I just got home from the city where I had my last free training session. Let me tell you something, I'm sticky and sweaty, sore and banged up and I could not be in a better mood about it! I love Bjj and cannot get enough of it! I think I also can finally convince my parents to chip in some of the monthly fees so its almost official that I may be a member of Marcelo's gym! Anyway lets move on to what I learned. Today we were taught various reversals and sweeps that all started from being on the bottom and from there, getting to in one instance full guard, and the others all ended in sweeps or reversals. I will not go into details as I really dont have the energy for it plus i reek and need to shower. I will be posting whether or not I actually sign up so if you are interested in my progress read and comment any advice you can. Thanks for reading!

P.S. for the guy who keeps asking about curriculum, THEY DO HAVE ONE because part of our training today led to using what we learned the previous lesson.

This piece

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/7476455/brian-phillips-boxing-career-freed-american-slave-tom-molineaux

so I started reading this piece, posted here Hereby BECW washout and all around villain Subdevil,and when it mentioned that wreslting throws we're permitted in early boxing, it made me think...Would the knuckles up style of bare knuckle boxing be better suited to defending the takedowns?

Think about it...fists held palms up are already in position for under hooks, and in most of those old images, the guys tend to have a fairly wide stance too, giving them a lower center of gravity and a better base to defend wrestling.

Of course, this might not be the best way to avoid leg kicks, but when you are fighting a guy who is primarily a wrestler, it makes sense.

Think about how Njokuani looked against Castillo...aside from the hand position, he had a pretty wide base himself. Far wider than normal MT stance.

p

Is that why that posture evolved?

Sorry for the terrible formatting...my iPad sux on BE fanposts.

So, I just came back from the seminar Wanderlei was doing in Lille, France. First things first, Wanderlei is awesome. There must have been 75 people taking part in the seminar and was super friendly the whole time and gave technical pointers to pretty much everyone during the exercises. After a quick warm up, Wanderlei went at lenght over a lot of the basics of MMA, mostly clinch work (battling for underhooks, clinch trips, knees from the clinch, then knees from the clinch and knees from the clinch.) and ground work with a big focus on the ground striking ( GnP from standing positions, stomps, GnP from guard and elbows from bottom position which was especially interesting).

After three hours of seminar, Wanderlei took the time to discuss with the participants ( something he stressed was very important to him). He spoke about the situation of MMA in France ( MMA is still illegal here) which led to a very interesting explanation of his vision of MMA and what it means to him going back from his early days when he first started at Chute Boxe. He then answered questions: He said he doesn't plan to retire after the Belfort fight, feels good right now and fights because he loves it. He also explained that he's been doing this since he was fourteen and that he doesn'tknow what he will do after he's done doing it and chose to not think to much about it and enjoy the remainder of his career. He considers the Lidell fight as his best fight ( and I quite agree with it as this fight contains everything i love about Wanderlei, and I find it quite interesting about the kind of guy he is that he chose this fight.) He then took the time to take a picture with every people present ( there was forty people in the stands watching in the stands in addition to the participants. I had a great time as Wanderlei is one of the fighters that introduced me to MMA, one of my all time favorites and it was an honor meeting him.

Mike Pierce was in town with his trainers (Phil and Robert from Sports Lab) at the Affliction warehouse/store/training center/custom speed shop paradise in Seal Beach, Ca and MMA Rants Today caught up with him for a quick interview. Mike was nice enough to bring the Oregon weather with him, as it was raining pretty heavily in Sunny Ca. It was a gloomy day but we still had a blast. Mike's a very personable guy as are his coaches. After the interview we went a did a little shopping in the Affliction store, while there Robert/Phil and Mike told stories from the early days of MMA and Mike's days as an apprentice on the jobsite. All in all it was a good morning, Enjoy.

Find Mike Pierce online:
@mikepierce170
Facebook.com/mikepierce170
Sports Lab

That’s It!
Anthony Dominguez
comedian.writer.lover…Editor in Chief @ MMARantsToday.com

Rumble young man Rumble

Hey folks,

Am currently reworking my site, so it's a little messy at the moment, but I wanted to advertise my newest post a little. It's basically a reading list for strikers, only the first part mind you - there is plenty more to be said. You might have read all of them but I would love to hear in the comments how you feel about my first choices, and what you would recommend to a young beginner or a veteran striker alike.

http://www.fightsgoneby.com/2012/01/strikers-reading-list-part-1.html

Also, please notice my swanky new domain name www.fightsgoneby.com

Bookmark me and add me on twitter @JackSlackMMA

Cheers,

Jack

Hi Guys i write on a blog called 'What i talk about when i talk about fighting'. i cover mma, kickboxing and boxing. im going to the netherlands this weekend for Kickboxing and have written a little preview for the event. I will also write a follow up post a few days after.

