at thracian[dot]publishing[at]gmail[dot]com.

The video trailer for the book can be viewed here: http://youtu.be/mJ-4iwXnp78



Regards,


Brian J. D’Souza

www.BrianDSouza.com

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