New Zealand martial artist Israel Adesanya will cross the threshold into legitimate worldwide superstardom this weekend when he fights the most dominant mixed martial artist in history. Israel Adesanya is near untouchable. With just two losses across more than 100 fights from Brazil to the Far East, Adesanya has captured the nation’s attention like nobody … Read more
Good morning, and welcome to The Bulletin. In today’s edition: Local government proposals raise support and concerns, Wellington buses have been a mess, and Te Papa’s CEO defends job cut restructure proposals. We touched on the Local Government NZ conference a bit at the start of the week, but I think it deserves further exploring. The … Read more
An overly faithful reproduction of the tacky aesthetics of modern mixed martial arts holds back what is easily the best UFC game yet, writes Don Rowe. Few sports change as much year-on-year as mixed martial arts, and thus the release schedule of the bi-annual EA UFC video game reflects the current state of the sport … Read more
Two of the most exciting stars in the UFC lost last night, badly. Don Rowe describes what happened and pays homage to the omnipotent power of chaos in the sport of sanctioned violence. If UFC president Dana White had any hair left on his shining bald dome, it would have been violently pulled out by … Read more
You might have noticed an increase lately in the amount of news stories about half-naked men fighting in a cage. You might also have noticed one man in particular seems to get a bunch more air time than anyone else. Don Rowe explains just who he is, and why everyone is talking about him this … Read more
The Ultimate Fighter is basically like Big Brother if the weekly evictions were decided by cage fight rather than public consensus. Sixteen contestants under two coaches compete in an elimination tournament for the chance to win a contract with the UFC, and sometimes a Harley Davidson too. It’s a gruelling experience, with all the … Read more