Posts Tagged ‘martial-arts’
September 6th, 2010 | 
Author: Can anyone give me some training tips to get in shape for the fight MMA cons? I do not want to take classes to learn about the experience. As my father used to fight and kick-box and the box martial arts and did what I think would be …
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Fight fans living in southern California find themselves having an exploding selection of choices in all things fight related. Take Mixed martial arts in San Diego for instance. You are likely to believe it may take more than great …
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MMA In San Diego | Natural Alternative Choices
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Ecko-Unlimited is known as a brand name apparel supplier that caters to martial arts competitors and their fans by providing a quality products of t-shirts, Mixed martial arts shorts, thermals, and hoodies. Their own unique types of …
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Ecko Unlimited Dresses Up MMA Fans In Style
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KO 1 Igor Vovchanchyn – PRIDE Total Elimination 2003 – August 10, 2003
“Right leg hospital, left leg cemetery.” Maybe the greatest, and certainly the most intimidating, quote in mixed martial arts history, and it definitely applies to the fighting style of Cro Cop, who used his signature left head kick to blast out the vastly underrated Vovchanchyn out in the first round. It was Cro Cop’s sixth MMA win against no losses and two draws, and coupled with his knockout of Heath Herring two months earlier, it put him right on track for a shot at the PRIDE heavyweight title.
KO 1 Dos Caras Jr. – PRIDE Bushido 1 – October 5, 2003
Before Cro Cop would get that shot at the interim heavyweight belt though, there was a little business to be taken care of, as he helped kick off PRIDE’s Bushido series against pro wrestler Dos Caras Jr. Now mind you, this will never match some of Cro Cop’s big wins over legit competition, but as far as being a guilty pleasure, it doesn’t get any guiltier than this. Looking almost disdainful at the mask-wearing Caras (yes, he wore his pro wrestling mask during the bout), Cro Cop walked down his opponent until he saw an opening, and a single left kick to the head dropped Caras as if he were shot. It took just 46 seconds.
Lsub2 “Minotauro” Nogueira – PRIDE Final Conflict 2003 – November 9, 2003
Unbeaten in nine mixed martial arts bouts, the K-1 kickboxing standout finally got his first shot at the belt against Brazilian superstar “Minotauro” Nogueira, and for the first round of their interim title fight, Cro Cop was firing on all cylinders as he inflicted a frightful beating on Nogueira, punctuating the round with a kick to the head that dropped his foe to the canvas. Expected to finish the job in the second stanza, Cro Cop instead got taken to the mat immediately by Nogueira and submitted via armbar. It was a crushing defeat, but the first round did show what Cro Cop could do to a future Hall of Famer.
KO 1 Aleksander Emelianenko – PRIDE Final Conflict 2004 – August 15, 2004
Following the loss to Nogueira, Cro Cop won four of his next five bouts, with the only loss coming via an upset knockout by former UFC heavyweight boss Kevin Randleman (a defeat later avenged). Hoping to put himself in line for another title shot against then-champion Fedor Emelianenko, Cro Cop made his case for a championship fight by fighting the champ’s brother, Aleksander. Only problem was that Emelianenko was perhaps the most physically imposing opponent Cro Cop had met in the PRIDE ring, making him a difficult style matchup. And it was evident in the early going that the Croatian wasn’t going to walk recklessly at Emelianeko, but when he got his shot, he pounced, ripping off straight left hands that would make Manny Pacquiao blush before finishing the bout with – you guessed it – a kick to the head.
KO 1 Wanderlei Silva – PRIDE Final Conflict Absolute – September 10, 2006
After beating Aleksander Emelianenko and sending Josh Barnett, Randleman, Mark Coleman, and Ibragim Magomedov down to defeat, Cro Cop got his shot at the PRIDE belt in August of 2005, but lost a decision to Fedor Emelianenko. Two fights later, he would lose again, this time to Mark Hunt, and some questioned whether he had run his course among the best in the world. But reports of his demise were greatly exaggerated, as he proved in this 2006 Open Weight Grand Prix semifinal matchup against “The Axe Murderer”, who wasn’t only outmatched size wise, but in the striking game. Cro Cop delivered one of his most frighteningly effective performances before lowering the boom 5:22 into the bout.
