When no-holds-barred mixed martial arts "cage fights" began to attract millions of fans in the late 2000s, seated in the front row at one fight in Moscow was the cheering Russian President Vladimir Putin, while back in Washington, Senator John McCain was dismissing the sport as "human cockfighting"--another Russia vs. USA disagreement. When journalist Doug Merlino (Hustle) chanced upon a rousing sports bar crowd watching a parade of Ultimate Fighting Championship combatants whale at each other "on a mat imprinted with advertisements for motorcycles, beer, and shaving gel," he wondered, "Who are these guys?" To find out, he talked his way into the confidence of several fighters who trained at Florida's American Top Team gym. Beast is Merlino's story of the immigrants and hard-luck brawlers who dominate the sport--like Bosnian refugee Mirsad Bektic, who enters the cage "stripped down to his shorts, fighting for his future on cable television."
Merlino writes about the three-decade history of this fast-growing sport, which combines elements of wrestling, jiujitsu, aikido and boxing, with a healthy dose of show business. Besides Bektic, Merlino focuses on former Oklahoma State wrestler Steve Mocco, heavily tattooed anarchist Jeff Monson and ex-con Daniel Straus--each with his own tale to tell. With the enormous success of Spike TV's Ultimate Fighter reality show and the popularity of UFC's first woman champ Ronda Rousey ("the anti-Miss America," "the California Girl as a**-kicker"), mixed martial arts is now a big-time business--but as Merlino shows, for those pounding the mat in the cage, it's all about "the fight, the will to excel, to rise, to be something." --Bruce Jacobs, founding partner, Watermark Books & Cafe, Wichita, Kan.