For those people wondering why Gray Maynard hasn’t used his wrestling more, you should have seen him at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
Maynard, dawning a singlet during the Grapple at the Garden event, competed against WSOF’s Ozzy Dugulubgov, and scored a decision victory (14-3). A few weeks earlier in Albany, New York, Maynard competed in a three three-minute match with Dennis Bermudez. The old Michigan State looked pretty good, too.
Maynard is wrestling to stay busy (and rooted to the mats), as he gets ready for his next chapter in the UFC. That’s because Maynard, who last fought at UFC Fight Night 47 in August, has signed a new contract with the UFC.
For a guy who has been knocked out four of his last five fights, that prospect was no given. Especially after his last one against the late replacement Ross Pearson in Bangor, Maine, when Maynard succumbed to a barrage of punches in the second round. Many wondered if the 35-year old “Bully”– at one-time the top contender in the UFC’s lightweight division — would consider walking away from the fight game.
He might have. But after getting checked out, he is going to fight on.
“I just got a contract done,” he told MMA Fighting during the Grapple at the Garden. “I talked to Dana and stuff like that. He wanted me to go do all the MRIs and just kind of get checked out from head to toe. He told me, hey man, you’ve got a life after the sport. You’ve got a daughter. He’s cool. He knows my daughter, he knows my girl [Jess], and he just wanted to make sure I got looked at head to toe and he said, if you’re clear, let’s talk. So we talked and I got a new deal.”
In September, after stints training/living in Santa Cruz and Phoenix, Arizona, Maynard and his family moved back to Las Vegas, and he rejoined his original team at Xtreme Couture.
“They’ve really changed it up,” he said. “I came back, and I didn’t know how it would be. But it’s back to the team that it started out to be. It’s cool. Such good coaches over there. Everybody’s together and they’re on it, and I’m pumped to be back.”
He says he’s eying a February or March return to the Octagon, and had been doing these wrestling competitions as a way to make the grunt work fun.
“We’re kind of in that stage where we just moved back home,” he said. ”We’re trying to get everything organized. It’s cool that these things popped up, because I can still keep competing and still keep training, and it keeps me honest. I’m like, ‘yeah, I better get in the room a little bit.’ I try to stay in the room. This is the toughest sport to train for, and everybody knows that. Wrestling day is always the most dreaded day of any gym.”
For those people wondering why Gray Maynard hasn’t used his wrestling more, you should have seen him at Madison Square Garden on Sunday.
Maynard, dawning a singlet during the Grapple at the Garden event, competed against WSOF’s Ozzy Dugulubgov, and scored a decision victory (14-3). A few weeks earlier in Albany, New York, Maynard competed in a three three-minute match with Dennis Bermudez. The old Michigan State looked pretty good, too.
Maynard is wrestling to stay busy (and rooted to the mats), as he gets ready for his next chapter in the UFC. That’s because Maynard, who last fought at UFC Fight Night 47 in August, has signed a new contract with the UFC.
For a guy who has been knocked out four of his last five fights, that prospect was no given. Especially after his last one against the late replacement Ross Pearson in Bangor, Maine, when Maynard succumbed to a barrage of punches in the second round. Many wondered if the 35-year old “Bully”– at one-time the top contender in the UFC’s lightweight division — would consider walking away from the fight game.
He might have. But after getting checked out, he is going to fight on.
“I just got a contract done,” he told MMA Fighting during the Grapple at the Garden. “I talked to Dana and stuff like that. He wanted me to go do all the MRIs and just kind of get checked out from head to toe. He told me, hey man, you’ve got a life after the sport. You’ve got a daughter. He’s cool. He knows my daughter, he knows my girl [Jess], and he just wanted to make sure I got looked at head to toe and he said, if you’re clear, let’s talk. So we talked and I got a new deal.”
In September, after stints training/living in Santa Cruz and Phoenix, Arizona, Maynard and his family moved back to Las Vegas, and he rejoined his original team at Xtreme Couture.
“They’ve really changed it up,” he said. “I came back, and I didn’t know how it would be. But it’s back to the team that it started out to be. It’s cool. Such good coaches over there. Everybody’s together and they’re on it, and I’m pumped to be back.”
He says he’s eying a February or March return to the Octagon, and had been doing these wrestling competitions as a way to make the grunt work fun.
“We’re kind of in that stage where we just moved back home,” he said. ?”We’re trying to get everything organized. It’s cool that these things popped up, because I can still keep competing and still keep training, and it keeps me honest. I’m like, ‘yeah, I better get in the room a little bit.’ I try to stay in the room. This is the toughest sport to train for, and everybody knows that. Wrestling day is always the most dreaded day of any gym.”
In a year where “event” was often an overblown euphemism for “ordinary fight card,” it’s tempting to point out the UFC’s return to Ireland as truly something extraordinary. There was Conor McGregor, the UFC’s finest coxcomb, standing out as the pride of a country in his fight against Diego Brandao. In the weeks leading up, it felt like Elvis returning to do a little fireside ditty at Graceland for a small group of Memphians. He had been out with an ACL, and the UFC catered his return to take place in Dublin.
The thing really couldn’t have played out any more brilliantly, either. Not only did McGregor transcend the moment by downing Brando in the first round, but his countrymen on the card all won, too. There was Neil Seery, taking out Phil Harris. And Cathal Pendred, coming back from the lethargic depths of hell to beat Mike King. There was ol’ Patrick Holohan, Dublin’s own, shutting down Josh Sampo’s carotid factory with a rear-naked choke.
It was a grand celebration. Maybe the finest of the year.
But it takes a backseat to the festivities that took place in Sydney, Australia, nearly four months later. That was the card where Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold settled their very public, very personal beef in the main event. After walking out to “The Battle of New Orleans,” Rockhold choked out Bisping and that was that. But it was much more than that.
