Saturday, December 22, 2012
Thursday, December 20, 2012
ATT Vero Beach Fla
Got wrist locked (2x) and various other submissions by Renato Tavares. The guy is a beast. 
Wednesday, December 19, 2012
Training Trip & UFC 157-Meh Edition
Heading down to Florida to train.
Back Sunday.
Hope to have some info about some schools I visit down there.
Good luck and happy trainingz everyone.
Some more fights announced: Rowdy Rousey will fight a female fighter
Urijah Faber will fight someone
Henderson will fight Lyoto Machida for what might be a title shot
UFC 157
- Ronda Rousey vs. Liz Carmouche - for women's bantamweight title
- Dan Henderson vs. Lyoto Machida
- Urijah Faber vs. Ivan Menjivar
-
Lavar Johnson vs. Brendan Schaub*
WHO CARES. -
Neil Magny vs. Jon Manley*
WHO? - Court McGee vs. Josh Neer*
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Mundials 2012 Statistical Breakdown: Bishop BJJ
Check it out here, he's also got a voluntary donation paypal account set up. Throw the man some sheckles to contribute to more statistical breakdowns like this.
It's incredible to see information broken down by weight class and see how different styles of play occur at different weights.
Support the man's work and the site.
Monday, December 17, 2012
BJJ Kumite: AJ Agazarm vs Garry Tonon
Lloyd Irvin threw this up on his facebook page earlier, just stumbled across it, enjoy:
End of the Year UFC Meh: Talkin' the Jive about UFC Cards
From over at MMAJunkie....
So....the end of the year card, arguably the biggest card OTHER than the SuperBowl Weekend one...has a main event for the UFC HW title
Followed by...are you ready?????
Joe Lauzon vs Jim Miller. For a vague, might be moving closer to a LW title shot might not be type of bout. I know, I know....you can't believe what an awesome card this is going to be already.
Then we have that guy that squeaked by a passive debut'ing Lombard
It's obviously the UFC doesn't see Boetsch as anything other than what he is b/c this is the guy he gets after beating the much-ballyhooed Lombard).
Belcher takes on Okami
2nd time's the charm for Belcher as I think he's improved quite a bit more than Okami has since they both debuted against one another.
And Chris Leben comes
Aside from Pickett vs Wineland and Guillard vs Varner, the undercard barely registers on the richter scale of "better than a Strikeforce" undercard.
UFC 155: Dos Santos vs. Velasquez 2
Junior dos Santos vs. Cain Velasquez - for heavyweight title
- Joe Lauzon vs. Jim Miller
- Tim Boetsch vs. Constantinos Philippou
- Alan Belcher vs. Yushin Okami
- Chris Leben vs. Karlos Vemola
PRELIMINARY (FX, Facebook)
Monday's TUF Finale Multimedia Mailbag
Busy MMA weekend.
Some interesting match-ups in ze UFC, some coaches actually fought for what seems like the first time in several years. There were some impressive stoppages and some careers saw resurgence while others seem to have taken a step or two backward.
First up, Big Country finishes Mitrione for the first time in his career:
Pat Barry extends his impressive HL reel KO ways to keep his mild relevance in the UFC HW division
Poirer who was once poised to fight Jose Aldo, finishes Jonothan Brookins via Brabo/head n' arm strangle
A new Russian Import, Rustam Habilov, suplexes then pounds out his opponent.
Le sigh.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Tournament Proof (?) - Kron Gracie
As a competitor and player, I'm a big Kron Gracie fan.
Pushing for the finish. Nothing too flashy, solid Jiu-Jitsu....and as of yet, no world championship.
Go HERE to read a statistical breakdown of why that may (probably is) be/is the case.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Online UFC/TUF Articles: Cageside MMA
I've got some articles up over at the Cageside MMA's blog.
The owner, Boomer, has been involved in MMA and supporting grappling both in NC and nationally as long as I've been around the sport(s).
His brand kicks @$$, he is a great guy, and he's supported myself, and a ton of other fighters I know personally.
 |
| Poor timing on my part with the photo, there had been some actual rolling going on heretofore. |
Beyond that he's got a training facility IN HIS WAREHOUSE that features MMA, and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu training. I was actually rolling there on Black Friday at open mat while my wife was shopping the post-Thanksgiving Day sales.
If there was ever someone with a business related to the sport that is NOT one of those guys trying to cash in on a fad, Boomer is that guy. His brand is at not just the MMA events but at most of the grappling events in NC and in other states as well.
If you're going to buy a Gi, funny MMA/Grappling related T-shirts, training gear or anything else, go check out Cageside first.
It's a 'Merican owned business and the owner is literally one of the nicest guys I know.
