One of the effects of MMA’s boom in popularity has been, predictably, a rise in MMA-themed merchandising. For a while it seemed everybody and their brother was beginning a line of MMA-themed apparell. Generally these companies featured T-shirts with awful “tap or snap” slogans, pitbulls, skulls, and the like. They were generally, to be perfectly honest, crap. Some have survived, some haven’t. A few, like Triumph United and Six Deuce, actually put out some nice designs — and it’s good to see them do well.

But there was an old guard, too, from the days MMA wasn’t all the rage: and some are still alive and kicking. Bad Boy, whose fight shorts were worn by seemingly every other fighter in the late 90’s, has made a return to the spotlight with such fighters as “Shogun” Rua — and the old “squinting eyes” logo, which I was always found somewhat irritating? It now seems, oddly enough, kind of classy. Of course, the TapOut story is well-known. Far from the days of hilariously cheap commercials like this one which showed up at the end of Hook n Shoot DVDs (and please accept my apologies if the implied nudity there offends anyone — it’s really not my style), they now have a big budget, their own reality TV show, and have become one of the biggest employers in their Southern California hometown.

But there’s one company from the “old days” which, more than any of the others, had two things going for them which would seem to be a combination for success. First, and most importantly, they have always put out great and unique designs. Second, their shirts were worn by Dana White in season one of The Ultimate Fighter, the show that really sparked MMA’s recent surge in popularity. If there were one company I’d have picked to break through, this would have been it.

Yet, despite some continued local success in their native Guam and a few parts beyond, they seem to have disappeared from the US mainland and had no part of MMA’s move to the mainstream.

I’m talking about Fokai International. Anyone else miss them a bit?

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Last week, I asked myself who exactly is excited about tomorrow’s UFC 109 card. I got my answer yesterday, as one of our new writers, Jacob Lawton, sent along his predictions for it. According to Jacob, it’s PPV-worthy “just for the value of seeing two UFC legends going head to head.” Me, I’m not so sure. To be fair, I wouldn’t pay for Dan Severn vs. Royce Gracie 2 in 2010, either.

But, I might catch it at a bar. How’s that for a ringing endorsement? Ugh… Read the rest of this entry »

I’m sure I’m not the only one who devoted a large slice of New Year’s Eve to watching the big cross-promotional MMA event in Japan. I’m sure I’m not the only one to have found much to love about said event. I’m sure I’m not the only one who can’t help but think how far Japanese MMA has fallen.

Don’t get me wrong, the card was fun, and, the first half of it at least, was competitive. Japanese legends Hayato ‘Mach’ Sakurai and Akihiro Gono had an entertaining, fast paced fight that ended via vicious Gono armbar. Korean upstart Jung Man Kim had a fight of the night contender with Hideo Tokoro and Melvin Manhoef TKO’d ‘The Grabaka Hitman’ Kazuo Misaki (yes, it was an early stoppage, but that’s for another rant). Even the obligatory Judo-player face off between Hidehiko Yoshida and Satoshi Ishii was a surprisingly fun slugfest. But so much of the card was a freak show. Shinya Aoki snapped Mizuto Who-rota’s arm with a nasty reverse hammerlock. Alistair Overeem and Gegard Mousasi dismantled career journeymen Kazuyuki Fujita and Gary Goodridge inside the first round. It wasn’t funny, and it wasn’t safe. Nevertheless, overall the card had been a success.

But neither Sengoku or DREAM have yet to officially book their first event of 2010, and here lies the problem. Japanese MMA is not deep enough to survive a comparison with the near-monthly high quality offerings promoted by Strikeforce and ZUFFA in the States. How has Japanese MMA fallen so hard?

  Read the rest of this entry »

Who is the best in the world at 170lbs? That’s an easy one right? The consensus top five pound for pound and UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.  But while “Rush” prepares to defend his belt against Dan Hardy at UFC 111, Nick Diaz is making a case as the fighter that poses the biggest threat to him at 170lbs.

Since his departure from the UFC, Diaz has reeled off an impressive streak of 7-1 and 1 no contest.  The lone loss came via doctor stoppage due to cuts above his eye to KJ Noons and Diaz submitted then top five lightweight Takanori Gomi with a gogoplata before the NSAC ruled it a no contest due to a positive marijuana test.

At 26 years old, Diaz seems to be finally hitting his stride. 

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It’s a shame that Billy Robinson is a name that most MMA fans don’t even know.

In fact, Pro wrestling fans are more likely to have heard of the British-born grappler, probably best known for his great success in Japanese pro wrestling circuits of the 1970’s and his role in creating “shoot-style” and “shoot” organizations in the 1990’s. Those very acomplishments are probably enough to get many of us in MMA and jiu-jitsu to close our minds to this man. It’s our loss. He now resides in Arkansas — toiling in relative obscurity for the last several years as he instructing pupils in Catch-as-Catch-Can wrestling, a wrestling style hundreds of years old, with takedowns and submissions to boot.

Credited with helping train MMA legends Kazushi Sakuraba and Josh Barnett, Robinson is one of the world’s last living links to a long and rich wrestling history. While he became famous in typical scripted pro wrestling matches (some a bit more realistic than others), his Catch-As-Catch-Can wrestling is a legitimate style which developed long before Maeda crossed the Pacific Ocean to teach Carlos Gracie in Brazil, or Jigoro Kano founded the Kodokan Dojo in Tokyo. CACC has a heritage which several of our best fighters in the MMA world are looking to rediscover today.

In fact, earlier this month, Josh Barnett dedicated his win at a grappling tournament (somewhat ironically, a no-gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament) to Robinson. But it was a couple of videos that surfaced recently that got really caught my attention and offer that the movement to incorporate CACC into MMA may be finally getting a little momentum.

