MMA Insider News

Ok.  When I started this blog I was really confused about what direction I should take.  Should I post news or training advice?  Well, it’s been a LONG time since I trained in any type of martial arts so I that is definately out of the question.  So I thought, I like to read up on MMA news and fighter news but there is just SO MUCH different news and other “STUFF” that’s out there.  So, I’m taking this blog to a new direction.  I’m going to bring you up-to-date, provacative, INSIDER news from around the world of MMA.

This blog will be your new place for UFC and WEC news, Fighter News, opinions, events and whatever else under the sun that you want to know about the world of MMA. 

Not really NEW news, but the first item on the list is the RUMOR about Fedor and Sylvia.  Apparently, Fedor confirmed this fight with Sherdog and it’s set for July 19th, 2008.  According to the report, the event will likely air on Mark Cuban’s HDNet and will be promoted by Affliction.  Read the full report. 

Do you know what the WAMMA is?  What are they all about?  What are they trying to prove?  Well, many MMA fans have been asking these questions ever since the World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts was founded back in Nov. of 07′.  Get the scoop from Jarry Park and MMARated.com  If you’re already into

Not exaclty “news” but its the insider scoop of who’s hot and who’s not in the MMA world.  This is brought to you by MMARated.com and takes a look at the cultural and media rankings of the top fighters.  Even after his win over Frank Shamrock, Cung Le down with the ratings.  Read the rest of the ratings here. \

This is a show I’m looking forward to watching.  Fox Sports Net is going to air a new show called “Gi vs Pro.”  Its KINDA like the other show , Joe’s vs Pro’s but in this show, MILITAIRY trained martial artists are fighting professionaly trained MMA fighters.  Can’t wait to watch the first show and see if it’s really good or not.  Read the rest of the article here. 

A good article about up coming fights from UFC and Pride fighters. 

For all of you who are into YAMMA, here are the weigh-in results.  My favorite, “Butterbean” weighing in for a grand total of 416 pounds!  God Damn! 

More Rumors about Fedor, Sylvia, and Affliction

That’s all the news I have for today.  Hopefully in the future I can bring you more in depth and insider news about events, fighters, and results.  Till Next Time. 

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Tags: MMA News, UFC // Add Comment »

Whether you’re an amateur, pro, or just another fighter, you’re ground game make or break you. Striking and boxing can take you only so far. When you get taken down, you better know how to defend yourself against wrestling tactics and submission grapples. I’m going to show you a brief tutorial on your basic defensive and offensive ground game. First is the Guard.

Closed Guard

When you get taken down, seize control by maintaining a grip under both the opponents arms with an under hook. Then immediately wrap both legs and lock your feet together preventing the opponent from raising up and striking or passing for side control. Maintain as much control as you can. This prevents you from getting pounded in the face.

Half Guard

The half guard is somewhat of a neutral position for both fighters. Unlike the closed guard, the half guard is done by wrapping both your legs around only ONE of your opponents legs. But like the closed guard, you can to gain as much control as possible by grabbing your opponents arms and constantly moving your hips.

Butterfly Guard

This techniques allows for more advanced movement. You can easily manipulate your opponents weight and position yourself for other moves and a sweep. When you’re on your back, begin with a full guard locking both legs behind your opponents back. While maintaining control with your hands, unhook your feet and hook them into your opponents inner thighs. Like the full and half guard, remember to keep your head tucked under your opponents chest so you wont get a pounding in the face.

Next time…The Mount

Tags: MMA Training, Wrestling // Add Comment »

UFC and Playboy get in bed together, MMARated.com

What a combination.  Not only do we get to see MMA on TV, Playboy has decided to play along.  MMA is slowly streaming into mainstream, but I’m not complaining.  Playboy should have all the girls do a spread!

Ill Will-Terry Etim vs. ?

MMAJunkie reported Etim would fight Stephen.  True, but Stephens had “minor legal situations.”  So now who will Etim fight in UFC 84, Ill Will?

Anderson Silva vs. Ray Jones Jr.

This fight would be interesting to watch.  To bad we wont get to see it.

Japanese MMA - Dream.2

A little overseas match up events for you.  See who’s fighting who.

EliteXC, ProElite, and CBS

Adam Swift brings you more news on MMA coming to local channels.

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Even though its called “Mixed Martial Arts,” MMA really only has three major areas of disiplines: Striking (boxing/kickboxing), Wrestling, and Jui-jitsu/Grappling. It not like you can combine Wing-chun with Muy Thai and call it Mixed Martial Arts. But today i’m going to take you through three simple submissions that are most commonly used in MMA fights. Hopefully you’ll get something out of this and improve your ground game.

