September 2009 Archives

Here's the quick-n-dirty from the Nelson vs. Kimbo fight:

-- Kimbo still has no ground game.

-- Roy draped his huge belly on Kimbo for two rounds, trying to smother him with it, and dropped a few pillow-like punches down. Round 2, Nelson traps Kimbo in a crucifix and throws more pillows and Herb Dean stops the fight.

-- Dana White criticizes Nelson for doing just enough to win and not get hit.

-- At the end of the show, they hype Kimbo returning to the show.

Todd "Duff Man" Duffee, relaxing on the Internets, chowing on a burrito. In his spare time, he knocks guys out in the UFC in record time.

Sneak Peek: Kimbo Fights
I like how they leave us with Kimbo landing a haymaker on Nelson. The onlky question is: does Nelson's chin take it? We'll see.

Herschel Walker concentrating very hard on signing this woman's .. er ... he's giving her an autograph, all right?

Got a voicemail from Bob Bitner, head trainer at Hanover Academy of MMA. He gave me the run-down on how his team did at the recent Grapplers Quest in Lancaster.

"All in all, I'm very,very, very pleased with our performance. The guys did great," he said. "For us, not being a full-time Jiu-Jitsu school, I couldn't have asked for a better performance than what the guys did."

- Jay Haas won 1st in the men's intermediate division.

- Bo Christie won 1st in the men's executive heavyweight division.

- Alex Giron, won 3rd in the teen novice division.

- Andy Smith won 4th in the men's novice division.

- And the man himself, Bob Bitner, won 2nd in the masters advanced division. It was actually Bob and Joe Martini from Philadelphia's Rocco MMA who were battling it out for first and second, Bob said. Bob called Joe "a very very strong man. He made me work. ... We went the distance, all five rounds," and in the last 20 seconds or so, Joe scored a point on Bob, making it 1-0. "I'm definitely looking forward to getting to that rematch," Bob said.

I talked with Mark Jovich, owner and matchmaker of the Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge. With two successful events in York Township at Wisehaven Banquet Hall, Jovich moved his end of the year show to a bigger venue, the Lancaster Convention Center. Mark said at this point, things are going well for the Oct. 23 event, ticket sales are brisk, and the card is complete. We've got a lot of local, exciting fighters on the card, so it no doubt will be a great show. Looks like 19 fights, including the return of local pro Biff Walizer. Click here for the Web site and click here for the card.

Rocco competitors excel at Grapplers Quest:
"A special congratulations goes out to Joe Martini with his impressive 1st place performance at the 2009 Northeast Grappling Championships. He was up against very tough opposition but was still able to pull out the victories needed to bring home the championship belt. He showed us all what hard work and determination can accomplish.

Additional congratulations go out to the other four competitors we had representing our school. Pat Macke took home a silver medal. Nick Mimoso, Shawn Quinn and Matt "The Polish Hammer" Kakareka all took home Bronze medals in their divisions. They all fought well and showed great improvements in their abilities. I am very proud of all of our guys that competed.

I would also like to send out a special thanks to those that came in support of our fighters. Their presence at the event helped motivate our fighters and was greatly appreciated by all of us."

New wrestling coach:
"I wanted to let everyone know that we have a new Wrestling coach that will be teaching classes on Saturday's from 10:00 - 11:30a.m. His name is Coach Hassan Jadidi and he was 1991 and 1992 National Champion of Iran. He has also been Drexel University's assistant wrestling coach for the past 10 years. He has a lifetime of experience in the sport of wrestling and is willing to share his knowledge with our school.

This Saturday he is bringing in some former world champion wrestlers to help bring our students to the next level. I highly recommend that everyone attend his class this Saturday if you have a desire to improve your take-downs and your take-down defense. Remember, every fight starts on the feet, so you can be the best Jiu Jitsu guy in the world but if you can't take your opponent down then you are in trouble. Hope to see you all this Saturday and every Saturday from this weekend on."

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

By Kelly Crigger, mmajunkie.com
Who doesn't like like Whack-a-Mole?

How can you not find entertainment in taking a plastic hammer and pummeling annoying little rodents who dare mock you by sticking their head up out of dingy little holes?

There's one guy in MMA whose name rhymes with "Smyte" who loves that game, only he does it with fledgling promotions that pose a smattering of competition to his Ultimate Fighting Championship. And like our 26th President, he carries a big stick.

So why take the risk of sticking your head up when it's liable to find a Billy club pounding it into the unemployment line, especially at a time when Affliction's carcass isn't even cold?

For the moment the UFC's radar has one giant blob on it: Strikeforce. But just below Scott Coker's show are three or four regional MMA promotions that are getting stronger with each show. (With a national broadcast deal but only one season under its belt, Bellator is somewhere in between.)

Xtreme Fighting Championships based in Florida, Palace Fighting Championships in California, and the Ultimate Warrior Challenge out of Washington D.C. all have something in common besides the "fighting" and "warrior" tags - they all want to dominate their local markets before looking to place their product on a national, pay-per-view stage where the man with the big hammer is eagerly waiting.

After recently releasing a teaser video announcing that DREAM.12 will take place in a six-sided cage, the Japanese-based DREAM organization has now announced the first two matchups for the card.

Bellator Fighting Championships lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez (18-2) meets DEEP champ Katsunori Kikuno (12-1-1), while Cage Force lightweight title holder Kuniyoshi Hironaka (15-6) faces Korean Won Sik Park (7-1-1).

Korean Myeon Ho Bae (8-4) was also announced as a participant on the card.

DREAM.12 takes place Oct. 25 at Osaka Castle Hall in Osaka, Japan. The event airs in North America on HDNet.

The new DREAM cage.

