John Perretti - Verite (by Bobby Razak) MUST WATCH - for NHB fans

[Greek777]

So with the thread about Bobby going, I ended up posting this as a suggestion for people to check out his work

I watched it the day he released it when John did a subsequent Q&A on the UG (maybe we can get him over here for one!) and loved it.

Perretti is a polarzing guy for sure with strong opinions. Anyone who knows who he is knows exactly what I mean. Personally I don't agree with every single thing he says about UFC 1... While the competition was not exactly the toughest it could have been, the events themselves were so important and woke the world up in North America (and eventually everywhere) about what real fighting was.

However, as Perretti mentions - he was lucky to be from a very informed perspective for a while by the time UFC 1 came around. He started in TKD, then moved to wing chun, Judo, boxing and more. So he was a mixed martial artist for decades before the UFC's debut.

John created one of the most important and influential North American org in the early days (perhaps, the most influential) - Extreme Fighting. Much more similar to modern day MMA than the UFC was at the time... Perretti wanted to put on competitive fights with guys who were well rounded and knew exactly what they were doing. He had rounds. He had weight classes. There was no tournaments.

Fighters like Mo Smith, Ralph Gracie, Pat Miletich, Matt Hume, Kevin Jackson, Erik Paulson and so many others all fought in the 4 EF shows. Perretti later became UFC match maker and helped to shift the sport toward the direction we know today.

Anyway, if you are interested in NHB history... This video is a gem to check out. Again, remember that Perretti's opinions are very strong - and rightfully so. I may not agree with every single thing he says, but 99% of it, he sure is right about.

He is a life long martial artist who had been smart enough to learn stand up AND grappling from early on because he wanted to know what was "real", as he says in the film above.

Fascinating piece with great photos and information. 20 minutes of your life well spent.. you won't regret it!

I have all 4 EF events on my Youtube account in great quality. If anyone wants them I can gladly post. I may put them all up, along with this video, in a blog post about the history of Extreme Fighting and John Perretti's influence on the sport. Those events had some of the best fights EVER in early NHB... Smith vs Conan, Paulson vs Hume, Hume vs Miletich... Must see stuff!

Enjoy.

 

[Wild]

Nice!

 

[Greek777]

@I Wild Each It @Splinty

Yo dudes I sent you a message last night about blogs.. I was actually gonna post this one up as a blog with more detail + videos of the EF shows. But I know you guys are super busy with the transition and shit right now. But if you can hit me back with the link to my blog section it'd be much appreciated. Having trouble figuring things out.

Again.. I LOVE the new site. Took me only about 10 mins of browsing to get used to the visual change. My favorite part is the notifications (this is brilliant, especially since the pop up) and the fact your posts save themselves as drafts. I can't even count how many times I typed out something super long, accidentally closed the page, and all was lost haha.

On top of being the best forum out there for REAL discussion of this sport, with respectable and knowledgeable members all contributing without trolling bullshit.. This site has BY FARRRR the most modern, updated, unique and absolutely great features.

It feels like a social networking site almost, designed around MMA. I can't believe it - the fact a forum like this never existed before. The alerts and chat just take it to the next level man. Bravo to both of you guys. I am truly so happy to be part of this. I know I (and many others like me) have been dying for a place like this for YEARS... a place for real fans without the negative, horrible trolling bullshit that occurs in every single thread across every MMA board there is.

You guys really have something special here. Bravo!

 

[Wild]

Thank you for appreciating the hard work. @Splinty deserves all the credit. He spent a shit load of hours building the old site, and this new software was his idea. And he's spent numerous hours on this one. Honestly, all I've done is help get people here and handle the social media aspect of things.

Regarding blogs. Splinty will be creating a new blog spot, but it's a little down the priority list right now. Gotta focus on working out the bugs here, making some cosmetic tweaks, rolling chat over, getting the apps back up and running...then the blog spot. Until then, if you and Eaton can keep making these awesome threads, we can eventually transfer them into the blog spot, if that's okay with you guys?

Thank you everyone for sticking w/ us and your patience!!

 

[Greek777]

Definitely man. If there is still articles/front page stuff, let me know, I have some shit ready to roll. Either way, I will continue to be on here daily and posting as much as I can. Love this place

 

[Priziesthorse]

Good stuff in this interview. It would have been more enjoyable if Perretti wasn't such a smug douche.

 

[Greek777]

He's certainly strong in his opinions but he's mostly on the money in this particular interview, for the most part. Outside of this interview, I have definitely heard him say some douchey shit over the years. I just thought this particular piece was reallllly good - a testament to both Perretti's knowledge and Razak's film making ability. Perretti just seems like a pretty serious type of person.

I'd imagine seeing everything grow from the beginning, all the changes, the money going in, the sport almost dying, how huge it's gotten etc. It would make one view the sport a lot different than we do. Plus he's in his 50s. The stuff he says about UFC 1.. While he may have seen it as a cartoon/silly, it was still necessary and the kickoff of everything. The freakshow element/spectacle element was essential in order to get people to pay attention. The evolution happened from there.

But he was there way before then, and had his own ideas about what it should be, so I get it. I actually think he is kind of humble in the interview, because when he is asked "Why is John Perretti being airbrushed out of MMA history?"... his answer was pretty much "I did the best I could in a small window of time. But I never could have done what these people have done or taken the sport to where it is now. I did what I could and now I'm a fossil, it's amazing to see where it has been"

My favorite parts, of course, are all of the rare & home shot footage of the backstage early UFCs, EF, WVC etc shows on there. Apparently Razak has a lot of hours of that kind of footage waiting to see the light of day. I'd kill to watch that stuff. It's like actually being there.