GUILLOTINE CHOKE

A favorite among the fans, the guillotine choke is a simple but extremely effective submission. The guillotine is usually set-up when someone tries a take-down with their head down.

Here’s how it’s done: What happens is that when someone attempts a take-down but his opponent quickly sprawls out, the person who’s trying the take-down get his head stuck underneath the opponents arm-pit. From their, the opponent (the man who sprawled out) reaches around the chin and without going under their arm grasps their hands together tight under their chin.

The main object of the guillotine choke is to stop the blood flow to the brain. Eventually the other guy just passes out.

Watch and Learn

Arm Lock: Kimura

Choking submissions aren’t the only way to get the guy to tapout. Arm locks are just as effective and you may even get the guy to tapout faster with an arm lock.

Here’s how its done: The Kimura is usually executed from the guard position. The fighter grips their opponent’s hand, opens their guard, pushes off the hips of their opponent, and sits up. Then with their free hand they reach over and through the arm they’ve isolated to grab their own wrist. Finally, keeping that arm away from their opponent’s body, the performer attempts to touch the back of the trapped hand to their opponent’s head.

Watch and Learn

Leg Locks: Knee Bar

Although not as popular as chokes and arm locks, leg locks can be just as effective (and they hurt like a bitch!) The Knee bar is similiar to the arm bar but a little different.
Here’s how it’s done: Once again, this move it typically done out of an opponents guard position. So if you happen to break the guard, step through guard and turn your back to your opponent and grab a leg. Using leverage, fall back with the leg in both hands and secure it like you would and arm bar by pulling the toes inward. You can add additional leverage by wrapping your leg around an isolated leg. You’re basically trying to break the leg at the knee.

Watch and Learn

Always remember to protect yourself when your trying to execute these moves. They are simple but very dangerous if you don’t know what you’re doing. The best way to truly understand these moves is to practice, practice, practice. If you have anything to add please leave a comment.

Tags: MMA Training, Submission Training, Tapouts, Wrestling // Add Comment »

You might think that grappling is the same as jui-jitsu. Both use wrestling and grappling instead of striking. And both understand the importance of ground fighting. Both arts use choke holds, arm locks, leg locks, and other submission techniques.

But despite how similiar they are, the art of jui-jitsu and grappling use different training methods, execute different techniques, and utilize different strategies.

SUBMISSION GRAPPLING

The point of submission grappling is submit your opponent into defeat by using joint locks and choke holds. The art is largely based on the Brazilian form of jui-jitsu which in turn was influenced by classical jui-jitsu systems of medieval Japan. Training in submission grappling involves a lot of “rolling” around.

Old School Jui-Jitsu

Originally, Japanese Jui-Jitsu was developed as a supplement to weapon arts for close quarter combat. It was designed for use in melee conbat when weapons had been broken or rendered useless. Also called “armored grappling,” many of these techniques taught the samuri how to grapple when wearing armor and how to defeat an opponent who’s also wearing armor.

Differences in Training Method

Even though both arts share a lot of similarities, it is the training method that really seperates submission grappling and old school jui-jitsu. How do you practice these techniques? How do you develope these techniques? What is the training “culture?”

-Classic Jui-Jistu uses “kata” as their training method. Repitition of combat scenarios with one or more partners is how students of old school jui-jitsu train.

-Submission Grapplers train very differently. It’s more “rough and tumble” training with a lot of sparring involved. No repitition or “made-up” scenarios to practice from. Just straight grappling and wrestling. Just like this…

Tags: MMA Training, Submission Training, Wrestling // Add Comment »

Mixed martial arts and wrestling go hand in hand. They share a symbiotic relationship. And the popularity of MMA has grown so quickly that it has breathed new life into amateur wrestling.

Over the past decade or so, college level wrestling has been threatened from being cut because of financial cutbacks. Most of the money goes to the football commission. But wrestling is providing a pool of talent for mixed martial artists because of the UFC, the Goliath of the MMA industry.

Can a wrestler make a good MMA fighter?

There are a lot of reasons why a wrestler could make a good MMA fighter. Wrestling provides a solid base to work from. Once you understand and know basic wrestling skills, you can add other disciplines like judo and jiu-jitsu. And even if you’re a striker with little wrestling skills, a lot of fights happen on the mat. But to get an opponent down, you have to have those take-downs skills that are used in wrestling.

I wrestled in high school and sometimes I would hear remarks saying i’m gay and shit because I wore tights and rolled around the mat with another guy. Bullshit. But now that a lot more people are into MMA and they think it’s all physical and its a “tough-guy” sport and they think wrestling is the closest thing to mixed martial arts they can find in school. Times have really changed.

Oh how times have changed

Even Jay Larkin, president of the IFL, International Fight League, is taking notice. “Wrestling is the perfect breeding ground for MMA fighters. It requires a lot of training to be a well-rounded MMA fighter, (ain’t that the truth!) but there’s probably no better starting point than wrestling.

