Maximum Fighting Champ Ryan Jimmo going to the Movies

Manos: The Hands of Fate is recognized as one of the worst films of all time.   In fact, it was so bad when it was released in 1966, it transformed itself from a sci-fi horror flick into a comedy cult classic for the ages.   It’s baaaack.

Ryan “The Big Deal” Jimmo is recognized as one of the best fighters to come out of Canada.  In fact, he is so good, he’s transformed his 0 – 1 record into a 16 – 1 record in a dangerous light heavyweight division.  He’s baaaack.

What may be most exciting about the return of Manos and the return of Ryan Jimmo is they are doing it together.  That’s right, MFC fans.  Your light heavyweight champion is starring in the 2012 sequel of Manos.  The new film is called Manos: The Search for Valley Lodge, and Jimmo says this time the Manos franchise is coming out with a high-quality product, “Rupert Munch, the director, wanted to make a sequel that’s a great movie.  We have Gene Snisky and Marie Kanellis (both of WWE fame).  We have special effects people who worked on X-men, Spiderman, AVP, and Hellboy.  We have sound people who’ve worked with So You Think You Can Dance Malcolm in the Middle, Batman: Beyond, and American Idol. It’s going to be great.” 

Soak it in for a minute.  This is a B-grade cult classic sci-fi horror flick sequel starring former WWE superstars and MFC light heavyweight champion, Ryan Jimmo.  The producer is shooting for high quality and bringing in the industry experts to make it happen.  Do you even need to read more?

Either way, there’s more to read because Jimmo gave a sneak peek into the plot; although, he’s keeping some secrets until the release date, “The basis of the original movie was a hidden portal that people drove through by mistake.  All these people go missing and end up in this place called Valley Lodge where there’s an evil and magical villain – The Master – and his harem of women.  In the sequel, we head back in there and kick some evil polygamist cult ass.”  Fans familiar with Jimmo, Snisky, and Kanellis can respect the type of evil ass-kicking bound to happen, and it’s hard to go wrong with a movie that involves a “harem of women,” especially when the director of photography, Jay Lee,  produced and directed Zombie Strippers.

The team will be filming in El Paso, Texas, and it sounds like Jimmo is working hard to get the role down.  It’s not all hard work, though.  Some parts of the character come naturally to him, “My character, he’s a bad ass dude.  He’s got a soft side, but he can kick ass, and he loves smoking cigars – just like I do.”  Smoking cigars and beating down evil doers?  It sounds like Jimmo’s acting and MMA careers are more similar than one might think.  In fact, the MFC superstar finds a number of parallels in preparing for fights and preparing for movies.

Jimmo said success comes the same way no matter what you do in life, “In anything you’re going to do, the general principles are all the same.  Whether it’s being an accountant, a chess player, or a fighter – any one of those pursuits requires the same thing.  It requires understanding the landscape of what you’re doing, understanding what skills you need, building those skills until you achieve excellence, and putting in a lot of hard work.”  That sounds like sound advice from a guy who just finished second in Alberta Provincials wrestling on top of a string of successes in theatre, breakdancing, and MMA.  He plans to continue building on all those successes, and those standing in his way better watch out.

Fighters may think now is a good time to get after Jimmo with his focus being spread between fighting and acting, but opponents thinking about going for his belt better not get too comfortable figuring he’ll go soft filming a movie, “I’ve got a jiu jitsu coach right there on site.”  The team working on this film are dedicated to MMA action and enlisted the aid of 5-time Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Champion Pedro Carvalho to choreograph the action sequences.  In addition, Jimmo will have access to full gym facilities during shooting, and, really, it’s only a couple weeks at any given time.  

Having access to training resources during shooting means Jimmo can destroy bad guys on film and then continue the destruction in the MFC ring, and although there are no signs of stopping his MMA career, he keeps a keen mind to the future, “I want to get into acting.  After I’m a fighter, I want to be an actor.”  Considering he’s already starring in this much-anticipated remake, the champ is off to a great start, and he has great backing behind him thanks to companies like the Maximum Fighting Championship, Good4You, and X-Factor.

Manos: The Search for Valley Lodge is scheduled for release in 2013, and fans can check out the movie’s Facebook page or website (www.torgolives.com) right now.  Ryan Jimmo will be back in action soon as well; although, his next opponent has yet to be named.  After a very close fight with Sokoudjou and a soon-to-be superfight occurring between Wilson Gouveia and Dwayne Lewis, fans can only speculate on who it might be.  Regardless, The Big Deal will be making moves.  He’ll be shooting the film, building on his MMA training, helping his fight camp team mates, and maybe working on some surprises for MFC fans in the future.   His good character and excellence in everything he does make him a true champion of the people, and his positive attitude shone through again when asked if he would consider branching out to something way different, like testing his well-known breakdancing skills on So You Think You Can Dance.

“I would absolutely love to do that.”