Brock Lesnar demonstrating proper choke toss technique. When performed correctly, the toss will vaporize at least three tables while the performer levitates to safety.
Ladies and gentlemen of CagePotato.com, take note: If you want us to publish a video of one of your fights – especially if it’s your amateur debut – you have to break out something special. A walk-off knockout, a flying armbar, actually wearing someone’s CagePotato.com user name on your shorts like we’ve been trying to get someone to do for over three years now; something that really makes you stand out from the crowd.
Of course, the easiest way to do this is to pull off a professional wrestling maneuver in an MMA fight, which is exactly what Team Link’s Paul Gaffney did against Tollison Lewis on Friday night. Just seventeen seconds into his amateur MMA debut, “Piglet” (seriously) realized that Lewis was heavily overmatched, and that this fight wouldn’t be lasting much longer. While the MMA purists among us would have just kept punching until the referee waived things off, Gaffney channeled the giants of professional wrestling on poor Tollison Lewis, earning one of the coolest slam knockouts on record and the right to call himself Piglet as much as he wants to without being made fun of.
Video of Gaffney’s slam is after the jump
Brock Lesnar demonstrating proper choke toss technique. When performed correctly, the toss will vaporize at least three tables while the performer levitates to safety.
Ladies and gentlemen of CagePotato.com, take note: If you want us to publish a video of one of your fights – especially if it’s your amateur debut – you have to break out something special. A walk-off knockout, a flying armbar, actually wearing someone’s CagePotato user name on your shorts like we’ve been trying to get someone to do for over three years now; something that really makes you stand out from the crowd.
Of course, the easiest way to do this is to pull off a professional wrestling maneuver in an MMA fight, which is exactly what Team Link’s Paul Gaffney did against Tollison Lewis on Friday night. Just seventeen seconds into his amateur MMA debut, “Piglet” (seriously) realized that Lewis was heavily overmatched, and that this fight wouldn’t be lasting much longer. While the MMA purists among us would have just kept punching until the referee waived things off, Gaffney channeled the giants of professional wrestling on poor Tollison Lewis, earning one of the coolest slam knockouts on record and the right to call himself Piglet as much as he wants to without being made fun of.
Choke Toss comes at the 1:55 mark.
At this time, it’s probably appropriate to mention that CagePotato is not responsible for protecting your feelings if you attempt a professional wrestling maneuver in an MMA fight and completely botch it. Sure, it’d be unspeakably awesome to see The Razor’s Edge in MMA, but it’d be equally hilarious to see some misguided fool lose a fight by attempting one. In the same way that Kalib Starnes, despite winning the AFC Middleweight Championship after his tragic marathon against Nate Quarry, could never shake his reputation as “the guy who ran away from Nate Quarry for three rounds,” nothing that fool will ever accomplish in life will get people to know him as anything other than “that dude who blew his back out trying to powerbomb someone.”
Basically, what we’re saying is don’t try this at home (unless you want to be Internet famous).
Bantamweights beware. Radames Garcia is looking to destroy your dreams. Ranked number one in the nation and sporting an amateur record of 9-1, all he is waiting for is a chance to make his pro debut.
“My last two opponents pulled out. My coach said one of them thought I was too big,” Garcia said.
The 29-year old native of Miami, Florida is fighting out of Cung Le’s gym in San Jose, California. In a little more than two years, Garcia managed to win two state titles in the amateur leagues of both California and Nevada.
Garcia first learned about MMA from a conversation with his co-worker. He invited Garcia to train with him at Tribull Mixed Martial Arts Center.
“At first, I thought it was illegal. I wanted to make sure it was legit. I had no clue about it at the time and I didn’t want the cops to bust down the doors and end up in jail,” Garcia laughed.
Bantamweights beware. Radames Garcia is looking to destroy your dreams. Ranked number one in the nation and sporting an amateur record of 9-1, all he is waiting for is a chance to make his pro debut.
“My last two opponents pulled out. My coach said one of them thought I was too big,” Garcia said.
