Sunday, May 27, 2012

BJJ Heroes 2012 Mundials Divisional Breakdown of Competitors

BJJ Heroes has done a straight forward break down HERE of each division listing: current champion, contenders in the division and their accomplishments that make them contenders.

It's one of the better pre-viewing guides I've seen for next weekend's big event in Long Beach.

There are some incredibly tough brackets out there such as those ruled by 5x world champion Marcelo Garcia and 4x world champion Bruno Malfacine but then we also have the following divisions:

Peso Leve /Light Weight (76kg)
Current Champion
Name Team Main Achievements
Gilbert Burns n/a World Champion
The Main Contenders
Name Team Notes
Michael Langhi Alliance Former World Champion
Lucas Lepri Alliance Former World Champion
Roberto Satoshi Bonsai 2012 European & World Pro Cup Champion
Leandro Lo CiceroCostha 2012 Pan Am & Brazilian National Champion
JT Torres Lloyd Irvin Tough Competitor
Vinicius Marinho GFTeam Tough Competitor
Italo Lins GFTeam Tough Competitor
Davi Ramos Atos Tough Competitor
Ed Ramos Atos Tough Competitor
Della Monica Gracie Barra Former World Medallist


Peso Meio Pesado /Medium Heavy Weight (88kg)
Current Champion
Name Team Main Achievements
Sergio Moraes Atos World Champion
The Main Contenders
Name Team Notes
Kayron Gracie Gracie Barra Current Pan American Champion
Nivaldo Oliveira Checkmat 2012 Absolute Brazilian National Champion
Rodrigo Fajardo Gracie Barra 2012 European Open Champion
Tarsis Humphreys Alliance Former World Champion
Vitor Toledo Atos 2012 Pan Am & World Pro Silver Medallist
Andre Galvao Atos ADCC Champion, World Champion
Romulo Barral Gracie Barra Former World Champion


Peso Médio /Middle Weight (82kg)
Current Champion
Name Team Main Achievements
Marcelo Garcia Alliance 5x World Champion (at black belt)
The Main Contenders
Name Team Notes
Victor Estima Gracie Barra 2012 Pan Silver Medallist
Kron Gracie Gracie Humaita 2011 World Silver Medallist (Leve)
Claudio Calasans Atos 2012 Pan Am & World Pro Cup Champion
Murilo Santana Barbosa JJ Veteran, Current Brazilian Champion
Lucas Leite Checkmat Veteran, former world medallist

Keenan Cornelius Makes the List (Undesirable No. 1)




Graciemag, (following something like 20+ comments about the travesty of this list HERE), has briefly mentioned Keenan on their post HERE.

I had earlier posted HERE regarding his clearly deliberate omission from the list.
Before all that, I posted a bit about him here as he was beginning what would become him winning the euro, the pro trials, the pan ams, and then the Brazilian nationals all in less than one year of competition.

"It’s little wonder middleweight purple belt Keenan Kai-James Cornelius has legions of fans on Facebook and comments about him galore here on GRACIEMAG.com. The Lloyd Irvin student is gearing up for an historic achievement in 2012: to win his weight and the open-weight classes at all four of the main IBJJF tournaments on the same year: the Europeans, Pan, Brazilian Nationals and the Worlds. Not long ago Alexander Trans came close to achieving this particular Grand Slam. In 2011, as a brown belt, the Danish CheckMat product only missed out on producing the absolute title at the Brazilian Nationals."

That's something of a retraction I guess. Kind of. Well, maybe not. Oh well.

It is what it is. His performance speaks for itself.

My MMAPlayground picks: Winners & Losers Edition

My mmaplayground results:
I picked 5 of the fights correctly.
I had my suspicions about Hardy following his consecutive losses to Condit and Lytle.
As well I had my suspicions that Brandao might gas and lose if the guy survived the first round, as such Elkins was a live underdog.
Having seen Struve get clipped by Nelson I thought Lavar was worth it on the long shot.
As for Teixera, I picked him, but I thought he might struggle a bit with Octagon jitters. Not the case. He came after Kingsbury and put the hurt-icane on him. straight up.
As for Bigfoot, I saw more in Cain's loss than was probably there, and he decisively put the beatdown on Bigfoot as soon as he caught that kick and ran him down. Impressive beatdown by Cain in that one.
As for Varner, well, no one saw that one coming after he had struggled in smaller shows against lesser known competition. My hat off to him.


