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Toronto BJJ: Not Just a Place of Fighting, an Institution of Learning

Just down the street from the Christie Pits, there stands a building painted blue. It is a rather ordinary structure lining the endless string of businesses along the busy Bloor Street West corridor. Stepping through the front door, there appears a wor…

Just down the street from the Christie Pits, there stands a building painted blue.

It is a rather ordinary structure lining the endless string of businesses along the busy Bloor Street West corridor.

Stepping through the front door, there appears a worker behind a front desk while several sweat-drenched people sit around on stools looking mightily exhausted.

The mood of the folks inside gives off the impression this place is a lounge of sorts, or an Internet café without the Internet.

But over in one corner is a locked cabinet full of shiny trophies and covering the walls are gold-plated belts and medals and pictures of men dressed in gis.

Now you know what you have walked into. You have just entered Toronto BJJ.

One of the city’s top martial arts academies, the club opened its doors at the corner of Bloor Street West and Crawford Street in 2006. It has since become hugely popular, boasting a contingent of over 600 students and a staff of 10 instructors.

The gym offers its members a variety of classes ranging from Muay Thai to submission wrestling to judo to women’s self defence.

And just like its name suggests, the club is home to a world-class Brazilian jiu-jitsu program that provides both basic and advanced classes as well as women’s and even kid’s BJJ.

But unlike the common perception that martial arts facilities exist only to house sanctioned violence, an afternoon spent at Toronto BJJ demonstrated it is much more than that. It is, at its core, an institution of learning.

Armed with a group of hungry pupils, the club enlists a group of quality instructors who seem to truly love what they do for a living.

“Teaching, for me, is a great pleasure,” said Jorge Britto, the second degree BJJ black belt and head instructor at the club. “When I see some of my students getting belts or competing or changing their lifestyle, becoming healthier and making different choices, that for me is already a big pay cheque.”

For others, their love of pedagogy combined with the financial incentive made becoming a martial arts instructor an easy career choice.

“I love to teach others and I love to pass on whatever knowledge I have,” said David Bodrug, who teaches a mixed martial arts class. “So I jumped on the opportunity to make money doing that.”

But while teaching remains a strong passion for all, there is no doubt these men are fighters first and foremost. For some, the combat aspect always trumps everything.

“Fighting. Fighting for sure,” said lead Muay Thai instructor O’Denva Phillips without hesitation when asked whether he preferred to teach or to fight. “When I started, I had no intentions of teaching, it just kind of fell into my lap. It kind of happened out of the blue.”

Whatever their motivations to instruct, it became clear after watching a few classes that Toronto BJJ employs some of the very best, giving the business so much confidence in its ability to retain newcomers that it even offers a 30-day free trial.

“We believe in our product,” said Ryan O’Shea, manager of the gym. “We believe in our gym, in the environment here. We’re committed to our product.”

While the clientele mostly consists of men, the gym also aims to attract females through offering women’s only BJJ and Muay Thai classes. The goal is to show the public anyone is welcome to join what has become a diverse, yet tight-knit group.

“That’s sort of our motto: train as a team and a family,” said O’Shea while describing his club’s brand. “We’re not a bunch of meatheads here.”

O’Shea’s thoughts were closely echoed by Britto, who has been teaching BJJ at the gym since 2008.

“We work really hard, we have no ego here, we try to work as hard as we can and keep humble,” Britto said. “We keep that point of view to improve ourselves every single day. We help each other and I believe a family environment makes the whole difference.”

A student can ask for no more than to have a teacher who truly cares about assisting them on their path to greatness, and after spending an afternoon with the instructors at Toronto BJJ, it is clear they have the staff to accomplish that.

So the next time you hear someone say martial arts academies exist solely to produce violence, tell them to think again because they are truly so much more than that.

They are places of higher learning and they deserve to be treated as such.

And with a solid foundation already in place after only five years of the club’s existence, Toronto BJJ has nowhere to go from here but up. Way up.

