Champions of the Octagon: One-on-One with MMA and UFC Greats

by Fiaz Rafiq, Royce Gracie (Foreword by), Michael Bisping (Foreword by)

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781683584421
Publisher:	Sports Publishing LLC
Publication date:	06/21/2022
Pages:	312
Sales rank:	414,673
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.10(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Fiaz Rafiq is a professional sports and entertainment contributing writer for prominent newspapers and author of acclaimed biographies of Bruce Lee, Muhammad Ali, and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He has written his own journalist memoir, as well as Sunday Times Book of the Year, My Brother, Muhammad Ali with Ali’s only sibling, Rahaman Ali. For fifteen years, he was a columnist for a bestselling combat sports magazine MAI, and has contributed to various magazines throughout his career.

Royce Gracie is considered to be the most influential figure in the history of MMA. The three-time UFC champion was joint first inductee in the UFC Hall of Fame.

Michael Bisping, former UFC middleweight champion and author of Quitters Never Win, currently hosts his own Believe You Me podcast and works as a UFC analyst and an actor.

Table of Contents

Foreword Royce Grade ix

Foreword Michael Bisping xi

Introduction xiii

Chapter 1 Pioneers and Champions 1

Royce Gracie (2008) 3

Ken Shamrock (2008) 11

Dan Severn (2008) 23

Mark Coleman (2008) 35

Chapter 2 Legends and Champions 45

Frank Shamrock (2008) 47

Jens Pulver (2008) 57

Tito Ortiz (2008) 71

Rashad Evans (2008) 85

Forrest Griffin (2008) 95

Tim Sylvia (2008) 101

Matt Serra (2008) 109

Matt Hughes (2008) 117

Georges St-Pierre (2008) 125

Vitor Belfort (2008) 131

BJ Penn (2008) 137

Anderson Silva (2008) 143

Quinton "Rampage" Jackson (2008) 149

Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (2008) 153

Sean Sherk (2008) 161

Brock Lesnar (2008) 169

Michael Bisping (2008) 173

Chuck Liddell (2008) 185

Randy Couture (2008) 191

Dan Henderson (January 2021) 197

Carlos Condit (February 2021) 205

Chapter 3 New Era Champions 209

Lyoto Machida (April 2021) 211

Anthony Pettis (January 2021) 217

Eddie Alvarez (February 2021) 225

Junior Dos Santos (November 2021) 231

Jan Blachowicz (January 2021) 235

Alexander Volkanovski (January 2021) 241

Daniel Cormier (February 2021) 247

Petr Yan (February 2021) 253

Chapter 4 New Era Women Champions 257

Holly Holm (December 2020) 259

Cris Cyborg (January 2021) 267

Joanna Jedrzejczyk (February 2021) 273

Acknowledgments 279

About the Author 281