Posted by Bill Thompson on 15th June 2008
DISCUSS THIS STORY IN THE TOTAL-MMA.COM FORUMS
Mixed martial arts is a sport that is dominated by one big organization and a few others that seek to grab the headlines. Most fans of the sport get drawn into every little thing that happens involving the UFC or any of the other relatively bigger orgs like EXC, Dream, etc.. There is a whole nother world of MMA out there and fans need to discover it and revel in it. UFC 85, 89, and 1,001 aren’t the only fights in town and they aren’t the only fights worth seeing. There are small orgs all over the world that offer you the chance to see the stars of tomorrow, exciting fights, and deliver a more personal and up close experience.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bill Thompson, Local MMA, XFO | 1 Comment »
Posted by Bill Thompson on 25th May 2008
DISCUSS THIS STORY IN THE TOTAL-MMA.COM FORUMS
Wanderlei Silva knocks out Keith Jardine in under a minute. Goran Reljic knocks out Wilson Gouveia after a round and a half of sloppily striking around the cage. Sure, there were other light heavyweight fights on the card last night, and fights from other divisions that were better, but these two fights helped to spiral a division even further out of control. How is it possible for one division to have no idea where to go next, let’s take a look at some of the fighters and figure out why,
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bill Thompson, Chuck Liddell, Forrest Griffin, Light Heavyweights, Lyoto Machida, Quinton Rampage Jackson, Rashad Evans, UFC, Wanderlei Silva | No Comments »
Posted by Bill Thompson on 11th May 2008
DISCUSS THIS STORY IN THE TOTAL-MMA.COM FORUMS
There has perhaps never been a fighter more worthy of praise than Caol Uno. He brings everything to a fight that you could possibly want from a fighter. He is skilled in all facets of the sport, and he is a good showman before and after the fight. He respects the sport and he respects his opponents and this shows in the honest and forthcoming way that he carries himself. But most of all he respects and works for the fans. He is not content to go out and simply win the fight, but he does so in an exciting fashion. It is a debatable point I know, but Uno deserves to be considered among the most exciting fighters to ever compete.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bill Thompson, Caol Uno, DREAM | No Comments »
Posted by Bill Thompson on 4th May 2008
DISCUSS THIS STORY IN THE TOTAL-MMA.COM FORUMS
Cage Force held a pair of tournaments last year in the welterweight and lightweight divisions. The purpose of those tournaments was to get fighters ready for eventual competition in the UFC and for the winners to be signed by the UFC. In the welterweight division Yoshiyuki Yoshida beat Dan Hardy in controversial fashion in the finals. Yoshida was signed a while ago and will be facing John Koppenhaver on the upcoming UFC 84 card. After his last fight Hardy announced that he too has been signed by the UFC, although it is unclear whether Hardy will stay at welterweight or drop to lightweight. This will introduce two talented young fighters into the mix in the UFC. But, these two men bring more than talent to their new home. They bring a willingness to fight hard and with intensity wherever the fight may go. Yoshida is a bit more cautious than Hardy, who is balls to the wall in every fight, but both men go out with the intention of finishing their fight every chance they get. Win or lose the Cage Force tournaments have already paid off for the UFC in the form of these two young fighters.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bill Thompson, Cage Force, Dan Hardy, Yoshiyuki Yoshida | No Comments »
Posted by Bill Thompson on 27th April 2008
DISCUSS THIS STORY IN THE TOTAL-MMA.COM FORUMS
In all my years of training there is one glaringly bad habit that I have noticed many people have. People fall in love with their training partners and they end up training almost exclusively with that one person on a regular basis. It’s not the worst habit in the world and it won’t have that much of a negative effect on you, but by not diversifying your training partners you are seriously inhibiting your growth as an athlete. I try to switch training partners all the time, and especially in Brazilian jiu-jitsu where you need a well rounded game right from the get go. To this end I am going to give you a quick look at a single rolling session, where we worked on the guard game (someone pulls guard and then the contest goes on until the bottom man either sweeps/submits the top guy or the top guys passes guard) and the different guys that I make sure to grapple with in order to help my game.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bill Thompson, jiu-jitsu | 1 Comment »
Posted by Bill Thompson on 13th April 2008
Oleg is informed that he has been booked for Yamma’s second show.
For more pictures likes this, visit the excellent Combat Lifestyle.