Frank Mir
Junior Dos Santos
Junior Dos Santos
Fight ends in round 4
KO / TKO
Junior Dos Santos
Fight ends in round 2
KO / TKO
7
Jason Miller
CB Dolloway
Jason Miller
Fight ends in round 2
Submission / Tapout
CB Dolloway
Judge's decision
Unanimous/majority decision
0
Dan Hardy
Duane Ludwig
Duane Ludwig
Fight ends in round 3
KO / TKO
Dan Hardy
Fight ends in round 1
KO / TKO
0
Paul Sass
Jacob Volkman
Paul Sass
Fight ends in round 3
Submission / Tapout
Paul Sass
Fight ends in round 1
Submission / Tapout
7
Diego Brandao
Darren Elkins
Darren Elkins
Judge's decision
Split decision
Darren Elkins
Judge's decision
Unanimous/majority decision
+2 points (underdog bonus)
9
Glover Texeira
Kyle Kingsbury
Glover Texeira
Judge's decision
Split decision
Glover Texeira
Fight ends in round 1
Submission / Tapout
5
Daniel Pineda
Mike Thomas Brown
Mike Thomas Brown
Fight ends in round 2
Submission / Tapout
Mike Thomas Brown
Judge's decision
Unanimous/majority decision
5
Cain Velasquez
Antonio Silva
Antonio Silva
Fight ends in round 2
KO / TKO
Cain Velasquez
Fight ends in round 1
KO / TKO
0
Stipe Miocic
Shane Del Rosario
Shane Del Rosario
Fight ends in round 1
KO / TKO
Stipe Miocic
Fight ends in round 2
KO / TKO
0
Dave Herman
Roy Nelson
Dave Herman
Judge's decision
Split decision
Roy Nelson
Fight ends in round 1
KO / TKO
0
Edson Barboza
Jamie Varner
Edson Barboza
Judge's decision
Split decision
Jamie Varner
Fight ends in round 1
KO / TKO
0
Stefan Struve
Lavar Johnson
Lavar Johnson
Fight ends in round 2
KO / TKO
Stefan Struve
Fight ends in round 1
Submission / Tapout
0
  33

Obligatory Arianny Celesta Domestic Violence/Double Standard Post




From over at mmajunkie.com:

All I'm gonna say, is this has happened to a considerable number of MMA fighters, and they've been villified before the details even came out.
She gets arrested, and Dana's like "we're going to support her. bad things happen in people's lives."

what a joke.
i'm gonna jump the gun and just say this: it is much, much, much harder for a woman to get arrested for domestic violence. realistically, cops are far less willing to book a woman on that charge than against a man for similar behavior.

Saturday, May 26, 2012

Rodolfo Vieira Gets High (Altitude) for the Mundials & Kayron is Out






From over at Graciemag:

Like most champions reticent to give up their belt/title, and simultaneously aware of the target on their back, Rodolfo Vieira has made a significant change to his Mundials preparations: he's training in the high altitude of Colorado with Amal Easton's camp to add something extra to his trainings.

And in unfortunate news, after making a return following injuries to the podium at the Pans, Kayron Gracie is out of the Mundials with a knee injury.

One week left.....

Friday, May 25, 2012

Anthony Johnson Misses Weight (Volume 14) - Titan Fighting 22



Man. I don't even feel like making a joke.
From over at MMAMania, we find that our good friend Mr. Rumble-Twinkie-Never-Makes-Weight Johnson failed to make weight for Titan Fighting 22 this weekend.

This is so far beyond beating a dead horse that it just...well, it is what it is.
Why anyone signs to fight a guy with this many failed weigh-ins just blows my mind.
Hell, I did a meme about him HERE when he missed weight for Vitor, the biggest fight of his career and then got finished inside of one round.


In other news, I'm back to training twice a day, 4 days a week.
It has been brutal, especially by Wednesday. My body's not used to recovering for the mid-day roll sessions just yet.
After next week (week 2), I should start hitting my stride.

Happy Trainingz!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Graciemag's 10 to Watch at the Mundials (but not Keenan Cornelius)

From over at Graciemag, 10 champions to watch at the Mundials.

