Author: Dwight Wakabayashi

"The Coach" Shawn Tompkins’ Legacy Alive and Well in Ontario

It has been a little over a year since the passing of renowned mixed martial arts coach Shawn Tompkins and his legacy is alive and well in his home province of Ontario. Tompkins was an elite striking coach originally out of London, Ontario, more r…

It has been a little over a year since the passing of renowned mixed martial arts coach Shawn Tompkins and his legacy is alive and well in his home province of Ontario. Tompkins was an elite striking coach originally out of London, Ontario, more recently out of the fight capital of the world, Las Vegas, Nevada. His real legacy is his elite students and his work throughout the community to grow the sport and raise money for important local charities.

In June of this year, a charity screening of “Driven” starring Jens Pulver was shown in downtown Toronto by local charity organization Show Your Strength. (video highlight attached) The organization was put together to help youth all around the world have the opportunity to participate in sport, exercise and healthy living. The event was attended by special guests, UFC and Tompkins trained fighters Mark Hominick, Sam Stout and Chris Clements. The event raised over $10,000 which was divided between various local charities.

Later this month, a second event will be held to raise money in honor of “The Coach” as the 1st Annual Shawn Tompkins Memorial Golf Tournament will be held at Fire Rock Golf Club near London, Ontario. The event will raise money for the Shawn Tompkins Memorial Fund and Heart and Stroke Foundation and will feature UFC fighters, NHL and media personalities. Tournament Director Joe Botnick has worked hard to deliver incredible sponsorship, prizes and people in honor of The Coach.

I spoke with Botnick on the phone this week and it is clear he was up for the challenge of this event.

“I’m hoping for and expecting to sell out all the spots in the event and many people have been great in supporting and sponsoring this event. We have four amazing hole-in-one prizes, one that includes tickets to a UFC event anywhere in the world.”

Botnick is an avid Tompkins and MMA fan who has attended UFC events all over the world and he is constantly giving back; just one of the many fighters and fans who are and will continue to carry on the legacy.

For more tournament information: https://www.facebook.com/ShawnTompkinsGolfTourney#!/photo.php?fbid=466098523400293&set=a.453821584627987.107506.439581409385338&type=1&theater

 

Dwight Wakabayashi is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report MMA, and guest blogger for Sportsnet.ca.

Catch him on Facebook and Twitter @wakafightermma

 

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

UFC 149: Grading the Canadians

Say what you will about the lack of fire or quality of UFC 149 in Calgary, but you can’t be too critical with the hand that the UFC was dealt due to fighter injury.On the positive side, for a Canadian MMA fan it was still a fantastic event and a g…

Say what you will about the lack of fire or quality of UFC 149 in Calgary, but you can’t be too critical with the hand that the UFC was dealt due to fighter injury.

On the positive side, for a Canadian MMA fan it was still a fantastic event and a great card to give a chance for some of our country’s best fighters to showcase their talents.

Canadian fighters went 3-4 on the night and showed some good, some bad and some surprises when the last sud of beer was all swallowed and done. One man certainly stole the show with a spot in the record books, I just wish he would stop that awful post-win robot.

Here are my grades for the Canadian fighters.

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UFC 149: Clements Jumps at the Chance for a Tough Fight in Calgary

With fighters dropping like flies off the UFC 149 card, Canadian welterweight Chris “The Menace” Clements jumped quickly for a fight after Thiago Alves was forced out of his bout with Siyar Bahadurzada.”I called and asked for it”, Clements said over th…

With fighters dropping like flies off the UFC 149 card, Canadian welterweight Chris “The Menace” Clements jumped quickly for a fight after Thiago Alves was forced out of his bout with Siyar Bahadurzada.

“I called and asked for it”, Clements said over the phone this week. “My agent was over in Singapore and I emailed him and phoned him and when he got the information from me, he checked his messages and Joe Silva had already called asking. I was asking for it and Joe Silva was asking for it so it just worked out well.”

Many fans and experts are already calling dead meat in this one for the Ontario-born and Adrenaline Training Center fighter who was crafty and effective in a close decision win over Keith Wisniewski in his UFC debut in April. Bahadurzada himself burst on the UFC scene with a stunning 42 second knockout over Paulo Thiago earlier in the same month.

Clements is a very experienced fighter, and he sees this as a great stylistic match up for him.

