In Shah Bobonis’ younger years, there was precious little that the Miami product wanted more than to make his living in the world of baseball. “As far back as I can remember, I wanted to be a professional baseball player,” the 34-year-old recount…
In Shah Bobonis’ younger years, there was precious little that the Miami product wanted more than to make his living in the world of baseball.
“As far back as I can remember, I wanted to be a professional baseball player,” the 34-year-old recounted.
“My father was a left-handed pitcher who played semipro and winter league baseball in Puerto Rico. I grew up having some type of baseball practice every day when my father came home from work and on the weekends.”
Bobonis, a 52nd draft pick of the Seattle Mariners in 1997, never ended up making his living on the mound. But Bobonis, who likened himself as a pitcher to Tom Gordon and Turk Wendell, noted that his time in baseball did help lead him to a sport that he enjoys “exponentially more”—mixed martial arts.
“After my baseball career was over, I began boxing in the amateurs just to keep competing at something and stay in shape,” he said. “While at the boxing gym, I met Jorge Masvidal, who invited me to the Freestyle Fighting Academy.”
“And the rest is history.”
As a mixed martial artist, Bobonis, a brown belt under Miami’s David and Marcos Avellan, has won 15 of 23 professional bouts—including seven in a row dating back to January of 2011—and is a 135-pound titlist in Mexico’s Combate Extremo.
Bobonis, who now trains alongside Muhsin Corbbrey at Corbbrey’s Champions Training Centre in Savannah, defeated the previously unbeaten Cornelius Godfrey at XFC 20 in Knoxville in September.
While Bobonis, a professional mixed martial artist for the past five years, feels that the similarities between baseball and MMA are few and far between, his time on the diamond—as evidenced by his success—appears to have paid dividends in the cage.
“My time in baseball made me a person who longs for competition, no stranger to hard work and prepared me for the stress of competition,” he said.
“Shah is a true mixed martial artist,” Corbbrey said. “Many of the MMA guys out there are one-trick ponies. Not Shah. He focuses very hard on every aspect of MMA and is strong in every range. Shah trains daily with champion boxers, Muay Thai fighters and grapplers, as well as Division I wrestlers. When you fight Shah you really have to pick your poison, because he is dangerous anywhere the fight goes.”
Bobonis feels he could succeed in any sport he focused his efforts on and, as such, he feels that his future is bright in MMA.
“So far, I think I’ve just started to scratch the surface of my MMA career,” he said.
“When I walk away from the sport, I want to be known as one of the best bantamweights fighting in my era.”
Ed Kapp is a Regina, Saskatchewan-based freelance journalist. Unless otherwise noted, all quotations were obtained firsthand.
Rising to the top of mixed martial arts is a daunting task by all measures. With every step, a fighter pushes himself through the rigors of training in the hopes he will emerge with a better version of himself and will be more prepared to face the next…
Rising to the top of mixed martial arts is a daunting task by all measures. With every step, a fighter pushes himself through the rigors of training in the hopes he will emerge with a better version of himself and will be more prepared to face the next challenge. All of this is done because he knows that the countless hours of hard work will be put to the ultimate test inside the Octagon.
If the formula is correct, the sacrifices made will yield incredible results.
Benson Henderson knows what it takes to become a champion. Over the past three years, the former WEC and current UFC lightweight title holder has been on a tear to the top of the ladder. In that stretch, the 29-year-old has claimed victory in 10 of his last 11 outings and has earned the position as the No. 1 ranked 155-pound fighter in the world. Acclaim garnered and recognition as the world’s top lightweight fighter are certainly aspects “Smooth” appreciates, but ambition and a pursuit of greatness continue to push him further.
Henderson’s ultimate goal is to be known as the greatest fighter of all-time, and the next step of his journey comes on December 8th, when he squares off with No. 1 contender Nate Diaz at UFC on Fox 5 in Seattle WA,.