I couldn’t agree more. Ask any high school or college student, let alone wrestler, who their favorite MMA fighter is. I can almost guarantee the names Randy Couture, Anderson Silva, or Matt Lindland pop up more than once. All three, expect for Silva, wrestled at the college and even Olympic levels.

Just a few years ago the common question for a college wrestler was “Are you going to wrestle internationally or professionally after college?” But now the question has changed to “Are you going to FIGHT after college?”

That just shows how society has changed and embraced the world of mixed martial arts as a common interest. It’s just something wrestlers do, it’s an extension of their career.

My 2 cents.

I think that wrestling is the most important of all the disciplines in MMA. And in boxing, the idea is to hit the guy in the head as hard as you can and also to avoid getting hit by the other guy. But most wrestlers have no idea how to avoid getting hit in the head. So to all you wrestlers out there, you better learn some boxing defensive skills before you go balls to the wall in MMA.

Tags: Wrestling // Add Comment »

ProElite has taken the sport of Mixed Martial Arts to a totally different level: Network Television. But is this too much for ProElite and/of CBS to handle? Is MMA ready for primtime television?

When the first MMA fight airs on CBS during sometime in April, we’ll see how everything will play out. There are two options that can happen. Either MMA will prove to be a ratings hit and other promoters will start to expand on their opportunities, or mixed martial arts will flop and CBS will realize that MMA only has a small niche audience with no place on network television. And ironically enough, even though Dana White loathes the competition, he has to hope ProElite does good enough to keep the doors open for the UFC.

The UFC is an established company and unquestionably the goliath of the MMA industry. And with a secured reputation, there is no reason to risk it all on a deal that might or might not work.

Although ProEilte is a big contender against the UFC, it is barely holding its head above water. But having a relationship with CBS and network television, ProElite has nothing to lose and everything to gain. At this point, ProElite can give up creative control or accept a financial deal thats not exactly “worth it.” The UFC doesn’t need this type of deal. The UFC is so powerful, they can wait and see how the cards play out when CBS airs their first MMA fight on network television.

One huge factor in the sucess or failure of this deal is the promotional work CBS will put forth. Will CBS back ProElite up with promotional campaigns, commercials and other advertisements? Or will CBS leave ProElite/EliteXC to its own devices and leave them to either sink or swim. MMA Insiders suggest that CBS is invested in ProElite but not 100% committed. We’ll see in a few months how everything plays out. 

Click HERE to see how it all started.

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The sport of MMA is rapidly growing, it seems like everything is happening all at once. Movies, live events all over the world and now MMA will become more mainstream once the fights are aired on CBS.

And now a new breed of warriors have emerged from the underground to fight in the hottest sport in the world! This is my take on what i’ve learned as a martial artist and MMA fanatic. Here are my 5 most important things i’ve learned while training.

Cross-training: Striking vs. Submission vs Wrestling

Back in the day when MMA was still “underground”, fighters from ALL different martial arts disiplines, and I mean ALL, wanted to prove that their style was the best. Sumo wrestlers, boxers, jiu-jitsu black belts and kickboxers all wanted to prove who was the ultimate fighter. But since then, the sport has evolved becoming more formal and professional. Now ever fighter must cross-train in the 3 Pillars of MMA: Striking, Submissions, and Wrestling/Grappling. The question of “Which martial art is the most effective” has become irrelevant.

Local Training vs. Gloabal Training

Before anyone even considered mixed martial arts, most martial arts disiplines with a long history had secrets. And for MANY years, training in only one disipline with other members from the same country was good enough. But as i’ve learned from travelling to China and training for a couple months at Beijing University, that in order to be a Fighter/Warrior we have to learn new styles and share our knowledge. We all need to train in different disiplines to remain competitive. In today’s world, we can easily bring Brazilian Jiu-jitsu into a local New York training center. It’s so important to learn and adapt!

There is no “I” in Team

“It takes a village to raise one child.” This quote is a perfect example of what it takes to train for a professional MMA fight. A fighter only becomes a great fighter with the right training and support. One of the draw-backs of training one-on-one is that you get lost in your own world. You need insight and another point of view. Hence, the importance of a training camp or at least a group of people helping you train.

Training your MIND.BODY.SOUL

Conditioning is critical for any MMA fight. You need to be skillful and powerful, but you also have to have that power and skill last the entire fight. You need to develope the MUSCLE OF THE MIND. In addition to conditioning your body for some massive damage, you need to condition your mind not to give up! When I was training for Muy Thia, leg kicks used to KILL me and I thought I couldn’t take it. It felt like a 2×4 coming at me 200MPH and BAM! right in my inner thigh! HOLY SH*T is all my mind could think of. But eventually, after conditioning my mind to not give in, my muscles could take a big hit to my legs. Body conditioing plus mental conditioning equals a force unlike anything else. Even if your body give up and your mind stays in the game, you still have a fighting chance.

