Tag: Maiquel Falcao

Bellator 66 Recap: Pay Eddie Alvarez, That Doesn’t Happen (enough) in MMA

Even if you weren’t glued to your Twitter account last night, you still had plenty of MMA news to keep yourself entertained. From a middleweight and lightweight tournament to a post-fight brawl to a referee ignoring a fighter’s cornermen throwing in the towel, there were plenty of things to talk about. All of these story lines came from Bellator 66 last night in Cleveland, Ohio.

While this season hasn’t been a stranger to dangerously late stoppages, last night’s main event, a rematch between former Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and Shinya Aoki, provided one worthy of mention in our worst referee blunders roundtable. Alvarez dropped Aoki early, and although he initially seemed hesitant to jump into Aoki’s guard, Alvarez unloaded some heavy punches that almost immediately put Aoki out cold. When the referee in charge, Jerry Krzys, didn’t stop the fight Aoki’s cornermen threw their towel into the cage. Of course, everyone knows that “throwing in the towel” is just an expression for giving up, and not a sign that the fighter’s cornermen actually believe that the fight should be stopped, right? No? Well then someone should have explained that to Jerry Krzys, who allowed the fight to continue for a few more seconds before stopping the action.

After the fight, Alvarez had a very simple question for Bellator, and an equally simple follow up request: “Bjorn Rebney where you at? Show me the money.” Of course, if Bellator can’t- or isn’t willing to- comply with that request, something tells us that the UFC will.

Even if you weren’t glued to your Twitter account last night, you still had plenty of MMA news to keep yourself entertained. From a middleweight and lightweight tournament to a post-fight brawl to a referee ignoring a fighter’s cornermen throwing in the towel, there were plenty of things to talk about. All of these story lines came from Bellator 66 last night in Cleveland, Ohio.

While this season hasn’t been a stranger to dangerously late stoppages, last night’s main event, a rematch between former Bellator lightweight champion Eddie Alvarez and Shinya Aoki, provided one worthy of mention in our worst referee blunders roundtable. Alvarez dropped Aoki early, and although he initially seemed hesitant to jump into Aoki’s guard, Alvarez unloaded some heavy punches that almost immediately put Aoki out cold. When the referee in charge, Jerry Krzys, didn’t stop the fight Aoki’s cornermen threw their towel into the cage. Of course, everyone knows that “throwing in the towel” is just an expression for giving up, and not a sign that the fighter’s cornermen actually believe that the fight should be stopped, right? No? Well then someone should have explained that to Jerry Krzys, who allowed the fight to continue for a few more seconds before stopping the action.

After the fight, Alvarez had a very simple question for Bellator, and an equally simple follow up request:  ”Bjorn Rebney where you at? Show me the money.” Of course, if Bellator can’t- or isn’t willing to- comply with that request, something tells us that the UFC will.

The evening’s co-main event saw a wild back-and-forth brawl between Bellator newcomer Andreas Spang and Brian Rogers. Rogers appeared to have Spang in trouble early, but slipped while attempting a head kick. Spang immediately took Rogers’ back and attempted a rear-naked choke, but Rogers fought his way out of it and attempted a choke of his own as the first round came to an end. Rogers continued to control the fight throughout the second round, yet got caught by Spang with a left hook that shut his lights out.


Props: IronForgesIron.com

After the fight, Spang was face-to-face with the other middleweight tournament finalist, Maiquel Falcao. As evident by the way that he pushed Brian Rogers at the weigh-ins before the fight, Andreas Spang does not like when other people get in his face. Spang responded to the way that bitch looked at me wrong with a shove (naturally). Falcao faked a punch before throwing a knee of his own as Bellator officials, including commentator Jimmy Smith, separated the middleweights. It wasn’t so much a brawl as an awkward post fight staredown gone wrong, but sometimes these things happen in MMA journalism.

Naturally, Maiquel Falcao made it past Vyacheslav Vasilevsky, although it was a far closer fight than most people anticipated it being. Vasilevsky started out strong, using his judo to keep Falcao on his back throughout the first round. However, Falcao managed to take down Vasilevsky towards the end of the second round, and owned the third round with his superior striking.