Wsub1 (strikes) Josh Barnett – PRIDE Final Conflict Absolute – September 10, 2006
There would be no rest for Cro Cop after his win over Silva. In fact, he would fight fellow contender Josh Barnett for the Open Weight Grand Prix crown the same night in Saitama, Japan. But there would be no denying Cro Cop, and after he finished the former UFC heavyweight champ via strikes at the 7:32 mark of the first round, we saw the emotion come rushing to the usually stone-faced Croatian, who had just scored the biggest win of his career.
Wsub3 Pat Barry – UFC 115 – June 12, 2010
Despite three previous wins in the UFC Octagon, there was nothing that brought to mind the fearsome striker that terrorized Japanese rings for much of the previous decade. That changed this June, when Cro Cop survived two knockdowns from equally dangerous striker Pat Barry to roar back, drop Barry with his own strikes and then finish him off with a rear naked choke in the third round. Add in that Cro Cop was more accessible than ever before and after the fight, showing off his sharp sense of humor, and it was as if he finally realized that he’s at his best when he’s enjoying everything in and around the fight. If he does it again this month against Mir, he may be closing in on a UFC title shot.
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Super Seven – Mirko’s Memorable Moments
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When it comes to certain aspects of mixed martial arts, there are few better than Randy Couture. Wrestling, clinch work, ground and pound, ‘The Natural’ is the master.
But at the same time, Couture is a fierce competitor, one who always likes to push the limits. So while the angel on his shoulder is probably telling him to take three-division boxing champion James Toney to the mat in their UFC 118 bout Saturday night and pound him out, is the devil on the other shoulder tempting him to stand with “Lights Out”?
Couture laughs.
“I learned to put that devil in a box a long, long time ago and keep him locked up. He does not get out. I think there are a lot of people who would like to see me stand with James and punch him in his mouth, but I’m a lot more comfortable putting him on his back and punching him in his mouth there.”
Right there is the other part of Randy Couture speaking up, the master gameplanner, the tactician who can rip apart any fighter and come up with a solid plan to beat him. Against guys like Chuck Liddell, Tito Ortiz, Vitor Belfort, Tim Sylvia, Gabriel Gonzaga, Brandon Vera, and Mark Coleman, that was relatively easy, given the fact that they were all mixed martial arts fighters. With Toney, who is making his MMA debut, it gets a little tougher, but Couture and his team have found a way to compensate.
“It’s been a little more difficult because there’s no MMA footage on James and we don’t know what kind of things he’s trying to train to do, and how much is he going to realistically be able to learn between when we started this and the fight,” said Couture. “So we’re predominantly going off his boxing style and technique, and if you take him at face value, that’s basically what he’s dragging up into the cage and he’s pretty confident that’s gonna be enough for him. So I’ve been working pretty diligently with Gil Martinez and Ray Sefo on the striking piece of this puzzle, and figuring out the distance and the angles and the best way to set James up. And obviously I’ve been working diligently with Neal Melanson on my ground game for quite some time now, making some changes and some big improvements in that area of my game. So I think both of those things are gonna come into play in this fight.”
It’s obvious from talking to Couture about the fight, that for him, it’s just another night at the office, a chance to compete and put another big name on a stellar resume that has already landed him in the UFC Hall of Fame. So there’s no pressure on him to ‘defend the honor’ of MMA against the boxing invader. In fact, he’s a big boxing fan himself.
“I’ve always liked boxing and been a fan of it,” he said. “I tried to box when I was a kid, but that was the one sport my mom told me I couldn’t do. (Laughs) Now she thinks that’s pretty funny. But I grew up during the heyday of Muhammad Ali when I was a kid, with (Joe) Frazier, (George) Foreman, Sugar Ray Leonard and all those huge fights happening through my youth and teenage years.”
Now Couture’s the equivalent of an Ali, Frazier, Foreman, or Leonard for younger fighters and fans, a surreal place to be for the 47-year old native of Everett, Washington. But he also went through some role reversal recently when he was the new kid on the block around action film icons like Sylvester Stallone, Jason Statham, Jet Li, Dolph Lundgren, and Bruce Willis while on the set of his new movie ‘The Expendables.’
