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Fan presented Frank Grillo and several entertainers to rally and to drum up support for a revival of the MMA drama series Kingdom. He took to social media to express his desire for a return of the beloved show and in doing so directly addressed UFC President Dana White to get support in making it happen.
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Frank Grillo is not just asking. He’s demanding attention for what one can reasonably argue, is an underappreciated MMA drama television show of all time. Having played the characters at Alvey Kulina in the Audience Network series, the actor has dragged himself publicly to ask for a return of the show, tagging co-stars Jonathan Tucker, Kiele Sanchez, Matt Lauria, and Mac Brandt in this very communiqué, and calling out the UFC leadership for support. The message was loud and clear: the people have spoken, and they want Kingdom back into fighting shape.
The show ran between the years 2014 and 2017, portraying the lives of fighters and their families at a Venice, CA, MMA gym. Even though it had critical acclaim and loyal followers, Kingdom had no mainstream success; perhaps airing on a immediately-defunct Audience Network was a major factor. According to Grillo’s post, with substantial support and a suitable platform, Kingdom would’ve found that mass audience it always deserved.
The floodgates opened for loud reactions in its favour. Comments like “Best MMA Show ever made!!!” and “Please don’t fuck with me like this,” show excitement mixed hereby thoughts of revival becoming plausible.
Some comments concerned themselves with what they wanted to see return, implicitly calling for “Jay v. Ryan 3,” a reference to the show’s core rivalry between the characters portrayed by Jonathan Tucker and Matt Lauria. Another comment revealed some of its intensity: “I miss the Navy Street Gym fam,” while another read, “We need another season especially how that season ended with nick jonas,” another reference to the cliff-hanger finale.
The show’s verisimilitude in terms of MMA culture was highly praised. One user said, “The entire cast were phenomenal, the stories were solid and of course the fights were exceptional.” Realistic choreography for fights coupled with character development is precisely what put Kingdom way above the rest in this TV realm.
Others opinions, claiming to not be directly related to the MMA world, state their admission: “Not even a big MMA fan and this is my favorite show of all time.” Here, we see that the series somehow transcended its sport-based origins and went on to produce touching human dramas.
By calling out the UFC officials, Grillo indicated the potential for a collaboration that will give the project increased visibility. The UFC has grown over the past years to larger-scale entertainment ventures; hence such collaboration is far more likely today than it may have been upon the show’s original premiere.
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The passion coming from Original and hard-core fans hype up a real Kingdom revival. That is, if the social media does get translated into production somehow. Meantime, Grillo has rekindled relevant conversations around a show many have never ceased watching. immediately the ball is passed to streaming services and producers that will decide whether or not Navy Street Gym will reopen its doors. In the world of MMA comebacks, this situation draws parallels to Jon Jones‘ own teased return to the octagon. The recent UFC Paris event showed how national pride fuels these events, while the upcoming Carlos Ulberg vs Dominick Reyes headline fight in Perth has fans split on the outcome. After a tough loss, it’s the kind of team bonding moment that Paddy Pimblett recently shared that helps fighters and shows alike make a comeback.
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