Every fan of the sport of mixed martial arts has heard of gyms like Jackson’s MMA, Xtreme Couture and American Top Team.And while those gyms have produced numerous title contenders and top-notch fighters, there are thousands of gyms throughout the the …
Every fan of the sport of mixed martial arts has heard of gyms like Jackson’s MMA, Xtreme Couture and American Top Team.
And while those gyms have produced numerous title contenders and top-notch fighters, there are thousands of gyms throughout the the world that are looking to do the same thing.
Each of the following gyms are producing world class talent and have had or currently have fighters in the UFC, Strikeforce and/or Bellator. So take note and keep track of each of these camps if you’re not doing so already.
A pair of light heavyweights badly in need of a win will meet at UFC 139 in November.
Ryan Bader and Jason Brilz, each with two-fight losing streaks for the first time in their careers, have agreed to a fight on the UFC‘s Nov. 19 pay-per-view in San Jose, Calif. The promotion announced the fight Tuesday night on its official website.
The UFC 139 card, which is quickly starting to fill up with several recent fight announcements, features a main event heavyweight title fight between San Jose-based champion Cain Velasquez and Junior dos Santos.
Bader (12-2, 5-2 UFC) started his UFC career 5-0, and his MMA career 12-0, including the title of Season 8 champion of “The Ultimate Fighter.” The two-time All-American wrestler at Arizona State then began a methodical climb up the light heavyweight rankings that culminated with a unanimous decision win over Antonio Rogerio Nogueira in the co-main event of UFC 119 last September.
The win over Nogueira got Bader a fight against Jon Jones at UFC 126. But Jones was on his rapid ascension to the top of the 205-pound heap and submitted Bader in the second round. Jones got a quick title shot against Mauricio “Shogun” Rua, which he won in dominating fashion. Bader had to regroup.
But against Tito Ortiz at UFC 132 last month, Bader fell victim to what has been the year’s biggest upset. Ortiz dropped Bader with a short right hand early in the first round, then moved in for a guillotine choke that forced Bader to tap. The win by Ortiz was his first since October 2006, saved his job in the UFC and made Bader the answer to an MMA trivia question, albeit on the wrong end.
Brilz (18-4-1, 3-3 UFC) saw his two-fight skid begin with a controversial split decision loss to Nogueira at UFC 114 in May 2010. That bout, which won Fight of the Night, had most in attendance, and many scoring the fight live, believing Brilz was the victim of bad judging.
After nearly a year off due to injury, Brilz returned at UFC 129 in Toronto to face Vladimir Matyushenko. He never had a chance to get started – Matyushenko knocked him out just 20 seconds into the first round.
Though he may get some leeway for the Nogueira fight, a loss to Bader would mean the former University of Nebraska-Omaha wrestler, and current assistant coach, would have just one win since March 2009.
UFC 139, though not yet officially announced by the promotion, will be its debut in San Jose, the former home base of one-time rival Strikeforce. The pay-per-view is expected to take place at the HP Pavilion.
Aside from the heavyweight championship in the main event, UFC 139 will also feature a bantamweight contenders bout between former champions Brian Bowles and Urijah Faber, a welterweight bout between Martin Kampmann and Rick Story and a light heavyweight bout between Stephan Bonnar and Kyle Kingsbury. In addition, though he does not yet have an opponent named, Josh Koscheck is expected to make his return at the event, and is planning on a move from welterweight to middleweight for the first time since his appearance on Season 1 of “The Ultimate Fighter.”
(“…and that’s the ‘bleeding robot’. For my next impression — the ‘bleeding hula girl’.”)
Two pivotal light-heavyweight matchups have been added to UFC 139: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos, November 19th in San Jose. First, in the night’s “no pressure” match, Ryan Bader and Jason Brilz will both try to snap their two-fight losing streaks. Bader is skating on thin ice after being utterly ass-handled by Jon Jones in February, then getting choked out by Tito Ortiz in the upset of the year. Brilz kicked off his losing skid with a valiant effort against Lil’ Nog, followed by a far-less-impressive 20-second knockout loss to Vladimir Matyushenko at UFC 129. Winner keeps their job. Loser…well, who knows anymore?