Rockhold put an exclamation mark on a piece of history: The fact that UFC Fight Night 55 had no need for judges. Of the 11 fights on the card, none went the distance. The only one that even made it to the third round was the Louis Smolka–Richie Vaculik fight, and that was because Smolka took his sweet time delivering a coup de grâce (kick to the side). Everything else was urgent. It was as if each and every fighter had young kids waiting in the car while they took care of business.
Eleven fights, eleven finishes. The judges were just ornaments.
It may not have looked like the best card of the year on paper (though Bisping-Rockhold was always high-drama), but it played out as the can’t miss event of 2014.
(*This is a slight exaggeration — Tuerxun’s head got whapped with a kick real good but, somehow, stayed intact).
Runners-up for Event of 2014: UFC Fight Night 46: McGregor vs. Brandao; UFC 175 on July 5; UFC 178 on September 27; Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier at UFC 178 press conference (a.k.a. “The Dave Sholler Brawler”)
In a year where “event” was often an overblown euphemism for “ordinary fight card,” it’s tempting to point out the UFC’s return to Ireland as truly something extraordinary. There was Conor McGregor, the UFC’s finest coxcomb, standing out as the pride of a country in his fight against Diego Brandao. In the weeks leading up, it felt like Elvis returning to do a little fireside ditty at Graceland for a small group of Memphians. He had been out with an ACL, and the UFC catered his return to take place in Dublin.
The thing really couldn’t have played out any more brilliantly, either. Not only did McGregor transcend the moment by downing Brando in the first round, but his countrymen on the card all won, too. There was Neil Seery, taking out Phil Harris. And Cathal Pendred, coming back from the lethargic depths of hell to beat Mike King. There was ol’ Patrick Holohan, Dublin’s own, shutting down Josh Sampo’s carotid factory with a rear-naked choke.
It was a grand celebration. Maybe the finest of the year.
But it takes a backseat to the festivities that took place in Sydney, Australia, nearly four months later. That was the card where Michael Bisping and Luke Rockhold settled their very public, very personal beef in the main event. After walking out to “The Battle of New Orleans,” Rockhold choked out Bisping and that was that. But it was much more than that.
Rockhold put an exclamation mark on a piece of history: The fact that UFC Fight Night 55 had no need for judges. Of the 11 fights on the card, none went the distance. The only one that even made it to the third round was the Louis Smolka–Richie Vaculik fight, and that was because Smolka took his sweet time delivering a coup de grâce (kick to the side). Everything else was urgent. It was as if each and every fighter had young kids waiting in the car while they took care of business.
Eleven fights, eleven finishes. The judges were just ornaments.
It may not have looked like the best card of the year on paper (though Bisping-Rockhold was always high-drama), but it played out as the can’t miss event of 2014.
(*This is a slight exaggeration — Tuerxun’s head got whapped with a kick real good but, somehow, stayed intact).
Runners-up for Event of 2014: UFC Fight Night 46: McGregor vs. Brandao; UFC 175 on July 5; UFC 178 on September 27; Jon Jones vs. Daniel Cormier at UFC 178 press conference (a.k.a. “The Dave Sholler Brawler”)
One of the quieter contenders to emerge in 2014 was Myles Jury — an undefeated lightweight who does most of his talking in the Octagon. Heading into UFC 182, Jury is on the cusp of inserting himself into The Conversation. Should he beat the perennial contender Donald Cerrone, one of the most prolific ass-kickers in the game, he’ll no longer be just a blip on the radar. Should he beat Cerrone, Jury will have fully arrived.
Consider his resume. The man who has a nickname of “Fury” (because it rhymes with Jury, see) has stacked a neat row of casualties through six fights in the UFC, including victories over Michael Johnson, Diego Sanchez and, most recently, “The Fireball Kid” Takanori Gomi. At 26 years old, Jury is still getting better.
But Cerrone is his toughest fight to date. “Cowboy” is the gauge. “Cowboy” is the showdown at high noon. When Jury meets him at UFC 182 on Jan. 3 in Las Vegas, the verdict will come back — either Jury will join the crème de la crème in 2015, or he’ll be brushing himself off after his first loss.
This is what’s known as a “pivotal” fight.
And here’s a little holiday conversation with Jury, as he gets set to compete in the biggest fight of his life.
*
You’re going up against Donald Cerrone, who had a great 2014. Do you feel like this is your toughest fight to date? And what do you have to look out for against him?
Just like any career in the UFC, the fights seem to always get tougher regardless of the fighter. It’s the nature of the business — and the business model — to see who the best in the world is. I know that Cerrone is my toughest fight to date. I feel he can be a dangerous opponent for anyone. He’s had a more impressive year than any other fighter on the roster, so as of right now, Cerrone is hands down the best lightweight fighter and the toughest test for me over anyone, including Anthony Pettis.
I’ve been getting better and better since I was 12 years old, and 14 years later, things keep getting better and better each and every day. So I’m doing everything possible and am 100 percent confident I can — and will — beat Cerrone to get one step closer to the title, and prove I’m the best in the world. Not only in the Octagon, but outside the Octagon as well, where most fighters lack. What do I have to look out for? It’s mixed martial arts, so anything can happen…I just need to worry about what I’m going to do to him and my reactions to everything he does.
The end of the year card is traditionally a big one (even as this one occurs at the beginning of the year) — what’s it like for you to fight in a co-main event on such a big PPV alongside Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones?
I plan to start the year off by being another step closer to concurring my goals and dreams. Not everything is about just the fight, it’s more about what you do leading up to your fights and what you do after your fights. But yeah, it started as a goal to get into the UFC, then it was getting on the TV prelims, then it was the PPV main card. Somehow I fought during the morning (U.S. time) in Japan on Fight Pass, and now getting my goal of a pay-per-view co-main event.