“I actually think it’s a better fight for me than Wisniewski. With him, I couldn’t really let go because he’s a really experienced guy so I had to fight him kinda crazy. I had to do a lot of weird stuff and keep moving.

I couldn’t really set down on anything because all he wanted to do was hold me down and lay on me. He’s a grinder.

Siyar, he’s a stand up fighter, he’s more up my alley so, yeah he’s a higher ranked guy in the world and stuff like that and he’s got a lot of hype behind him but as far as matchup wise I don’t see him as a big step up in competition or any more difficult.

It’s a win-win right, I get to stay on the main card and so I get some nice exposure and if I lose I lose. I’m supposed to lose. If I win, you know I jump way up. At my age, I’m looking for the fastest possible way to get up there so to be on the Pay-Per-View in my second UFC fight it’s huge for me.”

Both of these fighters certainly like to stand and trade, and it will be an entertaining fight no matter how long it lasts. I asked him if he is going to hype it up to make sure it is a battle.

“He’s gonna get mad, he’s gonna get frustrated by me. I’m gonna do some things he’s not going to like.” He laughed.

“I just have a way of messing with people when I fight so I think I’ll frustrate him by doing things. I’m not much of a hype guy, I like to just do my thing in the cage.”

Clements has taken this fight on slightly short notice, and he started his camp right away after securing the fight on Monday.

“It’s gonna be tough but I just have to be really disciplined. I’m a little out of shape right now. Training for my last fight was basically the first few weeks of with my daughter so I have been catching up on the time with her and the family more than training. I wasn’t really thinking about or prepared to fight but this is a great opportunity so I just wanted to jump on it.”

Prior to signing with the UFC earlier this year, Clements rose through the Canadian ranks and made his name as a dangerous knockout fighter, mostly in the province of Quebec. He may tap in to his roots a bit leading up to this key match up with Bahadurzada.

“I’m thinking about heading to Tristar to train for about a week or so. I’ve known Firaz for many years from TKO and stuff like that but I haven’t talked to him about it yet or anything. They have a great camp there for welterweights with Sean Pierson, Ryan Ford, Rory MacDonald, George St-Pierre, Alex Garcia you know there’s so many top ten welterweight’s in the country.”

With it being the first ever UFC event in Alberta, he will have a boisterous following of fans hoping and screaming for him on July 21st in Calgary.

“I’m the only Canadian on the main card”

The doubters are out there. There are many who think this is a mis-match from the get go, but I am not one of them.

Clements is a tough, dangerous and experienced gamer, and this one will be closer than people may think.

 

Dwight Wakabayashi is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report MMA, MMA editor at CKSN.ca and guest blogger for Sportsnet.ca.

 Catch him on Facebook and Twitter @wakafightermma.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

8 Fighters That Father Time Is Gaining On

There is one thing that a fighter has little or no defense against, and that is Father Time.Growth in the sport is increasing the opportunity and likelihood of longevity, but a fighter’s career is like a flash that can last only a few years. That’s why…

There is one thing that a fighter has little or no defense against, and that is Father Time.

Growth in the sport is increasing the opportunity and likelihood of longevity, but a fighter’s career is like a flash that can last only a few years. That’s why we cherish those who have battled and endured for a long time.

Make no mistake, fighters like Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, Matt Hughes and Wanderlei Silva are the exception, not the norm and that’s why we appreciate their careers all that much more.

Father Time has caught up to all of those men through injury, eroding skill and cumulative damage. Eventually, all fighters are faced with that unstoppable and dreaded opponent and here are…

8 Fighters That Father Time is Gaining On

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Japanese Legend Akihiro Gono Announces His Retirement from MMA

At the post-fight press conference following his quick TKO loss to Michael Chandler, Japanese star fighter Akihiro “DJ GOZMA” Gono announced his retirement from mixed martial arts.One of the main reasons I was so pumped for the Bellator 67 show last ni…

At the post-fight press conference following his quick TKO loss to Michael Chandler, Japanese star fighter Akihiro “DJ GOZMA” Gono announced his retirement from mixed martial arts.

One of the main reasons I was so pumped for the Bellator 67 show last night was a chance to see one of my favorite fighters of all time, Akihiro Gono, fight on Canadian soil for the first and possibly last time in his storied career. 

The 37-year-old Japanese star and mixed martial arts pioneer has given fans some of the most entertaining and colorful performances with his early fights in the Shooto, Pancrase and Pride organizations of Japan.