Ridiculously, and what has to be on purpose to snub Lloyd Irvin, they leave out Keenan Cornelius. You know, that guy who won the Pan Ams, the Euro, Brazilian Nationals, the World Pro Trials, and armbarred one of the Miyaho's in less than a minute at the Pan Ams (but both the Miyao's made the list).

Weird, the whole list is Brazilian minus Francisco from Ecuador.

It must be hard when the mass exodus of world class teachers has chosen to make America their home.
But Graciemag dropped the ball on this list.
Big time.

Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Kurt Osiander - Inside BJJ Podcast



From over at the Inside BJJ podcast
The one, the only, the inimitable Kurt Osiander speaks his mind on the following topics:
The Jiu-Jitsu World Expo, Jeff Glover vs Caio Terra, Diaz's no show, when & where he stopped competing in the adult division, his belief in basic Jiu-Jitsu: fundamentals, pressure, et cetera, and "not giving a shit about points" b/c accumulating points is a result of trying to tap the guy.

"You can win or you can win beautifully" - Ralph Gracie

Enjoy.

Felipe Costa: Jiu-Jitsu for Small Guys & Winning Mindset


Great interview below with Felipe Costa from over at BJJhacks.com. Guy never won an IBJJF tournament until he won the Mundials/World Championships his 2nd year as a black belt.
When I see teams like Lloyd Irvin, and guys like Keenan Cornelius and others with him, go from someone you've never heard of to winning the triple crown (Pan, Worlds, Euro) in a year, it's tempting to relocate, work for Lloyd, drill, work hard, and win.

But I am torn on Lloyd's long term success at the belt that is most important: Faixa Preta.
Lloyd's produced a world champion at every belt but black belt.

While at the Pan Jiu-Jitsu Championships, I watched Lloyd's guys tear apart a bunch of other top notch guys. But in talking with a buddy of mine out of Ralph Gracie, he made clear that when Lloyd Irvin guys had come to Ralph's, there was not even a comparison between their Jiu-Jitsu and the upper belts at Ralph's.
Winning tournaments, at the lower belts is one thing, he said there's just no way anyone other than a BJ Penn or some other world class talent and relentless gym rat can achieve that level of skill in only a few years.
I'm inclined to agree, as I fundamentally ascribe to incremental learning.
I've never been a natural athlete, but I have always been willing to grind and train more days out of the year.

I genuinely believe by the time you reach black belt, the depth of knowledge is just too great to overcome and win with solely exceptional tournament Jiu-Jitsu.
Seeing guys like Fowler get crushed by Megaton (no shame in that) or even JT Torres struggle to win the Worlds at black belt despite the wrecking machine he was up through black belt underscores this belief of mine.

There is rarely a substitute for simply time on the mat, no matter how much full-time training one might get in 4-7 years. BJ Penn, of course, would be the exception as he won the worlds with something like 4 years of BJJ training.


Happy Trainingz!

Friday, May 18, 2012

MMA Staredown of the Day: Karl "the Psycho" Amoussou Edition

Ilias Iliadis: The Will to Win & A Gripfighting Drill for your Friday




For those who don't know much about the man, Ilias Iliadis

I can't stress enough the importance of gripfighting in Judo. Following my knee injury, I've been left unable to play right-handed Judo. I can only play from a fairly extreme left-haned/left-footed stance.
Maintaining control of my opponents through gripping has become incredibly important as I simply cannot bear all my weight nor balance on my left foot, so this foot is put forward, and my right leg/foot is now the weight-bearing leg. Yet, I've managed to continue to play with other players my size and even win a number of matches in a local tournament. The ability to control the pace and the entries of your opponent is where it all begins in Judo.

That being said, here is a gripfighting drill, relatively easy to practice, that should be a beginner/basic component of every Judo player's gripping game:


And another, longer piece on some fundamentals to gripfighting from Misaki Iteya:

Thursday, May 17, 2012

IBJJF TV Episode 6: Spring Open/World Jiu-Jitsu Expo


McKenzie-Tine Strikes Again!: Guillotine Files Part IV


For those that missed it, Cody McKenzie struck again on Tuesday night on the UFC on Fuel TV by choking out another wrestler with his patented McKenzi-Tine/Guillotine variation.
This makes at least 11 recorded Wins by Guillotine.
Impressive.
He baited Marcus Levesseur with the arm in guillotine then almost immediately switched to his version, also known as the Buddhist Fist guillotine.

