Interviews

Cincinnati Bengals running back Giovani Bernard burst onto the scene last season after being selected in the second round of the 2013 NFL draft.

Already known for his dynamic playmaking abilities while at North Carolina, the Bengals didn't hesitate to make him the first running back drafted last year—the move paid off in a big way.

As a rookie, Bernard rushed 170 times for 695 yards—an average of 4.1 yards per carry—and five touchdowns. A reliable receiver as well, he caught 56 receptions for 514 yards and an additional three scores.

Bernard's 1,209 yards from scrimmage was good enough for second on the team, just behind All-Pro wide receiver A.J. Green.

With a bright future ahead, the second-year running back enters the 2014 season, not only with high expectations for his team, but as one of the NFL's emerging young role models.

For any football player, maintaining hydration during workouts, practices and games is of the utmost importance. Bernard's realized this, and over the offseason, he's become a spokesperson for Vita Coco—an electrolyte-rich coconut water, which he now uses for his daily training regimen.

Bernard was kind enough to speak about how Vita Coco has played an integral part of keeping him healthy throughout the offseason, and he also shared his thoughts on his role in the offense, his teammates and the outlook for the coming season.

Sean O'Donnell: Last year, you were a second-round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals. This year, the team brought in running back Jeremy Hill of LSU in the same round. Have you had a chance to speak to him yet, and are you familiar with his game?

Giovani Bernard: "Yeah, I mean, we've been working together going through OTAs, and he's a great player. I've had a chance to meet him. He's a good dude, and he understands the game. I think the biggest thing is that he understands what Hue [Jackson] wants to do with the offense and he's on board.

I mean, we just have a really big running back corps right now. We're definitely going to need it for this upcoming season. I know how Hue Jackson is and his whole philosophy running the ball. But it's going to be a fun season, and I'm excited to get back into it and see what we can do."

SO: What are your expectations for the Bengals backfield this season with yourself, Hill and BenJarvus Green-Ellis in the mix?

GB: "You know, for me, I don't know if it’s expectations or a goal-type thing, but we expect ourselves to be great. Hue has always been the type of person to make you a better player by getting coached by him. He always wants you to be a better player.

We've been surrounded by great players. Benny is one of the guys you really want to surround yourself with—you really want to be in his hip pocket just because he knows a lot about the game. So, with me and Jeremy being young backs, if we can follow our game after Benny, we can learn a lot from him."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RKTOObOCRXM

SO: This is now your second year in the league, and you’ll now be working with a new offensive coordinator. Obviously, you're very familiar with Hue Jackson, as he was the Bengals running backs coach last season. What kind of changes can we expect to see on the offensive side of the ball with him at the helm?

GB: "Yeah, I mean, I can't tell you all of the secrets—I don't want to put all the goodies out there, but it's going to be a fun season. That's one of the things I've been telling people. I don't want to give all the ins and outs—defenses already be scouting us without seeing a thing, but it's going to be a fun season.

I'm excited. We have a lot of playmakers, and everybody knows that. But, I think with Hue's philosophy, of being great and wanting to be great—I think that's what's going to push it over the edge."

SO: Speaking of changes, word on the street is you'll be seeing some more action in the slot this year. What are your thoughts on that new role?

GB: "Yeah, for me, whenever I have the opportunity to get on the field, I do it. Being in the slot or being in the backfield—you know, if they need me to play quarterback, I'll play quarterback. Whatever they need me to do, I'll be that guy to step in. No matter where it is on the field, I want to be a part of it because I want to help the team win.

I definitely have to get a little more reps in the slot—that doesn't mean I'm just going to be a receiver now, but it's going to be a fun season. Like I said before, I don't want to give away all of my secrets."

SO: Have you set any personal goals for this season?

GB: "You know, I've never been a person that sets goals. I don't know why—I think I should—but I've never been that type of way. I kind of just let everything come as it goes. Obviously, I want to do better than I did last season, so I just continue to keep getting better—mature as a player on and off the field, and hopefully I'll do good.

For me, it's never been about the individual goals, it's been about the team goals. Obviously, one thing on my mind is getting a playoff win. So, that's what I'm focused on right now. That's what we're all trying to get to, and hopefully we can get it."

SO: You became an instant fan favorite last year during HBO’s Hard Knocks…

GB: "[Laughs] Ah, don't ask me about it! Don't ask me!"

SO: One thing everyone remembers is your transportation—the minivan. I have to ask: Have you bought yourself a new ride yet?

GB: "That's confidential news. Maybe I have, maybe I haven't. But I'm not going to put that out there yet.

Let's just say I did get a new vehicle—something that's not a crazy car—something that's in my price range. But I'm not saying I did, and I'm not saying I didn't."

SO: Giovani, you're part of a team including some incredible athletes such as Marshawn Lynch, Julio Jones, Yasiel Puig and more, representing Vita Coco. Can you tell me a bit about the product and how it's affected you and your training?

GB: "I think the biggest thing for me is when I first originally tried it, it was after a workout. I was down in south Florida, and as everybody knows, it's hot as heck down there. I tried it, and I can honestly say it was better than having Gatorade right after.

It just tasted really good, and I thought since it was coconut water it wouldn't taste very good, but it was so natural and it actually tasted really good—they have different flavors—but that was my first experience with it, and I just never went back.

I haven't had any cramps, so I guess it's doing something right."

A special thanks to Bengals running back and Vita Coco spokesperson Giovani Bernard for taking the time to interview with Bleacher Report.