Despite Gono’s pre-fight claims that an upset may be in order, he lost to Chandler quickly and without a fuss, but it was his emotional post-fight press conference announcement and what followed that really stole the show on the evening for me.

After Gono announced through an interpreter that it would indeed be the last MMA fight of his career, his emotions came rushing out and tears streamed down his face as he looked to the sky to try and stop the momentum of his tears.

I was lucky to get the microphone for the first question of the night and I told Gono that despite his fight tonight, the Canadian fans know exactly who he is and what he is about and it was an honor to see him fight in our home country.

The tears continued and after another comment and verbal tribute from Sportsnet analyst Joe Ferraro, the entire press conference room rose in a tremendous standing ovation for Gono. The Japanese legend raised from his seat and bowed his appreciation as tears flowed to the carpet.

It was a classy move by the fans and media in the room and a well-deserved tribute for “The Japanese Sensation.”

Thanks for giving us your career, Gono-san. Domo arigato

 

Dwight Wakabayashi is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report MMA, MMA editor at CKSN.ca and guest blogger for Sportsnet.ca.

Catch him on Facebook and Twitter @wakafightermma.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com

Bellator 67 Results: Ford, Baker and Chandler Highlight a Stellar Show at Rama

Bellator 67 took place tonight from a packed Entertainment Hall inside the beautiful Casino Rama and saw the fighters deliver an exceptional night of fights for the Ontario fans.The night tipped off with the highly anticipated …

Bellator 67 took place tonight from a packed Entertainment Hall inside the beautiful Casino Rama and saw the fighters deliver an exceptional night of fights for the Ontario fans.

The night tipped off with the highly anticipated Bellator debut of Canadian Ryan “The Real Deal” Ford taking on tough Bellator veteran Luis Santos. The first round saw Ford come out and feel out his opponent which gave Santos some space to land a solid head kick midway through the round. The kick hurt Ford and he went down before Santos jumped to take his back.

Ford stayed calm and composed and kept himself tight in his defense while Santos tried to find the opening to sink in a choke. The opening did not appear and Ford was able to recover and escape the round. The second saw Ford come out with a new aggression and he locked up Santos as the two backed up to the cage.

A clinch on the cage ensued and Ford was able to get position to open up his brutal knee strikes on Santos. The first one landed to the body and the second one landed flush on Santos’ jaw dropping the veteran to the floor. Ford pounced with a flurry and ended the fight via TKO early in the second round.

It was an impressive debut for Ford in front of a large entourage of family and friends who came in from Edmonton to support him. Ford can now expect to get a spot in the next welterweight tournament and make his run at a Bellator title from there.

There was a huge semifinal fight in this season’s welterweight tournament on the card and classy Bryan Baker was able to out-battle and outlast Ben Saunders in a very exciting fight.

Saunders used some solid knees early and had Baker in what looked to be a very tight triangle in the round, as well. Baker calmly defended and forced Saunders to give up on the hold as fatigue set in to end the round.

The second round saw a reversal of fortunes for Baker as he got top position on Saunders and rained down pressure for the majority of the round. I had the fight deadlocked going in to the third round and it was anyone’s fight to take with a win of the round.

Baker was the stronger, fresher fighter and he quickly got top position on Saunders again early where he rode that control to the win to move to the tournament final. Baker is a classy, impressive individual who is two years in remission after being diagnosed with leukemia a few years ago.

In the main event of the evening, lightweight champion Michael Chandler made extremely quick work of featured opponent Akihiro Gono, landing a right hand in the very first exchange and getting a TKO victory at 0:56 of the first round.

In the other main-card fight on the night, Polish heavyweight Damian Grabowski stole a controversial decision win over a tough and humble Dave Huckaba. I felt Huckaba was the busier fighter, and did more damage with his shots, but the judges saw it differently and chose Grabowski’s takedowns and top control in the decision.

The night of fights was a very good one with the Belllator fighters bouncing back from a disappointing card in Windsor just last month. It is Bellator’s third show at Rama and fourth in Ontario in a year and here’s hoping the trend continues and we see them back in Ontario sooner rather than later.

 

Dwight Wakabayashi is a featured columnist for Bleacher Report MMA, MMA editor at CKSN.ca and guest blogger for Sportsnet.ca.

Catch him on Facebook and Twitter @wakafightermma.

Read more MMA news on BleacherReport.com