Author: Anton Tabuena

Georges St-Pierre does not like rollercoasters at all.

Georges St-Pierre may have faced and beaten some of the scariest fighters in the world, but that doesn’t mean he’s actively seeking that adrenaline rush on his free time.

While a huge subset of fighters identify as thrill seekers and adrenaline junkies, the former two-division champion says those things don’t interest him at all. GSP was in Universal Studios this past weekend, and the MMA legend revealed why he’s scared of “extreme” things like rollercoasters.

“I’m kind of a coward with the rides,” St-Pierre told Bloody Elbow’s Eddie Mercado. “I’ve done a lot of extreme things in my life, but I’m the kind of guy that when I have free time I don’t enjoy doing this because I don’t like doing roller-coasters. I’m kind of scared, you know?

“I’m a little bit afraid of heights,” he said. “I used to be very scared of heights, now I think I get better with time on it, but I just don’t like it.”

St-Pierre, who has been open about battling anxiety, especially before his fights, says he doesn’t need the “stress” involved with thrill rides. The self proclaimed dinosaur nerd and paleontology enthusiast says he’d rather go to attractions involving those hobbies of his.

“I don’t like to have superficial fear. I have enough stress in my life, I don’t like to add more,” he explained. “If I have friends that like to do the ride, I like to watch them enjoying the ride. But to do it myself, it’s not really my thing.

“I like video, like Jurassic Park ride, stuff like that, it’s more enjoyable for me. Stuff that make me turn like I come out of a hurricane, it’s not really my thing. Like an adventure ride, that’s more my thing. And if there are dinosaurs, it’s even better!”

St-Pierre, 41, also says he’s finally free from his UFC contract.

Gordon Ryan was dwarfed by two massive World’s Strongest Man winners.

Just a day before his UFC Fight Pass Invitational 3 main event, BJJ star Gordon Ryan still decided to take on two mammoth sized men and World Strongest Man winners.

Ryan, who is one of the best grapplers in the world now, is pretty big and strong in his own right. Standing 6’2 and bulking up to around 230 lbs due to methods widely common in BJJ, Ryan has used that size and a whole lot of technique to go on an incredible unbeaten run in recent years. The jacked BJJ star was still completely dwarfed in his recent training session though, as he trained with two decorated Strongman champs “The Mountain” Thor Bjornsson and Martins Licis.

The Game of Thrones star and 2018 World’s Strongest Man in Bjornsson is 6-foot-9 and has recently slimmed down since that title win when he was around 450 lbs. The 2019 winner in Licis on the other hand, is 6-foot-3 and has gone as high as 360 lbs in his career.

Ryan joked that the session with the two was the most “terrifying night of my life.”

Watch the entertaining session between two massive but inexperienced grapplers going against one of the best in the world.

Size and strength matters a lot and there are weight classes for a reason, but the five-time ADCC champion in Ryan showed again that a massive gap in technique can overcome all of that. The two Strongman stars probably aren’t used to be moved around by other men these days, and both described it as a humbling experience.

“Literally went against the best and got humbled quite badly,” Bjornsson wrote about the session. “This guy is next level!”

Licis on the other hand, called the session an “epic and humbling honor.”

The youngest ever UFC fighter has a lot of confidence, but according to Aljamain Sterling, not enough gym etiquette.

Raul Rosas Jr. was signed to compete in Dana White’s Contender Series at age 17, and then won his official UFC debut this past weekend after just turning 18. While most pundits hope the teenage prospect would be slowly built up to reach his potential, Rosas instead immediately asked to be “fast tracked.”

He doesn’t just think he has the “potential” to be a future champion, the youngest ever UFC fighter believes he is already good enough to finish Aljamain Sterling today.

“I don’t know what the plan is, but I hope they’re trying to fast track me because I’m ready,” Rosas told MMA Fighting. “Like I said, if they offer me a fight for the UFC belt right now, I can not only go out there and win, but I can also finish whoever has the belt, which right now is Aljamain Sterling.”

Rosas, who had seven fights in a little over a year, says he’s fighting often because he wants to show he’s “ready” for the elite now, instead of spending more time to develop.

“If I knew that I wasn’t on the level, if I didn’t have nothing to offer to the table, I would have fought every four months, that way I could improve,” he said.

“All I see is gold. If I know that I can’t be champion, I would slow down a little bit, but I know I can be champion right now if I was to fight for the belt right now. This is why I’m taking my career so quick, because I know I have everything to win that belt right now.”