At the end of this month I have the good fortune of attending the biggest kickboxing event since the demise of the Japanese promotion K1. The event is being held by the Dutch promotion ‘It’s Showtime’ who are undoubtedly looking to take other the helm as the premier organisation for the sport. The event is bizarrely taking place in the northern Dutch town of Leeuwarden due to political pressures inside the Netherlands as well as the promoters hoping to steer clear from the Dutch equivalent to the Hell’s Angels whom have links to many fighters in the sport.

The event features 7 of the top ten heavyweight in the sport as well as good selection of fighters at lighter weights. The most prominent name on the card is the always controversial Badr Hari, whose talent and knockout power is often overshadowed by moments of madness both in and outside the ring. Having been twice disqualified from fights for illegally kicking downed opponents, most notably in his fight against Remy Bonjasky in the 2008 K1 Grand Prix final. Hari has also spent time in Jail for assault and was once spotted wearing a t-shirt in support of a recently incarcerated drug lord. However, Badr Hari remains the most potent attacking talents in the sport with an extensive list of knockout wins over a who’s who of kickboxing (Peter Aerts, Ray Sefo, Alistair Overeem, Glaube Feitosa, Semmy Schilt, Stefan Leko, Errol Zimmerman, Ruslan Kareav…). Despite this Hari has announced the fight on the 28th of January will be his last as he will attempt to transfer is talents to the sport of boxing. The decision for Hari’s departure from Kickboxing is no doubt due to the collapse of K1 and lack of sizeable paydays in a sport that appears to be dying.

His opponent will be fellow top Heavyweight Gokhan Saki. While Saki possesses perhaps the most technical stand up in the division he seems to suffer from the lack of a proper crusierweight division in kickboxing. At 5’11 and 15 stone he is often a lot smaller than his opponents, despite this he still has garnered success in the division. Saki qualified for the 2010 K1 Grand Prix after knocking out Freddy Kemayo, and progressing to the semi-finals after a gruelling battle with Daniel Ghita. In the semi final Saki would take on the eventual winner Alistair Overeem, Saki went into the fight with a broken arm and gave a tremendous effort even knocking down Overeem with a spinning kick (which was wrongly not counted by the referee), before Alistair landed a kick to the broken arm of Saki which forced him to stop fighting.

Saki’s biggest strength are his lightening fast combinations which he usually punctuates with kicks, for these to be truly effective he will need to get on the inside of Hari’s long reach, which wont be easy. At 6 foot 6 Badr Hari uses his reach to fire devastating straights down the pipe, always getting the better of opponents who try to match him blow for blow. The fights which Hari has lost in recent years are were all against opponents who were patient enough to counter his aggresivness and land shots on his Achilles heel, his weak chin.

Despite his 63 knockout wins, Hari has been on the receiving end of 7 KO’s perhaps suffering due to his early start in the sport that saw him fight men much older than him while he was still a teenager. While kickboxing is generally a volatile sport where even the very best are prone to brutal knockout defeats (Ernesto Hoost, Peter Aerts, Andy Hug…), Hari’s chin is far more susceptible to giving out on him due to the damage its already taken in his career, such as his 2006 loss to Australlian Peter Graham’s spectacular trademark kick ‘Rolling Thunder’. However given the disparity in reach and size I would expect Hari’s jaw to be mute issue as he remains one of the most destructive fighters on the planet and will probably be able to stop Saki within the first three rounds.

Ironically, Saki perhaps has the better boxing skills than Hari and would probably benefit more from a move to boxing provide he fought as a cruiserweight. The Golden Glory fighter will also be leaving the sport of Kickboxing to become a mixed martial artist, a career move that has the potential to go either way.

The co-main event of the evening is a rematch of Hesdy Gerges and Daniel Ghita for the ‘It’s Showtime’ Heavyweight title. The original fight took place in march 2011 and while it only lasted 9 minutes it was filled with exciting back and forth action, especially the second round where Ghita dropped his gloves and let Gerges fire countless punches to his exposed jaw. The fight was not without controversy as a low blow to Ghita was counted as a knockdown by the referee, and while Ghita came back in the third round the ruling definitely affected the judges decision.

Hesdy Gerges famously won the title by disqualification after getting illegally kicked in the face by Badr Hari in 2010. While it would be somewhat harsh to describe that as good fortune, Gerges needs a big win here to cement himself as one of the best in the world after failing to qualify for the 2010 K1 GP losing to Semmy Schilt and recently losing a shock upset loss to up and comer Rico Verhoeven in a close but controversial decision. Similarly, Ghita has alos lost some of the momentum he built on the back of his clinical knockout win over Errol Zimmerman in 2010 and his devastating barrage of leg kicks that stopped the tough Russian Sergei Kharitanov back in 2009.

Both men have similar styles and statures (Gerges 6’6, Ghita 6’5), with both being reliant on leg kicks. Their first fight showed Gerges to have the speed advantage in the earlier rounds, where as Ghita began to find success going to the body of the Egyptian. The rematch is now scheduled to go 5 rounds, probably an attempt to avoid the controversy a 3 round title fight can generate. The extra rounds should give the advantage to Ghita should he come on stronger in the later rounds given Gerges tendency to noticeably tire after the first round.