As always, I am intrigued by the Guillotine b/c 1) it has a cool name, and 2) b/c I am not very good at it. I have managed to hit it in some grappling tournaments but I virtually never hit it in training. If and when I do set it up, I end up using it to step over into mount, but then rarely finish.
Alas....maybe one day.

My previous posts on the guillotine with a multitude of variations are:
HERE - The McKenzie-tine variation of the Guillotine
HERE - Marcelo Garcie: the original Guillotine Hunter
HERE - Nate Diaz's Guillotine over Jim Miller

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Gracie Barra BJJ + San Jose State Judo: The Missing Link? Not Quite.

We've all thought it.




It warms my heart. This is what I want to see and as always hope to see more of in the future.
But, until you have a teacher who has competed in both, there is a critical component missing.
A black belt in Judo watching BJJ can easily say, "well, I would do this....." but the reality of competition may negate that approach.
To parallel, a black belt in BJJ can easily say, "well I would do this...." but the reality of Judo rules and conditioning of high level athletes makes that an unrealistic approach or solution to a particular nuance/position/situation in Judo.

The above, when you're working the leg drag to pinning the player. In maybe the novice, or white to green belt divisions, but I doubt many elite level players would lay flat long enough to get pinned by an opponent who is nearly standing. I've had national level players manage to nearly turn completely over to break the plane of the pin/osaekomiwaza even though I had their legs grapevined from the top/mount position.

This kind of cross-pollination is what grappling and each sport needs in general.
However, the best is yet to come. As you will eventually have black belts on each side of the two sports that have competed at a high level in both or have at least competed at the lower belts in each sport.

I've had Judo coaches and BJJ coaches see my matches in each respective sport and make commentary, that simply, with all due respect, just isn't feasible, practical, or ends up being woefully low percentage.

Example A: Judo coach discussing Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu matches tells me to immediately establish very aggressive grips and begin movement with foot sweeps.
Outcome? The BJJ player immediately sits and now I begin to pass open guard. Now, I am on top/standing, but I missed the window to get two points and be in an optimal position as I begin to pass.
What has actually worked for me in BJJ competition? A calm, and relaxed approach to gripping where I'm feeding my traditional sleeve/lapel grip, then I foot sweep but don't immediately blindside the other player by going balls to the wall from the word "Go."


Example B: BJJ coach watching Judo matches tells me to pull guard and work to quickly sweep or to stall for time in Judo if I'm up on points.
Outcome? I lose the match depending if/when the other player initiates a takedown and the referee awards him an Ippon as I pull guard.
Another common one is attacking the back/turtle.
Without the advent of crossfacing or putting your hands across the face period in Judo, cracking the turtle when a Judo player needs only to defend for 10-? seconds the referee allows, is often a waste of energy and time, allowing the bottom player to run down the clock. Rather than force him to stand.

Until coaches have a lot of experience in competing UNDER THE RULES SPECIFIC TO THE SPORT, the advice given will be limited to conjecture and theory rather than what has worked and demonstrated to work in the sport-specific conditions.

Final Thoughts:
Judo and BJJ have taught me quite a bit about one another.
I recently won 7 matches with a variety of mat work techniques at a local tournament. chokes and pins which were made possible by the amount of time I've spent developing my mat work. Despite my knee injury, I was able to beat heavier players when the opportunity arose to finish the choke and/or get the pin.
This is something I would have never been able to do a couple years ago when I was simply a "thrower" in Judo tournaments. Now, players have much more to worry about in facing me in competition.
As for competing in BJJ, by now, all the guys in my division know I'm a Judo player and as such they either opt to pull guard, sit to guard, or I usually get my 2 points then begin to work to pass which has become my approach to BJJ competition.
A lot of players resist training both with a variety of excuses, but chiefly among them is stepping outside of their comfort zone. Despite injury, I've trained consistently for 7, almost 8 years in various forms of grappling and won a number of tournaments. My BJJ success has not caught up to my Judo success, but it is coming along. At the end of the day, that discomfort has led to growth on my part as a grappler. Growth I would have never achieved without having crosstrained. Now you know, and according to GI Joe, "Knowing is half the battle!"
 - Happy Trainingz!