If you grew up in the 1990s or were at all privy to the intersection of sports and pop culture during that decade, you were probably exposed to the NBA's marketing strategy of connecting generations of fans to the game of basketball through multimedia. Between Space Jam and Kazaam on the silver screen, NBA Inside Stuff on TV, then NBA Jam and Barkley Shut Up and Jam!, there was no escaping the Association—especially if you were a kid.

It's within this milieu that Brian and Liam Raum came in contact with the NBA and its myriad off-court oddities. The two brothers founded Tales of Game's Studios after releasing their first "masterpiece," Barkley, Shut Up and Jam: Gaiden. Not long after its release in January 2008, the game became an Internet cult classic.

And, like any strong opening act, the Raums' Barkley game will soon have a sequel, on which ToG is currently hard at work after a successful Kickstarter campaign in December 2012. Brian and Liam recently took time out of their busy lives as budding game developers to talk about their odes to the Round Mound of Rebound, their love of "sci-fi basketball" and more.

   

Bleacher Report: Did that love for bad games have anything to do with you guys making games?

Liam Raum: It’s sort of a necessity, I guess, because your first game is going to be bad, regardless. No matter what your ideas are, it’s going to suck. I guess you sort of have to embrace it being so bad. I guess that’s what the beauty of Barkley is, is that it totally owns its own atrociousness.

   

B/R: What was the inspiration behind making the first Barkley game?

Liam: Eric pretty much just asked me if I wanted to help. I mean, “Barkley, Shut Up and Jam” is just a great title. It’s commanding you to shut up and jam. Adding “Gaiden” to the end is like a video game “thing,” and I think we were just messing around, pretty much. He made the first couple rooms of it and said, “Hey, do you want to help me with it?” and I said “Sure.” Started writing people and making maps and stuff and it just kind of continued from there.

I’ve made all sorts of little games that never got past like 15 minutes of playability, so going into this one was never really the thought of finishing it, but I think it was just easy and fun to make, so we did?

   

B/R: How long of a game is it? How long does it take to play through?

Liam: Five to seven hours, depending on what you do. There isn’t that much extra exploration, but there is quite a bit of text to read from different NPC characters that you can go and talk to. If you explored everything and you went nice and slow and fought all the enemies, it could possibly take you seven, but probably around five.

   

B/R: So the Barkley thing was more the result of Shut Up and Jam, or did you guys have a particular affinity for Barkley?

Liam: I had no connection, but Barkley was like, they’re all kind of characters. I didn’t like Michael Jordan, but I liked Barkley, so there was part of that. He was a funny character, I guess, but there’s always been...I don’t even know if necessarily Barkley spawned any of it. It just sort of cemented it. Like, Barkley vs. Godzilla, just how weird Space Jam was from the very beginning, and all those games. NBA Jam, like every kid played NBA Jam ad nauseam, like every day. You played it and you got all those codes, like Big Head mode and all that stuff.

Brian Laum: Everything lights on fire and all those weird, bad things like “(Michael Jordan:) Chaos in the Windy City”...like, it’s almost basketball stuff...

Liam: It’s just sort of like we said, “Well, what if all these things are serious?” Like all of this weird undercurrent of “sci-fi basketball,” like Shaq Fu and all that. It’s all out there. Things like these are very novel. I just think that everybody sort of had it in the back of their mind that basketball or just the marketing of basketball to kids is such a bizarre...like making basketball extreme and cool, especially in the '90s, when it was not like...it’s far from what it is now. Like I remember basketball being sort of like...

Brian: Corny?

Liam: Yeah, like “Eat your chicken nuggets so you can do good in school.”

Brian: That, first of all, doesn’t make any sense, but it was commercial and cheesy.

Liam: It’s like what we were talking about the other day with extreme trapper keepers. The “No Fear” trapper keepers. Just like, “Hey kids, school and basketball and everything.” I don’t know. I guess I don’t really have my mind stuck in that time. I have no idea how a 12-year-old thinks about basketball, how he analyzes who LeBron James is or something like that. But to me, it was always very odd. Like the Dream Team and stuff was always just this weird...sort of separated from what we were really experiencing.

I don’t know if you heard about Space Jam 2...

   

B/R: Yeah, I did. Were you guys disappointed when you found out that it wasn’t actually going to be a thing?

Liam: No, I think we are...well, there was a Twitter upheaval about it. I don’t know how deep you got into the Barkley thing, but we have a whole thing about canon, which we don’t know if we actually enjoy [laughs]. We’re saying it’s all true, like Space Jam is true, Chaos in the Windy City is true, Shaq Fu is true. Essentially, everyone asked us if Space Jam 2 happens, will it be part of the Barkley canon? Like, will it be part of the whole thing? Because it would essentially disrupt everything.

Brian: You can’t say no.

Liam: We sort of said that it is part of like a bridge in canon, but we use the term “dark canon,” the other part of the canon that, at every answer, spawns both the canon and the reaction creates pretty much the opposite, like an interdimensional thing, which is all just pieces of this nonsensical basketball world where it commands everything in the universe. I don’t know if it necessarily is a good thing or a bad thing, but whether it happens or doesn’t happen, it’ll definitely work its way into the story.

   

B/R: So the world in the Barkley games is molded around all these other “sci-fi basketball” movies and games, that you portray them as real events in this world you created?

Brian: Yeah, it assumes that Space Jam is real and happened in our world in the future. I don’t know if there was any repeated Space Jam viewing while we were trying to make the game.

Liam: There were Monstars, so we were just going to add them in. But really, yeah, it’s just the idea that...the whole Shaq Fu thing is avoided, but most of the things are in there in some way or another.

