Blood in the Cage: Mixed Martial Arts, Pat Miletich, and the Furious Rise of the UFC (Hardcover)

~ (Author)
Key Phrases: mixed martial arts, athletic commission, cutting weight, Quad Cities, Pat Miletich, Las Vegas (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Review

In his latest page-turning sports tour, Sports Illustrated senior writer Wertheim (Running the Table, Venus Envy) tackles mixed martial arts (MMA), a one-on-one bare-fist brawl that combines kickboxing, Greco-Roman wrestling, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and basically any other fighting technique an athlete chooses (minimal rules include no kidney-kicking and no sticking fingers in orifices or wounds). Chronicling the life of MMA legend Pat Miletich (the sport’s Abner Doubleday), Wertheim also traces the history of the ultraviolent contest, dissects the league that dominates it (Las Vegas-based Ultimate Fighting Champion) and examines the appeal (and the stigma) that’s taken it from Internet subculture to pay-per-view king to $500 million commercial powerhouse. Miletich entered the sport in the early 1990s, when it was a no-holds-barred free-for-all (referred to by Sen. John McCain as “human cockfighting”), and wound up a five-time UFC champion; now, he operates an MMA training facility in Bettendorf, Iowa that draws athletes from around the world. A winning writer, Wertheim introduces a colorful, mostly likable cast of fighters, promoters, trainers and executives, brings an unflinching eye to fight scenes (the opening beat-down will certainly grab readers’ attention) and defends the sport just as well as he questions its less-savory operating tactics. (Jan.) —Publishers Weekly

 

“A seamless combination of sport, entertainment . . . Wertheim has pierced the veil to create an edifying book for die-hard MMA fans and curious bystanders alike. “ —Sam Sheridan, author of A Fighter’s Heart

 

“Blood in the Cage is not only factually accurate, but also a joy to read. Jon Wertheim poignantly writes about the less than glorious rise to the top of MMA legend Pat Miletich while taking you for a ride down the historical trail blazed by some of MMA’s biggest stars . . . this book is a must read.”

—Big John McCarthy, legendary UFC referee and founder of Big John McCarthy’s Ultimate Training Academy

 

“In a book as bracing and forthright as an open-handed slap, Jon Wertheim transcends easy caricature and cheap sensationalism to deliver the first honest journalism about Mixed Martial Arts that this country’s ever seen. Half hype, half hemoglobin—and from its bareknuckles beginnings to its recent arrival as a national pay-per-view pastime—the brief, brutal history of MMA has confounded even its own fans. Blood in the Cage stands above the din.” —Jeff MacGregor, special contributor, Sports Illustrated and author of Sunday Money

 

“In Blood in the Cage, L. Jon Wertheim tells the story of Pat Miletich, the consummate professional athlete turned world class trainer. Miletich is someone for whom I have considerable respect and admiration and who puts his athletes and our sport first and foremost.” —Randy Couture, UFC champion

 

“As Voltaire said, ‘That’s why they invented the squeegee.’”—David Mamet, author, playwright, and director

 

Product Description

The first inside account of the sensational new sport of mixed martial arts, seen through the lens of its pioneer, Pat Miletich, “the patron saint of badass” Based on unlimited access to the Ultimate Fighting Championship and its rival leagues, Blood in the Cage peers through the chain-link Octagon into the frighteningly seductive world of mixed martial arts, which is exploding in popularity despite resistance from every corner.Wertheim focuses on Pat Miletich, a mixed-martial-arts pioneer and six-time UFC champion, who currently runs the most famous MMA training school in the world. Single-handedly Miletich has transformed a gritty town on the banks of the Mississippi into an unlikely hotbed for his sport.He has also transformed many an average Joe into a walking weapon of destruction.

 

Wertheim intertwines Miletich’s own life story, by turns tragic and triumphant, with the larger story of the unholy rise of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, from its controversial, back alley roots to the fastest-growing sporting enterprise in America. For fans of Jeff MacGregor’s Sunday Money and Sam Sheridan’s A Fighter’s Heart, Blood in the Cage takes readers behind the scenes, right down to the mat, from a punch in the kidney to the ping of the cash register, as Wertheim brilliantly exposes the no-holds-barred reality of the blood sport for a new generation.

