We're less than two weeks away from the Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge IV. Here's the fight card:
Elder Ramos vs. Duane Bastress
Noe Quintanilla vs. Justin Scott
Mark Flavin vs. Biff Walizer
Lewis Rumsey vs. Chad Hoare
Jay Haas vs. Timothy Wade
Glen Hoffman vs. Chad Strawbridge
Adam Dull vs. Eric Steppe
Bryan Robey vs. Joshua Aarons
Joe Talarico vs. Jeremy Hubbard
Kevin Flinchbaugh vs. John Roach
Philip Meck vs. Mark Good
Eric Decker vs. James Chappell
Collin Sharpe vs. Jeff Runk
Brian Tucker vs. Evan Kutz
Jon Tuxford vs. Dejan Olujic
Theodore Naratil vs. Mike Stoltzfus
Steve Dobisesky vs. Keith Kowal
Jayson Haley vs. Thomas Anderton

This fight - the judges' decision, specifically - is arm-pit deep in controversy, and again (like the Mike Easton-Chase Bebee fight), it's the Virginia officials that seem to be to blame. Click here to read what bloodyelbow had to say about it all. What makes it worse is that this fight was most likely fight of the night.

The quick-and-dirty is that Goldsby's hand was raised at the end of the fight, but at the end of the show, Riggleman was the winner.

Warning: strong language used.

Sherdog.com has the call:
Brian Stann vs. Phil Davis
Round 1
Referee is Steve Mazzagatti. They touch gloves and circle away right off the bat. Both pawing with jabs and leg kicks but nothing hs landed. Davis misses a left head kick and spins out of harm's way. Davis shoots in but is stuffed and winds up pinning Stann into the cage. Working with only one underhook, Davis can't land the takedown. Stann pushes off and circles away from the clinch and brings the fight to center cage. Davis stalking while he bobs and weaves. Hard left inside leg kick by Stann. Davis looks a little hesitant right now, trying to time Stann for the takedown. Davis lands a hard left kick to Stann's body. Davis shoots in and scores a heavy takedown and immediately secures side control. 'Mr. Wonderful" has Stann pinned into the fence, but Stann rolls over onto his hands and knees. Stann trying to wall walk. Davis flattens Stann but the Marine rolls back onto his back to avoid the choke. Davis has full mount with 45 seconds left. Davis lands two nice left hands. Stann rolls onto his back and Davis flattens him. Davis rains down some strikes and Stann rolls onto his back again. The horn ends with Stann in serious trouble. 10-9 Davis.

Tim Boetsch wrote on his facebookpage earlier this week: "come check us out at the PA outdoor show!!!! Buy a hunt or get an official Tim "The Barbarian" Boetsch t-shirt and enter to win a free hunt!"

Click here to go to the show web site.

Gracie NEPA's Jim Hettes, who fights James "Binky" Jones at Shogun Fights 2 in Baltimore next month, recently held a leg lock clinic. Looks like some good stuff, reminds me of the old Pancrase days, when guys were dropping back for achilles locks and heel hooks like crazy. Hettes is sponsored by MMA Melee, which is where I picked up this clip.

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Just got this off social networking site MMA Melee:
Event Description: Primal Fights returns to the Delaware State Fairgrounds Saturday February 20th. Come out and see some of the top up and coming amateur fighters in the Mid-Atlantic region. Teams being represented are: Primal Fighting Systems (Delmar, MD), Ground Control (Baltimore, MD), Sanctum MMA (Baltimore, MD), Dauntless MMA (Smyrna, DE), Gracie NEPA (Scranton, PA), Team Viper (Dover, DE), and Elite Dragon Theory (PA).
Event Date/Time: 2/20/2010 from 5:30 PM to 11:00 PM
Host: Primal Fights
Location: Delaware State Fairgrounds

Congrats to Scranton native and pro fighter Lou Armezzani who announced yesterday on Facebook, "I am now a Renzo Gracie purple belt."

The new place in State College is lookin' good.

Click here to get to their web site.

Tom and I run down what's in store this month in MMA in Pennsylvania, plus Tom gives a demo of another one of his homemade workout devices.

This week, the usual suspects look back at Herschel Walker's MMA debut and the rest of the Strikeforce: Miami card. Also, a complete preview of UFC 109, as two Hall of Famers face off this weekend in Las Vegas.

I shot this video last weekend in Red Lion and wanted to get it up as soon as I could, in anticipation of the Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge IV on Feb. 19 in Lancaster.

Chad Strawbridge, Duane Bastress and Justin Scott, along with teammate Chad Hoare, who was not able to make it, truly embody the spirit of bushido - generous with their time and knowledge, competitive in their pursuit to be the best, and humble despite all they have achieved.

Much of the credit goes to Mark Jovich, their coach and promoter of the CPWC. Mark's a career Marine and takes pride in shaping the lives of of the young men and women he meets.

