Posted by Tommy Hackett on 28th August 2009
Pictured: Carlson Gracie Jr. (left) and Ricardo “Rey” Diogo at their Seattle seminar last weekend
Part One: Carlson Gracie Jr talks about his life in jiu-jitsu, his thoughts on his most famous black belt Miguel Angel Torres, and how a guy from Rio finds himself in Chicago anyway…
Total-MMA had the honor of meeting two more Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu legends last Saturday, as the art’s “Crown Prince,” Carlson Gracie Jr, came to town for a seminar, assisted by Ricardo “Rey” Diogo, the 2005 and 2009 Pan-American BJJ champion. The two were hosted by Gracie’s childhood friend, Marcelo Alonso, at his Seattle academy. All three proudly wear black belts awarded them by Gracie’s father, the late Carlson Gracie Sr.
In a brief interview at the seminar’s conclusion, Gracie offers a few surprises. He has a reserved and even modest manner as he describes the seminar’s success, as well as his own career in “the gentle art,” with a quiet confidence.
“The seminar was great,” he begins, in his characteristically mellow tone. “It was even better than I expected, because lately everybody does seminars everywhere. All great fighters, they travel all over the world and do seminars. I’m not saying I’m not one of those!”
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Posted by Tommy Hackett on 22nd August 2009
More than a month has passed since his death in Brazil, but sadly, we still don’t know what really happened to Arturo “Thunder” Gatti. It remains uncertain as of this writing if he died of suicide, as Brazilian authorities ruled, or if a full autopsy which has begun by Canadian officials will reveal he was murdered by his wife, as was first suspected.
What is clear is that he will be missed in many circles, one of which includes the opponent Gatti was most associated with, “Irish” Micky Ward. Last year, Ward was the subject of a book from longtime Boston sportscaster Bob Holloran, Irish Thunder. It offers a strong if not quite perfect portrait of its strong but never perfect subject, and particularly of the trilogy with Gatti which defined Ward’s career.
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Posted by Dave Walsh on 21st August 2009
From the office of the Independent World MMA Rankings
August 21, 2009: The August 2009 Independent World MMA Rankings have been released. These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple web sites.
Some of the best and most knowledgeable MMA writers from across the MMA media landscape have come together to form one independent voting panel.
These voting panel members are, in alphabetical order: Zach Arnold (FightOpinion); Nicholas Bailey (MMA Ratings); Jared Barnes (Houston Chronicle); Jordan Breen (Sherdog); Jim Genia (Full Contact Fighter, MMA Memories, and MMA Journalist Blog); Jesse Holland (MMA Mania); Robert Joyner (Freelance); Todd Martin (CBS Sportsline); Zac Robinson (Sports by the Numbers MMA); Leland Roling (Bloody Elbow); Michael David Smith (AOL Fanhouse); Jonathan Snowden (Author of “Total MMA: Inside Ultimate Fighting”); Joshua Stein (MMA Opinion), Ivan Trembow (Freelance); and Dave Walsh (Total MMA).
Joachim Hansen is not currently eligible to be ranked due to the fact that he has been inactive for 12 months; and Josh Barnett is not currently eligible to be ranked due to his recent positive drug test.
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Posted in Dave Walsh, Jonathan Snowden, Rankings | 3 Comments »
Posted by Dave Walsh on 20th August 2009
OK, maybe the main event was a bit anti-climactic. And maybe Babalu’s performance was a tad, shall we say, underwhelming.. And then there was the seemingly endless streak of injuries and the inevitable Nick Diaz-related snag that transformed this card into something entirely different from what it was originally billed as. In spite of these facts, Strikeforce: Carano vs Cyborg still managed to be a damn fine show.
I got to the arena about 45 minutes early just because it’s kind of awesome to sit in an empty arena and just look around at all the seats and know that in a few short hours the place is going to be packed. There was also something hilariously absurd about watching two middle aged stagehands posing as Gina and Cyborg for the pre show walkthru rehearsal. One of the guys went so far as to jab at the camera and mean mug the other guy during the pre fight instructions. It doesn’t get any better than that. Unfortunately as soon as that ended they played an absolutely putrid mashup of “Whoop, There It Is” and “Shook Me All Night Long” for about 30 minutes straight on a seemingly endless loop. That was not so good.
