Ultimate Fighting 1 of 2 - Balls Deep - VICE

THOMAS MARTIN (OFFSCREEN): Hi, I'm Baby Balls.
My bosses think I'm a nerd, so they like to send me to live
with different people to figure out
what they're all about.
Anyway this is that.
It's called Balls Deep.
ANNOUNCER (OFFSCREEN): How's everybody doing?
[CROWD CHEERS]
ANNOUNCER (OFFSCREEN): Everybody get to your seats.
It's time now for [INAUDIBLE] fight night nine.
THOMAS MARTIN: Hi, I'm Thomas Martin, with VBS, and we're
going go meet up with Matt Ruskin who is a mixed martial
arts fighter who's training for a big cage
match down in Georgia.
We're going to follow him through his routine and see if
I can keep up, try not to get my ass kicked and then go
enjoy a fight.
Mixed martial arts, or MMA, is the official name of what's
usually called Ultimate Fighting.
There's a small set of rules to keep anyone from getting
killed, like you can't gouge his eyes out or attack their
groin, but otherwise it's just two guys in shorts whaling on
each other until one is knocked out or gives up.
It's basically the closest sports come to an actual
street brawl.
MMA has grown into one of the most popular
new sports in America.
Matt is a relative newcomer to the sport.
He's got a few matches under his belt but is still
struggling to make a name for himself.
We're here in midtown Manhattan at the Gracie
Academy and we're going to go meet up with Matt.
Do we need to take off our shoes?
MALE SPEAKER (OFFSCREEN): Yeah.
THOMAS MARTIN: I kind of wish I didn't wear my fucking like
candy land fucking socks.
MALE SPEAKER (OFFSCREEN): You're going to train too.
ROB: You're what?
THOMAS MARTIN: I'm going to train--
ROB: Those are the prettiest socks on a man I've ever seen.
I don't think I want to train with you with those cute
little socks.
[LAUGHTER]
ROB: I might just want to snuggle up on the mat with you
and hold you real tight.
Cute little thing, you.
MALE SPEAKER: Come on, let's go get changed up.
Grab your stuff.
THOMAS MARTIN: In the pro leagues like the UFC and IFL,
the winnings can get up to hundreds of thousands of
dollars, but where Matt is at right now, all his time and
money go into his training.
If he wins this fight he stands to
pocket a whopping $300.
MATT RUSKIN: I weigh in four weeks from today.
Fight night is four weeks from tommorow, and I have until
right before I step in that cage to be 171.
THOMAS MARTIN (OFFSCREEN): The weight class system is like
institutionalized cheating.
It's supposed to prevent unfair matches but what
happens is the bigger dudes just starve themselves down to
the lowest class they can, then put all the weight back
on the day of the fight.
MATT RUSKIN: Right now we're at right below 187.
So we got about 16 pounds to go.
THOMAS MARTIN: How often do you do the Jiu-jitsu versus
everything else?
MATT RUSKIN: Try to even everything out about two, two
three days a week for boxing, two to
three days a week Jiu-jitsu.
MMA is, is mixture of games.
If you're a submission grappler then obviously your,
your goal is to get the fight to the
floor as quick as possible.
Or if you're more of a striker you know, you want to, to keep
the fight standing up.
I'm more a ground and pound.
My submissions aren't that great but if I get you on the
ground hold a position and just start blasting--
THOMAS MARTIN: That's a good technique.
MATT RUSKIN: Yeah.
THOMAS MARTIN: It's like a, like a traditional school
fighting technique.
MATT RUSKIN: Uh-huh.
CARL: The position that Julio is in on the bottom
is called the guard.
He's still in kind of neutral position.
The man on the top is trying to get past his legs so he
gets more of a dominant position.
If you feel pain or if you feel like you're going to pass
out from a choke--
[TAPS THE MAT]
just do that.
That means--
It's kind of like saying uncle.
We'll just go from here.
We'll just roll and try to make each other say uncle.
THOMAS MARTIN: I have no idea what I'm doing.
[GRUNTS IN PAIN]
CARL: If you pain just tap.
THOMAS MARTIN: Despite looking like two dudes humping on a
mat, Jiu-Jitsu is really mentally involved.
You have to remain fully aware of what each of you limbs and
each of your opponent's limbs are doing at all times while
planning what they're all going to be doing five moves
down the road.
Ow!
[INAUDIBLE]
CARL: You alright?
THOMAS MARTIN: Yeah.
It's not about having like holds or anything like, in
like wrestling whatever, it's like--
CARL: Oh, there are about--
THOMAS MARTIN: It's like pain.
CARL: Litterally, the idea is that it
will destroy the joint.
THOMAS MARTIN: Uh-huh.
CARL: Right here is pressure on the joint.
If you don't give up I'm going to probably pop the capsule on
your elbow.
THOMAS MARTIN (OFFSCREEN): Do all MMA fights end
with a knock out?
MATT RUSKIN: Knock out, submission, verbal submission,
versus a tap out--
THOMAS MARTIN (OFFSCREEN): Yeah, OK.
MATT RUSKIN: The referee can stop it.
In case somebody is getting too much punishment they can
directly step in and end the fight.
If you get a cut over the eye and blood is pouring into your
face, you can't see, they're going to, they're
going to stop it.
The other way to win is by decision.
Let's say it goes three rounds and it goes to the judges and
they score, score a decision.
MALE SPEAKER: He's doing fine.
I mean he could be ready in four weeks I think.
MALE SPEAKER: Thank you.
THOMAS MARTIN: Thanks again man.
MALE SPEAKER: [INAUDIBLE]
MALE SPEAKER: Next week.
THOMAS MARTIN: Alright.
Hey Rob.
Thanks for uh--
ROB: No problem my man, no problem.
Is he crazy?
MALE SPEAKER (OFFSCREEN): [LAUGHTER]
ROB: What's wrong with him?
MALE SPEAKER (OFFSCREEN): [INAUDIBLE]
THOMAS MARTIN: No, it's not working.
ROB: Man, I've got shoes bigger than you.
You better get the fuck off me man.
MATT RUSKIN: Right now we are on Saint Mark's Boulevard in
Staten Island and we're heading back to my house.
I'm going to drop my stuff off and then start running.