The biggest thing, which is not part of any other basketball story, is Barkley becoming the ultimate baller and performing the “chaos dunk,” which is the dunk that destroys New York, and that starts everything.

   

B/R: What was the reception to the first Barkley game like? What was the feedback you got? How many downloads?

Brian: Good. I don’t know how many people downloaded it, actually. We just put it out there. I know whoever’s server we put it on first, it was a buddy of ours, it got overwhelmed. At first we made a demo, and people thought the demo was kind of funny.

It was about a year later before the actual game came out. But the guy’s server went down and we put it up at a bunch of other places after that, and then there was a while where I don’t even think we were actually hosting it. It just kind of existed out there for a while, so I’m not sure how many people actually downloaded it, but, I mean, I would assume, I don’t know, in the thousands? Over 10?

    

B/R: What was your reaction when you saw how the game was being received by the Internet at large?

Brian: It was cool. I didn’t really...it was really just made for like people that we knew. It was a chance to put a bunch of weird s--t in a game and have people play it and it actually be completed and playable and sort of fun, so while it was weird...and I would Google search everything to see, like, what do people think, but until we actually ran the Kickstarter, I didn’t realize how popular it still was. That’s the weirdest thing, not that it was popular at the time, but that it persisted in people’s minds, I guess, and to give us money later, I guess.

Liam: It also spawned another odd sort of meme thing with mashing up the Space Jam song with other songs. If you go on YouTube and you say “Space Jam” and then just add in something, like say “Gangnam Style,” there’s so many, SOOOO many songs, and they all have some sort of image of...so, it’s Space Jam mixed with "Smells Like Teen Spirit," and instead of Kurt Cobain playing the guitar, it’s Kurt Cobain’s body with Charles Barkley’s face posed playing the guitar. There’s thousands of those. Without ever really searching for them, you’d have no idea, but once you start to search for them, you start to see the views, and the views are like hundreds of thousands.

Brian: Stuff like that is sometimes kind of freaky.

Liam: Yeah, it gets a little weird. Also, the other thing is Tales of Game’s sort of has this...we like to present ourselves as if we’re this dastardly corporation that’s much, much larger than the three people that we are. A lot of it, even if we hear that something’s well-received or something like that, we sort of sabotage it in some way by officially releasing our corporate stance on the matter and things like that, so it all just sort of blends into one big joke.

    

B/R: Did you guys make any money off that “joke,” as you call it?

Liam: Well, the Kickstarter for Barkley 2 made $120,000, but Barkley 1 was free because it’s all stolen stuff. It’s all ripped…

Brian: There’s a Russian website that was selling it, so yeah [laughs].

Liam: Some Russian company took the game and just sold it for $10. We would for sure get sued if we tried to sell Barkley 1. All the graphics in it are ripped from other games.

   

B/R: Does Charles Barkley himself know about any of this?

Liam: A lot of people ask. We’ve heard yes. I actually used to do TV shows and there was a moment where Emeril Lagasse, the chef, who’s a friend of Charles Barkley, actually had him on the phone and he was aware of the game—Emeril was. I don’t exactly know if there was a discussion between the two about it. I sort of doubt it. But that was like as close as I think it ever got to him, through Emeril Lagasse. I’m going to assume that he knows something, but we have never really talked to him at all about it.

    

B/R: Do you know if any of the other NBA personalities from Barkley 1 know that they’re in it?

Liam: We don’t know, but someone could, like...we’ve had no real connection to it, in a way, that someone would care. For the new game that we’re working on, we actually sort of drew a line and are avoiding actually naming NBA players and things like that. Basketball’s still a very prevalent part of the story, but obviously, we are a small group of neophytes, and we’re not going to start treading water with the Players Association and stuff like that. So if any of the NBA players know, especially like...I’m going to guess that Larry Bird doesn’t know and doesn’t care that he’s the priest in Barkley 1. Vince Carter maybe knows that he’s the cyborg. It’s possible.

There’s also guys in the NBA now, I’m guessing, that were—what?—14 at the time that the game came out, so maybe they had heard of it because they were on the Internet playing video games at 14 and looking up basketball games that they could play, so there could be NBA players that’ve actually played Barkley and know about it. We’re slightly removed from it. For a few different reasons, we just kind of leave it at that. If it approaches us and somebody lets us know that some player knows about us, that’s really cool, but we’re also just kind of laying low [laughs], just in case Barkley really doesn’t like it.

    

B/R: So you said you’ve removed any mention of actual players from Barkley 2?

Liam: For the start of the concept...the game actually was conceived at the same time that Barkley 1 was. It’s just sort of coincidence almost that story sort of takes a very different direction that there’s not actually any direct reference to all these different guys or girls; there’s WNBA players as well. First of all, this game is a lot easier to sort of...we don’t have to worry about that because we’re not naming them directly. It’s the classic, your player has amnesia [laughs].

Brian: It happens a lot.

Liam: Yes, so we might as well use it. The game’s very, very cliche, but we embrace it. So yeah, we kind of actually avoid naming players specifically. Now, if we had the ability to, we totally would, but I think the likenesses are all controlled by the Players Association.

Brian: Unless someone didn’t sign the contract.

Liam: Like one guy, like the Barry Bonds of basketball. I’m sure there’s one. When Barry Bonds was in all the baseball games, his name was like Larry something else because he was not part of the (MLB) Players Association where everybody else was.

   

B/R: What was the reasoning behind the switch in game play from JRPG-style in Barkley 1 to more real-time combat in Barkley 2?

