Tapped Out

Rear Naked Chokes, the Octagon, and the Last Emperor: An Odyssey in Mixed Martial Arts

This title was previously available on NetGalley and is now archived.
Buy on Amazon Buy on BN.com Buy on Bookshop.org
*This page contains affiliate links, so we may earn a small commission when you make a purchase through links on our site at no additional cost to you.
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app

1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date 17 Nov 2011 | Archive Date 01 Sep 2012

Description

The author of American Shaolin gives a hilarious and fascinating insider's account of mixed martial arts, the fastest growing sport in the country.

Since the first Ultimate Fighting Championship in 1993, mixed martial arts (MMA) has punched, kicked, and wrestled its way into the public's consciousness. As its name indicates, MMA is an often brutal sport that combines any and every unarmed fighting technique with pure grit. Today, the gross yearly profits of Ultimate Fighting Championship-the sport's premier professional league-exceed that of pro wrestling, boxing, and even the Boston Red Sox. In Tapped Out, Matthew Polly gives readers his on-the-ground take of training and fighting in MMA.

At the age of thirty-six, Polly was out-of-shape, and totally unprepared for what was ahead: a grueling journey through leading MMM training facilities in Bangkok, St. Petersburg, Rio de Janiero, New York, and Las Vegas. After being utterly beaten down and built back up, he fought his first match against a Marine nearly fifteen years younger than him-and not only won, but sent his opponent to the hospital. Polly intersperses his own narrative with the history and background of MMA; the recent rise of female MMA fighters; and interviews with top UFC stars like GSP, Fedor Emelianenko, Randy Couture, and Gina Carano. Evocative of George Plimpton's classic, Paper Lion, Polly's honest, funny, and eye-opening account of his experiences will appeal to the millions of devoted MMA fans who are as hardcore as the sport itself.

Praise for Matthew Polly and American Shaolin:

"An original and insightful book.... [that] manages the near impossible: maintaining a careful balance between acute observation and forthright views." -Boston Globe

"He never loses his sense of humor.... Polly is an easy amateur to root for."
-Entertainment Weekly

"I picked up American Shaolin and read it straight through. It is first rate. It is a wonderful true-life story with profound, behind-the-headlines observations about Chinese life. A tip of the Stetson to Matthew Polly."-Dan Rather

Matthew Polly is an award-winning travel writer for Slate. A Princeton University Graduate and Rhodes Scholar, Polly has also written for Esquire, Playboy, and The Nation. He lives in New York.

The author of American Shaolin gives a hilarious and fascinating insider's account of mixed martial arts, the fastest growing sport in the country.

Since the first Ultimate Fighting...


Available Editions

EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9781592405992
PRICE 26.00
PAGES 320