The 29-year old native of Miami, Florida is fighting out of Cung Le’s gym in San Jose, California. In a little more than two years, Garcia managed to win two state titles in the amateur leagues of both California and Nevada.
Garcia first learned about MMA from a conversation with his co-worker. He invited Garcia to train with him at Tribull Mixed Martial Arts Center.
“At first, I thought it was illegal. I wanted to make sure it was legit. I had no clue about it at the time and I didn’t want the cops to bust down the doors and end up in jail,” Garcia laughed.
Garcia went and was hooked. He walked into Tribull in July 2010 and had his first fight in November. Garcia ended up losing by submission. He later parted ways to train at Cung Le’s.
“Tribull focused more on grappling than stand-up,” said Garcia, “my hands were wild so my coaches and other fighters recommended me to Cung Le. So, I took a level one kickboxing class over there and I liked it.”
In the beginning of February 2011, Garcia enrolled in Cung’s school and had his second amateur fight on the 20th. He won by submission.
Garcia continued to train and rapidly rose through the ranks, eventually winning the 2011 California State Championships and the Nevada State Championships in Reno.
Garcia never expected to win any titles.
“It never came to mind. I just wanted to compete in a sport. I thought this was a cool opportunity to challenge myself and compete.”
And that exactly is his motivation to continue in this sport.
“I just want to compete and impress the crowd. I just want to get in the cage and hit somebody in the face and not get in trouble for it. It’s fun. I’m just smiling and high-fiving the crowd while my opponent is going all 8-Mile with his hoodie on and being all angry.” Garcia said.
One opponent was particularly angry. After Garcia’s victory, he learned his opponent’s goal was to remain undefeated and become a UFC champion. Garcia was then bestowed the moniker of “The Dream Crusher” by his fight team.
However, “The Dream Crusher” has his own dreams in MMA.
“I would love to win a pro title in any league. I was hoping Strikeforce but it’s going out of business. I now just want to keep beating undefeated fighters,” Garcia said.
(Elias is the “eccentric American” on the left. Photo courtesy of Facebook.com/HardKnocksFighting. If you missed the first two installments of The Travel Chronicles, click here to catch up.)
He was a two hundred and twenty five pound Canadian amateur MMA heavyweight champion. She was a buck and some change, blonde, twenty years old and from California. They would both knock me on my ass. I just didn’t know it yet.
A few days after my win in May I got a friend request from someone named Chad. I didn’t know him but for whatever reason I accepted. He was a young aspiring fighter out of La Ronge, Canada and recommended that I contact the matchmaker for Hard Knocks Fighting, Sarah, which put on pro/am MMA events in Northwestern Canada. Ronda Rousey had made her MMA debut at Hard Knocks and the organization was developing a strong reputation. Chad was going to make his MMA debut in July and had seen tape of my fight on CagePotato.
I didn’t feel ready to fight yet again — my knee hadn’t gotten more injured in my last fight, though it still wasn’t strong — but I thought I’d at least introduce myself to Sarah to put me on their radar. I’d never been out of the U.S. except for Mexico, and getting flown out and put up to fight in another country as a lowly amateur seemed like a prospect not to be missed. How many people other than high level professionals get that type of chance?
Sarah and I spoke, she looked at my May fight tape and said she was definitely interested in including me on a card at some point. Perhaps if they had an event in the fall I could jump on board after training during the summer to improve. Canada would come a lot sooner than I expected, and would become the first stop on my summer travels.
Shortly after speaking with the Hard Knocks Fighting matchmaker I happened to meet a girl at a concert my friend’s band was playing at. Turns out he was a mutual friend of ours. She was passing through Chicago quickly to see his concert and would soon be heading home to California from school.
I’d seen her behind me at the concert. I stared. She smiled.
(Elias is the “eccentric American” on the left. Photo courtesy of Facebook.com/HardKnocksFighting. If you missed the first two installments of The Travel Chronicles, click here to catch up.)