So, at your leisure, peruse some of my thoughts on the following:
The Death of TUF
The UFC Interim Belt
UFC: Over-Saturation
Bellator 84 Predictions from MMAMania
In case you care about some Bellator Heavyweights
Read it in full HERE:
"Headlining the main event of Bellator 84 will be the season seven heavyweight tournament final between Russian striker Alexander Volkov and former light heavyweight finalist Richard Hale for the vacant heavyweight title. The belt is now on the line after champion Cole Konrad retired unexpectedly earlier this year."
In what will no doubt be the best bout of the night "Dave Jansen and Polish submission ace Marcin Held" will fight for the LW tournament finale.
In other
"Lastly, a rematch between female 115-pounders Felice Herrig and Patricia Vidonoc will open up the main card."
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Bellator in the New Year = Big Things
 |
| Bellator Goes Brock Samson |
Read it here....but basically Bellator is coming out full guns blazing with its move to Spike.
I've always had love for Bellator namely b/c they guys fight to win rather than not to lose
From over at Cagepotato -
"Michael Chandler will make his first official lightweight title defense at the event (aka Bellator 85) against Rick Hawn, the 14-1 Olympic judoka who won the Season 5 lightweight tournament earlier this year.
...featherweight champion Pat Curran...will be putting his belt on the line against explosive contender Patricio “Pitbull” Freire.
...Season 8 will last 12 weeks, and will feature five tournaments in the featherweight, lightweight, welterweight, middleweight and light heavyweight divisions.
- Via MMAJunkie: “[Bellator 85] will feature Seth Petruzelli and Mike Guymon, plus the Bellator debut of Renato ‘Babalu’ Sobral in the light heavyweight tourney against Russian Mikhail Zayats.” UFC vets Jason Lambert and Hector Ramirez are also scheduled to compete."
Rolling 5 Months Post Op ACL Surgery
Quick rollsies at Judo class with a teammate.
5 months since my ACL surgery
Thesis Wednesday + 1: Drill to Win - JJLab
Got this from over at the Jiu-Jitsu Lab:
Go Drill.
Drilling the same thing a million times feels familiar to me, b/c in Judo, most players, have 2-3 main throws, and everything else other than just playing around, is built around setting those up.
H*ll, in Judo we drill and train just the opening gripping sequences and grip breaks.
Anyhow, go drill. Virtually no one, myself definitely included drills enough, forgoing the boredom of drilling to just roll, roll, and roll some more.
Dedicated and focused practice, I'm willing to bet, it was separates the Mendes' and others from the rest of the world if what I've read and heard is any accurate indication.
Go Drill.
Drilling the same thing a million times feels familiar to me, b/c in Judo, most players, have 2-3 main throws, and everything else other than just playing around, is built around setting those up.
H*ll, in Judo we drill and train just the opening gripping sequences and grip breaks.
Anyhow, go drill. Virtually no one, myself definitely included drills enough, forgoing the boredom of drilling to just roll, roll, and roll some more.
Dedicated and focused practice, I'm willing to bet, it was separates the Mendes' and others from the rest of the world if what I've read and heard is any accurate indication.
Free Cagefighting/Face Punching Weekend: MTV2, FX and such.
In case you missed it, some
I'll be looking to see Dave Jansen win the lightweight tournament final in Bellator after 2 other impressive wins. The guy has only gotten better since the WEC and he truly seems to be putting his skillsets together as his IQ in the cage continues to improve.
In other news, Toquinho Palhares the
In UFC TUF/Smashes
Saturday has some mildly interesting match-ups with Mitrione
Bellator 84 -
Friday -
MTV2 - 8pm
- Richard Hale vs. Alexander Volkov - heavyweight-tournament final
- Marcin Held vs. Dave Jansen - lightweight-tournament final
- Felice Herrig vs. Patricia Vidonic
FX - 9pm
- Ross Pearson vs. George Sotiropoulos
- Brad Scott vs. Robert Whittaker - "TUF: Smashes" welterweight-tournament final
- Colin Fletcher vs. Norman Parke - "TUF: Smashes" lightweight-tournament final
- Hector Lombard vs. Rousimar Palhares
Saturday -
FX - 9pm
- Matt Mitrione vs. Roy Nelson
- Mike Ricci vs. Colton Smith - "TUF 16" tournament final
- Patrick Barry vs. Shane del Rosario
- Melvin Guillard vs. Jamie Varner
- Jonathan Brookins vs. Dustin Poirier
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Sean Roberts - Team Ralph Gracie at the BJJ Kumite
Friend of mine knows/trains with Sean Roberts, here's his lead up/intro piece to him inthe Brown Belt submission only tourney with Keenan Cornelius and others
Matt Mitrione "too busy" for VADA testing
Typos and poor writing aside, the stoy is true.