Elsewhere on the card, lightweights Rick Hawn and Brent Weedman advanced to the finals of this season’s lightweight tournament. Hawn outstruck Lloyd Woodard en route to a second round TKO, while Weedman defeated Thiago Michel Pereira Silva by split decision. Weedman winning on 4/20, eh? I’m sure I’d be the first person to make a joke about that, but I chose not to.

Full Results

Main Card:
Eddie Alvarez def. Shinya Aoki via first-round TKO
Andreas Spang def. Brian Rogers via second-round TKO
Maiquel Falco  def. Vyacheslav Vasilevsky via unanimous decision (29-28 x3)
Rick Hawn def. Lloyd Woodard via second-round TKO
Brent Weedman def. Thiago Michel Pereira Silva via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 29-28)

Preliminary Card:
Jessica Eye def. Anita Rodriguez via unanimous decision (30×27 x 3)
Julian Lane def. Joe Heiland via submission (guillotine)
Frank Caraballo def. Donny Walker via fourth-round KO
John Hawk def. Marcus Vanttinen via split decision (30-27, 28-29, 29-28)
Attila Vegh def. Dan Spohn via split decision (29-28, 28-29, 30-27)

Bellator 61 Recap: Some Faces Get Smashed, No Arms Get Collected

Brian Rogers’ walk-off flying knee KO (Courtesy of YouTube/BellatorMMA)

Bellator kicked off its fourth 185-lb tournament last night and it was a pretty good night of scraps for those in the bludgeoning business. Despite a last minute cancellation of the scheduled Prindle-Santos rematch, the card marched bravely on. Eight middleweights squared off for a chance to advance to the semis and ultimately to challenge reigning champ Hector Lombard. It may not be the most popular tournament at the moment, but it’s ours, dammit, and here’s how it played out.

The opening bout in the eight-man scrum pitted Season 5 runner-up Vitor Vianna against Brian Rogers. Rogers came out as the early aggressor, firing off hard shots at a passive Vianna. Eager to get the fight to the ground, Vianna worked for the takedown, but his back only graced the canvas once for a few seconds following a hip-toss by Rogers. Back on the feet, “The Predator” stunned Vianna with a right hand that wobbled him back on his heels. Smelling blood, Rogers leapt in with flying knee for a textbook falling tree KO. “”That was my third flying knee knockout. Google it,” said Rogers in his post-fight interview. I would, boss, but I’m terrified of the internet. All nine of Rogers’ victories have come by first round stoppage. Not too shabby.

Brian Rogers’ walk-off flying knee KO (Courtesy of YouTube/BellatorMMA)

Bellator kicked off its fourth 185-lb tournament last night and it was a pretty good night of scraps for those in the bludgeoning business. Despite a last minute cancellation of the scheduled Prindle-Santos rematch, the card marched bravely on. Eight middleweights squared off for a chance to advance to the semis and ultimately to challenge reigning champ Hector Lombard. It may not be the most popular tournament at the moment, but it’s ours, dammit, and here’s how it played out.

The opening bout in the eight-man scrum pitted Season 5 runner-up Vitor Vianna against Brian Rogers. Rogers came out as the early aggressor, firing off hard shots at a passive Vianna. Eager to get the fight to the ground, Vianna worked for the takedown, but his back only graced the canvas once for a few seconds following a hip-toss by Rogers. Back on the feet, “The Predator” stunned Vianna with a right hand that wobbled him back on his heels. Smelling blood, Rogers leapt in with flying knee for a textbook falling tree KO. “”That was my third flying knee knockout. Google it,” said Rogers in his post-fight interview. I would, boss, but I’m terrified of the internet.  All nine of Rogers’ victories have come by first round stoppage. Not too shabby.

Giva Santana knew exactly what he wanted to do in his bout with Bruno Santos. So did the fans. And unfortunately for him, so did Santos. Santana, who owns more arms than Kali, worked dutifully to drag Santos to the mat, but “Carioca” wasn’t having it. He rolled out of two takedowns in a close first round and even pulled up on a slam in the second to avoid a ground battle with Santana. Santos continued to take out “The Arm Collector’s” base in the third with a series of leg kicks, and he defended well when they did hit the canvas. It wasn’t the evening’s most exciting bout, but the performance was enough to score Santos a unanimous decision and extend his record to a perfect 13-0.

