Posts Tagged ‘mma’

UFC Struggles To Sell Tickets For Their Latest Event

November 30th, 2009 Ross Everett

Portland, Oregon has long been considered a hotbed of mixed martial arts. The area is home to numerous MMA gyms, the most famous being Greshams Team Quest. Regional MMA promotions like Matt Lindlands SportFight and amateur MMA draws good crowds, and theres few markets in the country that have such a strong mainstream acceptance and understanding of mixed martial arts.

The UFC scheduled their Rose City debut for August 29th, headlined by a matchup between local hero Couture and tough PRIDE vet Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. They anticipated a fever pitch for Coutures homecoming and the UFCs first ever trip to the Pacific Northwest.

What they received instead was an outpouring of apathy from the community. As of early this week, there had been as few as 8,500 tickets sold in the 21,000 seat Rose Garden Arena. Even media sources like Yahoo Sports, who invariably put a positive spin on everything the UFC, does are reporting just over 10,000 tickets sold.

Earlier in the week Zuffa announced the postponement of a WEC event scheduled for Youngstown, Ohio. The official reason given was an injury to main event fighter Ben Henderson, and while thats not been confirmed several sources have indicated that he did suffer a minor setback during training. Some suggest that the real reason was poor ticket sales.  Read more...

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Brock Lesnar’s 5 Toughest Challengers

November 29th, 2009 Ross Everett

In the aftermath of Brock Lesnars 2nd round TKO victory over Frank Mir the prevailing attitude toward him from mainstream fans has experienced a sudden and seismic shift. Before his past two fights many were questioning whether his credentials justified giving him a shot at the title, with some even unfairly comparing him to EliteXC YouTube sideshow attraction Kimbo Slice. In the aftermath of Lesnars UFC 100 victory the new question surrounding the former WWE champion has become who can beat this guy? Lesnar definitely is a freaky physical specimen combining size and strength with speed and agility. Hes also progressing by leaps and bounds as a fighter with every bout. Still, hes got a big deficit in experience to make up on the job as UFC heavyweight champion.

Lesnar is no doubt a handful for any opponent, but in many ways has been the beneficiary of favorable matchups throughout his MMA career. More recently, Frank Mir made a serious tactical error, thinking that he could absorb a beating on the ground and wait for a submission opportunity. Lesnar had gameplanned Mir perfectly, and implemented a fight plan that allowed him to pound his opponent mercilessly while avoiding the risk of submission. Neither observation is meant to diminish the significance of Lesnars victories, but to underscore the fact that hes not unbeatable. Heres five fighters who could do it:  Read more...

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The MMA Legacy Of Helio Gracie

November 29th, 2009 Ross Everett

Helio Gracie–patriarch of the legendary Gracie MMA family–died earlier this year in Rio De Janeiro at age 95. His influence on martial arts, and even more so the sport that is known known as mixed martial arts, is staggering. The Gracie family name will forever be synonymous with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, MMA and the UFC due to the accomplishments of Helio Gracie and his progeny.

Helio Gracie began training in judo early in life, and by the age of 16 had already begun to teach others in his native Brazil. He was bothered by judo’s reliance on ‘brute strength’, however, and along with his brother Carlos began to adapt many of its forms to a new fighting system more reliant on leverage than strength. This prompted the creation of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ), frequently called Gracie Jiu Jitsu in his honor.  Read more...

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Strikeforce Signs BJJ Specialist ‘Jacare’

November 29th, 2009 Ross Everett

The San Jose, CA based Strikeforce MMA promotion recently announced that they have signed Brazilian middleweight Ronaldo Jacare Souza to a multifight contract. He is expected to make his Strikeforce debut on the same October event as recently signed Fedor Emelianenko, which will be broadcast on the Showtime premium cable network. Though it didnt receive anywhere near the media attention of Emelianenkos rejection of the UFC for Strikeforce, MMA experts know full well that ‘Jacare’ is a top notch acquisition.

In a statement released by the promotion, Souza expressed his pleasure at the signing:

I am very excited that I will have the opportunity to fight in STRIKEFORCE amongst many of the worlds best middleweight fighters. STRIKEFORCE has an extremely deep roster of top middleweight fighters. I am looking forward to the challenge and to taking my career to the next level.

Souza is better known in Japan simply as Ronaldo Jacare. He got the nickname in his hometown of Manaus, Brazil”its Portuguese for a species of alligator that is common to the area.  Read more...

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Five Things that have Gone Totally Wrong with Freestyle!

November 29th, 2009 Al Case

The problem with freestyle is that it has changed into the simple act of fighting. Sounds contradictory, I know, but I began learning martial arts back in the middle of the last century, and I have seen a different face of freestyle. This was a freestyle that was actually more effective, easier to learn, and made students evolve into better human beings.

Now, I have nothing against MMA, or UFC, or learning ground and pound and all the other modes of freestyle. Truth, I think some of this stuff would have been awfully useful back when I was beginning. That said, consider the following points.

Controlled freestyle in the martial arts effectively died when people started putting on pads and protective gear. Sure, we occasionally wore pads back then, but the purpose was for injuries that had occurred. The breaking point, however, was when school owners realized how much money there was to be made in selling protective gear, they pandered to mothers fears, which stopped little Johnny from learning about true control, and effectively stopped the personal growth stage of the martial arts.  Read more...