“I grew up watching Sylvester Stallone movies like Rocky, Rambo, and all those, so to be able to play a part in one of his movies, especially with that great cast of guys, is pretty cool,” he said. “It was certainly a pinch me moment walking on set, especially that first time in Rio when all The Expendables came together for those first scenes. The whole set was electric, and everybody was fired up about it, so it was pretty neat. It was definitely a unique experience for me.”
So here’s the dilemma for most people: if you have a solid role in a major motion picture like that and the possibility of more down the road, does it get harder to drag yourself back to the gym daily for hours of torture that will culminate in James Toney trying to punch you in the face?
Again, a laugh from ‘The Natural’.
“I haven’t found it difficult at all. It’s been a nice break from the normal grind of training camp, but it hasn’t been a distraction and hasn’t been difficult at all.”
What’s the secret of the hold that the sport has on Couture then?
“I don’t know, I think it just becomes part of you,” he said. “You don’t feel right and don’t feel comfortable unless you’re training and in that environment. I’ve kinda gotten used to grinding it out and banging it out. It’s become a part of my life.”
Yet while Couture is understandably comfortable within the confines of the Octagon, it’s his job to take Toney out of his own comfort zone Saturday night, and if he does, it’s going to be a rough night for the former middleweight, super middleweight, and cruiserweight champ.
“It’s real important to take him out of where he’s comfortable and certainly out of that range of exchanging and striking, and it’s not some place where I really want to play around with him,” said Couture. “Statistically, if you look at what he’s done, 80 percent of his knockouts occurred when he was under 200 pounds. He hasn’t had a lot of time knocking out big guys, and with the bigger guys he’s kinda gotten used to them coming after him because he is smaller, and that allows him to use his shoulder roll and his head movement and all the things that he’s known for – that uppercut, left hook, and right hand. It’s obviously a lot different in mixed martial arts for a lot of reasons, and I can’t walk out and come to him the same way I would with some of my other opponents. I’ve got to make him extend himself and make him come after me a little bit, which I think is gonna be something definitely new for him.”
That’s not the only new thing Toney will be dealing with. Just for starters, he’ll have four ounce gloves, no shoes, wrestling, takedowns, jiu-jitsu, and kicks to deal with. And while lifelong wrestlers have been able to adapt striking into their games (see Frankie Edgar, Gray Maynard, and Cain Velasquez, to name just three), history has shown that it’s a lot tougher for strikers to pick up solid wrestling techniques – or better put, to implement solid wrestling techniques.
“Strikers are capable of learning the wrestling – it just takes time,” said Couture. “There’s a muscle memory that comes from years and years of wrestling and it isn’t easy to pick up. It’s one thing to learn the technique by the numbers, and another thing to be able to execute it in real time against a resisting opponent. It seems, at least from my experience, that wrestlers have a particular mindset that they’ve had ingrained in them from the time they were young and learning wrestling technique, and they’ve applied that same mindset to the striking. And it’s still different, even for a wrestler, to learn the striking, but it seems to come easier going that way than going the other way for some reason.”
Most strikers have taken years to make the attempt and they still get taken down by superior wrestlers. Toney has had a mere few months, making this, on paper, an open and shut case for Couture should he survive Toney’s initial onslaught and get him to the mat. It’s the perfect recipe for your typical fighter to get a little overconfident. But Randy Couture is far from typical.
“I’ve certainly looked at the tape and I realize that James poses some interesting problems and is going to be very dangerous early on in this fight,” he said. “And if I get careless or reckless or am overconfident, he’s got the tools and the power to end the night real quick. I give him respect for that and I take that very seriously. So I don’t think there’s any way I can get careless or be reckless or overconfident in this fight. I’ve got to be sharp and I’ve got to be ready to go.”
And he always is.
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No Stone Left Unturned in Couture’s Prep for Toney
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An undefeated record can be a burden for many fighters. It can make them cautious or paranoid, or make them fight not to lose as opposed to fighting to win, Gray Maynard, unbeaten in 11 pro mixed martial arts bouts (10 wins and 1 no contest), is not one of those fighters.