Through the power of television, Bellator turned back the clock and showcased an undercard bout from earlier in the evening. The Trey Houston-Jeremiah Riggs must have been contested under “The Ultimate Fighter Live” rules, as both men swung for the fences and held nothing back for a potential second round. That go-for-the-kill pace left both men winded half-way through the opening frame. With his back against the cage, Houston exploded forward, driving Riggs across the cage and ending up in side-mount. After a scramble and more haymakers, Houston again scored the takedown. Mounted, Riggs flipped off the cage and reversed positions, but “That Just Happened” happened again with a beautiful armbar to end the fight. The 23-year-old Houston is now 9-0, with all wins coming via stoppage.

Vyacheslav Vasilvsky cut a path to the second round through Victor O’Donnell’s swollen face. Both men were aggressive in the first, with O’Donnell scoring two takedowns and working for mount. He tried to get the fight to the ground again in the second, but was stuffed on a takedown and stumbled backward by a short jab right on the button. From there, it was two rounds of survival. The Russian’s ground and pound had his opponent turtling up, and on the feet he continued to hurt O’Donnell with his accurate hands. O’Donnell showed great heart and proved too tough to put away, but he was out gunned in this battle. Vasilevsky scored the unanimous decision and picked up his fourteenth straight win.

In the main event of the evening, UFC exile Maiquel Falcao took on Norman Paraisy in a heated battle. Falcoa worked for takedowns early on, briefly securing mount and crowding the Frenchman against the fence through much of the first. At the end of the opening round, “Big Rig” hoisted Paraisy into the air, nearly securing a picture perfect “human torture rack” before losing control and dropping his opponent. As the bell sounded, Falcoa landed with a slightly late knee to the body, prompting a very late left hand from Paraisy. The two apologized, but shit was on. Falcao cranked it up a notch in the second, firing off leg kicks and finding a home for his flurries. The Brazilian dropped Paraisy twice in the second, but chose a bit of bravado and posturing over swarming in for the finish. Again, the round ended with some post-bell action from Falcao. The final frame was all “Big Rig”. Paraisy was hurt in the standup and found no sanctuary on the ground. Predictably, the fighting ended shortly after the final bell, but when the dust had settled a dominant Falcao got his hand raised.

The tournament’s four winners will advance to the semi-finals at Bellator 66. Rogers is slated to take on Santos while Vasilevsky will go to work against Falcao.

FULL RESULTS: (via AdCombat.com)

Middleweight Quarterfinals:
Norman Paraisy v Maiquel Falcao – Falcao by Unanimous Judges Decision R3
Vitor Vianna v Brian Rogers – Rogers by KO Flying Knee Strike 4:14 R1
Bruno Santos v Giva Santana – Santos by Unanimous Judges Decision R3
Victor O’Donnell v Vyacheslav Vasilevsky – Vasilevsky by Unanimous Judges Decision R3

Preliminary Card (Live on Spike.com):

Trey Houston v Jeremiah Riggs – Houston by Submission – Armbar, 3:30 R1
Eric Scallan v Derrick Krantz – Krantz by Submission – Choke, 3:01 R1
Jason Sampson v Jeremy Myers – Sampson by Submission Rear naked choke 2:25 R3

 

Who You Should Bet On at Bellator 61


(Two words: Stanky toe.) 

We’re in the midst of the longest MMA drought of the year, Potato Nation. With only one UFC and one Strikeforce event scheduled in the next month, the gambling addicts within the CP staff are damn near starving to death. Seriously, we’ve been forced to start taking bets on things like: how long Karma can grow his fingernails before he scratches someone’s eyes out, the IQ of BG’s child (currently), and which cockroach in Danga’s apartment will finally die of lead poisoning.

Perhaps it’s a sign of how far the sport has come in the past few years that we expect a card every couple weeks; pehaps it is just a sign of our greed. In either case, Bellator has stepped up to fill the void left behind by all the major organizations, and thankfully so. With three events planned in the next two weeks, it presents a perfect opportunity to get some bad picks and ridiculous parlays out of your system before it really costs you.

Despite the main event being cancelled at the last second, tonight’s Bellator 61 card still presents some intriguing match-ups and more than a couple ways to come out with a more padded wallet to spend on tomorrows festivities, ie. green colored beer and an end of the night stomach pumping. But let’s get one thing straight, this is not your mamma’s Gambling Addiction Enabler, this is a sort of similar yet entirely different monster. CagePotato can not be held accountable for the following betting advice, so read at your own risk.