Sterling seemingly laughed off the teenager’s remarks.

Whether or not it’s where Rosas gained some of that immense confidence, it’s worth noting how the pair has already had a couple of training sessions together. According to the UFC champion in Sterling, Rosas was a bit of a “prick” in their few interactions, with the teenager needing to be taught about proper gym etiquette.

“I grappled him twice,” Sterling said about Rosas in an older podcast. “The second time I went there to drill and they did this ‘King of the Mat’. I told him I was taking it easy for the day, just trying to get a sweat in and not go crazy. He was trying to pass my guard but doing like this on my head (motions with arms), DJ-ing me on my head. I chuckled, like ‘okay, this guy’s being a little prick right now.’

“Like I barely know this kid. Then I look over to the right, and there’s his dad with the f—king camera recording. Like ‘oh, this is a f—king show and tell right now! This is what you’re doing? You’re just recording shit and don’t say nothing?’ Like cool, you guys have champions that come in here and you’re just completely disrespectful,” Sterling recounted.

That’s just a shitty personality. You would think the kid — someone would’ve taught him some etiquette, like going into gyms and working out with other people, but I guess not,” he said. “Didn’t ask (to record videos), nothing. It was weird.”

Former UFC title challenger Al Iaquinta also weighed in, saying “if that camera comes out, we’re freaking going. It’s not going to be like (light drilling)”

“I don’t even want to do that,” Sterling said, “It’s not what I came there to do.”

Rosas is 7-0 in his young MMA career, with every bout happening in a little over a year.

Jon Jones became the youngest ever UFC champion when he beat Shogun Rua to win the title at 23 years and 242 days old. Rosas still has a lot of time if he wants to go for that record, but any talk about titles are just immensely premature after just one win.

Getting to the top is definitely a lot easier said than done, and unnecessarily rushing his development just doesn’t seem like a great idea regardless.

The URCC is still doing their thing 20 years later.

Outside of Japan, which has pioneers such as Shooto and Pancrase that pre-date even the UFC, the URCC has been the longest running MMA promotion in Asia. In a tough sport that has seen countless regional organizations come and go, the Philippine promotions’ longevity has certainly been impressive.

When I first joined Bloody Elbow around 15 years ago, the very first MMA event I covered was a URCC show. Already running for five years back then, URCC still held bouts in a ring, and the card I attended featured young URCC champs and future ONE stars such as Eduard Folayang and Eric Kelly, along with the father — yes, you read that right — of a future UFC fighter.

So much has changed since then with the URCC, the MMA industry, and with me personally. I don’t get to attend as many events as I did as a young contributor, with all the behind the scenes work I do now as managing editor, but I made an exception for this 20th anniversary event aptly dubbed as “URCC 81: Decades of Success.”

The URCC, which has also promoted a couple of shows in the US, held this milestone event in Okada Manila. Now hosting MMA fights in a cage and under unified rules in recent years, the URCC has certainly updated with the times since they first started. Perhaps the current state of combat sports was reflected here, as the card also included three bareknuckle boxing bouts, a hip hop group writing and performing a walkout song to the delight of the crowd, and a couple of popular YouTubers.

Anton Tabuena

The event had a nice mix of good local and foreign fighters, with fresh talent making their mark and securing nice finishes. One of the notable standouts was Filipino BJJ star Eros Baluyot overcoming adversity on the feet to win his MMA debut against a far more experienced veteran in Mark Abrillo.

With it being a 20-year anniversary show, the URCC also made sure to invoke some nostalgia, booking former champions such as Caloy Baduria and Will Chope, along with other longterm stars. The one-time UFC veteran in Chope returned to win the interim welterweight title, his third belt with the URCC, while the OG brawler in Baduria — who also competed in the old card I mentioned above — joined the insane main event 3 vs 3 contest.

These 3 vs 3 team MMA bouts are becoming a trademark of the URCC in recent years, and this iteration had Team Philippines taking on much bigger foes in Team Korea.

These group brawls have always been bonkers, but this edition was particularly bloody and brutal thanks to one of the Korean fighters viciously — and illegally — stomping on the head of a grounded opponent twice.

The blatant fouls got the Filipino crowd angry and livid, but calmer heads prevailed, and the bout continued after a disqualification and an injury eliminated fighters from both teams. It ended up 1 vs 1 as Baduria showed his trademark heart and brawled with a far bigger opponent. It wasn’t enough though, with the referee eventually stepping in for a standing TKO to award Team Korea with the win.