During the interview, I talked with the guys about the team approach to what they do. Even though when the cage door closes, it's just fighter versus fighter, all that has come before that point - the training, the strategy, all the way up to the walk-out, is done together. They draw from that strength in numbers, to forge one blade, one warrior.

We are giving away THREE FREE semesters (1 ENTIRE YEAR) of training to one lucky winner to Central PA Mixed Martial Arts BRAND NEW facility in State College, PA. The winner will be able to chose the semesters they want to participate within a 2 year window.

1. Drop boxes will be set up around town at participating businesses. You can enter your name into the drawing one time per location and once here, online. Business locations will be added frequently so check back on a daily basis for more drop box locations.

2. Your full name, phone number, email and local address is needed to qualify and it must be legible. All ballots that are not filled out completely or unreadable will be discarded.

3. See bottom of the registration page for participating businesses.

4. The more locations you register the better chance you have at winning!

To register go to: http://www.cpamma.com/give-a-way/ and stop by all the following businesses:

**REGISTER AT ALL THE BUSINESSES FOR A BETTER CHANCE AT WINNING!**

Steve Blackman is holding his second event under the Pennsylvania Fighting Championships banner this Friday in Harrisburg at the Zembo Temple. Click here for more information, including tickets.
Here's the fight card:
Pat Bennett vs Chris Sydnor
Boris Rakita vs Donald Wilken
Jeff Smith vs Thomas Jackson
Kenny Foster vs Joel Roberts
Micah Morris vs Frank Armstrong
Mike Diggs vs Timothy Wade
Dennis Bermudez vs Don Carlo-Clauss
Roger Carroll vs Mike Geurin
Michael Hefflefinger vs Matthew Pape
Shawn Stark vs Jaysin Jefferson
Chauncey Gnagey vs Dave Garpstas
Michael Gehman vs Lucas Emeigh
Recairdo Mangrum vs Mike Winters
Neil Johnson vs Jeremiah Gurley
Salim Jackson vs Raoul Smith

Leonard Lane, left, fighting for Xtreme Ministries, a church that doubles as a martial arts academy.

By R. M. SCHNEIDERMAN

MEMPHIS -- In the back room of a theater on Beale Street, John Renken, 37, a pastor, recently led a group of young men in prayer.

Father, we thank you for tonight," he said. "We pray that we will be a representation of you."

An hour later, a member of his flock who had bowed his head was now unleashing a torrent of blows on an opponent, and Mr. Renken was offering guidance that was not exactly prayerful.

"Hard punches!" he shouted from the sidelines of a martial arts event called Cage Assault. "Finish the fight! To the head! To the head!"

Just found out from Larry Novak of New Cumberland-based Tattoo Fightwear that he's sponsoring "Brutal" Brendan Barrett for his upcopming fight at Ring of Combat on Feb. 19.

Friday, February 05, 2010 9:00 PM - 12:00 PM EST Join us at Tailgaters in York.
for the Central Pennsylvania Warriror Challenge Pre-Fight Party.
Meet with the beautiful Warrior Challenge Ring Girls.
Participate in and help judge the amateur ring girl competition,meet with the fighters and receive plenty of raffles and giveways!!!

Rob Emerson trains for his upcoming UFC 109 - Relentless fight with Phillipe Nover at the Affliction Training Center, where he gets some pointers from Chute Boxe trainer Rafael Cordeiro. Emerson has a cool back-of-the-head tat, second only to Wanderlei Silva's.

George McGinnis of YMMAA sent me this video today. Here's what he wrote about it on his youtube page:
"Here is some video footage of our first seminar at our new location at the West Manchester Mall. It was a great time and was a solid turn out. More then 60 people attended the event with nearly 40 of them participating. It was awesome to see students and school owners chipping in to lend a hand with the event. I would like to thank everyone for attending the event and we hope to put together another seminar soon.

P.S. - Sorry that the video isn't up to normal quality. I am slammed from all angles of the business and only had a little time here and there to throw it together. Enjoy!"

Dave Camarillo is a world-class judo and jiu-jitsu practitioner. Here, in a post on the MMA Underground, he talks about training Herschel Walker. Take a read, it's very interesting.

I wanted to write about my experience working with Herschel Walker through his MMA training at the American Kickboxing Academy.

First:

At first I didn't know who he was. I am not a fan of American football and had heard his name years ago but couldn't place it. After a few days I started remembering that he played for the NFL. This came to me not because I had ever seen him on tv but because I used to play the video game Tecmo Bowl for Nintendo. I remember hearing his name for an opposing team. So I guess he was a good player.

After hearing about his accomplishments I started getting excited to work with him. But I naturally had a few questions about the 47-year-old athlete that all of a sudden wanted to fight.

Here's what Bob Bitner, head trainer/owner of Hanover Academy of MMA, had to say about last weekend:
On Jay Haas' loss at Cage Fight 3: "All in all, it wasn't terrible ... Jay just made a tactical error .. I'll give Noe some props, he told me afterward Jay had the armbar, he (Noe) just gutted it out."