I’m doing everything in my power to make the most of it and then move towards getting a main event slot.
It feels like you’ve had a pretty quiet ascent in the lightweight division. Do you feel like Cerrone will be the one to cross you over into the “elite” class perception-wise?
Because I’m not one to sell my soul by acting a fool to make more money? I’m not a sideshow, I’m Myles Jury. I only worry about being myself, what my team and I are doing, and where we’re going. All of my talking is done with results. If anyone wants to think I’m not “elite” because I don’t try to intimidate, trash talk, look down on people, be a UFC trashy mascot — or anything of the such like a lot of fools do — that’s fine. They can think that and it really doesn’t bother me a bit. I usually only click with respectful people anyway. I’ll just continue to take the high road and let my results speak for themselves. Does the undefeated record carry with it additional pressure? Day to day and going into a fight, it’s really not something I think about. I go into every fight as a “must win situation,” where I’ll do anything and everything to pull out the W. The only time I even realize what my record stands at is when people bring it up, or when I see it mentioned by UFC or the media. It’s cool, but I don’t worry about things like that because at the end of the day, all that matters is success, learning, education, my dreams, my goals and where I’m going in the future.
I know that Jake Shields called his brand of jiu-jitsu “American jiu-jitsu,” because he combined wrestling’s aggression with traditional techniques. Describe “Jury Jiu-Jitsu.”
I think his is a style of jiu-jitsu. My style is an always-evolving system for MMA, that blends every martial art that I feel is the most dominate that I’ve learned over the last 14 years. Not only am I a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Caique and Don Richard, but I’ve been traveling the world training every form of striking on the feet, striking on the ground, jiu-jitsu, wrestling, all of it. So these techniques all blend together to be JJJ. They all feed each to tailor to the new era style of MMA, making this style dominant no matter where the fight goes, and unorthodox enough that opponents never know what to expect.
The jiu-jitsu in Jury Jiu Jitsu comes from jiu-jitsu being my first love in martial arts. The overall system is great outlet for anyone whether they aspire to be an elite fighter or just looking for something to bring them a better lifestyle. When I first got started, I had nothing going for me and was sleeping on couches and cleaning gyms to get by. But I was never down, because I had training as an outlet to bring me a better life — not only in the gym, but outside the gym, which is another reason why I stay humble and don’t act a fool.
Speaking of previous occupations, is it true that you used to work at the Detroit zoo? What did you do there?
Yeah, I worked at the Detroit Zoo and damn proud of it. I was young, hungry and didn’t have any money, so it was a no brainer to work there – especially since I love animals anyway. Aside from having fun every day, I wasn’t anything special because I was so young. I was just a grunt worker that helped wherever they needed me or whatever duties that needed to be done that came up. I really enjoyed it, and it was just something to get enough money to have food and basics, while training full time.
Eventually I had to move on and dive 100% into my MMA career. That’s a whole other story, because after training with Jeremy Stephens and a bunch of elite guys in San Diego [at Alliance], I literally packed up and drove to San Diego with just enough money for gas to get me there. I had to even sell some clothes to get gas money. Once I was there I just trained people and whatever I could to get by all the way until I got into TUF Live. Luckily I got a Fight of the Season bonus. So, once I was out of TUF Live and began my UFC career, I was able to put those hard days behind me.
What do you think of the UFC’s lightweight division right now?
Feels like it’s as talent-rich as ever, with Pettis at the top and Khabib Nurmagomedov coming back, Rafael dos Anjos, Cerrone, Gilbert Melendez, et al. There are a lot of great fighters in the division for sure. Cerrone, Pettis, RDA, Khabib — and so many more that aren’t even ranked — are all monsters. I would say this is the most stacked the division ever has been, but that excites me because I would hate to be in a division that only has a couple key fights.
I’ve never really got ahead of myself, so I don’t worry about that stuff. I’ll go to work and think about whichever fighter is in front of me when they’re who I’m matched up with. Until then, I don’t even watch their fights until I’m matched up and forced to study them. I focus my time in areas that interest me a lot more, like my investments and financial education with partner, Robert Kiyosaki of RichDad.com.
When you fight Cerrone, you’ll be closing in on seven years competing as a pro fighter. What do you remember about your first pro fight against Brad Johnson at MFL in Feb. 2008?
That I was young, had a lot to learn but would do anything at all cost to do what it takes to get to UFC and then UFC champion. There was literally nothing else to it and I looked at it as one step closer which is the same thought process I’ve had in every fight.
One of the quieter contenders to emerge in 2014 was Myles Jury — an undefeated lightweight who does most of his talking in the Octagon. Heading into UFC 182, Jury is on the cusp of inserting himself into The Conversation. Should he beat the perennial contender Donald Cerrone, one of the most prolific ass-kickers in the game, he’ll no longer be just a blip on the radar. Should he beat Cerrone, Jury will have fully arrived.
Consider his resume. The man who has a nickname of “Fury” (because it rhymes with Jury, see) has stacked a neat row of casualties through six fights in the UFC, including victories over Michael Johnson, Diego Sanchez and, most recently, “The Fireball Kid” Takanori Gomi. At 26 years old, Jury is still getting better.
But Cerrone is his toughest fight to date. “Cowboy” is the gauge. “Cowboy” is the showdown at high noon. When Jury meets him at UFC 182 on Jan. 3 in Las Vegas, the verdict will come back — either Jury will join the crème de la crème in 2015, or he’ll be brushing himself off after his first loss.
This is what’s known as a “pivotal” fight.
And here’s a little holiday conversation with Jury, as he gets set to compete in the biggest fight of his life.
*
You’re going up against Donald Cerrone, who had a great 2014. Do you feel like this is your toughest fight to date? And what do you have to look out for against him?