“I don’t really keep up with that stuff,” he says with a laugh. “I get asked what my record is and I couldn’t even tell you. I don’t know how many wins I had in college, I don’t know how many wins I had in high school, but I can tell you every one that I lost because that eats me up. I expect to win, so I’m not counting them. I’m not here to have a chance to win or to hope I win, I’m going into fights expecting to win.”
And that’s when things get serious, when Maynard – one of the most affable fighters in the game – becomes ‘The Bully.’ Because if you agree to compete against him in anything – fighting, wrestling, checkers, etc – it’s on.
“I really love to win and that’s the time that I don’t care who you are,” he said. “We can be close as hell, but when it’s time to train, I’m coming after you. I take that stuff personally. I’m a competitor. Whatever I have to do, I want to win, no matter what it takes.”
Hence the nickname, which he got not just because he owns two bull terriers, but because of the way he approaches competition.
“When I got with (Xtreme) Couture, it was a group of like eight of us and I came in and I didn’t have hands or jiu-jitsu, so I just tried to take everybody down, take a couple punches, and just trying to be a bully,” he recalls. “I always try to change the gears once I start to train, and it’s a whole new man.”
That frame of mind took him through years of wrestling, including a stint at Michigan State University that saw him earn All-American honors three times, and a similarly impressive run in MMA that now has him one win over Kenny Florian away from earning a shot at the lightweight title. Not that he’s looking that far ahead.
“I’m really concentrating on Florian, and it’s hard for me to look past anyone,” he said. “That’s the plan of course, to go out there, kick Florian’s ass and get a chance at the belt, but if I look past this fight, Florian’s face just keeps popping up in my head and that’s fine. I’m happy with that because that’s who I’m going up against and that’s just my mindset – who’s next, and that’s all I care about.”
But before looking forward to Saturday’s bout in Boston, Maynard’s career to this point bears a second glance, especially considering that his last five wins have come over a Murderer’s Row of 155 pounders, including Jim Miller, Nate Diaz, Roger Huerta, and the man who currently owns the belt, Frankie Edgar. And though the 31-year old Las Vegan hasn’t finished an opponent since he knocked out Joe Veres in nine seconds back in 2007, Maynard insists that it’s not from a lack of trying. Instead, he points to the durability of his opposition.
“You want to do that (finish the fight) every time, but I’m asking for the toughest guys and I have to put in a plan and apply that plan,” he said. “If it (a finish) happens, it happens; if it doesn’t, then you’ve got to get the win. This sport is evolving every day and the top guys are getting closer and closer. (Welterweight champ) GSP (Georges St-Pierre), he’s got his hands full with everybody. I don’t see him knocking out guys. I don’t see (BJ) Penn knocking out the top guys. I see it getting closer and closer, and you’ve got to be prepared for that. If you look back at who I’ve had, you’ve got Nate and he’s only been tapped out once and that was against Hermes (Franca). Miller has only had two losses, to Edgar and me, and both were by decision. Huerta has never been stopped. Edgar has never been stopped. (Rich) Clementi has had a ton of pro fights and he’s only been stopped a couple times. Dennis Siver is a tough guy and durable. So you’ve got to have a plan and you’ve got to count on fighting these guys at their best. I’ve had the top guys all the way through, and that’s fine with me.”
And what is impressive about Maynard’s development as a fighter is that he – like Edgar – has become a solid standup fighter, not always the case with those who come from different disciplines. Maynard is quick to credit his coaches with his continued growth.
“I couldn’t have added it all without Gil Martinez and Neil Melanson to help adjust,” he said. “Before, you had the guys who would just do takedown, takedown, takedown, but now you have to have it all, and if you just apply what you’ve learned from wrestling, which is to work hard – then it’s a lot easier to apply it all. We come from a sport where you have to use every part of your body – your hands, your feet, legs, arms, neck – and if you’re doing that for a long period of time, then you know how to apply and to change.”
Maynard has also seen the change in Florian’s fighting style over the years, and while he commends him for such an evolution, he certainly doesn’t see the two-time title challenger as unbeatable.
“He’s a well-rounded guy,” said Maynard of Florian. “He’s been in the UFC a long time, he’s a smart guy, he learns, evolves, and changes a little bit. But he’s definitely beatable and there’s no excuse to not beat him.”
