Features and Longforms by Tim Bissell

The first piece I wrote for Bloody Elbow landed on the Fanpost section of the site in 2015. It was a longform interview with former TUF contestant Noah Inhofer. It covered his controversial exit from the show and discussed his ‘Life After TUF’. It was also my ‘audition’.

Since then I have written close to 30 features/longforms for BE (and hundreds of other articles).

Below you will find my back catalogue of features, which include these personal highlights:

• The Mitchell Paradox
• War and Poetry: Siyar Bahaduraza’s Afghan Legacy
• Working Undercover for the UFC
• How Face The Pain became the sound of the UFC
• Taekwondo and Terror: A Tale of Brothers
• Blood Sports ‘N Body Paint: James Ladner reveals how he became MMA’s most infamous meme
• The Male Gaze in Women’s MMA
• Fighting for the Future: Kajan Johnson’s long road to activism, in and out of the cage

Of the pieces listed above (and anywhere else in my portfolio), none are more special to me than Taekwondo and Terror. That is the piece I am most proud of and it is also the article I feel has come closest to achieving what I am trying to do with this whole blogging lark.

Whether you read these pieces when they first came out, or you just discovered them now, thank you for giving me your time and attention. I know these pieces demand a lot of it.

All of these pieces were edited by Zane Simon. He has been a constant in helping me shape and improve my work. Karim Zidan has also been a valuable resource in my longform writing journey. Images for these works have been provided by Anton Tabuena, Phil Mackenzie, and Chad Stanhope. I offer each of them my sincerest thanks for enabling me do the things I enjoy the most.

Even more thanks go to the subjects of these articles, who gave me incredible amounts of time, energy, and honesty. Pieces like these don’t happen without them.

Check back here from time to time for new features and longforms, maybe even some that can unseat Taekwondo and Terror on my list of personal favourites.

Feedback, tips, and anything else can be directed to timothybissell@gmail.com.