Be like water my friend

“Empty your mind, be formless, shapeless - like water. Now you put water into a cup, it becomes the cup, you put water into a bottle, it becomes the bottle, you put it in a teapot, it becomes the teapot. Now water can flow or it can crash. Be water, my friend.” - Bruce Lee

During my couple months of training in China, my instructor told me (now keep in mind he told me this in Chinese, so this is a loose translation) “flow with the go.” It’s the basic idea Bruce Lee had taught with his students. When a fighter enters the ring or a street fight, the whole experience becomes a balancing act. You can’t force everything around you and you must be in a state of awareness. Instead of going with the flow and being carried by the energy, you are instead “flowing with the go” and mixing your energy with everything around you.

Here’s a good example I found on YouTube of a viscious submitter, Genki Sudo, “flowing with the go” and mixing his energy. He doesn’t force his will. He’s like a hunter stalking his prey. Incredible. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aIUWH-tuGGk

Tags: MMA Training, Submissions, Wrestling // Add Comment »

Which would you rather see in a MMA fight? A knockout or a tapout? I love seeing the type of knockout where a fighter just falls flat on his face, but I think there’s just too many defensive and offensive options in grappling, juijutsu not to use it. I want to see action and I think tapping someone out is so much more dangerous.

Anyway, you can make up your own mind. Here are my top 3 submissions.

3. Phil Baroni vs. Frank Shamrock – Submission by Rear Naked Choke

A rare and exciting fight to watch! These two hated each other and Baroni talked a lot of trash. So Shamrock punished Baroni by holding his choke a little longer. I’ve never seen someone choked out with their eyes wide open. Watch Shamrock destroy Baroni HERE

2. David Heath vs. Renato Babalu Sobral – Submission by Anaconda Choke

This heated feud all started with David Heath wearing a shirt that had Babalu’s mugshot on it all weekend before the fight. Apparently, Babalu didn’t find it funny. So after Babalu punishes Heath so hard that it looks like he’s drowning in his own blood, he slips in the Anaconda TIGHT. At this point, Heath is tapping out but Babalu squeezes until Heath passes out. Night Night.

1. Nick Diaz vs. Takanori Gomi – Submission by Gogoplata

Gogoplata is not often used in professional MMA fights, so seeing Diaz pull one off definitely tops the list for submissions. This fight was explosive from the beginning but I think with Gomi running out of gas so early in the game it led to his downfall. In the second round, Gomi gets a takedown, but gets caught in a Gogoplata and the rest is history.

There were plenty of great submissions, but these are my favorites.

Tags: Knock Outs, Submissions, Tapouts, UFC, WEC, Wrestling // Add Comment »

Cable Networks like Spike TV and the Versus network have been the home of the UFC and WEC for the past couple of years. But the sport of MMA and the world of mixed martial arts is about to settle into a new home.

ProElite Inc. has made a deal with CBS Network to broadcast four events per year, each event lasting two hours during primetime on Saturday nights. This is the first time in MMA history that a program will be broadcasted on a major network. “It’s the single biggest thing to ever happen to mixed martial arts,” EliteXC president Gary Shaw told Fight Network Radio.

With this deal, those of who don’t have cable can still catch hard-core, technically skilled battles between trained athletes and worries. As of right now, all MMA events, shows and fights are aired on cable channels like ESPN, Spike TV, and Fox Sports. But CBS has taken the challenge to enter MMA into a whole new arena and market.

Personally, I think this is a real risky move, a GREAT move, but risky nonetheless. Fox Sports, ESPN, Spike TV and the Versus Network all had time to “nurse” the sport of MMA. They all have a loyal fan base and best of all, its not all mainstream just yet. Of course it’s not underground but not everyone has access to the Versus network or Spike TV.

But with CBS broadcasting MMA and exposing all the raw action on a major broadcasting network that is free for anyone who owns a television, people who aren’t into MMA will be angry.

I think a network like Fox would be a better fit for the world of MMA. Mixed martial arts is dirty, hard-core, bloody and all action, something Fox is familiar with. But I think part of the reason why CBS picked up MMA is because they own Showtime, which has already aired MMA fights.

The world of MMA is becoming so large, its like a freight train. Get on board or get run over! But the sport of mixed martial arts is still in its growing stages. It was only 30 years ago that people like Bruce Lee and the Gracie Family gave birth to true Mixed Martial Arts. Soon enough MMA will be respected as one of the greatest sports of our time.

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