If Johnny Cash were alive, today would be his 78th birthday.
Happy Birthday Johnny.
Tattoo by: Mike DeVries
Posts Tagged ‘Johnny Cash’
First time I ever saw your face
Like every other male in the 18 – 30 demographic, I’ll be watching the UFC pay per view tonight. Every time I’ve watched any UFC event, I’ve said “If I was a tattoo artist, I’d sponsor a fighter and cover them in gnarly tattoos. Slap my shop logo on their shorts in a prominent place, and I’d be set.” I still stick to my guns on that idea, I think it’s a gold mine. There aren’t too many fighters out there with amazing ink, and people tend to remember tattoos on any fighter – good or bad. There are plenty of fighters out there with bad tattoo work, but not too many of those tattoos actually generate conversation.
That brings us to Alan Belcher. I remember watching Belcher a couple months ago when he was fighting Dennis Kang at UFC 100. I remember spending the entire fight trying to figure out whom that tattoo on his arm was supposed to be.
“I think it’s supposed to be Johnny Cash, but that can’t be right.”
At one point during the three round fight, I think even Joe Rogan mentioned the tattoo. Some of my other friends tossed out theories including Belcher getting the tattoo when he was smaller, and putting on a significant amount of muscle, causing the tattoo to shift and expand. I’m sure that could happen, but it seemed pretty extreme. Plus, you can tell the tattoo isn’t that old.
A few days passed, and I continued to be curious about the tattoo. When everyone else was talking about the split decision during the fight, I was being a tattoo snob and looking up old pictures. Overall, I couldn’t find much about the tattoo. The only thing I did find was a picture that indicates the hair in the portrait was designed to cover up an older tattoo, which makes sense. A few articles turned up on different MMA sites, but none give any clear information about the story with the tattoo is.
People were speculating, but nobody could really tell what was going on. Instead of moving on, a few jokes started to circulate. Here’s my personal favorites:
“It’s not Kim Jong Il?”
“Kind of looks like Kenny Powers.”
“That’s the psychic from Beetlejuice!”
In all seriousness, the tattoo is obviously based off the cover from the Folsom Prison album. Whether it was a bad tattoo, or from his training routine, I guess I won’t know until the UFC grants Tattoo Snob press credentials.