Email from LionHeart management, about Bradley, who used to train and live in State College:
Paul Bradley (12-1) showcased his impressive stand up and well rounded fight game this past Friday night at the Strikeforce Challenger Fights in Tulsa, Oklahoma by dominating Levi Avera (12-5). Bradley, who improved his record to 12-1, won by a unanimous decision over Avera with all 3 judges scoring the fight 30-27.

"I was pleased with the win Friday night and felt like I was able to dominate the fight no matter where it went. I am going to go back to the gym Monday and continue training full time to move closer to a Strikeforce title. Fighting in a great organization like Strikeforce was awesome and it feels great to be a part of such an impressive fight league. I am looking forward to fighting for them as soon as possible."

We would like to thank the sponsors listed in the column on the left that have generously helped Paul during his training camp.

And special thanks to Minnesota Mixed Martial Arts and Greg Nelson for helping Paul get ready for this fight.

from a story written by Andy Samuelson of the Las Vegas Sun:

The 6-foot-3, 262-pound Carwin -- who, like Lesnar, is a fellow in NCAA wrestling champ -- offers the Webster, S.D., native his biggest physical test to date.

But neither the Colorado native's extreme size or his unblemished 11-0 record seems to faze Lesnar.

"He's a tough guy. He's undefeated, but some of the guys he's beaten aren't worthy of having on your record," said Lesnar, who squares off against Carwin at UFC 106 on Nov. 21 at Mandalay Bay. "He hasn't fought anybody. He's fought (Gabriel) Gonzaga, so I really think he's 1-0.

"He's a tough guy and a wrestler. But he's a Division II national champion -- enough said."

Lesnar, a Division I heavyweight champ while at the University of Minnesota in 2000, emphasized that much like this weekend's stop in Las Vegas, when he's in town, he's the star of the show. And he said he's ready for Carwin's challenge.

"I don't know what he is, 11-0, 10-0, but he'll have a loss against Brock Lesnar," Lesnar said with a stone face.

Ted: I'll cut to the chase on this story. Here's what Kimbo said about his fight with Roy Nelson on this weeks' TUF 10 episode: "I was impressed with my performance," Ferguson said. "I'm not crying about anything." Well, I'm going to go out on a limb here and say he lost, but probably by unanimous decision. I'm just going on the implication behind what he said. I could be totally wrong, and even if he did lose, we'll definitely see him on an upcoming PPV - he's just too much of a cash cow for the UFC not to sign.

by Dann Stupp, mmajunkie.com
For anyone expecting an explosive and over-the-top Kevin "Kimbo Slice" Ferguson on today's media call to promote this week's new episode of "The Ultimate Fighter 10," the fighter and cast member likely disappointed.

Ferguson, whose fight with Roy Nelson highlights episode three of "TUF 10" on Wednesday night (10 p.m. ET/PT, Spike TV), expertly handled the swarm of questions and came across quite pleasant, if not charming, during the one-hour media session.

His tone changed, though, once he was asked about Seth Petruzelli's recent comments that Ferguson turned down multiple opportunities for the fighters to rematch.

As has been well-documented, Ferguson suffered a loss to late replacement Petruzelli at "EliteXC: Heat" in October 2008. Petruzelli jumped up a weight class and took the fight on just a few hours' notice when Ferguson's original opponent, Ken Shamrock, suffered a facial cut and wasn't cleared to compete. Petruzelli posted a 14-second TKO victory, delivered Ferguson his first career loss, and threw the last bit of proverbial dirt on the grave of EliteXC, which folded a few weeks later.

I haven't always been a fan of Wes Sims - something about him stomping Frank Mir a few years ago - anyway, I'm willing to let that go, now that he's spent time away from the UFC and he's on TUF 10. Watch this video - he is one funny dude. It'll be interesting to see what antics he's up to in the TUF house - he seems like he'll be the one pulling pranks and crap like that. One of the funniest parts is when he talks about Roy Nelson uprooting a shrub and eating it.

Ryan Hall, who used to train with Lloyd Irvin, now has his own school called Fifty/50 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. This year, he competed in the Abu Dhabi Combat Club World Championships, and above is his match with the legendary Leo Vieira. Ryan's academy is located at 4238 Wilson Boulevard, 3rd Floor, Ballston Mall - Sport and Health, Arlington, VA. For other ADCC results, go to sherdog.com

You can never have too many Pride highlight videos, this one brought to you by Jerod Phillips of Tap or Sleep fightwear.

I didn't notice this before, but the Grapplers Quest event that happened today at the Lancaster Convention Center had something interesting: a 5-0n-5 team tournament. I was checking Rated, a Web site that has national rankings for submission grappling, but couldn't the results for the 5-on-5, or the regular tournament.

I know Bob Bitner from Hanover Academy of MMA said he planned on having a few guys in the tournament, so we'll have to see how they did, and anyone else in York and aroudn the state.

I posted a poster somebody designed weeks back, but I guess the UFC didn't like it and wanted to get Coleman/Tito in there.

Griffin fakes the left to the head - Franca buys it - then moves in for the inside leg kick.

Upcoming Weekend Warrior Camps at the Home Training Center in State College:
October 2 - 4,
Oct. 30-Nov 1
Nov 27 - Nov 29
Dec 4 - Dec 6
Register today!

Pezao with the flying armbar on Pe De Pano!

