If you think keeping up with just the MMA events held by the UFC, Bellator, WSOF, Invicta FC, One FC, and others can prove too much to follow, try keeping up with all the mixed martial arts related news. To help those that don't want to spend their hours perusing the web, here is a roundup of the stories that most MMA media sites seemed to have missed.
From Joseph Staszewski of the Bronx Times a look at TUF 19 winner Eddie Gordon's football playing days at Fordham University and how it helped lay the foundation for a successful career in mixed martial arts.
From ABC affiliate KOAT 7 in Albuquerque a segment on Brandon Hussey, a 16 tear old born with a form muscular dystrohy that led to the amputation of his left arm, who is not only studying Brasilian jiu-jitsu, but training alongside fighters IsaacVallie-Flagg and Holly Holm, and dreams of becoming the first amputee fighter in the UFC.
Terrence Hunley of the Amarillo Globe News reports on the upcoming filming of a Showtime reality series in Amarillo that looks at the local fight scene and is titled "Fight Town."
Solomon Crenshaw of AL.com has a profile on former Alabama resident Marcus Brimage who was "too little to play football" but big enough to become an MMA fighter.
From Richard Obert of AZCentral a look at the Safe program, a system of pass rushing and blocking techniques for football lineman that was developed by former NFL players and mixed martial arts enthusiasts Scott Peters and Gabe Watson. It incorporates jiu-jitsu moves, supposedly giving players superior and safer techniques to use on the gridiron.
From Samar Khurshid of the Metro a look at 30-year Staten island resident Chris Pollak, who by day is a mixed martial arts instructor but at night dons a red and blue hoodie to patrol the streets as the super hero "Dark Guardian."
From Jeff Garcia, posting on Project Spurs, a photo of San Antonio Spur power forward Tim Duncan incorporating mixed martial arts training into his Summer workouts.
Some important July dates in combat sports history:
On July 2, 1921 boxing draws its first million dollar gate ($1,789,238 to be exact) for the Jack Dempsey-Georges Carpenter match. This would also be the first title match to be broadcast live on radio.
On July 3, 2010, in a match that failed to impress some, Brock Lesnar comes back from a terrible first round beating to submit Shane Carwin at UFC 116.
July 4th is an important date in boxing. On that day in 1910 'The Fight of the Century" between the black Jack Johnson and the white James Jeffries was held. Johnson's victory would be followed by violent race riots throughout the United States. Also on this day, in 1912, Ad Wolgast defeated Joe Rivers in a controversial decision after a double KO, In 1919 Jack Dempsey dropped Jesse Williard 7 times in the first round on his way to winning the title when the champion retired on his stool between the 3rd and 4th rounds. And future champ Joe Louis made his pro debut on this day in 1934.
On July 5, 2008 Forest Griffin captured the light heavyweight crown from Rampage Jackson in a controversial split decision at UFC 86, becoming the first TUF champion to also wear a UFC belt.
On July 7, 2012 at UFC 148, in a rematch of a bout from two years before, Anderson Silva successfully defended his title against Chael Sonnen, TKOing him in the 2nd round.
On July 8, 2006 Tito Ortiz and Ken Shamrock had their rematch at UFC 61. After what was the most successful season of TUF at that time it would be the most successful UFC event at that date. The non-competitve match would see Tito winning, although controversially, as Ken protested that the fight was stopped too early. A third match would be booked shortly thereafter. The headline for this event was actually a rubber match between heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia and Andre Arlovski, a terrible fight that saw Sylvia winning via split decision.
On July 11, 2009 UFC 100 was held. Headlined by a heavyweight fight between champion Brock Lesnar and interim champion Frank Mir, co-mained by a welterweight title fight between Georges St-Pierre and Thiago Alves, and also including a fight between TUF coaches Dan Henderson and Michael Bisping, it would set a UFC record for payperview sales, boast the best post fight speech, and give us one of the most iconic knockouts in MMA history.
On July 12, 1996 Mark Coleman made his MMA debut at UFC 10, where he won three straight fights including a finale with Don Frye to win the night's tournament.
On July 14, 1995 Ken Shamrock becomes the UFC's first "Superfight Champion" when he submits Dan Severn at UFC 6. The event also saw the MMA debut of Tank Abbott.
On July 19, 2008 Affliction MMA held their first event, titled "Banned" in reference to the sponsor being banned from the UFC. In the main event former PRIDE heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko would need only 38 second to defeat Tim Sylvia. That very same night the UFC counterprogrammed with their own event that saw UFC middleweight champion Anderson Silva moving up to light heavyweight and knocking out James Irvin in 1:01 into the first round.
On July 20, 1973 martial arts star Bruce Lee died due to what is thought an allergic reaction. Six days later his film "Enter the Dragon" would be released to theaters. Because of his popularity and influence he has been referred to as the "Godfather of Mixed Martial Arts.'
On July 23, 1995 Bas Rutten avenges a previous loss by defeating Frank Shamrock via split decision in Pancrase.
On Juy 24, 2009 Affliction MMA officially closed up shop only 11 days before their Trilogy event which was to be headlined by Fedor Emelianenko versus Josh Barnett after Barnett failed a drug test. Soon afterwards the apparel company patched up its differences with Zuffa and returned to the UFC as a sponsor.