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Product Details Hardcover: 288 pages Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (January 15, 2009) Language: English ISBN-10: 0618982612 ISBN-13: 978-0618982615 Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies) Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews) Amazon.com Sales Rank: #73,217 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books) Popular in this category: (What's this?) #19 in  Books > Sports > Individual Sports > Mixed Martial Arts

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Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
mixed martial arts, athletic commission, cutting weight, karate studio, fight plan

Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Quad Cities, Pat Miletich, Las Vegas, Dana White, Matt Hughes, Battle of the Masters, Ultimate Fighting, Mona Miletich, New York, Monte Cox, Muay Thai, John Miletich, Randy Couture, Mark Hanssen, Chuck Liddell, The Ultimate Fighter, Mike Tyson, The Cult of Pat, Tim Sylvia, Great Dana, The Final Round, Lorenzo Fertitta, Lumber Yard, Miletich Fighting Systems, Extreme Challenge

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	62% buy the item featured on this page: Blood in the Cage: Mixed Martial Arts, Pat Miletich, and the Furious Rise of the UFC 4.4 out of 5 stars (12) $16.50
	14% buy Got Fight?: The 50 Zen Principles of Hand-to-Face Combat 4.3 out of 5 stars (90) $16.31
	9% buy Becoming the Natural: My Life In and Out of the Cage 4.4 out of 5 stars (19) $10.88
	9% buy Total MMA: Inside Ultimate Fighting 4.7 out of 5 stars (7) $13.57