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Kenny Florian’s Career Will Be Made or Broken by Weight Cut at UFC 131

At UFC 131 this Saturday in Vancouver, perennial lightweight contender Kenny “Kenflo” Florian will fight in his first ever match at 145 pounds, a featherweight tilt vs. former WEC fighter Diego Nunes.It will be Florian’s UFC-record fo…

It will be Florian’s UFC-record fourth weight class, after previously competing at 185, 170 and 155 pounds.

Florian decided to drop down in weight for a number of reasons. First, the UFC’s lightweight division was becoming crowded with the WEC merger, especially with the addition of contenders like Ben Henderson and Anthony Pettis.

With the division getting clogged up in talent, Florian’s place in it was becoming unclear.

Second, after losing to Gray Maynard at UFC 118 in a No. 1 contender’s bout, Florian was all but assured a career as a 155-pound gatekeeper, especially after Dana White said he “choked” in big fights.

Florian, after all, had two cracks at the lightweight title previously, losing to Sean Sherk at UFC 64 and B.J. Penn at UFC 101.

And third, Florian dropped down for the challenge to satisfy his inner desire to become a champion.

Although he remains adamant he wants to be the lightweight champion one day, chances are that opportunity has passed him by. So he has set his eyes on the Jose Aldo’s 145-pound belt instead.

Although it isn’t set in stone, Florian may very well be next in line to Aldo’s strap. On a fairly recent episode of “MMA Live,” Florian (an analyst on the show) asked White if he would get a title shot were he to dispatch Nunes, to which White replied, “probably.”

It does make sense.

The featherweight division is shallow, as Florian is already the most recognizable fighter in it, even though he hasn’t fought at the weight yet. With Florian’s name value, the UFC could potentially promote Florian and Aldo as the main event on a pay-per-view.

The other thing is, there aren’t many contenders at 145 pounds right now. With the unbeaten Chad Mendes hooking up with Rani Yahya, the No. 1 contender’s spot is up for grabs.

If Florian can defeat the 16-1 Nunes—who, by the way, is Aldo’s teammate—he would be more than deserving. But that’s a big if.

Nunes is no walk in the park. Down on the scorecards to former WEC featherweight champion Mike Brown in his UFC debut back in January, Nunes battled back with a busted-up eye to win a split decision.

His excellent kickboxing skills and stellar Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu make him one of the top dogs in the world at 145 pounds.

Florian is walking into dangerous territory this weekend. Should he defeat Nunes, he will likely get the next title shot. But if he loses, his career will be sent into limbo.

Not good enough to contend at 145 or 155 pounds, and already 35 years old, Florian would need to seriously rethink his MMA career should he fall to Nunes.

This is his last shot.

Florian’s career will be made or broken with his weight cut at UFC 131.

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Royce Gracie Needs to Fight at UFC 134 in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

On Monday afternoon, legendary mixed martial artist Renzo Gracie was a guest on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, and the two discussed a variety of interesting topics. Perhaps the most noteworthy, though, was Gracie’s desire for one of his nam…

On Monday afternoon, legendary mixed martial artist Renzo Gracie was a guest on Ariel Helwani’s The MMA Hour, and the two discussed a variety of interesting topics. Perhaps the most noteworthy, though, was Gracie’s desire for one of his namesakes to fight during Zuffa’s return to Brazil at UFC 134.

“I hope Royce fights,” Renzo Gracie said. “To have a Gracie fight there would be great—great for the fans to have someone from my family fighting. I hoped to do it, but I don’t have the time to concentrate to it.”

Renzo Gracie is right. UFC 134 just wouldn’t seem right without a member of the infamous Gracie clan fighting on the card. After all, it was the Gracie’s who helped refine Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu into the beautiful art it is today, and it was Royce Gracie who won UFC 1, in the process, showing the fight world that size doesn’t matter.

It is unarguable that the Gracie family has played a key role in developing the sport of mixed martial arts into what it is today. Not only did Helio and Carlos Gracie create Gracie Jiu-Jitsu, but Rorion Gracie is a co-founder of the UFC and it was at his insistence that Royce represent the Gracie family at UFC 1.

To say the Gracies helped MMA evolve doesn’t do the family justice; the Gracies are mixed martial arts, especially Royce Gracie.