Brian: Like Liam said, we came up with it at the same time, almost a little before we made the first game, like really started working on it. It was kind of tied to an old idea we’d had. In 2007, there was definitely going to be this sequel, even if we put out the first game and five years passed and it didn’t make it. This has always been the idea.

But it’s really mostly about one character and we just thought it would be a little more entertaining, I guess, to have you actually be able to control the person and run around rather than just have single-player, turn-based battles because they can be kind of boring.

But I think the thing that caused it...we got into the thought of you using all kinds of crazy weapons and stuff, which would be kind of boring if you couldn’t actually shoot them in real time and aim them and stuff. That may be the biggest reason for it being action-oriented more than anything else.

   

B/R: Do you guys have a particular timetable for when Barkley 2 will be out?

(Editor's note: The full title for Barkley 2 is "The Magical Realms of Tír na nÓg: Escape from Necron 7 - Revenge of Cuchulainn: The Official Game of the Movie - Chapter 2 of the Hoopz Barkley SaGa.")

Brian: No.

Liam: We’d love to get it out this year and we’re sticking with it. We just sent out an update to our backers that says, “Hey! As the ball drops…” [laughs]. We’re really rushing to get it done, but at the same time, trying to keep the quality up. Hopefully, this year.

   

B/R: Were you guys surprised by the outpouring of support for Barkley 2 via Kickstarter? You guys started out asking for $35,000 and ended up bringing in more than $120,000.

Brian: Yeah, it was very surprising.

Liam: Yeah, it was ridiculous. We thought 35 was going to get us right to the end. We sort of said, “You know what? F--k it. 35. Let’s just see if it works.” One of our group of guys was saying, “Oh, you’re going to raise over $100,000. Barkley’s huge. You guys don’t even know.” We sort of entertained the idea in the back of our minds, but we didn’t know. We never really said, “Oh, this is going to happen.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=km2Muh9kSi0

   

B/R: You said you’ve tried to steer clear of Shaq Fu and Kazaam. Could there be any Shaq-related cameos in the future?

Liam: There’s Kazaam. Yeah, I forgot there was Kazaam. There’s Kazaam in Barkley. I heard that he announced Shaq Fu, that there is a new Shaq Fu. At CES or something like that, he said “Yeah, yeah, yeah, there’s a new Shaq Fu” or that he’s working on it.

   

B/R: Because the first one deserved a sequel, right?

Liam: The original Shaq Fu is not bad. It’s not horrible. It’s actually kind of cool. But between Shaq and Barkley, those are the guys that are larger than life or larger than the court, essentially. If Shaq’s people want to get ahold of us, by all means, we’ll work him in.

   

Hit Josh up on Twitter for all things basketball, virtual or otherwise!

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Running back Larry Scott emerged as one of Ohio's top prospects during a dominant junior campaign at Hubbard High School. Days away from an unofficial visit to Ohio State, the 4-star recruit expressed enthusiasm about his growing rapport with some of the most respected programs in college football.

Scott, a punishing 6'0", 205-pound rusher, is receiving mounting interest as his recruitment heats up. The list of options has expanded with offers from Pittsburgh, Alabama, Ohio State and Auburn since February.

"It's very exciting," Scott said. "I'm trying to stay humble and work hard for next season."

Expectations are high this year after he gained 1,600 yards for the second straight season. Scott, rated the nation's No. 11 running back recruit in 247Sports' composite rankings, scored 21 rushing touchdowns in 2013, as Hubbard won 13 games and advanced to the state quarterfinals.

While assessing his latest offers, Scott seems most intrigued by Alabama and Ohio State. He is delighted to hear from Nick Saban and will travel to Columbus this weekend.

The Buckeyes extended an offer earlier this month. Scott says he keeps in contact with co-offensive coordinator Ed Warinner and will take advantage of an opportunity to explore the campus.

"I've been to Ohio State twice," Scott said. "I'm looking forward to touring everything. (I) really want to check things out."

He was in attendance for the OSU's victory over Penn State last October. Scott was also keeping an eye on the Nittany Lions at the time.

Penn State showed significant interest throughout his junior campaign. Former Lions running back coach Charlie Fisher attended multiple Hubbard games last fall, according to school athletic director Chuck Montgomery.

Scott thought highly of the program prior to Bill O'Brien's departure and that recruiting relationship certainly seemed to be a two-way street. However, the line of communication has altered tremendously since James Franklin became head coach in Happy Valley.

"Penn State hasn’t reached out since their coaching change," Montgomery said. "Coach Fisher was here several times last season but he’s no longer with the program. Penn State hasn’t called since Franklin took over.”

Fisher is now the associate head coach at Richmond, while Scott is left to wonder why things changed with Penn State.

"It's surprising not to hear from them," Scott said.

Still, there's a bevy of Big Ten Conference programs in pursuit. When asked which school stands out among the mix, Scott was decisive.

“Michigan State,” he said without hesitation. “I really like their running game.”

Scott spent time in East Lansing last month. He identified Spartans head coach Mark Dantonio as one of the top program leaders on his list.

"I like hearing from Coach Dantonio, Nick Saban and Urban Meyer," Scott said.

Alabama is on solid footing with the northeast Ohio standout. Expect the Crimson Tide to push for a visit in the near future, though the team already holds a commitment from 4-star, in-state running back Desherrius Flowers.

Scott, who calls himself as a "power back," is unsure of where his recruitment process is headed after the upcoming visit to Ohio State.