(“…and that’s the ‘bleeding robot’. For my next impression — the ‘bleeding hula girl’.”)
Two pivotal light-heavyweight matchups have been added to UFC 139: Velasquez vs. Dos Santos, November 19th in San Jose. First, in the night’s “no pressure” match, Ryan Bader and Jason Brilz will both try to snap their two-fight losing streaks. Bader is skating on thin ice after being utterly ass-handled by Jon Jones in February, then getting choked out by Tito Ortiz in the upset of the year. Brilz kicked off his losing skid with a valiant effort against Lil’ Nog, followed by a far-less-impressive 20-second knockout loss to Vladimir Matyushenko at UFC 129. Winner keeps their job. Loser…well, who knows anymore?
Meanwhile, beloved light-heavyweight vet Stephan Bonnar — who’s riding his first two-fight win streak since 2007 — will be matching his momentum against TUF 8 vet Kyle Kingsbury, who has won his last four, and is starting to look like a straight-up beast. Bonnar most recently out-scored Igor Pokrajac at the TUF 12 Finale in December, and was slated to face Karlos Vemola at UFC on Versus 5, but had to withdraw due to injury. Kingsbury is coming off his decision win over Fabio Maldonado at the TUF 13 Finale in June, where he showed off some nasty clinch-knees but ate a heap of body shots in the process.
(We know, Urijah. Sometimes we spend an entire hour working on a blog post, and our browser decides to crash just as we’re finishing it up, and when we go back into the CMS the post has completely vanished and we’re struck with that feeling of pure disappointment and frustration, knowing that we have to do it all over again. So, yeah, we can totally relate. / Photo courtesy of MMAFighting)
UFC 132 was as bizarre as it was thrilling. Now that we’ve wrapped our heads around it for the most part, it’s time to look ahead and see if we can think up some future matchups for Saturday’s notable winners and losers. Let us know how you feel in the comments section — and hey, happy 4th of July!
Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber: Immediate rubber match. It’s not the most essential of immediate rematches, but the fight was close enough to warrant it, and there’s really no bantamweight contender right now who deserves it more than Faber. Brian Bowles thinks he’s the guy, but I can’t forget that two fights ago he was beaten up by Dominick Cruz worse than anybody’s been beaten up by Dominick Cruz, ever.
The other name being thrown around in the aftermath of UFC 132 is Demetrious Johnson, who’s coming off decision wins over Miguel Torres and Kid Yamamoto. Impressive? Of course. Still, Johnson has never been on the main card of a UFC event, and promoting him as a headliner could be a tough sell. Give Mighty Mouse one more fight to establish himself — or hurry up and create that long-rumored flyweight division so the diminutive Johnson can dominate there.
Chris Leben: There’s no limit to the brawling abilities of a sugar-free Cat Smasher. Leben vs. Wandy was a bit of a stunt-fight, and now that Leben has emerged victorious, he should return to a more conventional contender track. The first name that comes to mind is Mark Munoz, who’s riding a three-fight win streak, most recently outpointing Demian Maia last month at UFC 131 — although Vitor Belfort could also be a great matchup for Leben, as long as the Phenom can get past Yoshihiro Akiyama next month in Philadelphia.
(We know, Urijah. Sometimes we spend an entire hour working on a blog post, and our browser decides to crash just as we’re finishing it up, and when we go back into the CMS the post has completely vanished and we’re struck with that feeling of pure disappointment and frustration, knowing that we have to do it all over again. So, yeah, we can totally relate. / Photo courtesy of MMAFighting)
UFC 132 was as bizarre as it was thrilling. Now that we’ve wrapped our heads around it for the most part, it’s time to look ahead and see if we can think up some future matchups for Saturday’s notable winners and losers. Let us know how you feel in the comments section — and hey, happy 4th of July!
Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber: Immediate rubber match. It’s not the most essential of immediate rematches, but the fight was close enough to warrant it, and there’s really no bantamweight contender right now who deserves it more than Faber. Brian Bowles thinks he’s the guy, but I can’t forget that two fights ago he was beaten up by Dominick Cruz worse than anybody’s been beaten up by Dominick Cruz, ever.
