Super Squad Letter #102
Sinners, Fight News, Attention Is Everything
Sinners
We’re gonna start this one off with Sinners. And there will be spoilers.
Sinners was one of the best movies I’ve seen in a long time. It’s about vampires and I actually did myself a favor by not watching any trailers.
All I knew about Sinners was that it was going to be a period piece about vampires back in the day.
I thought I was about to watch a movie about African-American vampire hunters, but I didn’t realize how deep it was.
It wasn’t exactly a musical, but the music was the star of this movie. There’s a scene where they showcase the music and that scene alone won me over. They need an award. I think this scene is what got the movie 100% from all the critics 🤣
To be honest, the vampire killing and action in the movie were the weakest parts. Weak as in 8.5/10. Everything else was of such high standard and quality.
Before any of the action, you're following the story of two brothers from Mississippi who left home to make a life for themselves in Chicago. And when they’re coming back, you can tell they made their money in a shady way.
There’s so much history and lore and then they connect the music and vampires into it. Somehow they were able to connect vampires to the Depression, the blues, and many different cultures.
I wrote this one Twitter, but it could’ve been so easy for the directors to make the evil vampire a racist. But the vampire is Irish and because of this movie, I went to research Irish culture and how they relate to the Choctaw Native American tribe. Also how the Chinese helped out in Mississippi back in the day.
I don’t know how they fit all of this in one movie. But whenever you have a movie that makes you want to do research after, that’s an A+ movie right there.
There’s also a running joke on Twitter saying this movie is the debut of Michael C. Jordan 🤣 He does such a great job playing those dual roles.
It’s so easy to make a character like Smoke corny. If you’re playing dual roles, one personality is probably gonna be angry and the other one funny. But these characters were twins.
The differences between the two were there, but they weren’t cartoonish. One of the twins was more open and the other one more guarded.
Apparently, for the actor who played the main character – this is his first ever acting gig. That’s a hell of a debut. The main vampire also killed it. Stellar performances all around.
I want this movie to be a one off, but I really want a prequel about the main vampire. I want to know his backstory.
As they introduced him in the movie, he said he thought he could trust the Choctaw people. And I know now that the Irish did have a close relationship with the Choctaw tribe.
So I don’t exactly know what happened that caused the vampire to show up at the racists’ doors. But when he realized they were racist, he completely played into that.
A+ all around.
Moving To Lightweight (Fight News below)
I’ve been fighting at the same weight class since I was 19 years old. I’ve never missed weight, but it’s also never been easy.
So now that I’m getting older, I made the decision a long time ago to move to lightweight.
I’m just talking about it now since a lot of MMA pages have been asking me about it.
My body is just getting a little too big. I’m sure I can still make 45, but it’s a question of whether I can make it and not take away from myself.
I’m a guy who follows every diet and routine to the tee. I don’t shortcut anything and stay disciplined. Even with that, it’s hard for me. And I always hear these stories of guys eating ice cream and drinking and still making weight.
So I was like damn, if I’m struggling while staying disciplined, I wonder how it’ll be if I had more flexibility and freedom in my weight cut.
The routine is easy for me. But it’s not easy on my body.
Who knows. Maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow and go back to 45 🤣 But as of right now, I’m not going near 45 for a very long time.
Plus, as I’m eating a little bit more in my day-to-day life, I’m feeling better. I’m not super sluggish and lethargic. I can get through hard practices and feel ok afterward.
And I almost always got sick on the weight cut to 45. I remember what my nutritionist said when I told him what I eat daily. He said I eat like a squirrel 🤣
So fingers crossed I don’t get sick. It hasn’t happened yet.
And when I brought this move up to my team, they agreed instantly. So I guess they’ve also been thinking about it but didn’t mention it until I brought it up myself.
Fight News
With that being said, I’m back in action on May 17th against Mairon Santos 👊🏿
Attention Is Everything
Recently, there’s been an uptick of influencers hanging out with UFC fighters and getting in there with them 🤣
Most guys just play around and be nice, except Sean Strickland. You should know by now what you’re getting if you ask to spar Sean Strickland. He’s been beating the shit out of these guys.
But it looks like they like it, because they keep showing back up 🤣
In their world, attention is everything. Even if it’s attention from getting beat up. You’re getting beat up by a UFC fighter so it’s not really a blow to the ego. So if they’re happy, I’m happy.
I don’t think it brings any negative attention to the sport. On one hand, I think these influencers bring a younger audience who aren’t that big into the UFC.
And at the end of the day, it’s all fun and games.
If Strickland decides to take it up a level and start concussing these guys and knocking them out, then it’ll be different. For now, he’s just beating up their body and letting them tap out by TKO.
I’m still waiting for the first crash dummy from the UFC who will decapitate one of these guys 🤣
I’ve also met some of these influencers. Last year, I did a video with Peaks100 (I’ll link the video below).
I told him that if he ever wanted to get into one of these influencer boxing shows, to let me train him. And he said for Adin Ross’s show, they’ll give him 30 days.
30 days is good enough. So who knows, you might see me in the coaching corner for one of these Adin Ross shows one of these days.
Sodiq’s Pop Culture Corner
How can we not talk about The Last of Us? 🤣
I was talking all that shit last week about how Joel deserves everything coming to him. It’s always different when you’re talking about something and actually seeing it happen.
Boy, was that hard to watch 😅
It’s like my brain is fighting itself. I know she’s right. What Joel did was wrong. But at that moment, why can’t we all be friends?
Poor Joel. Joel was being such a soldier and was not helping himself. He was telling her to get it over with instead of lying to save himself. Man, just lie.
I felt so bad for Ellie. I’m not as mad about the actress playing Abby. She played her role very well. I’m sure everyone’s hating on her right now.
At the end of the day, Joel deserved what he got.
I understand where he’s coming from. I understand Ellie is like your daughter and you’re not going to let them take her brain apart.
But the only concession I would’ve made is to let me wake my daughter up for a little bit. I’m not gonna just let you guys kill her.
If she doesn’t want to do this, then we’re leaving. There’s a difference between leaving and leaving by killing everybody.
I think there are ways out of that without murder. And even if it came to that, there are specific bad guys to target like the people who will force you to stop. Not the doctors and nurses.
When you hear Abby’s perspective of how Joel just shot everyone, you understand. You kinda deserved it Joel.
The episode was great, especially with the Zombie invasion. Everything in that world just seems so hopeless.
I just kept imagining how cold it was while the zombies attacked. I hate the cold.
Great episode all around, RIP Joel.
That ends it for this week’s Super Squad Letter!
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Peace,
Super Sodiq Yusuff