That’s why Royce Gracie needs to fight at UFC 134. He actually wanted to fight Matt Hughes in a re-match to avenge his loss to the power-bombing wrestler, but Gracie’s idea was nixed when Hughes was given a date with Diego Sanchez at UFC 135. Still, there are plenty of other intriguing matchups to make.

While indications are that he has yet to meet with Dana White since making his intentions to comeback known—the pair never met up at the UFC Fan Expo in Toronto when they were supposed to—now is the time for the two sides to get together, what with UFC 134 only a few short months away.

The card, as it stands, is stacked with Brazilian talent, including middleweight kingpin Anderson Silva defining the 185-pound title, the legendary Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira in his return from a year-and-a-half long hiatus and former UFC light heavyweight champion Mauricio “Shogun” Rua in his first fight since dropping the belt.

In all, UFC 134 has 10 bouts that have been confirmed to some degree, so with the company’s recent trend of holding 12 fights on a card, there is still room for Royce Gracie to fight. With the addition of Royce Gracie to the card, UFC 134 has the potential to be something truly special for not only does Royce Gracie mean a lot to MMA, but he means even more to the people of Brazil.

Royce Gracie needs to fight at UFC 134 in Brazil. He holds an impressive legacy in the history of the sport and it’s safe to say the UFC wouldn’t exist today if he didn’t help put it on the map that one winter’s night in Denver, Colorado.

Put the man on the card, because not only does he want it, but it’s safe to say the fans want it too.

And with everything Royce Gracie has done for mixed martial arts, it’s truly the right thing to do.

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Clay Guida Doesn’t Deserve a Shot at the UFC Lightweight Title Just Yet

At “The Ultimate Fighter 13 Finale” on Saturday evening in Las Vegas, Clay Guida outwrestled the flashy Anthony Pettis in taking a unanimous decision victory over the last WEC lightweight champion. It was by far the biggest win of Guida&rsq…

It was by far the biggest win of Guida’s career and immediately launched him into the upper echelon of the UFC’s stacked lightweight division.

In wake of the win, Guida told Joe Rogan he was ready for a title shot. Although Pettis was promised a shot at the 155-pound title by UFC president Dana White had he emerged from this fight victorious, the same pledge was never made to Guida.

Those who believe Guida deserves a title shot point to his recent four-fight win streak. They forget just who he has fought during those four victories.

Shannon Gugerty? A guy who has a sub-.500 record (2-3) in the UFC, and someone who only diehard fans have heard of. Yes, Guida did win the “Submission of the Night” award for his arm-triangle victory, but Gugerty is nothing special.

Rafael Dos Anjos? Another guy with a .500 record in the UFC (3-3). Although Guida looked fantastic in breaking Dos Anjos’ jaw in this fight, it’s not like the Brazilian is one of the best in the division.

Takanori Gomi? Aside from delivering a flash knockout to Tyson Griffin last summer, Gomi has looked nothing like the fighter who ran through PRIDE in his other octagon battles, losing by submission to Guida and Kenny Florian.

Don’t forget that before this recent streak Guida lost two fights in a row, a barn-burner to Diego Sanchez and a choke-out loss to the aforementioned Florian.

Even with his victory last night, Guida still only holds a 9-5 record in the UFC. And although his move to Greg Jackson’s camp has clearly rejuvenated his career, one cannot forget his overall body of work in the Octagon when considering how worthy he is of a title shot.

Guida is definitely an exciting fighter. He pushes an unrelenting pace through his fights, has some of the best cardio in the sport, sports a cast-iron chin, and has a likeable and unique personality. He’s fun to watch and root for.

To fight for the UFC gold, however, requires a sustained body of excellence, and Guida hasn’t demonstrated this just yet. If four wins in the span of a year earns one a title shot, like proponents of Guida believe, then what about Melvin Guillard?

Like Guida, Guillard has won four in a row and like Guida, Guillard’s fights are exciting to watch. He has also been in the UFC for what seems like forever, and even has a similar UFC record to Guida at 10-4. But you don’t hear fans clamoring for Guillard’s title shot.

