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Michael Jai White, Actor/Director Of ‘Never Back Down: No Surrender’ On How To Prepare For A Fight


Michael Jai White On Josh Barnett, ‘Never Back… by uSports

Michael Jai White, martial artist, star and director of the new action film Never Back Down: No Surrender sat down exclusively with uSports to explain how best to prepare for a big fight.

Michael Jai White On How To Prepare For A Fight

“I basically listen to music, you know” White, 48, said with a laugh. “I would listen to music and even though you’d have all this nervous energy, I would just suppress ALL my energy and I would warm up late, to the point where I’d just be overflowing by the time I had the fight.”

White’s film focuses on the world of mixed martial arts, and he also recently weighed in on the passing of legendary MMA fighter Kimbo Slice, whom he was fortunate enough to personally meet and train with.

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“I would keep the governor down, and I wouldn’t do very much of anything. My energy was then abundant by the time I had the fight.”

White recently got into a bit of a controversy after he said winning an Oscar ruins an actor’s career.

“For the love of God please do not nominate me for an Oscar!” the actor/director said, spurring backlash. However, he then stated he stood by that comment, when asked if he had any regrets.

“The only regret is how negative people try to take anything,” said White in a recent interview with BET. “I regret saying anybody’s name because instead of using a name to express the point, social media people try to insinuate that I’m going after that person. No, I don’t regret anything I said. I just regret the negative spin that people try to put on to things just because negative sells. There was not one negative thing that I meant towards any person, especially the idea that I was attacking people that were absolute friends of mine and have been friends for 20 years.”

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Pablo Mena

Writer and assistant editor for usports.org. NY Giants and Rangers fan. Film and TV enthusiast (especially Harry Potter and The Office) and lover of foreign languages and cultures.

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