First, let’s take a look at the card…


(Two words: Stanky toe.) 

We’re in the midst of the longest MMA drought of the year, Potato Nation. With only one UFC and one Strikeforce event scheduled in the next month, the gambling addicts within the CP staff are damn near starving to death. Seriously, we’ve been forced to start taking bets on things like: how long Karma can grow his fingernails before he scratches someone’s eyes out, the IQ of BG’s child (currently), and which cockroach in Danga’s apartment will finally die of lead poisoning.

Perhaps it’s a sign of how far the sport has come in the past few years that we expect a card every couple weeks; pehaps it is just a sign of our greed. In either case, Bellator has stepped up to fill the void left behind by all the major organizations, and thankfully so. With three events planned in the next two weeks, it presents a perfect opportunity to get some bad picks and ridiculous parlays out of your system before it really costs you.

Despite the main event being cancelled at the last second, tonight’s Bellator 61 card still presents some intriguing match-ups and more than a couple ways to come out with a more padded wallet to spend on tomorrows festivities, ie. green colored beer and an end of the night stomach pumping. But let’s get one thing straight, this is not your mamma’s Gambling Addiction Enabler, this is a sort of similar yet entirely different monster. CagePotato can not be held accountable for the following betting advice, so read at your own risk.

First, let’s take a look at the card…

Main Card
Maiquel Falcao vs. Norman Paraisy
Vitor Vianna vs. Brian Rogers
Vyacheslav Vasilevsky vs. Victor O’Donnell
Giva Santana vs. Bruno Santos

Preliminary Card 
Brent Taylor vs. Josh Quayhagen
Trey Houston vs. Jeremiah Riggs
Derrick Krantz vs. Eric Scallan
Jeremy Myers vs. Jason Sampson

The preliminary card currently has no betting lines available, so we’ll focus on just the middleweight quarterfinals for the time being.

Let’s start with Falcao vs. Paraisy. Despite suffering a heart attack back in November, Falcao is currently listed at -330 over at BestFightOdds.com, a line that is a little inflated to say the least. Falcao is a walking paradox, a man who likes to end his fights early yet can’t seem to stop punching once he has started, regardless of what the ref or timekeeper says. He is so used to the first round, in fact, that in his only appearance in the UFC (against Gerald Harris at UFC 123), it appeared as if he forgot how to fight once he reached the third round. Paraisy, on the other hand, is likely getting such a bad billing because his last Bellator performance (Bellator 3-4 in 2009) resulted in a third round submission loss to Dave Menne. Since then, however, he’s reeled off five wins and a draw, including wins over Paulo Filho and Jack Mason. He’s also never been knocked out. Though that means nothing against a guy like Falcao in the early going, Paraisy’s superior cardio and strong wrestling base could prove to pay dividends in the latter rounds. Our advice, put Falcao in your parlay, and place a small side bet of maybe twenty or thirty dollars on Paraisy, depending on what your cash situation is.

The Rogers/Vianna and Santos/Santana fights aren’t worth betting on alone, but as far as adding to your parlay’s goes, the smart money is on Vianna (-125) and Santana (-115). Rogers has some power in his hands, but the same goes for Vianna, who also adds a ridiculous list of grappling credentials to his credit including 2 world BJJ Championships, 6 Brazilian national champions, and an ADCC NO GI trials runner up spot. He will dictate where this fight takes place, and should be good pick over Rogers. That being said, four once gloves can put anyone to sleep, so a small bet on Rogers wouldn’t hurt.

As we all know, Giva Santana is one of the greatest one trick ponies the sport has ever seen, collecting 13 arm bar wins in just 18 fights. Santos, however, has only finished two opponents in twelve fights, and despite being undefeated, should be listed as more of a dog here. He’s a grinder with severely limited striking skills who lacks the kind of speed of aggression that could put Giva in any sort of trouble. He’ll be looking to hold “The Arm Collector” down, a notion that will prove deadly when faced with Santana’s explosive guard. Santana is a lock, so don’t hesitate to throw him in your parlay as well.