“Awhile ago, I reached a point in my career where every fight I have is the biggest fight of my life and a career defining moment for me,” Henderson told Bleacher Report. “Right now, I’m at that next moment of my career, with Nate Diaz standing in front of me. I’m in the gym everyday working out and busting my butt. This is a lifestyle for me. I don’t just go to the gym for an hour, then go home. I live the gym and live training. It will show in my fight against Nate and all my fights after. Hopefully, it ends with my hand being raised. Then it goes to the next step on that ladder to being the best ever. That is my ultimate goal. I want to be the best ever; no ifs, ands, or buts about it. I don’t want to be one of the best or a Top 10 in the world fighter; I want to be the best.
“When Michael Jordan stepped on the court, it didn’t matter who else was on the court with him—everyone knew he was the best. Charles Barkley, Patrick Ewing, and Scottie Pippen were all great players, but when Michael Jordan stepped on the court, they all acknowledged he was the best. They all knew. Larry Bird could be there and he would say, ‘that guy wearing the number 23 jersey over there, he is the best.’ That is amazing. To have guys of that high caliber and that talent level give him that recognition is astounding. To consider the egos those other guys have and were still able to admit that is amazing. I want to be that guy for MMA.”
Following 10 rounds of battle and two close victories over Frankie Edgar, Henderson is looking to take his title reign to the next step. Standing in his way will be the scrappy Stockton native, who has been on a tear of his own since returning to the 155-pound division.
While Diaz has shredded through a collection of top lightweights on the strength of his improved boxing skills, Henderson believes the keys to defeating the Season 5 TUF winner have already been shown inside the Octagon. That being said, he will still need to execute the plan to claim victory, and Henderson is looking forward to the challenge.
“Anytime there is a blueprint or a gameplan to beat an opponent, you have to pay attention to it,” Henderson said. “There are times when someone gets knocked out by a big overhand right seven seconds into the fight. While that is a good win and one I’ll take, it’s something of a fluke. Someone gets caught by a flying triangle in the first round it is like, ‘wow – there you have it.’ But anytime someone loses by decisions or repeatedly in the same manner; that tends to lend itself to a blueprint or game plan. Anytime there is a blueprint or a game plan on how to beat that fighter it is just a matter of having enough skills or being good enough to implement that game plan. Hopefully, I’m good enough to do that against Nate.”
The days of single discipline fighters are a thing of the past, and both Henderson and Diaz are strong examples of the multi-faceted skills required to compete at the sport’s highest level. Both men possess diverse skill sets with the ability to take the action to every inch of the Octagon. Diaz brings a slick submission game, backed by a high-output and extremely accurate striking attack, where Henderson has relied on his wrestling pedigree and unlimited cardio to find success.
Constant progression is a necessity, and the MMA Lab product takes great pride in his continued development. Through hard work and a dedication to improve, Henderson has become one of the most difficult fighters to categorize in the skills department.
“I started out as a wrestler,” Henderson said. “That was my base. I went from wrestling to my ground game and I worked a lot on my jiu-jitsu for the first few years of my career. From there, I branched out; I worked on my boxing, Muay Thai, and more traditional martial arts for a bit. It’s all about being well balanced and being good at everything. You hear people talk about fighters like, ‘oh he’s a wrestler with a little bit of hands’ or ‘he’s a boxer with a little bit of wrestling.’ I think the best guys are the ones who are good at a little bit of everything.
“The new breed of MMA fighters, in my opinion, are the guys who started doing MMA for the sake of MMA. They didn’t start out doing wrestling like I did. The new breed of guys are kids who are 14 or 15 who started out doing everything. Those are the guys who are going to have the belts for a long, long time. I’d like to be on the forefront of that wave and be known for being great in all areas and aspects of MMA.”
Less than a year ago, Henderson was looking at the throne from Diaz‘s perspective. While an opportunity to fight for the title may provide fuel for his opposition, defending the gold against all comers provides its own motivation.
