Tag: General

Vicente Luque Training Video Shows You Why Guys Are Getting Brain Damage In The Gym

As we move further into the future of MMA and watch the sport grow into an absolute powerhouse, the issues of health and wellness for the athletes that make this sport so great is beginning to take center stage. CTE (Chronic traumatic encephalopathy), is a rising concern in contact sports. A degenerative disease that is brought on due to brain trauma, you can certainly bet that mixed martial artists and other combat sport participants are potential victims that this degenerative ailment will effect.

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As we move further into the future of MMA and watch the sport grow into an absolute powerhouse, the issues of health and wellness for the athletes that make this sport so great is beginning to take center stage. CTE (Chronic traumatic encephalopathy), is a rising concern in contact sports. A degenerative disease that is brought on due to brain trauma, you can certainly bet that mixed martial artists and other combat sport participants are potential victims that this degenerative ailment will effect.

All that being said, fighters are still going to fight, boxers box, football players…football, and really that’s their right. If they’re aware of the risk and still go through with it then it can’t be helped. It’s their right after all. But it makes the importance of training smart all the more paramount in a sport where contact is absolutely certain. Which brings us to Vicente Luque and the brilliant sparring session caught on film last week.

The video of Vicente features the UFC welterweight in a hard sparring session with a training partner at Cerrado MMA. The two fighters throw caution to the wind and decide to bring the heat during their sparring session. It’s not uncommon to go through hard sparring during a training camp, but there’s hard sparring and then there whatever it is these guys decided to do. Check it out below.

Training hard, especially if you’re going to enter into a combat situation, is certainly an important aspect of training. It teaches you to be calm under heavy fire and that you won’t break under pressure when the going gets rough. That being said, there’s a point of diminishing returns and continuous hard sparring, particularly in the gym, can lead to severe brain injury. Surprisingly most damage is done in the gym and if this kind of hard training trend continues then you can be sure that CTE cases will be on the rise in MMA.

What do you think of Vincente Luque and his hard sparring session?

Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.

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Fabricio Werdum Gets Fired From UFCTV Job Due To Reebok Protest

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UFC, The Dictatorship

Before I get into this article I just want to say that I have nothing against the UFC. They’re a great organization that has brought eyeballs to the sport and have made some of the most epic match-ups with some of the most epic fighters. However, they have some improvements that can be made and as true fans we have a responsibility to point them out.

Most recently, former heavyweight champion Fabricio Werdum got the axe from a UFC TV job after a protest post regarding Reebox and it’s sponsorship of the UFC. Since Reebok has come in as the sole sponsor fighters have lost a significant amount of money. Werdum, a champ until 6 months ago, has been reduced to $5,000 dollars in sponsorship money per fight. Who knows what the other guys are getting paid. And it’s not like they’re seeing this difference on their paychecks,  with most top 15 fighters still earning $25,000 to show and $25,000 to win. Fabricio felt that he had a responsibility to speak out.

 

Now I know what you hardliners are thinking. This is a new BUSINESS with new owners, and UFC has already made it clear that if it don’t make dollars it don’t make sense. Also, it’s a conflict of interest for them to have someone who represents the company actively protesting one of its main partnerships. I get all of that, however, this business is about people, and whenever it’s about people it becomes about relationships. The UFC can’t just ignore it’s fighters with a take it or leave it attitude, at some point they’re going to have to negotiate. I’m not saying they have to give in or even give up the Reebok deal, but the fighters must be compensated somewhere else. Ask anyone who’s ever loved and lost, a one-sided relationship can only work for so long, something has to give.

Fabricio Werdum was set to be a commentator and analyst on the Spanish speaking UFC TV deal.

What do you guys think of these recent events? Have the UFC gone too far or is this just how it is?

Lionel Harris-Spence is a local drunk and part time writer for Cage Potato, and Generation Iron MMA. You can catch him screaming obscenities at a flat screen during most MMA events

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Jon Jones: “Bring On The Juice”…

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Lifting, predictions, and swears…oh my!

Jon Jones has had a very busy week to say the least. After returning to Twitter after a long hiatus, he has since got into a twitter beef with long time hater Matt Mitrione, predicted a win for arch nemesis Daniel Cormier, lifted 500 lbs (clean, hopefully), and all the while having a meeting set for today with USADA.

In case you haven’t heard Jon Jones seems to have problems with putting things in his system. After a myriad of run-ins with the law (and pregnant women apparently), it seemed the final leg of his comeback tour had been cut off when he was recently busted by USADA for PED’s. This knocked him out of his UFC 200 headlining title bout with battle boo DC and could possibly suspend him for 2 years from the sport. But alas,  It seems Jones has more lives that his exoticly owned cat. Current rumors are starting to support the fighters exoneration, and a possible fight date for early next year.

But despite the outcome of the upcoming case, do you think it’s a wise idea for Jones to be inviting all this attention? His meeting with USADA is set for today and Jones is already making friends over social media.

 

 

 

While Matt Mitrione was definitely the donkey of the day in this exchange, wasn’t Jones the loser for even engaging? He then goes on to predict the winner of the upcoming light heavyweight bout between current title holder DC and Anthony Johnson, giving Daniel Cormier the edge.

 

But wait, there’s more! Besides being his own PR man, Jones is still finding time to fit in his controversial crossfit, with an even more controversial title to boot, “Bring on the juice jokes”.

We get it. He’s a young dynamic fighter in his prime, who can’t fight. All that energy and downtime has to go somewhere. However, it seems Jon Jones is a guy that likes to jump into things without thinking, and even before being exonerated he’s already out enticing controversy. In the name of Jon Jones fans everywhere, “go sit down somewhere”, please.