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Customer Reviews

12 Reviews 5 star:  (10) 4 star:    (0) 3 star:    (0) 2 star:  (1) 1 star:  (1)           Average Customer Review 4.4 out of 5 stars (12 customer reviews)		Share your thoughts with other customers:
Most Helpful Customer Reviews 6 of 7 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Portrait of an MMA Icon and the rise of MMA as a Sport, January 11, 2009 By  Kevin Quinley "GeezerJock" (Fairfax, VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)       As one sign that MMA is now mainstream, there is a growing bookshelf dedicated to the sport and its luminaries. In 2008, we saw the autobiographies of Matt Hughes, Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture. Kelly Criger's "Title Shot" is excellent in offering profiles of various elite MMA training centers around the country. That fine book has one glaring omission, though, in that it did not profile Miletich Fighting Systems in Bettendorf, Iowa. Author and Sports Illustrated writer L. Jon Wertheim fills that void with a vivid, fascinating and entertaining "Blood in the Cage." "Blood' tracks the parallel emergence and transformation of Pat Miletich with the burgeoning sport of mixed martial arts. The fact that a writer for SI was paid to write an entire book about MMA is another sign that the sport has arrived. Wertheim offers a flattering but not fawning portrayal of Miletich, a hardscrabble kid who went from tough guy punk to brawler to MMA champ to a trainer of the elite. Miletich and his stable of fighters mirror their Midwest location: hard working, conservative, methodical. The Croation Sensation reached his peak before the UFC hit the big time, but now Miletich trains some of the top competitors in MMA. He is the Yoda or Mr. Miyagi of MMA. Until someone better comes along, Wertheim has written perhaps the best book yet on MMA and the rise of the UFC. Nor does he idolize the latter, noting the issue of performance enhancing drugs, the closed financial deals and the heavy-handedness of it bald F-bomb dictator, Dana White. Still, reading Wertheim you can almost feel yourself in the octagon, as the book brims with authenticity. (The only blooper I spotted was a point where Wertheim said the Miletich fighters trained with Russian kettle drums. I imagined the fighters auditioning on the percussion with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra ..) You are there on the mats, at least vicariously, without the inconvenience of having to sweat, bleed or barf. If you are a fan or the MMA or UFC, you may have a hard time putting down "Blood in the Cage." I don't put it down, but instead give it five stars out of five!! 4 of 5 people found the following review helpful: 2.0 out of 5 stars not written by a true insider, June 22, 2009 By  Nobody (Seattle, Wa) - See all my reviews Pat Miletich is a pretty interesting subject to use as a door into the development of mixed martial arts and the book uses it to good effect. If you want to learn about Pat, or are new to MMA and would like to learn a the basics of its history, this might seem like a decent book to read. However, I had major problems with a few things: 1. The author's descriptions of events that are available to the public record are often inaccurate. This undermines the credibility of his descriptions of things we haven't seen. Major and minor examples of innacuracy: Major: in his description of the controversial first fight between Carlos Newton and Matt Hughes, its almost as if he didn't watch the fight, or watched it carelessly once and wrote the description from notes. He writes that Newton grabbed the top of the cage and then secured a triangle choke, implying that it was Newton's foul that allowed him to choke Hughes. In fact, the only reason he was up against the top of the fence was that he had Hughes in a triangle on the ground, and Hughes lifted him up to try to shake him off, or possibly slam him. Minor: In the Ultimate Fighter, he wrote that there was a dispute about asparagus tips being left on the counter. In fact, Stephan Bonner confronts Diego Sanchez about eating all of the asparagus tips and leaving the stalks. Maybe some people won't consider these types of errors a big deal, but there were so many of them that I had a hard time taking the book seriously. The impression you get is that the writer is not an insider, and didn't really care to spend enough time to write a thoroughly researched book. 2. The writer is way too concerned with turning a cute or literary phrase. I found his style very irritating. So often, the representation of reality is subsumed by lame figurative terms or sensational images that really don't serve the subject and remind you that the guy is primarily a writer of deadline-driven magazine articles where such slop is acceptable. He tries to create a tone with stuff like fighters coming to a gym from all over to 'trade pints of blood'. Really? That's what they're doing? I understand that these are just writerly turns-of-phrase but there are so many poor and unnecessary ones in this book that I felt the subject suffered. In short, if you're already an MMA fan, read this book for the Miletich story--it's pretty interesting--but you should know beforehand that this guy is not much of an expert. 1 of 1 people found the following review helpful: 5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, February 24, 2009 By  J. Lamb (Vienna, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)    Very good book if you have even a small interest in MMA. It gives an interesting account of Pat Miletich's life, but it also sheds light on many other aspects of the UFC, and the origins of MMA. Lots of stories about other fighters (not just Pat and his crew). Also tells the story of Dana White and the Fertitta brothers and how they became involved with the UFC, and eventually changed the MMA world. I highly suggest this book, best I have read in a long time.		Ad feedback   Most Recent Customer Reviews 5.0 out of 5 stars Great primer on a growing sport I'm a late comer to MAA and Blood in the Cage is an excellent, well written and researched book on the history of the of the sport. L. Jon Wertheim pulls no punches (ah heh! Read more Published 5 months ago by B. Lane 1.0 out of 5 stars Inacurate, poorly written, and full of typos This book is just terrible. There are so many things I could complain about, but that would be giving this more time than it's worth. Read more Published 6 months ago by MMAGuy 5.0 out of 5 stars Awesome book - Would recommend to anyone! This was a great book that would serve as a great introduction to the world of MMA. Published 8 months ago by Adam Bascombe 5.0 out of 5 stars Great Great book for the MMA fan. I am a devoted fan to the sport, and I learned new things. Highly recommended. Published 9 months ago by Angela Owen 5.0 out of 5 stars Best of the MMA books to date This book gives a very accurate and real depiction of MMA history. It gives a great overview of the mind-set of these athletes and I have a new appreciation of Miletich... Read more Published 9 months ago by wrestler 5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, nice parallel story telling First of all, I love martial arts and I love mma. When I saw the author on HDNet's Inside MMA talking about the book, it piqued my interest. Read more Published 9 months ago by Jeff J. Franciski 5.0 out of 5 stars A Wicked Sledgehammer of a Book About MMA, UFC, and the Great Pat Miletich! As someone not familiar with the sport of MMA, I bought this book because I have enjoyed the author's previous work. And boy, am I glad I picked this one up! Read more Published 10 months ago by Joseph C. Sweeney 5.0 out of 5 stars Fantastic I'm a huge MMA fan, and this book has it all. Wertheim is a great writer, but it's the attention to detail that blew me away. Read more Published 10 months ago by M.Wright 5.0 out of 5 stars Blood, Heart, and Soul in the Cage. Money, and lots of it, in the Pocket! I certainly started the New Year off with the proverbial BANG, by finding this book on New Year's Day at one of my local big bookstores. Read more Published 10 months ago by Shawn Kovacich Search Customer Reviews Only search this product's reviews

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (January 15, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0618982612
• ISBN-13: 978-0618982615
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 5.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #73,217 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

  Popular in this category: (What's this?)

