BJ “The Prodigy” Penn Vs. Sean “The Muscle Shark” Sherk
BJ Penn is coming off a rear naked choke victory over Joe Stevenson at UFC 80. That fight was for the UFC Lightweight belt. That is the belt that Sean Sherk was forced to give up after being caught with steroids in his system. Sherk was caught after successfully defending his belt at UFC 73 in a decision victory over Hermes Franca. After that fight, both fighters tested positive for anabolic steroids and were suspended for 6 months by the California State Athletic Commission. This is a very tough fight to call in my opinion. BJ Penn is a better striker and submission artist. He is the definition of a mixed martial artist. He has had one glaring problem in his MMA career however. He has been known to gas in the middle of a fight. Anyone who has watched Matt Hughes-BJ Penn 2 and his fight with Georges St-Pierre knows what i’m talking about. On the contrary, Sean Sherk has one the best gas tanks in all of MMA. He has defended his belt twice by 5 round decisions against Kenny Florian and Hermes Franca. His best attributes are his wrestling and overall strength. He just keeps coming at you with takedown attempts. His takedowns are also very hard to stop with all the force he uses to get them. This shown by the wrestling clinic he put on against Franca. One of the problems he will have is taking down BJ Penn though. Penn has one the best takedown defenses in all of MMA. This is a guy that Matt Hughes had ridiculous amounts of trouble to takedown. That being said it will be very hard for Penn to submit Sean Sherk. In 34 MMA fights, Sherk has never been submitted. I feel this fight will most likely come down to the fighters overall energy. I feel Sherk has the better gas tank and will take a hard fought Unanimous Decision in the main event.
Wanderlai “The Axe Murderer” Silva vs. Keith “The Dean of Mean” Jardine
Wanderlai Silva is coming off a tough decision loss to Chuck “The Iceman” Liddell at UFC 79. Keith Jardine is coming off an impressive split decision victory over Chuck Liddell at UFC 76. Wanderlai Silva is a fan favorite due to his exciting fighting style. He is known as a striker who uses both his knees and his fists to knock his opponents out cold. He is always looking for the big knockout and will keep charging to get it. This strategy can be very dangerous. It can keep leave you open to shots if your opponent can counter at the right time. There are a few more problems with Wanderlai’s fighting style also. He is known to have very little ground game and can be picked apart by more accurate strikers. The ground game problem most likely won’t affect him in this fight. The being picked apart by more accurate strikers most likely will however. This is why he lost his last fight against Chuck Liddell. He was going for the knockout shot while Liddell was looking to counter. Keith Jardine is also a good striker but is more patient with his strikes. He like to mess with his opponents by mixing in some of his strong leg kicks. He won his last fight by sticking to using body kicks and lower leg kicks to outpoint Liddell. Keith’s ground game isn’t really that great either. No one is expecting this fight to hit the canvas though. Keith Jardine also has a few chinks in his armor however. His chin is not the best there is in MMA. He has a good chin but he can be dropped. This is shown in the fight he lost to Houston Alexander. He was dropped by some of Alexander’s strong hooks and uppercuts. I think Jardine will be very cautious in his approach and keep distance. He will use his jab to counter Silva’s power shots and earn himself a Unanimous Decision.
Goran Reljic vs. Wilson Gouveia
Goran Reljic has a pretty good MMA record to fall back on. He is 7-0 with 5 wins by submission. Every source I have looked at on him has said he is slick on the ground with decent striking skills. He is very good at isolating an opponent’s arm and producing a victory. All of his submission victories have come by armbar, kimura, or triangle arm choke. There is one problem however. He has not faced tip top competition in his early proffesional MMA career. Wilson Gouveia is a well-rounded fighter with some very impressive victories in his MMA carreer. He has finished his opponents in 9 of his 10 victories (4 by TKO, 5 by submission). He is the last person to defeat Jon Fitch. Not only did he beat Fitch, he knocked out Jon Fitch. All this being said I believe experience will help Gouveia stop this up and coming UFC newcomer. I think Wilson beats Reljic by TKO in the 2nd Round of the fight.