The other name being thrown around in the aftermath of UFC 132 is Demetrious Johnson, who’s coming off decision wins over Miguel Torres and Kid Yamamoto. Impressive? Of course. Still, Johnson has never been on the main card of a UFC event, and promoting him as a headliner could be a tough sell. Give Mighty Mouse one more fight to establish himself — or hurry up and create that long-rumored flyweight division so the diminutive Johnson can dominate there.
Chris Leben: There’s no limit to the brawling abilities of a sugar-free Cat Smasher. Leben vs. Wandy was a bit of a stunt-fight, and now that Leben has emerged victorious, he should return to a more conventional contender track. The first name that comes to mind is Mark Munoz, who’s riding a three-fight win streak, most recently outpointing Demian Maia last month at UFC 131 — although Vitor Belfort could also be a great matchup for Leben, as long as the Phenom can get past Yoshihiro Akiyama next month in Philadelphia.
Wanderlei Silva: It sounds like Dana wants to retire him. I say, fuck that. Silva and Chael Sonnen have already laid so muchtrash-talkgroundwork, it would be a shame if that fight didn’t happen as Sonnen’s post-suspension return. Do it for Brazil’s honor, Wanderlei.
Tito Ortiz: And so, the Huntington Beach Bad Boy has secured his employment for at least one more fight. I’m sure he’s already hounding Dana for a title shot, but I’d like to see Ortiz against someone else on Bader’s level just to get a sense of how “back” Tito really is. UFC 133 presents two interesting possibilities: Rich Franklin if he beats Lil’ Nog, or Phil Davis if he beats Rashad Evans. And if fate conspires to nix those options? There’s always Mauricio Rua, no matter how he does against Forrest Griffin in Rio.
Ryan Bader: Jesus, who knows. A TUF 8 reunion match against the streaking Kyle Kingsbury? Whatever.
Carlos Condit: Due to timing, Condit might have to fight again before getting his first crack at the UFC welterweight title, which is just as well, considering Dong Hyun Kim wasn’t one of those dudes being discussed as an imminent title contender. The winner of Jake vs. Jake would make sense, but I’d much rather see Condit go three wild-ass rounds against Diego Sanchez, assuming the DreamNightmare Vision can slice through Matt Hughes at UFC 135.
Melvin Guillard: I’m thinking Clay Guida. The logjam at 155 isn’t going to clear up until 1) the Edgar/Maynard trilogy concludes, and 2) Jim Miller fights Ben Henderson next month in Milwaukee, but in the meantime, Guillard vs. Guida will go a long way in determining who’s really at the top of the food chain. Both of these guys have looked like future champs lately, and you know they go hard. If Guillard can’t avoid being blanketed for three rounds, he doesn’t deserve to think of himself as the world’s #1 lightweight in the first place.
(BG)
Got any other suggestions for UFC 132′s fighters? Let us know in the comments section…
Jason Parillo was in the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. for UFC 121 last October when Tito Ortiz dropped to 0-4-1 in his last five contests in front of a hometown audience, remaining winless since 2006. “He wanted to be there, but he didn’t want to wi…
Jason Parillo was in the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. for UFC 121 last October when Tito Ortiz dropped to 0-4-1 in his last five contests in front of a hometown audience, remaining winless since 2006.
“He wanted to be there, but he didn’t want to win a fight. I texted him as I was watching him leave the Octagon, I said, ‘I got your next fight. I’ll take care of you.’ He took me up on it,” the boxing trainer told Bleacher Report after Ortiz knocked down Ryan Bader and submitted him via first-round guillotine choke at UFC 132 in Las Vegas, Nev.
Of the right hand that sent “Darth” to the mat, the man who honed former two-division UFC champion B.J. Penn’s hands commented, “We were able to put confidence into stepping in that pocket and let it go a bit better than [Ortiz] has in the past.”
Parillo and Ortiz discussed linking up before the Hamill fight, but it never came to fruition. When Ortiz called to invite him to run the six-week UFC 132 camp, Parillo knew “The Huntington Beach Bad Boy” would be well-conditioned, but needed to cultivate a strong mental game to handle the pressure of what UFC president Dana White categorized as a pink-slip fight.
