Return of the Smashing Machine

**nyckid** · Posted On: 11/02/2006 11:10am

Tonight, heavyweight Mark “The Smashing Machine" Kerr makes his return to mixed martial arts in the IFL's Superfight against Mike Whitehead, a contestant from the second season of Spike’s Ultimate Fighter. Kerr, a D-1 NCCA wrestling champion at Syracuse University, brought mayhem and brute force to MMA in the late 1990's and briefly after Y2K. His success came during one of the most violent periods in MMA when there were few rules and regulations. But Kerr is best known as the main subject of an excellent HBO documentary that came out in 2002, appropriately called “The Smashing Machine.” It showed him during a time when his life was as reckless, tortuous and forbidding outside the ring as it was inside it. While Kerr came across as a young man/gladiator with a load of problems, he was eminently likable—and you were pulling for him from the get-go. Not just fans of MMA but anyone who saw the film was left wondering, What ever happened to that guy? Is he alive? Not only is he still with us, he’s doing very well--mentally, emotionally, and physically. And the articulate, personable behemoth says he’s still got some fight left in him, too.

http://fightbeat.com/article_detail.php?AT=207

**roly** · Posted On: 11/02/2006 5:30pm

it would be good to see if kerr still has it in him sober, i sure hope so

**oldman34** · Posted On: 11/02/2006 5:37pm

I thought he was Mark "the specimen" Kerr.....

**PizDoff** · Posted On: 11/02/2006 8:21pm

He had several nicknames that changed throughout the years.
The Smashing Machine is great documentary for anyone that hasn't seen it. Even girls like it.

**yodaman** · Posted On: 11/02/2006 9:48pm

Originally Posted by oldman34

I thought he was Mark "the specimen" Kerr.....

The three nicknames that come up the most often are "The Titan", "The specimen" and "The Smashing Machine."

Anyone who wants to go down the road of a pro MMA fighter should be required to watch The Smashing Machine.

**El Neko** · Posted On: 11/03/2006 1:27pm

well, the fight already took place and Kerr lost (Ref. Stoppage)

**kiai_killer** · Posted On: 11/03/2006 5:59pm

Originally Posted by Neko687

well, the fight already took place and Kerr lost (Ref. Stoppage)

That sucks.. do you have any more details?

**El Neko** · Posted On: 11/03/2006 8:51pm

not much, only what I read at gracie mag

here's the link
http://www.graciemag.com/?c=144&a=5588

**youtube** · Posted On: 11/03/2006 11:24pm

thats bullshit. I got all excited and all bummed out in the 1 minute it took for me to read this thread.

how boutz a little *spoiler* at the top of your post next time.

remind me to never sit behind you at the movies...

**bad credit** · Posted On: 11/04/2006 3:15am

Hey, maybe this should go in the grappling subforum, but does anybody remember Kerr's variation on the armbar? Where he would put the opponent's forearm or hand under his armpit? Basically, instead of a straight armbar, the arm is diagonal across your torso. I've found it puts a lot more pressure on the elbow much quicker, but I've been warned by a local BJJ guy that it's harder to hang on to the arm that way, which I can understand.

My ?'s are; is there a name for this tech.? A Diagonal armbar? Did Kerr invent it, or did he get it from another art? What do the grapplers here think of it?