“The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” Tito Ortiz vs. Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida
Tito Ortiz is coming off a draw against Rashad Evans. A fight that he had won but decided to hold the cage to stop one of Evan’s takedowns but the referee stepped in and took a point away. Therefore the fight ended in a 28-28 draw on the judge’s score cards. Tito is a very talented wrestler and like to take his opponents out via ground and pound. Which he is good at what he does. He was reigning champion in the UFC until a man named Chuck Liddell came along. He is one of the faces of the sport and will always be one of the fan favorites wherever he fights. He has a couple problems in his fight game. He is a fairly weak striker and has consistently gotten outstruck by his opponents. He was never able to beat Liddell due to his lack of striking and Liddell’s outstanding takedown defense. Lyoto Machida is coming off a second round submission victory over Soukoudjou, one of the sport’s most promising prospects. He made Soukodjou look like he had never fought before. Then again it was his first fight in the UFC and that can be cause for some jitters. Lyoto Machida is a fight that is well-rounded. It is strange though because a lot of his fights seem to go to decision. 3 of his last 4 fights have gone to decision. His striking is very good and seemingly neutralizes any advantage his opponent has standing up. He is very hard to hit and seems to take very little damage when he fights. He has an awesome ground game. He can submit almost anyone he fights and can stop his opponents from finishing him on the ground. He seemingly has no weakness and has not been exploited yet in his MMA career. His weakest asset in his arsenal may be his seemingly slight knockout power. In my opinion if he can stop Tito from getting takedowns he can take this fight fairly easilly. I think Machida will take this highly anticipated battle via unanimous decision.
Thiago Silva vs. Antonio Mendes
Antonio Mendes seems to be a strong striker with a decent ground game. 7 of his 14 wins have came by TKO and 4 have come by submission. He has some very good wins in his MMA career but no huge wins in my opinion. I don’t feel he has fought anyone nearly as tough or well-rounded as Thiago Silva. Thiago Silva has a black belt in jiu jitsu and is an awesome striker. He is undefeated in his MMA career. He has wins over Houston Alexander and James Irvin in his career. I don’t see a way that Mendes can win this fight. It really doesn’t seem like a fight that belongs on the main card but that is not the UFC’s fault. This fight was supposed to be Thiago Silva vs. Rashad Evans in a battle of the undefeateds. Then Maricio “Shogun” Rua was forced to pull out of his fight against Chuck Liddell at UFC 85. The UFC found Rashad Evans a neccessary replacement for Shogun and changed the matchup. I would expect Thiago Silva to win this fight by TKO in the 2nd Round of the fight.
If you have any comments leave one. Post your picks… by Kurt Hall of MMA-Underground.com
At the end of last week’s show, Forrest retained control to pick the fights had announced the fight for this week’s installment. This wouldn’t be the only scrap TUF fans would be treated to on this particular Wednesday evening.
“Crazy” Tim Credeur, once again sang Matt Brown’s praises and conveyed his utter distaste for the company of Jeremy May. Back at the house, May was taking shots of what looked to be straight vodka, but as we would soon find out, was nothing more than a ruse to get Matt Brown to believe that he would not be in top form for their fight the next day. May went on camera boldly stating that he does not believe that Matt Brown would be ready for him. As we would soon find out, the man might as well have been sousing it up. But Jeremy May would continue to spew his predictions at the camera, saying that he would beat Brown’s ass “in a good Christian way”. This would soon be put up for debate in the minds of many as we would learn that May had been nursing a knee injury from early on. We would also soon learn that his injury was not even as bad as he led his teammates to believe; using it as an excuse to “pace himself” or slack on his conditioning drills. Later on in the hour we would hear Matt Riddle, also expressing his stark disgust with May, stating that, “I never knew I could dislike someone so fast” and suggesting to Brown that he should aim for the knee. It would certainly seem that many of the members in the house were offended by the antics of this so-called, “Jeremy jitsu” practicioner.