And one last thing for your Wednesday: The 2012 World Masters Judo Tournament

Monday, May 14, 2012

Otavio Closes out Weight & Absolute: Jiu-Jitsu Expo


As I predicted
, (along with calling Rafael, Kron, and Kyra), Otavio Sousa had an amazing day at the Spring Open/IBJJ as part of the 1st World Jiu-Jitsu Expo.

From Graciemag: he closed out his weight category with teammate Claudio Mattos and then closed out the absolute with teammate Romulo Barral.
Otavio hails from the Gracie Barra gym I trained at whilst in Brazil (GB Pernambuco).

Some previous posts/videos of Otavio Sousa can be found Here, Here, and Here. Between this and his showing at the IBJJF NY Open (he won weight and absolute at Faixa Preta as well), he is certainly as I predicted way back when he was a Brown belt at the Mundials, one to watch.

Here's a link from over at Graciemag where he talks about the upcoming Worlds/Mundials.
Come to think of it between the Expo, the Pans, and now the Worlds, this has been a great several months for Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and Submission Grappling.

Happy Trainingz!

World Jiu-Jitsu Expo Superfights - Video Mailbag

Kron Gracie Vs Vitor Estima



Nino Schembri Vs Bill "the Grill" Cooper



Lucas Leite Vs Rafael Lovato Jr.



Kyra Gracie vs Alexis Davis

Monday Morning Video Mailbag: Jeff Glover vs Caio Terra - Jiu-Jitsu Expo

Well, I blogged about the bad blood leading up to it HERE and HERE...and here it is. Enjoy.

Sunday, May 13, 2012

World Jiu-Jitsu Expo Superfight Results

From over at MMAMania.com:
"Nick Diaz vs. Braulio Estima (No-Gi) (Diaz no-showed)
Rafael Lovato def. Lucas Liete via points (Gi)
Kron Gracie def. Victor Estima via advantage points (Gi)
Bill Cooper def. Nino Schembri via referee decision(Gi)
Kyra Gracie def. Alexis Davis via points (No-Gi)
Jeff Glover def. Caio Terra via points (No-Gi)" - this was a gi match?

and from MMAWeekly.com:
"Jeff Glover def. Caio Terra by points 10-6
Kron Gracie def. Victor Estima by one advantage
Rafael Lovato def. Lucas Leite by points 2-0
Bill Cooper def Nino Schembri by referee’s decision after tie in points and advantages
Kyra Gracie def. Alexis Davis 5-0"

I've heard internet rumblings about both sides accusing the other of not making weight.
I'm going to let the dust settle and the gossip hounds chill out before I comment.
I was also not aware Leite was subbed in for Kayron due to injury, but no way would I have bet on Leite against Lovato and his ridiculously long frame.

Friday, May 11, 2012

T.G.I.F. - The Guillotine is Friday - Nate Diaz Edition

This is my serious face. And your guillotine is no good here.

I've had two earlier posts about the guillotine which were pretty popular.
Admittedly, the guillotine is not a high percentage submission for me. If and when I hit it, it is from mount or in MMA-style drilling up against the cage.
Other than those two, the only time I actually hit something like a guillotine is from a D'Arce grip and then I step over into mount.

My two previous posts about the guillotine are HERE and HERE

This edition of the Guillotine is brought to you by Graciemag and in spirit from the younger half of the Stockton roughneck rebels Nate Diaz.
The video comes from Jordont Schultz, someone I've covered HERE and HERE before and has recently left Alliance to join Lloyd Irvin.

Without further ado, here we go:





Happy Trainingz!

Wednesday, May 9, 2012

World Jiu-Jitsu Expo Superfight Predictions



Now, I have not seen the rules for the superfights coming up at this weekend World Jiu-Jitsu Superfights, but the matches and my predictions are as follows:

Nick Diaz vs. Bráulio Estima (No-Gi)         - Braulio by triangle - props to Nick Diaz for jumping into the
                                                                    shark tank. Hopefully he does better than GSP did in ADCC

Kayron Gracie vs. Rafael Lovato Jr (Gi)     - Kayron by sweep then guard pass

Victor Estima vs. Kron Gracie (Gi)             - Kron by  2 advantages. I think he was tired from the Absolute
                                                                    which hindered his performance at the Pans.

