(Somehow we have a feeling that this is not how things went down.)
I know, I know, we already agreed to stop talking about this. But upon stumbling across the story of Fallon Fox allegedly terrorizing several Invicta fighters backstage at Invicta FC 5, I figured I had to break protocol just this once. Because, regardless of whether you support Fallon Fox’s right to compete in MMA as a woman or not, you should know that when all is said and done, Fox might be a tad bit unstable as a human being. Who saw this coming, amiright?
That is of course, according to Invicta FC strawweight Bec Hyatt, who recently posted the following parable on her Facebook page. As stated by Hyatt, Fox was spotted lurking around the hotel lobby that several Invicta fighters were staying at on the morning of Invicta FC 5, presumably looking for a fight or at the very least, to stir some shit up. I’ll let Becca tell the story:
It’s true that Fallon & I had a “run in” on fight morning in the hotel lobby. Nothing physical, just an unwelcome distraction from my fight later that night. Long story short… I was on my phone Facebook training, as I do, when my husband told me to look up to the second floor balcony. Sure enough I was greeted by Fallon (along with another female fighter??) staring meanie daggers at me & if looks could kill… boy would I be dead LOL!! A Fallon Fox mean mug makes Jasminka Cive’s look child’s play 😉
(Somehow we have a feeling that this is not how things went down.)
I know, I know, we already agreed to stop talking about this. But upon stumbling across the story of Fallon Fox allegedly terrorizing several Invicta fighters backstage at Invicta FC 5, I figured I had to break protocol just this once. Because, regardless of whether you support Fallon Fox’s right to compete in MMA as a woman or not, you should know that when all is said and done, Fox might be a tad bit unstable as a human being. Who saw this coming, amiright?
That is of course, according to Invicta FC strawweight Bec Hyatt, who recently posted the following parable on her Facebook page. As stated by Hyatt, Fox was spotted lurking around the hotel lobby that several Invicta fighters were staying at on the morning of Invicta FC 5, presumably looking for a fight or at the very least, to stir some shit up. I’ll let Bec tell the story:
It’s true that Fallon & I had a “run in” on fight morning in the hotel lobby. Nothing physical, just an unwelcome distraction from my fight later that night. Long story short… I was on my phone Facebook training, as I do, when my husband told me to look up to the second floor balcony. Sure enough I was greeted by Fallon (along with another female fighter??) staring meanie daggers at me & if looks could kill… boy would I be dead LOL!! A Fallon Fox mean mug makes Jasminka Cive’s look child’s play
As you’d all know though, I have a chip on my shoulder myself & am very stubborn, so I gladly partook in the silent staring contest for a minute or so until I inquired as to why she was actually staring at me. Fallon replied with “I’ll do what I want”, to which I laughed, said she is a joke & went back to my Facebook training in preparation of the nights contest. I can’t remember exactly what Fallon then said, but it was along the lines of “I’m coming down there” in an angrier tone & as she went to put on her jacket, Invicta Fighting Championships matchmaker Janet Martin came out of an elevator & started talking to me. When I looked back up, Fallon & her friend were gone. The second half of our exchange was caught on camera but I won’t be releasing it
To Fallon’s credit, she did apologize to me at the after party but it was an unwelcome distraction to my fight as when it all sunk in, I was actually more pissed off about what happened in the lobby then all the stuff my opponent had said to me LOL!! I couldn’t even enjoy my popcorn at the movies I’m only a 115lbs fighter but if I won’t back down to my much bigger & more skilled fighter husband, I certainly am not backing down to Fallon Fox!!
So what’s the moral of this story, kids? You can take the dick out of the girl, but…actually no, you can’t.
The story, which first started circulating on MiddleEasy’s Sunday Morning Rumor Mill last weekend, was quickly passed along to the UG by none other than Hyatt herself, who later stated that she only held off as long as she did to avoid giving Fox anymore publicity for her extracurricular activities than she has already received. Mission accomplished, you guys!
