In 2010, Tapout released a commercial featuring the Ruffo brothers doing some MMA training.In the commercial the brothers did some striking drills and took direction from UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman and late MMA trainer Shawn Tompkins.When the …
In 2010, Tapout released a commercial featuring the Ruffo brothers doing some MMA training.
In the commercial the brothers did some striking drills and took direction from UFC Hall of Famer Mark Coleman and late MMA trainer Shawn Tompkins.
When the commercial came out, the two brothers were only eight and nine years old. Despite their young ages, they have been training in martial arts since they were about 18 months old.
Some people may see these commercials and think, “How could anyone let their children train in such a violent sport?”
But I actually believe it’s a great idea.
So much so, that if I’m ever blessed enough to have children, I would support them if they ever wanted to do MMA training.
I do understand there are pros and cons of it.
MMA can be a violent, dangerous sport. But so can American football and hockey. MMA is no longer the bloodsport or “human cockfighting” that it was once thought to be in the 1990’s; there are many rules and regulations for the sport.
Children also would not actually be participating in actual fights. But more or less sparing with partners like the boys did in the commercial.
Injuries can occur during training. In fact, many pro fighters get hurt more during training than in a actual fight.
Just last year Georges St-Pierre, Jon Jones and Rashad Evans all had to delay fights thanks to injuries they sustained during training. But letting children train in a slow paced, controlled environment could keep injuries at a minimum.
There are plenty of benefits that children could gain from training in MMA.
Like individual martial arts, there is the discipline factor. Children would learn the patience and discipline that it takes to do well in the sport. They would also gain vital self defense skills.
In a society that’s filled with people getting more and more obese, training in MMA could promote a healthy physical outlet for children. MMA also provides an outlet for kids who may not have the skills, physical attributes, or interest in other mainstream sports.
Unlike basketball or football, there is not a body type that you have to have to participate in MMA.
Whether you have a belly like Roy Nelson, have a skinny build like Anderson Silva, or are short like Demetrious Johnson, with good training, anybody can compete in MMA.
Training in MMA could also give children a sense of independence, an opportunity to meet new people, give them something outside of TV and video games to do, and be something to teach them respect.
The idea of teaching a child the same techniques we see inside the cage won’t sit well for many people. But I believe in a safe, well controlled environment, it would at least be worth a try.
Would you let your child do some MMA training? Share your thoughts!
Directed by Bobby Razak, whom you may know as the man behind the amazing Tapout short film, The Future of MMA (that video is after the jump), The History of MMA takes a nostalgic look back at the highs and lows of the sport we love oh so much, and includes commentary from several legends of the sport, including Bas Rutten, Frank Shamrock, Mark Coleman, and referee Big John McCarthy among others. And as luck would have it, Mr. Razak decided to drop the trailer yesterday. We would advise that you check it out.
As you can see, the film touches on many of MMA’s most infamous moments; John McCain’s labeling of the sport as “human cockfighting,” its evolution through Pancrase, and the moment Tito Ortiz decided he had what it took to roc da mic right, yeah. On a side note, we bet Tank Abbott is gonna be pissed when he finds out that his name and photo appear whilst Bas Rutten describes how the UFC used to bring in “big guys with no skill.”
Anyway, join us after the jump to check out The Future of MMA, as well as an up close and personal excerpt from The History of MMA featuring Fred Ettish, a fighter whom, after getting obliterated in his only professional mixed martial arts contest at UFC 2, came back to claim his first win in 2009. At age 53.
Directed by Bobby Razak, whom you may know as the man behind the amazing Tapout short film, The Future of MMA (that video is after the jump), The History of MMA takes a nostalgic look back at the highs and lows of the sport we love oh so much, and includes commentary from several legends of the sport, including Bas Rutten, Frank Shamrock, Mark Coleman, and referee Big John McCarthy among others. And as luck would have it, Mr. Razak decided to drop the trailer yesterday. We would advise that you check it out.
As you can see, the film touches on many of MMA’s most infamous moments; John McCain’s labeling of the sport as “human cockfighting,” its evolution through Pancrase, and the moment Tito Ortiz decided he had what it took to roc da mic right, yeah. On a side note, we bet Tank Abbott is gonna be pissed when he finds out that his name and photo appear whilst Bas Rutten describes how the UFC used to bring in “big guys with no skill.”