That takes us to our last main card fight, Vitor O’Donnell (+235) vs. Vyacheslav Vasilevsky (-255). O’Donnell is primarily a grappler, scoring nine of his 11 wins by way of submission. He is also coming off a knockout loss to Brian Rogers at Bellator 50. Yes, many said the fight was stopped short, which I’m not really going to comment on; a KO loss is a KO loss. Rogers, though a beast in his own right, is nowhere near as well rounded Vasilevsky is. A two time world Sambo champion, former judo champion, and 2010 M-1 Global Light Heavyweight champion, Vasilevsky has been waiting sixteen fights for his coming out party, compiling a 15-1 record in that time, and should steamroll O’Donnell, barring any last second jitters. He is well versed in submissions and too good on the feet, so look for a quick and violent finish to this one.

So to sum up, place 50 to 75 dollars on a Falcao-Vianna-Santana-Vasilevsky parlay, which will net you $391.32 on the high end. That is a steal considering you are betting on all favorites. And if you’re feeling up to it, place a small side bet of 20 to 30 dollars on Paraisy-Rogers parlay, which could still double your total investment if your parlay goes to shit.

-J. Jones 

Bellator Announces Season 6 Middleweight Tournament Quarterfinal Matches


(And YOU get an unnecessarily long beatdown, and YOU get an unnecessarily long beatdown!) 

Bellator recently announced the lineup and first round match-ups for its 6th season middleweight tournament, and it features more than its fair share of familiar faces. First off, after reportedly suffering a heart attack during training back in November, former UFC middleweight Maiquel Falcao will be returning to action against 10-1-1 Norman Paraisy. Paraisy, a Paris, France native, previously fell to a first round rear-naked choke at the hands of inaugural UFC middleweight champion Dave Menne in his last Bellator appearance, which took place back in April of 2009. Paraisy has gone 5-0-1 since the loss, picking up wins over Paulo Filho and Jack Mason among others. True to his fighting style, Falcao last picked up a first round TKO victory over Douglas Del Rio, a video of which is below.

(Falcao also strayed from his usual fighting style, however, as he actually managed to stop punching his opponent when the ref intervened.) 


(And YOU get an unnecessarily long beatdown, and YOU get an unnecessarily long beatdown!) 

Bellator recently announced the lineup and first round match-ups for its 6th season middleweight tournament, and it features more than its fair share of familiar faces. First off, after reportedly suffering a heart attack during training back in November, former UFC middleweight Maiquel Falcao will be returning to action against 10-1-1 Norman Paraisy. Paraisy, a Paris, France native, previously fell to a first round rear-naked choke at the hands of inaugural UFC middleweight champion Dave Menne in his last Bellator appearance, which took place back in April of 2009. Paraisy has gone 5-0-1 since the loss, picking up wins over Paulo Filho and Jack Mason among others. True to his fighting style, Falcao last picked up a first round TKO victory over Douglas Del Rio, a video of which is below.


(Falcao also strayed from his usual fighting style that night, as he actually managed to stop punching his opponent when the ref intervened.) 

Also scheduled to throw down are Giva “The Arm Collector” Santana and undefeated Bruno Santos. Owning an incredible 13 wins by armbar in 17 victories, with all but one of those wins coming in the first round, Santana last picked up another first round armbar over Darryl Cobb at Bellator 53. Santos is perhaps Santana’s polar opposite, as ten of his twelve victories have gone the distance, so it will be interesting to see how things play out if this one drags into the later rounds. Our prediction, however, is that Santana collects yet another arm before, in Bryan Baker-esque fashion, proposing to Ronda Rousey and giving birth to the child that will eventually save the limbs of mankind from Rousimar Palhares. Fight fire with fire, Potato Nation.

Elsewhere on the card, season 5 runner-up Vitor Vianna will square off against Brian “The Predator” Rogers. Both men are coming off losses to eventual season winner Alexander Shlemenko; Rogers succumbed to a second round TKO at Bellator 54 and Vianna dropped a unanimous decision at Bellator 57.

And finally, submission specialist Vitor O’Donnell will lock horns with 15-1 Sambo practitioner Vyacheslav “Slava” Vasilevsky. For the love of Krzysztof Soszynski was that name hard to spell. O’Donnell’s last Bellator appearance was a quick one, a first round TKO via head kick at the hands of Brian Rogers in the season 5 quarterfinals.