Anyway, Rose recently scored her second professional win via 12-second flying armbar at last weekend’s Invicta FC 5, as you well know. While we were thrilled for her for obvious reasons, our excitement paled in comparison to that of “HD,” who proceeded to jump up from his ringside seat and leap onto the cage like he had just finished stomping a mudhole in Christian Morecraft following Rose’s big win. Thank God there were no small children in his way, or we may very well have witnessed a massacre worse than Cyborg vs. Muxlow that night.
Barry’s (literally) over-the-top celebration should come as no surprise to those of us who have seen him corner Namajunas before, but damn, I just really want what those two have. Not love, I’m talking about brutal knockout power and the ability to pull off flying armbars. I can force someone to love me with those two things.
After the jump: A video of Namajunas’ brilliant submission from Invicta FC 5, because big whoop wanna fightaboutit?
Anyway, Rose recently scored her second professional win via 12-second flying armbar at last weekend’s Invicta FC 5, as you well know. While we were thrilled for her for obvious reasons, our excitement paled in comparison to that of “HD,” who proceeded to jump up from his ringside seat and leap onto the cage like he had just finished stomping a mudhole in Christian Morecraft following Rose’s big win. Thank God there were no small children in his way, or we may very well have witnessed a massacre worse than Cyborg vs. Muxlow that night.
Barry’s (literally) over-the-top celebration should come as no surprise to those of us who have seen him corner Namajunas before, but damn, I just really want what those two have. Not love, I’m talking about brutal knockout power and the ability to pull off flying armbars. I can force someone to love me with those two things.
After the jump: A video of Namajunas’ brilliant submission from Invicta FC 5, because big whoop wanna fightaboutit?
Invicta FC put on its fifth event last night, closing out a very successful first year for the promotion. A thirteen-fight card at Kansas City’s Ameristar Casino highlighted Invicta’s swelling roster of talented fighters and solidified the promotions reputation for delivering entertaining MMA bouts. The show featured debuts of three champs from Strikeforce and Bellator, plus a pair of Invicta championship matchups. And it fucking rocked.
The card started with a pair of quick submissions, including CagePotato’s own Rose Namajunas, who set the internet on fire with a twelve second flying armbar victory. According to initial reports, that is the 5th fastest victory in MMA history, and fastest in the women’s division. Namajunas was understandably jubilant in her win, saying later that she would like all of her fights to be of the blink-and-you-missed-it variety. She also pointed out that she was still a prospect just starting out at 2-0, and that title talks could wait until she gained more experience.
Obligatory. PicProps: Patrick Walters, CP OG
Invicta FC put on its fifth event last night, closing out a very successful first year for the promotion. A thirteen-fight card at Kansas City’s Ameristar Casino highlighted Invicta’s swelling roster of talented fighters and solidified the promotions reputation for delivering entertaining MMA bouts. The show featured debuts of three champs from Strikeforce and Bellator, plus a pair of Invicta championship matchups. And it fucking rocked.
The card started with a pair of quick submissions, including CagePotato’s own Rose Namajunas, who set the internet on fire with a twelve second flying armbar victory. According to initial reports, that is the 5th fastest victory in MMA history, and fastest in the women’s division. Namajunas was understandably jubilant in her win, saying later that she would like all of her fights to be of the blink-and-you-missed-it variety. She also pointed out that she was still a prospect just starting out at 2-0, and that title talks could wait until she gained more experience.
Also on the preliminary card was a bout between Miriam “The Queen of Mean” Nakamoto and Jessamyn “The Gun” Duke, a matchup between relative newcomers to MMA with extensive striking backgrounds. Nakamoto scored a KO victory in the first round with a pair of blistering knees, but there was some controversy when the second knee strike landed on a downed Duke. Shannon Knapp explained at the presser that the first (legal) knee that landed was considered the knockout blow, but said she would review the fight later. Nakamoto earned Knockout of the Night honors, adding insult to Duke’s injury and keeping her up on Twitter into Saturday morning.
Kicking off the main card was a matchup between popular Australian fighter Bec Hyatt and Austrian striker Jasminka Cive. The two had brought some personal heat to the matchup, including a pre-fight facedown with Invicta commentator Julie Kedzie. Hyatt squashed the beef with an armbar victory in the first round, and will look to rebuild momentum for another shot at Invicta’s 115 pound title.