He said to the longest reigning 205-pound champion in UFC history, “The most important thing to me is you stick your head in that fine line is you get knocked the f— out or you knock this guy out—one or the other. I want you to go out this guy and kill or be killed.”
Parillo describes a mutual belief in the gym for unearthing the finisher in Ortiz, who hadn’t stopped anybody not named Ken Shamrock since 2001 despite having only went to decision once in a five-defense title reign.
A former boxer, Parillo had the task of getting a fighter considered past his prime to his peak in time to defeat a once-defeated 5:1 favorite eight years younger than the 36-year-old former UFC light heavyweight champion.
“I watched him look at me in the eyes and internalize everything and believe what I’m telling him because he knew it to be true. There were fundamentals that we polished up and he just started clicking,” said the 37-year-old, noting they spent one-on-one time in the gym for a solid portion of the camp.
“His head hasn’t been in the right place in a long time. He was in a position where he didn’t have a choice but to listen to somebody and he chose to listen to me.”
Parillo became confident in Ortiz leading up to the bout when sparring partners—and there weren’t many—that got the best of the Punishment Athletics founder in the past and saw the tides turn against them. The injuries and personal issues Ortiz has publicly endured throughout his four-year losing streak were put aside with mitt work.
Parillo even credits a message from B.J. Penn to Tito Ortiz to believe in the training and everything else would take care of itself as it did for the career-revitalizing performance.
Where Ortiz goes from here is up to him affirms Parillo.
“A hungry fighter that has much talent as Tito does and as much experience as Tito does, they’re dangerous. He can do what he wants to do if he really wants to do it, and if that’s win a world title, he’ll win a world title,” concluded the Orange County RVCA Sports Center coach.
“If he wants to treat this fight like it was his world title, the future may not be that great. But I have a good feeling Tito’s hungry.”
Follow Danny Acosta on twitter.com/acostaislegend.
For all the grief we give the guy, we owe him a second photo of this submission. (Pic: UFC.com)
There were a score of unofficial bonuses dealt out last night. Tito got to keep his job and shut up his many, many detractors. Cruz evened the scorecards against Faber and avenged his only loss. Chris Leben bounced back from a crippling Gummi Bear addiction to score a vicious 27 second KO victory over Wanderlei Silva. As if that weren’t enough, the UFC handed out a quartet of its official, more financially lucrative $75k bonuses as well.
For all the grief we give the guy, we owe him a second photo of this submission. (Pic: UFC.com)
There were a score of unofficial bonuses dealt out last night. Tito got to keep his job and shut up his many, many detractors. Cruz evened the scorecards against Faber and avenged his only loss. Chris Leben bounced back from a crippling Gummi Bear addiction to score a vicious 27 second KO victory over Wanderlei Silva. As if that weren’t enough, the UFC handed out a quartet of its official, more financially lucrative $75k bonuses as well.
It was the UFC’s first bout for the Bantamweight strap, and Dominick Cruz and Urijah Faber did their damnedest to put the little guys on the map in their “Fight of the Night” performance. They gave us five full rounds of the high-energy, dynamic style best exemplified by the sport’s lower weight divisions, and in doing so they may have secured a rubber-match in the near future.
He not only needed a win, he needed it against an opponent that few gave him a chance of beating. Tito Ortiz didn’t just earn the victory, he ended the fight in under two minutes and picked up the evening’s “Submission of the Night” bonus along the way. This was a very big win for the former champion, and it felt a little nostalgic to see the old “grave digger” routine once again.
UFC 132’s “Knock Out of the Night” was delivered by Carlos Condit, who earned his third straight bonus courtesy of a flying knee that dropped Dong “Stun Gun” Kim. A few follow up punches on the ground put Kim out just shy of three minutes into the first round. Now riding a four fight win streak with three consecutive stoppages, expect Condit’s calls for a title shot to grow louder.
A pair of light heavyweights badly in need of a win will meet at 
Jason Parillo was in the Honda Center in Anaheim, Calif. for UFC 121 last October when Tito Ortiz dropped to 0-4-1 in his last five contests in front of a hometown audience, remaining winless since 2006.