Title Shot: Into the Shark Tank of Mixed Martial Arts [Paperback]

Kelly Crigger (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 15, 2008

In 2007, Army Officer Kelly Crigger embarked on a year-long journey into the shark tank of mixed martial arts competition. His quest was two-fold—to learn what drove fighters to put themselves through years of grueling training and into the cage, and to uncover the mainstream media's reason for focusing on the seedier side of the sport and its athletes. To dig for answers, he lived in five of the top MMA training camps in the United States, hung out at the toughest tournaments the sport had to offer, and spent time with the biggest names in the sport, including UFC President Dana White. Title Shot divulges the truths and personal stories he unearthed. Laced with sarcasm, humor and a touch of daredevil bravado, Crigger sheds a never-before-seen light on a misunderstood sport and its combatants. Whether you're a hardcore MMA junkie or a casual fan, Title Shot will have you hanging on the edge of your seat.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Kelly Crigger is an officer in the US Army and was deployed in Afghanistan with the 3rd Special Forces out of Fort Bragg. He has orchestrated seminars for the troops with some of the top mixed martial arts fighters, and he is a freelance journalist for several MMA magazines, including Real Fighter.

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Victory Belt Publishing (July 15, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 098150440X
• ISBN-13: 978-0981504407
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #102,082 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #26 in Books > Sports & Outdoors > Individual Sports > Mixed Martial Arts

More About the Author

Kelly Crigger enlisted in the Army as an Infantryman in 1986 and was commissioned in 1991 after graduating the University of Kansas with a degree in bartending and pizza delivery. Miraculously he was commissioned as an active duty officer (probably because all the good ones got out during the 1990 drawdown) and spent the next 24 years roaming the world with units like the 3rd Infantry Division and the 1st Special Forces Group. Finally Crigger was forced to pay his dues and was assigned to a desk job in DC managing R&D projects. He has an advanced degree in International Relations, so he's edumacated (read: got diploma online from Jamaica) and when you combine that with all the free time he has sitting behind a desk, it results in a lot of extramural writing. He has a penchant for cool words used correctly in a sentence, so if you ever meet him and sneak nefarious, endogenous, or arriviste into the conversation you'll make a friend for life.

Crigger has written for a plethora of MMA outlets and is now a regular contributor to FIGHT! Magazine. He aspires to make the jump from sports writing to screenplays someday, but is currently between representatives (read: agent dumped him), so that dream is in a "wait" status.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Finally, a true depiction of MMA, July 23, 2008

By 

AlabasterDisaster (Los Angeles, California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Title Shot: Into the Shark Tank of Mixed Martial Arts (Paperback)

Author Kelly Crigger does a phenomenal job of depicting these athletes candidly and in their own environment. He captures the indomitable spirit it takes to compete in MMA, but also the manages to convey the various personalities of the fighters he meets. It is obvious Crigger is a fan of the sport but he doesn't get all starry-eyed and fanboyish about the MMA stars he comes across. Title Shot is funny and insightful and a must-read for any MMA fan.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars www.knucklepit.com, December 10, 2008

By 

Mr. Marc Wickert "www.knucklepit.com" (Australia) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Title Shot: Into the Shark Tank of Mixed Martial Arts (Paperback)

TITLE SHOT

Into the Shark Tank of Mixed Martial Arts

by Kelly Crigger (Victory Belt)

© Marc Wickert November 19, 2008

www.knucklepit.com

Title Shot is to mixed martial arts what Jack Kerouac's On the Road was to bebop, with author Kelly Crigger taking readers on an up-close tour of some of America's most successful MMA gyms, where they encounter very colorful coaches and competitors.

Crigger is a lieutenant colonel in the US Army, and served in the 1st Special Forces Group and the 3rd Infantry Division as well as completing the Army's Ranger School. His military career has included trips to the holiday destination of Afghanistan. Knowing firsthand about action, Crigger takes a trek across the US on a quest to see what makes mixed martial artists tick.

Title Shot opens with a visit from BJ Penn who "wants to do something for the troops" before he hooks up with Crigger. Of BJ, the author says, "He was gracious, humble, and genuinely happy to spend time with soldiers of Fort Lewis, Washington."

Like Kerouac's Dean Moriarty (Neal Cassady), Kelly Crigger then commences his yearlong journey across America, starting at Matt Lindland's Team Quest in Portland, Oregon, then travels to Cesar Gracie's, David Terrell's and Ivan Salaverry's gyms in Northern California, before cruising down to spend time with Greg Jackson in Albuquerque. Kelly leap-frogs up to Somerville, Massachusetts, to take in Mark DellaGrotte and his Sityodtong Muay Thai Academy, where Crigger plays some very amusing mind games with Mark using a stone dragon ornament that adds a lot of humor to the book.

Readers get more firsthand experience of MMA when they're escorted to IFL finals in Florida, and Coconut Creek's American Top Team gym. But probably the highlight of Crigger's tour is his arrival at UFC 79 in Las Vegas, where there are cameo appearances from such names as Georges St-Pierre, Matt Hughes, Chuck Liddell and Wanderlei Silva. The experience is capped off with the author's interview of Dana White, which is both enjoyable and an extreme eye opener.

There are encounters with too many big names of ultimate fighting to list them all, but I can say you won't be disappointed.

This book is very satisfying reading and a must for all MMA fans.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Irreverent Portrayal of MMA World .. With Some Flaws, August 20, 2008

By 

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

This review is from: Title Shot: Into the Shark Tank of Mixed Martial Arts (Paperback)

Ex-Army Ranger Kelly Crigger produces an entertaining inside look at the growing world of MMA. MMA fans will likely find this book a delight. His approach is to visit and write about the top MMA training venues around the country, with some side trips to the US Army Combatives tournament, the IFL and UFC 79.

I thoroughly enjoyed the book and have only three criticisms, two quibbling, one more substantive.

First, the omission of Miletich Fighting Systems in Bettendorf, IA is huge. So many elite fighters come from there, it's astonishing that one can tour the top training venues and skip over Bettendorf. It's like writing about Olympic highlights from Beijing and not mentioning Michael Phelps.

Second, in the effort to be funny, Crigger over-uses some humor conventions. Someone is "as grim as an IRS agent on April 15th." He was out of it like a ... And on and on and on. Nearly every page has one of these would-be witticisms. Some are amusing but after a while it gets tiresome and repetitive, repetitive, repeti - oh, well, you get the idea.

Third, at times Crigger - the ex Army guy - feels obliged to explain in asides how various ,members of the training dojo correspond to the hierarchy of the US Army. Ok, so...? Why should the reader care? He is shoehorning his Army experience into the book in a way that does nothing to add to the story.

Don't get me wrong, though. This is a fun book and Crigger takes at once a respectful yet puckish approach to the world of MMA. He takes the sport seriously but not too seriously.

Even with these reservations, I WOULD recommend "Title Shot"!!