“At this time, I’m undecided about all that," he said. "I’ll probably visit a few schools [soon], but I’m not sure where yet.”

His offer list also includes Kentucky, West Virginia and Tennessee. Hubbard head coach Brian Hoffman hasn't been surprised by the level of collegiate interest in his star playmaker.

"It was pretty evident during his freshman year that he was going to reach this point," Hoffman said. "Since then, he’s obviously had some outstanding seasons for us. Physically, the maturity is evident and he has great weight-room numbers."

Scott is every bit of the powerful runner he claims to be. His rushing style is violent, and he routinely displays forceful physicality at the point of contact, springing free from tacklers.

He also shines as a receiver on game film. Scott's straight-line speed allows him to exploit space downfield with the ball in his hands.

The balanced approach has several college squads clamoring for his signature. Ohio State, fresh off offering Scott, has an opportunity to make inroads this weekend, while Michigan State and Alabama appear to loom large moving forward.

Recruit rankings and information courtesy of 247Sports unless otherwise noted.

All quotes were obtained firsthand by B/R college football recruiting columnist Tyler Donohue.

"In Brazil, football is pretty much everywhere. You play at school, on the streets, even at home. It is part of our DNA."

Like most kids in Petropolis—the hilly, subtropical city just north of Rio de Janeiro—Rodrigo Santoro grew up with a ball at his feet.

“I’ve always enjoyed playing [football] with my friends,” he says, although, he admits, he “never really played at a high level.”

Santoro, who stars as King Xerxes in 300: Rise of an Empire, opening Friday, has never drifted far from his footballing roots.

In fact, the 38-year-old actor has often sought an intersect between film and football, going so far as to produce and star in the 2011 biographical drama Heleno, which tells the story of the iconic and self-destructive Botafogo legend Heleno de Freitas.

“In order to prepare for the part,” Santoro says, “I had a professional footballer coaching me for two months.”

He adds: “Because of that training I became a much better player.”

Santoro’s preparation for the Xerxes role was rather different, involving prosthetics and a full body shave before becoming director Zack Snyder’s “God King” in the first 300 film.

“At first I didn’t think I had the natural physique to play [Xerxes], but it became an incredibly interesting experience undergoing the physical transformation,” he says.

Initially fascinated with the image of Xerxes designed by graphic novelist Frank Miller, Santoro immediately wanted to play a character he saw as “complex” and “powerful.”

“The most interesting thing is that in 300: Rise of an Empire the audience will have a chance to see a bit of Xerxes' back story,” he says. “This provides an opportunity to show so many more dimensions to his character.”

Santoro is also working on an upcoming Pele biopic, in which he serves as associate producer.

Football is back on the Vasco da Gama fan’s mind, and he fancies his home country to do well at the upcoming World Cup, which it will host in June and July.

“I think Brazil has a great team,” he says, citing the “incredibly talented” Neymar and “experienced” Julio Cesar.

“A lot of the players are currently playing in Europe though,” he adds, “so the important thing in my opinion is to get them to train together and get really strong as a team.”

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Allira Cohrs doesn’t sit around and wait for opportunity to come knocking.

Instead, she sets her stance, clinches her fists and knocks opportunity to the ground with a relentless charge of ambition.

Her goals aren’t dreams; they are reality.

Born in Sydney, Australia, Cohrs has been hustling and bustling in the modeling industry since 2005.

Ranked as the No. 53 sexiest woman in the world by magazine FHM, Cohrs has recently risen to prominence in the hard-hitting world of mixed martial arts as both a host and an ambassador for the sport.

A longtime fight fan, Cohrs originally wanted to get involved in the MMA industry as an Octagon girl for the UFC.

A strategic campaign on Twitter, instead, landed her a gig as a host for the now-defunct Fight Day Live on Heavy.com.

Since then, her career has skyrocketed and Ms. Cohrs is now on the fast track to becoming one of the most recognizable women in the MMA community.

This is her story.

“It all started with me wanting to be affiliated with the UFC,” Cohrs told Bleacher Report.

“So I just kind of went on an absolute barrage on Twitter and pretty much bombarded Dana White with tweets. Eventually I got noticed and everything MMA-wise just spiraled from there. It’s a tight circle so once people started noticing me, it created a snowball effect. Now I’m on a really big snowball.”

Indeed she is.

Cohrs was recently featured as a presenter on the 2013 World MMA Awards alongside UFC Hall of Famer Royce Gracie. The pair presented UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey with her award for Female Fighter of the Year.

She is also currently working on several different projects for UFC.com in Australia that are bound to light the MMA world on fire over in the Land Down Under.

Australia is quickly becoming a hotbed for dynamic MMA prospects. With an influx of new talent from the TUF Nations show, the UFC has more Aussies on the roster than ever before. Cohrs believes this is simply the beginning of the takeover.

“Right now, MMA is really starting to blow up in Australia. Everyone is UFC-crazy and women are getting more into it as well. There is more of an awareness about the sport now and I’m confident that things are really going to kick off for us very soon,” Cohrs said.

“George Sotiropoulos was kind of like, the original Aussie fighter that I took notice of in the UFC. He was the guy that I always used to cheer for back when there was really nobody else [from Australia] to cheer for. We didn’t really have many Aussies in the UFC back then but now we’ve got a bunch. It’s definitely blowing up at a quick rate.”

We are only three months into 2014 and already this has been the year of Allira Cohrs. She is making moves and taking names both as a sexy fitness model and an articulated MMA host.