Winners are in bold.
Men's Category: Round 1!
-65.9 kg
Rani Yahya vs Kohei Yasumi wins by RNC.
Jeff Glover vs Timo-Juhani Hirvikangas wins by RNC.
Rubens "Cobrinha" Charles vs Hiroshi Nakamura wins by armbar.
Joel Tudor vs Nicolas Renier wins by triangle choke.
Leo Veira vs David Marinakis wins by choke.
Jeff Curran vs Ryan Hall
Rafael Mendes vs Jayson Patino
Baret Yoshida vs Justin Rader

-76.9 kg
Marcelo Garcia vs Rodney Ellis wins by Guillotine.
Kron Gracie vs Enrico Cocco wins by RNC!
Mike Fowler vs Marcelo Azevedo wins by kneebar.
Milton Viera vs K-Taro Nakamura
Pablo Popovich vs Don Ortega wins by RNC.
Ben Askren vs Toni Linden wins by arm triangle.
Leo Santos vs Yoshiyuki Yoshida wins 8-0.
Murilo Sanatana vs Gregor Gracie

-87.9 kg
Andre Galvao vs Kassim Annan
Chris Weidman vs Daniel Tabera
Tarsis Humphreys vs Igor Praporshchikov
David Avellan vs Trond Saksenvik
Braulio Estima vs Yuji Arai
Gunnar Nelson vs James Brasco
Tom Lawlor vs Rafael Lavato Jr. wins on points.
Jorge Santiago vs Bruno Bastos

-98.9 kg
Xande Ribeiro vs Ilir Latifi wins on points.
Radek Turek vs Rafael Davies wins on points.
Marcio "Pe De Pano" Cruz vs Anthony Perosh wins on points.
Vinny Magalhaes vs Rodrigo Henrique wins by achilles.
Dean Lister vs Andreas Olsen wins by triangle.
Glover Teixeira vs Vesa Vuori wins on points.
Ricco Rodriguez vs Tomasz Szczerek wins on points. (4-0)
Gerardi Rinaldi vs Yoshiyuki Nakanashini wins on points.

+99 kg
Fabricio Werdum vs Rogent Lorent
Antoine Jaoude vs Tomasz Janiszewski
Rumulo Barral vs Denis Roberts wins by heelhook.
Saulo Ribeiro vs Kouji Kanechika wins on points.
Jeff Monson vs Karol Bedorf wins on points.
Tom Erickson vs Janne-Pekka Pietilainen wins by heelhook.
Mike Martell vs Asa Fuller
Roberto "Cyborg" Abreu vs Tom De Blass wins on points.

Royler Gracie, 6th degree black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and one of the famous Gracie brothers, will be at Steve Maxwell's Maxercise in Philadelphia next month.

From Wikipedia: Royler Gracie has competed in the black-belt ranks for 20 years. He is the only person to win the ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championship three consecutive years, and has won the ADCC more times than anyone else. Royler is also a four-time World Jiu Jitsu Champion in the under 67 kg Black Belt Division.

Maxwell is a world-renowned trainer and according to his Web site's bio, "He was the first American to earn a black belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, certified by Relson Gracie."

Thanks to mmajunkie.com for the play-by-play:

LEVI AVERA VS. PAUL BRADLEY

Round 1 - Quick touch of gloves. Bradley scores a quick jab, then shucks off Avera's advance, tossing him to the side and falling into top position. Avera settles into half-guard underneath, and he looks to use his long legs to attack. Avera gains full guard as Bradley lands a few shots from top position. Avera ties up the arms, and Bradley tries to posture up. Bradley pulls his left leg through to half-mount. Avera tries to look to his right for a potential kimura, but instead settles for establishing full guard. Two minutes remain in the round. Bradley delivers a few shots to the ribs. Slow action, and the referee brings it back to the feet. Avera fakes a right kick and lands a left kick to the body. Avera grabs a single leg, but he has to let it go. Bradley works in a few quick hands, and Avera tries to answer. Bradley shoots in and powers him to the floor. Bradley drags his opponent to the cage as time expires, and he secures the opening round on the MMAjunkie.com card, 10-9.

from the Los Angeles Times:
Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White told The Times his organization has struck verbal deals for Anderson Silva to defend his middleweight championship against Vitor Belfort on Jan. 2 in Las Vegas.

Belfort, a former UFC champion, returned to the octagon Saturday to defeat former champion Rich Franklin in Dallas.

Silva has emerged as the most elite fighter in the UFC, most recently disposing of former light-heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.

A message from Robson Pereira, promoter of the Ultimate Grapplers Challenge, scheduled for Oct. 11 at the Macungie Community Center in Macungie, Pa.:
HEY GUYS IS THE LAST WEEK TO PRE-REGISTERED!!! AND SAVE SOME MONE$$$BUT YOU CAN STILL REGISTERED AT THE DOOR!!!!
THAT IS WHERE ALL THE BEST GRAPPLERS AROUND WILL BE!!!
Click here to go to the Web site.

From State College's LionHeart Management:
JC Cuffee improved his amateur record to 2-0 this past Saturday at the Barbarian Fighting Championships with a 1st Round Submission over previously unbeaten Jimmy Hall.

Paul Bradley (11-1) left, squares off against Levi Avera (12-5) for their welterweight fight tonight. Bradley, who used to train at LionHeart Fighters in State College (now known as Central PA Mixed Martial Arts), trained at Minnesota Mixed Martial Arts for this fight, which is his Strikeforce debut.

Location: Bixby, Okla.
Venue: SpiritBank Event Center
Broadcast: Showtime

MAIN CARD

Zak Cummings vs. Tim Kennedy
Kevin Jordan vs. Ray Sefo
Zach Light vs. Tyron Woodley
Travis Calonoc vs. Thomas Longacre
Daniel Cormier vs. Gary Frazier

PRELIMINARY CARD
Lacey Schuckman vs. Jeri Sitzes
Levi Avera vs. Paul Bradley
Brandon Gaines vs. Trey Houston
John Carson vs. Kenny Giddens
Nick Gibbons vs. Josh Pulsifer
Lemont Davis vs. Dillon Smith

Just talked with Greg Sirb, executive director of the Pa. State Athletic Commission. He confirmed that tonight's 9th Street Slaughter event at Club 1402 in Reading has been postponed. The event was being promoted by longtime boxing promoter Marshall Kauffman, with MMAinPA.com's Joe Cunliffe doing the matchmaking.

"Just didn't get enough bouts together," was what Sirb said when I asked why the event wasn't happening.