When Henderson steps into the Octagon against Diaz next Saturday night, the champion will lay it all on the line. He will come out full-throttle to mix it up with a surging contender, and when the battle comes to an end, Henderson will be looking to have his hand raised in victory once again.
“I’m bringing the same as always,” Henderson said. “I’m giving 100% and coming in well prepared. I open up my heart out there. Most fighters have a hard time opening up their hearts and letting people see who they truly are in their soul and in their heart of hearts. When I go out there I open my heart to the fans in that cage. I let them see deep down who I am, how hard I’ve been training, and the lifestyle I live. I live MMA in all aspects. This isn’t a hobby to me and I let people see how committed I am. I let them experience it. I try to do that in all my fights. I don’t hold anything back and I’m going to do the same thing on Dec. 8th.”
Roli Delgado admittedly has modest aspirations at this point in his mixed martial arts career.“Fighting to my potential, fighting free of anxiety and just performing,” the 31-year-old offered when asked what he would like to accomplish befo…
Roli Delgado admittedly has modest aspirations at this point in his mixed martial arts career.
“Fighting to my potential, fighting free of anxiety and just performing,” the 31-year-old offered when asked what he would like to accomplish before he hangs up his gloves.
But Delgado, a co-owner of Little Rock’s Westside MMA, is quick to point out that martial arts will continue to play a prominent role in his life long after he retires—regardless of his accomplishments in the cage.
“I don’t ever plan on walking away from the sport; I will just transition to coaching full time,” he said. “I love my students; they are some of the biggest assets in my life.”
One may wonder if Delgado, a self-described insecure, goofy, dorky kid growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, was born to be a fighter, but the three-time UFC veteran and victor in Bellator FC believes that he is a natural on the coaching side of the game.
“I enjoy helping people and it comes natural to me, to be honest,” said Delgado, who began teaching Brazilian jiu-jitsu as a purple belt at a university club nine years ago.
“I’ve gotten better over the years, but when you really want to help people it shows and they really try to do you proud.”
Since Westside opened its doors in 2006, Delgado has had quite a bit to be proud about.
Delgado’s club, which is undefeated in its past 15 outings in Little Rock, has produced blue belts who have bested brown and black belts in tournaments and served as Hillary Williams’ home base during her quest to ultimately becoming a black belt world champion.
Delgado, who counts helping Williams beat Megumi Fujii to claim a bronze at the 2009 ADCC submission wrestling championships in Barcelona as one of his fondest memories as a coach, helped fellow Arkansans Seth Kleinbeck and Mike Wessel reach Strikeforce and the UFC, respectively.
“Communication skills, for sure, that and a true passion,” Delgado said when asked to what he attributed his success in coaching. “It doesn’t hurt that I’ve done everything that I ask my fighters to do. The guys that came up around the time I did really paved the way for this sport.”
Delgado, who is partial to coaching over fighting, is happy with what he has accomplished in MMA, but he feels the best is yet to come for him in the world of martial arts.
“I think the program that me and Matt Hamilton have set up is going to lend us to having many more fighters in big shows, as well as some top grapplers regionally,” said Delgado, who may return to competition in 2014. “ … I want to be known all over the world as a place in the middle of Arkansas where they grow tough fighters from scratch!”
Ed Kapp is a Regina, Saskatchewan-based freelance journalist. Unless otherwise noted, all quotations were obtained firsthand.
When something gets taken away from you once, you feel sad, but you might get over it pretty quickly.But when the same thing is taken away from you twice, you might be a little more impatient to get it back again.In the case of Strikeforce middleweight…
When something gets taken away from you once, you feel sad, but you might get over it pretty quickly.
But when the same thing is taken away from you twice, you might be a little more impatient to get it back again.
In the case of Strikeforce middleweight Lorenz Larkin, that sentiment is an understatement. Larkin was scheduled to face middleweight champion Luke Rockhold on a Strikeforce show on November 3, but Rockhold had to bow out due to a wrist injury.
According to a report from The MMA Corner, Rockhold has suffered an injury to the same wrist and will not be able fight Larkin at the January 12 Strikeforce event.