Highlights and results can be seen below.

Full URCC 81 results:

3 vs 3 MMA: Team Korea (Cho Won Tae, Jeong Minhun, Jeon Young Jun) def. Team Philippines (Caloy Baduria, Sugar Ray Estroso, Bullet Manliclic)

MMA: Will Chope def. Arvin Chan by Submission (Rear Naked Choke), R1

MMA: Mariano Jones def. Gester Maglaque by TKO (ground and pound), R1

MMA: Dunlee Stewart def. John Tirona by KO (Punch), R1

MMA: Eros Baluyot def. Mark Abrillo by Submission (Toehold), R2

Bareknuckle boxing: Joseph Cabral def. Raymond Damsa by TKO, R1

Bareknuckle boxing: Dondon Serrano def. Sherwin Niro by KO, R2

Bareknuckle boxing: Mark Jalaron def. Denzel Dimaguila by TKO, R1

MMA: Rhyle Lugo def. Alex Aballe by TKO (Ground and pound), R1

MMA: Kimbert Alintozon def. Junie Kimayong by Submission (Rear Naked Choke), R2

Manny Pacquiao beat up a Korean celebrity martial artist DK Yoo.

After his failed (and expensive) campaign to become the President of the Philippines, boxing legend Manny Pacquiao is now also heading to the exhibition circuit. Much like his former rival in Floyd Mayweather did, Pacquiao will return to the ring against a YouTuber.

The eight division world champion is competing in South Korea against DK Yoo, a 43-year-old celebrity martial artist. Yoo has his own “Warfare Combat System” and claims to have an extensive background in martial arts, but doesn’t have any pro fights to his name.

Perhaps I’m wrong, but he seems to be more of a celebrity influencer and film fight coordinator than an actual fighter, so Pacquiao shouldn’t have much of an issue despite the size difference.

The event can be streamed live on Fite TV or on the embeds below. Two prelim bouts will be broadcast free starting December 10, at 8 p.m. ET. The PPV portion will start December 10, at 10 p.m. ET, with the ring walk expected to begin at around 1 a.m. ET.

Free live stream for prelims:

PPV card live stream:

The full fight card, videos and complete results are below:

PPV card:

• Manny Pacquiao def. DK Yoo by Decision (Unanimous)
• Nico Hernandez def. Jae Young Kim by Decision (Unanimous)
• Min Wook Kim def. Marcus Davidson by KO, R5
• Abel Mendoza vs. Min Guk Ju ends in a draw
• Seung Ho Yang def. Sean Garcia by Decision (Majority)

Prelims:

• Maurice Lee def. Shin Yong Kim by Decision (Unanimous)
• Marcell Davidson def. Yoon Bin Han by TKO
• Hye Su Jang def. Ye Ji Lee by Decision (Unanimous)
• Heong Kyu Kim def. Nam Shin Kim by TKO, R2

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Conor McGregor has fired back at Joe Rogan.

After Conor McGregor’s own curious statements seemingly admitting use of banned substances to “heal,” Joe Rogan spoke openly about the Irishman’s “massive” muscle gain and possible PED use.

“It seemed exactly like (McGregor was justifying PED use),” Rogan said on his podcast about McGregor’s recent comments.

“Not only that. He’s taking his shirt off and posing constantly and he looks like his piss would melt that USADA cup,” he said. “Like it would just like burn a hole right through the bottom of that USADA cup.

“The weird thing is that there is a loophole in USADA that allows you to get out of the testing pool. You can just juice up.”

Unsurprisingly, McGregor responded on twitter and took aim at the 55-year-old UFC commentator’s martial arts background and physique.

“Joe looks like his piss melts his knickers, in the company that long and never took a fight hahaha @ufc oh tae kwon do competitions, call the cops hahahahaah,” McGregor wrote in a tweet that was deleted soon after posting.

Rogan has been pretty open about using testosterone and human growth hormone in the past. As McGregor noted though, the commentator isn’t really a pro athlete, and Rogan himself previously said that the only thing he’s trying to cheat with that is “old age.”

McGregor isn’t the only former champion that took himself out of the USADA testing pool while recovering from injury. T.J. Dillashaw, who previously tested positive for EPO, has recently followed suit now that he’s facing a long layoff due to shoulder surgery.