The Green Power Ranger Enters the Octagon

By stephen on September 2nd, 2009

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Jason David Frank. Dude’s done a lot. Not only was he once the de facto leader of the Power Rangers, but he also dated the Pink Ranger (Amy Jo Johnson! Yeah!) turned from Green to White and even defeated the evil Lord Zedd. And all gracefully too. A couple high-flying kicks, the use of Dragonzord from time to time, you know, the usual. So what’s next for ~~Tommy~~, uh, Jason David Frank? Well, he’s about to bring his skills and accomplishments to the octagon. Yep, the Green Ranger has joined the world of Mixed Martial Arts (i.e. the MMA).

Now 35, the actor-turned-fighter (6th degree black belt) has spent some time training with UFC lightweight fighter Melvin Guillard and more recently he just signed on with Suckerpunch Entertainment. But is he ready, can he actually fight? Responding in a recent interview, Jason said, “I was supposed to fight in 2007, but it fell through. In truth, I’ve wanted to put the work in until I’m ready.” And he knows the challenges too, later saying, “I know I have a target on my back. Everyone is going to want to beat up the Green Ranger. But I am no Kimbo; I’ve been training for a very long time. I wanted to get in there before, but I got injured. But I’ll be ready when the time comes.”

All right, now I’ll be honest for a moment: MMA is not really my thing. I’ve watched a few fights here and there, but I’m far from knowledgeable. So, take this with a grain of salt, but Jason does kinda-sorta seem to talk a good game. With regard to his fighting style:

“My style was missing the ground fighting. I have my blue belt in BJJ from Gracie Baja now, but we needed to have that ground game integrated into Tose Kune Do. There was a blank there. So we added wrestling, BJJ, etc., to it. Melvin Guillard has really helped add the wrestling. I needed to get with someone who could put it all together for me, and that was Saul Soliz. And he’s done it. He’s a good, hardcore trainer.”

So, what do you think? Does he have a chance? Will the Green Ranger reign supreme? Or is he going down like Canseco?