Of course, there’s Jim Miller, he sports a 9-1 record inside the UFC including a current seven-fight win streak. It just doesn’t make sense for Guida to get a crack at the gold before Miller, especially considering Miller’s only two career losses have come at the hands of Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard, the top two guys in the division.

The easiest thing to do is to pull Miller from his fight with Ben Henderson and set up a No. 1 contender showdown between he and Guida. Both of these guys are on the cusp of stardom but really need a victory over a consensus top-10 lightweight to firmly entrench their place in the division.

With Edgar and Maynard hopefully culminating their trilogy in the fall, the timing is right to hold a late-summer/fall tilt between Miller and Guida to determine who gets the next crack at the belt. The winner of that fight would without question be deserving of fighting for UFC gold.

Defeating Pettis is no doubt a massive feather in Guida’s cap. But it’s not enough for him to get a title shot, at least not just yet.

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Is the UFC Close to Signing Shooto and Sengoku Featherweight Champ Hatsu Hioki?

On Tuesday, the Shooto 143-pound Lightweight Champion Hatsu Hioki made waves by announcing that he was relinquishing his belt, starting rumors all over the mixed martial arts community that one of the consensus top-five featherweights in the world was …

Along with the collapse of Sengoku, where Hioki reigns as its featherweight champion, it seems as if the path is soon to be clear for the Japanese superstar to make his way to the United States.

As per @thefightshow on Twitter,

“Hatsu Hioki will be in attendance at #UFC 131 in Vancouver on 06/11 according to @shuhirata.”

While he is still technically under contract with Sengoku, the promotion’s financial difficulties and impending doom mean his release and subsequent signing with the UFC should only be a matter of time.

There is no doubt that UFC featherweight matchmaker Sean Shelby is licking his lips at the possibility of bringing in Hioki to prop up one of the promotion’s shallower weight classes.

Hioki is a world-class fighter who has defeated the likes of Mark Hominick, Marlon Sandro and “Lion” Takeshi Inoue.

The 27-year old holds a career record of 24-4 and has lost only once in his past 14 fights, a tough split decision loss to fellow featherweight kingpin Michihiro Omigawa at Sengoku ’11.

Clearly, the UFC could use someone of his caliber to challenge its own featherweight champion, Jose Aldo, because right now there aren’t many contenders at 145 pounds.

According to Mauro Ranallo, the former Pride commentator and current voice of Strikeforce, Hioki isn’t far away from getting a shot at the UFC’s 145-pound title. When asked on Twitter where he thought Hioki stands in the current featherweight ladder and whether he would get an immediate shot at Aldo’s belt, @mauroranallo responded

“I think they want to introduce him first but he would be no more than a win over a contender away.”

Who could that contender be?

Chad Mendes, the UFC’s top guy outside Aldo as of this moment, just took a fight with Rani Yahya and so he’s booked.

Mark Hominick is on a medical suspension after his head almost exploded at the hands of Aldo during UFC 129. But since Hioki is being introduced at UFC 131, it could be that the UFC wants to set up a fight with someone competing that night, barring injury of course.

So it comes down to three names: Kenny Florian, Diego Nunes and Dustin Poirier.

Although Florian is making his 145-pound debut after competing as a middleweight, welterweight and lightweight during his UFC career, he is a recognizable name and the UFC would surely love for him to defeat the unknown Nunes and challenge Aldo for the belt.

But if Nunes wins, he’s probably next in line, and it wouldn’t make sense to give Hioki someone coming off a loss, which is why Poirier might make the most sense. He destroyed Josh Grispi at UFC 125 even though he was a heavy underdog and if he defeats Brit Jason Young at UFC 131, he needs to fight a top guy next. Cue Hioki.

Obviously, this is all speculation at this point. Hioki first needs to sign with the UFC and the two big featherweight fights at UFC 131 still need to occur first. But with Aldo recovering from a shoulder injury and getting ready for a fall return, the UFC needs to have a viable contender ready for him.

Whether it’s Florian, Nunes, Poirier, or even Hioki himself is not clear yet. What is clear, however, is that the UFC seems ready to bring in another top-ranked fighter, furthering its status as the premier mixed martial arts destination for not just North Americans, but for fighters from all around the world.

