George McGinnis, owner and head trainer at York Mixed Martial Arts Academy, sent me this email on his impressions of Friday's event in Harrisburg:

"I would like to congratulate Coach Blackman and all those involved in a successful evening. There is no doubt that his personal involvement in the entertainment business is what assisted him in running an impressive show. Steve Blackman took the appropriate amount of time to converse with the trainers and was extremely composed during the event which was a refreshing change of pace. I was impressed with the easy to find location, the venue itself, as well as the talent pool in both the amateur and pro divisions. I do believe that we will be looking to work with Mr. Blackman in the future"...

from mmafocus' twitter account, re: MMA event in Erie:
Beatdown on the Bay MMA event moved to Nov. 28 (Erie Times-News) http://bit.ly/23lZP #mma #sport

The event is being promoted by Extreme Fight Club Promotions.

PA Combat Sports Center is currently working on a 14,000 sq. ft. training academy in Greensburg. Here are some photos from their facebook page.

Just talked with Jerod Phillips of mma fightwear company Tap or Sleep. He was at PA Fighting Championship last night in Harrisburg and passed along a few of the results:

Jay Haas of Hanover Academy of Mixed Martial Arts (and his own school in Lewisberry) got a TKO win against Michael Bunyamanhop. Jay had Bunyamanhop mounted and was raining down punches, Jerod said.

Another Hanover fighter, Kevin Flinchbaugh, also scored a first-round TKO, this one on the feet, at about :38, against Joshua Geiringer.

Hanover's third fighter, Brad Herrick, lost by KO to Justin Lucas.

Jeff Smith, who used to train at Hanover, but now calls Blackman MMA home, won by guillotine against Ric Humphries in the first round.

And in the main event, Dustin Pague of Blackman MMA lost to Anthony Leone by a north-south choke in the second round.

Jerod said the place, the Zembo Temple, was packed, sold out and there was not a bad seat in the house. "It was a pretty well run thing," he said of promoter Steve Blackman and his crew. "It was a decent night of fights."

Many thanks to Jerod for these results. Complete results should be ready by early next week.

Natedogg1788, a member of Sherdog's forums, said, "i snuck into the arena and was able to catch Jason Miller practicing his entrance," and put up this link. It's what we would expect from Miller, who's every bit a showman as he is a fighter.

No, unfortunately, it's not a highlight package. I've been huting around for results for Friday's PA Fighting Championship, put on by Blackman MMA, but haven't found any yet. Stay tuned.

Just in time for the cold and holiday season Tattoo Fightwear is offering free shipping on ALL of its items. This includes all of the zip and pullover hoodies. To take advantage of this offer go to http://www.facebook.com/l/8ec4c;www.tattoofightwear.net and check it out. The offer will go until 12/31/09.And as always thank you for your support!.

Sincerely,

Larry
Tattoo Fightwear

Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge IV takes place on Feb. 19 at the same place at CPWC III, the Lancaster Marriottt. The next day, Feb. 20, Mark Jovich will be holding the Pennsylvania Submission Grappling Championship and Karate Tournament.

Tickets to CPWC IV are available by clicking the CPWC Web site here and then selection "ticket information" on the menu on the left, through any fighters and schools participating in this event, or call 717-250-8841.

Anyone that attends Friday night's MMA event competes free at Saturday's events.
For more information, contact Mark at: jovichm@msn.com or call (717) 250-8841

The picture's a little shaky ... well, more than a little, but it's the only video I could find. Man, I can't wait for this one.

Once a prized pupil of Lloyd Irvin, Ryan Hall set off on his own academy in Arlington, Va., Fifty/50 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. He recently claimed bronze at the Abu Dhabi Combat Club world championships.

Got a message on facebook from York fighter Anthony Dick recently, saying that he started training with Daniel Beleza at York's Academy of Combative Arts.
"Since starting with him I finally won my first fight in Massachusetts. They are so awesome there the school is great and the trainers top notch."

Congrats on the win, Anthony. Hope it's the first of many.

He may be the owner of mma clothing company Tap or Sleep, but he can put together a mean highlight video. His name is Jerod Phillips.

Got the pic from The Underground at mixedmartialarts.com. Here's a write-up from cinemaspy.com:
Steven Soderbergh wants to bring a sense of realism back to the action/spy genre, starting with the casting of mixed martial artist Gina Carano as his leading lady in his upcoming film, Knockout.

In Knockout, Carano will play a woman with incomparable hand-to-hand fighting skills, who gets hired by the government and subsequently involved in a globe-trotting plotline. Although the project may sound similar to James Bond or Jason Bourne's exploits, there will be more logic involved, especially with regards to high-speed pursuit, Soderbergh told MTV.

