Why can’t you have muscles like that?” asked Number Two Son.
“I do,” I replied. “They are just covered by a protective layer of fat!”
The above is the conversation that my son usually has with me when he sees a really cut guy like Phillipe Nover. Phillipe “the Filipino Assassin” Nover is on the reality show The Ultimate Fighter where he is shown trying to get a contract in the UFC MMA promotion. Nover is half Polish and half Filipino, but spent his summers in the Philippines and unlike many Filipinos, is proud of his heritage. The latest episode featured Nover, and to my great surprise, it played up his Filipinoness. It shows him having his housemates eating balut. I don’t eat that stuff – abortion may be legal but it doesn’t mean that I want to eat one. His blog mentions (I missed this) that you can see a sign in Tagalog saying “Sipag and Tiyaga” (Hardwork and Patience) that he made to inspire him and teammates. He also has a very stereotypical Filipino profession– he is registered nurse. Quite a contrast in his life — healer by day and fighter by night!
We usually don’t see many Filipinos on TV, much less see any aspects of Filipino culture, so this was a very pleasant surprise. His opponent disparaged Nover’s skills, saying that the only two things that Phillipe was better at than him as making his veins stick out and being Filipino. That make the fact that Phillipe choked him out even more gratifying.
What next?
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5 Comments to “Phillipe Nover: Healer by Day, Fighter by Night”
Michael wrote:
the best was not only Philippe choking him out, but his post-match interview, “I’m the most DANGEROUS Registered Nurse on the planet!” true.
Posted on 19-Nov-08 at 8:17 pm | Permalink
Michael wrote:
and Phillipe is into the finals! submitting George Roop only 1:40 into 1st round with a devastaing Kimura. Folks make sure to tune in on Sat 12/13 for the finals of the Ultimate Fighter where he faces off against Efren. For another Filipino on Hispanic showdown tune in THIS weekend Sat 12/6 for Manny Pacqiao vs Oscar De La Hoya. The Pacquiao-DeLaHoya 24/7 series on HBO probably gets more Pinoy facetime on a major (cable) network than anything that’s programmed!
Posted on 04-Dec-08 at 1:20 am | Permalink
Jeff wrote:
Phillipe lost in The Ultimate Fighter finals against Efrain Escudero. Escudero executed an excellent strategy against him, countering Phillipe’s excellent Muay Thai striking with timed wrestling takedowns and dealing with Phillipe’s black belt level jujitsu with determined submission defense. It was a war, a real battle. From the score (unanimous 29-28), looked like it was 1 round for Philippe and two for Efrain. Although clearly devastated by the loss, in a sign of true sportsmanship, he posted a congratulation to Efrain on his blog:
http://phillipenover.blogspot.com/2008/12/congratulations-to-efrain-escudero.html
They were friends, roommates, and training partners during the show, and unlike some of the other people in the house, stayed out of trouble. In fact, Frank Mir praised them both as models of what martial artists should be like – humble, and hardworking:
http://mma.fanhouse.com/2008/12/11/frank-mir-phillipe-nover-and-efrain-escudero-are-great-examples/
Despite his loss, I think Phillipe has a solid career ahead of him as an MMA fighter. Plus, if he ever leaves that sport, he call fall back on nursing!
Posted on 15-Dec-08 at 2:47 pm | Permalink
8Asians.com » Asian-Americans kids - moving back and forth between Asia: An Asian American/Asian Canadian Blog wrote:
[...] kids I know spend a lot of time in Asia – sometimes going there every Christmas or summer. Philippe Nover, the Filipino-American MMA fighter, did that. This kind of traveling back and forth was [...]
Posted on 01-Jan-09 at 6:40 pm | Permalink
8Asians.com » Phillipe “The Filipino Assassin” Nover runs into some bad luck in the UFC wrote:
[...] fighter and registered nurse Phillipe “The Filipino Assassin” Nover, who we wrote about in the past, has run into some bad luck. After losing in The Ultimate Fighter 8 finals, many people felt that [...]
Posted on 19-Sep-09 at 3:11 pm | Permalink
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