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Posted by Dave Walsh on 17th August 2009
Gina Carano was handed her first loss in Mixed Martial Arts. We all saw it, and if you didn’t see it live, chances are you’ve read countless articles condemning women’s MMA and Carano. With some of the hype leading up to this fight seeing such a fickle reaction isn’t exactly shocking, some of the people it is coming from is. The world needs a hero and women’s MMA is no different. The truth is, Gina Carano wasn’t able to be that hero at this point in her career, but a lot was riding on her shoulders, all of which she handled with grace and dignity, even in defeat.
Today we are hearing how
Gina relates to Kimbo Slice; all hype and no substance, being fed lower-ranked competitors in hopes of propelling her to stardom due to her looks and personality, not her ability. Yes, they were both the creation of Gary Shaw’s hype machine, one that has worked for countless boxers throughout history, and they were both beaten by game opponents. There is a difference though, that a lot of people seem to be overlooing; Gina wanted this fight and wanted this challenge.
Kimbo went into the last EliteXC show ever expecting Ken Shamrock, an old, beaten down shell of a former top fighter who needs painkillers to get out of bed in the morning. Shamrock’s name value and limited skillset was going to help build up the Kimbo legend and EliteXC brand name on national broadcast television. It is hard to really blame Kimbo or his management, as for a business decision the Shamrock fight was golden; there was money to be made, he has name value and a legend of his own.
Carano was treated much in the same way by Shaw and EliteXC; she was given game but inexperienced opponents and pushed as an elite women’s MMA fighter, while she was still a bit fresh into her career as a fighter. Women’s MMA in the United States is still in its infancy, so it is hard to look down on her or her opponents for not having a wealth of experience. The big difference between Carano and Kimbo was attitude and outlook; while Kimbo’s camp was looking for money fights and to keep the Kimbo brand alive, Carano was looking to prove herself and take on a challenge.
Posted in Dave Walsh, Gina Carano, Strikeforce | 4 Comments »
Posted by Dave Walsh on 11th August 2009
Melvin Manhoef once against disappoints, this time due to injury from apparently leg kicking Ramazanov a little too hard. Young up-and-comer Daniel Ghita leg kicked his way to a tournament victory and a promise of more to come for him this year for him. There was some hype in the UK around John Love making his K1 debut, and, well, Ghita kicked his legs out from him until he was limping around, then leveled him with a left hook to seal it.
Peter Aerts showed why it was a rather awful idea to wear shoes in a K-1 matchup and not be allowed to throw kicks. You’d think fighters would look into K-1 history and see that this has never worked out for anybody and not do it, but Yosuke Nishijma; not that guy, apparently.
Full report at K-1 LEGEND:
Final: Daniel Ghita (1R – 2:19 KO – Right Low Kick) Sergeii Lashchenko
Superfight: Peter Aerts (3R – 1:24 KO – Right Low Kick) Yosuke Nishijima
Superfight: KYOTARO (3R – 1:20 KO – Right Hook) Jan Soukup
Semi-Final: Sergeii Lashchenko (2R – 0:24 KO – Right Straight) Brice Guidon
Semi-Final: Daniel Ghita (1R – 1:28 – Right Low Kick) YUKI (Manhoef injured)
Quarterfinal: Brice Guidon (3R Decision – 3-0) Rico Verhoeven
Quarterfinal: Sergeii Lashchenko (3R Decision – 3-0) Sebastian Ciobanu
Quarterfinal: Daniel Ghita (1R – 1:28 KO – Left Hook) John Love
Quarterfinal: Melvin Manhoef (1R – 2:16 KO – Punch) Ramazan Ramazanov
Reserve Fight: YUKI (3R – 2:00 KO – Punch) Prince Ali
Opening Fight: Yuto Watanabe (3R Decision – 3-0) Nobuhiro Ko
Opening Fight: Kengo Shimizu (1R – 0:34 KO) Shinkuyu Kawano
Opening Fight: Kazuo Doi (1R – 1:02 TKO – Towel) Katsuhara Ebisawa
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Posted by Tommy Hackett on 8th August 2009
Anyone else having trouble getting excited about the fight games recently? You’ve got company. Last month was a downer in both MMA & boxing: from the deaths of Arturo Gatti and Alexis Arguello, to the end of Affliction MMA. But life goes on and ZUFFA looks to offer a little respite this weekend, with three pound-for-pound entrants in action. Tonight, BJ Penn and Anderson Silva are showcased, and that’s something that’s always at least worth a look:
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Posted in Tommy Hackett, UFC | 4 Comments »
Posted by Alan Conceicao on 7th August 2009
From Dan Rafael’s update today on ESPN.com:
Top-level live boxing on Versus looks to be about done. Other than two more club shows that the network will air before the end of the year under a deal with Golden Boy, Versus will burn off the remaining live card it owes Tournament of Contenders from its deal to broadcast “The Contender” reality series. The Sept. 17 show will be headlined by a decent junior middleweight main event featuring former titlist Verno Phillips against former welterweight titlist Carlos Quintana, according to DiBella, who is doing the show with TOC’s Jeff Wald. The co-feature will pit “Contender” runner-up Ehinomen Ehikhamenor against ticket-seller Dewey Cooper in a cruiserweight fight in Primm, Nev. Decent show, but certainly nothing to get too excited about. Versus could have been a huge player in boxing but bungled it from the beginning with a misguided exclusive contract with Top Rank. If this is the way it’s going to end, what a shame.
Any time an outlet for combat sports decides to step out of the running, its sad. Versus though has had a number of truly awful fight cards over the years that they vastly overpaid for. There was a market for better fights out there and Top Rank (and the Contenders series) effectively killed it. Just another sad reminder of boxing’s propensity to eat itself.
Posted in Alan Conceicao, Boxing | No Comments »
Posted by Alan Conceicao on 4th August 2009
After weeks of idle speculation about fights that are or aren’t happening, we’ve all lost track of a grand weekend that we’re closing in on: Two huge fights in Philly plus perhaps the best bantams in the world going at it. Enough talk about Fedor, damnit; Let’s talk about fights. And these are good ones.
Obviously, there focus should be on the main event first and foremost of UFC 101: BJ Penn makes his first defense of his title in almost one year by fighting former challenger Kenny Florian. Florian’s made a name for himself rolling through much of the lightweight midcard and has now arrived (sans needing to avenge the Sherk defeat) at the door step to greatness. The problem is the gatekeeper: BJ Penn is still among the best pound for pound fighters alive. Period. While Florian has been able to overcome previous athletic fighters with his excellent technique, many are betting on Penn underestimating Florian following his loss at 170 to George St. Pierre and subsequent firestorm. Just don’t bet on a guy to lose due to another’s mental errors unless you’ve got nothing physical riding on it. While Florian could catch BJ early, he’s not really an elite striker and BJ is so far and above everyone at 155 on the mat, its barely worth discussing.
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Posted by Tommy Hackett on 1st August 2009
Pictured: Ivan Salaverry (left) looks on as Eddie Bravo instructs at a seminar at Salaverry’s academy in Seattle.
It’s impossible to miss the passion Eddie Bravo brings to training students in his unique system of Brazilian jiu-jitsu.
He exitedly yells to students at today’s seminar at Ivan Salaverry’s academy in Seattle, alternating partners as they try their hands at Bravo’s take on the art. “Over to Mission Control! To New York!” goes one guard sequence which he has adapted. The students each would eventually walk off the mat all smiles at the seminar’s conclusion. Many would return moments later with one of the three jiu-jitsu instructional books that Bravo has authored, looking for an autograph. While always controversial, Bravo’s innovations has clearly won him many fans.
But what lurks beneath the surface is that Bravo’s real passion has nothing to do with his unique setups for triangle chokes and shoulder locks that have earned him his fame.
“My music is what really drives it,” the founder of “10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu” says. “The jiu-jitsu is what took off first. Now I’m trying to get into the music industry through the backdoor.”
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