Anyway, join us after the jump to check out The Future of MMA, as well as an up close and personal excerpt from The History of MMA featuring Fred Ettish, a fighter whom, after getting obliterated in his only professional mixed martial arts contest at UFC 2, came back to claim his first win in 2009. At age 53.
The History of MMA
Fred Ettish Interview
Details remain sketchy about The History of MMA’s release date, but we will keep you updated on any developments as they transpire.
Mixed martial arts was piggybacked by the likes of these proverbial legends in the sport, who reigned dominant in their heyday as champions or notable figures.However, like with every reign, all good things must come to an end.Case in point: Chuck Lidd…
Mixed martial arts was piggybacked by the likes of these proverbial legends in the sport, who reigned dominant in their heyday as champions or notable figures.
However, like with every reign, all good things must come to an end.
Case in point: Chuck Liddell, who is arguably the greatest light heavyweight to have ever lived. The prestigious honor is no stretch, as “The Iceman” was an early dominant force in the organization, having bested several world-class opponents in devastating fashion.
However, the knockout artist would later succumb to his own lopsided losses at the tail end of his career and blemished his legacy because of it, much like these men who called it quits just a little too late.
(Severn and Shamrock: They were like the Michael Jackson and Prince of big, white grapplers who competed in early ’90s no-holds-barred matches.)
Happy Movember, everybody! In honor of the hairiest month of the year, we convinced UFC Hall of Famer Dan Severn to write a weekly column for CagePotato.com. For the first installment, he plucked some topics from our Facebook page, but he’s up for answering anything about his life, career, and moustache, so drop your own suggestions in the comments section. Visit DanSevern.com and Dan’s Facebook page for more Beast-related updates, and join the CagePotato Movember team if you want to help support a good cause!
Matthew Poulin asks: How many fights do you still want?
Dan Severn: It’s not so much how many fights I want to have. I want specific fights right now. I’ve had some verbal offers but haven’t had the opportunity to bring some of these matches to life. Two particular matches I’m still interested are ones with Mark Coleman and Ken Shamrock. Realistically, I think that 2012 will be my final year as an MMA competitor. So whatever gets done gets done; whatever doesn’t, I’ll have to learn to live with I guess.
(Severn and Shamrock: They were like the Michael Jackson and Prince of big, white grapplers who competed in early ’90s no-holds-barred matches.)
Happy Movember, everybody! In honor of the hairiest month of the year, we convinced UFC Hall of Famer Dan Severn to write a weekly column for CagePotato.com. For the first installment, he plucked some topics from our Facebook page, but he’s up for answering anything about his life, career, and moustache, so drop your own suggestions in the comments section. Visit DanSevern.com and Dan’s Facebook page for more Beast-related updates, and join the CagePotato Movember team if you want to help support a good cause!
Matthew Poulin asks: How many fights do you still want?
Dan Severn: It’s not so much how many fights I want to have. I want specific fights right now. I’ve had some verbal offers but haven’t had the opportunity to bring some of these matches to life. Two particular matches I’m still interested are ones with Mark Coleman and Ken Shamrock. Realistically, I think that 2012 will be my final year as an MMA competitor. So whatever gets done gets done; whatever doesn’t, I’ll have to learn to live with I guess.
Matthew Gingerfunky Hoggart asks: Do you regret taking your last fight?
I can’t regret taking the fight but it didn’t happen at the best time in my career. What the fans see is one aspect but they don’t have a clue as to what I endured for 3 ½ to 4 months before the fight in terms of taking care of my father. Prior to my last fight, my siblings and I were providing home hospice-type care for my father and since I have the most flexible schedule, I was the primary caregiver during the normal working day times. On weekends I would leave late Friday and would be back late Sunday to resume my duties. And I would not change that for the world.
Todd Levin asks: How did you come up with “The Severn”? It’s a very useful wrestling move that is not widely known.
Todd, I don’t even know what you’re asking me. If it’s a technique that you think I created, I’m not sure what you’re referring to specifically. I apologize. I do so many seminars and people are blown away by the mechanics of what I show. The unfortunate thing about a lot of the things I do is it’s not fan friendly because the spectators cannot see my opponent’s pain. But trust me; most people are blown away by the amount of pain that I can inflict. And there will come a day when they will realize what a 53 year old guy can really do.
