Kevin James started physically preparing for the role fourteen months before filming. He lost around seventy to eighty pounds (31.7 to 36.2 kilograms).
Kevin James actually is trained in Mixed Martial Arts
Prior to filming, Bas Rutten met a man at a party who tried to claim that he knew a unique form of "street karate", which had a special routine of fight moves that had "saved his life six or seven times" from attackers in the past. Oblivious to the fact that Rutten was a professional martial artist, the man then demonstrated his routine, which consisted of a string of obviously choreographed and impractical head-butts, knee strikes, and stamps. Rutten was so amused by this man's obvious lie that he incorporated the man's alleged "routine" into Niko's dance class in the film.
The story Niko (Bas Rutten) tells Scott (Kevin James) about why he was unable to fight in the UFC is based on Bas Rutten's own experiences. Shortly after beginning his career with UFC, while training for his third fight, he blew out his knee, as well as sustained other injuries, forcing him to retire.
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