For the rest of this entry go to http://talkaboutfighting.blogspot.com/2012/01/its-showtime-55-leeuwarden.html

From your MMA-loving friends over at SB Nation's fantasy sports blog, here's a brief look at the underdogs for Saturday's UFC on Fox 2 show.

Click over for the full story

http://www.faketeams.com/2012/1/25/2735209/ufc-on-fox-2-underdogs

Saturday's UFC on Fox 2 show is going to be a can't-miss sporting event. The main card kicks off at 8 PM Eastern on Fox. Here's a look at the three big fights from the perspective of the underdog.

Phil Davis +175 (fighting Rashad Evans -165)

Saturday's main event is a fight that nearly happened five months ago back in August at UFC 133. As it turned out, Davis was injured and Tito Ortizfilled in as Rashad Evans's punching bag for the night. Phil Davis will fare better than Tito Ortiz did against "Suga" and Davis has the goods to win this fight. A win for Davis ruins the much-anticipated Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans showdown. Yet if Davis wins impressively, UFC fans will jump on Mr. Wonderful's bandwagon.

Rashad Evans has more UFC fights (13) than Phil Davis has in his pro career (9). Entering his sixth UFC fight, Davis is taking a big step up much like Evans did in his sixth UFC fight (vs. Tito Ortiz at UFC 73). With wins against top-level light heavyweights like Nogueira and Gustafsson, Davis has earned his shot at Evans and the #1 contender status.

Davis can beat Evans, especially if he has healthy and has made continued progress in his stand-up game since his last fight in March 2011. Against Evans, Davis will have the size advantage. The biggest question in this fight is who has the wrestling advantage? And it's an answer we'll only know once the fight starts. Five rounds is a long time for two skilled light heavyweights to battle without a finish, so if you are going with the underdog here, go with Davis by submission to hedge your bet.

Ben's fantasy pick: Phil Davis by submission round 5

Click over for the full story

http://www.faketeams.com/2012/1/25/2735209/ufc-on-fox-2-underdogs

Make sure to exercise your fantasy fight pick muscles by entering your picks on:

Sherdog MMA Pick Em Game

MMA Playground

MMA Weekly's Head-to-head Fantasy Leagues

MMA Junkie's Head-to-head Fantasy Leagues

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http://twitter.com/RondaRousey

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Ronda sent Miesha the following tweet:

Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Miesha Tate will defend her title for the first time when she meets Ronda Rousey March 3. It will broadcast live on Showtime from Columbus,OH.

https://twitter.com/#!/FrankGrillo

Interview with Frank Grillo, who played Frank in Warrior. For this role Frank trained with well known mixed martial arts trainer Greg Jackson.

Frank Grillo, is now playing Diaz in The Grey.

THE GREY Trailer 2012

In Alaska, an oil drilling team struggle to survive after a plane crash strands them in the wild. Hunting the humans are a pack of wolves who see them as intruders.

The Grey movie hits theaters on January 27, 2012.

Liam Neeson leads an unruly group of oil-rig roughnecks when their plane crashes into the remote Alaskan wilderness. Battling mortal injuries and merciless weather, the survivors have only a few days to escape the icy elements — and a vicious pack of rogue wolves on the hunt — before their time runs out. The Grey movie trailer 2012, official teaser trailer, is presented in full HD 1080p high resolution.

THE GREY 2012 Movie Cast: Liam Neeson, Dallas Roberts, James Badge Dale, Dermot Mulroney, Frank Grillo Director: Joe Carnahan Genre: Action

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Ok well sorry I didnt post this yesterday but here is a very simple and basic recap of an absolutely AWESOME training session. The teacher yesterday was Henrique Rezende,who has been training under Marcelo since he was 14. He is a really nice guy and holy crap he is so damn good at what he does. I got lucky and was paired up with a purple belt who was actually assisting Henrique in the drills so I could not have had a better training partner. He also taught me some cool little tricks that were not part of the lesson and was surprised how quickly I picked up on the moves, which felt good to hear. The first thing we learned was a take down and after we learned two reversals from the half guard. I don't have the time to go into detail about it now but one of the reversals we ended up taking the back leading to a rear naked choke and the other was a sweep into the other guys half guard. I really am hooked and I was so eager to learn and still am! I cannot wait until tomorrows training session because it will be awesome. Keep all tips and advice coming because I want a need it all plus I appreciate it as well. Thanks!

Just for a laugh, MMA fighters and their doubles:

• Randy Couture – Jason Statham
• Rich Franklin – Jim Carrey (too obvious I know!)
• Forrest Griffin – Tommy Lee Jones
• Josh Koscheck – Harpo Marx
• Don Frye – Tom Selleck
• Dan Severn – Freddie Mercury
• Stephan Bonnar – Christopher Walken
• Kenny Florian – Ben Stiller

Not all of them are strictly 'look-a-likes', some are just people who for some other reason strike me as having similarities.

Any others you'd care to suggest?