It's like a locker room.
It serves the purpose.
THOMAS MARTIN: Got a nice little mantle.
MATT RUSKIN: Vitamins, laundry, vitamins, Jack
Daniels, supplements.
THOMAS MARTIN: Gamma O?
MATT RUSKIN: It's a testosterone booster.
It heals your body a lot quicker so we can keep the
intensity of the workouts up.
Without that stuff, or without any kind of supplements you
have to take obviously, like, days off to recover from a
really, really, intense workout.
This is the best invention ever for somebody that is
trying to diet and cut weight.
THOMAS MARTIN (OFFSCREEN): Eating is the biggest part of
the training.
MATT RUSKIN: This is what it makes.
THOMAS MARTIN: Aw sweet.
THOMAS MARTIN (OFFSCREEN): You're basically on the South
Beach diet for a month while spending all your energy
working out every day.
It makes you constantly pissed off, which is good for the
fight, but not so awesome for hanging out with buds or
trying to keep a girlfriend.
MATT RUSKIN: When I'm not cutting weight I mean I'll,
I'll eat a lot more obvious than this.
THOMAS MARTIN: Well what do you normally do on like a
night like this?
Just come back and--
MATT RUSKIN: A night like this I'll come back.
I usually cook Tuesdays and Thursdays, I do some sprints.
Usually every night before I go to bed is usually on phone.
Talk to my girlfriend for a few hours.
And I just tell her about the day and everything, and
that's about it.
Wake up do it all again tommorow.
Yeah, he's going to come around with me.

Alright, I'm about to give him a goo energy gell.
Here take that.
THOMAS MARTIN: Banana blitz, [INAUDIBLE]
acid--
MATT RUSKIN: Oh my-- would you stop?
Cheers!
THOMAS MARTIN: Here we go.
Cheers!
Oh, just take it all down?
It's like frosting.
Let's get ramp up and go fucking sprinting.
I don't have to go do this in a rubber, rubber suit like the
one you're wearing.
MATT RUSKIN: No, this is just good to get used to running in
this getting, getting a good sweat going.
Ready?
THOMAS MARTIN: Yep.
Alright, we're just going?

Do you do running punches ever?
Or is that a no?
That's just for showboaters?
MATT RUSKIN: What we're going for now is recovery time.
What we're looking for is the time it takes to go from
sprinting a hundred yards to jogging when you're
[PANTS HEAVILY]
to [BREATHES CALMLY]
THOMAS MARTIN: Back to--
MATT RUSKIN: Back to normal breathing patterns, that's
your recovery time.
Once that time drops like--
You can recover in like maybe 10 seconds five seconds, then
you're in shape.
THOMAS MARTIN: Alright.
Fuck!
He's long gone.

So it's going to go up, this is just the first week?
Yeah, by uh next week we're going to do two, and if you
can do four five minute rounds of sprints
you're in good shape.
THOMAS MARTIN (OFFSCREEN): You can fight a man?
MATT RUSKIN: Yeah.
MATT RUSKIN: Alright.