And then came the upsets. First out was Kaitlin Young, a seasoned pro whose 7-7-1 record belies a career fighting top-ranked women, including Miesha Tate, Gina Carano, Julie Kedzie, and Liz Carmouche. Young dropped a decision to surging Lauren Taylor, and now carries a losing record for the first time in her career.
Zoila Frausto-Gurgel fell victim next, losing a decision in her Invicta debut against Brazilian Jennifer Maia. Frausto-Gurgel was visibly frustrated with the decision and the question marks surrounding her. Zoila competed successfully at 115 pounds under the Bellator banner, but the weight cut was notably difficult. 125 was supposed to be her playground, with a clear shot toward title contention, and that path is no longer so straight and easy.
The upset parade almost continued into the next fight, between former 135 pound queenpin Sarah Kaufman and Leslie “The Peacemaker” Smith, a three round war that went to the judges and resulted in a razor-thin split decision for Kaufman. Smith, who was a virtual unknown training under Ceasar Gracie a year ago, is now perhaps the most dangerous opponent a bantamweight woman can accept. On the other hand, taking a fight with Smith guarantees a crowd-pleasing war and a potential Fight of the Night bonus. The controversial decision (which the crowd loudly disagreed with) brought a bit of awkwardness to the press conference after the fights. Smith, while not willing to directly criticize the decision, pointed out that the UFC could rightly lose confidence in one of “their” fighters (Kaufman), if she had such a narrow decision win over a mere “Invicta fighter” like herself. (For the record, Smith would have won under Stockton Rules.) Meanwhile, Kaufman held a frozen smile, too polite to argue in a civilized setting like a press conference. A rematch between the two was discussed (and literally applauded by the gathered media), under either the UFC’s banner or Invicta’s.
There would be no upset for Cris Cyborg’s Invicta debut. Matched up with Aussie tough Fiona Muxlow, Cyborg put on a blazing display of aggression that lasted a shade over three and a half minutes, at which point Big John McCarthy decided that, no, this Australian lady is not going to crack Cyborg’s fists with her skull, and called the fight. It was announced at the post-fight that Cyborg will move on to compete in Invicta’s inaugural 145 pound title fight against Marloes Coenen in July, while Muxlow works on regaining hand-eye coordination and vowel sounds. She did not attend the press conference after the fights.
Speaking of inaugural titles, Invicta held its first 125 pound title fight between Vanessa Porto and Barb Honchak. After the public execution of Cyborg’s fight, the crowd got a bit restless with the more technical striking exchange. Honchak looked to counter Porto’s vicious leg kicks with combinations, and built up a commanding lead on the cards for a unanimous decision win and the Strawweight Championship.
Closing out the night was Jessica Penne’s first title defense of her Atomweight belt, against Jackson’s MMA fighter Michele Waterson. In interviews leading up to the fight, Penne downplayed the importance of the title and any sense of ego about being the champ, but her enjoyment of her status as queen of the 105ers was as blatant as the #firstever hashtag she used to describe her reign. Not that Penne was resting on her laurels: she was a hard-training, well-rounded, athletically-gifted champ, and she’d earned the belt. Waterson, while an exciting fighter that has a bigger kicking repertoire than Hwoarang and Baek Doo Son combined, looked to be smaller and incapable of fending off Penne’s solid grappling attack.
Oh, how wrong we were. Waterson was quite capable, thank you, and proved it by gutting out an armbar attack from the champ that appeared to snap Waterson’s arm. Waterson would go on to pull out a sneaky-fast armbar transition of her own in the fourth round, earning a quick tap and a shiny new belt as the #secondever Atomweight Champion.
All in all, it was another soaring success for Invicta. While there were complaints about unstable streaming, they were a tiny percentage of the problems Invicta faced in its first iPPV venture. More and more people are realizing that, yes, there is depth of talent in the ladies’ division. All you have to do is showcase it. Invicta’s first year has proven that the athletes are ready for a bigger stage, and the promotion is ready to provide it. While there may be growing pains, like adjusting to a television deal that’s looking increasingly likely to happen. Like it or not, Invicta FC is here to stay.