Although I don't believe there is a minimum number of bouts per event required in PA., I know each event in the state has to have at least two professional fights and the rest can be amateur. So far this year, I don't think there's been an event this year with less than maybe eight fights, although I think that was due to a couple of them being canceled at the last minute.

Sirb said that Kauffman had told him he wanted to hold the event in Reading the first weekend in December.

Kauffman was "disappointed" at the show's postponement. "He's never really canceled anything" in his long career as a promoter, Sirb said.

Previously, Kauffman and Cunliffe collaborated on the May 30 hybrid boxing/MMA event in Reading, Pain on Penn Street.

Here's an email I received from George McGinnis, head trainer at York Mixed martial Arts Academy:
This article was sent to me by one of our top students (Tom Fleming) yesterday. I personally read the article twice because I thought it was that informative. Though most of us have been instructing for some time and have likely developed our own style of teaching, this article could still benefit you (as well as the students) in more ways then one.

It reminds us of the three most common styles of learning and reception (Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic). Though I feel that our facility commonly accommodates for all three types of learning behaviors, I decided to adjust last nights class out of curiosity. To be completely honest, last night was probably one of the most responsive classes that I have ever tought. Students were asking twice the amount of questions, getting more involved, changing their angles of view and complying to the outline. I am also receiving emails and text messages about how great of a class we had. Give it a read. You could too be missing one or two angles of curriculum that could benefit one or more students.

from ESPN's Web site:
Movie night in Lee Murray's Moroccan prison is destined to be something special. According to Variety and IFilm.com, Murray's $86 million Tonbridge heist will be developed into a film by director Darren Aronofsky (creator of the pretty good "The Wrestler," the depressing "Requiem for a Dream" and the toad-licking "Fountainhead"). Writer Kerry Williamson will provide the script, based on Jon L. Wertheim's feature in a 2008 issue of Sports Illustrated. Release date TBD.

Murray makes for a better mythological figure than he did a fighter, a fact filmmakers would be wise to consider when dealing with the heist itself. If it's yet another robbery/lam movie, my enthusiasm atrophies. If we get to see Channing Tatum with a dye job play Tito Ortiz -- an alleged victim of Murray's in a street brawl -- then I'll get on Fandango right now.

Ted - Here's my story on Murray, "From Contender to Just Con" that originally ran jan. 16, 2008.

Nogi Industries presents, Glover's Travels Episode 1 Part 1. In this episode, Jeff visits Paragon Jiu Jitsu in Ventura California with Ricardo Franjinha Miller. This is the first in a series where Glover travels to different BJJ academies to experience different techniques and how the schools are run.

Jon Anik & co. talk about Rampage leaving the UFC, Cro Cop's retirement, Strikeforce signing Herschel Walker and Vitor Belfort's win over Rich Franklin.

The Ultimate Fighter 10's most well-known fighter, Kimbo Slice, takes on the house's most experienced and successful fighter, Roy Nelson. We'll see what happens. Thanks to bloodyelbow for the pic.

...seriously. So I guess we can say our beloved sport has "made it to the mainstream" when MMA T-shirts like this are being sold for about $8 at W-M:

I cheered up a bit when I took a spin through the latest Muscle and Fitness magazine and saw they have a feature on former Octagon girl Ali Sonoma:

Apparently, she had recently won a swimsuit competition at the Arnold Classic and is now studying to be nurse. Hmm, let's see - nurses' uniform or Octagon girl outfit? It's a toss-up.

George McGinnis, head trainer at York Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Red Lion, sent me this pic of his brother, Brett Myers, facing camera, training with Jay Haas. In the photo, Brett has the Muay Thai clinch on Jay, meanwhile Jay is swimming his right hand inside to try to counter with a clinch of his own (I'm guessing).

Myers trains at YMMAA and Jay trains at Hanover Academy of MMA, but both schools often train together. Both Brett and Jay are on the card at Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge in Lancaster on Oct. 23. Jay has a pro fight against Sean Santella and Brett has a title fight - I believe it is the 170-pound championship - against Justin Krebs.

EVENT: 2009 Grapplers Quest
Northeast Submission Fighting Championships
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu & Submission Grappling
Featuring $10,000 in Prizes
When: Saturday, September 26th, 2009

Box Office, At-The-Door Registrations, and Weigh-Ins Open at 8:00 AM
Tournament Starts at: 10:00 AM

Event Location:
Lancaster Convention Center
3 East Vine Street
Lancaster, Pennsylvania 17603

- 222 Divisions for Men, Women, and Children of All Ages and Skill Levels
- $3,000 5-on-5 Best Team in Northeast Challenge
- 63 Northeast Championship Belts on the line!

from mmainpa.com:
King's Promotions presents 9th St. Slaughter this Friday, September 25, at Club 1402 in Reading. The anticipated 12 fight Pro/Am card will feature mixed martial artists from some of Pennsylvania's most active and recognized teams.

"We're excited to see MMA return to Reading and for the opportunity to bring back fighters from our successful Pain On Penn Street amateur event held in May," said Matchmaker Joseph Cunliffe, "including the professional debut of Tony Williams" fighting out of The Cage MMA Academy in Temple. Jim Bova, fighting out of Anthracite Combat Club in Schuylkill Haven, will headline the card.

Thanks to mmajunkie.com for the head's up.

Herschel Walker has yet to throw his first official MMA punch, but he already has his own signature MMA T-shirt.

TapouT has signed a deal with the former gridiron great to produce the Herschel Walker Signature Series shirt, which the company is introducing today.

Strikeforce opened some eyes in the sports world on Monday by announcing it had inked the 47-year-old to a multi-fight contract to compete as a heavyweight.

Philadelphia's Eddie Alvarez, Paulo Filho, Katsunori Kikuno, Yoshiro Maeda, Andrews Nakahara, Alistair Overeem, Kiyoshi Tamura, Marius Zaromskis and Murilo "Ninja" Rua have all been announced as participants in the Oct. 25 event, the first-ever for DREAM in a cage.