Matt Mitrione doesn't want the distraction of VADA testing.
LOL.
Sure. It's the distraction he doesn't want.
Flex and Bust Out Alert: Toquinho VS Lombard this Friday
Yep. Palhares is back. Against the most expensive UFC import in awhile: Hector Lombard
Tune in this Friday for the flex and the bust out.
BJJ Kumite Week: Lloyd Irvin & Co.
For those who don't know, after a long saga of brown belt debating and what not, Lloyd Irvin's got a bunch of top notch brown belts out at Camp Springs Maryland in a week of training then doing a submission only style tournament with the last man standing of the pack facing Keenan Cornelius.
So rather than read rumors on internet forums and even comments from those who would rather speculate than confirm the truth, here it is from the source:
"To add further to the excitement, Master Lloyd asked the group “so which one of you thinks you’re the best brown belt in the world?” Everyone in the confident group raised their hand. However one guy is more accomplished than the rest, Master Lloyd called Luke Costello down from the bleachers to the mat. “Luke you are the most accomplished brown belt here. You get to choose your first opponent.” Luke shifted back and forth on his feet and turned bright red. “Well I suppose I should’ve done some due diligence.” “I don’t know, I’ll pick the smallest guy here (points to Victor Silverio).” Victor Silverio took to the mat. Master Lloyd asked Victor, “do you want this match to be gi or no gi?” Victor quickly answers, “no gi.” Victor later explained that Luke beat him in a previous no gi match so he was anxious to get his revenge. Everyone in the room was a bit surprised – “why didn’t he choose Keenan?” one competitor whispered to another. Then Master Lloyd asked, “who’s the second most accomplished brown belt in the room?” Garry Tonon quickly stepped up the plate. Garry, in true warrior form, chose Keenan for his first match. Keenan chose to face Garry in the gi. In interviews, Garry explained that he picked Keenan because he’s the man to beat. Garry lost a close match to Keenan at NAGA and is anxious to exact revenge. When asked, Keenan revealed his strategy, “to choke Garry from the back.”
The matches officially start Tuesday, December 11:
Luke Costello vs. Victor Silverio
Garry Tonon vs. Keenan Cornelius
AJ Sousa vs. Thomas Oyarzun
Darragh O’Conaill vs. Eduardo Salazar
Sean Roberts vs. Ilke Bulut
Luca Anacoreta will get a bye in the first round. AJ Agazarm will join the tournament on Wednesday, December 12."
"I Can't"- Your Argument is Invalid
I've talked on here about limiting beliefs and accepting failure or obstacles as impassable or impossible.
As difficult as it is, you have to decide if and when you let a circumstance determine how far you think you can and thus how far you are actually able to go.
I found a way to train through 9 months without an ACL and win Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu matches in competition. Advisable? No. Possible? Yes.
That being said...the following are two people well acquainted with proving the doubting Thomas' of the world woefully incorrect.
Exhibit A: one armed MMA fighter
Exhibit B: one legged wrestler
Monday, December 10, 2012
Monday's Multimedia MMA Mailbag: Bellator 83 Edition
2 upsets.
In pretty short order.
Can't wait until Bellator moves to SpikeTV in January, a channel a bunch of people actually have.
In pretty short order.
Can't wait until Bellator moves to SpikeTV in January, a channel a bunch of people actually have.
Bellator 83 Highlights
Get More: Bellator 83 Highlights
Get More: Bellator 83 Highlights
Monday's MMA Multimedia Mailbag: UFC on FOX 5 Edition
All in all, a good night of fights on the prelims and the main card.
The card kept chugging along, there wasn't a lot of down time between fights.I had figured I'd be simultaneously watching the IBJJ Pro league and the prelims, but my work laptop needs admin access to install the player the IBJJ stream required, so in first world fashion, I was stuck only watching free fights on FX then on FOX.
Onto the gif' -->
Ben Henderson dropping Nate Diaz:
Ben Henderson slamming Nate Diaz:
Rory putting his combinations together when he wasn't doing a weak sauce Ali shuffle. How do you lose fans while putting on a dominationg performace? See here.
Mike Swick looking like a concentration camp survivor whilst getting KTFO by Mike Brown:
IBJJ Pro League Results: Caio, Lo, Romulo, Tussa,
From over at Graciemag:
Caio Terra, Leandro Lo, Romulo Barral, and Tussa Alencar took their respective divisions.
As for the other world class competitors invited to compete that opted out, stop complaining about no cash prizes or BJJ as a professional sport. They did an event with free streaming to reach a big audience with $5k to the winner and cash to 2nd place......and you skipped it.
So typical of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
This is why we can't have nice things.