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The Historical Roots Of MMA: Muhammad Ali Vs. Antonio Inoki

November 29th, 2009 Ross Everett

Decades before mixed martial arts became popular in the United States, events matching fighters of different fighting disciplines were very common in Japan. They weren’t called “mixed martial arts” at the time, but that’s essentially what they were.There’s an entire history of pro wrestlers fighting specialists from other martial arts (particularly judo) that were leaving out, but during the’70’s Antonio Inoki began to put the concept of “mixed martial arts” on the map with his matches against fighters from other disciplines.

Inoki would often face other martial artists in fights that are widely accepted to have been “worked” (having a predetermined outcome) in the same manner as professional wrestling matches. While Inoki faced a number of karate, judo and boxing champions his most famous match was certainly his fight against world heavyweight boxing champion Muhammad Ali.  Read more...

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Dana White And The UFC

November 28th, 2009 Gregory Barnes

Ultimate Fighting Championship or more commonly known as UFC is fast becoming one of the most recognized sports in the world. They show live shows in over 50 countries ranging from the U.S to Australia. The sport is taking off in such a way no one would have expected. It’s amazing to look back just a few years ago to when the UFC was barely known.

So how did this transformation take place? It seems quite impossible! It mostly took off due to Dana White and the majority owners Fertitta brothers backing. Dana White has turned out to be the Messiah of MMA he has almost single handedly made MMA as popular as it is today. Did you know that Dana was born in Manchester, Connecticut? White grew up in Las Vegas, Boston and Levant, Maine. White is a fierce Boston Red Sox fan. During his youth, he bounced back and forth between Las Vegas and Maine. He attended college in Boston for two years but did not finish; however, while there he did launch a boxing program for inner-city children.  Read more...

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Notable Rounds of UFC 94

November 28th, 2009 Diego Penn

MATT ARROYO VS. DAN CRAMER: Round 3 – Arroyo has a major black eye as the left side of his face swells. The fighters trade blows in the center of the cage, and Arroyo finally secures a takedown of his own. Cramer, though, looks for the triangle choke, but without the position, he allows Arroyo to take sidemount and then his back. Arroyo climbs onto his back and sinks in a rear-naked choke. Cramer won’t tap and breaks free of the choke, but Arroyo still has his back. After throwing some punches from behind, Arroyo again attempts the choke as he locks in a body triangle. Cramer wiggles free and is able to turn free and take top position. Now working from inside his opponent’s guard, Cramer rains down elbows. The pace slows as Cramer works elbows. Mazzagatti steps in and restarts them. Arroyo shoots lazily, and Cramer collapses on top of him and immediately rains down elbows that find their mark. Arroyo looks for the triangle choke, but Cramer pulls back and frees himself. With a sense of desparation, Arroyo looks for a submission, but Cramer closes out the round with a flurry of ground and pound. Dan Cramer def. Matt Arroyo via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28).  Read more...

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Most of What You Learn From Martial Arts Dojos Will Get You Killed In A Real Fight

November 26th, 2009 Vincent Grammar

91% Of What You’ve studied From Your Local community Dojos, Or Strip Mall Dojos, Will Get You Murdered In A Real Street Fight.

Hi, I am Vincent Grammar, an ex- . I looked big and strong, but mentally I lacked the confidence and tough guy mindset. What I’ve mentioned up there is the absolute truth. All the fighting skills you have acquired from these local martial arts dojos are merely gym classes. You receive the regular exercise for increasing your health and their goal is to make profits from you. Most of them never really teach you self-defense in a REAL fight with actual full speed and power. State regulations prohibit instructors to physically harm a student. So how are you ever going to learn to fight for REAL? Now I’m not suggesting every one of these schools are bad. Many places are true tough fighting schools, however I have no way of telling you which ones are the real deal since I’m not from your area.

Most of the things you’ve learned from your schools are about peace above all else and avoiding all fights and conflicts because these only causes more problems. Your masters tell you the “Violence is not the answer… ” speech then supposedly train you about self-defense. That was my mindset before I learn the real truth in fighting.  Read more...

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Things You Never Realized Of Fighting Clubs And Organizations

November 26th, 2009 Vincent Grammar

Usually when someone thinks of the fight clubs, the picture that immediately comes to mind is of well fit, powerful willed fighters, giving everything they can into the fights even at the price of their own lives. Despite all of the laws and rules, there are some real fight clubs meeting in hidden locations where people from all over gather to view these stimulating competitions.

Well not all fight clubs are of this threatening type and for some, they could come across fake, overrated men who considers thrashing one another makes them rough guys. Well the secret is that many of the so-called fight clubs are simply teasing ones, more like an entertainment show with a lot of actors.

There are indeed fight clubs formed by teenage boys, needing to feel being macho and hard like they see in flicks. They may form a band of fight groups, challenging each other in fights that aren’t too damaging and most are just sporty stuff. Being an affiliate of the fight club seems to give these fighters a sense of toughness. Although there are those grown up adults with jobs and high fame pounding one another competing for real prize money and popularity. Essentially there are numerous of the kind of smaller-scale fight club that’s a form of a downgrade version of the genuine fight clubs.  Read more...

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