Joe Duffey, co-owner of Academy of Combative Arts in York, took one of his most promising fighters, James "Shrapnel" Chappell, to the MMA try-outs at American Fighter in Philly today. Just after 7 p.m., Joe emailed me, saying that despite the limited information available on the try-outs, they were for real, they were professional and time will tell how Chappell did, although preliminarily, it appared those in charge were impressed, Joe said. I'll have more on this as it becomes available.
Earlier this week, I did a post on try-outs for a reality show. Here it is again:
"Come down to American Fighter MMA & Fitness Center located in SWEAT Fitness at 700 Passyunk Ave Queen VIllage PA 19147 on Saturday November 21st 2009 to try out for a new edgy MMA Reality Show scheduled to start taping the second week in January 2010!!! This is strictly for amateurs only!! Try outs are from 10am to 5pm. Call us at (267) 687 - 1599 for more details."
Props to MMAMelee for posting the notice, but as far as more details, that remained a mystery.
So I dialed the number and got a message, but I can say it is in fact the number for the American Fighter MMA & Fitness Center.
UFC fighter Rich Franklin, I'm pretty sure, owns the American Fighter brand of clothing and academies.
I hit up his Web site, and found this video, with a description:
"Already attracting network interest, "American Fighter" is an uplifting documentary about people who demonstrate the fighting spirit in their own lives. The first episode is based on Cincinnati resident Joe Garvey and his struggle against paralysis."
So, that's about all I know. Hope this helps, if only a little. If anybody reading this goes to the try-outs, drop me an email and tell me how it went, and what it was all about. Thanks.
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.
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.
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"
News from Dana White's news conference today, as reported by several Web sites, including sherdog.com, mmajunkie.com and bloodyelbow.com:
No deal yet that would make Fedor vs. Lesnar a reality. The UFC agreed to allow Fedor to compete in combat sambo, but would not agree to co-promote with M-1 Global, Fedor's management company.
Headlining UFC 103 will now be Vitor Belfort vs. Rich Franklin, not Dan Hnderson vs. Franklin, as had previously been annoucned. Kinds funny, as Belfort didn't want to fight Gegard Mousasi at 205, but is willing to fight Franklin at that weight.
As I had reported earlier, Tito Ortiz is back in the UFC, and will most likely face Mark Coleman at a future event.
Receiving UFC contracts are Paul Buentello, Paul Daley, Ben Rothwell, Chase Gormley, Dan Lauzon and Rafaello Oliveira
Getting WEC contracts are Mark Hominick, L.C. Davis and Javier Vazquez
The latest video from Wand Fight Team. Wand - fresh from his fight with Franklin (cuts on his nose and ear) trains his team and gives them a heartfelt psych-up, complete with a classic Chute Boxe-like cheer at the end.
Been out-of-town for a few days, but I'm back and it's time to get back to MMA. Here's this week's MMA Live.
Nice shot. Wanderlei has asked for a rematch and I'd like to see it - at 205. Looks like it won't happen, since Dana White wants Franklin to take a run at the LHW title and Wandy to drop down to 185. ... Hey, here's another one: how about Silva vs. Liddell II? Man, that first one was a war. We'll see what's next for both fighters - I'll keep you updated.
To see the fight, click the red circle with the arrow in it, then click the green circle with the arrow in it. The video should play.
OFFICIAL RESULTS from mmajunkie.com:
Rich Franklin def. Wanderlei Silva via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Cain Velasquez def. Cheick Kongo via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic def. Mustapha Al-Turk via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 3:47
Mike Swick def. Ben Saunders via TKO (strikes) - Round 2, 3:47
Spencer Fisher def. Caol Uno via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Dan Hardy def. Marcus Davis via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)
Terry Etim def. Justin Buchholz via submission (D'Arce choke) -- Round 2
Denis Siver def. Dale Hartt via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 1
Paul Taylor def. Peter Sobotta by unanimous decision
Paul Kelly def. Roli Delgado via unanimous decision
Stefan Struve def. Denis Stojnic via submission (rear-naked choke) - Round 2, 2:37
John Hathaway def. Rick Story via unanimous decision
Just watched the weigh-ins for UFC 99: The Comeback, and since I can't find a video that will allow me to pirate it and put it up here, I'll give you the highlights:
Couple of shoving matches in the undercard. Denis Stojnic and Stefan "The Skyscraper" Struve squared up and got really, really close. Stojnic - maybe feeling a little bit uncomfortable at that point - pushed Struve, which prompted Joe Rogan to say, "First I thought they were gonna make-out, then a fight breaks out."
Then we had Roli Delgado and Paul Kelly. Joe Rogan said Delgado had an "epic beard" and called him the "Crazy Jew-ban" which I'm guessing is a reference to his mixed heritage. Anyway, it was Delgado with a push on Kelly after the two went forehead-to-forehead.
The crowd gave its biggets pop for the return of Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic, who is fighting Mostapha Al-Turk. It'll be very interetsing to see if Cro Cop can channel some of that left high kick magic from days gone by.
Marcus Davis, who has engaged in a pre-fight war of words with Dan Hardy, looked to be in his best shape ever. I guess he really was motivated for this fight, having said he spends a considerable amount fo time each day thinking about how much he hates Hardy. We'll see if his condition plays a role tomorrow. Surprisingly, the two had an uneventful stare-down.
In another version of the ol' grappler vs. striker match-up, French kickboxer Cheick Kongo and collegiate wrestling sensation Cain Velasquez weighed in and squared off. Kongo stuck his face in Velasquez's, but unlike when he squared off with Al-Turk, he didn't jab his head in there like he was gonna head-butt him. Maybe it was something in Velasquez's eyes, although I don't know if that's going to prevent Kongo from throwing his patented nut-shots. Let's hope Cain is ready.
Finally, Wanderlei Silva and Rich Franklin weighed in. Silva was very tight, Franklin looked about the same. I truly believe this fight could go either way. People talk about how Silva is old, but Franklin is about two years older than him. Silva has more losses, and has been knocked a few times, but Franklin was destroyed by Anderson Silva twice and knocked out by Lyoto Machida a while back. We'll see. I like both fighters, so it sucks they have to fight, because someone's gonna lose.
After a heartfelt message to all his fans, Wand gets back to the snorkel training at about 4:30 in this video.
Former friends, now enemies: W. Silva and A. Silva
from Fighters Only:
Wanderlei Silva has told Anderson Silva to put his money where is mouth is ahead of his UFC 99 fight with Rich Franklin.
The two Silvas have had a war of words outside the Octagon since Anderson stated his thoughts about Wanderlei dropping to the 185lbs category on Sensei SporTV, calling the move "pretentious". Since then both have created a tough environment and speculation about a match has grown as they fire verbally at one another.
The latest episode of the series was the announcement of an Anderson Silva/Rich Franklin camp ahead of Franklin's fight with Wanderlei at UFC 99.
The Axe Murderer today shot back: "If Anderson believes in Franklin so much, bet U$ 50,000 and let's see who takes the money".
