Jiu-Jitsu in MMA: Bruno Frazatto

When it finally gets to the mat at about the 8:00 mark, Bruno makes quick work of his opponent. I've been a fan of Bruno ever since I watched his several battles over the years when Cobrinha was featherweight King before the beginning of the Mendes era.

His opponent, for his efforts, pulled a Mitrione and got his back taken after a pretty telegraphed shot at a takedown.

It's good to see high level Jiu-Jitsu in MMA getting the finish.

Speaking of which, the UFC this past weekend was bonkers.
Talk about a night of finishes?! Everything you could possible want on a card: submissions, KO's, striking, omoplatas, sweeps, cuts, standing elbows.....It was incredible.

Why You No Gripfight Buchecha and Evangelista?

Evangelista does a good job of countering Buchecha's wrestling with his grips early on.
As soon as Evangelista opts to get in a wrestling stance and really plant that lead foot and not establish grips...he gets taken down.

They both adopt neutral grips early on and it's no wonder they stalemate up until this point.
Buchecha would overzealously spin to the back and hunt for the finish allowing Evangelista to get back in the game, but only due to Buchecha's mistake did Evangelista have that opportunity.

Food for thought.
This isn't black and white footage of gentleman's agreement Judo non-gripfighting.
Establish a dominant grip and don't allow your opponent to do the same.
 

UFC Fight Night 68: Henderson vs Boetsch - MMA Betting Man's Picks in 60 Seconds

This is a card I feel with some entertaining scraps on it.

Henderson really does find himself at a crossroads. He thinks he still has enough to get a few paychecks and wins minus the TRT but I think he's never looked flatter than he did in his last fight and the fact that he's coming off of two stoppage losses and is facing Boetsch is no softball pitch to be sure.

I think we see Dan Henderson go out on his sword in this fight in one that will have longtime fans of the veteran wincing and shaking their heads.

Mitrione feels like he's has more visibility than Rothwell who I feel like hasn't fought in forever. My feelings aside, both guys are hit and miss in their UFC careers with Mitrione racking up a bit more high profile wins but faltering when he stepped up against the best. That being said, I still think he has more than enough hand and foot speed to pick apart Rothwell.

Soto I'm taking over Birchak because I've actually seen him fight before and as for Rivera, I think his bombs in his hands will be enough to hurt Caceres who I simply don't believe has the power in his strikes to keep Rivera off him long enough to stick, move, and take a decision.

Jordan as a heavyweight is tough and dangerous but too green to threaten the upper echelon. That being said he has the slightly better wins in the division than his opponent and should get a stoppage here to  move him up a spot or two. Ebersole has an impressive list of submission and stoppages to his credit and I think unless Akhmedov is some new wonder kid I haven't heard of, I think Ebersole's experience takes it here as well.

I'm actually kind of excited about this card as I think stylistically enough of these guys have some holes in parts of their games we might get a pretty good card out of this. 

Because You Didn't Ask: My Thoughts on Cormier vs Gustaffson

Why is the guy who lost his last fight now fighting the champ for the belt?
It's impossible to defend this booking.
You know the one I'm discussing: Gustaffson who just lost to Johnson will next face the guy who just beat Johnson.

Wrap your brain around that.
Last minute cancellations aside (Belfort fighting Jon Jones et cetera - at least Belfort once held the strap at 205, was also champion before weight classes), this booking is just impossible to defend.

If anyone out there can defend it, please hit me with the rationale. I've been racking my brain all day trying to do just that.

Personal Update

My coach is competing at Grappler's Quest in NJ this weekend as part of their "Grapplers Quest U.S. National Championships and All Star Pro Challenge." 
He's competing for cold hard cash, the stream is available HERE: http://LiveGrappling.com

Pre-Lims at 12:00 PM and Finals at 8:00 PM on LIVE
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I took a short break from training, first break longer than maybe 3 days in a row since I got my purple belt in December of 2013. At some point I finally had to admit that it was diminishing returns on training no matter how much I continued to grind it out. I visited my girlfriend for a few days, and even though I love dropping into to train whilst out of town with new people or those I haven't seen in awhile, I forced myself to actually just enjoy a few days with her and do what I guess normal people do when they leave town: eat out, see the beach, do a ropes course, see a movie et cetera.

I haven't even done any sports betting recently, I've been on full break from combat sports. I didn't watch the Worlds and only recently watched the finals and some of the quarter and semi finals.

US Grappling has two events coming up: June 27, 2015 in Ashland, VA &
July 25, 2015 in Morrisville, NC  for which I'll referee and compete.  

I'm planning on doing an IBJJF event in July or August, I haven't chosen which one yet. I haven't done an IBBJ event since I did the Pans as a blue belt shortly before I had my knee reconstructed. I've been grinding it out at purple belt and I'm looking forward to winning and/or learning.

BJJ Hacks: John Danaher and Dillon Danis

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Because You Didn't Ask: My Thoughts Post 2015 IBJJF Mundials

I've gone through and watched all my favorite competitors matches that I could find: Lepri, Faria, Keenan, Miyao et cetera.

I think Miyao beat Malfacine. I'll just leave it at that. The waving off the last advantage was in effect a referee decision made. I think they want a whatever # time World Champion, and Malfacine fits the bill.

Faria imposed his will but as usual, almost got caught a couple times getting greedy (this is a good thing). Seeing Rafa get after it and finish everyone on his way to the finals was also pretty badass. That wrist lock from the crucifix was bonkers. I had to rewatch it a few times and find photos online to be sure that's what it was until I heard more from people there/articles online. Cobrinha also looked incredible until he once against found himself very, very early in trouble against Rafa.

Guilherme was missed as he's a guy whom most of my knee through and top passing game I've reverse-engineered and copied (as well as his baseball and lapel choke from knee on belly.

Calasans must be sleeping well after meeting Oliveira in the final (who knocked out Otavio) and Leandro moved up (and beat Keenan yet again) and Calasans now finally has the medal I would bet he was fiending after the most. I saw a lot of tight, pressure matches and that Keenan flying triangle to armbar on Leandro was awesome. I saw guys moreso (at least it looked like it) legitimately looking to submit to set up other things.

Queixinho looked good against Cobrinha, I've seen Cobrina walk through many a black belts guard over the years and Quiexinho/Moizinho fought him off for quite a bit.