Next we would get a shot of Matt Brown appearing extremely focused in his training. Amir Sadollah went on camera predicting Matt Brown’s victory “by murder”. Brown went on camera himself telling the world of how MMA saved him from a life of drugs, crime and near death experiences. Leading to commercial we would get some shots of Coach Forrest and Brown putting in an intense sparring drill that looked like it had the potential for injury writ all over it, had they not been wearing protective equipment.
During the weigh-ins we would hear Forrest on camera expressing his worries about Matt coming into the cage too pumped up and emotional because of the dip incident, and the possibility of burning himself out quickly, but also saying that he would do fine as long as he remained calm and composed. May’s immature behavior would continue with the stare down, smiling and sticking his chin out at Brown, who was respectfully in a proper stance. We would then hear the childish May blabbing about how Brown would have to pull something out of his ass to beat him. Matt Brown would then give his thoughts stating that performing at his best would be his only focus.
Round one of the fight began with some wild flurries from May, who came out with guns blazing. Brown remained reserved and seemed to let the prankster wear himself down. May attempted to land a left high kick, but would not succeed. He immediately followed up with a right high kick that would leave him off balanced and open to a connection from Brown that would put May on his back. Brown slipped into side-control, obtaining mount soon after. Brown was swept by May, who would almost be locked in an arm-bar from the bottom position, slightly slamming his way out of the dire predicament. Brown still working submissions from the bottom, would then execute a sweep of his own, ending up on top in side control. He would then briefly move to “north-south” position, before rising to the toes. Squaring off, it would seem that May, most likely due to lack of conditioning, was exhausted. Attempting to pull guard, May fell to his back while Brown remained standing, landing a shot from there. May would then rise to his feet once again but would receive a knee to the face for his troubles. Rocked and wobbling, May was the recipient of a beautiful left high kick to the chin from Brown that would end any and all chances of TUF glory for the arguably most disliked member of the cast (Matt Riddle would surely have first choice to come back, should someone be injured). The triumphant Brown winning by KO went on to state how he had hurt his foot on May’s face, the camera showed an icepack on the left foot of the first winner of this week.
Now with Team Forrest at 4-0, they would retain the “hammer” and would choose the next fight by flipping a coin. It would be Daniel Cramer vs. Luke Zachrich for the tail end of this week?s double feature. Zachrich, feeling that being picked last was a slap in the face, would state his need to prove something to the world. Dan Cramer would then speak himself, saying that he?s not much of a talker but would have every intention of imposing his will on Zachrich. Rampage appeared to be irritated with losing all of the first four fights. Also, seemingly annoyed with the luck and success of Forrest’s coin flipping tactics, Coach Quinton would then conference with his fellow coaches, stating such annoyances. Dana White went on to say that he could see the tension building between the two head coaches, but when and if this would come to head on collision was still yet to be seen.
Round one of this fight began with some wild swinging from Cramer, immediately clinching thereafter. Pushing against the cage, they would both land some knees in close quarters. Pulling away from the cage the two men would square off, soon going to the ground but rising abruptly before anything could happen there. Zachrich constantly going for the Thai clinch would leave himself open to a lot of “dirty boxing” from Cramer. Zachrich, still going for his non-solidified Thai clinch, would also join in with his own “dirty boxing”. Zachrich was tossed to the ground by Cramer who remained postured on his feet. Allowing him to rise, the fight would then turn into an all out slugfest with both men testing each other chins. Zachrich executed a take down to side-control with Cramer soon giving away his back. Luke made a good attempt at a choke, loosening his opponent up with strikes but could not succeed with either a submission or T.K.O. before the sound of the horn. Round two began with a flurry from Cramer, who immediately pushed Zachrich to the cage and pulled him off to execute an excellent take down. Cramer, in a fairly high mount worked on elbows and landed quite a few to the face of Zachrich. Zachrich give up his back allowing Cramer to sink in the hooks, but would soon lose his total position of dominance. Raining down with vicious blows from the mounted position, Cramer was stopped by Ref. Steve Mazzagatti for the T.K.O..
