The sketch blog returns – now with no more of that numbering system. Seriously, the last day I was up to was day 18 and that was months ago. The only way I knew this was the nineteenth drawing was checking the blog. Anyway, here is a drawing of “The Irish Hand Grenade” or sometimes “The Celtic Warrior” depending on what continent he is on, Marcus Davis.

This drawing was done for “Rattling the Cage,” an interview series by Anthony Reid of Reid Fight Wear, for TapouT Magazine (AKA the magazine you should be reading every month supplemented by MMA Worldwide magazine since I write columns for both). Each issue, Tony interviews a fighter in his unique way and has an artist draw a representation of them, and for now I have taken over that role.

If you want to see more of my drawings, you can click on the lovely animated banner on the sidebar or just click this link here instead. Head to rattling-the-cage.com for more from Anthony Reid! And don’t forget to buy the latest issue of TapouT magazine! Enough shameless plugs, go read some other stuff on my site now.

Jorge Gurgel, UFC veteran, TUF contestant and currently slugging it out in ShoMMA, oh and best bud of Rich “Ace” Franklin! A BJJ Black belt who is more than content to throw hands instead of grappling, nothing too novel in today’s MMA but he still draws alot of ire from critics and fans for doing so. Here is a quick doodle of him, notice how I neglected to finish his hair and probably made it comically longer than it should be. That’s what you get when you have tall, pointy tips and when I get carried away with my pens! Lesson learned!

In honor of his return to the cage at UFC 108 this weekend, “J-Lau” Joe Lauzon, whose shoulders look a bit hunched in retrospective. My reference pic was from a press conference photo ( I use those shots often) where he was leaning over and I did not correct it in the drawing so now he just looks quite beefy thanks to my mistake. Lesson for you artists out there – using a photo is a good thing, but following it religiously, not so much. Lauzon is taking on Sam Stout this weekend so good luck to him! I need to do a drawing of “The Upgrade” Dany Lauzon soon too, so he is on the great big list of fighters I need to draw now!

I am back from my thanksgiving snooze and time for more drawings. Today is “The Zen Machine” Mario Sperry of the Brazilian Top Team. One of my fave doodles, I like the nose for some reason. Hope you like the nose, and the rest of him, as well!

Here is the next big thing, Brock Lesnar! Does he have an official nickname yet in MMA? I guess with a name as cool as that, you don’t really need one. Here is wishing Brock a speedy recovery, love him or hate him, respect what he does and let’s hope he pulls through his current health problems and comes back to the octagon sooner than later!

Another quickie face shot, this time of Josh Koscheck, who just won his match against Anthony Johnson at UFC 106 this past weekend. Congrats to him! I wonder if we cut off his curls, will he lose his power like Samson and Delilah?

Mike Swick, TUF alumni and all-around good fighter, “Quick” joins us on Day 6 of the blog. This was done with a more structural approach than previous ones. I built a frame with that nose and worked around it to start forming the rest of his facial proportions. Original drawing is actually 4 inches long and maybe 3 inches tall. It’s pretty tiny.

Fresh from his decision win at UFC 106 over Tito Ortiz, the man I drew yesterday, the perpetually fuzzy-chested Forrest Griffin enters my sketch blog. I like this one but purely based on the linework and how I got that directional flow with the rendering. I wanted to pull off a certain effect with it to show tension and direction in Forrest’s face, hopefully it worked.

In honor of UFC 106, here is one half of the main event, “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz. This pic is a battle damaged Ortiz, I can not remember what fight it is from, but I think from his match with Vitor Belfort. He still has that same smug look on his face, win or lose, blood gushing from his forehead or herpes from Jenna Jameson… herping or whatever it is they do.

Fresh out of his termination from the UFC, Karo Parisyan makes his way into my art blog! Promising young fighter with great credentials, I hope he gets his stuff taken care of so we can see him back in the cage at some point down the line. We all have our demons and the hardest part is mentally beating them. So good luck Karo, you are in the fight of your life now. This drawing was pen and ink with the big black areas done in sharpie for time and then darkened in photoshop.