Tag: Xtreme Couture

*UPDATED* Gil Martinez Says Maynard is Likely Leaving Xtreme Couture to Train at AKA; Gray Says He’s Undecided


(Plan “B”: Boy band — PicProps: MMATKO)

Gil Martinez appeared on Mauro Ranallo’s “The MMA Show“ radio program today and the head boxing trainer and coach at Xtreme Couture dropped a bombshell about one of his highest profile students.

According to Martinez, he’s pretty sure that  former number one UFC lightweight contender Gray Maynard has decided to cut ties with the Vegas gym and is planning a move to the San Francisco Bay area where he will train American Kickboxing Academy moving forward. There, Maynard will join a top-tier team that includes notables like Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Mike Swick, Cain Velasquez, Daniel Cormier, Josh Thomson and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal.


(Plan “B”: Boy band — PicProps: MMATKO)

Gil Martinez appeared on Mauro Ranallo’s “The MMA Show“ radio program today and the head boxing trainer and coach at Xtreme Couture dropped a bombshell about one of his highest profile students.

According to Martinez, he’s pretty sure that  former number one UFC lightweight contender Gray Maynard has decided to cut ties with the Vegas gym and is planning a move to the San Francisco Bay area where he will train American Kickboxing Academy moving forward. There, Maynard will join a top-tier team that includes notables like Jon Fitch, Josh Koscheck, Mike Swick, Cain Velasquez, Daniel Cormier, Josh Thomson and Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal.

Martinez told Ranallo that he was hurt and disappointed that Gray decided to move without discussing it with his Xtreme Couture stablemates and coaches, but wishes him the best at his new gym.

Besides his recent knockout loss to Frankie Edgar, part of the reason for Maynard’s departure could be comments Martinez made about his camp for the bout. He revealed in his Fighters.com blog after the bout that he wasn’t involved as much in Maynard’s camp as he has been for previous bouts.

“In the corner I was just playing it by ear and looking for certain things since I wasn’t exactly sure of everything he had been doing since I wasn’t completely involved with his camp this time around, though I wish I had been,” he explained

Martinez  also mentioned in the weeks after the fight that he didn’t agree with Gray’s decision to not train every day at Xtreme Couture for the camp.  Instead, “The Bully” decided it would be best if he he rented out a gym closer to home and bring in training partners to train with so he didn’t have to travel to XC every day for the eight weeks before the bout.

Although he says that no official decision has been made by Gray, from what he is hearing, it’s all but a done deal.

Attempts to reach Maynard for comment have been unsuccessful. We’ll have more updates as we receive them.

*UPDATED at 7:30 pm ET on Monday, November 21, 2011:
Gray texted us the following statement regarding his supposed switch in camps:

“Nothing for sure yet. Just training, getting new looks. I love [Xtreme Couture], but there’s a lot to learn out there.”

So it seems that he is strongly considering a change of scenery, however he’s taking his time and putting a lot of consideration into where he’ll eventually land.

Video: Alistair Overeem Joins Xtreme Couture and Details Reasons for Split With Golden Glory on ‘The Reem’ Ep. 07

Alistair Overeem was on MMAFighting.com’s The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani Monday afternoon and the former Strikeforce heavyweight fighter, who many speculated would be joining King’s MMA in Huntington Beach, Calif. after splitting with Golden Glory in the summer, revealed that he has instead decided to relocate to Las Vegas, Nev. where he will train at Xtreme Couture.

Although he wouldn’t reveal too much about the change in camps on the show, “The Demolition Man” gave more details of his decision to train stateside and what was behind his split with Bas Boon and company in the following episode of The Reem documentary, which was released minutes ago.

Check it out after the jump.

Alistair Overeem was on MMAFighting.com’s The MMA Hour with Ariel Helwani Monday afternoon and the former Strikeforce heavyweight fighter, who many speculated would be joining King’s MMA in Huntington Beach, Calif. after splitting with Golden Glory in the summer, revealed that he has instead decided to relocate to Las Vegas, Nev. where he will train at Xtreme Couture.