Zachrich appeared on camera and showed great class and sportsmanship. He also stated disappointment at becoming gassed. Overjoyed at finally winning and gaining control over the fights Coach Quinton would leave us with a “YEEA BOYEEE” and a chant of sheer happiness, also declaring that it was the best fight he had ever seen. So, for the first time in the season we would have a fight announcement from Rampage next week on the Ultimate Fighter.
This is one of the most common questions I am asked. Today boxing, kickboxing and mixed martial arts are not only spectator sports; they are exciting, calorie burning workouts. The American Council on Exercise (ACE) 2008 Fitness Trend Predictions listed boxing as one of the top workouts rising in popularity. It is not hard to see why. Combat sports offer incredible cardiovascular conditioning as well as a great amount of muscle toning from the anaerobic component. Most people think of weight lifting when they think of anaerobic exercise. Any exercise that stresses the muscles at a high intensity for a short duration of time is anaerobic. An exercise of low intensity over a long period of time is aerobic. Martial Arts are approximately 70-80% anaerobic and 20-30% aerobic. The result is a workout that not only helps you lose weight, but makes you ripped. People also love the adrenaline rush from all the kicking and punching. It’s very stress relieving to hit something. If one trains in a group class, the social aspect can be appealing; it’s a great way to meet friends. Many boxing and martial arts gyms foster a feeling of teamwork and family. Many of my students tell me they love the training because they don’t feel like they are working out. They are having fun, learning a new skill and forgetting that it is hard work. So how do you get started with this amazing workout? Here are a few simple tips to consider when you begin your path of the warrior.
1. You don’t have to decide if you want to be the next UFC champion - at least not yet. Everyone starts out learning fundamentals. It doesn’t matter is you are 18 and plan on being a world champion or if you are 40 and just want to try something new and lose those love handles. Unless you take cardio kickboxing (and that is not what this blog is about) you will learn the basic skills first and then if you show dedication, skill and desire you can move up to competitor level.
2. Google is your friend. About once a month I get an email that asks me to recommend a martial arts gym to someone I don’t know from a different city. I will now tell you my professional secret. I do an Internet search on the city they are in and type in Muay Thai (kickboxing) or MMA whatever discipline they are looking for. If you are reading this online this should not be too hard to do. Once you have a list of potential gyms, call and ask if you can audit a class; many will say yes. If you don’t feel comfortable trying the class right away, you can ask to watch. Visit all potential gyms before you decide where to sign up. Gyms have different teaching styles, programs, schedules and sign up packages. Find the best one for you. While price is important, martial arts training is not something you should be cheap about. It’s a very technical skill. You are learning to use your own body as a weapon. Don’t go cheap on the instruction. Do your research to make sure the gym is reputable and safe. Often you can get a discount if you offer to pay a few months in advance or if you pay cash.
3. Less is more? There are more and more gyms offering MMA training, but few that teach single classes in MMA. It is more common to have classes in various disciplines (Muay Thai and jiu jitsu are the most popular). So what disciple does a beginner start with? The answer depends on your goals. If weight loss is your main goal, start out with Muay Thai. If you are very overweight and would have trouble kicking, I suggest starting with just boxing. The rigorous cardiovascular workout will help you shed pounds. If you want to build strength and learn ground technique, jiu jitsu may be for you. If you are unsure which discipline appeals to you more, ask to try both types of classes and then decide. Whichever you decide to start training in, give it at least 3 months before switching to or adding another discipline.
4. “Discipline is remembering what you want.” - David Campbell. I tell my students to come 3 times a week or more if they want to see results. Anything less and it’s hard to retain the skills you learn because you don’t get a chance to drill them enough. One of my students who trains privately for an hour twice a week and takes the group class once a week lost 20 lbs and 11% body fat. She hits harder than some of the guys I know and has great speed and technique. In eight months she transformed her life. If you can afford it, I definitely recommend getting some private instruction in the beginning of your training. It will accelerate your progress and help prevent you from forming bad habits.