He was a two hundred and twenty five pound Canadian amateur MMA heavyweight champion. She was a buck and some change, blonde, twenty years old and from California. They would both knock me on my ass. I just didn’t know it yet.
A few days after my win in May I got a friend request from someone named Chad. I didn’t know him but for whatever reason I accepted. He was a young aspiring fighter out of La Ronge, Canada and recommended that I contact the matchmaker for Hard Knocks Fighting, Sarah, which put on pro/am MMA events in Northwestern Canada. Ronda Rousey had made her MMA debut at Hard Knocks and the organization was developing a strong reputation. Chad was going to make his MMA debut in July and had seen tape of my fight on CagePotato.
I didn’t feel ready to fight yet again — my knee hadn’t gotten more injured in my last fight, though it still wasn’t strong — but I thought I’d at least introduce myself to Sarah to put me on their radar. I’d never been out of the U.S. except for Mexico, and getting flown out and put up to fight in another country as a lowly amateur seemed like a prospect not to be missed. How many people other than high level professionals get that type of chance?
Sarah and I spoke, she looked at my May fight tape and said she was definitely interested in including me on a card at some point. Perhaps if they had an event in the fall I could jump on board after training during the summer to improve. Canada would come a lot sooner than I expected, and would become the first stop on my summer travels.
Shortly after speaking with the Hard Knocks Fighting matchmaker I happened to meet a girl at a concert my friend’s band was playing at. Turns out he was a mutual friend of ours. She was passing through Chicago quickly to see his concert and would soon be heading home to California from school.
I’d seen her behind me at the concert. I stared. She smiled.
When she came up to me afterwards outside the venue asking to be walked to the after party, I ditched the people I was with and we walked in the rain towards the party. I got us a little lost but she didn’t seem to mind. When we finally got to the party I sat back and listened to her chat away, charmed. She was nerdy, gorgeous, and could sing.
She had an early morning bus to catch out of Chicago and I left her with a hug and my number. She’d soon be back in Cali. I’d been toying with the idea of going to either the West or East coast that summer to mix up my training and conduct interviews. The West coast had just jumped into the lead in my mind.
I still had no tangible travel plans, though. Then I heard from Sarah and Canada. Hard Knocks Fighting’s heavyweight champion, Devon Smith, was set to fight at light heavyweight in less than two weeks but his opponent pulled out with injured ribs. Smith was a rising star in the organization. He’d won the heavyweight title the month prior by submission and had won other fights by vicious KO.
The July 23rd event was built around him but now, without an opponent, the Hard Knocks main event was in question. They’d fly me up to Canada a couple days before the fight and send me back afterwards. I told them to include a flight for a coach and make my return flight to LA or Vegas instead of Chicago and I’d be in.
I’d get to fight in a televised main event in another country and at least get my first flight out West paid for. I did a little research — for some reason rental cars were twice as expensive in LA as they were in Vegas, and so I decided to get flown from Canada after the fight to Vegas, get a car and drive to LA. I’d be able to stay with my buddy Dave Doyle, visit with my friend Sam Sheridan, train somewhere new and see about a girl. Then I’d drive back to Vegas to train with and interview folks in the fight capital of the world.
Blood Tests & Layovers
Having previously only fought near my home I really couldn’t appreciate how many details top fighters have to take care of in order to travel and fight. I got a taste of it prepping to fight at Hard Knocks on short notice. For the first time, I was required to get blood work done in order to fight. I had also asked for a flight for a coach but now needed to find a coach who could actually get away on days’ notice and who also had a passport.
My head coach Dino already had a trip planned for himself so he couldn’t make it. My coach Lyndon didn’t have a passport. Same for my coach Ramiro and friend Cliff. Coach Said had a passport but couldn’t get away from his day job, especially since my fight was taking place on a weeknight — Thursday — as opposed to a weekend.