Just like any career in the UFC, the fights seem to always get tougher regardless of the fighter. It’s the nature of the business — and the business model — to see who the best in the world is. I know that Cerrone is my toughest fight to date. I feel he can be a dangerous opponent for anyone. He’s had a more impressive year than any other fighter on the roster, so as of right now, Cerrone is hands down the best lightweight fighter and the toughest test for me over anyone, including Anthony Pettis.
I’ve been getting better and better since I was 12 years old, and 14 years later, things keep getting better and better each and every day. So I’m doing everything possible and am 100 percent confident I can — and will — beat Cerrone to get one step closer to the title, and prove I’m the best in the world. Not only in the Octagon, but outside the Octagon as well, where most fighters lack. What do I have to look out for? It’s mixed martial arts, so anything can happen…I just need to worry about what I’m going to do to him and my reactions to everything he does.
The end of the year card is traditionally a big one (even as this one occurs at the beginning of the year) — what’s it like for you to fight in a co-main event on such a big PPV alongside Daniel Cormier and Jon Jones?
I plan to start the year off by being another step closer to concurring my goals and dreams. Not everything is about just the fight, it’s more about what you do leading up to your fights and what you do after your fights. But yeah, it started as a goal to get into the UFC, then it was getting on the TV prelims, then it was the PPV main card. Somehow I fought during the morning (U.S. time) in Japan on Fight Pass, and now getting my goal of a pay-per-view co-main event.
I’m doing everything in my power to make the most of it and then move towards getting a main event slot.
It feels like you’ve had a pretty quiet ascent in the lightweight division. Do you feel like Cerrone will be the one to cross you over into the “elite” class perception-wise?
Because I’m not one to sell my soul by acting a fool to make more money? I’m not a sideshow, I’m Myles Jury. I only worry about being myself, what my team and I are doing, and where we’re going. All of my talking is done with results. If anyone wants to think I’m not “elite” because I don’t try to intimidate, trash talk, look down on people, be a UFC trashy mascot — or anything of the such like a lot of fools do — that’s fine. They can think that and it really doesn’t bother me a bit. I usually only click with respectful people anyway. I’ll just continue to take the high road and let my results speak for themselves.??Does the undefeated record carry with it additional pressure? Day to day and going into a fight, it’s really not something I think about. I go into every fight as a “must win situation,” where I’ll do anything and everything to pull out the W. The only time I even realize what my record stands at is when people bring it up, or when I see it mentioned by UFC or the media. It’s cool, but I don’t worry about things like that because at the end of the day, all that matters is success, learning, education, my dreams, my goals and where I’m going in the future.
I know that Jake Shields called his brand of jiu-jitsu “American jiu-jitsu,” because he combined wrestling’s aggression with traditional techniques. Describe “Jury Jiu-Jitsu.”
I think his is a style of jiu-jitsu. My style is an always-evolving system for MMA, that blends every martial art that I feel is the most dominate that I’ve learned over the last 14 years. Not only am I a black belt in Brazilian jiu-jitsu under Caique and Don Richard, but I’ve been traveling the world training every form of striking on the feet, striking on the ground, jiu-jitsu, wrestling, all of it. So these techniques all blend together to be JJJ. They all feed each to tailor to the new era style of MMA, making this style dominant no matter where the fight goes, and unorthodox enough that opponents never know what to expect.
The jiu-jitsu in Jury Jiu Jitsu comes from jiu-jitsu being my first love in martial arts. The overall system is great outlet for anyone whether they aspire to be an elite fighter or just looking for something to bring them a better lifestyle. When I first got started, I had nothing going for me and was sleeping on couches and cleaning gyms to get by. But I was never down, because I had training as an outlet to bring me a better life — not only in the gym, but outside the gym, which is another reason why I stay humble and don’t act a fool.
Speaking of previous occupations, is it true that you used to work at the Detroit zoo? What did you do there?
Yeah, I worked at the Detroit Zoo and damn proud of it. I was young, hungry and didn’t have any money, so it was a no brainer to work there – especially since I love animals anyway. Aside from having fun every day, I wasn’t anything special because I was so young. I was just a grunt worker that helped wherever they needed me or whatever duties that needed to be done that came up. I really enjoyed it, and it was just something to get enough money to have food and basics, while training full time.
Eventually I had to move on and dive 100% into my MMA career. That’s a whole other story, because after training with Jeremy Stephens and a bunch of elite guys in San Diego [at Alliance], I literally packed up and drove to San Diego with just enough money for gas to get me there. I had to even sell some clothes to get gas money. Once I was there I just trained people and whatever I could to get by all the way until I got into TUF Live. Luckily I got a Fight of the Season bonus. So, once I was out of TUF Live and began my UFC career, I was able to put those hard days behind me.
What do you think of the UFC’s lightweight division right now?
Feels like it’s as talent-rich as ever, with Pettis at the top and Khabib Nurmagomedov coming back, Rafael dos Anjos, Cerrone, Gilbert Melendez, et al. There are a lot of great fighters in the division for sure. Cerrone, Pettis, RDA, Khabib — and so many more that aren’t even ranked — are all monsters. I would say this is the most stacked the division ever has been, but that excites me because I would hate to be in a division that only has a couple key fights.
I’ve never really got ahead of myself, so I don’t worry about that stuff. I’ll go to work and think about whichever fighter is in front of me when they’re who I’m matched up with. Until then, I don’t even watch their fights until I’m matched up and forced to study them. I focus my time in areas that interest me a lot more, like my investments and financial education with partner, Robert Kiyosaki of RichDad.com.
When you fight Cerrone, you’ll be closing in on seven years competing as a pro fighter. What do you remember about your first pro fight against Brad Johnson at MFL in Feb. 2008?