Blackman MMA is doing a MMA Event in Harrisburg on November 6! we are currently putting together the fight card. If anyone is interested in fighting on the show they can email contact@blackmanmma.com. We are also participating in an event on November 21 near Pittsburgh www.wcc-mma.com - if someone is interested in that event please email the same address contact@blackmanmma.com. We need PROS and AMATEURS for both events.

Rampage vs. Rashad - we may never know ...

According to reliable MMA Web site bloodyelbow, this is straight from Rampage's Web site (I put some paragraphs in here to make it easier to read, ya'll).

"The UFC has done a lot for me but I think I have done more for them ... this movie role came about that I have been trying to get for over a year & as soon as I found out I was close to getting it, I called Dana right away & asked to push the Memphis fight back just a month or so. I told him what this movie role meant to me.

I told him that I used to bond with my father watching the tv show as a kid when my parents where still married & it represents the memories I had with my father when we lived together. My dad became an alcohalic & addicted to drugs & we grew apart. But after my dad got his life back together, I was so proud of my dad & I told him I would always take care of him in the future & make him proud of me. My dad & I are still very big fans of the show & I am basically doing this for the childhood memories I had spending time in front of the tv with my dad.

Dana went on the internet & mocked me because of that & I still did nothing. Dana & I finally talked & we made up & then after that he went back on the internet & said some bullshit & he was talking bad about the movie when information is not even supposed to be released & talking about payments which is not even true could really hurt my future acting career, which could very well last longer than my fighting career.

I'm not like Randy Couture. My body has been getting so many different injuries that I wont be able to fight until my forties & neither do I want to fight that long. So I feel like my second career could be in jeopardy.. so I'm done fighting. I've been getting negative reviews from the dumb ass fans that don't pay my bills or put my kids though college. So I'm hanging it up. I'm gonna miss all my loyal fans but hopefully they'll follow me to my new career & I will gain more loyal fans along the way. & all you hater fans out there can kiss my big black hairy ass! & anybody that don't like what I just said can come try to kick my ass!

I still feel the UFC is a great organization and I felt like I was very loyal to them but they didn't respect my loyalty but I wish the UFC the best. I did a lot of things for them. I wish no bad blood between us but I have kids & a family back in Memphis to provide for & thats all that matters to me!"

Fast-forward to about the 5-minute mark for the start of the fight.

Indiana welterweight Kevin Barkdull - sponsored by New Cumberland-based fightwear company Tattoo Fightwear - has a fight next month. Barkdull, who goes by the nicknames "The Pitbull" and "Merciless," will be the main event in the A-Town event. Here's an email that Larry Novak of Tattoo Fightwear received on Barkdull:

"Hey there, thought i would give you an update on Kevin.
He has an upcoming fight October 9th at the Anderson Speedway. He is the Main Event of the night facing Johnny Davis at 170.
It should be a good bout. Kevin has improved his striking even more and johnny seems to be more of a wrestling, jit, and muai fighter, from the limited pictures and information we could find.
We have had lots of trouble finding any video, pictures or information on him online. so we know very little going into this bout, so Kevin is just training hard and ready for anything.
Also, another big thing... Kevin and I have been in contact with some guys from Strike Force. He has sent them his bio, pics and video. If Kevin does well on this Oct 9 fight and the guys like what they see Kevin may be going out to Fresno November 6th i think it is and fighting live for Strikeforce. so thats pretty exciting.!!"

This Saturday, September 26th the gym will be close due to a grappling competition in Lancaster. A lot of our guys are going to compete in Grapplers Quest. If you are interested in competing or just coming along to support our team please contact me and I will give you the details. Thanks and we will see you on Monday.

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

Casey Bush - whose video is featured to the right in the video player---> won his amateur debut at Barbarian Fight Club - Dire Conflict over the weekend in Virginia. Bush's coach at Hanover Academy of MMA, Bob Bitner, had this to say about the victory:

"He went in for the take-down, his first take-down, he ended up getting popped. But he re-grouped and scored a take-down on his second attempt."

On the ground, Bush tried a few submissions, but his opponent, Joey Elmore, fought them off, Bitner said.

"In the long run, Casey just proved to be a little too strong," Bitner said. "He ended up getting the mount and after that, it was just ground-n-pound, ref stoppage, TKO. For his first fight, he did real good. He learned a good lesson here on that first shot. He went in there with a little bit of that wrestler mindset and kind of got reminded real quick they're throwing punches here."

"Overall, I was pleased with the performance. He was thorough with what he did, he was careful woth what he did, once he re-grouped and got that second shot in."

If you want some cool fightwear and don't feel like hopping on the Internet, head over to MACE (Martial Arts with a Combat Emphasis) in Red Lion for the latest Tattoo Fightwear styles. Many of the county's top fighters train at MACE, including Justin Scott, Chad Strawbridge, Duane Bastress, John Andel and Adam Hostetter. The academy is located at 133 W. Broadway (Rt. 74), Red Lion

Here are the results for Barbarian Fight Club's Dire Conflict this past weekend in Va. We had a number of Pa boys on the card. Casey Bush, who fights out of Hanover Academy of MMA, won his amateur debut. In addition, Blackman MMA of Harrisburg had a great showing, with wins by Bill Bookwalter and Darrell Horcher. Nate Van Tassel was off the card, for unknown reasons. And George Glykas, of LVIRK (Team Hammer) in Catasauqua, Pa., also won.