However, it took a little while though for Larkin to find out that Rockhold was injured.
“I always find out stuff out over the Internet or get a text,” Larkin told Bleacher Report. “I got a text early this morning from a friend saying Rockhold got injured. I woke up and was like, “What are you talking about?”
“I look on the Internet and stuff starts popping up. I got a hold of my manager and then he got a hold of Zuffa. They told him that he (Rockhold) pulled out of the fight with a wrist injury.”
After talking to his manager, Larkin was naturally disappointed.
“It is extremely frustrating,” Larkin stated. “You are scheduled to fight somebody two times and it doesn’t happen. Now you can possibly be in a situation where there is going to be a last-minute replacement or you aren’t fighting. It sucks. That’s the part of fighting I hate.”
Rockhold has suffered a variety of injuries in his five-year career that have forced him to take substantial time off. That includes a shoulder injury that caused him to not fight from February of 2010 to September of 2011.
With the wrist injury canceling the fight in November and now the one on January 12, Larkin feels that Rockhold isn’t mentally tough enough to be a fighter.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to hate on the guy, he (Rockhold) gets paid,” Larkin stated. “He gets good money. That guy gets $100,000 to fight. When you’re comfortable like that, these types of breaks don’t really matter to that guy.
“Taking eight months off or just not fighting, declining a fight or even just being able to be like, “I don’t feel like fighting.”
“He’s in that position where he can do it because of the money he gets from whatever sponsors pay him a month. He’s in that opportunity. I don’t think Rockhold is mentally tough. I don’t think he still has that hunger that the smaller guys have that aren’t getting the good money. They can fight just to fight.
“Anybody who’s in this organization doesn’t fight just to fight. They fight because they get paid. It is those guys that love to fight, that if they weren’t in Strikeforce or in MMA, then all of these guys would have been locked up because they would be fighting.”
Rumors have been running rampant that the January 12 Strikeforce event could be the last show, after which the fighters from Strikeforce would go over to the UFC. Larkin feels that Rockhold and the people around him are reluctant to face him, as they don’t want Rockhold to potentially enter the UFC with a loss.
“At first (when Rockhold got injured before the November 3rd show) I was thinking I wouldn’t put nothing past him,” Larkin stated. “I was really cool about it. I wasn’t really angry after everything was said and done.
“But now it is like, I wouldn’t say he’s scared, but I think he has too much to lose. If everything happens with Strikeforce and we do go over to the UFC, I just feel like it is a cop-out. He (Rockhold) doesn’t want to fight because potentially he could come into the UFC with a loss. Him and his camp don’t want to do that.
“It is a risk he doesn’t need to take, and I’m pretty sure his camp and managers are telling him, ‘Take the fight for what reason?’
“It’s one of those things where everybody knows he’s going to the UFC. Everybody knows at least which Strikeforce guys are going to the UFC. It’s one of those things where on his side it is like for what, why fight, risk it and lose the belt, go in and not have no bargaining room? Or don’t fight, go in (the UFC) with the belt and have all the bargaining room.”
Unless otherwise noted, all quotes obtained firsthand.
Sam King is quickly earning a reputation as being something of a quick starter. In less than a year since King made his amateur mixed martial arts debut, the Regina product is undefeated in three bouts—including a stunning first-round knockout an…
Sam King is quickly earning a reputation as being something of a quick starter.
In less than a year since King made his amateur mixed martial arts debut, the Regina product is undefeated in three bouts—including a stunning first-round knockout and two impressive first-frame submission victories.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, King, a standout wrestler while at Archbishop M.C. O’Neill High School in the Queen City, emphasized that he isn’t surprised by his early success in the world of mixed martial arts.
“Not at all,” the 21-year-old featherweight offered when asked if he was surprised by the success that he has found in the sport. “I spend time in the gym—I’m there every day. I work hard. I’m not surprised by the success—I’ve been putting the time in for it.”