That I was young, had a lot to learn but would do anything at all cost to do what it takes to get to UFC and then UFC champion. There was literally nothing else to it and I looked at it as one step closer which is the same thought process I’ve had in every fight.
Bellator’s bantamweight champion Joe Warren got ready for the holidays with a wrestling match against his good friend and training partner Scott Jorgensen. The two met not once but twice at the Grapple at the Garden event on Sunday.
The former All-American from the University of Michigan wrestler got the better of Jorgensen both times, and he joked after that Jorgensen got a little confused on the mats, forgetting that it was strictly wrestling.
“I’m the best on these mats here,” Warren said. “Scott’s one of the best wrestlers I know, and we were coming after each other. I do that body attack, and you can only hit your back, you do get a chance. I was trying to get out of bounds, and he pulled guard. Okay? And I pinned him. And I laughed and said, Scott, you’re not supposed to pull guard. And he said, s—, I’ve been doing this for six years. Then he called me out after King Mo [Muhammad Lawal] and Rolles [Gracie] did their match, and I was all excited, and we got to go again.”
Warren will put his 135-pound belt on the line on March 27 against Marcos Galvao, whom he scored a decision against back at Bellator 41 in 2011 when both were fighting as featherweights. The so-called “Baddest Man on the Planet” won the bantamweight title against Eduardo Dantas at Bellator 128 in October, and now he’ll continue to face what he calls the “baddest” Brazilians on the planet going forward.
“I think I’ll finish that match faster this time than last time against Galvao,” he said. “He’s a great fighter, I get to give him an opportunity to have a rematch, and you know…they just picked the toughest Brazilian they can find and throw it against me in Bellator. I feel like it’s me against the baddest Brazilians they can find. And they’re some of the greatest competitors I’ve ever worked with, and I’m honored to get in there and go against them.”
At 38, Warren has won five fights in a row by building around his wrestling base. That wrestling pedigree, though, is still what people think about when they talk about the 5-foot-6 Warren, who came into MMA late in the game at 32 years old. His adaptation phase has been an on-going one, but he’s always had wrestling to fall back on.
Asked what he thought of the UFC signing Phil Brooks — better known as pro wrestler CM Punk — to a contract, Warren said that even with the lack of experience, he may surprise some people.
“You know, CM Punk, he’s a good guy — he’s a great guy,” Warren said. “I’ve met him a few times with Chael [Sonnen], and he’s always extremely nice to me. I’ve got nothing but good things to say about him. If he gets an opportunity to get in that cage, let him do his talking with his hands, and we’ll go from there. He might be a great fighter, we don’t know.”
“You can learn fast, but you’ve got to come from a good pedigree that gets that opportunity. I wish him the best.”
Bellator’s bantamweight champion Joe Warren got ready for the holidays with a wrestling match against his good friend and training partner Scott Jorgensen. The two met not once but twice at the Grapple at the Garden event on Sunday.
The former All-American from the University of Michigan wrestler got the better of Jorgensen both times, and he joked after that Jorgensen got a little confused on the mats, forgetting that it was strictly wrestling.
“I’m the best on these mats here,” Warren said. “Scott’s one of the best wrestlers I know, and we were coming after each other. I do that body attack, and you can only hit your back, you do get a chance. I was trying to get out of bounds, and he pulled guard. Okay? And I pinned him. And I laughed and said, Scott, you’re not supposed to pull guard. And he said, s—, I’ve been doing this for six years. Then he called me out after King Mo [Muhammad Lawal] and Rolles [Gracie] did their match, and I was all excited, and we got to go again.”
Warren will put his 135-pound belt on the line on March 27 against Marcos Galvao, whom he scored a decision against back at Bellator 41 in 2011 when both were fighting as featherweights. The so-called “Baddest Man on the Planet” won the bantamweight title against Eduardo Dantas at Bellator 128 in October, and now he’ll continue to face what he calls the “baddest” Brazilians on the planet going forward.
“I think I’ll finish that match faster this time than last time against Galvao,” he said. “He’s a great fighter, I get to give him an opportunity to have a rematch, and you know…they just picked the toughest Brazilian they can find and throw it against me in Bellator. I feel like it’s me against the baddest Brazilians they can find. And they’re some of the greatest competitors I’ve ever worked with, and I’m honored to get in there and go against them.”
At 38, Warren has won five fights in a row by building around his wrestling base. That wrestling pedigree, though, is still what people think about when they talk about the 5-foot-6 Warren, who came into MMA late in the game at 32 years old. His adaptation phase has been an on-going one, but he’s always had wrestling to fall back on.
Asked what he thought of the UFC signing Phil Brooks — better known as pro wrestler CM Punk — to a contract, Warren said that even with the lack of experience, he may surprise some people.
“You know, CM Punk, he’s a good guy — he’s a great guy,” Warren said. “I’ve met him a few times with Chael [Sonnen], and he’s always extremely nice to me. I’ve got nothing but good things to say about him. If he gets an opportunity to get in that cage, let him do his talking with his hands, and we’ll go from there. He might be a great fighter, we don’t know.”
“You can learn fast, but you’ve got to come from a good pedigree that gets that opportunity. I wish him the best.”
Not so long ago, Dana White declared that nobody wanted a piece of Khabib Nurmagomedov, which was of course problematic. Nurmagomedov needed victims if he was going to make a run at the title. After a brief period, Rafael Dos Anjos finally raised his hand…only to see the Dagestani Nurmagomedov get his own hand raised three dominant rounds later.
With Nurmagomedov recovering from ACL surgery and waiting for his shot at the lightweight title, the most intimidating guy that nobody wants to face at the close of 2014 has to be a 170-pound Hector Lombard. After knocking out Nate Marquardt in his welterweight debut, Lombard knocked Jake Shields clear out of the UFC. These feats made volunteers scarce.
