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An MMA pioneer recently made his feelings known on controversial fighter War Machine, on whom he had a hand in training early in his career. The former 'TUF' competitor is the focus of the season finale of VICE TV's 'Dark Side of the Cage', which airs tonight at 10 pm ET.
War Machine, real name Jon Koppenhaver, was once a highly touted fighter but his career and personal life took a turn for the worse and is currently paying the price for it. UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock was among those who had known Koppenhaver and contributed to the episode by sharing his experience being around him.
During a first-look clip uploaded to VICE TV's Instagram account, Shamrock said that he didn't believe 'War Machine' was able to handle the added attention of being a professional MMA fighter. The MMA pioneer mentioned that he even understood why Koppenhaver left his Lion's Den gym in favor of training with Phil Baroni, but believed it wasn't a wise move based on where he was at that point in his career:
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"[Koppenhaver] could taste that money and he could taste that stardom. And I think when some guys get to that point, there's other people in their ear at the same time saying, 'You're great...You don't need this. You don't need that', and I think that Jon was done waiting and he wanted to do it now. And I don't think it necessarily was a bad move, but I don't think it was the best move."
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Check out Ken Shamrock's comments regarding War Machine below:
Matt Serra discusses War Machine name sticking for Jon Koppenhaver
UFC Hall of Famer Matt Serra also served as a contributor for tonight's 'Dark Side of the Cage' season finale and discussed the 'War Machine' name sticking for Jon Koppenhaver.
Koppenhaver using a different name wasn't uncommon as Kimbo Slice, real name Kevin Ferguson, had done the same and was a massive star. VICE TV posted a clip for the aforementioned episode, which featured Serra sharing his thoughts on his former 'TUF' pupil's name:
"Some people in this game, they come up with nicknames and stuff like that. Sometimes it sticks, sometimes it doesn't. For some reason, you know, maybe because he had a grenade tattooed on his neck, but... it kind of fit him."
Check out the video featuring Matt Serra's comments below:
