Upsetting news breaking on Strikeforce’s next card in September — Josh “The Punk” Thomson has pulled out of his upcoming fight due to injuries suffered during training. He Tweeted earlier today about a mishap while sparring and going for X rays, and those newshounds at MMAFighting confirmed the news this afternoon.
That’s a pretty bitch, since we were really looking forward to Thomson’s bout, welcoming Japanese superhero Maximo Blanco to Strikeforce and North America in a bout that was guaranteed to be a parade of asskickery.
No word yet on who will be picked to replace Thomson, but may we suggest JZ Cavalcante?
[RX]
Upsetting news breaking on Strikeforce’s next card in September — Josh “The Punk” Thomson has pulled out of his upcoming fight due to injuries suffered during training. He Tweeted earlier today about a mishap while sparring and going for X rays, and those newshounds at MMAFighting confirmed the news this afternoon.
That’s a pretty bitch, since we were really looking forward to Thomson’s bout, welcoming Japanese superhero Maximo Blanco to Strikeforce and North America in a bout that was guaranteed to be a parade of asskickery.
No word yet on who will be picked to replace Thomson, but may we suggest JZ Cavalcante?
Funny thing about literal translations: they’re rarely very good at saying exactly what you mean, rather they tend to sort-of-in-a-general-way communicate a rough idea. And sometimes, they’re downright misleading. Take judo, for example. The Japanese translates into English imprecisely to begin with: ju translates literally as “gentle” or “soft”, while do is “way” or “path”. Both of these concepts relate more to the philosophy of judo — conservation of energy and an emphasis on technique — than a description of the style and action. Ask anyone who’s ever tried a few classes in the “gentle way“, and they’ll tell you that it’s anything but. Any class that begins with learning how to fall down with minimal pain runs a significant risk of being brutal.
Judo was born in the late 19th Century by a Japanese jujitsu fella by the name of Jiguro Kano, known to his brodogs as “Da Jigumon”. Kano had begun training as a result of being bullied growing up —a storythat stillrings truethrough time. At the time, “jujitsu” was something of a generic term for unarmed fighting, and schools varied wildy in technique, training methods, and instruction.
Funny thing about literal translations: they’re rarely very good at saying exactly what you mean; rather, they tend to sort-of-in-a-general-way communicate a rough idea. And sometimes, they’re downright misleading. Take judo, for example. The Japanese translates into English imprecisely to begin with: ju translates literally as “gentle” or “soft”, while do is “way” or “path”. Both of these concepts relate more to the philosophy of judo — conservation of energy and an emphasis on technique — than a description of the style and action. Ask anyone who’s ever tried a few classes in the “gentle way“, and they’ll tell you that it’s anything but. Any class that begins with learning how to fall down with minimal pain runs a significant risk of being brutal.
Judo was born in the late 19th Century by a Japanese jujitsu fella by the name of Jiguro Kano, known to his brodogs as “Da Jigumon”. Kano had begun training as a result of being bullied growing up –a storythat stillrings truethrough time. At the time, “jujitsu” was something of a generic term for unarmed fighting, and schools varied wildy in technique, training methods, and instruction.
Kano redefined weaponless combat by focusing on a relative handful of techniques from jujitsu schools, emphasizing techniques that were a) actually applicable in real life situations (so they threw out the Scorpion kick and the Torture Rack) and b) safe to practice on a live partner (so they dropped the tiger claw eye gouge to spinal cord asplosion touch of death).
His break from practicing martial arts primarily through kata (waving your arms around in the air and looking all silly) and placing an importance on randori (actual ass kicking with a real live person) was revolutionary.
Japanese jujitsu schools continued to develop, influence, and challenge judo. It was a small jujitsu school (Fusen ryu) that was on the vanguard of ground-based grappling that led to a heightened interest in learning something besides how to throw someone to the ground really hard. The result was a surge of ne waza judo around the turn of the century, just when Mitsuyo Maeda was studying martial arts. A student of both classical-style jujitsu and Jiguro Kano’s judo, Maeda emigrated to Brazil before World War I, where he met a Brazilian fella by the name of Gracie. But that’s a whole other story.
Judo continues to evolve, particularly the rules of international competition. But throwing somebody down really hard is still really, really awesome.
Judo Strengths
Judo players tend to bring a great deal of upper body strength to the cage for MMA, and their standing clinch work is as good as any style. They tend to be explosive athletes, with knockout power. Add to that training with submissions and ground fighting, and it is a powerful base.
Judo’s popularity in MMA waxes and wanes — remember when Karo Parisyan was an exciting new prospect? — and with an influx of new blood lately, interest is gaining again.
The uchi mata is one of the throws you may spot in MMA. Megumi Fujii has a beautiful uchi mata, and that’s not slang for anything. Judo master/sambo savant/all-round grappling ninja Gokor Chivichyan won a gold medal at the 2008 USJA/USJF Winter Nationals with an uchi mata, and we found this very cool video of his demonstrating a slick kneebar off of a defended uchi mata. And that’s just one throw. Judo has, like, a whole lot.
Ok, Nation, brush up on your Japanese, go watch a few YouTube videos, and get out there and start hip tossing fools. It’s what Jiguro Kano would want.*
This Octagon Girl debuted at UFC 48 on June 19, 2004.
Ken Shamrock vs Kimo Leopoldo was the main event, and Frank Mir snapped Tim Sylvia’s arm to take away Tim’s beloved Heavyweight Championship.
The big fella reportedly bawled for two full hours after the fight, until Matt Hughes (fresh off a decision win over Renato Verissimo) finally stopped laughing and told Tim that the UFC would, in fact, allow him to keep his belt to sleep with at night.
Frank Trigg scored a quick win over Dennis Hallman, and Evan Tanner notched a decision win over Phil Baroni. Meanwhile, a twenty-three year old Georges St Pierre battled a twenty-eight year old Jay Hieron on the preliminary card.
This Octagon Girl debuted at UFC 48 on June 19, 2004.
Ken Shamrock vs Kimo Leopoldo was the main event, and Frank Mir snapped Tim Sylvia’s arm to take away Tim’s beloved Heavyweight Championship.
The big fella reportedly bawled for two full hours after the fight, until Matt Hughes (fresh off a decision win over Renato Verissimo) finally stopped laughing and told Tim that the UFC would, in fact, allow him to keep his belt to sleep with at night.
Frank Trigg scored a quick win over Dennis Hallman, and Evan Tanner notched a decision win over Phil Baroni. Meanwhile, a twenty-three year old Georges St Pierre battled a twenty-eight year old Jay Hieron on the preliminary card.
Rachelle Leah has enjoyed a long relationship with the UFC, working with multiple companies within the fight industry like Xyience and MMAthletics, as well as appearing in UFC All Access on SpikeTV.
You may remember that she made an appearance in popular gentlemen’s magazine Playboy, but there’s no way we’re going through that shit again.
Here’s a interesting little piece of video that we haven’t seen circulating in a while: a wrestler and a judoka mix it up at a style vs style martial arts event from 1995. Taking place at something called “ACE World Series of Martial Arts” promoted by Dale Cook, it was something of a precursor to the rise of MMA.
At the time of the video, Trigg was a collegiate wrestler at the University of Oklahoma, still four years away from his MMA debut. It’s also worth noting that Trigg started training in judo in 1995 under Patrick Burris, a two-time Judo Olympian, although whether Twinkle Toes had already started training, or this fight inspired him to start, is unclear.
Either way, it’s an interesting little tidbit of history that isn’t usually included in Frank’s bio (but for some reason, his appearance on the VH1 show “Kept” is mentioned, which is just bizarre), so you may have missed it.
Here’s a interesting little piece of video that we haven’t seen circulating in a while: a wrestler and a judoka mix it up at a style vs style martial arts event from 1995. Taking place at something called “ACE World Series of Martial Arts” promoted by Dale Cook, it was something of a precursor to the rise of MMA.
At the time of the video, Trigg was a collegiate wrestler at the University of Oklahoma, still four years away from his MMA debut. It’s also worth noting that Trigg started training in judo in 1995 under Patrick Burris, a two-time Judo Olympian, although whether Twinkle Toes had already started training, or this fight inspired him to start, is unclear.
Either way, it’s an interesting little tidbit of history that isn’t usually included in Frank’s bio (but for some reason, his appearance on the VH1 show “Kept” is mentioned, which is just bizarre), so you may have missed it.
Don’t ever tell this guy you want to “hang out and twist one up” — it doesn’t translate well. VidProps: UFC/YouTube
Rousimar Palhares is the root cause of 35% of all cases of Restless Leg Syndrome on the planet. If you have fully-functioning knees, you have never rolled with Toquinho. If your initials are “ACL“, chances are you have woken up screaming in the middle of the night due to a nightmare you can barely remember, but you were strangely compelled to check under your bed for Palhares. In 1903, Hurricane Rousimar barreled through Puerto Rico and the northern coast of South America. No one was killed, but thousands were unable to walk normally for the rest of their lives. Chuck Norris is the reason giraffes have long necks (roundhouse kick), but Rousimar Palhares is the reason they have those gnarly knees (hoof hook).
Some of that stuff may possibly have been made up and/or hyperbolized, but we all know that, like the Wu-Tang Clan, Rousimar P. ain’t nothing to fuck with. With his UFC Rio bout with Dan Miller almost upon us, let’s all take a few moments to get to know Paul Harris a bit better. When he’s not ruining your mobility for life, he actually seems like a humble, friendly kind of guy. Just don’t make him angry. You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.
Leave your own boasts of Palhares’ crazy awesomeness in the comments, if you think you can do better.
[RX]
Don’t ever tell this guy you want to “hang out and twist one up” — it doesn’t translate well. VidProps: UFC/YouTube
Rousimar Palhares is the root cause of 35% of all cases of Restless Leg Syndrome on the planet. If you have fully-functioning knees, you have never rolled with Toquinho. If your initials are “ACL“, chances are you have woken up screaming in the middle of the night due to a nightmare you can barely remember, but you were strangely compelled to check under your bed for Palhares. In 1903, Hurricane Rousimar barreled through Puerto Rico and the northern coast of South America. No one was killed, but thousands were unable to walk normally for the rest of their lives. Chuck Norris is the reason giraffes have long necks (roundhouse kick), but Rousimar Palhares is the reason they have those gnarly knees (hoof hook).
Some of that stuff may possibly have been made up and/or hyperbolized, but we all know that, like the Wu-Tang Clan, Rousimar P. ain’t nothing to fuck with. With his UFC Rio bout with Dan Miller almost upon us, let’s all take a few moments to get to know Paul Harris a bit better. When he’s not ruining your mobility for life, he actually seems like a humble, friendly kind of guy. Just don’t make him angry. You wouldn’t like him when he’s angry.
Leave your own boasts of Palhares’ crazy awesomeness in the comments, if you think you can do better.
You know how sometimes you work on something for a long time, but toward the end you’re just making it worse, but you’ve already put time and energy into it so you don’t want to trash it? Yeah, that’s never happened to me before.
From Wikipedia: The Casino of the Sky has a functional planetarium utilizing fiber optics to display the sun, moon, and stars accompanying the lighting effects of the Wombi Rock, which is a three-story high crystal mountain crafted of alabaster and more than 12,000 individual plates of hand-selected onyx from quarries in Iran, Pakistan, and Mexico; which were transported to Carrara, Italy and fused into glass.
Now look, we may not be able to fully comprehend the functional value of this “Wombi Rock” but that sounds fucking BALLER. Turns out the Mohegan Sun Casino outside Uncasville, Connecticut is the second largest casino in the United States, and we have someextravagantcasinos.
So when Bellator pops off for the third and last time of the summer this Saturday, don’t talk to me about “minor league” and “small potatoes”. With a talent pool that is constantly getting deeper with the excellent scouting from the BFC office, a tournament format that keeps fans coming back, and a spot waiting for them on SpikeTV (*fingers crossed*) Bellator is big time, baby.
Come on in and let’s run down the show, starting off with that Featherweight Tournament Final…
You know how sometimes you work on something for a long time, but toward the end you’re just making it worse, but you’ve already put time and energy into it so you don’t want to trash it? Yeah, that’s never happened to me before.