Lombard was supposed to fight Dong Hyun Kim in August, but had to pull out due to an injury. When Tyron Woodley — who stood in for Lombard against Kim (and won) — was very publicly offered a fight against Lombard, he just as publicly turned it down.
Just when it began to feel like Lombard was in a kind of matchmaking Catch-22, who should come around again other than Josh Burkman. Mr. Fearless himself returns, just as gallant as you please.
Burkman will take on Lombard at UFC 182 on Jan. 3 in Las Vegas. The last time he fought in the UFC was in 2008, when he lost to Pete Sell. Never mind what he’s done to find his way back to the UFC for a moment, which has been significant. It’s the task at hand that’s of more immediate importance. To be thrown against Lombard in his return fight? This comeback story is destined to have a sad ending.
Or, if you’re Burkman, you know…a story book one.
“I think these stories are the ones that books are made out of,” Burkman tells MMA Fighting. “It’s Rocky fighting the Russian. Real life stories are made out of this. Look at Cinderella Man [James Braddock]. That dude came back and beat people he was never supposed to beat. And he had more to fight for. They interviewed him and they said, ‘what’s the difference this time around?’ and he said, ‘Milk.’ Like, I gotta put milk on the table.”
Burkman is a changed man from the one that lost three in a row in 2008 to get his walking papers from the UFC. He he’s older (34), wiser (no more partying) and healthier (he can tell you stories about holistically healing his back).
The more compact version of Lombard may look like the monster he was tabbed to be when he came over from Bellator with a 25-fight unbeaten streak, but Burkman doesn’t mind going credential-to-credential with him.
“What I’ve been doing, I’ve just been doing it outside the UFC, and Hector Lombard’s been doing it inside the UFC now, and that’s a big difference on platforms, as far as what people are seeing,” he says. “I think, Gerald Harris…nobody had beat Gerald Harris in a decision when I faced him, and I went out there and took a decision from him. I finished a very game Aaron Simpson, and I beat Jon Fitch in a way he’d never been finished. And Tyler Stinson had never been knocked out and I knocked him out.
“So, I think I’ve definitely done the work to get in there and deserve this opportunity, but this is a big. It’s a big opportunity for me and I’m just grateful that I’m able to walk in and be able to take this fight.”
Burkman (27-10) has gone 9-2 since his first stint in the UFC, with runs in Showdown Fights and, more recently, the World Series of Fighting. He last appeared in March against Stinson, whom he put away in a little over two minutes.
Even as he gets set for his 38th pro fight, Burkman remains a little unpredictable. He was expected to lose to Fitch, but needed just 41 seconds to leave him unconscious after a guillotine choke. He was expected then to beat Steve Carl for the welterweight belt at WSOF 6, but got caught in a triangle choke.
Most of the time he’s been good, though. Sometimes very good. He’s a far cry from the guy who limped out of the UFC after UFC 90.
“Did you see the Joe Riggs fight a couple of weeks ago when he slammed Ben Saunders?” he says. “That is exactly what happened to me against Dustin Hazelett [at the TUF 7 finale in 2008]. I slammed him, my arm went numb, and you can see me just lay there for 15 seconds, 20 seconds. Watching that took me back to that night. And then dealing with herniated discs and back problems…you can’t train like a professional fighter needs to train, so you’re not going to perform at the high level that you should be performing at. And that was my career — those last couple fights in the UFC.
“I’m just a different person than I was the first time around. I was 25 years old, I was in the UFC two years into my career and I was just kind of learning while I was in the UFC. And it was just me. All I had to worry about was myself. I could be a little bit more selfish and a little bit more reckless and that wasn’t always a benefit to my career.”
These days Burkman is married, and he and his wife have a child out in his native Utah. He’s at the “milk” portion of his career, and the best place to get milk is, was and always has been, the UFC.
“The goal was definitely to get back into the UFC,” he says. “I was talking to my brother about this the other day. The UFC, it’s the show. It’s where the best fighters in the world are — where the best fighters in the world compete. And for me, I always knew I could compete with them, it was just a matter of getting healthy enough to compete at that level over and over. I proved to myself that I could do that outside of the UFC and then it was just a matter of timing. For me, the better the competition, and the more dangerous an opponent, the more it brings out of me, the better I perform. I feel like competing against the best in the world is going to bring out my true abilities.”
Hence the reason he never balked when matchmaker Joe Silva presented him a fight with Lombard — a 4-to-1 favorite, the guy that nobody wanted to face — in his return fight.
“Every time you go to the gym, and you’re facing a guy like Hector Lombard, there’s just a level of danger. There’s a challenge in that. So it brings out the best in you. And for me it’s just the way I prep for a fight. To me, this is just a great opportunity. It’s a great opportunity to walk into the UFC, and it’s a measuring stick. Do I belong with the top guys in the world? Can I compete at that level? Or am I just a good fighter?”
Not so long ago, Dana White declared that nobody wanted a piece of Khabib Nurmagomedov, which was of course problematic. Nurmagomedov needed victims if he was going to make a run at the title. After a brief period, Rafael Dos Anjos finally raised his hand…only to see the Dagestani Nurmagomedov get his own hand raised three dominant rounds later.
With Nurmagomedov recovering from ACL surgery and waiting for his shot at the lightweight title, the most intimidating guy that nobody wants to face at the close of 2014 has to be a 170-pound Hector Lombard. After knocking out Nate Marquardt in his welterweight debut, Lombard knocked Jake Shields clear out of the UFC. These feats made volunteers scarce.
Lombard was supposed to fight Dong Hyun Kim in August, but had to pull out due to an injury. When Tyron Woodley — who stood in for Lombard against Kim (and won) — was very publicly offered a fight against Lombard, he just as publicly turned it down.
Just when it began to feel like Lombard was in a kind of matchmaking Catch-22, who should come around again other than Josh Burkman. Mr. Fearless himself returns, just as gallant as you please.