Nino Schembri vs. Bill Cooper (Gi)            - Cooper by ? I haven't watched him play much as of late  

Kyra Gracie vs. Alexis Davis (No-Gi)        -   Kyra by head/arm triangle

Caio Terra vs. Jeff Glover (No-Gi)             -  Caio by sweep and 2 advantages

In other Expo news, here's an article about Otavio Sousa (a guy I've posted about quite a bit on here, who comes from Gracie Barra Pernambuco, one of the places I trained while visiting Brazil).
Here's a mount attack from the man himself, Otavio Sousa:




Happy Trainingz!

Tuesday, May 8, 2012

Caio Terra and Jeff Glover Agree to the Gi

From over at Graciemag HERE, Caio and Glover have agreed to fight in the gi at the upcoming Jiu-Jitsu expo.

Straight from Caio, “Even though I like Gi as much as No-Gi, it makes no sense for me to have a No-Gi match two weeks prior to the IBJJF Worlds. Even though Jeff hasn’t competed in awhile, he understood that it might affect my performance at one or both events and sent me a polite message inviting me to make the change, so we made a deal. As he agreed on competing with the gi, I agreed on having no weight limit. I believe this will make the fight more interesting, as Jeff won’t need to suffer from the cut and a little guy in the absolute is always fun to watch. I think the public was the one who most benefited from this, and as Jeff has told me, we will make this an epic fight, with both of us looking for the submission."

Awesome.

Friday, May 4, 2012

Interview Friday: Marcos & Satoshi De Souza, and Rafael Lovato Jr.




Ralph Gracie Black Belt Diego Herzog on his way to winning the heavyweight and absolute at the American Cup in San Jose last weekend.

Interview with brothers and black belts Marcos and Satoshi De Souza



Rafael Lovato Jr. Interview

Ary Farias: In the Shadow of Mountains


He'd pretty much fallen to the wayside in Grappling news, but this piece at Graciemag reminded me this up and coming name in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Here is his background at BJJ Heroes

Ary has bounced around from Fightzone to Checkmat to Atos (most recently).

Being in the same division of Gui Mendes is like being the 2nd best Judoka in Japan in your weight class.
You're probably better than many, many, many other guys in the world. But due to environmental factors beyond your control, you are simply in a division over which presides one of the best players currently competing.

Being a member of Atos and competing in the shadow of names like Mendes parts Rafa and Gui, Galvao, Calasans et cetera is another giant shadow under which one must toil.
He's beaten Malfacine on points which is no small feat for (at the time) a newcomer to Faixa Preta/Black Belt. His more notable titles listed on BJJ Heroes include:
  • 3x European Champion (2009 Purple, 2010 Brown, 2010  Black )
  • 8x World Champion (in the under 16s, Blue, Purple, Brown Belt Div., 2011 black belt – closed bracket with team mate)
  • Brazilian National Champion
  • World No-Gi Champion (Purple Belt Division)

Thursday, May 3, 2012

Caio Terra Versus Jeff Glover at Jiu-Jitsu World Expo


Well, Jeff Glover, it's time to back up your foray onto Caio's facebook post about winning the World's despite injury. More concisely, Glover's claims that Caio was a whiner and should quit complaining about competing while hurt.

As is rarely the case, the war of words will be settled at the World's 1st Jiu-Jitsu expo.
Graciemag highlighed some other matches of the day HERE and HERE

For Grappling Fanatics, the event now features superfights between:
Kyra Gracie Versus Alexis Davis (Cesar Gracie)
Victor Estima Versus Kron Gracie

Nino “Elvis” Schembri Versus Bill "the Grill" Cooper (Paragon)
Bráulio Estima (Gracie Barra) Versus Nick Diaz (Caesar Gracie)

Kayron Gracie (Gracie Barra) Versus Rafael Lovato Jr.

In addition to that, the Jiu-Jitsu Expo will feature a Special Spring Tournament with the "likes of Otávio Sousa, the winner of the NY Open absolute division, as well as Rodrigo Simões, Gustavo “Sirizinho”, Ricardo “Franjinha”, Magid Hage" and others.

Amazing.