The Ninja of Love was a scientist. Take a complex system, learn it, identify a problem, formulate a hypothesis, conduct an experiment . . . if one predicted outcome fails to materialize, try another. The Ninja -- a.k.a. Nick Denis, a twenty-four-year-old biochemistry master's student at the University of Ottawa -- had tried to control for all variables. He'd scouted his opponent, a 145-pound fighter from Vancouver named Dave Scholten, by tapping into the sport's obsessive online rumour mill. Then he'd hit the gym twice a day, five days a week, with an extra session on Saturday. He'd alternated cardio with jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai kick-boxing, sparring constantly with his Ronin Mixed Martial Arts teammates -- three five-minute rounds of Muay Thai, then three five-minute rounds of boxing and wrestling, then three five-minute rounds of mixed martial arts. His coaches monitored everything, offering advice ranging from the precise ("Jab, cross, move, jab, cross, move") to the sadistic ("Don't throw anything that's not meant to hurt the guy"). Even his diet was calibrated: whole grains, lean meats, protein shakes, a plantation's worth of fruit. Link "http://walrusmagazine.com/articles/2008.05-mixed-martial-arts/"