Two things about these two items.

First, I'm kinda shocked at how much I like the show. Smarter than normal, pretty cool.

Then I heard a rumour that turns out to be true, about Ed O'neil, the father in the show and the father in the old, stupid, classic, Married with Children;

You know MMA, mixed martial arts, and the UFC? Remember the original kings of that fight style, the Gracie (sp?) Family?

Ed O'Neil, during filming of Married with Children, got the chance to study with Royce and the rest of that family in Brazil.

The Gracies have awarded only 29 Black Belts in their own branded Brazilian ju-jitsu (again, sp? note, I don't know the DETAILS of this group, just the facts of this story).

One of those who hold such a belt is... Ed O'Neil. !!!! :-\

Aparently, he's known in the TV/hollywood business as pretty much the real "tough guy" of the business. He's a nice guy, and can drop any guy who pulls a knife in downtown LA.

Weird factoid, but confirmed, from watching the ceremony when he got his star on Hollywood Blvd. and an interview he did a few years ago.

Rorion Gracie (/ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English)ˈ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key)h (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key)ɔər (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key)i (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key). (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key)ɒ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key)n (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key) ˈ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key)ɡ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key)r (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key)æ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key)s (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key)iː (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English#Key)/ (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:IPA_for_English); born 1952) is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Jiu-Jitsu) practitioner and instructor, a prominent member of the Gracie family (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gracie_family), and a founder of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultimate_F ... ampionship). He is the oldest son of Hélio Gracie (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A9lio_Gracie)[1] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rorion_Gracie#cite_note-1) and one of the few people in the world to hold a 9th degree red belt (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_belt_% ... u-Jitsu%29) in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Jiu-Jitsu),[2] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rorion_Gracie#cite_note-2) receiving that promotion on October 27, 2003 from his father. He is considered the first practitioner to bring widespread awareness of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu to the United States.

For those of you who have never watched the UFC,

The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) is the largest mixed martial arts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_martial_arts) promotion company (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Promoter_% ... ainment%29) in the world,[3] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC#cite_note-3) which hosts most of the top-ranked fighters in the sport[4] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC#cite_note-4)[5] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC#cite_note-5) and produces events worldwide.[6] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC#cite_note-6) Based in the United States, the UFC has eight weight divisions and enforces the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mixed_mart ... f_Mixed_Ma rtial_Arts).[7] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC#cite_note-7) Dana White (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dana_White) serves as the president of the UFC while Frank (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Fertitta) and Lorenzo Fertitta (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lorenzo_Fertitta) control the UFC's parent company, Zuffa, LLC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zuffa).[8] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC#cite_note-forbes-8)[9] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC#cite_note-9)[10] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC#cite_note-10)

The first UFC event was held in 1993 in Denver, Colorado (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denver,_Colorado). The purpose of the event was to identify the most effective martial art (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martial_arts) in a real fight between competitors of different fighting disciplines, including boxing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing), Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brazilian_Jiu-Jitsu), Tae Kwon Do (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tae_Kwon_Do), wrestling (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wrestling), Muay Thai (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muay_Thai), karate (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Karate) and other styles. In subsequent competitions, fighters began adopting effective techniques from more than one discipline, which indirectly helped create an entirely separate style of fighting known as present-day mixed martial arts.[11] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC#cite_note-11)

With a cable-television (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cable_television) deal and expansion into Canada, Europe, Australia[12] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC#cite_note-12) the Middle East,[13] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC#cite_note-13) Asia[14] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC#cite_note-14) and new markets within the United States, the UFC as of 2011 has gained in popularity, along with greater mainstream-media (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mainstream_media) coverage. As of 2001 viewers can access UFC programming on pay-per-view (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pay-per-view) television in the U.S., Brazil, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Italy. UFC programming can also be found on FX (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FX_%28TV_channel%29), Fuel TV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_TV), and Fox (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fox_Broadcasting_Company)[15] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC#cite_note-15) in the U.S., on ESPN (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ESPN_%28UK%29) in the United Kingdom and Republic of Ireland, as well as in 150 countries and 22 different languages worldwide. UFC also carries a mobile site for on-the-go users and a Sports Bars page for fans to find places showing the pay-per-view.[16] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC#cite_n ... ork.com-16) It is also available on the Roku (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roku) streaming player.[17]

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/UFC#cite_note-17)

Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is fought on the ground using grapples and pins.

If you have never watched the UFC do yourself a favor and give yourself a treat to some of the most violent hand to hand combat you will ever watch on TV.

My son and I watch this all the time,

River