Ben Silverfox Latham asks: I’d like to know what you think about the way the UFC has changed since you were in it all those years ago, and while you were in it did you ever think it could become so huge?
Okay well Ben, it had to change or else we would be thinking about it in past tense. There was a lot pressure that was coming down from athletic commissions, legislators and politicians who were looking to change the “No Holds Barred” style. The concessions that were made have created the byproduct that is mixed martial arts. As far as the excitement level and the potential for greatness…after watching the first two UFCs on VHS, as I watched other friends inside my living room react to what they were watching, I knew that there was something there. In some ways our society has advanced, but when it boils right down to it, there is a primal, prehistoric captivation about violent acts for people. For example, why does everybody slow down when they see an accident? Nobody admits that they want to see anything – even to themselves — but they do.
When I was watching in the beginning, I was able to view the pain. So as I was watching, I wasn’t watching as a fan to see what kind of outfit the fighters were coming out in or what their walkout music was. I was looking at the actual mechanics. What were the competitors actually bringing to the table…are they strikers? Are they grapplers? I think that fighters see things totally different. You study weakness and strengths of the competitors compared to your own set of skills.
Mike Skytte asks: What do you think of the development of today’s fighters?
Fighters will always develop according to the rules. For example, if they were to make any rule change – regardless of what it may be – you would see the athletes evolve in a different direction. Take the example of time limits. If there was unlimited time or if there were stalemates, that would change how athletes would prepare. The rules really dictate what the fighters are able to do and train for. Certain things that I teach right now are that you are able to exploit some of the rules in the way that you attack or counter-attack in the heat of the action, if the way that you apply the attack is disguised. There is black and white in the sport but there is also a lot of gray.
It’s hard to define someone like Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, a man who is perhaps the most multi-faceted, not to mention intriguing figure in MMA. Aside from his incredible list of credentials including time in both the Croatian elite Special Forces Unit and Parliament, the man has amassed a mixed martial arts and kickboxing resume that reads like a Hall of Fame list in either sport.
But come Saturday night at UFC 137, Cro Cop will simply be fighting for the right to continue his career, or maybe just to end it on his own terms. In a way, Filipovic is kind of like the Metallica of the heavyweights, with his 2006 Pride Grand Prix win being his Master of Puppets. And, like Metallica, everything since then has been well…just kind of downhill. The devastating loss to Gabriel Gonzaga was his ReLoad, the bittersweet win over Pat Barry his Death Magnetic, and the back-to-back knockout losses to Frank Mir and Brendan Schuab his Lulu. Except, unlike Lulu, those losses only felt like an hour and a half of pure shit.
But as fans of the sport, we are pulling for Cro Cop to put on a hell of a performance on October 29th. Even at the cost of our parlays, it would be awesome to see some flashes of the old “Cro Cop” in what could be the last fight of his incredible career, which Old Dad has already promised us Mirko will do.
Look at me, blabbering on like some school girl. Let’s take a look and listen at Cro Cop’s greatest hits, “California Dreamin‘” aside.
(I dare you to mock this picture.)
It’s hard to define someone like Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic, a man who is perhaps the most multi-faceted, not to mention intriguing figure in MMA. Aside from his incredible list of credentials including time in both the Croatian elite Special Forces Unit and Parliament, the man has amassed a mixed martial arts and kickboxing resume that reads like a Hall of Fame list in either sport.
But come Saturday night at UFC 137, Cro Cop will simply be fighting for the right to continue his career, or maybe just to end it on his own terms. In a way, Filipovic is kind of like the Metallica of the heavyweights, with his 2006 Pride Grand Prix win being his Master of Puppets. And, like Metallica, everything since then has been well…just kind of downhill. The devastating loss to Gabriel Gonzaga was his ReLoad, the bittersweet win over Pat Barry his Death Magnetic, and the back-to-back knockout losses to Frank Mir and Brendan Schuab his Lulu. Except, unlike Lulu, those losses only felt like an hour and a half of pure shit.
But as fans of the sport, we are pulling for Cro Cop to put on a hell of a performance on October 29th. Even at the cost of our parlays, it would be awesome to see some flashes of the old “Cro Cop” in what could be the last fight of his incredible career, which Old Dad has already promised us Mirko will do.
Look at me, blabbering on like some school girl. Let’s take a look and a listen at Cro Cop’s greatest hits, “California Dreamin‘” aside.