Ms. Cohrs has no plans of slowing down either. Whether it’s becoming a UFC Octagon girl or a broadcaster for a major sports media outlet, Cohrs is relentlessly chasing excellence. She will get it.

“Right now, I honestly don’t know if I want to push myself more in one area over the other. I really do enjoy broadcasting though and plan on having a career in that field for sure,” Cohrs said.

“Whether it’s for the UFC, ESPN, FOX Sports 1 or wherever: I am determined to make it happen. That’s what I’m going after this year and I always get what I set after for.”

It’s that passion and drive that separates Allira Cohrs from the rest of the pack. Other models and broadcasters might be content on waiting for good things to happen to them. Cohrs doesn’t wait; she kicks the door of its hinges and makes it happen.

“I always write all of my goals down on a massive whiteboard and it’s really cool when I get to take it off. Being a broadcaster and a voice for MMA is definitely on my radar this year,” Cohrs said.

“I never take no for an answer. I kick down doors until I get what I want.”

Mitch Ciccarelli is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report and co-host of Alchemist Radio. He is also a United States Airman. Follow him on Twitter @MitchCiccarelli.

When it comes to mixing annual MMA achievements with mainstream pop culture, nobody does it better than Fighters Only.

For the past six years, the UK-based MMA publication has kicked down doors and shaken up the industry with its year-end extravaganza, known as the World MMA Awards.

The event, which highlights the achievements of the sport’s top performers, draws a massive audience of celebrities from both inside and outside of the MMA universe.

It’s like the ESPYS, the Grammy’s and the Teen Choice Awards, all tied together in one tremendously exciting presentation.

Earlier this month, Fighters Only hosted its sixth annual event and completely tore the roof off of the Venetian Theatre in Las Vegas, Nevada.

From the red carpet gala at the start of the night to the overall presentation of the awards and videos, the show was a huge success.

Stars that you ordinarily wouldn’t associate with MMA—such as Gene Simmons and Terrell Owens, helped make it special. However, they weren’t the only ones that stole the show.

UFC reporter Megan Olivi has a way of lighting up any room by just simply walking in with a microphone and smiling. This woman is a trailblazer. She’s passionate about what she does and it shows through her video interviews and segments. Some people say they are living the dream, Olivi actually is.

Emily Miller is one of MMA’s most influential women. As a former ring-card girl for the now defunct IFL and current ring girl for the World Series of Fighting, Miller has been involved in the industry for years. She eats, sleeps and breathes MMA and has a very loyal following because of it.

Australian bombshell Allira Cohrs has taken the fight world by storm with her exquisite curves and vast knowledge on the sport. A former host for Heavy MMA’s Fight Day, Cohrs has been hustling and bustling like no other. She is on the fast track to becoming a major superstar and has no plans of slowing down yet.

These three attractive but powerful women were all part of the show in one way, shape or form. Each of them had a hand in the flow of the event and helped make it, without question, a night to remember.

Miller, who escorted all of the night’s winners onto the stage and presented them with their awards, was beyond thrilled with the way the night went.

“I was talking to a lot of my girlfriends that attended the event and from talking to them and also feeling the vibe backstage, I honestly feel like this was our best one yet,” Miller told Bleacher Report.

“With all the celebrities that attended: big names like Gene Simmons, Mario Lopez and Terrell Owens, it was huge. All in all, our video presentation was on point. I just think it was our best year yet.”

Miller is no stranger to the spotlight, but the massive buzz that the event produces can definitely be a little nerve-racking at first. She felt it firsthand.

“I actually was a little bit nervous. I went through a run through the night before but it was a little daunting at first,” Miller said.

“I had six inch heels on and being up there on stage, not knowing who’s in the crowd did make me a bit nervous but once I walked out there all of the butterflies were gone.”

While the primary focus of the event is to honor and recognize the nominees and award winners, The World MMA Awards has also become a hotbed for pumping out some of the most hilarious comedy bits involving fighters and coaches. 

This year, comedian Adam Hunter wrote and produced memorable skits involving Wanderlei Silva, Mark Munoz and others. His “What does the Wand say?” video has already gone viral on YouTube with over 91,000 hits.

For someone who works as hard as Olivi, sometimes it can be tough to sit back and enjoy the show. This time, she got to be a part of the on-stage presentation as well as watching from the audience. She had a great time but what stood out to her the most was seeing the fighters kick back and have fun.

In her eyes, that is what truly made the event a success across the board.

“This was my first time ever sitting in the audience so that was definitely a different experience,” Olivi told Bleacher Report.

“I got to see all the skits by MMA Roasted’s Adam Hunter and I thought they were incredibly well-written and hilarious. The big thing to me was that the fighters really enjoyed themselves. We got to see them in different elements and I just really loved being a part of it.”

Alongside Kenny Florian, Olivi announced UFC President Dana White as the Leading Man of the Year. A category that White has dominated by a landslide, every single year.

As part of the UFC family, Olivi was very grateful for the opportunity to honor her boss.

“Dana White is amazing. There’s nobody else more deserving than him. He works really hard and it’s such an honor to be able to work for him and be part of the UFC team,” Olivi said.

“It was an honor to present the award to my boss because I really appreciate everything he does for me personally so it was cool to share that with the whole group and say ‘and the winner is Dana White’. I thought it was very well deserved.”

Coming in from Australia, this was Cohrs’ first time attending the MMA Awards. The voluptuous brunette was on stage with UFC hall of famer, Royce Gracie to present UFC women’s bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey with her award for Female Fighter of the Year.

When she learned she would be presenting with Gracie, Cohrs looked behind her for Ashton Kutcher because she thought she was being punk'd.