Even if his hearing with USADA goes well, Jones still has to clear one last hurdle before he can get back in the cage, a Nov. 10th hearing with the Nevada State Athletic Commission. The NSAC isn’t beholden to whatever decision the USADA arbitration will yield and could well suspend Jones despite his tainted supplement explanation.

What do you guys thinks of Jones’s recent activity? Is this a sign of his continuing immaturity or is he just doing him? Hit us up in the comments section below.

 

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Tony Ferguson Turning Into Ip Man For Fight Against Rafael dos Anjos

When most individuals think about mixed martial arts as a sport no doubt they sum the style up as a mixture of muay thai, wrestling, and Brazilian jiu jitsu. Now that isn’t entirely too far off as most people who enter the sport come from one of those particular backgrounds. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t merit in other combat arts. To think that there’s only one formula to getting things done in MMA would be pretty foolhardy.

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When most individuals think about mixed martial arts as a sport no doubt they sum the style up as a mixture of muay thai, wrestling, and Brazilian jiu jitsu. Now that isn’t entirely too far off as most people who enter the sport come from one of those particular backgrounds. But that doesn’t mean there isn’t merit in other combat arts. To think that there’s only one formula to getting things done in MMA would be pretty foolhardy. No one thought that karate had a place in serious combat, but it’s a notion that doesn’t hold much water. It’s a lesson that many people have learned at the hands of traditional martial artists Lyoto Machida and Stephen Thompson. Now it seems that ahead of his battle against former lightweight champion Rafael dos Anjos, Tony Ferguson is utilizing a traditional martial art to help bolster his game.

If you’re a martial arts movie enthusiast then there’s no way that you haven’t at least heard about Ip Man. The movie stars Donnie Yen portraying the real life figure who trained Bruce Lee in the art Wing Chun. The movie highlighted just how graceful and dangerous the martial art could be. Donnie Yen’s portrayal help to shine a light on martial art once more and has sparked renewed interest in Wing Chun.

Now it seems that Tony Ferguson is utilizing this same martial art in preparation for his November 5 showdown. Take a look at the training video as the UFC lightweight does his thing on the traditional training tool for the Wing Chun specialist, the wooden dummy.

 

What do you think of Tony Ferguson and his new approach to training?

Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.

 

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The Pettis Brothers Coupe With Their Car Bombings In Completely Different Ways

Despite being dealt a crappy hand, Anthony and Sergio Pettis are taking their car bombings in stride.

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Despite being dealt a crappy hand, Anthony and Sergio Pettis are taking their car bombings in stride.

For most fighters the major things on their plate usually consist of training hard, booking a fight, and getting an adequate payday. There’s pretty much no time to be concerned with anything else. Their families need to be fed and the bills have to be paid, which isn’t all that different from the life of the average Joe. What is peculiar though are the events of what happened last night at the residence of Anthony Pettis.

Three cars in the former lightweight champion’s driveway were set ablaze by an unknown assailant. The cars belong to both Anthony Pettis and his younger brother Sergio. With no leads to go off of, the two UFC fighters have been forced to be patient until they can find the perpetrator of the act. But each Pettis Brother has chosen to deal with the situation in pretty different ways.

Anthony had a fairly stern response…

  While Sergio was far more lighthearted about the situation.

When you turn on that instrumental and your boy in the back starts spitting flames ????

A photo posted by Sergio Pettis (@sergiopettis) onOct 28, 2016 at 10:33am PDT

What’s you thoughts on this crazy story?

Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.

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New Ronda Rousey Training Footage. Do You See Improvement?

Whenever new training footage emerges of a high profile fighter, there will always be those who believe the slightest of changes to their routine means that they have improved or added something new to their arsenal. Conor McGregor is one such individual. If he adds anything, anything at all to his training camp then you can bet his rabid fans will be coming out of the woodwork to discuss how his new handstand push up method will turn him into an entirely different animal. Another high profile fighter who can relate to this issue is Ronda Rousey.

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Whenever new training footage emerges of a high profile fighter, there will always be those who believe the slightest of changes to their routine means that they have improved or added something new to their arsenal. Conor McGregor is one such individual. If he adds anything, anything at all to his training camp then you can bet his rabid fans will be coming out of the woodwork to discuss how his new handstand push up method will turn him into an entirely different animal. Another high profile fighter who can relate to this issue is Ronda Rousey.

Every since losing the UFC bantamweight championship to Holly Holm, everyone has been wondering if Ronda Rousey would be back. That question has been answered as the UFC dropped the bomb that she’s set to fight for the championship against newly crowned bantamweight ruler Amanda Nunes. Now all those fans speculating on her return have changed their tune to entirely once more, shifting focus from if Ronda would be returning to the sport to how will she look when she finally returns.

With a recent shadowboxing video of Ronda Rousey posted up on her Facebook fanpage, speculation can slowly begin to come to an end. Take a look at the video below.

Now after watching that, there are a few things that have become abundantly clear: Ronda Rousey still needs to put in more work. Granted, her hands and strikes do appear faster, but her footwork definitely needs cleaning up. She does seem to be improving on her hip rotation which is certainly a good sign, but ultimately there may not be enough here to come to a definitive conclusion. The biggest thing to take away from this video though is that the former champ does appear motivated which goes a long way in fighting, no matter how much anyone will tell you.

Do you think Ronda Rousey looks improved?

Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his Twitter and Facebook to keep up with his antics.

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