5. Rest and Recovery. It’s easy to overdo it if you are new to training. While pushing yourself is a good thing, you also need to recover from workouts so your body can rebuild and refresh. That is another reason I suggest 3 days in the beginning; it allows for a day of rest in between workouts. After several weeks you can add more training days. It takes times to adjust to a new workload, but your body can handle it if you are getting plenty of sleep and eating well.
6. Keep seeking. One of the best pieces of advice I got in my early training was to seek out new training and learn as much as I could. When I visit a new city I always make sure to check out the local MMA or Muay Thai gym. I always take something new back with me and improve my skills. Some gyms are of the old school mentality that you must be loyal to your gym only. I feel this limits students and fighters. While it is good to have a home base and a team you call your own, there is always something new to learn and sometimes a fresh perspective is just the ticket. Attitudes are changing because of mixed martial arts. Fighters have to go to different places for various aspects of their training. It is not uncommon for a pro fighter to train one place for his jiu jitsu, one for wrestling, one for stand up and another for sparring. While it would be great to have all under one roof, it’s not always the case that the best training is available in one place. I’m not offended if a student visits another gym while out of town. I am happy they are interested in learning. I’m not suggesting switching gyms every other month (consistency is important) but, it is important to be open to new teachings.
When I’m talking to a new student I give them this promise: Train consistently for one year and you will feel like a different person. Training in Muay Thai gives me confidence, discipline, ambition, strength and courage. It has made me the woman I am today. Not only has it made me fit and healthy, but training has kept me out of trouble and made me passionate about life. I teach because I want to pass that on. It is incredibly rewarding to see students transform themselves before my eyes. The human body is capable of amazing feats; the human spirit has no limits.
Roxy Richardson is a personal trainer, nutritional counselor and fitness writer and she also runs the “RoxyFit” women’s Muay Thai program at the Machado Fitness and Training Center in Hollywood. Visit Roxyfit.com for more information about Roxy’s program.
As a promoter I feel that I should make my way to other promoters’ events. Many are friends and I am going to show support for their show. Often times I will take fliers for my events or handout business cards. I offer the same to other promoters who attend my events. It helps in many ways. It helps to promote your event and also network with fighters and other people in the industry. Most of us share a common goal, to sell out our events. Most of us got into the promotion side because we love MMA but, we also want to show a profit for the long hours and mind numbing work we do in promoting our events. It is the same for almost every event. You don’t truly know what kind of turn out you will have unless the show sold out before hand. You don’t know how many of the fighters will be a no show and there are no shows at most events. Last minute problems throw you off and take up valuable time. So what are ways to help avoid these problems?
Marketing
Man did I learn the hard way about marketing. I did not know much going into my first event and a small numbers of attendees showed. Now I take a different approach and it seems to be working. I partner with businesses and promote them while promoting myself. They hang posters for you, hand out fliers, and let people know about your event. In return you throw a small logo on your posters or website for them. I get huge numbers of fliers made. Find a good printing company that offers you a quality product for a good price. I use 4×4 double side laminated cards. These are small enough to fit in a pocket, the look very professional and make great coasters for bars and restaurants. Getting the fliers out can be a pain in the rear. It’s a lot of driving and talking to people and gets to be a burden. One way to get around this is to get the fliers to the fighters. They want to fight in front of packed houses. It just isn’t the same to fight in front of 50 people. So the fighters will run their butts off handing out fliers. They will plaster them everywhere. Posters are nice but they get costly and a lot of them get torn down. You still need them, so find the best outlet for them at the best price and get them hung everywhere you can. Television commercials are awesome. You can get a lot of commercial spots on local cable channels for very little. Find a kid who can work a computer like a watch maker and have them edit and burn your commercial on the computer. If you buy air time most cable companies will add the final items to the DVD at no cost. For example, I am going to have 78 thirty second commercials aired for 2 weeks before my next event. These will air during Pro Wrestling shows (all of the major ones), during UFC shows and the rest spread out on channels like Spike and ESPN. The attention this will draw is so valuable and costs far less than you would imagine. Radio is another tool that does a lot. The draw back is that it is expensive in most areas. Cable can localize the commercials to a specific region, where as radio has no such boundaries. Another draw back lies in the fact of how large their broadcast areas are. A guy 50 miles away isn’t really likely to attend your event. He may want to, but it isn’t likely he will make the drive to it.