Knowing he had a passport and didn’t have a fight immediately coming up, I asked Clay Guida, who for a time years back used to train at our gym. Clay had existing coaching obligations. I then turned to one of my best friends and spiritual advisers, John Maye. John had a full time job at a bank and didn’t own a passport but he didn’t hesitate to say yes to traveling with me to Canada and being in my corner. John told — didn’t ask — his work that he would need Thursday and Friday off and then he went and ordered an expedited passport. Cole Miller ended up offering to travel with and corner me, coming all the way from Florida, if my coaches couldn’t but by that time John had said yes. I hadn’t even thought to ask Cole because I knew he was in the middle of training. I was very grateful for his offer and for John’s no-hesitation gameness.
As for the medicals, Sarah from Hard Knocks told me of a company that had labs where blood work was done all over the states. I saw that they had a lab downtown in a real nice area, made the order and then showed up to have my plasma drawn. I wanted to walk out as soon as I got there. I entered the office building near Michigan Avenue that the lab was housed in, rode the old-fashioned elevator up and was greeted by a sign on the lab’s front door asking patients not to “disturb other building tenants.”
That seemed strange. Evidentally there was a problem with the lab’s patients getting rowdy in the building so the sign was deemed necessary. I shook my head and walked through the door, signed in and sat down. Black soot and dirt stains marked the walls about a foot high. I looked away and saw a second sign. It was a visual one. There was a picture of a revolver, encircled and then crossed out.
Hand guns were not allowed in the lab. I hadn’t assumed they would be. By the time I sat down in the back area to have my blood drawn by the same woman who was answering phones moments ago, I was worried that the blood test might not just reveal a disease, but give me one.
(If it didn’t work for Ken Shamrock, then chances are it ain’t going to work for you.)
Look, spinning backfists aren’t for everybody. Sure, if you’re a malnurished Vietnam vet with a mean streak a mile long, then you can pretty much do whatever you want in the ring and get away with it. But if you’re an overweight amateur fighter who suddenly thinks he’s the white Yahir Reyes, it would probably be in your best interest to leave the study of centrifugal forces to the scientists. This theory also applies when you’re a trash-talking UFC middleweight fighting in the biggest rematch of your life against the pound-for-pound G.O.A.T who you have done nothing but belittle and insult for the past three or so years.
This was a lesson that Matt Lawrence would learn the hard way when he stepped into the ring against Dillon Cleckler at Island Fights 18.
Video after the jump.
(If it didn’t work for Ken Shamrock, then chances are it ain’t going to work for you.)
Look, spinning backfists aren’t for everybody. Sure, if you’re a malnurished Vietnam vet with a mean streak a mile long, then you can pretty much do whatever you want in the ring and get away with it. But if you’re an overweight amateur fighter who suddenly thinks he’s the white Yahir Reyes, it would probably be in your best interest to leave the study of centrifugal forces to the scientists. This theory also applies when you’re a trash-talking UFC middleweight fighting in the biggest rematch of your life against the pound-for-pound G.O.A.T who you have done nothing but belittle and insult for the past three or so years.
This was a lesson that Matt Lawrence would learn the hard way when he stepped into the ring against Dillon Cleckler at Island Fights 18.
The fight may have taken place at the end of August, but the video was just brought to our attention via Dean Toole on our Facebook page. Attempting to give you a play-by-play would do this video no justice, so instead we’ve provided you with a short pictorial of what must have been going through Lawrence’s head as he attempted such an audacious maneuver.
“OK, bro, all of your friends and family are here, so you better not eff this up, because if you pull this off, there’s no way Big Rhonda won’t at least give you a handjo outside the bowling alley like she said she would. This dude appears to be in a lot better shape than you are, so he probably won’t expect you to throw some hella-badass Haiduken or some shit. Alright, let’s set this chump up with a dainty leg kick.”
“Holy shit, he totally bought it! Handjo, here I come.”