Friday, December 7, 2012
IBJJ Pro League Free Stream Website
CLICK HERE TO WATCH.
From IBJJF.org -
The IBJJ Pro-League will start at 3PM, December 8th.
IBJJ Pro-League Confirmed Athletes:
Up to 64 kg (141lb):
- Caio Terra
- Koji Shibamoto
- Laercio Fernandes
- Daniel Beleza G. de Andrade
- Rafael Freitas
- TBD
- First place Long Beach Fall rooster division
- First place Long Beach Fall light-feather division
Up to 76 kg (167.5lb):
- Leandro Pereira do Nascimento
- Lucas Alves Lepri
- Samir José Chantre Dahás
- Augusto Lopes Mendes
- Osvaldo Moizinho
- TBD
- First place Long Beach Fall feather division
- First place Long Beach Fall light division
Up to 88.3kg (194.6lb):
- Otavio Ferreira de Sousa
- Rômulo Claudio Barral
- Rafael Monteiro Barbosa
- Bruno Augusto Togni Antunes
- Vitor Henrique Silva Oliveira
- André Luiz Leite Galvão
- First place Long Beach Fall middle division
- First place Long Beach Fall medium-heavy division
Over 88.3 kg (over 194.6lb):
- Gustavo dos Santos Pires
- Bruno Bastos Cruz
- Ricardo Ferreira Evangelista
- Roberto Camargo de Alencar
- Stephen Hall
- First place Long Beach Fall heavy division
- First place Long Beach Fall super-heavy division
- First place Long Beach Fall ultra-heavy division
The IBJJ Pro League has defined the criteria for choosing the athletes that will take part in its debut event, next December 8th, at the California State Walter Pyramid, in Long Beach, California. There will be four divisions and each one of the four divisions will have eight competitors. This first edition of the event is male black belt exclusively, Gi only, and will be webcasted for free over IBJJF TV (ibjjftv.com). The winner of each division will get a US $5,000 prize.
Weight Divisions (with Gi)
Up to 64 kg (141lb) - includes Rooster weight and Light-feather weight athletes
Up to 76 kg (167.5lb) - includes Feather weight and Light weight athletes
Up to 88.3 kg (194.6lb) - includes Middle weight and Medium-heavy weight athletes
Over 88.3 kg (over 194.6lb) - includes Heavy weight, Super-heavy weight and Ultra-heavy weight athletes
Qualifying Criteria
The competitors up to 64 kg, up to 76 kg and up to 88.3 kg divisions will have six athletes qualified by the IBJJF competitors ranking and two other athletes qualified for winning their divisions at the 2012 Long Beach Fall International Open, which will take place at the same day and venue as the Pro League.
The competitors over 88.3 kg division will have five athletes qualified by the ranking and three athletes qualified for winning their divisions at the Long Beach Fall International Open.
Rules and Regulations
IBJJ Pro League fights will be ruled under the Official IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu rules. The brackets will work in a single elimination system. To avoid brackets close-outs between athletes from the same academy, the Pro League decided that competitors from the same team will have to face each other before the final match of each category.
Ranking
The competitors ranking is built with the sum of points each athlete gathered in all the competitions he took part in and reached at least the third place since the 2010 European Open Championship until the 2012 London Open International. The points scored in each tournament have to go through the following mathematical formula:
STANDINGS VALUE X WEIGHT OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP X WEIGHT OF THE YEAR = POINTS
| STANDINGS VALUE | WEIGHT OF THE CHAMPIONSHIP | WEIGHT OF THE YEAR |
| Weight Divisions: 1st Place– 9 pts 2nd Place – 3 pts 3rd Place – 1 pt Open Class: 1st Place – 13.5 pts 2nd Place – 4.5 pts 3rd Place– 1.5 pts |
Worlds – 7x European, Pan Ams – 4x Brazilian Nationals - 3x American Nationals, South American, Asian Open– 2x International Open – 1x |
2012 – 3x 2011 – 2x 2010 – 1x |
IBJJ PRO-LEAGUE CONT:
Examples of How to Count Points
1st Place Medium-Heavy weight Worlds 2010 = 9 pts x 7 x 1 = 63 pts
2nd Place Absolute Pan Ams 2011 = 4.5 pts x 4 x 2 = 36 pts
3rd Place Light weight Houston Open 2012 = 1 x 1 x 3 = 3 pts
Current top 10 List of best ranked athletes by division (the final list of qualified athletes for the 2012 IBJJ Pro League will be released after the Asian Open IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship and London International Open IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championship results being processed).
Open Guard Friday: Beneil Dariush
I think there's a word for it, when you come across something, be it an idea, a word, or a movie, phrase whatever, then all of a sudden you begin seeing/noticing it everywhere.