Burkman will take on Lombard at UFC 182 on Jan. 3 in Las Vegas. The last time he fought in the UFC was in 2008, when he lost to Pete Sell. Never mind what he’s done to find his way back to the UFC for a moment, which has been significant. It’s the task at hand that’s of more immediate importance. To be thrown against Lombard in his return fight? This comeback story is destined to have a sad ending.
Or, if you’re Burkman, you know…a story book one.
“I think these stories are the ones that books are made out of,” Burkman tells MMA Fighting. “It’s Rocky fighting the Russian. Real life stories are made out of this. Look at Cinderella Man [James Braddock]. That dude came back and beat people he was never supposed to beat. And he had more to fight for. They interviewed him and they said, ‘what’s the difference this time around?’ and he said, ‘Milk.’ Like, I gotta put milk on the table.”
Burkman is a changed man from the one that lost three in a row in 2008 to get his walking papers from the UFC. He he’s older (34), wiser (no more partying) and healthier (he can tell you stories about holistically healing his back).
The more compact version of Lombard may look like the monster he was tabbed to be when he came over from Bellator with a 25-fight unbeaten streak, but Burkman doesn’t mind going credential-to-credential with him.
“What I’ve been doing, I’ve just been doing it outside the UFC, and Hector Lombard’s been doing it inside the UFC now, and that’s a big difference on platforms, as far as what people are seeing,” he says. “I think, Gerald Harris…nobody had beat Gerald Harris in a decision when I faced him, and I went out there and took a decision from him. I finished a very game Aaron Simpson, and I beat Jon Fitch in a way he’d never been finished. And Tyler Stinson had never been knocked out and I knocked him out.
“So, I think I’ve definitely done the work to get in there and deserve this opportunity, but this is a big. It’s a big opportunity for me and I’m just grateful that I’m able to walk in and be able to take this fight.”
Burkman (27-10) has gone 9-2 since his first stint in the UFC, with runs in Showdown Fights and, more recently, the World Series of Fighting. He last appeared in March against Stinson, whom he put away in a little over two minutes.
Even as he gets set for his 38th pro fight, Burkman remains a little unpredictable. He was expected to lose to Fitch, but needed just 41 seconds to leave him unconscious after a guillotine choke. He was expected then to beat Steve Carl for the welterweight belt at WSOF 6, but got caught in a triangle choke.
Most of the time he’s been good, though. Sometimes very good. He’s a far cry from the guy who limped out of the UFC after UFC 90.
“Did you see the Joe Riggs fight a couple of weeks ago when he slammed Ben Saunders?” he says. “That is exactly what happened to me against Dustin Hazelett [at the TUF 7 finale in 2008]. I slammed him, my arm went numb, and you can see me just lay there for 15 seconds, 20 seconds. Watching that took me back to that night. And then dealing with herniated discs and back problems…you can’t train like a professional fighter needs to train, so you’re not going to perform at the high level that you should be performing at. And that was my career — those last couple fights in the UFC.
“I’m just a different person than I was the first time around. I was 25 years old, I was in the UFC two years into my career and I was just kind of learning while I was in the UFC. And it was just me. All I had to worry about was myself. I could be a little bit more selfish and a little bit more reckless and that wasn’t always a benefit to my career.”
These days Burkman is married, and he and his wife have a child out in his native Utah. He’s at the “milk” portion of his career, and the best place to get milk is, was and always has been, the UFC.
“The goal was definitely to get back into the UFC,” he says. “I was talking to my brother about this the other day. The UFC, it’s the show. It’s where the best fighters in the world are — where the best fighters in the world compete. And for me, I always knew I could compete with them, it was just a matter of getting healthy enough to compete at that level over and over. I proved to myself that I could do that outside of the UFC and then it was just a matter of timing. For me, the better the competition, and the more dangerous an opponent, the more it brings out of me, the better I perform. I feel like competing against the best in the world is going to bring out my true abilities.”
Hence the reason he never balked when matchmaker Joe Silva presented him a fight with Lombard — a 4-to-1 favorite, the guy that nobody wanted to face — in his return fight.
“Every time you go to the gym, and you’re facing a guy like Hector Lombard, there’s just a level of danger. There’s a challenge in that. So it brings out the best in you. And for me it’s just the way I prep for a fight. To me, this is just a great opportunity. It’s a great opportunity to walk into the UFC, and it’s a measuring stick. Do I belong with the top guys in the world? Can I compete at that level? Or am I just a good fighter?”
One of the joys of bumping into Muhammed Lawal at any event is that, at some point, if you have a digital recorder or at least an ability to ask questions, you can be made privy to his opinions.
“King Mo” likes to keep things real.
At Sunday’s Grapple at the Garden wrestling event at Madison Square Garden, Lawal was on hand to compete against Rolles Gracie on the mat. Lawal scored a victory in the realm of his default discipline — wrestling — but afterwards weighed in on a couple of things. One of them was Quinton Jackson, the UFC’s latest signee who is, far as anybody can tell, still under contract with Bellator in one disputed form or another.
“It’s not going to happen,” Lawal told MMA Fighting. “[Jackson]’s under contract. If he does end up fighting in the UFC, good luck, but he won’t fight for a year because he’ll be in court. He’s a joke.”
Lawal lost a unanimous decision to Jackson back in May at Bellator 120, which was Bellator’s first (and possibly only) foray into the world of pay-per-view. Back then, under the autocratic rule of Bjorn Rebney, Jackson was, in Mo’s mind, the darling of the dance, which prompted him to accuse the former CEO of “d*ck-riding” on national television.
Lawal keeps just that real.