Well this is a welcome change of pace — a politician who not only understands and supports MMA, but is gutsy enough to step into the cage and try it for himself. The story of Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller‘s amateur MMA debut/retirement has been sweeping the Internet since last night. The 36-year-old Democrat and Las Vegas native grew up around Nevada’s combat sports scene, became a fan of the UFC, and began training in MMA a few years ago. The sport became “an absolute passion” for Miller, who spent the last year preparing for his first amateur fight.
That fight went down this past Saturday night at the World Fighting Championships‘ “MMA at the Lake” event in South Lake Tahoe, where the 6’4″ Miller competed in a light-heavyweight match against an opponent named Jamal Williams. As a favor to the Secretary of State, the match was kept a secret by WFC promoter Matt McGovern. And while Miller eventually came away with a second-round TKO victory, the fight didn’t exactly go as planned. As Miller explained to MMAJunkie:
“It was much different than sparring,” Miller admitted. “I froze a little bit. I had a tough time letting my hands go. I didn’t teep at all, which I usually do in sparring. I threw very few kicks. The gameplan was to set up a couple of punches and maybe a leg kick and take him down and try to submit him because he didn’t appear to have much jiu-jitsu. That’s not how the first round worked out at all.
“At the end of the first round, my cornerman came in, and I asked him, ‘Where’s the stool?’ He said, ‘There is no stool.’ I said, ‘You didn’t think this was going to go to the second round?’ He said, ‘I think you just need to relax, breathe and start listening to us because you’re scaring the hell out of us'”…
Well this is a welcome change of pace — a politician who not only understands and supports MMA, but is gutsy enough to step into the cage and try it for himself. The story of Nevada Secretary of State Ross Miller‘s amateur MMA debut/retirement has been sweeping the Internet since last night. The 36-year-old Democrat and Las Vegas native grew up around Nevada’s combat sports scene, became a fan of the UFC, and began training in MMA a few years ago. The sport became “an absolute passion” for Miller, who spent the last year preparing for his first amateur fight.
That fight went down this past Saturday night at the World Fighting Championships‘ “MMA at the Lake” event in South Lake Tahoe, where the 6’4″ Miller competed in a light-heavyweight match against an opponent named Jamal Williams. As a favor to the Secretary of State, the match was kept a secret by WFC promoter Matt McGovern. And while Miller eventually came away with a second-round TKO victory, the fight didn’t exactly go as planned. As Miller explained to MMAJunkie:
“It was much different than sparring,” Miller admitted. “I froze a little bit. I had a tough time letting my hands go. I didn’t teep at all, which I usually do in sparring. I threw very few kicks. The gameplan was to set up a couple of punches and maybe a leg kick and take him down and try to submit him because he didn’t appear to have much jiu-jitsu. That’s not how the first round worked out at all.
“At the end of the first round, my cornerman came in, and I asked him, ‘Where’s the stool?’ He said, ‘There is no stool.’ I said, ‘You didn’t think this was going to go to the second round?’ He said, ‘I think you just need to relax, breathe and start listening to us because you’re scaring the hell out of us’”…
“In the second round, we exchanged pretty heavily, and I got rocked pretty hard but recovered and finally landed a one-two (combination) and a kick to the body then a right hand that put him down,” Miller said. “I finished with some ground and pound”…
“You always worry about the potential optics of competing in mixed martial arts because people may see it and assume you’re a violent person,” Miller said. “But that’s not why I like the sport at all. It obviously is very physically challenging, but more than anything, when you train, you get beat up both physically and mentally on a regular basis, and you’ve got to have the mental strength and resilience to continue to fight through. Your mind will give you a million reasons to quit, but you have to push through it and fight to overcome it, and that’s why I love the sport”…
“They gave me the microphone after the event and acknowledged me as secretary of state, so I gave a short get-out-and-vote speech and encouraged people to get registered and vote in the upcoming election,” Miller said…
“It was on my bucket list to compete once in a mixed-martial-arts event, but my wife was very anxious cageside,” Miller said. “Now that I’ve tried it once, I’ll be comfortable going back to just training weekly in jiu-jitsu and doing a little bit of light Muay Thai sparring.”
