{ "item_title" : "The Ultimate Strongmen", "item_author" : [" Karim Zidan "], "item_description" : "From Karim Zidan, award-winning investigative journalist who has spent the past decade embedded at the intersection of sports and politics, an indispensable guide (J. Anthony Lukas Work-in-Progress Prize) to the intertwined relationship between mixed martial arts, hypermasculinity, and authoritarianism. For those wondering why US politics feel more like an entertainment product than a democratic process, the alliance between Donald Trump and the UFC offers a crucial explanation. Trump didn't just adopt the aesthetics of the UFC--he weaponized them to reshape political discourse, rally a new base, and redefine what it means to be a strong leader. It has helped shift the Overton window on acceptable political behavior, turning trash talk, and open hostility into presidential policy. Even for those who don't care about sports, this shift matters: when politics becomes a bloodsport, democracy suffers a critical blow. But beyond the pro league, mixed martial arts writ large has itself helped lay the foundation for a countercultural movement--one that has evolved into the reactionary, conspiracy-fueled ecosystem the sport embodies today. From conservative pundits like Tucker Carlson and Candace Owens; to influencers like Joe Rogan, and self-styled misogynists like Andrew Tate; to authoritarian backers like the Saudi and Emirati royal families; and even recent public support from the likes of practitioners Mark Zuckerberg, MMA has become synonymous with the strongman--an archetype of masculine domination, authoritarian culture, right-wing ideology, and state-sanctioned violence. The Ultimate Strongmen traces how MMA has become a powerful tool for political agendas, propaganda, and control, illuminating the wide-ranging impacts of MMA on our political moment. Through exclusive interviews, narrative storytelling, and in-depth reporting, Karim Zidan reveals how Donald Trump's alliance with the UFC, as well as MMA's emergence as a right-wing counter-culture ecosystem, isn't just a footnote in American politics--it has fundamentally reshaped it.", "item_img_path" : "https://covers2.booksamillion.com/covers/bam/1/66/822/572/1668225727_b.jpg", "price_data" : { "retail_price" : "29.00", "online_price" : "29.00", "our_price" : "29.00", "club_price" : "29.00", "savings_pct" : "0", "savings_amt" : "0.00", "club_savings_pct" : "0", "club_savings_amt" : "0.00", "discount_pct" : "10", "store_price" : "" } }

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