Famous People

So here we are, virtually living in Hollywood. Surely we'll find ourselves surrounded by big movie stars every time we go to Burger King or Target.

OK, so we're staying over 30 km from Hollywood, and Greater Los Angeles has a population of over 18 million souls. Maybe there will be no movie stars in our future.

I have seen a few at the Jiu-Jitsu school. There have been Jiu-jitsu big wigs as you'd expect, such as Rener and Ryron Gracie.

There have also been a few mma/UFC guys as also seems logical. At one class Kevin Casey was on the mat. He was a competitor on one of the recent seasons of the TV series The Ultimate Fighter. His record is 6-3, and he is fighting again later this month.

Last night Brian Ortega was there. He's 7-0 in the mma world, and holds a title with a second-level organization. He holds Black Belt rank with the Gracies and is also fighting again soon. If he keeps his streak going he'll soon get snapped up by the UFC.

By far the biggest sports celebrity at the school has been Lyoto Machida. I've noticed him there on two occasions in one of the private lesson rooms. He's is a former UFC World Champion in the Light Heavyweight division. He is currently fighting at Middleweight, and is most likely a future champ at that weight.

Then, yesterday, I saw a Hollywood star. Ed O'Neill was there. He played Al Bundy on the series Married With Children, and is currently Jay Pritchett on the hit show Modern Family. He is also a Gracie Black Belt.

I noticed him sitting casually at the side in tshirt, jeans, and sunglasses. He was smiling widely as he watched the lesson. During one of the practice times he was on the mat trying the move, which looked weird with the sunglasses on. He stayed 10-15 minutes then yelled to the instructor that he had to go.

That's my famous-people list if you don't include Mickey Mouse and Buzz Lightyear.