Ticket sales
It’s getting hard to get a feel on ticket sales. I had tickets advertised for a month before my last event. They really didn’t start selling until the week before the event. The problem could lie in the limited amount of locations in which to buy them. I had ticket sales on my website and that was pretty much it. I knew that for the following shows I needed a different outlet. I made a deal with a couple of local businesses to act as tickets agents. They get a cut off each ticket sold but, they push the heck out of them. Two of the businesses I use sell tickets to pay for their VIP tables at the shows. What ever money they make above that is used for food and drinks. Another outlet for sales is the fighters. Amateurs can’t be compensated for their fights. That’s a known fact but, you can use them as ticket agents. Again, they want to fight in front of a packed house and will sell tickets to every person they can. They don’t care who it is as long as they can sell a ticket. Plus they get some extra money for what ever they need.
Pre show costs
Your first event can cost you a ton of money. You have to build your base in everything. Cage or Ring rentals are ridiculous. I saw cages go from $1,200 to $2,000 for the night. Rings are no better. I was quoted $1,000 to $3,000 to rent a ring. I rented a very nice cage from Matt of Xtreme Cagefighting Championship in Michigan. It was a top quality item and he had the fairest price out there. I liked his cage so much I bought one from the company that made his. It was a bit costly but it will be paid off in just a few shows and rentals. Gloves were something that I wasn’t prepared for. Gloves can run anywhere from $24 to $80 each pair. Amateur gloves seem to be a hard item to find, and if you do find them, prepare to pay around $40-$60 a pair. I am currently working with a manufacturer to have my gloves custom made. By buying in bulk I save a lot of money and can turn around and sell the gloves to other promoters. There are so many things that I needed that I wasn’t prepared for. I found eBay to be a great place for things like banners. Then I found a sponsor who makes banners for different clients. They made me some nice banners for free. Take your time and research everything. There are so many companies out there wanting to make money that will offer you a lot for some very competitive prices.
I hope these tips can help some of you out. Just remember to take it slow. I personally take 2-3 months to plan out a show. I may book them so that I have them almost every month, and some months I have 2 shows, but the planning for each show starts early. I have fight cards shaping up for one event and will shuffle fights in and out from 2 or 3 events to make my fight cards even. I personally watch over all aspects of my events. They are small enough for that to happen. That way I know what is going on and how. I am always open to suggestions and talk to other promoters or industry insiders. Listen to them they have valuable advice that can make things easier for you. Above all else, put on a good show and take care of your fighters. They have a tough enough role to play in this. They should be able to rely on the person who is putting them into the cage.
As a promoter I am constantly getting emails and calls from people wanting to fight in my events. It is nice to have a continual flow of fresh faces willing to step into the cage. One problem that promoters face is the large number of people who have no experience or proper training. It’s not uncommon to have someone tell you they want to be on your fight card and learn that they have no training whatsoever. I would love to help them out, but, I’m not in this business to get someone killed or handicapped for life. I am looking for the matches that are most even and will last longer than the first 35 seconds. Uneven matches make for a poor event and the fans notice these kinds of things. I am willing to give a fighter their first match, but not if they tell me that they only train in Tai Kwan Do. I want to see well rounded fighters, who can handle themselves on their feet or on the ground. So here are some things to think about before you try to make the jump into the cage.