  #19 in

  Books > Sports > Individual Sports > Mixed Martial Arts

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Superb Portrait of an MMA Icon and the rise of MMA as a Sport, January 11, 2009

By	Kevin Quinley "GeezerJock" (Fairfax, VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

As one sign that MMA is now mainstream, there is a growing bookshelf dedicated to the sport and its luminaries. In 2008, we saw the autobiographies of Matt Hughes, Tito Ortiz, Chuck Liddell and Randy Couture. Kelly Criger's "Title Shot" is excellent in offering profiles of various elite MMA training centers around the country. That fine book has one glaring omission, though, in that it did not profile Miletich Fighting Systems in Bettendorf, Iowa.

Author and Sports Illustrated writer L. Jon Wertheim fills that void with a vivid, fascinating and entertaining "Blood in the Cage." "Blood' tracks the parallel emergence and transformation of Pat Miletich with the burgeoning sport of mixed martial arts. The fact that a writer for SI was paid to write an entire book about MMA is another sign that the sport has arrived.

Wertheim offers a flattering but not fawning portrayal of Miletich, a hardscrabble kid who went from tough guy punk to brawler to MMA champ to a trainer of the elite. Miletich and his stable of fighters mirror their Midwest location: hard working, conservative, methodical. The Croation Sensation reached his peak before the UFC hit the big time, but now Miletich trains some of the top competitors in MMA. He is the Yoda or Mr. Miyagi of MMA.

Until someone better comes along, Wertheim has written perhaps the best book yet on MMA and the rise of the UFC. Nor does he idolize the latter, noting the issue of performance enhancing drugs, the closed financial deals and the heavy-handedness of it bald F-bomb dictator, Dana White. Still, reading Wertheim you can almost feel yourself in the octagon, as the book brims with authenticity. (The only blooper I spotted was a point where Wertheim said the Miletich fighters trained with Russian kettle drums. I imagined the fighters auditioning on the percussion with the Moscow Symphony Orchestra ..) You are there on the mats, at least vicariously, without the inconvenience of having to sweat, bleed or barf.

If you are a fan or the MMA or UFC, you may have a hard time putting down "Blood in the Cage." I don't put it down, but instead give it five stars out of five!!

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars not written by a true insider, June 22, 2009

By	Nobody (Seattle, Wa) - See all my reviews

Pat Miletich is a pretty interesting subject to use as a door into the development of mixed martial arts and the book uses it to good effect. If you want to learn about Pat, or are new to MMA and would like to learn a the basics of its history, this might seem like a decent book to read.

However, I had major problems with a few things:

1. The author's descriptions of events that are available to the public record are often inaccurate. This undermines the credibility of his descriptions of things we haven't seen. Major and minor examples of innacuracy:
Major: in his description of the controversial first fight between Carlos Newton and Matt Hughes, its almost as if he didn't watch the fight, or watched it carelessly once and wrote the description from notes. He writes that Newton grabbed the top of the cage and then secured a triangle choke, implying that it was Newton's foul that allowed him to choke Hughes. In fact, the only reason he was up against the top of the fence was that he had Hughes in a triangle on the ground, and Hughes lifted him up to try to shake him off, or possibly slam him.
Minor: In the Ultimate Fighter, he wrote that there was a dispute about asparagus tips being left on the counter. In fact, Stephan Bonner confronts Diego Sanchez about eating all of the asparagus tips and leaving the stalks.

Maybe some people won't consider these types of errors a big deal, but there were so many of them that I had a hard time taking the book seriously. The impression you get is that the writer is not an insider, and didn't really care to spend enough time to write a thoroughly researched book.

2. The writer is way too concerned with turning a cute or literary phrase. I found his style very irritating. So often, the representation of reality is subsumed by lame figurative terms or sensational images that really don't serve the subject and remind you that the guy is primarily a writer of deadline-driven magazine articles where such slop is acceptable. He tries to create a tone with stuff like fighters coming to a gym from all over to 'trade pints of blood'. Really? That's what they're doing? I understand that these are just writerly turns-of-phrase but there are so many poor and unnecessary ones in this book that I felt the subject suffered.

In short, if you're already an MMA fan, read this book for the Miletich story--it's pretty interesting--but you should know beforehand that this guy is not much of an expert.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great book, February 24, 2009

By	J. Lamb (Vienna, IL) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Very good book if you have even a small interest in MMA. It gives an interesting account of Pat Miletich's life, but it also sheds light on many other aspects of the UFC, and the origins of MMA. Lots of stories about other fighters (not just Pat and his crew). Also tells the story of Dana White and the Fertitta brothers and how they became involved with the UFC, and eventually changed the MMA world. I highly suggest this book, best I have read in a long time.