Any of these names starting to sound familiar? Bjorn Rebney might want to consider adding a few more new faces to Bellator’s next middleweight tourney, because as much as we love rematches, we can only watch the same guys kick each other’s asses for so long. Unless those two happen to be Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard.

Bellator’s sixth season is set to kick off on March 9th, and features CP lifer/steroid aficionado Sean McCorkle taking on Richard White, Joe Warren defending his featherweight title against Pat Curran, and the featherweight tournament quarterfinals.

-Danga 

Bellator Season 6 Update: War Machine Gets His First Opponent, Maiquel Falcao Joins Middleweight Tourney


(War Machine poses with the kids’ MMA class that he is somehow allowed to teach. Props: @WarMachine170)

Two interesting updates to Bellator’s sixth season, which begins March 2nd…

— After signing to the promotion in December, War Machine has secured his quarterfinal opponent for Bellator’s upcoming welterweight tournament. As he wrote on Twitter yesterday, “Fuck ya its on! My first fight in @BellatorMMA tournament will be March 30th vs. Karl Amoussou!! Gonna send him back to France in peices!!” It will be Machine’s first appearance since his impressive post-prison win against Roger Huerta in November.

Karl “Psycho” Amoussou (13-4-2, 1-1 in Bellator) is indeed French, and has also competed for M-1, Strikeforce, DREAM, and Pancrase. The Haute Tension product most recently scored a first-round TKO over Jesus Martinez in a 175-pound catchweight bout at Bellator 59 in November. Bellator’s Season 6 welterweight bracket will include Bryan Baker, Brian Foster, undefeated triangle-choke specialist David Rickels, and Season 5 tournament finalist Ben Saunders. War Machine is already looking forward to an emotional reunion with his TUF 6 castmate.

In other news…


(War Machine poses with the kids’ MMA class that he is somehow allowed to teach. Props: @WarMachine170)

Two interesting updates to Bellator’s sixth season, which begins March 2nd…

— After signing to the promotion in December, War Machine has secured his quarterfinal opponent for Bellator’s upcoming welterweight tournament. As he wrote on Twitter yesterday, “Fuck ya its on! My first fight in @BellatorMMA tournament will be March 30th vs. Karl Amoussou!! Gonna send him back to France in peices!!” It will be Machine’s first appearance since his impressive post-prison win against Roger Huerta in November.

Karl “Psycho” Amoussou (13-4-2, 1-1 in Bellator) is indeed French, and has also competed for M-1, Strikeforce, DREAM, and Pancrase. The Haute Tension product most recently scored a first-round TKO over Jesus Martinez in a 175-pound catchweight bout at Bellator 59 in November. Bellator’s Season 6 welterweight bracket will include Bryan Baker, Brian Foster, undefeated triangle-choke specialist David Rickels, and Season 5 tournament finalist Ben Saunders. War Machine is already looking forward to an emotional reunion with his TUF 6 castmate.

In other news…

— Sherdog has confirmed that one-time UFC competitor Maiquel Falcao (28-4) will make his promotional debut as part of the Bellator Season 6 middleweight tournament; his debut date and first opponent haven’t been announced yet. Since being released from the UFC last May due to legal drama, the Chute Boxe-bred knockout artist has gone 2-1 in Brazilian leagues. Though he reportedly suffered a heart-attack in November, Falcao downplayed the story on his Facebook account, writing: “I’ve had some health problems caused by excessive training. This generated several rumors, but none of them is true. What actually happened was too much training, not enough rest.”

Hump Day Headlines with Stephanie Ann Cook

UFC Middleweight, Dan Miller asks for MMA community and fans donations to aid with his baby’s kidney transplant and care. Coming off recent loss at UFC 139, Rick Story signs four-fight deal with UFC. Phil.

UFC Middleweight, Dan Miller asks for MMA community and fans donations to aid with his baby’s kidney transplant and care.

Coming off recent loss at UFC 139, Rick Story signs four-fight deal with UFC.

Phil Davis welcomes fight with Rashad Evans.

Bellator and former UFC Middleweight fighter, Maiquel Falcao suffers heart attack, hospitalized.

Fedor Emelianenko‘s manager offers co-promotion fight with M-1 Global and UFC, asks for Fedor to fight Cain Velasquez. Dana White tweets “Hell no!”

The Ultimate Fighter: Brazil, Season 1 will hold tryouts in early December.