Today w'ere down in Dumbo down by the Brooklyn Bridge at
Gleason's gym we're going to go to, uh, Matt Ruskin's
boxing training.
It's been a few days since I did the, the
sprints with math.
I've been trying to just keep up some sort of health regimen
versus my usual lying on the couch at tonight.
This is kind of an old, old school traditional boxing gym.
Matt described it to me as a prison yard up there, so I was
careful not to wear like rainbow colored socks.
Hey Matt how are you?
MATT RUSKIN: Thomas this is Mike.
MIKE SMITH: How are you doing Mike?
THOMAS MARTIN: Alright.
MIKE SMITH: You see the bell?
THOMAS MARTIN: No.
MIKE SMITH: You see the bell up there.
THOMAS MARTIN: Yeah.
MIKE SMITH: It's like the red light, green
light, the yellow light.
Red light means rest, green light means go.
[BUZZER SOUNDS]
THOMAS MARTIN: Ah fuck.
MATT RUSKIN: Don't jump way up in the air.
Just allow enough room to for the rope to
move under your feet.

THOMAS MARTIN: There we go.
MATT RUSKIN: See you're not too bad.
THOMAS MARTIN: Oh!
MIKE SMITH: Stop anybody in the gym, I've got an open
challenge to anybody in the gym.
MALE SPEAKER (OFFSCREEN): I'll fight him right now!
MIKE SMITH: This guy right here [INAUDIBLE]
anybody, open challenge.
We've been training Matt for a while for the stand up, for
the stand up portion, there's a boxing portion.
THOMAS MARTIN (OFFSCREEN): Uh-huh.
MIKE SMITH: You know, try to tighten up his hands, because
MMA you have to know a little bit of everything.
Now I got a little Jiu-Jitsu, good wrestler, decent boxer.
That's what makes this sport so interesting and uh, hard,
because you got to know a little bit of everything.

THOMAS MARTIN (OFFSCREEN): Mike is going to be the guy in
Matt's corner for this match.
He'll be the one mopping up his sweat and blood between
rounds and whispering strategies into his ear like
fuck him up good and hit him in the face.

Boxing is a really good time I liked it a
lot more than jujitsu.
It felt like real fighting rather than some sort of weird
body chess.
I suppose that makes me more of a striker than a floor man.
All the accounting grunting and sweating totally cranks up
your testosterone I was started getting pumped up to
kick some ass, which I guess is how Matt must
feel all the time.
MATT RUSKIN: The weight, the weight is slowly coming off.
THOMAS MARTIN: So what are you what are you at?
MATT RUSKIN: Right now, about 184.
THOMAS MARTIN: Is that good?
Are you on track?
MATT RUSKIN: We're on track.
I'm exhausted.

THOMAS MARTIN: What have you got qued up?
This is you?
MATT RUSKIN (OFFSCREEN): This is the video from, from the
last fight.
I mean, you're walking into a cage and they're going to lock
the door and it's going to be you and some other guy trying
to kill each other for the next potentially 12 minutes.
It didn't really know what to expect of this kid.
He came out pretty aggressive, I was like fuck it, take him
down where I feel comfortable.
He was clamped on their pretty good.
And this is where I raise up.
THOMAS MARTIN (OFFSCREEN): [INAUDIBLE]
MATT RUSKIN (OFFSCREEN): Boom, Boom!
THOMAS MARTIN (OFFSCREEN): Ooooh!
MATT RUSKIN (OFFSCREEN): Three clean shots
landed to the face.
I think one of those knocked his tooth lose.
Gave him some him some more hard shots.
[LAUGHS]
MATT RUSKIN (OFFSCREEN): Yeah I guess that--
There you get the tap and over.
That was a good win.
Best feeling in the world.
MATT RUSKIN (OFFSCREEN): MMA emerged in the US
in the early '90s.
Originally the idea was to pair up different schools of
fighting to see which was the best.
Like, who would win between a boxer and a karate guy.
Over time, as folks figured out what moves did and didn't
work, a uniform fighting style developed.
Since the early days MMA has been plagued by controversy
over its supposed brutality.
MATT RUSKIN: Fighting has been around forever.
People like to watch a fight.
It appeals to to our human instincts.
A fight could break out in a basketball game, a fight could
break out in hockey.
Any sport you know when you've got guys competing there's a
potential for a fight.
We just cut through the games and just
get down to the fight.
MALE SPEAKER (OFFSCREEN): Get the hooks in!

MATT RUSKIN: Dana White, the president, of the UFC brought
up a great point.
What's more brutal than the NFL?
300 pound guys colliding into each other, you know breaking
bones all the time.