Cro Cop vs. Herring – A Glimpse of Things to Come
Cro Cop vs. Igor – Video Proof of the “Left Leg, Cemetery” Theory
Filed under: UFCIf you had asked Mark Coleman what he was up to in early 1996, he probably would have told you he was gearing up to earn a spot on another U.S. Olympic wrestling squad after his seventh-place finish in the 1992 games. But looking back n…
If you had asked Mark Coleman what he was up to in early 1996, he probably would have told you he was gearing up to earn a spot on another U.S. Olympic wrestling squad after his seventh-place finish in the 1992 games. But looking back now, “The Hammer” can admit that this is only partially true.
“I was still trying to be a competitive wrestler at 31 years of age, but really I was fooling myself,” he said. “I just wasn’t putting in the grind and the time I needed to put in. I wasn’t really training like an Olympic champion. I was training like a bum, to be perfectly honest.”
When he lost in the semifinals of the Olympic trials that year, Coleman knew he had only himself to blame. He hadn’t worked hard enough, hadn’t wanted it badly enough. Now his wrestling career was over and he had no idea what he was going to do with his life next. He didn’t have to wait long before he got an offer that changed everything.
“I went and lost at the Olympic trials, and that’s when a manager approached me and said, ‘You want to fight in 30 days at UFC 10?’ He also put this to [American wrestlers] Mark Kerr and Tom Erickson the same day and asked them the same question. I don’t think they gave him the right answer. I think they wanted to take the contract home and show it to some attorneys or something. But I talked my way into the UFC. I told this guy, I’m the man for job.” Take these cats down and pound them out. That was the plan from day one. — Mark Coleman
That guy was trainer/manager Richard Hamilton, who’d already helped shepherd several decorated wrestlers into the UFC. He was at the trials looking for his next big pickup, Coleman said, after his past relationships with fighters had fallen apart.
“Everybody had a falling out with this guy for a reason. I won’t give what the reason was, just a reason. Dan Severn left him. Don Frye left him. I’ll say this for him, he did notice that wrestlers were the wave of the future and he did go after us.”
After watching the UFC on TV for the past couple years, Coleman had a vague idea of what to expect. The first time he saw a UFC fight, he said, he thought “it couldn’t be real.” The concept of cage fights with no rules and no weight classes just seemed too far out there, yet the fights themselves also seemed too brutal and too messy to be choreographed. Once he realized it was legitimate, it seemed like a wrestler’s dream, and Coleman couldn’t wait to try it. He wanted a spot in the tournament so badly, in fact, that he said he didn’t closely examine the contract he’d signed with Hamilton.
“I just wanted in UFC 10. I wanted in there and thought the ramifications for signing a bad contract was something I’d deal with later, which I did.”
In the month between signing the contract and stepping in the Octagon for the first time, Coleman didn’t have a lot of gym time to learn striking technique or submission defense. He did, however, have a pretty solid game plan.
“Take these cats down and pound them out,” he said. “That was the plan from day one.”
On July 12, 1996, Coleman showed up at the Fairgrounds Arena in Birmingham, Ala., feeling pretty good about his chances. He’d have to win three fights in one night to claim the UFC 10 tournament title. His first opponent was Israeli heavyweight martial arts champion Moti Horenstein, who Coleman felt couldn’t possibly stop him.
“All the wrestlers, we were a family and we really felt like we were unappreciated, like we were some of the toughest cats in the world. Not just me — a lot of my friends. So I walked in with a lot of confidence, especially knowing I was fighting a stand-up guy. I knew the game plan and I knew it was going to work. I walked in thinking, this really isn’t going to be fair. But as I was walking to the cage, that worm of doubt worked its way into my head. It got pretty tense then.”
With just over 4,000 people in attendance and a meager pay-per-view audience at home, it wasn’t the bright lights of the big time that had Coleman nervous. After all, he’d wrestled in the Olympics and won an NCAA championship at Ohio State. He had plenty of experience in big matches with big stakes. What had him worried was a sudden fear of the unknown. Despite his long career as a wrestler, he’d never done this before. Maybe he wasn’t ready for what was about to happen.
“I was very confident walking in, until right when I got on the ramp and that’s when it hit me: holy s–t, I’m fighting a karate world champion. What if he does have some Bruce Lee crazy spinning back kick or something that’s going to knock me out?”