“Sam puts in the time. He’s at the gym every day,” Miles Anstead, an undefeated professional mixed martial artist who has trained with King for much of the past two years, noted earlier this year.
“Sure, he’s definitely a natural, but he puts in the time … He’s a very committed guy.”
King is confident that he will add to his resume and bolster his reputation at Saturday Night Fights 6—where he is to take on Alberta’s Ian Odland in the card’s main event in Regina on Dec. 1.
King is hoping for another fast finish—“I want fights to go as quick as they can,” he offered with a laugh—but he is adamant that all that matters is picking up another victory regardless of how long it takes.
“Ideally, my hand will be raised,” the always confident King said with a slight laugh. “If it lasts two rounds then I’ll be in it for two rounds. We train for longer than two rounds at our gym.”
Ed Kapp is a Regina, Saskatchewan-based freelance journalist. Unless otherwise noted, all quotations were obtained firsthand.
One of the best things about being around UFC event week is that you never know who you’ll run into from the mixed martial arts world.Ray Sefo, K-1 kickboxing legend and now president of new MMA promotion World Series of Fighting, was in…
One of the best things about being around UFC event week is that you never know who you’ll run into from the mixed martial arts world.
Ray Sefo, K-1 kickboxing legend and now president of new MMA promotion World Series of Fighting, was in Montreal to help in the corner of UFC 154 competitor and top welterweight Martin Kampmann.
Sefo is a class act and was gracious enough to chat with me about a few things in the MMA world.
Sefo and WSOF are coming off a successful debut show, held on November 3rd in Las Vegas, and I wondered what he thought of the fighters’ performances in that show.
Oh, I couldn’t praise my fighters enough because they all came and delivered. That night it became a reality. In other words, we had knockouts, we had submissions, we had fights that went the distance, we had controversial decisions. You know it just made it all real, you know what I mean, so I was really pleased with my fighters. I have a lot of respect for them and I thank them for bringing everything on that night.
I wondered if his fighting history gives Sefo an advantage in attracting fighters to fight for his promotion, because they may feel more comfortable and respected compared to a promotion run by a businessman.
That’s what I’ve been told and that’s what I’m hearing which is great, because my biggest job is to make sure the fighters are looked after ,and not saying that some of these other guys who never fought haven’t done that, but you don’t understand the experience or the pressure unless you’ve done it.
All I can say is that I will do the best I can that the fighters in the WSOF, their needs will be met. Obviously it works both ways just like any other relationship, we’ll scratch your back if you scratch ours, you know.
The first WSOF event was a pretty good one, and as Sefo said, it produced a bit of everything for the MMA fan. Was the president able to sit and enjoy it or was he running around dealing with issues when the lights came on?
I was enjoying the show. The great thing about it was, again, I can’t thank my team enough because from PR to publishing to the team in the office to production, everybody did their job, and when everybody does their job, I don’t have to run around like a crazy maniac.
He laughed, and then added:
We were all really pleased with the outcome of the night.
One of my favorite Canadian fighters, The Score Fighting Series featherweight Chris Horodecki cites Sefo as his favorite fighter of all time. I asked Sefo about the future of a young fighter like Horodecki, who has come under tough times outside the cage and is looking to climb his way back to the top of the sport.
I love Chris. Chris is a great kid. He is a great talent. I think sometimes you gotta take a step back to take ten steps forward. As long as he understands that a little setback is a blessing in disguise, and he’s still young, like, so young, yet he has so much experience and I think it’s just a matter of time until he bounces back to that top level.
I wish him all the best. Like I said, he’s a great kid.
Talking with a fighting legend and class act like Ray Sefo was certainly the highlight of my week.
Dwight Wakabayashi is a Featured Columnist for Bleacher Report MMA and guest blogger for Sportsnet.ca UFC. Unless otherwise noted, all quotes were obtained first hand.
In Shah Bobonis’ younger years, there was precious little that the Miami product wanted more than to make his living in the world of baseball.