Frank Grillo based his character on famed MMA trainer Greg Jackson. Grillo and Joel Edgerton trained and lived with Jackson at his New Mexico gym during pre-production. All of Grillo's fight scene dialogue while "cornering" Edgerton was suggested by Jackson.
The character "Koba" seems to loosely resemble real life Mixed Martial Artist Fedor Emelianenko, who was the #1 ranked Heavyweight in Mixed Martial Arts for over 7 years and considered unbeatable. He also was Russian and a Sambo Champion multiple times over. Plus there is even a physical resemblance, as Fedor was white, bald, and about Koba's size. However, the name 'Koba' was a moniker for Josef Stalin. Emelianenko's reputation as a professional athlete as well as his character are highly positive, and his physique is pudgier than that of Angle's, so the similarity is only in their professional achievements.
When the announcer is quoting Koba's credentials, he states that he is an Olympic Gold medalist in wrestling. Kurt Angle, the actor playing Koba, won a gold medal in the 1996 Olympics in the 220lbs/100 kg weight class for freestyle wrestling. He was also a world champion in the same style and weight class in 1995.
(Flopped shot) During the final bout, Tommy looks over at the crowd of U.S. Marines. All of their ribbons are mounted over their left side. when shown again they are on the right side and in the last shot there on the left side again.
Right before the final round in the finale, when Brendan gets up for the round, the camera follows him and the boom mic is seen right behind his head for a few frames (time marker 2:07:34).
When Paddy tells Tommy that he'll leave the coffee out until 0500 hours (5:00am), a digital alarm clock in the background reveals that the time is already 5:23am.
Tommy was speaking in reference to future wake up calls from his father and his father, speaking in the future, said the coffee would stay on until 0500.
Bryan Callen: I'll tell you what: you do that to someone on the street and they'd lock you up and throw away the key! Break out the yellow tape, Sam. Tommy's walking away from the cage like he's leaving a crime scene.
What is the song playing during the last scene of the movie?
A
'About Today' by The National. The specific version used in the closing scene of the film is known as "The White Sessions" which were live recordings for France Inter radio in 2007. You can listen to the recordings here.The rest of the songs from the movie can be found here with corresponding scene descriptions.
Q
What is the audio book that Paddy Conlon listens to throughout the movie?
A
The book is Moby Dick, by Herman Melville, about a ship captain's quest to capture a white whale.