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“He’s coming into New York and he’s saying (MMA) is a good street fight, not even knowing that the advocates don’t want to call it a street fight,” Reilly said, referring to martial arts supporters’ insistence that it’s a legitimate …
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Reilly to Reid: This is our ring – Times Union
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New York, NY, August 19, 2010 – Spike TV will showcase three former cast members of “The Ultimate Fighter,” including the winner of “The Ultimate Fighter 11,” Court McGee, in live undercard bouts from “UFC 121: Lesnar vs. Velazquez” on Saturday, October 23 at 9:00 PM ET / 6:00 PM PT
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Both men point to their fathers as heroes. Both covet the WEC lightweight title.
But the similarities between Shane Roller and Anthony Pettis, inside and outside of the cage, pretty much end there.
Roller was raised a “country boy” in Oklahoma; Pettis grew up in inner city Milwaukee. When Roller describes his childhood, he speaks about it in idyllic terms, reminiscing about a lengthy list of wrestling victories, hunting trips and fun-filled family memories. Pettis’ childhood forced him to grow up fast and cope with the 2003 murder of his father. Roller, a noted grappler, was a three-time Division I All-American wrestler at Oklahoma State University; Pettis, a super-athletic striker, started training martial arts at age five and is a third-degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do. And while Roller is a low-key family man with a wife and two kids, and has no nickname, Pettis doesn’t apologize for being a bit on the flashy side at times, rocking the moniker “Showtime” and allowing an MTV crew to film snapshots of his dynamic life that will soon be broadcasted on the popular cable network.
The paths of Pettis and Roller will collide Wednesday evening in a main card battle at WEC 50 that could see the winner get a crack at WEC lightweight champ Benson Henderson, who is expected to be cageside at The Palms watching them.
“I don’t really want to talk about the title fight and all that,” said Roller, who is riding a three-fight win streak. “That’s what everybody keeps asking me before my last few fights. If I keep finishing fights and doing what I’m doing, the title fight will come.”
Pettis also treaded lightly on the title talk, saying only, “There are big stakes with this fight so it’s important for me to get the ‘W.’”
Strategy-wise, there are no secrets about each man’s intentions in this fight.
“Every fight I get into I’m going to get it to the ground and submit my opponent, that’s where my strength is,” Roller said. “I’ll use my hands to get it there. If I knock him out or use a big punch to get him to the ground then so be it. He’s a tough guy and he finishes fights. He’s never been stopped and that’s what I want to do, I want to finish him.
The 23-year-old Pettis, a knockout artist who trains under highly-regarded Duke Roufus, has made takedown defense a priority and has worked with former UFC champion Pat Miletich, among others, for this fight.
“Shane Roller wants this fight on the ground. He’s a great groundfighter with a good rear-naked choke,” said Pettis, who is 9-1 in his MMA career and whom Roufus compares to a younger version of Georges St-Pierre. “Everybody keeps asking me if I’m afraid to go to the ground with him. I’m not threatened by him; I’ll be ready wherever the fight goes. If he takes me down I have good jiu-jitsu. I definitely want to frustrate him and make it hard for him to take me down … If I keep it standing I can end the fight quickly … But if it goes to the ground I’ve got something for him.”
Pettis is 3-1 in the WEC with two first-round submission victories and one first-round knockout over Danny Castillo. His lone loss was to veteran Bart Palaszewski by split decision. Pettis said he was hampered by a shoulder injury during the bout that eventually required surgery.
A triumph over Roller would be quite a feat given the transplanted Las Vegan’s impressive 5-1 record in the WEC, with his only blemish coming in a bout against Benson Henderson before he won the belt. Roller had hurt Henderson with punches before “Smooth” Ben turned the tables and rallied for a come-from-behind TKO victory.
“I think about that loss with Henderson quite a bit,” Roller said. “There are a lot of what-ifs that cross my mind. I just want to get back to the point where I can have a rematch with him and get that belt.”
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To some it’s an extreme display of martial arts skills and to others it’s a blood sport.
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MMA let loose in Ontario | Ottawa and Region | News | Ottawa Sun