You know the whole point of boxing is you're trying to
knock somebody out.
The whole point of mixed martial arts is you are trying
to beat them in a fight, however your style is.
You can get knocked out in boxing get up, get knocked out
again, get up, get knocked out again.
Mixed martial arts you get clipped-- in my second fight I
got clipped.
I was dazed.
I mean I don't think I was out for more than a few seconds,
but they stopped it so I wouldn't take any more
unneccesary punishment.
But there's always someone out there better than you.
Some Iraq pictures.
Fuckin' weapons cache we found one day.
RPGs, RPKs, AKs, all that shit.
My first boxing match ever.
THOMAS MARTIN (OFFSCREEN): That guy's bicep is like
bigger than like both my legs.
MATT RUSKIN: Yeah, he was a big mother fucker.
Bing.
THOMAS MARTIN (OFFSCREEN): You get in your ow licks?
MATT RUSKIN (OFFSCREEN): Yeah, I got in my own licks.
We, we fought to a, to a draw.
THOMAS MARTIN: I can only imagine this
in the fucking desert.
MATT RUSKIN (OFFSCREEN): [LAUGHS]
Fucking microwave is what is.
THOMAS MARTIN: Yeah?
MATT RUSKIN: You get a mix of everybody in this sport.
When you sit down with a bunch of guys after one of these
events and you really get their stories these are all
working guys.
One guy may be a plumber.
One guy, hey, I'm a cop, I work as a personal trainer.
You look at, at boxing years ago, like high level
pro-boxers used to have a second job.
I train people during the day.
I'm either training for a fight or training people.
I really don't have any spare time.
THOMAS MARTIN (OFFSCREEN): The one thing I kept hearing was
how pure MMA is versus other sports.
All the guys seem really sincere, like they're in it
for the love of fighting instead of just
trying to make a living.
I'm sure as it gets bigger and more money comes in it'll
start attracting the douchebags, but right now it
feels like it's sort of in its golden age.
So we're on our way to go to a thing called conditioning.
He told me it's going to make him puke, so I'm just assuming
that it's going to make me really fucking puke.
He's stopped off right now to check in and try to buy some
sports drink he likes.
MATT RUSKIN: I got some good stuff for recovery,
rest and all that.
THOMAS MARTIN (OFFSCREEN): Body enhancing chemicals.

MATT RUSKIN: You can tell I'm really not feeling this today.

THOMAS MARTIN: I'm exhausted.
MATT RUSKIN: You really haven't seen tired before
you've seen this.
ALAN SPINDELL: We're going to do the fight matrix, where we
do the 15 pound dumbbells, the crosses, the straight punches
and then the down punches.
Baby uppecuts, wider
uppercuts, and turning uppercuts.
THOMAS MARTIN (OFFSCREEN): I'm already completely lost.
Then we'll go to explosives.
ALAN SPINDELL: One, Two, [INAUDIBLE]
One, two--
Then Kettle Bells- Come up, snap your hips up--
All these moves are Jiu-Jitsu based--
hammer throws, stradled, right hand dominatnt.
Boom, control.
THOMAS MARTIN: Can he add a few more elements?
This is a ten pound weighted vest.
THOMAS MARTIN: Oh great.
Matt does this course twice a week at a local high school.
It's basically a Looney Tunes workout.
ALAN SPINDELL: Russian Twist, over unders.
MATT RUSKIN (OFFSCREEN): He kind of reminded me of like Al
Brooks's really enthusiastic sports cousin.
ALAN SPINDELL: Blast, blast them.
Boom, boom, boom.
THOMAS MARTIN: OK, I totally zoned out when he was about
half way through those 30 or 40 different steps, so I'll
just follow what Matt does.
ALAN SPINDELL: Grab your balls and let's get going.

MARIO: Uh Matt [INAUDIBLE]
usually [INAUDIBLE]
die.
TENAISHA: Yeah.
MARIO: And he was right next to me all the way.

TENAISHA: He promised to take it easy but
he look like he's--
MARIO: Going to throw up.
TENAISHA: Yeah.

THOMAS MARTIN: [GRUNTING WITH EXERTION]
MALE SPEAKER (OFFSCREEN): You're right there, you're two
steps away, let's go.
Alright good.
MALE SPEAKER (OFFSCREEN): Round two!
Ready for another one?
THOMAS MARTIN: That's, that's that's the warm up.
The real workout consists of running up and down eight
flights of stairs while carrying a 10 pound weight
then jumping on a treadmill at full speed and sprinting for
20 seconds, then doing a whole suite of weightlifting and
these weird rope pull-ups, and then you do the whole thing
two more times.
It's easily the most exercise I've ever done in my life.
I feel like I'm in an alternate state right now.
I feel like I'm peaking on shrooms.
My body feels totally alien to me.

Oh good Matt's barfing.
I feel bad that I didn't but I feel bad enough.
I'll see you uh, next week have a good weekend--
MATT RUSKIN: Take care man.
THOMAS MARTIN: Rest.
MATT RUSKIN: Ah, later.
THOMAS MARTIN: I kind of cut corners.
Um it was slighty painful but everybody, everybody
was nice about it.
I can feel, I can feel in my muscles at the moment that
within four or five hours I'm going to be
sorer than I ever have.
And uh, right now I'm just going to go get some, some
fucking cytomax and see if I can chill before
the pain sets in.