@jonathansnowden.bsky.social
Author: Total MMA, The MMA Encyclopedia, Shooters, Shamrock, Secret New Project Online: The Ringer Substack: hybridshoot.substack.com “I, myself, am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions.”
It's on our long list of things to do. For sure coming out. We delayed it to get in an extra story which is pretty good!
Hello. Surprise run in.
At the intersection of #MMA and pro #wrestling, things in the late 90s got weird. The business was in a state of turmoil. And the man stirring the pot, as usual, was Antonio Inoki.
Please join us on Substack and support independent writers.
Got let go right on his face.
I didn't see 2016. Still...what the hell?
At the intersection of #MMA and pro #wrestling, things in the late 90s got weird. The business was in a state of turmoil. And the man stirring the pot, as usual, was Antonio Inoki.
Please join us on Substack and support independent writers.
That can't possibly be the Dennis Hall who fought Noburo Asahi in SHOOTO can it? He would be ancient.
As some of you know, I’m writing a book on the origins of PRIDE Fighting. At heart, it's a pro #wrestling story.
This interview, translated from the original Japanese, represents the kind of primary source material I’m using to build that narrative—PRIDE through a completely different lens. #MMA
You know it's cold when the cat has a cat blanket!
Definitely not a coincidence. I follow his Playlist closely.
This incident has long fascinated me. Two of the best wrestlers of all time in a collision that launched the shootstyle revolution.
Prepare for a deep dive into #wrestling lore.
hybridshoot.substack.com/p/the-kick-t...
Coming next.
I have found the perfect niche: translating material and writing about a form of wrestling that no longer exists and no one remembers.
Wrestling history is a tapestry and every match has a story to tell. This one, a bout you've likely never heard of, loomed larger than most.
Masakatsu Funaki. Minoru Suzuki. Promises not kept and the road to Pancrase.
The Invisible Wall.
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
I wrote about that fight at Hybrid Shoot and can proudly report that, a decade plus later, the Gracies are still using that line of reasoning.
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
The Theft of Light: The Night Gerard Gordeau Blinded Yuki Nakai
#MMA #Wrestling #Lore
open.substack.com/pub/hybridsh...
I thought I had terminal writer's block, but I got inspired.
Coming Monday!
#mma #wrestling
Aww man.
I found a lost missive from famed medievalist Ignatius J Reilly discussing UFC and #MMA.
A truly inspired diatribe.
More like Sky Red amirite. #AEWDynamite
This is the first time blue sky has appeared as a site referring readers to one of my wrestling posts.
2% of readers clicked from here.
So, thanks.
It was pretty ballsy of me to claim to be a professional writer. So far no pushback.
What do I, a professional writer with lots of fancy books on the shelf, use as a bookmark?
A randomly selected #wrestling card, a pile of which sits loose in my bedside table for this specific purpose.
There are probably 25 books about UWF alone. Plus guys have done autobiographies down to the Naksno level. And the magazine coverage was extensive.
I've done a lot of translation for book projects focused on Japanese fighting and wrestling. I'm sharing pieces at Hybrid Shoot.
In 1984, a band of renegades created a new wrestling that would eventually birth Japanese MMA. This is their origin story.
hybridshoot.substack.com/p/the-sermon...
Update on me: over here interviewing Tugboat and Bob Cook and Mark Mero. Malenko adjacent guys.
My commercial instincts remain singular. Doing it for the culture.
I'm down to watching a few GIFs and still feel cheated.
You seem genuinely unwell. Hope to never hear from you again. 🙏