MMA Bout, 185 lbs.
Bill Bookwalter vs Breon Rucker
TKO, Referee Stoppage (Strikes)
Round 1, 1:12

MMA Bout, 135 lbs.
Saige Thomas vs Billy Barrington
Submission, Guillotine Choke
Round 1, 0:38

MMA Bout, 170 lbs.
Winston Tesi vs George Glykas
Submission, Guillotine Choke
Round 1, 0:40

MMA Bout, 155 lbs.
Darrell Horcher vs Jeff Mount
TKO, Referee Stoppage (Strikes)
Round 3, 2:10

Got the results from Friday's Downtown Beatdown 2 - The Beatings Continue, put on Extreme Fight Club at the Avalon Hotel in Erie, from the Pa. State Athletic Commission:

- Matthew DiMarcantonio beat Donnie Lennox by Unanimous Decision.
- Joshua Aarons beat Jason Galvin by UD.
- Corey Frantz beat Dustin Hurtgam by Split Decision.
- Jessalee Kline beat Jessica Wolbert by KO-head strikes, 1:59 in round 1. Wolbert is suspended for 60 days.
- John Heynoski beat Christopher Jones by UD.
- Troy Musil beat Clifton McNair by UD.
- Brian McCullough beat Matthew Sinnott by UD.
- Sean Santella beat Ricky Garrett by Rear-Naked Choke, 1:23 of round 1.
- Theodore Dobson beat Ty Perry by UD.
- Tim Troxell beat Norman Alexander by Anaconda Choke, 4:03 of round 1.
- Daniel Reed beat Todd Humes by RNC, 1:10 of round 2.
- Gabriel McIver beat Michael Testa by Guillotine, 1:11 of round 3.
- Jeremiah Gurley beat George Hyek by Majority Decision.
- Ben Oesterling beat Daniel Mingoy by TKO-head strikes, ;26 of round 1. Mingoy suffered a broken nose and is suspended for 30 days.
- Eric Attard beat Corey Nichols by UD. "Good action bout," according to the athletic commission.

NEW YORK (September 21, 2009)--Former NFL and NCAA football superstar Herschel Walker will enter a new chapter in his career as a professional athlete when he makes his debut as a heavyweight in the world's fastest growing sport - mixed martial arts (MMA) - as part of a multi-fight contract he has signed with world championship promotion STRIKEFORCE.

The 1982 Heisman Trophy winner and two-time Pro Bowl competitor will begin a 12 week training camp next month at San Jose, California's American Kickboxing Academy (AKA), which plays home to a host of the world's greatest fighters, including STRIKEFORCE Lightweight Champion Josh "The Punk" Thomson. The 6 foot 1 inch, 220 pound former running back, who already holds a fifth degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and boasts additional training in the combat disciplines of Muay Thai and Kenpo, will be trained by AKA co-owner and head trainer Bob Cook.

Arguably the world's most prestigious submission grappling tournament, Abu Dhabi Combat Club, is about to stage another tournament, this time in Barcelona, Spain, on Sept. 26 and 27. So, here's a highlight video I picked up at mixedmartialarts.com.

There were two MMA events that PA fights fans would probably be interested in - myself included - and I've been trying to get results, so far to no avail. One was Friday's Downtown Beatdown 2 in Erie at the Avalon Hotel; the other was Saturday night's Barbarian Fight Club in Virginia, which featured four PA fighters. The only thing I can say is stay tuned, as soon as I know, you'll know.

Thanks to mma-core.com.

Tattoo Fightwear sponsored fighter Matt Bentley lost by submission (triangle choke) to Danny Black - Round 2, 1:49, according to mmajkunkie. Here's the rest of the story:

COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa - Two fighters desperately in need of victories got them at Friday's Adrenaline MMA show.

Tim Sylvia (25-6) stopped Jason Riley (6-2), and fellow UFC veteran Houston Alexander (9-4) shut down Sherman Pendergarst (11-15) in a pair of first-round TKO victories.

The fights co-headlined "Adrenaline IV: Sylvia vs. Riley," which took place in front of an estimated crowd of 2,000 at the Mid-America Center in Council Bluffs, Iowa. The night's main card aired live on HDNet.

Jerod Phillips of Hanover-based MMA clothing company Tap or Sleep recently uploaded this video on his YouTube channel. Both Walizer and Haas will be on the upcoming Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge III card on Oct. 23 in Lancaster. For tickets, click here.

Tonight (Sat.), Damon's in Hanover will be showing UFC 103 (Rich Franklin vs. Vitor Belfort and Mirko Cro Cop vs. Junior dos Santos) and will feature appearances from Hanover-based MMA clothing company Tap or Sleep and members of Hanover Academy of MMA.

So stop by, order up some wings and beer, ogle the waitresses (you know you do) and stop by Jerod Phillips's TOS table and see what he's got, not to mention the raffles he'll be doing throughout the night. Oh, and yeah, there's fights on the tube, too. And, like I said, the boys from Hanover Academy should be there as well.

Here's the address:
375 Eisenhower Dr., Hanover, Pa. 717-632-5600.

Here it is. Mark Jovich is putting on Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge 3 at the Lancaster Convention Center on Oct. 23. Click here for tickets and click here to see the fight card.

Stumbled on this while on mixedmartialarts.com. It's a good read. Take a look.
By Kirik Jenness

"What can I do to get better?"

Every trainer hears that question like Dan Quinn hears voices. The usual answers are "use less strength when you roll." Or "do some road work." Or "keep your hands up." All that stuff really doesn't matter though. Half the people that ask the question are looking for a short cut; what they are really saying is "You don't have to remember my name as I not going to be here next month."

The real answer to the question is don't quit. It is a cliché, but a black belt really is a white belt who never quit.

When a fight gets tough, one of the things I look hardest for as a ref is the moment a guy breaks. It isn't math, but some aspect of the body or face lets you know the fighter no longer wants to be in the cage; he is not a fighter any more. So I get him out as early as I can thereafter.

DW saying Rampage caused "collateral damage."