At any rate, I've been recently stumbling across this Beneil Dariush guy recently, and here's a bit more about how he plays open guard.
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Keenan Cornelius Joins Copa Podio HW Bracket
From over at Graciemag and mentioned in the Team Lloyd Irvin Episode 2 of "the next world champion:
Keenan Cornelius is joining the bracket for the Copa Podio HW Tournament.
WOW.
Denis Kang Brutal KO Alert:
Denis Kang will face Melvin Manhoef on NYE in Japan.
Not exactly the type of fight for a guy with some less than stellar performances since his downward spiral began.
Not exactly the type of fight for a guy with some less than stellar performances since his downward spiral began.
Especially when facing this terrifying individual:
Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Thesis Wednesday: You Are What You Think
The power of belief is curious. It can cripple or it can empower.
Sports and performance represent some of the best proofs of this idea: that belief can be nearly if not more powerful than training. If nothing else, to maximize performance you must believe in order to achieve (the vast majority of the time) at the highest levels of any endeavor.
Failure like success is a self-fulfilling prophecy.
As we lose, it becomes more likely that we doubt our ability, preparation, and ability to perform on a given date/at a given time/against a certain opponent.
Winning becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.
As we believe we will win and know this will be the outcome we are not beset by the insecurity, self-doubt, and hesitancy that often results in losing.
You are what you think you are.
You will perform as you expect.
For much of my time spent training, I eschewed the mental aspect of positive affirmations and self-encouragement.
I expected that if I did the work, that the results would follow.
But after my first loss in MMA and the subsequent 2 that followed, then couple with my ACL injury, I looked back and saw how far my barometer of confidence had fallen.
I won my first 2 MMA fights with nothing that resembled MMA training. The opponents were no less tough or skilled than the last 3 guys I fought.
So what was the variable?
I had overtrained for my 3rd fight, experienced a crushing loss, and that shook my confidence to the core. I neglected to come to terms with what had happened and that fear, the paralyzing doubt and wish to avoid what had happened and having it happen again became a toxic, cancerous force in my mind.
I accepted that I was not as capable as I in fact am.
This limiting belief, this acceptance of a lack of ability or whatever trait on my part then became reality as my belief manifested in physical form by limiting my performance.
The vaaaaaaaaaaast majority of people that will tell you that you cannot do something have not done the very thing being considered.
Ever notice that self-made (a bit of a misnomer, I know, as no one is truly self-made entirely) people will tell you that you can achieve and be successful?
And ever notice that those people who are unsuccessful are the ones who will often explain and excuse and list reason after reason why they or you are not or cannot be successful?
Consider the source when someone tells you something, my Mom once told me. Consider the source.
Tuesday, December 4, 2012
IBJJ Pro League Updated Line-UP
From over at ADC combat:
Up to 64 kg (141lb):
- Caio Terra
- Koji Shibamoto
- Laercio Fernandes
- Daniel Beleza G. de Andrade
- Pablo da Silva Santos
- Rafael Freitas
- Fist place Long Beach Fall rooster division
- First place Long Beach Fall light-feather division
Up to 76 kg (167.5lb):
- Leandro Pereira do Nascimento
- Jonathan Torres
- Lucas Alves Lepri
- Samir José Chantre Dahás
- Augusto Lopes Mendes
- Rubens Charles Maciel
- Fist place Long Beach Fall feather division
- First place Long Beach Fall light division
Up to 88.3kg (194.6lb):
- Otavio Ferreira de Sousa
- Rômulo Claudio Barral
- Rafael Monteiro Barbosa
- Bruno Augusto Togni Antunes
- Vitor Henrique Silva Oliveira
- Andre Galvao
- First place Long Beach Fall middle division
- First place Long Beach Fall medium-heavy division
- Gustavo dos Santos Pires
- Bruno Bastos Cruz
- TBD
- TBD
- TBD
- First place Long Beach Fall heavy division
- First place Long Beach Fall super-heavy division
- First place Long Beach Fall ultra-heavy division
Up to 64 kg (141lb) - includes Rooster weight and Light-feather weight athletes
Up to 76 kg (167.5lb) - includes Feather weight and Light weight athletes
Up to 88.3 kg (194.6lb) - includes Middle weight and Medium-heavy weight athletes
Over 88.3 kg (over 194.6lb) - includes Heavy weight, Super-heavy weight and Ultra-heavy weight athletes "
The Arm Collector Takes a Knee
The Arm Collector mixed it up and took home a win by kneebar.
He's on my list of people I want to train with eventually.
I blogged about him briefly HERE.
He's on my list of people I want to train with eventually.
I blogged about him briefly HERE.