DISCUSS THIS STORY IN THE TOTAL-MMA.COM FORUMS
I’m not one to try and declare any MMA venture as not worth the effort. I have expressed many times that I am a devout lover of the sport and that I can sit through even the worst of fights or events because there is always some hidden moment or fight waiting to be uncovered. Now however I must go against my own beliefs and I have YAMMA to thank for that. I have finally found something in MMA so bad and so tiresome that not even I can find anything redeeming within.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bill Thompson, YAMMA Pit Fighting | No Comments »
Posted by Bill Thompson on 6th April 2008
DISCUSS THIS STORY IN THE TOTAL-MMA.COM FORUMS
In the fight game we all expect for our fighters to be at the top of their games. We expect them to deliver a consistent level of excitement. We expect them to show a consistent skill level, and we expect them to consistently put on good performances. Upwards mobility is always wanted as well, but the main thing is consistency. Why is it then that we don’t seem to expect the same out of those who play a vital part in the fights we watch, the referees?
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bill Thompson, Referees, Steve Mazzagatti | No Comments »
Posted by Bill Thompson on 30th March 2008
DISCUSS THIS STORY IN THE TOTAL-MMA.COM FORUMS
By: Bill Thompson
Admittedly I am in the group of MMA fans that care about the fight and the fight only. All the pre-fight and post-fight antics don’t matter to me now, never have in the past, and likely won’t in the future. I only care about two competitors getting in their chosen arena and giving it their all for my entertainment. I derive my entertainment from the actions of those two competitors in the cage or ring, and that is all I need. Others look for more, they want that post-fight smacktalk or the pre-fight staredown at the weigh-ins. There is one man however that seems to understand just how entertainment works in MMA to a level that no other man can claim to have reached. Even for one such as I, where the fight is all that matters, I am inevitably drawn in by this man’s antics before, during, and after the fight. Frank Shamrock is a polarizing figure, most fans either love him or hate him, but for a different reason than most may suspect he may very well be the only true MMA legend out there.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bill Thompson, Frank Shamrock | 1 Comment »
Posted by Bill Thompson on 23rd March 2008
DISCUSS THIS STORY IN THE TOTAL-MMA.COM FORUMS
By: Bill Thompson
We are just a few days away from what will be yet another, at the very least, good card from World Extreme Cagefighting, WEC. On the larger MMA scale of fans drawn and monies earned the WEC has yet to become a player, but on the more important scale of fights waged and action provided the WEC has already skyrocketed to the top of the MMA ranks in my book. There is no denying that organizations like the UFC and Pride can always lay claim to having great fighters, important cards, and a high standing within the minds of MMA fans. However for a lot of fans, myself included, some smaller organizations are able to draw you in with great talent, good matchmaking, and an intangible sense of belonging or an almost clique like nature that isn’t found in the bigger orgs. For the longest time my number one MMA organization in the world was Shooto. Shooto could lay claim to putting on exciting cards with great fights, and a great combination of known and up and coming talent. Shooto also left you with that feeling that you were involved in something big that not everyone else was in on and as a result it was something special. I lost that feeling with Shooto a few years ago as a rapid loss of talent led to its fall from the top of the ranks in my eyes. Now a new promotion has come along to once again give me that old Shooto feel of yore, and that is the WEC. With their focus on the lower weight classes, their action packed cards and their nice mixture of young and veteran talent they are currently providing the best action in MMA. However there are some decisions that need to be made about the WEC by their parent company, Zuffa. Is the WEC its own separate entity or is it simply a feeder system for the UFC?
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bill Thompson, UFC, WEC, Zuffa | 1 Comment »
Posted by Bill Thompson on 16th March 2008
DISCUSS THIS STORY IN THE TOTAL-MMA.COM FORUMS
By: Bill Thompson
I wouldn’t be writing about mixed martial arts if it wasn’t a sport that I love. MMA was a natural extension for me of my amateur wrestling and jiu-jitsu roots. At a time when there didn’t appear to be anything for a wrestler or jiu-jitsu player to do beyond train and enter some small tournaments with little to no acclaim, MMA came along. The early UFC’s showed that there was a place for the high school or collegiate wrestler to go when those days were coming to an end. It showed that jiu-jitsu enthusiasts weren’t relegated to rolling in the gym and competing in small tournaments in dingy high school gyms. The UFC showed that MMA was an outlet for these elite athletes to show their skills to the world. Why is it then that all these years later the UFC appears to be showing the world something completely different? Why has the UFC gone the route of striking as the norm and forcing wrestlers, judokas, and jiu-jitsu players to turn into sloppy boxers and kickboxers over night? The UFC used to flourish in the natural ground skills put on display by its fighters, but now they put forth a product where ground skills are behind your image, and your ability to engage in a wild slugfest. This shouldn’t be the case at all, but sadly that is the state of the present day UFC.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Bill Thompson, UFC | No Comments »
