by: Jack Bratcher

Remember this guy?  It’s none other than the beloved UFC Heavyweight Champion (according to the UFC website); at least for a few more months until the contract runs out.  For those of you who don’t know (I can’t imagine who you might be), the champ went off to South Africa to film this movie called The Scorpion King 2.  While on location filming, the champ sent a now infamous fax message to his employer, the UFC, announcing his resignation.  The UFC President, Dana White, said that Randy’s “Hollywood agent” most likely had a lot to do with this.  However it went down, the fact remains that the UFC Heavyweight Champ has not been back in the UFC Octagon since then except to be in the corner of some of the fighters from Xtreme Couture; most recently Forrest Griffin.

Randy definitely looks the part of “The Natural” in these pictures as King Sargon.  If you were wondering if you somehow missed Scorpion King 2 at your local box office, do not fear, that is not the case.  It is a straight to DVD / Blu-Ray release scheduled for August 19th.  My first thought when I heard that this movie was straight-to-DVD was:  I wonder if Randy knew that when he resigned? I hope he did.  That would just suck.

The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior (previously known as The Scorpion King: Rise of the Akkadian) is a  prequel to the 2002 film The Scorpion King. Filming for the movie began on October 1, 2007 in Cape Town, South Africa.   I really enjoyed the first Scorpion King and The Rock did a great job in that one.  However, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson will not play the lead role this time, but instead the film will feature Michael Copon (Power Rangers Time Force) as the young Mathayus.   Canadian actress/singer Karen David appears as the lead heroine, Layla.   Randy Couture appears in the movie as the lead villain, Sargon.

photos courtesy of the xtremecouture blog

Leave a Reply