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Don’t Cut “The Ultimate Fighter” Kendall Grove, UFC, Send Him to Strikeforce

At UFC 130, Kendall “Da Spyder” Grove took on middleweight newcomer Tim “The Barbarian” Boetsch in a preliminary fight aired on Spike TV. After being out-grappled and controlled by Boetsch almost the entire fight, Grove—the winner of season three of The Ultimate Fighter—lost the fight by lopsided unanimous decision, with all three judges scoring the fight 30-27 for his opponent.

The disappointing performance by Grove came on the heels of his uninspiring, unanimous decision loss to Demian Maia at The Ultimate Fighter 12 Finale, and in the UFC, two losses in a row is sometimes enough to give you your walking papers. By that accord, no one should be surprised if Grove is cut from the UFC this week.

But should he be cut? If one looks at his mediocre 7-6 record inside the Octagon, then one might lean towards yes. After all, the UFC is all about housing the very best mixed martial artists in the world, and for a guy who has lost four of his last six fights, there probably isn’t room, even in a relatively shallow middleweight division and even if that fighter once won The Ultimate Fighter.

The UFC, by all their rights, should purge Grove from their active middleweight roster. But Zuffa, the parent company of the UFC, should not let him get away so quickly. Instead, they should make Grove the first UFC fighter to directly crossover to Strikeforce.

When the UFC purchased Strikeforce, Dana White was adamant that there would be no super-fights featuring the best Strikeforce fighters coming over to the UFC while they still had contracts with Showtime.

This shut off all possibilities of superstar Strikeforce champions like Alistair Overeem, Dan Henderson, Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza, Nick Diaz and Gilbert Melendez coming over to the big show, at least for the time being. Of course, once the Strikeforce fighter’s contracts were up with Showtime they were free to cross over, and Jason “Mayhem” Miller became the first one to do so, signing with the UFC just over a month ago.

But at the same time he said this, White also made it known that he wasn’t adverse to doing things the other way, with UFC fighters going to Strikeforce instead. An opportunity has presented itself for Grove to be the torchbearer of this.

Strikeforce, at present, has a relatively shallow middleweight division, especially with losing the personable and marketable Miller. Aside from middleweight kingpin Souza, the heavy-handed Robbie Lawler, American hero Tim Kennedy and the fighter-turned-actor Cung Le, there really isn’t much at 185 pounds in Strikeforce.

If Strikeforce is truly here to stay for at least a few more years, the promotion needs a new influx of middleweights because the fans are getting tired of stale rematches and want new challengers at 185 pounds, especially fighters they know. A UFC veteran like Grove, who is still only 28 years old, would be a good addition and a solid solution to this dilemma.

At 6’6” and only 185 pounds, Grove is a matchup nightmare for most middleweights, even if he has had mixed success in the cage up until this point. As seen in his submission victories over Jake Rosholt and Alan Belcher, and even in his recent loss over Boetsch, Grove’s long limbs have the capability to make fighters tap out at anytime.

And while he has been far from consistent inside the cage—he holds an overall record as a professional mixed martial artist of just 12-9—he has fought and defeated some talented fighters during his career, including the aforementioned Belcher and the late Evan Tanner.

It might not make sense to match him up with some of the top Strikeforce middleweights just yet, but at the very least, Grove would present a good challenge to the young guns trying to make a name for themselves on the Strikeforce Challengers cards.

After spending so many years developing and promoting him, Zuffa should not give up on Grove just now. He is just 28 and still has the opportunity to improve as a mixed martial artist. But it’s become obvious he is not talented enough for the UFC, at least not at this point in his career.

And after seeing Keith Jardine lose four fights in the UFC, win a few in smaller shows, and then take a short-notice (albeit controversial) draw over consensus top-15 light heavyweight Gegard Mousasi, exposing Mousasi’s porous takedown defence in the process, anything can happen in this sport.

So make Grove the first UFC fighter to directly crossover to Strikeforce, and let the chips fall where they may. At the very least, it would be an interesting experiment in seeing just what Zuffa is able to do now that they own the two biggest mixed martial arts promotions in the world.

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