There are so many fighting styles out here, nowadays, that it is hard to pick the right style. As a promoter I look for someone who is well rounded. An all-ground fighter can find themselves in a bad situation against a fighter who is equally good at ground and striking. The same goes for fighters whose exclusive style is striking. There are schools and teams out there now that train in MMA. They train you in all aspects of MMA not just a single category. You have to check them out and make sure they have what you are looking for. Some train heavily in Jiu-Jitsu while others are more wrestling oriented. It all comes down to what YOU think will prepare you the best. There are a great number of gyms, schools, and fight teams out there. Don’t be afraid of hurting someone’s feelings; ask the big questions and look at several before making a decision. Find out how long they have been around, what qualifications they have to be instructors, and what experience they have. Do they have people already out there fighting? Are their fighters making good showings, do they have decent to good records, or are they getting blown out in every fight? These are all important questions to ask. Any organization that is reputable will have no problem answering your questions.
Conditioning is just as important as training and sometimes may be the reason why you win. You can be the best “all around” MMA fighter out there but, if you don’t have the cardio levels to make it through the fight, you are going to be in big trouble. You need endurance training to keep you ready for a fight. You can’t show up at the gym two weeks before a fight and expect to be ready come fight night. You have to balance your conditioning just as much as you balance your training. Running, treadmills and elliptical machines help to build up cardio levels, but that won’t cover it all. Rolling or grappling will also help to build the cardio conditioning and help with your strength training as well. It keeps the heart pumping and blood flowing to the muscles. We have all seen it before. A fighter gets hit and looks like they are going out but, they bounce right back up and keep fighting. It’s their cardio conditioning that does this for them. The higher levels of oxygen in the blood help to body and brain recover much quicker from injury.
When training, make sure to have a core group to work with. You want to train with fighters in all shapes and sizes. This helps you to be prepared for the real fight world. Training with larger partners will help in strength and leverage. When they are bigger and stronger than you, it is hard to just muscle your way out of a situation. You have to learn new techniques and escapes that you wouldn’t normally need against a fighter your size or smaller. Training with equal sized and smaller people will help with speed and reaction. Some of those 135ers move like monkeys on crack. They seem to have a bottomless pit of energy and zip around the cage as if in fast forward. They will help you to build a better defensive game in strikes and on the ground. The big fellas hit you like a cinder block but more than likely won’t have the speed in the punches of a lighter person. They big guys manhandle you in the ground game where as a lighter person is going to be transitioning from move to move at light speed. So when you do step into the cage you are going to have a more well rounded and diverse game.
These are the kinds of things a promoter likes to see. No matter how much we treat MMA as sport or how respected it becomes, it all falls on the fans. It then becomes more of an entertainment matter than sport. If they aren’t entertained then they won’t want to come back or will go to someone else’s events. Then as promoter you stand to lose money and not be able to promote the shows. That’s why you want fights that last 2-3 rounds. The fans feel they have gotten their money’s worth and will be happy to come back. On the same hand, you as fighter will feel some much more confident. You have just banged it out for 2-3 rounds with an opponent who is just as good as you are.
Roxy Balboa fought an amazing Muay Thai fight for the IAMTF US Women’s Lightweight Title at the Hollywood Park Casino on April 26, 2008. Roxy was relentless as she punished Solano with blows to the chin over and over again. It is awesome to watch Roxy dominate in the ring. Her fitness level is so high, she is like one of those Energizer batteries because she keeps “going and going”. Solano has a tough chin and put on a great fight as well, but Roxy’s striking and her endurance level are way beyond what I have seen in a lot of fighters.
If you have visited any MMA forums, you have probably seen the Dana White posts. They clog up so many of the forums with their unending flood of insults and flaming. You see so much that you almost begin to believe what you read. I have seen posts about how Dana is the worst thing that has happened to MMA, how Dana has ruined the UFC, and I could go on and on. It becomes a virtual river of hatred for a man most of us have never met and know little to nothing about. Honesty what do most of us know? We know what we see on television, on Pay per view, in interviews and on Internet posts. How much of this is the real Dana White and how much is hype? What is the real truth behind it? I really don’t know. What I do know is that we wouldn’t have MMA or a UFC without him and would have to turn our hatred elsewhere.
