Bloody Elbow

I usually don't get to read a bunch of tweets due to the sheer number of people I'm following (just so I can get you your weekly How's Taste My Tweet Tweet compilation). Today though, I woke up and noticed that I had a mention from Phil Baroni asking me what I thought about this AKA documentary called 'Fight Factory'.

I read the description of the video which said something a bit cheesy, but also expected, when it comes to companies trying to convince you to watch their show:

Picture all six Rocky flicks rolled into one and with a punch of "Brown Pride" added in and you'll get an idea of the unrelenting wallop of Fight Factory.

The documentary revolves around the inner workings of the top MMA gym, American Kickboxing Academy, their coaches, and their fighters.

I truly expected it to be like those run of the mill MMA training documentaries that pops up every now and then, but a few minutes in, and I surprisingly didn't find that urge to press the close button on my browser. In fact, even if I already knew the results of the bouts I still kept watching intently just to see how it all unfolds.

Cain Velasquez is the most popular guy in the 'cast', so they're naturally focusing the marketing on him and his preparation for that UFC on FOX bout against Junior dos Santos. To be honest though, apart from the bit where Cain discusses and confirms that he sprained his knee in training, the more interesting bits on the episode where definitely from the story lines on AKA's other fighters Phil Baroni and Mark Ellis.

They show Ellis and the struggles of a new fighter who is having trouble dealing with the physical, and more importantly, the mental issues of switching from being a dominant wrestling champion, to a rookie who is struggling to make it in MMA. They also show Baroni, a veteran trying to come back months too early from surgery because he needed the cash. A fighter who doesn't feel welcome in a camp that he has been part of for years, and has been dealing with people telling him he's washed up and should retire.

We hear and read about these conflicts all the time, but the makers of the film were able to capture and present it well, giving us a look first hand on how these fighters cope and deal with those issues.

Check out the video below.