“When they sent me my script and told me I was going to be working with Royce, I thought surely that had to be a mistake. I couldn’t believe that I was actually working with Royce Gracie,” Cohrs told Bleacher Report.

“It was very surreal to be honest. It just happened so quickly and before I knew it, the night was over and I didn’t want it to end.”

All three women felt that the voters did an excellent job in determining this year’s winners. They particularly thought that Brittney Palmer winning Ring Girl of the Year for the second consecutive year was well deserved.

Charles "Mask" Lewis Fighter of the Year	Chris Weidman
Female Fighter of the Year	Ronda Rousey
Breakthrough Fighter of the Year	Travis Browne
International Fighter of the Year	Alexander Gustafson
Fight of the Year	Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafson (UFC 165)
Knockout of the Year	Vitor Belfort (vs. Luke Rockhold, UFC on FX 8)
Submission of the Year	Urijah Faber (vs. Ivan Menjivar, UFC 157)
Comeback of the Year	Travis Browne (vs. Alistair Overeem, UFC Fight Night 26)
Shawn Tompkins Coach of the Year	Duane Ludwig
Gym of the Year	Team Alpha Male
Trainer of the Year	Mike Dolce
Referee of the Year	Herb Dean
Ringcard Girl of the Year	Brittney Palmer
Leading Man	Dana White
Personality of the Year	Chael Sonnen
Best Promotion	UFC
Best Lifestyle Clothing	Bad Boy
Best Technical Clothing	Venum
Best Technical Equipment	Bad Boy
Media Source of the Year	MMAFighting.com
Journalist of the Year	Ariel Helwani
Lifetime Achievement Award	Royce Gracie

Palmer has essentially taken over the throne from fellow UFC Octagon girl Arianny Celeste. Celeste dominated the category for the first four years without much competition but Palmer has rapidly taken over as the fan's choice.

“I’ve noticed that, [Brittney surpassing Arianny] from the last couple of years,” Miller said.

“Not to discredit Arianny in any way because I absolutely love her but Brittney has come a long way. She’s rocking it.”

It’s not a competition between the two by any means but it is interesting to see a changing of the guard, so to speak, between the two Octagon girls.

“Brittney and Arianny are really good friends and I think it’s just what the fans are feeling right now at this particular time,” Olivi said.

“They are both incredibly beautiful and talented girls so it’s just fun to see what the fans are thinking that year. I don’t think it’s a competition or anything between them because they are very close and they are both amazing.”

Celeste is still one of the most beloved women in the UFC, but sometimes you’ve got to change things up to keep it interesting.

“Change is good. Not that I think people are tired of seeing Arianny but they want to see Brittney hold the crown for a little bit,” Cohrs said.

“They want to keep it fresh. Nobody wants to see the same person win every year, you have to keep things spontaneous and exciting.”

Despite the overwhelming popularity of the event, there are some fans who feel that they should rename the show to the World UFC Awards instead. After all, over 90 percent of the winners each year are part of the ZUFFA-owned organization.

However, Olivi and Miller both disagree.

Yes, the UFC won most of the awards but if you look at the nominees you will see a wide variety of different brands from all over the world.

“I think this one was different because, normally it’s very UFC-heavy but I think there was a lot of representation from different organizations this year,” Olivi said.

“Not just with all the nominees but there were also a ton of fighters from other organizations on stage this year as well.”

As a WSOF ring girl, Miller pointed out her team and was proud to see them in the house.

“World Series of Fighting was represented very well. We had Josh Burkman up there presenting an award. We had three of our ring girls there in attendance,” Miller said.

“It was also great to have our president Ray Sefo, one of our fighters Nick Newell and our ring girl Kat Kelley nominated for awards as well. I was very happy to see my WSOF family rocking it. Like I said, this was our best one yet and I am already looking forward to next year's show."

For more information on the World MMA Awards. Go to FightersOnlyMag.com

Mitch Ciccarelli is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report and co-host of Alchemist Radio. He is also a United States Airman. Follow him on Twitter @MitchCiccarelli.

Around this time last year, Constantinos Philippou was on fire in the UFC’s middleweight division.

The Cypriot fighter entered 2013 on a five-fight winning streak and was fresh off an impressive TKO finish over top-ranked Tim Boetsch at UFC 155. By all indications, “Costas” looked like he was on the verge of entering the title hunt at 185 pounds.

Then he lost.

It was at UFC 165 in an extremely uneventful bout against TriStar Gym’s Francis Carmont. A striker by trade, Philippou was taken down early in the fight and struggled to keep Carmont from laying on top of him for 15 minutes.

In one night, Philippou lost his divisional momentum, but as we've grown accustomed to in this sport, sometimes a loss can help elevate a fighter to new levels. 

Next Wednesday night, at UFC Fight Night 35, Philippou battles former Strikeforce middleweight champion Luke Rockhold down south in Atlanta, Ga. The bout will serve as the night’s main event.

A win will surely put the Long Island native back on track as he looks to, once again, climb the rankings in 2014.

“This fight against Luke Rockhold is the biggest fight of my career. This is my first time headlining a show and I’m excited to go out there and put on a great performance,” Philippou told Alchemist Radio.

“My last fight was really boring so I have to make this one exciting just to prove to everybody that I am an exciting fighter.”

It’s strange to me to hear Philippou say he has to prove to people that he’s not boring. I mean, after all, he wasn’t the one causing the boo-birds to reign in during that bout. That was Carmont’s doing. All of Philippou’s performances up to that point, for the most part, were entertaining affairs.