I remember watching the early days of the UFC and the birth of mainstream MMA. I was captivated by it. Here they had people from all different forms of martial arts and fighting disciplines putting it all out there to see who the best really was. We all came to realize that certain forms of fighting were clearly dominant and when two dominant forms met it came down to the skill and heart of the fighters. Royce Gracie clearly dominated everyone in the first few events. He calmly waited out his opponents to end the matches in classic and sometimes unbelievable style. Eventually it all came to an end. I was at Cobo Arena in Detroit for UFC 9 in 1996. I, along with everyone who witnessed this event, was very upset by the lack of action. We later found out that the fighters had been threatened with jail time for hitting with closed fists. We didn’t know it then but, the UFC was slowly dying. It had lost its pay per view and most states had outlawed it.
Then it started to come back. This time it was a regulated, structured and well formatted event. It carried the same intense action as before but just seemed better. Then it exploded into the mainstream. It kept growing and growing and small promotions were popping up around the country. I personally started my own promotion, Combat X, LLC (shameless plug), because of my love for the sport and of MMA. It has held a place in my heart for years and, being that I am not physically able to compete anymore, I decided to promote. I wanted to have a promotion that took care of fans and fighters alike. I based my design off of my perceived understanding of the UFC. I know that I am not going to be as big a promotion as the UFC. I don’t know if I want that kind of headache. I do know that I can run a professional promotion and give the fans what want and what they expect to see. That’s what I expect from the UFC. The UFC has gone from being considered human cock fighting to evolving into a legitimate sport. Now it commands the pay per view scene, sells out every arena it goes to and shows no sign of slowing down. Your average person may not know what MMA is, but they do know what the UFC is and often think of the UFC as the name for MMA. You have to sit back and wonder how this happened. It all points back to one man, Dana White.
Dana had, as he told the story many times, convinced his friends Frank and Lorenzo Fertitta to purchase the UFC. They turned control over to Dana and the rest is history. Like him or hate him Dana White is the reason why MMA is so big, fast growing and quickly gaining respect world wide. Yes he may be outspoken and sometimes down right rude but, he pulls no punches and tells you what he thinks. It’s his “In your Face” stance that makes him such a popular bad guy. He has fought hard to be where he is and to take MMA to the level that it is at today. It is quickly becoming legal in more and more states and countries. This is because of his constant fight for the sport. So next time you want to post a hate filled diatribe about the man, take a second to think about what topic you would be discussing had he not taken control of the UFC.
This is one of the most common questions I am asked. Today boxing, kickboxing and mixed martial arts are not only spectator sports; they are exciting, calorie burning workouts. The American Council on Exercise (ACE) 2008 Fitness Trend Predictions listed boxing as one of the top workouts rising in popularity. It is not hard to see why. Combat sports offer incredible cardiovascular conditioning as well as a great amount of muscle toning from the anaerobic component. Most people think of weight lifting when they think of anaerobic exercise. Any exercise that stresses the muscles at a high intensity for a short duration of time is anaerobic. An exercise of low intensity over a long period of time is aerobic. Martial Arts are approximately 70-80% anaerobic and 20-30% aerobic. The result is a workout that not only helps you lose weight, but makes you ripped. People also love the adrenaline rush from all the kicking and punching. It’s very stress relieving to hit something. If one trains in a group class, the social aspect can be appealing; it’s a great way to meet friends. Many boxing and martial arts gyms foster a feeling of teamwork and family. Many of my students tell me they love the training because they don’t feel like they are working out. They are having fun, learning a new skill and forgetting that it is hard work. So how do you get started with this amazing workout? Here are a few simple tips to consider when you begin your path of the warrior.