Non-Tournament Proof Tuesday - Life Outside the Mats: DJ Jackson
Brief documentary on DJ Jackson on and off the mats.
The internet will have people saying he's won his matches with strength and wrestling.
I would counter that if you're a ** year black belt and all it took to beat you was some wrestling, then you should work on your wrestling and/or your Jiu-Jitsu.
There's more to it than that.
People saying that just want to rationalize their own deficiency in wrestling and why they don't want to go outside their comfort zone in training.
Monday, December 3, 2012
Monday's MMA Multimedia Mailbag: Bellator 82 Recap
4 Free UFC Fights in the blast from the past form of Nate Diaz versus some folks and Benson "Smooth" Henderson versus some folks. Enjoy.
Tiger gets back in the win column against a guy he's supposed to beat.
Doug "The Rhino" Marshall shows how he won the WEC belt awhile ago with his striking power.
Koreshkov decisions Good to win the tournament.
Bellator 82 Highlights
Get More: Bellator 82 Highlights
Get More: Bellator 82 Highlights
MMA debut and Wins 3 Fights: Marcos Souza Edition
For those that don't know, Marcos Souza (brother to the inimitable Roberto Satoshi de Souza) made his MMA debut in China over the weekend, winning 3 fights in one night to win a tournament.
Pretty bad*&^.
Saturday, December 1, 2012
Thursday, November 29, 2012
Bellator 82 Predictions
From over at MMAMania.com:
Head over there for the full breakdown -
"170 lbs.: Lyman Good (14-2) vs. Andrey Koreshkov (12-0)
Lyman Good is one of Bellator's brightest homegrown talents. He was the first Bellator champion, winning three straight bouts in season one to claim the welterweight title. After losing his belt to Ben Askren, he's methodically worked his way back to another opportunity at the strap. In this season, he's battered Jimmy Wallhead on the feet and pounded away at Michail Tsarev on the ground to advance to the tournament finals.
Andrey Koreshkov has long been considered one of the best prospects in any weight class in MMA. He debuted in Bellator with two straight knockout victories and then had to gut through a tough quarterfinal against Jordan Smith in his tournament debut. If there were any questions about his skills, Koreshkov answered them with a vicious first round knockout of former Dream champion Marius Zaromskis in the semifinals.
On the feet, this fight should be close. Koreshkov has better hand speed, kicks and explosion, but Good's pure boxing technique and power should even that out. What will really be a factor in this fight is the ground. Koreshkov had difficulty dealing with Jordan Smith in the quarterfinals and if Good sticks to a similar gameplan as his last fight where he took Tsarev down and batters him, he could at least have a good shot of taking home a decision.
Final Prediction: Lyman Good via decision"
Interview Thursday: Say What You Will About Eddie Bravo
....but he did way better than most of the guys I've watched roll with Marcelo Garcia.
Food for thought.
Food for thought.
Wednesday, November 28, 2012
IBJJ Pro League Confirms Andre Galvao for -88kg
Despite the underwhelming logo design above, the streamed event will be FREE. Well played IBJJF, well played indeed.
Read the full piece HERE:
Galvao is confirmed.
Some of the other notables include:
"Under-64 kg division: Koji Shibamoto, Laércio Fernandes, Daniel Beleza, Caio Terra, Rafael Barata
Under-76 kg division: Augusto Tanquinho, Jonathan Torres, Leandro Lo, Samir Chantre, Lucas Lepri, Rubens Cobrinha
Under-88.3 kg division: Bruno Antunes, Rômulo Barral, Otavio Sousa, Vitor Oliveira, André Galvão
Over-88.3 kg division: Gustavo Pires, Bruno Bastos"
Overview of Copa Podio Heavyweight Tournament
In non-IBJJF Tournament Action, we have the Copa Podio Heavyweight installment coming soon. It's filled with the likes of Rodolfo, Galvao, Baston, Braga Neto, Xande and others.
Not bad, not bad at all.
From over at Graciemag:
"In the opening stage, all the competitors in each group will face off against each other–four points will be awarded for each submission, three for a points win, and one point for a draw. At the end of the opening phase, the two top-scoring athletes from each group will go through to the semifinals–the criteria for tie-breaks are, in the following order: match result, number of submission wins, sum of points scored in all matches (points for–points against)."
Thesis Wednesday: Perspective & the Subconscious Mind
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The best thing that ever happened to me was blowing out my knee.
Think about what I just said.
The best thing that has happened to me since I began training martial arts when I first started college, and across boxing, wing chun, Judo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, fighting in MMA, submission grappling....the best thing that has happened to me in all that time was that I blew out my knee.
I was full of limiting beliefs.
Beliefs that I was not athletic. That at best I could train, compete, but that I was the middle of the pack. That I did not have the X factor, the mental edge, the confidence, the whatever it took to excell and compete in the top percentage of the elite.