If a botched call is generally known as a “Mazzagati,” then this referee just earned the Pornstache Lifetime Achievement Award for this epic flub. Passed along to us by none other than KarmaAteMyCat, the above video depicts what may be the worst referee blunder in the history of MMA. Sound impossible? Prepare to have your puny minds blown.
The event was Warrior Nation XFA III. The day was April 20th. In a preliminary 135 lb contest, Justin Kristie made his amateur debut against fellow rookie David Baxter. You can watch most of the first round if you’d like, but we recommend that you skip to the 4:13 mark, where, with ten seconds remaining, Kristie locks in a tight triangle. Baxter either throws some open palm strikes, or in our opinion, appears to tap with five seconds remaining. The ref doesn’t react, a pattern that will become disturbingly apparent in the very near future, so Kristie promptly chokes Baxter the fuck out as the bell sounds.
This is where things take a turn into the truly bizarre.
If a botched call is generally known as a “Mazzagati,” then this referee just earned the Pornstache Lifetime Achievement Award for this epic flub. Passed along to us by none other than KarmaAteMyCat, the above video depicts what may be the worst referee blunder in the history of MMA. Sound impossible? Prepare to have your puny minds blown.
The event was Warrior Nation XFA III. The day was April 20th. In a preliminary 135 lb contest, Justin Kristie made his amateur debut against fellow rookie David Baxter. You can watch most of the first round if you’d like, but we recommend that you skip to the 4:13 mark, where, with ten seconds remaining, Kristie locks in a tight triangle. Baxter either throws some open palm strikes, or in our opinion, appears to tap with five seconds remaining. The ref doesn’t react, a pattern that will become disturbingly apparent in the very near future, so Kristie promptly chokes Baxter the fuck out as the bell sounds.
This is where things take a turn into the truly bizarre.
Kristie immediately celebrates upon seeing that Baxter is without a doubt in the world unconscious, a sentiment that is also picked up by a few of his cornermen and any audience member without cataracts. Meanwhile, the referee halfheartedly attempts to hold Baxter down as he begins to seizure, staring at him with the ineptitude and helplessness of a slutty white female in a horror movie, before several physicians make their way into the ring.
After simply staring down at Baxter’s unconscious body for a few moments, the officials quickly scatter and allow Baxter’s cornermen to his side, realizing that the guys in Tapout shirts are far more trained to deal with the situation at hand than they are. By the time the one-minute warning whistle has been blown, Baxter has fully regained consciousness, and despite the fact that he has spent the last minute in a pile on the mat, is allowed to continue.
“How bout that, ladies and gentlemen? We’re going to see a round 2,” remarks the strip club DJ, which somehow doesn’t cause everyone in Kristie’s corner to launch into a full-on Joe Mikulik meltdown. Apparently this promotion follows the Chael Sonnen “If you tap out you only lose the round” school of logic. That, or the original referee and ringside physicians were replaced by Frank Drebin and his crew of cohorts in an undercover effort to catch a local con man or purse snatcher.
On the off chance that you haven’t already rage-fired your computer into a wall, here comes the craziest part yet. Re-energized by his temporary crossover into the afterlife, Baxter actually manages to rally in the second round and score a TKO victory over his gassed and flabbergasted opponent. Why Kristie wasn’t given the same opportunity to recover for the third round is beyond us. In either case, this referee, along with the “physicians” at ringside who have not yet acquired the proper medical schooling to recognize when someone is clearly unconscious, should not only be rebuked for their actions, they should be barred from ever stepping foot in an MMA event in Massachusetts for the rest of their natural lives. Hell, their children shouldn’t even be allowed near an MMA event for this disastrous call.
We’re not going to treat you like the idiots involved in the above fiasco, but suffice it to say, allowing a fighter to compete after he has just been choked out is insanely dangerous bordering on criminal. The fact that Baxter managed to use the incompetency of the crew who is supposed to be protecting him to his advantage is a moot point.
