For a few years, Stephen King published a number of books under the pseudonym Richard Bachman in order to publish more than once a year. During this time, he wrote the book of what would become my favourite movie: the Running Man. If you don’t know the plot to either the book or the film, shame on you. Go and stand in the corner. I can’t help but think that if there was any man other than Ben Richards you would want to be with if you were unfortunate enough to have to fight to the death on a game show, it would have to be a tough as nails professional fighter, preferably one who didn’t have a pampered upbringing. A fighter who had just been released from prison would fit the bill perfectly.
When I learned that an MMA fighter was getting out of prison today my mind went into overdrive and I wrote a whole piece in my head on how Lee Murray would do on The Running Man. As it turns out, Lee is still in jail in Morocco. Buster. However, the man formerly known as Jon Koppenhaver, who legally changed his name to an Iron Man character is not. That’s right; as of today, War Machine’s debt to society is paid in full. In true War Machine style, he plans on getting out, training his butt off and being ready to fight by September. As he said last month in his blog:
“I heard BAMMA is having a show on Sept. 10th and I really want on it! That’s only 10 weeks of real training after 12 months of nothing but I’m confident that I’ll bounce back quick and be able to beat some ass by Sept. 10th! Fuck! I hope I can get on that card! And once I’m in shape and got my 1st fight back out of the way, I’m gonna keep on scrappin’ non-stop so promoters EVERYWHERE need to throw fights at me non-stop! Fuck fighting a few times/year – I’m gonna do a Jeremy Horn and fight all the time.”
Aside from amassing a ridiculous number of fights, one thing Jeremy Horn did not do was come out of jail and re-offend while out on parole, so we don’t need to worry about that. Judging by his most recent blog, War Machine seems like a truly reformed character. I guess a whole year in jail, most of it spent in solitary confinement can do that to a person.