#LinkFrogging...gone haywire!

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It's not that I didn't WANT to like Warrior. It's that I didn't EXPECT to like it.

As far as I could tell, it was the latest attempt at a sports movie set in the world of mixed martial arts and would simply squeeze the genre's battle-tested tropes and plot twists into a pair of fingerless gloves. The trailer and commercials do little to dispel that notion, pretty much laying out the conceit of the movie ("the two men fighting for the championship tonight...ARE BROTHERS!") and playing up every moderately-clichéd beat from the film as if it's the spiritual successor to Never Back Down, Fighting or the direct-to-DVD Undisputed sequels. When I told a friend I had just come from a preview screening, he said, "You mean the one that's 'The Fighter' but with Nick Nolte?"

It's not The Fighter, but it does treat its subject matter with a level of seriousness that continued to impress and surprise me. Warrior isn't just the best MMA film to date, it just might be one of the best sports movies of the past decade. 

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LinkFrogging...transforming your Friday afternoon.

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LinkFrogging - our weekly hop around the internet. This week we do so fastly and furiously.

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Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic vs. Frank Mir

Matt: It sounds weird to say this after Cro Cop terrorized PRIDE for so many years, but Mir seems like a BIG step up in competition for where he is right now.  Mir has seen much tougher competition over the past year-plus, and his game is not nearly as far removed from its prime as Cro Cop's.  Despite being outclassed against Brock Lesnar and Shane Carwin, Mir has put together good wins against other top heavyweights.  Meanwhile, the feared left kick of Cro Cop only showed up in his fight against Pat Barry after Barry had gassed and broken his hand and foot (oh, and also after he had knocked Cro Cop down and nearly finished him).  I think Mir comes out with the same kind of smart gameplanning he used to beat Big Nog and Cheick Kongo.  WINNER: Mir via TKO in the 1st. 

Bruce: Both of these guys need a victory in the worst way.  That's not a good position to find yourself in.  I think Cro Cop has lost a step.  As a result his once dreaded kicks don't pack quite the punch they once did.  That's not to say that he couldn't kick Mir's head off given the opportunity.  I just don't think that opportunity will present itself.  This is Mir's first fight since his embarassing loss to Shane Carwin at UFC 111 and he needs a decisive win to prove he still belongs in the conversation.  WINNER:  MIR via TKO in the 2nd.

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