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We all know the horrible tragedy that struck Haiti on Tuesday has claimed thousands of lives and left many more in a state of emergency.

It’s good to also know that at least one member of the MMA community is “coming out swinging” in support of the survivors.

MMAWarehouse.com is one online retailer among many which has popped up in recent years. (In fact, I’ve never purchased from them, but have only heard good reviews of their service.) But they have released a statement which really sets them apart, as they team with Mercy Corp to send aid to Haiti:

A 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck near Haiti’s capital of Port-au-Prince Tuesday afternoon, collapsing buildings, including at least one hospital. The quake affected roughly one in three Haitians: about 3 million people. Anywhere between 30,000 and 100,000 are feared dead and even more are injured in the largest quake to strike the impoverished Caribbean nation in 200 years. Power is out, telecommunications are spotty and food and water are reportedly growing scarce.

MMAWarehouse.com is pledging a dollar for dollar match up to the first $5,000 donated here and additionally will donate a portion of our sales now through Thursday, January 21st.

I can’t imagine what it must be like to suddenly lose your home and all your possessions, or worse yet, your friends and family members. I know that everyone’s economic situation these days is far from perfect, but I encourage you to count your blessings in life and give what you can to your fellow brothers and sisters across the globe who are truly in dire need.

You can click here to read the Better Business Bureau’s review of Mercy Corp. There are other great organizations out there, too. Catholic Relief Services and Americares are both noted for having more than 92% of their donations go directly to those in need and keeping minimal administrative costs. WBC welterweight champion Andre Berto, who represented Haiti in the 2004 Olympic games, gave an emotional interview to ESPN this week, where he mentioned that he would be offering information about how to help on his website soon, as well.

What more needs to be said? Dig deep, and please give what you can.

Pictured: Manny Pacquiao carries the flag of the Philippines at the 2008 Olympic Games.

It’s tough to look at the above picture: Manny Pacquiao leading a group of athletes, who unlike himself, were willing to submit to Olympic-style drug testing.

Last week, talks finally appeared to break down for good for Manny Pacquiao’s proposed bout with Floyd Mayweather Jr., with the “sticking point” of Olympic-style blood testing finally leaving the two parties unable to reach an agreement. It’s a bad blow for the sport, which seemed to finally accumulating momentum for the first time in ages, to lose the climactic bout which we had been leading up towards.

It’s particularly a blow to a guy like me.

I’m really gutted — because as much as I’m not fan of Floyd Jr, his classless interviews and unprofessional antics — I have to sadly place blame at the feet of Manny Pacquiao for this “bloody mess.” Read the rest of this entry »

Please forgive the recent lack of activity here. Total-MMA is going through a bit of a transition right now, so you can expect a new and improved look in the new year. Thanks for being patient.

Today, MMA legend Enson Inoue’s long battle with immigration will finally come to an end. Recently he left the following message on his blog:

I just got called by the Immigration office and it seems that they have finally made a decision. In fact I’ll get the results on Christmas day Dec.25th. If the Immigration hands me a favorable decision that would be a great Christmas present. Whatever the decision is I’ll consider it a present from God. I’m either going to be able to continue my life here in Japan or I may need to start my new life abroad. Whatever the decision is, I’ll will be okay. But I’m very nervous. While everyone is celebrating Christmas I’ll be in a battle with the Immigration. One of the biggest decisions in my life will be handed to me on the day Jesus was born. Everyone please help me with the power of prayer.

So, I’d ask everyone to keep the man they call “Yamato Damashii,” who may ironically be forced to leave the Land of the Rising Sun, in your prayers — or, just keep a good thought.

Thanks to everyone who has contributed or enjoyed our content in the last year. Merry Christmas, and all the best to you and yours.

It’s another big fight night tonight, as Memphis, TN hosts the UFC lightweight title bout between BJ Penn and Diego Sanchez, so it’s time for another round of predictions from yours truly. In my last effort, I predicted the correct winner for all four headlining bouts of UFC 105, although nothing really seemed to happen the way I expected. You’ve got to love that — these big MMA shows always offers something new to learn. As BJ remarked after his historic victory over Coul Uno (the bout which led to his first title shot in 2002), “I love this game!”

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I think it’s safe to say the last part of this year has been a weak one for MMA’s big-name shows. So lately, I’ve turned most of my attention (and writing) to boxing and jiu-jitsu. Watching recent shows, it just kind of feels like we’re in a bit of a rut. Everyone’s going through the motions, but we’re missing a little passion.

I watched the Renzo Gracie: Legacy DVD again recently, looking for inspiration. (I gave it kind of an uncharitable review here. It’s actually better than I gave it credit for, but that’s for another time.) Maybe Dana White was watching too, because it looks like Renzo will be making his UFC debut in 2010.

Gracie’s return to the limelight kicked off with a spirited interview at FightWorks Podcast last Sunday, where he goes into some detail about his return to MMA, but mostly, and more interestingly, uses his time to respond to an earlier interview from FWP with his uncle Relson.

You have to hear this.

Total-MMA readers will remember Saulo Ribeiro in the second of our two part interview last month, describing how so many different voices are trying to control jiu-jitsu, all to no avail. Ribeiro even recalled Hélio Gracie himself saying, “Son, no one control this s–t!” Here Renzo proves it’s just as true now as when Helio was fighting in the 1950’s; as he offers to pay his uncle Rorian’s Gracie Academy in Torrence an old fashioned “dojo storm” to prove the merits of his own instruction.

But there’s no point in trying to summarize — this speaks for itself. Renzo’s is easily the best (audio) interview I’ve heard in 2009… and it was worth the wait. I expect Renzo to bring the same passion to his UFC appearances. Maybe not a contender at his advanced age but with his spark back, I think it’ll be a ton of fun.