Review of “Raw Combat: The Underground world of Mixed Martial Arts”
If I need to tell you the problems of sanctioning MMA in New York, you must be new to this website. Assuming you are a serious fan of the sport, I will spare you the lecture and say that this fight continues to rage on in a cycle of approval and disapproval with a hint of last-minute sabotage whenever it goes to the most important vote. The majority of people know that there is no MMA in NY, but that majority would be wrong.
Jim Genia, editor of the bible of MMA “Full Contact Fighter”, has been a fixture in the MMA scene since the beginning and has seen some of the most pivotal moments in MMA history happen right in front of his eyes from cageside. In 2003, Jim found himself pulled into a side of the sport he did not know even existed – underground fighting in New York City. Soon, Jim was hooked on Peter Storm’s “Underground Combat League” shows, and has become the authority on this promotion.
“Raw Combat: The Underground world of Mixed Martial Arts” is Jim’s makeshift memoirs of his time observing the UCL, wrapped up with the story of MMA in the US, and especially in NY, NJ, and PA. There are no other books like this on the market, but is there a reason for that? Should the world of underground MMA stay hidden, or is their merit in this book? Hit the jump to read my review!
“At a New York City underground show, words like motley crew, varied assortment and wretched hive of scum and villainy barely scratch the surface.”
This is how the author describes the kind of people that frequent the “Underground Combat League”, or UCL. The UCL has been home to many fighters who made it big, like Frankie Edgar and Bryan Vetell. It is also home to local stars like James Funaro, and more dubious competitors like Lamont Tereyton Williams, who after a nyquil binge took a power saw on a subway and attempted to carve up a poor bystander. This book documents the life and times of the many combatants who have fought in closed-doors gyms and random martial arts schools with the only purse the winner takes home being pride.
Combined with the tales of UCL promoter Peter Storm and his stable of mainstay fighters, Jim also tells us about local fighters from the tri-state area whose efforts mirror the stories from the underground. A tale about twin brothers James and Joe Funaro spins off into a story about Louis Gaudinot from TSMMA fighting in a sanctioned amateur show in New Jersey. To top this off, the history of MMA in the US is also spread purposefully through the book.
The story of the UCL itself is quite impressive. Imagine prohibition times with speakeasy’s and floating games of craps, then add fisticuffs and a ground game and you could sum up this underground organization. The author tells us about the owner of the company who fits the bill for his events, even if he rarely makes a profit (let alone break even), and stories of other men coming up in the league, including the tragic tale of Kaream, and the essentials like Shawn and Kirkland. You come to know these men well by the end of the book, and in spite of the violence they engage in, the writer humanizes them and shows you that behind the machismo is the code of bushido. Some readers may be unfamiliar at first with some of the names that Jim focuses on, but there is star power as you turn the pages, including discussions on Matt Serra, Lyman Good, Tom Gallicchio, and even referee Big Dan Miragliotta, all of whom somehow connect to the UG scene and with the growth of the sport as a whole.
The author writes in a bare-knuckled, no-holds-barred style that perfectly matches the raw world of underground MMA. Jim makes the experience as intimate as spending time with the actual fighters in person, inside and outside of the cage or ring (and sometimes gym mats). Imagine reading Hunter S. Thompson writing about MMA, subtract the insane amount of drugs he did but leave in the clever wordplay, and there is the experience you will be reading for the next 200 pages.
There were two people who I was lucky to meet when I first started getting involved in MMA, Eddie Goldman and Jim Genia. Gallagher’s Steakhouse in Midtown Manhattan, 2006, IFL press conference. To say I was in over my head would be an understatement, especially when the moment you walk in you see some of your favorite fighters just hanging around. I was not a journalist by any means back then, just an illustrator and enormous fan who brought his art to give to the fighters. Like a butterfly, Eddie Goldman was flying around the room grabbing interviews like sweet nectar with his mic and recorder, while Jim hung back and seemed to blend into the crowd while he worked.
I don’t remember much about our first meeting (maybe I’ll ask Jim later), but I do remember him asking me about who I was and what I was doing there, since I really had no purpose other than getting autographs and watching Bas Rutten and Ben Rothwell eat steak. The deeper I got into the sport, the more I saw of Jim, and soon I had earned the privilege of being offered Swedish Fish or mini Reese’s peanut butter cups at fights from him. Might sound menial, but for someone as awkward and shy as me, it meant a lot.
Why am I giving this random essay about how I met the author? Mainly to show just how long Jim had been toiling on this book. Jim mentions speaking with Marc Ratner at a legislative roundtable that I was at in 2008 with him, the MMA World Expo in 2009 that I worked for and attended, the first (and final) time Elite XC came to New Jersey and many other events. In reality, this book started in 2003 when he attended his first UCL show.
The heart of this book is growth, with Jim observing as the world expands around him. The people he saw fight in the UCL in 2003 grew older, had families and children. Some kept fighting in the UCL, some made it to the big time, and others hung up the gloves for good. Simultaneously, the sport of MMA has changed in leaps and bounds, and the story of the underground fight scene is told side by side with that saga.
I have read plenty of books on MMA; biographies, travel stories, encyclopedias and instructional books to name a few varieties. None of them compare to Jim Genia’s “Raw Combat: The Underground world of Mixed Martial Arts”, and I am not just saying that because I know the author (since I tend to know a lot of the authors these days). Of all the books I have read on the topic, none were written in the unique way that this was and that is a very positive thing. You can tell this was a labor of love, and you will quickly be thrown into the world of UG MMA to appreciate more of what it really is, and not what you initially perceived it to be.
This book will retail for $14.95 at a slim 6×9 size, and comes with a 16-page insert with 32 color photos. You can pre-order “Raw Combat: The Underground World of Mixed Martial Arts” from Amazon.com
There are still a lot of authorities who do not understand the means, rules and regulations of the fight. They always thought that this kind of fight is brutal. In some ways they have to understand a lot of things about this kind of battle to be ale for them to approved it. In this way they will not do it in an underground fight.