MMA’s Full 38’ 2.20.08: Sean Faris is an Actor, Not a Fighter

Posted by Sid Needelman on 02.20.2008

The MMA community is crouched, ready to attack this poor guy who thought he could enter our world. So far many fans and press have been skeptical, while one or two have been already fooled, 411Mania is here this week to show you exactly how much of an actor, and how much a fighter Sean Faris really is.

The MMA community is crouched, ready to attack this poor guy who thought he could enter our world. So far many fans and press have been skeptical, while one or two have been already fooled, 411Mania is here this week to show you exactly how much of an actor, and how much a fighter Sean Faris really is.

An actor who has been on Smallville, One Tree Hill and Boston Public, is grappling with a new project set to hit theaters in March, the MMA related "Never Back Down." 411Mania sat down with him at the Elite XC weigh-ins this past weekend to see how much of a fighter he really was, and how much of it is good acting. And yes, that is the one of the Contract Killer brand hats that I loved back when I was working on the Holiday Shopping Guide.

As a person:
As a person, he was just a nice as one of the IFL representatives who was with him led me to believe. He was very happy to talk with anyone who wanted, fan or press alike. He was also open to taking pictures for anyone who wanted to smile alongside him for a memory likely to end up on someone's myspace page. He seemed genuine and willing to open up and talk about his experiences involving filming, MMA and everything else 411Mania wanted to know.



As an Actor:
Honestly I have never seen him before in anything or at least I do not recall doing so. However I have heard he was very convincing, a hard worker during filming and he was a great actor convincing at least one MMA media website to believe he was a "true MMA fan." While he might enjoy the sport, his answer showed he is at best a new fan, and not the most knowledgeable. On the other hand, I strongly applaud his desire to learn more and to become more involved. Either its genuine or a true testament to his acting ability.


As a Fighter Himself:
No he does not want to fight in an MMA event. I asked about an exhibition, the way Kimbo started. He could not even be talked into saying it is a possibility. Though he does have training, the same guys who coordinated the movie 300 did the stunts and fighting for his.

Sean had to train months to get in shape and learn his moves for the movie. While some martial art film stars do all of their own stunts, an injury kept him from doing some of his. He was limited to what he estimated was 75% of his own work. This is telling of his future in general acting rather than being becoming the next Bruce Lee.

When it comes to being a fighter, people have to just understand he is not. He is an actor and just like an actor who plays an alien in a movie, he is no more a Martian than anyone reading this. The same goes for his knowledge of the sport as well. Like an actor who researches a role on someone living with disabilities, Sean obviously did some homework on the sport, but he would not impress anyone with his MMA knowledge as you will see if you read on.



As a Knowledgeable MMA Fan:

To see how much of a fan he was, or if he was just at the weigh in to get some publicity I asked for his predictions for the following evening. Without much hesitation he said Kimbo should be victorious. Not many people would have predicted the other outcome, so the next logical step was to ask for a prediction on the second to last fight on the card, and the heavyweight bout that actually had title picture ramifications. He was stumped and admitted, he did not know much about Antonio Silva and Ricco Rodriguez, but his answers would shed light on the true shallow extent of his MMA background. He said honestly, and one has to respect the candor, that he only followed the UFC mainly. To follow up, I had to point out that Ricco was a former UFC champion. Here is when his answers became a window into his cage sophistication. He replied that he had been filming for 8 or 9 months and that's why he probably did not realize that fact about Ricco. Had he been a long time fan, or just someone who watches "Celebrity Rehab" on VH1, he would have realized it had been years and not months since Ricco last saw an Octagon, let alone a UFC belt.

To redeem himself he tried going the old and tired Royce Gracie little guy tapping out the big guy route. While it may be a true memory of his, the response is long overused and evident of a time when MMA was a spectacle and not a sport with rounds, 40 rules and no one in the United States wears a gi.

He did surprise me with his knowledge of Dan "The Beast" Severn. While he had no clue that Dan's fights these days include a reservation in Canada and not in the UFC, it was impressive enough to let him off the hook on further questions of the background of MMA.

He at least was impressive with his knowledge of the rules. And he pointed out this is not a movie about MMA. It is a movie with a love story and backyard brawls, complete with kicks to the head of a downed opponent. The closest thing to a love story in real MMA is a porn star and an ex-UFC bleached hair champion. His point is well taken, and for those who would criticize him for any lack of knowledge realize this, he is a movie actor and if you want to see a story go see "never Back Down," if you want to see real MMA, why not just watch Spike TV.


And lastly, an exclusive picture from the weigh-ins of K-1 champion "JZ" punching fellow American Top Team member and my BJJ instructor Daniele Valverde, while Middleweight UFC Champion, Anderson Silva looks on.



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And for those of you wondering what is MMA's Full 38' It means: an octagon is 30 ft across with 4 feet extra on each side, for cornermen, doctors and camera crew. To know MMA, sometimes one needs to make sure they cover some of the lesser know aspects of it, and 38' represents a number a lot of hardcore fans would not recognize. But be warned, do not try to set up an arena without knowing how big the octagon really is, or there will be problems.
Sid Needelman