By Gavin Vincent of fiveknuckles:
Quinton "Rampage" Jackson's decision to sign a movie contract to play B.A. Baracus in the upcoming "A-Team" movie has left UFC officials, fans and experts with a sour taste in their mouth. Even Rampage's personal website is flooded with negative comments and accusations of him dodging what will be two consecutive fights.

Jackson was rumored to face Lyoto Machida for the light-heavyweight title but chose instead on to sign on as a TUF 10 coach to fight nemesis, Rashad Evans. As with all previous Ultimate Fighter seasons, the coaches generally square off against one another but his decision to do a movie instead has forced UFC President, Dana White, to play musical chairs with the main event for TUF 10 finale on Dec. 12.

Last week, White announced that a lightweight title fight between B.J. Penn and Diego Sanchez will replace the Jackson-Evans bout. White also announced Jackson's decision will have "collateral damage" but has not confirmed what those ramifications will be.

Jackson can't even escape criticism on his personal website as his homepage and "blog posts" section are flooded with negative comments and inappropriate posts.

Just watched the UFC 103 weigh-ins. Here's what I saw:

- Hermes Franca walked up to the stage with light-purple mop-top hair. Looked like a wig had been lowered onto his head. Maybe that's his plan - that could be one hell of a distraction in a fight. He also weighed in at 159 for the lightweight bout against Tyson Griffin, so the fight will be held at a catch weight of ... 159.

- Looked like the Texas Athletic Commission folks were having problems reading the scale. Don't have any evidence of this, other than it seemed they were taking longer to stare at it than other commissions at other UFCs.

- Frank Trigg seemed really nervous hopping on the scale, but was dead-on at 170. So was Josh Koscheck, who then held a fist under Trigg's chin and shook it when the two faced off.

- Paul Daley came out wearing an Affliction T-shirt. Not sure if this is the first appearance of the company since it folded its MMA division and was accepted back into the UFC sponsorship fold. Daley's opponent, Martin Kampmann, was all smiles as he looked out to the packed crowd.

- Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic paid homage to the organization where he had the most success - PrideFC, by wearing a Pride T-shirt. I guess that's OK with the UFC, since they own Pride now, right? Cro Cop weighed in at 226; Junior dos Santos was a full 10 pounds heavier, but that's usually been the case with Cro Cop - he really is a small heavyweight when you think about it.

- In the main event, Vitor Franklin stepped on the scale at 197.5 for his fight with Rich Franklin, set at a catch weight of 195. Vitor stays on the scale, since he is over, and the camera focuses in on this giant ring on his right thumb. He takes it off and hands it to Dana White. Then, they pull out the towel and Vitor drops trow. Looks like he's at 195.25, so he has two hours to lose the .25. Franklin's right on the money at 195.

Jon Anik and co. talk about UFC 103 and the premiere episode of The Ultimate Fighter 10.

A couple months ago, I blogged about a promotion that was planning an MMA event in Reading called "Crime and Punishment: Cops vs. Cons" and said I would reserve my judgment until after I spoke with its promoters, Ryan Kerwin and Raymond Gokool. Well, I spoke with Kerwin earlier tonight.

My first stop, however, was a call to Greg Sirb, executive director for the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission on Wednesday.

I asked Sirb what he thought of the event, was it going to be real cops taking on real cons inside a cage?

"That's just blowing smoke up your ass," he said. Sirb said that "not even one" of the fighters on the card is a real cop or real con. "It's marketing. There's no cops, there's no convicts. I have the freakin' line-up. Do you think I would let that go on?"

My next call, today, was to Kerwin, who said that yes, the title of the event is a bit of marketing to set himself apart from the other MMA events popping up all over the state. But contrary to what Sirb said, the fighters - at least those on the main card - are all cops or cons. "This isn't a joke," he said.

Middleweight bouts
Cop - Lamont Lister
vs
Con - Matt Masterson

Cop - Taylor Sensabaugh
vs
Con - John Bryant

Welterweight bouts
Cop - Chris Kennedy
vs
Con - Marcus Ajian

Lightweight bouts
Cop - Brian Smiley
vs
Con - Shannon Green

Featherweight bouts
Cop - Johnny Torres
vs
Con - Gabriel Greenberg

I've been posting blogs written by two Pa. fighters, Derek Leyrer and Jim Hettes - originally posted on MMA social networking site mmamelee - as they help Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone prepare for his upcoming fight with Ben Henderson for the WEC interim lightweight championship.

I just found out the Cowboy is posting vlogs on his training, so here is the most recent one. For all the videos, check out the Cowboy's Youtube channel.

From Dave Doyle, Yahoo Sports:
By Round 3, Maynard had the fight under control, including a deep Kimura for which Huerta (20-3-1), who has only been stopped once in his career, refused to tap.

"I had it in deep," Maynard said. "I heard his arm popping. I said to the referee 'Holy [expletive], do you hear that?' I thought it was going to break. I'm glad it didn't break and that's a good ref [Herb Dean] in there, he made the right call [letting the match continue]."

Thanks to mmasportsreport.com:
The UFC 103 press conference was held today in Dallas, preceding this weekend's event headlined by Rich Franklin and Vitor Belfort. The conference was brief with Franklin, Belfort, and Junior Dos Santos saying a couple things about their fight.

Santos' opponent, Mirko Cro Cop, was not present though which President Dana White touched on.

"Cro cop holds the second-best record for wins in pride, and he also holds the best record for most press conferences missed," White said.

He also discussed boxing going head to head with UFC 103, and in an uncharacteristically relaxed demeanor said,

"I don't think us going against boxing is a good thing [for the fans]..." but regardless of the outcome this week on who sells more pay-per-views White said (speaking about the bad economy), "boxing is in trouble. The show we just did in Oklahoma had 75,000 people on a Wednesday night, and people came early at 3 p.m... You can combine WWE and boxing this year, and we beat them both."