And one more thing: Our own Doug “ReX13” Richardson has been allowed into the Ameristar Casino Hotel in Kansas City as a member of the media (LOL!), and he’ll be posting additional updates during the show on our twitter page, @cagepotatomma. Don’t miss it.
And one more thing: Our own Doug “ReX13″ Richardson has been allowed into the Ameristar Casino Hotel in Kansas City as a member of the media (LOL!), and he’ll be posting additional updates during the show on our twitter page, @cagepotatomma. Don’t miss it.
Props to our palRose Namajunas and Sucker Punch Entertainment for sending us some behind-the-scenes footage of Thug’s fight-week activities in the days leading up to Invicta FC 5. You will see: Rose working pads with Trevor Wittman. Rose peeling potatoes while wearing the traditional head-wrap favored by grandmothers the world over. Rose on the phone, discussing mean-mugging strangers at the grocery store for the interview that she gave us two days ago. (Dude, I’m on the other end of that phone. Bloooooosh.) And so on. Check it out, and follow Rose on YouTube and Twitter!
After the jump: Rose, Cyborg, Karate Hottie, Jessica Penne, Bec Hyatt, and all the rest will be hitting the scales today for the Invicta FC 5 weigh-ins, beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. PT. Watch the action live in the player below…
Props to our palRose Namajunas and Sucker Punch Entertainment for sending us some behind-the-scenes footage of Thug’s fight-week activities in the days leading up to Invicta FC 5. You will see: Rose working pads with Trevor Wittman. Rose peeling potatoes while wearing the traditional head-wrap favored by grandmothers the world over. Rose on the phone, discussing mean-mugging strangers at the grocery store for the interview that she gave us two days ago. (Dude, I’m on the other end of that phone. Bloooooosh.) And so on. Check it out, and follow Rose on YouTube and Twitter!
After the jump: Rose, Cyborg, Karate Hottie, Jessica Penne, Bec Hyatt, and all the rest will be hitting the scales today for the Invicta FC 5 weigh-ins, beginning at 6:30 p.m. ET / 3:30 p.m. PT. Watch the action live in the player below…
(“I think putting ourselves in dangerous situations makes our lives exciting.” / Photo courtesy of Denise Truscello @ WireImage via Getty)
By Ben Goldstein
With her fight against Kathina Catron leading off the Invicta FC 5 prelims this Friday, we called up CP’s favorite (and only!) sponsored fighterRose Namajunas to get to know the woman a little better. So what did she have to say about pre-fight nerves, Pat Barry, and mean-mugging strangers at the grocery store? Read on and find out. And be sure to follow Rose on twitter @RoseNamajunas for more updates from her life.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: First of all, who gave you the nickname “Thug”?
Rose Namajunas: My neighborhood friends. When I was little, I was the only white girl, I was smaller than everyone else, and for some reason I just acted harder than everybody else — just fearless, you know? So they kind of dubbed me that because of the intimidating scowl I always had on my face. That’s what gave me that name.
I’ve noticed that scowl before your fights, and even in your weigh-ins. Do you have to get yourself into that Thug-mode — is it a separate persona — or are you that intense all the time?
That’s just one aspect of my personality. I have a playful, fun-loving side, and I also have a very sensitive and emotional side to my personality. But it’s definitely one of the main things that most strangers will pick off of me from a first impression, that I really come off as this intimidating type of person. Like I said, it’s just one aspect of my personality, but I’m always practicing a staredown with strangers. Even going to the grocery store, I might mean-mug somebody just to see if I get a weird feeling from them. It’s practice. And I think that’s one thing that fighters don’t really practice that much, is their intimidation and their mind games, and the intimidating looks that you can give to people. It really can win or lose you the fight if you have that down. Mike Tyson was phenomenal at that game, of intimidating his opponents — he won the fight before it even started.
Has a stranger ever tried to fight you because you were looking at them funny in the grocery store?
(“I think putting ourselves in dangerous situations makes our lives exciting.” / Photo courtesy of Denise Truscello @ WireImage via Getty)
By Ben Goldstein
With her fight against Kathina Catron leading off the Invicta FC 5 prelims this Friday, we called up CP’s favorite (and only!) sponsored fighterRose Namajunas to get to know the woman a little better. So what did she have to say about pre-fight nerves, Pat Barry, and mean-mugging strangers at the grocery store? Read on and find out. And be sure to follow Rose on twitter @RoseNamajunas for more updates from her life.