I was still relatively successful in competition b/c I trained long and hard.
But I realized after losing 3 MMA fights in a row and blowing out my knee that there was something wrong with my environment both externally and internally.
For all my training, I was not seeing the results that I perceived others were getting despite their training less.
I had let other people around me affect my personal belief about my ability.
I had listened to the limiting beliefs and the negative input of others. I had let what I believed was a rational acceptance of limitations truly limit myself and my ability to perform at my utmost potential.
Teenagers call them haters. You can call them whatever you like.
But there will always be those people prepared to tell you what you cannot do.
This is largely if not entirely based on their own inadequacies, shortcomings, and acceptance of what they have not done and continue to choose not to do while they rationalize that passive acceptance on their part.
Have you ever noticed that many of the successful people will often say that anyone can be successful?
And yet, the people who will most often tell you that you cannot be successful say it with such malice and bitterness that its clear they are clearly unhappy with themselves and likely their life as well.
A self-made (again, out of context term) millionaire will tell you that you can make a million dollars.
A homeless man will point to the myriad of factors that keep anyone from making a million dollars....b/c he perceives that he has been kept from making a million dollars.
I do not discount the struggles of others, but I would argue the homeless in America have a largesse of opportunity and support that the VAST majority of the world's homeless do not.
I've never had a truly happy, successful person tell me that I could not be successful.
I have had, however, lots of moderately successful (relative assessment, I know) but largely unhappy people tell me I could not or would not achieve things.
In particular when you voice your objective or desire for something they have not, will not, or due to age, life choices, responsibility to family/work et cetera and thus truly cannot do.
What they really mean is that "I have not done that" so I believe that you cannot do it either.
So what's the point?
Eventually, at the end of your life, all those excuses, all those naysayers, all the whatever you used to rationalize your failures and undone wishes and desires will not matter.
You and you alone are holding the bag as your last breath expires, your synapses fire one last time and you are no longer alive.
Personally, I would prefer to spend the waking days and hours I do have remaining chasing those goals and pursuing those passions as far as my will, desire, heart, and determination will carry me.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
US Grappling Submission Only This Weekend - Richmond VA
INFO HERE - Richmond Virginia this weekend!
Come out to one of the best run tournaments I've been to since I started competing in both Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. US Grappling does a phenomenal job keeping things on time (yes, even with the Submission Only matches).
I'll be there to help out and even referee some novice/white belt matches.
ACL Friendly BJJ Moves: Osiander/DLR Sweep
 |
| Missing a limb is not a reason to not train. |
I spent 9 months training with no ACL in my left leg. In that time I learned a lot about not using my leg and/or using it barely to do many things.
One of the moves I found recently that I can do despite the relative care with which I have to roll regarding my post-op ACL leg is the following sweep. Even without a strong (in the case below) left DLR hook, I still hit this sweep pretty regularly when rolling.
(Non)Tournament Proof Tuesday: Referee Bias(?)
I agree there needs to be statistical data to avoid confirmation bias, and the file drawer effect regarding the debate of referee bias in the IBJJF and in any large scale governing body. If there can be the kind of corruption in amateur boxing
This reminds me of whenever they discuss corruption in USA Judo. The coaches who want to retain their perks or want a shot at being head coach of Team USA at some point all keep their mouth shut and say "oh, no, those are rarities, the athletes and blah blah blah" and then the disgruntled are shushed away as being outliers and the exception
From ze one and only Lloyd Irvin:
"Must Be Nice! It's time for a change, there is a "good ole' boy" network within the ranks of the ibjjf refs and this network needs to be broken up, the playing field needs to be even. I would like to see an American 'head ref' and at least one American side ref during finals and semi-final matches when an American is fighting in the match. I recommend HIllary Williams for the Job!...There are many refs tired of this, but they won't speak up, I completely understand. So I'll be Rosa Park and stand up and refuse to sit in the back of this bus. Something has to change! Does anyone know who appoints the refs that will be responsible for reffing the finals of the World Championships?"
Romero "Jacare" Cavalcante of Alliance rebutalled:
"I am not here to advocate for the IBJJF Federation but I do not think there is corruption or anything like that with the referees. They make mistakes and need to get better of course, but to accuse them of corruption is a little bit too much....
To which Lloyd
"What about you teaching your fighters not to taunt former teammates, make threats, etc. I watched you and the entire Alliance Team taunt Jordan when he lost to Sinistro at the Pans, I saw you personally taunt Alec verbally when he lost "creontes never win!", and the list goes on, when Keenan beat Sinistro you didn't see anyone on our team taunt Sinistro, I teach my guy/gals better than that, I don't do that, you should teach them to behave like gentleman and not taunt or threaten former students and accept the fact that students switching teams is part of any sport as you put it."