Someone in the media asked him what he thought about Quentin Jackson doing the A-team movie and if the fight with Rashad would still take place at a later date.

"When the movie star's done doing his movie we'll find out when that fights happening... " he said criticizing Jackson. "He [Rich Franklin] did a movie when he wasn't fighting, like Randy Couture did."

"The crazy thing about Rampage is he's giving away a lot of money to do the A-Team. You can't fix stupid."

Speaking about Franklin fighting Belfort and how they both seem to be stuck in between fighting at middleweight and light heavyweight, White was asked on his thought about adding a weight class (possibly 195 pounds). He said he was not at all interested and did not want to make the same mistake as boxing did by having too many classes.

Belfort spoke about his fight and said that he likes Franklin and the fight "is going to be a classic"

by Loretta Hunt of sherdog.com

Fedor Emelianenko and Brett Rogers will face off in a heavyweight main event for Strikeforce on Nov. 7 on CBS, according to sources close to the event. A venue for the event is still to be announced.

An official announcement from CBS and Strikeforce is expected Thursday. The CBS Corporation owns premium pay channel Showtime, which has a multi-year broadcast deal with Strikeforce.

The bout will be the first of three for Emelianenko, the world's top-ranked heavyweight, with the promotion and will mark his first bout in a cage.

Three fighters from Blackman MMA in Harrisburg are on the Dire Conflict card at Barbarian Fight Club in Ruther Glen, Va. on Saturday:

Middleweight Bill Bookwalter takes on Breon Rucker

Welterweight Nate Van Tassel takes on Eddie Abney.

Lightweight Darrell Horcher takes on Jeff Mount.

I've already mentioned Hanover Academy of MMA's Casey Bush making his amateur debut at the event. In addition, George Glykas, a welterwieght from LVIRK (Team Hammer) in Catasauqua, Pa. is fighting Brian Reidinger:

Highlights from Downtown Beatdown 1.

On Friday at the Avalon Hotel in Erie, Extreme Fight Club presents Downtown Beatdown 2 - The beatings Continue ...Here's the fight card:

Amateur:
Donnie Lennox vs. Matthew DiMarcantonio
Jaosn Galvin vs. Joshua Aarons
Corey Frantz vs. Dustin Hurtgen
Jessica Wolbert vs. Jessalee Kline
John Heynoski vs. Christopher Jones
Troy Musil vs. Clifton McNair
Matthew Sinnott vs. Brian McCullough
Dave Spinelli vs. Theodore Dobson
David Reed vs. Todd Humes
Gabriel McLver vs. Michael Testa
Ben Osterling vs. Daniel Mingoy
Eric Attard vs. Corey Nichols

Pro:
Ricky Garrett vs. Justin Thrift
Norman Alexander vs. Tim Troxell
George Hyek vs. Jeremiah Gurley

Yeah, he may have lost to Fedor and Brett Rogers, but Andrei Arlovski is still a dude to be feared. And you know this show's gotta be staged when The Pitbull's opponent starts taunting him right before the fight. I mean, would you do that if you had a guy, 6'4", 240-plus with a fanged mouthguard staring you down?

OKLAHOMA CITY -- Nate Diaz waited for Melvin Guillard to fumble a golden opportunity and made him pay for his mistake.

Diaz, "The Ultimate Fighter" Season 5 lightweight winner, submitted Guillard with a modified guillotine choke 2:13 into round two in the marquee matchup at UFC Fight Night 19 on Wednesday at the Cox Convention Center. The victory snapped a two-fight losing streak for Diaz, a Brazilian jiu-jitsu brown belt under Cesar Gracie who has shown a flare for the dramatic.

Guillard, as usual, had his moments. The talented 26-year-old dropped Diaz with a nice right hand in the first round, scrambled out of two takedowns and punctuated a strong opening stanza with a thudding body kick. By the end of the first five minutes, Diaz, a notorious slow starter, was bleeding heavily from a cut above his right eye.

Sherdog.com has the play-by-play from tonight's Fight Night 19:

Round 1
Cantwell and Stann circle the cage and exchange punches but neither seems willing to sell out on their shots this early in the fight. Stann lands a nice straight right with about two minutes left in the first round. Cantwell doing a lot of the chasing and begins to find his mark. He has reddened Stann's right cheek and lands another heavy punch to his retreating opponent. Stann answers with a body kick with just 20 seconds remaining in the round. Sherdog.com scores the round 10-9 for Steve Cantwell based on his aggression in a somewhat slow round.

Round 2

Dave Mandel/Sherdog.com

Stann edged Cantwell.Stann lands a nice three-punch combination but follows it up with a low blow. Cantwell shakes it off and tells the referee he is ready to continue right away. Cantwell continues to walk Stann down and cut off the cage but he can't find his mark on a consistent basis. Stann lunges into another combination, this one a two-piece that slows down Cantwell briefly. Cantwell misses with a high kick. Stann looks to be gaining more and more confidence as the fight goes on. Stann jumps in and lands another three-punch combination. With 40 seconds left, Stann clinches and looks for a takedown but Cantwell shrugs him off. Stann lands a straight right and fights off a takedown attempt by Cantwell in the final 10 seconds of the second round. Sherdog.com scores the round 10-9 for Stann.

Round 3
Cantwell lands a grazing right that puts a wince on Stann's face. Cantwell lands a kick to the body and a nice left hook. The crowd is booing this fight loudly now. Neither fighter really seems to want to open up, they are trading decent shots in short bursts but they look like they are fighting not to lose. This is the third fight between these guys with each fighter winning by TKO. Perhaps there is too much respect between the foes. With one minute left the boos are back. The third round has been even slower paced than the previous two. Sherdog.com scores the final round 10-10.

Official scores are 30-27, 30-27 and 29-28 all for Brian Stann.

If you look closely, you see both Kimbo and Sapp-o doing cameo work in this direct-to-home video release.