From Wikipedia: The Casino of the Sky has a functional planetarium utilizing fiber optics to display the sun, moon, and stars accompanying the lighting effects of the Wombi Rock, which is a three-story high crystal mountain crafted of alabaster and more than 12,000 individual plates of hand-selected onyx from quarries in Iran, Pakistan, and Mexico; which were transported to Carrara, Italy and fused into glass.
Now look, we may not be able to fully comprehend the functional value of this “Wombi Rock” but that sounds fucking BALLER. Turns out the Mohegan Sun Casino outside Uncasville, Connecticut is the second largest casino in the United States, and we have someextravagantcasinos.
So when Bellator pops off for the third and last time of the summer this Saturday, don’t talk to me about “minor league” and “small potatoes”. With a talent pool that is constantly getting deeper with the excellent scouting from the BFC office, a tournament format that keeps fans coming back, and a spot waiting for them on SpikeTV (*fingers crossed*) Bellator is big time, baby.
Come on in and let’s run down the show, starting off with that Featherweight Tournament Final…
Pat Curran vs Marlon Sandro
Curran had an unlikely (some would say controversial) run through the 155 pound tournament last year that led him to an unsuccessful bid to become Bellator’s lightweight champ. His progress through the featherweight brackets has been much smoother, including a sweet peruvian necktie on Peruvian Luis Palomino and a three round beatdown on a twelve year old English boy. Curran has blossomed as a striker in Bellator, using punches, kicks, and knees to good effect since he joined the roster, but his wrestling background will be important in the Sandro fight. Curran must avoid Sandro’s bombs, stay smart on defense, and use his speed to jump off his offense. If he can wrestle Sandro down and maintain control, he can be the first guy to win Bellator tournaments in two weight classes.
Marlon Sandro has made his way through the tournament comfortably as well, after entertaining scraps with Genair da Silva and Nazareno Malegarie. The former Sengoku kingpin was expected to be the challenger for the featherweight title when he signed with Bellator, and he’s now one fight away from a shot at Joe Warren. After his surprising upset loss to Hatsu Hioki, Sandro will have to deal with fighters trying to grind him down with defensive wrestling and take away his thunderous power on the feet. Sandro is durable, well-rounded, and experienced, and he needs very little opportunity to land a KO punch. Sandro has the power to test Curran’s chin as it has never been tested before — Curran has never been knocked out, but the Monster from Rio is absolutely capable of leaving Paddy Mike staring up at Wombi Rock when the fight is over.
Cole Konrad vs. Paul Buentello
Cole Konrad claimed the Bellator heavyweight title by doing his best impression of the proverbial immovable object. He’s a huge athlete with a very good wrestling pedigree, but his striking is rudimentary at best, his cardio is unimpressive, and his submission game is a work in progress, polar bear choke or not. Perhaps the biggest question mark for Konrad is how training has been going at Team DeathClutch since Lesnar has been out.
Across from him in the cage, Paul Buentello holds a significant advantage in the stand up game, with better technique and power than Konrad. Thing is, Buentello probably will not be standing for most of this fight. Once on the ground, the Headhunter doesn’t have the strength to get out from under 300 pounds of Konrad, nor does he have the BJJ skills to win off his back. If Buentello can’t stop the takedowns from Konrad, it’s going to be a long night for everyone.
Seth Petruzelli vs. Ricco Rodriguez
Pay attention to where Rodriguez weighs in — he’s been talking about hitting light heavy for about a year now, and this is his third catchweight in a row. It looks like 205 is a bit too far down for Suave, and the biggest boys at 265 have too much size on him. That won’t be a problem for Rodriguez in this bout, as the Silverback is a jumped-up 205er himself. With a bit of a size advantage and a very solid ground game, Rodriguez should be able to stay away from any Kimbo Killers and work his own game.
Also on the card: BJJ champ Rene Nazare returns to action in Bellator, expect him to show off against Juan Barrantes. Nazare is 9-0 with 7 stoppage wins, and he continues to improve at 28. Something tells us this fight will not go the full fifteen.
On the undercard:
John Clarke vs. Dan Cramer
Andrew Calandrelli vs. Matt Nice
Brett Oteri vs. Ryan Quinn
Nik Fekete vs. Mark Griffin
Saul Almeida vs. Tateki Matsuda