With Jackson now moving on from the Scott Coker-era of Bellator (probably), Lawal won’t (likely) get his rematch. But there is still one dusky star on the horizon that he’d like to fight, and that’s Tito Ortiz. Ortiz, whom many left for dead after a series of career-threatening injuries and a six-year stint where he managed only a single victory, has won two fights in a row.
“He’s a bitch, too,” Lawal said. “It won’t happen. He don’t want to fight me. He would fight Stephan Bonnar, but he wouldn’t fight me. He would fight Alexander Shlemenko, who’s really a smaller 185er, but he won’t fight me. I’m hood and ghetto — I’m from the South, so I speak the way I speak. I’m not going to hit no switch and be like, ‘oh, hello there.’ I’m keeping it real. He’s a fake-ass dude. All he has to do is admit that he doesn’t want to fight me. If he does that, I’ll leave his ass alone. Keep it real. Tito Ortiz in his prime would never had beaten me ever.”
Never?
“Because what’s he going to do, outwrestle me? Never,” he said. “Here’s where he’ll say, ‘Well I beat Vladimir Matyushenko.’ Yeah, Matyushenko had a Russian style of wrestling that wasn’t offensive. He’s a guy that did cross lifts, leg laces and chest wraps. Tito would never beat me. He’d never have beaten Quinton Jackson. He wouldn’t have beaten any of us. He’s a bum.
“Well, he’s not a bum. He’s a great fighter. But in my eyes, I’d make him look like a bum.”
Lawal, who is coming off of back-to-back victories over Dustin Jacoby and Joe Vedepo, says he’d like to fight again in April or May. Whether that’s against Ortiz or somebody else remains to be seen. But Coker likes to match up his star brands.
Before all of that, though, is UFC 182, in which his good friend and erstwhile training partner Daniel Cormier will challenge the best pound-for-pound fighter in the game, Jon Jones. On this front, Lawal says he’s hoping not only for a good showing from Cormier, but a sustained existential beat-down that Jones will have to think about for years to come.
“I think Daniel’s going to win,” he said. “Personally, I don’t want him to knock Jones out. I want him to beat him 50-45 because, once you get dominated like that, what can you do? If you get knocked out, you can be like, ‘I got caught, I was warming up.’ You get dominated, you got beat in every position. You got worked in jiu-jitsu, your stand-up, your kickboxing, your grappling, your wrestling, your cage position, cardio, everything.”
One of the joys of bumping into Muhammed Lawal at any event is that, at some point, if you have a digital recorder or at least an ability to ask questions, you can be made privy to his opinions.
“King Mo” likes to keep things real.
At Sunday’s Grapple at the Garden wrestling event at Madison Square Garden, Lawal was on hand to compete against Rolles Gracie on the mat. Lawal scored a victory in the realm of his default discipline — wrestling — but afterwards weighed in on a couple of things. One of them was Quinton Jackson, the UFC’s latest signee who is, far as anybody can tell, still under contract with Bellator in one disputed form or another.
“It’s not going to happen,” Lawal told MMA Fighting. “[Jackson]’s under contract. If he does end up fighting in the UFC, good luck, but he won’t fight for a year because he’ll be in court. He’s a joke.”
Lawal lost a unanimous decision to Jackson back in May at Bellator 120, which was Bellator’s first (and possibly only) foray into the world of pay-per-view. Back then, under the autocratic rule of Bjorn Rebney, Jackson was, in Mo’s mind, the darling of the dance, which prompted him to accuse the former CEO of “d*ck-riding” on national television.
Lawal keeps just that real.
With Jackson now moving on from the Scott Coker-era of Bellator (probably), Lawal won’t (likely) get his rematch. But there is still one dusky star on the horizon that he’d like to fight, and that’s Tito Ortiz. Ortiz, whom many left for dead after a series of career-threatening injuries and a six-year stint where he managed only a single victory, has won two fights in a row.
“He’s a bitch, too,” Lawal said. “It won’t happen. He don’t want to fight me. He would fight Stephan Bonnar, but he wouldn’t fight me. He would fight Alexander Shlemenko, who’s really a smaller 185er, but he won’t fight me. I’m hood and ghetto — I’m from the South, so I speak the way I speak. I’m not going to hit no switch and be like, ‘oh, hello there.’ I’m keeping it real. He’s a fake-ass dude. All he has to do is admit that he doesn’t want to fight me. If he does that, I’ll leave his ass alone. Keep it real. Tito Ortiz in his prime would never had beaten me ever.”
Never?
“Because what’s he going to do, outwrestle me? Never,” he said. “Here’s where he’ll say, ‘Well I beat Vladimir Matyushenko.’ Yeah, Matyushenko had a Russian style of wrestling that wasn’t offensive. He’s a guy that did cross lifts, leg laces and chest wraps. Tito would never beat me. He’d never have beaten Quinton Jackson. He wouldn’t have beaten any of us. He’s a bum.
“Well, he’s not a bum. He’s a great fighter. But in my eyes, I’d make him look like a bum.”
Lawal, who is coming off of back-to-back victories over Dustin Jacoby and Joe Vedepo, says he’d like to fight again in April or May. Whether that’s against Ortiz or somebody else remains to be seen. But Coker likes to match up his star brands.
Before all of that, though, is UFC 182, in which his good friend and erstwhile training partner Daniel Cormier will challenge the best pound-for-pound fighter in the game, Jon Jones. On this front, Lawal says he’s hoping not only for a good showing from Cormier, but a sustained existential beat-down that Jones will have to think about for years to come.
“I think Daniel’s going to win,” he said. “Personally, I don’t want him to knock Jones out. I want him to beat him 50-45 because, once you get dominated like that, what can you do? If you get knocked out, you can be like, ‘I got caught, I was warming up.’ You get dominated, you got beat in every position. You got worked in jiu-jitsu, your stand-up, your kickboxing, your grappling, your wrestling, your cage position, cardio, everything.”