CAGEPOTATO.COM: First of all, who gave you the nickname “Thug”?
Rose Namajunas: My neighborhood friends. When I was little, I was the only white girl, I was smaller than everyone else, and for some reason I just acted harder than everybody else — just fearless, you know? So they kind of dubbed me that because of the intimidating scowl I always had on my face. That’s what gave me that name.
I’ve noticed that scowl before your fights, and even in your weigh-ins. Do you have to get yourself into that Thug-mode — is it a separate persona — or are you that intense all the time?
That’s just one aspect of my personality. I have a playful, fun-loving side, and I also have a very sensitive and emotional side to my personality. But it’s definitely one of the main things that most strangers will pick off of me from a first impression, that I really come off as this intimidating type of person. Like I said, it’s just one aspect of my personality, but I’m always practicing a staredown with strangers. Even going to the grocery store, I might mean-mug somebody just to see if I get a weird feeling from them. It’s practice. And I think that’s one thing that fighters don’t really practice that much, is their intimidation and their mind games, and the intimidating looks that you can give to people. It really can win or lose you the fight if you have that down. Mike Tyson was phenomenal at that game, of intimidating his opponents — he won the fight before it even started.
Has a stranger ever tried to fight you because you were looking at them funny in the grocery store?
Well, that’s the one risk you have you have to constantly take. Playing the staring game with strangers, you never know who you’re going to run into. I mean, you might run into me, you never know! It’s definitely a risk doing that with strangers, but you know, we take a risk going into the cage. So if you win that staredown with a stranger, then you know you’ve won. And if they flip on you and go crazy, then, you know…that sucks. [laughs]
Your second professional fight is just two days away. Between weight-cutting and travel, how difficult is fight week for you?
I don’t know if I would say the difficulty level is higher or lower. You know that it’s crunch time, and you know that there are a lot of things to do in one week. The physical stress is a lot less, but the mental stress is way more. You’re not banging up your body, you’re not breaking your body down to zero energy level, but all the interviews and media that you have to do takes a toll on you mentally, and so does the anticipation. You know that it’s coming, it’s coming, it’s coming, and it just increases towards the day of the fight.
In an interview last year with BabesofMMA, you mentioned that you’ve struggled with nerves before a fight. How badly does that still affect you, and what do you do to calm yourself down?
Well, here’s the thing — I think any fighter who says they don’t get nervous is either lying because they want to look tough, or they don’t really care about it and probably shouldn’t be doing it. If you’re not nervous before something, then you don’t care. I put everything into fighting, and for me to invest everything emotionally, physically, and spiritually into this increases my nerves because I want to do well. And also, you never know what’s going to happen. You know how good you are, and you want to focus on yourself, but no matter who you’re fighting — no matter what size they are, no matter what their record is — they’re always the scariest person at that time, and then afterwards it’s like, “Oh well, nevermind.”
I think another myth is that the more you do it, the more comfortable you get with it. But in each fight I’ve had, I get more and more nervous because the pressure keeps building and building, and it’s a new challenge every time. It never gets easier, and I think that’s just something you have to accept over time. But that’s why we do it. If there’s no build up to it, then it doesn’t make it exciting, and I think putting ourselves in dangerous situations makes our lives exciting.
I know you’ve been an athlete and martial artist most of your life. Was there a specific moment that inspired you to get into MMA?
One thing just led to another. My family has always been involved in sports. My grandfather was a professional wrestler and a champion in Lithuania for many years. I have a second cousin or aunt, or whatever you want to call it, she’s a professional basketball player, and all my family is involved with different things like art and music. Sports always played a major role in my life, but martial arts were always there since day one. I started going to Duke Roufus’s gym and I met Pat Barry, and Anthony Pettis was coming up at the time, Eric Schafer was in the UFC, and the UFC was growing and growing, and I realized that I could do something great with this and it didn’t just have to be a hobby for me.
I’ve been splitting up my training camp between Minnesota at the Academy, and Trevor Wittman’s gym at Grudge Training Center in Colorado. I train with Kaitlin Young a lot of the time. We have Mike Richman, who’s gonna have his Bellator fight against Frodo [Khasbulaev] this Thursday, and then we’ve got Jacob Volkmann who’s a phenomenal wrestler. We’ve got all these names coming out of the Academy that I train with, and obviously all the legends that came from there, like Sean Sherk and Dave Menne. Back in Colorado I train with Cat Zingano, and she’s a frickin’ beast. She’s taken me down a thousand million times, she’s a super stud wrestler, and that’s not even her number one strength. I mean, her striking is great too, she just comes forward fearlessly. And there’s a ton of other girls that I train with in Colorado; I normally don’t get that many females to train with. But on top of that, you know, Trevor Wittman is a great coach, and Greg Nelson and obviously Pat are my main coaches who really push me to the next level.
You had your pro debut in January at the last Invicta event. Tell me a little about the experience of being on an all-female card. Was it more comfortable for you, or did you prefer being one of the few female fighters at those King of the Cage events you used to compete on?
Invicta doesn’t ignore the fact that we’re females and we’re different. I mean, we need to actually do our hair and get it braided, and we need to take pregnancy tests, just the little things like that, they acknowledge it and pay attention. But they also treat us like queens. And it’s just a level of professionalism that they have. I’m really appreciative of everything they’ve given me.
Your opponent on Friday, Kathina Catron, is also relatively new in her career. How much do you know about her, and what are your thoughts on her?
I think she has more experience than I do, so she has that edge on me, but I’ve always been the less-experienced fighter in all of my fights. I’ve also been the smaller fighter in all of my fights — I’ve fought up a weight class in all my amatuer fights even though I was way smaller, and I still came out on top, so I think I have that advantage of being able to overcome the obstacles. [Catron] does have more finishes than I do, so I think she’s going to come out in the fight really gutsy and wild, and I think she won’t be afraid to take any risks.
Now, I believe that I’m better all around, standing and on the ground. I think that she’s a well-rounded fighter, and that can be good in some instances, but sometimes when you’re a well-rounded fighter you get too comfortable in just letting the fight go wherever it goes, and for me, that’s not what I want to do. I want to take the fight to where I want it to go. I want to make a game plan and take it to where she’s uncomfortable and finish it.
There hasn’t been any trash talk between you and Katrina leading up to this fight. Do you think you’d ever trash-talk another fighter to create buzz around yourself, or call a fighter out to get her attention? It seems to work for some people.
If it happens, it happens — it’s not going to be forced or planned. I’m not opposed to it. But if it turns into one of those things where, “Okay, I’m going to do this for attention or to get the media to bite into it,” then I’m not going to do it because I never want to do anything forced; I want to just go with the wind. I feel really comfortable for this fight. There are obstacles that I’ve had to overcome, but all and all, everything’s falling into place, and I’m not gonna create any type of bad blood that’s not there. I don’t really know [Catron], I don’t even think about her that much. I just know that she’s an opponent and I have to take care of business and do what I gotta do, and if we happen to talk afterwards that would be cool. We’ll probably run into each other before the weigh-ins or something, and it might be fun, we’ll see.
By the way, how did Pat Barry charm you into being his girlfriend?
Well, he’s kind of irresistible! I was going to the gym every day and keeping to myself, not really talking to anybody. But he has a knack for charisma, and he’s a very charming man. His smile…I don’t know what it was, but when he walked past me, I felt some type of surreal feeling that I can’t really explain in words. But I still kept to myself regardless of that feeling, and over time, he began to gain my trust and vice versa. He always tells the story about how we first met, and that’s when I punched him in the face, and he fell in love at first punch, I guess you could say. And it was the same with me; when I first saw him, I knew something was special about him.
(Dating sites are such a scam. You make plans to meet up with the chick in the photo, and when you show up, it’s Pig Blood City. / Photo via Rose’s Facebook page)
I’m only a 115lbs fighter but if I won’t back down to my much bigger & more skilled fighter husband, I certainly am not backing down to Fallon Fox!!
