Results tagged “Jay Haas” from MMA Explosion

I tell ya, man, it's great to see martial artists in York County and the surrounding area getting together, training and learning from each other. My co-worker Tom Joyce, whose taken a great deal of martial arts over the years, always recalls the squabbling he used to witness and hear about between schools and martial arts masters. It makes you wonder why petty differences couldn't be put aside for the greater good.

George "Phoenix" McGinnis of York Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Red Lion has been at the vanguard of the MMA cross-pollination in York County and beyond, and a recent facebook post by him illustrates this:

"Had a good work out last night. Hit up Blackman's MMA (in Harrisburg) for some mat time with their fighters and then bounced on over to Jay's (Haas' academy in Lewisberry) to work in with their wrestling team. The beauty behind association and comraderie is that everyone generally wins. Hell, just last night I noticed 2 - 3 wrestling techniques at Jay's that I am going to start drilling as early as today to incorporate into my own game..."

As a source of inspiration, I also asked George about how he got his nickname:

"It was decided upon by a couple of friends a good ways back due to my uncanny ability to bounce back from any bad situation. Example: I would be in a match where I was down numerous points and unlikely to recover, and then out of no where I would spark enough energy or motion to escape / reverse the position and or submit my opponent from an unlikely angle."

"An example of how it applies to me off the mat is again my ability to bounce back from a bad situation, or what I often refer to as 'rock bottom'. I have hit rock bottom a handful of times in my life. I have made mistakes that have cost me dearly. I have said and done things that I was certain I would never be able to redeem, but like the Phoenix, its old physical form perishes in the ashes of its self-made pyre and a new emerges stronger and healthier then ever. To me, the Phoenix represents redemption, a fresh start and perhaps a new lease on life..."

Tom and I talk Strikeforce, UFC 105, PA Fighting Championship, Asylum Fight League, Cage Fight 2 ... and Marlon Brando.

I had some results from Jerod Phillips of Tap or Sleep fightwear on the weekend, but you can get the full results of Friday's PA Fighting Championship by clicking here.

Also, on Saturday, Asylum Fight League had their 21st event at The Arena on Philly. Click here to get full results.

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.

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.

Nick Gentile vs Daniel Milstreed
Jeff Smith vs Ric Humphries
Terrill Leech vs Devin Derrico
Boris Rakita vs Brian Keller
Dennis Bermudez vs Chris Conner
Dustin Pague vs Mike Nesto
Jay Haas vs Michael Bunyamanhop
Collin Sharpe vs Justin Lucas
Darrell Horcher vs Matt Nice
Joseph Duffey vs matt pender
Micah Morris vs John Calloway
Kevin Flinchbaugh vs Joshua Gieringer
Michael Hefflefinger vs TBD
Lionel Borreli vs Nick Strebig

Looks like it's shaping up to be a great card. Click here to order tickets.

Brett "Night Crawler" Myers, Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge's 170-pound champion, right after his submission victory over Justin Krebs on Friday night. Catch Brett and head instructor George McGinnis at York Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Red Lion.

Here's a message Bob, who runs Hanover Academy of Mixed Martial Arts, sent me today:
I'm down to two fighting on Saturday at Gladiator, Ryan Harder injured his neck and had to pull out of the event. Nate Kinard and Mike Fallia both at 155 will be fighting for us. After that I have Jay Haas fighting at the Warrior Challenge on the 23rd. The Grappling Challenge on the 24th, I'm not sure how many from Hanover will be competing but there's bound to be some black t-shirts there representing.

After that it looks like Nov 6 at Steve Blackman's event in Harrisburg. Matt Loban at 205, Brad Herrick at 170 and Kevin Flinchbaugh at 145 should represent us well at that event. Also in the works is Nov 27, Pa.Cage Fight 2 in Scranton, should be Jay Haas at that one if all goes well. I'll keep you posted as more develops, we are always fighting somewhere. If we not fighting that gives the dust time to settle in here, and I hate dust.

Brett Myers trains the Muay Thai clinch with Hanover Academy of MMA's Jay Haas.

Talked with George McGinnis, owner and head trainer at York Mixed Martial Arts Academy in Red Lion, tonight about several topics. We'll start with his brother Brett Myers' training. Brett is gearing up for a 170-pound title fight against Justin Krebs at Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge III on Oct. 23 in Lancaster. The title was vacated by Justin Scott, who won it at CPWC I in April and defended it at CPWC II in July (against Krebs). Scott will make his debut as a pro at CPWC III.

Anyway, about Brett, George said, "Training's going good, Brett's healthy. We've stepped up a few things (his diet and conditioning) Brett's looking strong."

"No matter where this fight goes, I'm pretty confident that's Brett's capable of handling the situation," George said. "We wish Justin Krebs a healthy camp and good luck."

George said he has continued to work with Hanover Academy of MMA head trainer Bob Bitner on striking, both for himself and Brett. George has also logged time at Jay Haas' new school in Lewisberry.

It's George's hope that Brett wins the title, defends it several times, and then moves on from there. "We're looking at the future for Brett; we're not just concerned about what's going on right now."

George also said that he competed in the recent Grapplers Quest tournament in Lancaster. George, a purple belt under Rogerio "Tatu" Taborda, entered the no-gi advanced division, which meant he was going up against purple, brown or black belts. taking on a member of Maxercise, one of Philadelphia's best academies, George lost by rear-naked choke, he said. Putting on his gi, George took another high-level opponent, a brown belt, who was at least a weight class above him. George was able to hold off any submission attempts by the Team Balance member, but lost on points.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Just wanted to let everybody know that Jay Haas, a pro fighter with Hanover Academy of MMA, has opened an affilated academy in Lewisberry Pa. at 689 Yorktowne Rd. Jay has fought twice in the Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge, and numerous times in Virginia. He went 4-1 as an amateur, and is now 1-2 as a pro with one no-contest. He is trhe reigning Operation Octagon 145-pound champion. jay is sponsored by Hanover-based mma clothing company Tap or Sleep.