Bout Sheet
(subject to change)
John Michael Holland vs. Mike Serrano
Dave Rose vs. Jim Dewar
Ben Tichy vs. Mike Marlow
Robert Bilardo vs. TBD TBD
Jeremy Reed vs. Andrew Arroyo
Jamal McKellar vs. Christian DeHaas
Nah-Shon Burrell vs. Jason Harmon
Carlos Brooks vs. Mike Johnson
Travis Lerchen vs. James Garzillo
Larry Byrnes vs. Claudio Ledesma
Mervin Rodriguez vs. Steve McCabe

To see the fights for free via streaming, tune in this Saturday to Go Fight Live at 8 p.m.

Dustin Pague

Just heard from Larry Novak, owner of New Cumberland-based Tattoo Fightwear. He told me he's sponsoring Dustin Pague at Friday's PA Fighting Championship. Pague, a 155-pound fighter at 5-2, takes on Andrew Montanez, who is 7-11.

OK, so we know what they're doing in this movie is mainly fantasy - but who didn't watch ninja movies at one time in their lives? I'll probably catch this one on DVD - there's no way I could drag the wife to it. Anyway, if you're looking to train authentic ninjutsu (Bujinkan Budo Taijutsu), look up Greg Stough of Tactical Self Defense, who trains at Gold's Gym North in Manchester Township. I trained there for about a year, learned a lot of joint locks, etc., but it's for self defense, definitely not sport-based.

Tattoo Fightwear at MACE (Martial Arts with a Combat Emphasis) in Red Lion.

On October 23, 2009 5 Tattoo Fightwear sponsored stepped into the cage in front of a packed house at the Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge 3 and came out victorious.

To start the night off John Andel won the title in his weight class by dominating his opponent on the ground for three rounds to win by decision. In the next fight Jeff Runk won a spirited contest showing great sportsmanship and getting a unanimous decision on the judges cards.

Duane Bastress stepped into the cage next looking like a beast and basically had his way with his opponent and winning by ref stoppage in the second round. Knockout of the night came via Tattoo Fightwear sponsored fighter Chad Hoar. After dominating the first two rounds on his feet and the ground Chad saw an opening in the third and hammered his opponent with a devastating right hand to knockout his competition.

Dustin Pague throws a strike at a heavy bag at Blackman MMA. Pague headlines Friday's PA Fighting Championship. Photo taken by the Patriot-News.

The Harrisburg Patriot-News had a great story on MMA in its Sunday paper, and specifically Blackman MMA and Friday's PA Fighting Championship, put on by Steve Blackman. here are some of the photos from the story:

Micah Morris, left, talks with Terrill Leech.

Click here to order tickets for the event.

At UFC 105 Couture has a gameplan to defeat the younger fighter.

I am sending out this email to let everyone know that we are changing the schedule to accommodate more time for the Submission Grappling classes. The Submission Grappling classes during the day will start at 12:20 and will end when we are done. I am not putting a time restraint on our class anymore.

For those of you that come in for the Boxing or MMA class during the day, it will begin when we are done Submission Grappling. Assume it will begin around 2:00. If we aren't finished by then, just hit the bag, stretch and warm up.

The Submission Grappling classes in the evening will be extended by a half hour. Monday and Wednesday the class will be from 6:00 to 7:30, and from 7:00 to 8:30 on Tuesday. The classes that follow will stay the same. They will just be starting a half hour later than usual.

We are also going to be stricter with the class as well. You must come on time or you will have to do a separate warm up in the cage before you can join the class. In class I will go over the new format in greater detail. I am changing the format in the hopes of getting our grappling to all new heights. I hope to see you all in class soon.

Thanks,
Adam Rocco
Roccomma.com
215-778-2517

Here's a message on Shogun Fights' Web site:

Thanks for making Shogun Fights' premiere event a huge SUCCESS.

Over 5,000 people were in attendance to witness MMA history.

The next event will be March 27th 2010.

More information will be available shortly. Please check back for updates.

Thanks to Paul Miles from mamma-online.com for the head's up.

I went over to the Academy of Combative Arts in York today for their open house, and had a great time. The academy, located in the Greyhound Bus Station, is home to many MMA fighters, as well as others who are interested in getting (or keeping) in shape or learning self-defense.

Unfortunately, I was late in getting there, so I missed the exhibition that owners Joe Duffey and Frank Nguyen had planned. But I have to say, everyone was accomodating in doing it again, just so I could get a little footage, which will be edited and put up here sometime soon.

In addition to Joe and Frank, head BJJ instructor Daniel Beleza was there, as well as Muay Thai instructor Kham and a guy he's been training with for a couple years now, Kaensak Sor. Pleonjit. Kaensak, who now trains in New Jersey, was champion at both Lumpinee and Ratchadamnoen stadiums, which I'm told are the two biggest and most prestigious stadiums in Thailand. He was in York for a seminar at ACA in August and hopes to do it again soon.

Respect Is Earned has had two successful events in Pennsylvania, Brotherly Love Brawl and Philly Biker Brawl, both in the village of Oaks, near Philadelphia. The organization's Web site recently added several of the fights from the Philly Biker Brawl. See them here. No word yet on when the next RIE event will take place.