Hillary Williams responds
"Regardless of the extent and timeline, favoritism behavior is a reflection on the individual integrity of the referee and not the fault of the organization. Now, heads exploding again--"If IBJJF employs them, the blame of corruption falls on them!" To some extent, yes, I agree with hypothetical forum member. However, nothing can be taken out of context. We must be aware of the issues of ref availability and the inability to play big brother."
Monday, November 26, 2012
Post ACL Reconstruction: Nearly 5 Months
Back in the first week of July, I had my knee reconstructed.
Initially, according to the MRI I had a complete ACL tear, Meniscus tear, and fracted my leg as well.
By the time I had surgery 9 months later (having competed and won in Judo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu in the meantime), the fracture and Meniscus tear had healed.
I had surgery on a Tuesday, and the following Saturday was the first time I left the house: to see Anderson Silva vs Chael Sonnen II.
That being said, I've been remiss about posting my post-op recovery timeline.
In short, at 3 months I was back working my escapes from knee mount, side control, basic movement, defending with my back taken et cetera.
At 4 months I was beginning to work passing the guard partners with about 50% resistance or more. I can only pass to my left side and I would have to occasionally reset if my weaker leg gets put in half-guard, but did not feel comfortable taking the back nor mount.
At nearly 5 months, I can step into mount and take the back, but my weaker leg is just in position, applying no pressure and I'm often swept back to guard.
At 5 months, I still cannot lock my guard nor do I feel comfortable doing so, but with smart and same sized training partners I've done a surprising amount of Jiu-Jitsu over the past 2 months.
When I read online about all the horror stories regarding coming back from ACL reconstruction, I envisioned 6 months of no Jiu-Jitsu which was truly difficult to accept.
The truth, for me, was that at 3 months I began getting back on the mats in a very, very limited fashion. Now, at 5 months, by training smart, I'm getting about 20-30 min's of rolling in a day and working on positions I heretofore had not often address: namely Spiral or Reverse De La Riva guard.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Interestingly enough, my knee that had the surgery, overall feels better than my other knee.
If you've had a bad knee injury, or a nagging injury, you owe it to yourself and your long-term Jiu-Jitsu to get it looked at and diagnosed.
I went to several surgeons to find the one with the right experience, type of surgery, and bedside manner that best suited me.
I will be officially cleared for sport at the start of January. Based on how I'm feeling and my general recovery of strength and muscle in my leg, I think I will be back competing in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu at about the 9 month mark. It will likely be a full year before I feel comfortable competing in Judo again.
Having read about other high level grapplers who came back to soon and had problems for years following, I am in no rush to compete again and take each day on the mats as a gift for which I am thankful.
From the Land of the Possible Rising Sun: Dream NYE Match-ups
With all the recent scandal and money issues plaguing Japanese MMA, Dream appears to be putting together an NYE show: Perhaps their partnerships with Golden Glory will prove fruitful -
"Top kickboxers such as Semmy Schilt, Remy Bonjasky, Gokhan Saki, Daniel Ghita, and Peter Aerts, will all be participating on this 'GLORY Grand Slam Tournament',"
Monday's Multimedia Mailbag Monday: Road FC 10 & Choke
Aaaaaaand, the one, the only, the Rickson in Choke:
Copa Podio Heavyweight Brackets
Joao, Bastos, Braga neto, and Lagarto on one side, Leo Noguiera, Vieira, and Xande on the other.
Bonkers.
Saturday, November 24, 2012
Jiu-Jitsu Drama Update: Caio vs Cesar
From over at BJJ Heroes:
The short of it that is Caio's version of events:
"Before I accepted to help I talked with Cesar, at first he wasn’t very nice about it and did not want me to go. After I talked with him about it more he said he was joking around and it was OK I wasn’t quite sure what changed his mind. As for his public reaction it came months after he knew and the day before the event, unfortunately, especially for my students at CSA, he does not want me to help with Gracie Fighter or be affiliated in any way."
Pick Your Gladiator(s): Bellator Edition
For those that don't know, Bellator is upping the ante on the UFC in its own small way by letting viewers vote and thus arrange the upcoming opening bout for the first season of Bellator on SpikeTV/Season 8 of Bellator Tournament format.
Pretty cool, regardless of whether you think Bellator is the B squad or not.
Episode 1part 1:
Episode 1 part 2:
Episode 2 features a nice and sensationalized retelling of War Machine's mishaps and misunderstandings with the long arm of the law.
Friday, November 23, 2012
My 2nd favorite standing guard pass counter
I first got this from Victor Estima and it's worked both Gi and NoGi
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