At the end of the day, though, Philippou explained to us that he failed to get Carmont off of him. Styles make fights, and he believes, stylistically, he’s got a good one here against Rockhold.

But there’s also another matchup that Philippou has wanted for a long time. While he assured us that he is absolutely focused on Rockhold, Philippou still has his sights set on a future date with Michael Bisping.

“If I beat Rockhold, I want Michael Bisping next,” Philippou said.

“I think Bisping is a great fighter and stylistically we would have a very exciting fight. One thing at a time though, I’ve got Rockhold in front of me and I am absolutely not looking past him at all. Rockhold is my main focus right now. If I get my hand raised, then we can start talking about Bisping again.”

It’s no secret that “Costa” wants to step into the Octagon with the polarizing Brit. In fact, Philippou asked for the fight on many different occasions, but it never materialized.

Unlike every other fighter who calls out Bisping, Philippou doesn’t have a grudge against him. He doesn’t want to fight him because he dislikes him, like Tim Kennedy does. He wants that fight for one reason and one reason only: He thinks it would be a classic.

“I feel that I match up well with Bisping, and it will be a thriller. That’s why I want to fight him. I have a lot of respect for him and think he’s a great fighter,” Philippou said.

“Everybody else wants to fight him because they hate on the guy or whatever, but that’s not me. I don’t even know the guy. How can I hate somebody that I don’t even know?”

Click to listen the full interview from Alchemist Radio on Stitcher and iTunes.

Mitch Ciccarelli is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report and co-host of Alchemist Radio. He is also a United States Airman. Follow him on Twitter @MitchCiccarelli and follow @AlchemistRadio.

Last month, longtime UFC welterweight champion Georges St-Pierre dropped a bombshell on the MMA universe: He’s had enough.

After nine consecutive title defenses and 21 total UFC fights, St-Pierre announced his retirement from the sport.

While the door wasn’t completely shut on a potential return, GSP is no longer an active mixed martial arts fighter, for the time being at least.

The once-dominant champion cited personal problems as his reason for stepping down. It wasn’t a huge secret. Following a controversial decision victory over Johny Hendricks at UFC 167, St-Pierre told Joe Rogan that he needed to get his personal life in order.

That was all the mainstream media needed to hear to launch a full-out assault on St-Pierre’s privacy.

In November, infamous media outlet TMZ reported that St-Pierre was retiring because he impregnated a woman and that his father was dying.

According to St-Pierre’s close friend and coach, Firas Zahabi, this was when they crossed the line.

“I can take [the media harassment] and so can Georges, but they went a little too far when they started running after people in his family,” Zahabi told Alchemist Radio on Sunday night.

“That was crossing the line. They started a rumor that his dad is dying and all these ridiculous crazy things. That was pushing the envelope. They went way too far with it.”

St-Pierre denied both of TMZ’s allegations.

At the end of the day, we may never know what’s going on in St-Pierre’s personal life. And that’s completely fine. The man is entitled to some privacy, and whether he decides to return or not, that is ultimately his decision.

St-Pierre was arguably the biggest blockbuster superstar in the entire sport. The decision to hang up the gloves couldn’t have been an easy one, but Zahabi is glad that he did it.

The Tristar head coach has known St-Pierre almost longer than anybody else in MMA. He’s been with him throughout St-Pierre’s entire reign as champion, and before it.

Yes, he’s GSP’s trainer, but at the end of the day, Zahabi is St-Pierre’s friend and he only wants what’s best for him. Since stepping away from MMA, Zahabi believes that the former welterweight king is beginning to find his smile again.

“He’s doing fantastic. He’s found a happy medium between training and living his life. He’s only training once a day now, which is something he would never do before—he used to train twice a day at the very least,” Zahabi said.

“It became too much for him and now he’s taking it easy. I think his body needs the rest; he needs this time off.”

While a future return to the Octagon hasn’t been ruled out, Zahabi doesn’t think that St-Pierre has anything left to prove. He’s broken seemingly every record there is to break and has beaten a laundry list of contenders in the welterweight division.

But if St-Pierre does return, it won’t be for a while. His body needs time to recover.

“The body has its limitations. He’s spent more time in the Octagon than anyone else. He broke the record in his last fight. If you think about it, most of his fights were title fights, so that’s a lot of mileage,” Zahabi said.

“I mean, look at a guy like Anderson Silva; he could have retired two fights ago. At the end of the day, you either give your body a break or it forces you to take one.”

You can also listen to Alchemist Radio on Stitcher and iTunes.

Mitch Ciccarelli is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report and co-host of Alchemist Radio. He is also a United States Airman. Follow him on Twitter @MitchCiccarelli and follow @AlchemistRadio

Alchemist Radio is the fastest growing podcast in the sport of mixed martial arts. Launched in March 2013 by Alchemist Management owner MC Hammer, the show features some of the most groundbreaking interviews in the MMA world.

Hosted by Bleacher Report featured columnist Mitchell Ciccarelli and veteran MMA journalist Bryan Levick, Alchemist Radio airs every Wednesday night from 5-7 p.m. ET. This is where you need to get your weekly MMA fix!

This week, on a special Sunday night episode, Ciccarelli and Levick spoke with MFC president Mark Pavelich, TriStar head coach Firas Zahabi, UFC lightweight Isaac "Ike" Vallie-Flagg and Tuff N' Uff ring girl Mireika Edwards! It was an action-packed episode with a lot of laughs and exciting interviews!

Tune in via this link (some language NSFW).