On Onslaught Fights in Winchester, Va.: "I was very, very pleased with the event. It (the storm) dumped about six inches of snow, but it was just about a sell-out crowd."

Eric Moore's fight: "Eric's first opponent dropped out. And event hough we gave up 11 pounds (with the replacement fighter), Eric gave a great performance and won by rear-naked choke in the second round."

Nate Kinard's fight: "Nate won by ref stoppage in the third round. It was back and froth with everybody standing and hollering."

Chrissy Adler's fight: "It was an absolute pound-fest. ... when you have two guys over 265 pounds that are just willing to beat on each other, it makes for an exciting fight. It was definitely fight of the night."

Got this message from Marc Slomske, owner of Next Legend Fightwear:
Next Legend Fightwear sponsored fighter Noe Quintanilla, who won his fight over Jay Haas at Cage Fight 3 in the first round by rear naked choke. Jay put up one heck of a fight almost putting Noe in an arm bar twice, they rolled and Noe caught his back. Great fight.

Brutal Brendan Barrett

MMA NATION TV | MySpace Video
NJ fighter Brendan Barrett, who has a heavyweight fight at Ring of Combat on Feb. 19, is in Oregon training with Nate Quarry at his gym, Next Level. Here's what Brendan had for breakfast today:

Brendan wrote on FB: "Oh and if ur asking yourself, are those pumpkin spice pancakes with butter cooked into them, are those eggs seasoned to perfection, and is that smoked bacon 1/4 inch thick......The answer is YES IT IS lol."

Sunbury's Tim Boetsch, who's notched two wins by choke since being cut from the UFC, is reportedly scheduled to fight for relatively new but fairly big MMA org. Shine Fights. According to mmascrapsradio, "Former UFC fighter Tim Boetsch (10-3) recently told MMA Scraps Radio that he has signed with Shine fights to compete for the up and coming organization's March 6th PPV card (EDIT: just today, Tim said on facebook the fight had been pushed back to April). Since being let go by the UFC, Tim has won 2 straight fights by Guillotine choke against Aaron Stark and Rudy Lindsey. Tim tell us that he has been told to expect a 'big name' for this next fight so he will be making his way up to Seattle to train with Matt Hume. Also training at the same time at AMC will be Matt Brown who has a fight coming up in the UFC."

For more information on the Feb. 27 Matrix Fights event in Philly, go to their web site.

Duane Bastress, Justin Scott and James Chappell.

"Fight Club", published in Fly Magazine:
Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge leads the mixed martial arts phenomenon into the Keystone State

For the uninitiated, mixed martial arts (MMA) is a combat sport that incorporates a variety of fighting styles, from karate, boxing and wrestling to Jiu Jitsu, Tae Kwon Do and Muay Thai.

MMA has seen a meteoric rise in popularity over the past 10 years, due in part to America's lust for brutality and an increasing number of fighters, organizations and television networks that have been eager to feed the appetite.

Here's one for all you guys who grew up on the Power Rangers, or if you're a bit older like me, have seen your kids go crazy over them ... Lot of bad blood going into this bout - these two guys apparently had a shoving match at their weigh-ins before the fight, held at Lonestar Beatdown in Houston, Tx. Looks like Frank may have taken a nut-shot during the fight, but shook it off. Frank showed some decent stand-up, took a few of Jonathan Mack's hard punches and was able to pull off the omoplata. It also appears that Frank may have kept the sub on a little too long, although maybe in the heat of the moment, if you don't feel or hear the tap, it's better to keep it on until the judge pulls you off. You be the judge.

This fight didn't go too long, but it's really no surprise considering they both lit each up. Great job by both fighters.

A heavyweight battle from this past weekend's PA Cage Fight 3. Randy "The Wolf" Smith, who trains out of New York with former UFC fighter Tamdan McCrory, won at the Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge III against Braden Bice.

Here's Jay Haas' fight from Cage Fight 3. Jay cracked Quintanilla early with a punch and then in the clinch, had a phenomenal hip toss, right into the mount. Then, for submissions, Jay had a guillotine attempt and at least two armbar attempts, but succumbed to a rear-naked choke late in the round. Quintanilla, to his credit, clearly has a strong wrestling background, as he was able to muscle out of the subs and get in the position to pull off the RNC. Jay has shown a great deal of improvement, and I only see him getting better in the months to come.

And here's what Hanover's Bob Bitner wrote on his facebook wall:
"First let me say thanks to all the fighters and fans for coming out in such shitty weather. Great turnout, Results, Friday night in Wilkes Barre Jay Haas at Cage Fight 3 gets submitted by rear naked choke. Saturday, Onslaught Fights, Eric Moore wins by rear naked choke, Nate Kinard wins by ref stoppage from punches, and the heart breaker, Chrissy Adler losses by Decision in what was an absolute battle."