Here Comes the Boom

Here Comes the Boom is a 2012 American comedy directed by Frank Coraci. Kevin James plays the lead, and the film was made at Columbia Pictures in collaboration with Happy Madison Productions. Forty-two-year-old biology teacher Scott Voss starts fighting in MMA to raise 48,000 dollars to save the music club at a declining school. He begins in small unlicensed fights, at first intending to lose for small payouts, until he finds that wins pay much more. The fighting core of the film is MMA. Voss's trainer becomes Niko, a former MMA fighter and Dutch immigrant. He is played by Bas Rutten, who was in reality a three-time Openweight champion of Pancrase, won the UFC heavyweight title at UFC 20 in 1999 and ended his career with a record of 28 wins, 4 losses and 1 draw. Lucky Patrick Murray is played by professional MMA fighter Jason Miller. UFC personalities appear as themselves in the film: Joe Rogan, announcer Bruce Buffer, referee Herb Dean, commentator Mike Goldberg, Wanderlei Silva and cutman Jacob "Stitch" Duran. The story, the hero and his motivation are fictional, only the cameos of UFC personalities are real. The hero's college wrestling background is also invented. James himself wrestled only in high school until a back injury stopped him.

Martial arts in this work

Origin

According to Sherdog, Kevin James and Joe Rogan, both comedians, discussed a comedy set in MMA. They watched Bas Rutten's fights in the Japanese organization Pancrase and were impressed by his skills. James later met Rutten and they became friends, which according to Sherdog gave the film its impetus. Dana White and Lorenzo Fertitta of UFC approved the project provided it did not mock the sport. According to Sherdog, they also suggested that the hero should not be a UFC heavyweight but a former college wrestler.

Fight choreography

According to Sherdog, Kevin James trained for 14 months with trainers Mark DellaGrotte and Rafael Cordeiro. The website mixedmartialarts.com names a different trainer, Ryan Parsons, who previously worked with Randy Couture, and writes that James sparred with Jason Miller. The sources therefore differ on the trainers' names. According to the same website, Bas Rutten praised James's work on the pads as better than that of 70 to 80 percent of pros and said that James picks up new things quickly. According to Sherdog, James himself said that he is not very good and does not have as much drive as he would like.

People and martial arts

• Frank CoraciDirector
• Kevin JamesActor — as Scott Voss· MMA (portrays the art on screen)
• Bas RuttenActor — as Niko· MMA (real practitioner)
• Jason MillerActor — as Lucky Patrick Murray· MMA (real practitioner)
• Mark DellaGrotteTechnical advisor — as trenér Kevina Jamese· MMA
• Rafael CordeiroTechnical advisor — as trenér Kevina Jamese· MMA