Here are some things about the academy to keep in mind: All non-members pay a 10.00 mat fee before being allowed to participate. Private lessons are available at both locations, (Lewisberry or Hanover at 398 York St. (suite 9), )please contact one of the numbers below for more detailed information. If interested, please feel free to contact: Bob Bitner 717-528-4038, 717-253-5540 or bitnerbob1@embarqmail.com or Jay Haas at 717-315-4276

Here's the schedule for the Lewisberry academy:
Monday - mma 6-8pm

Tuesday - Kickboxing (ladies only) 5-6 pm; mma 6-8 pm, Wrestling 8-9 pm

Wednesday - mma 6-8 pm

Thrusday - Kickboxing (ladies only) 5-6 pm; mma 6-8 pm, wrestling 8-9 pm

Friday - mma 6-8 pm

Saturday Closed

Sunday - wrestling 5-6 pm

Just checked in at mixedmartialarts.com to see how Mark Jovich is doing with his upcoming Central Pennsylvania Warrior Challenge event, to be held Oct. 23 at the Lancaster Convention Center. Here the card so far:

Pro fights:
Randy Smith vs. Braden Bice
Biff Walizer vs. TBD
Sean Santella vs. Jay Haas
Justin Scott vs. Dan Woodruff (Justin's pro debut)
Lewis Rumsey vs. TBD (Lewis' pro debut)

Amateur fights:
Josh Aarons vs. TBD
Ben Moser vs. Justin Rios
John Andel vs. Ray Eltringham
Eric Steppe vs. Adam Dull
James Chappell vs. Mark Cugliari
Dustin Keener vs. Jeff Runk
Brett Myers vs. Justin Krebs
John Flock vs. Duane Bastress
mark Schneider vs. Brain Tucker
Josh Kessler vs. Robert Haley
Mike Oberdick vs. Don Cioffi
Joseph Aquino vs. Zachary Hescox
Mike Stoltzfus vs. Jon Tuxford

For tickets, go to warriorchallenge.info and click on ticket information.

This is the inside of The Arena, just imagine there's a cage there instead of a ring.

Jerod said overall, the event was cool, although the fights were reduced from 11 to 7, for unforeseen circumstances. The Arena, Jerod said, is like a big, stuffy, sweaty warehouse. I remember hearing about ECW fans talking about hot it would get in there and what a great experience it was - it seems to add to the gritty, primal nature of fighting, whether it be real or choreographed.

"The crowd was really into it, it was loud," he said.

Jerod also said the main event between Dutin Pague, who beat Biff at the Respect Is Earned event and Jeff Lentz was an all-out war.,

"Dutin got beat up - Lentz is crazy with his strikes, unorthodox," Jerod said. "It was a hell of a fight."

Jeff Lentz

Talked with Jerod Phillips of Tap or Sleep fightwear, who attended last night's The Arena Assault at The Arean in Philadelphia. Phillips, who was there to support Hanover Academy of MMA's Jay Haas, said Jay lost in the second round by guillotine.

But, Jerod said it was evident that Jay's ground game had greatly improved.
"He did fine in the first round; he had some big takedowns," Jerod said. "He wrestled good; that's been somehting that had been missing from his game."

In the second round, Jay scored another big takedown, but, unfortunately, "He kind of got himself in a guillotine," Jerod said.

The way I see it, Jay's only gonna get better, and probably quickly. He's been working regularly with BJJ purple belt George McGinnis of York Mixed Martial Arts Academy and Jerod talked about getting Biff Walizer (local York pro and All-American) to train with Jay some more (the two have trained at George's place before).

Just talked with Jerod Phillips, owner of Tap or Sleep fightwear, an MMA clothing company out of Hanover. He's on his way to Philadelphia for Arena Assault 1 to support one of his sponsored fighters, Jay Haas, who fights out of Hanover Academy of Mixed Martial Arts. Jerod said Jay, accompanied by trainer Bob Bitner, weighed in this morning. Jerod's traveling with Ryan Harder, another great fighter out of Hanover, and George McGinnis of York Mixed Martial Arts Academy, Jay's BJJ coach, is following them, just to give you the whole scenario.

Best of luck to Jay from MMA Explosion. I'll hopefully have an update on the fight later tonight.

... Quite nicely, I might add. There's five pro fights scheduled at this point:
Randy Smith vs. Braden Bice
Biff Walizer vs. TBD
Sean Santella vs. Jay Haas
Justin Scott vs. Dan Woodruff
Lewis Rumsey vs. TBD

And 13 amateur fights:
Joshua Aarons vs. TBD
Ben Moser vs. Justin Rios
John Andel vs. Ray Eltringham
Eric Steppe vs. Adam Dull
James Chappell vs. Mark Cugliari
Dustin Keener vs. Jeff Runk
Brett Myers vs. Justin Krebs
John Flock vs. Duane Bastress
Mark Schneider vs. Brian Tucker
Josh Kessler vs. Robert Haley
Mike Oberdick vs. Don Cioffi
Joe Acquino vs. Zachary Hescox
Mike Stoltzfus vs. Job Tuxford

The event will be held Oct. 23 at the newly-built Lancaster Convention Center. Click here to go to the Warrior Challenge Web site, then click "Ticket Information" to order tickets.