If Horenstein had such a move in his bag of tricks, he never got to use it. Coleman took him down and pounded him out exactly according to plan. A little under three minutes after it had started, Coleman’s MMA debut was in the books and he was on to the semifinal round at UFC 10. There he would face “Big Daddy” Gary Goodridge, who, with five UFC fights to his credit, was a veteran compared to Coleman. What if he does have some Bruce Lee crazy spinning back kick or something that’s going to knock me out? — Mark Coleman
In the years since, Coleman and Goodridge have become close friends. They spent time together on the Japanese circuit in Pride Fighting Championships, and they really got to like one another. But that night in Alabama, there was no fellow feeling. There was money at stake, after all, and they spent a grueling seven minutes in the cage together to decide who would go home with it.
Coleman’s superiority on the mat and conditioning edge eventually proved to be the difference-maker, as Goodridge finally gassed out and submitted. The bout took its toll on Coleman too, but he still had one more fight before he could claim the tournament title. This time he’d be going up against the man his manager had conditioned him to despise: UFC 8 winner Don Frye.
“[Hamilton] had a student come in and tell me Don Frye broke his knee on purpose and this and that. Honestly, I’m not a hateful person, but they tried to create some anger and some hate in me towards Don Frye and it kind of worked,” Coleman said. “I thought Don Frye was a bad guy, a cocky guy, and I went in there with bad intentions. Nothing more than normal I guess, but I really wanted to beat him for this guy who had his knee broken. But I think in the end it was all made up. I don’t know for sure.”
Both men came into the cage for the final fight looking worn down and battle weary, but after a combined 15 minutes in the cage between his two earlier fights, Frye seemed to be the worse off of the two. Coleman quickly put Frye on his back, pinned his head against the fence, and went to work with right hands on Frye’s already damaged face.
When the action drifted over toward Coleman’s corner, Hamilton was there to berate Frye from outside the cage, screaming for Coleman to punish him from the top. Even when the fight returned to the feet, Frye couldn’t keep it there against the much larger Coleman.
But no matter how Coleman tried, he couldn’t make the other man quit. Frye kept taking whatever Coleman dished out, and soon even Coleman had to admit that he was dealing with one tough individual, no matter what he’d been told about him before.
“At the eight to ten minute mark, I was looking this guy in the eye and feeling a lot of emotions go through my body,” Coleman said. “Like jeez, why aren’t they stopping this fight? I wanted them to stop it. I wasn’t really enjoying it at that point. But back then, you know, you had to tap out. They didn’t like to stop it unless you tapped out. I wanted them to stop it because I couldn’t finish the cat.”
After a brutal and exhausting eleven and a half minutes, a couple of Coleman headbutts (totally legal at the time) finally convinced referee “Big” John McCarthy to call a stop to it. Frye had taken a severe beating at the hands of Coleman, but he’d also made a lasting impression on the man who’d come into the cage hating him that night. Stopping was the furthest thing from my mind. I couldn’t wait until the next show. — Mark Coleman
“There’s a difference between the best and the toughest. Don was very good, but he wasn’t the best. He was certainly the toughest guy I ever fought in my life though, and he proved that many times. Thank God Big John stepped in and stopped it.”
Though Frye and Coleman gained a measure of begrudging respect for one another that night, they didn’t exactly become best friends. Not yet, anyway.
“Don Frye, as I understand, did not like me for a long time after that,” Coleman said. “He hated me, in fact. He wanted a rematch real bad, because that’s just the kind of cat he is. By the time we rematched four or five years later over in Japan, by that time we were good buddies. To this day, I respect him about as much as I respect anybody.”
After it was all over, Coleman was utterly exhausted from his frantic first foray into MMA. He was also “addicted” to the budding sport, and he knew he’d found his new career, even if he had no idea that it would one day take him across the Pacific to Japan and into the UFC Hall of Fame. All he knew at the time was that victory in the cage was a great feeling, and he had to have more.
“This was something I grew up wanting since I was five years old, even though there wasn’t this sport then,” Coleman said. “It’s respect, I guess. It’s knowing no one’s going to mess with you. Stopping was the furthest thing from my mind. I couldn’t wait until the next show.”
In 2010, Tapout released a commercial featuring the Ruffo brothers doing some MMA training.
If you had asked