Although he wouldn’t reveal too much about the change in camps on the show, “The Demolition Man” gave more details of his decision to train stateside and what was behind his split with Bas Boon and company in the following episode of The Reem documentary, which was released minutes ago.


(Video courtesy of Vimeo/TheReem)

It’s curious that Alistair would choose Xtreme Couture when the camp has an obvious deficiency in top-tier heavyweight training partners for him to work with save for Ray Sefo and sometimes heavyweight Randy Couture. XC is known for its wrestling pedigree, which Overeem has stated he would like to focus more intently on, so in that sense, the choice makes sense.

If you’ve watched the video, it’s an unfortunate situation that saw Alistair break ties with his management and trainers, but business is business and sometimes doing what’s best for one’s career isn’t what’s best for one’s friendships.

It will be interesting to see what changes to his game he displays in his upcoming UFC 141 fight with Brock Lesnar. Considering Randy has both trained with and fought Brock, he should be able to offer some first-hand insight on him.

MMA Fighters Remember “The Coach” Shawn Tompkins (EXCLUSIVE VIDEO)

Shawn Tompkins, who lead his Team Tompkins out of the TapouT Training Center in Las Vegas, passed away unexpectedly on August 14th at the age of 37. Tompkins suffered a heart attack in his sleep.

Shawn Tompkins, who lead his Team Tompkins out of the TapouT Training Center in Las Vegas, passed away unexpectedly on August 14th at the age of 37. Tompkins suffered a heart attack in his sleep while in Ontario, Canada prepping MMA fighter, Chris Horodecki for an upcoming September 12th bout. Tompkins last cornered his protege Mark Hominick at UFC 129 in a respectable hard fought Fight of the Night title-contention that left Hominick just falling short of the Featherweight title to the champion, Jose Aldo by Unanimous Decision.

Shawn Tompkins had first made his home in Las Vegas at Xtreme Couture, having trained Randy Couture for several years along with other Couture members including Evan Dunham, Martin Kampmann and Ryan Couture. Our host, Steve Cofield took time to reflect with the fighters at Xtreme Couture on the brilliant career of “The Coach.”

Watch MMA Fighters Remember “The Coach” Shawn Tompkins on RawVegas.tv

Xtreme Couture Coach Neil Melanson Cuts Off Toe (Photo)

According to this tasty photo from the folks at ESPN, Head Grappling Coach, Neil Melanson from Xtreme Couture opted to have his toe removed rather than go through surgery to straighten the toe. Melanson explains:.

According to this tasty photo from the folks at ESPN, Head Grappling Coach, Neil Melanson from Xtreme Couture opted to have his toe removed rather than go through surgery to straighten the toe. Melanson explains:

“The only thing they could try, is put screws in it to straighten it out, but that would be up to a year of downtime,” he said. “The doctor thought I was a little nuts because he was like, ‘Well, don’t you want to keep that thing?’ I just said, ‘I can’t take a year off.’ He didn’t cut through any bone. They cut into the foot at the lowest joint possible and then sow all the webbing between the toes. So, it looks like a Ninja Turtle foot or something.”

Wow…gotta admire the crazy dedicated guy.

*Source: Cagewriter

Mike Whitehead’s Sex Assault Case Headed to Trial in August

(“Did I mention I bought Jimmy Dean sausages and I let her use my Star Wars pillow?”)

In spite of earlier reports that Mike Whitehead had reached a plea bargain deal with prosecutors in his felony sexual assault case, it looks like the former UFC fighter will now go to trial in an attempt to refute and disprove the allegations against him.

According to court records, Whitehead’s preliminary hearing will commence on August 19 at 9:00 am in Clark County district court in Las Vegas, NV. The case will be heard by Justice Janiece Marshall.

The preliminary hearing was originally set for last September, but because of delays and an apparent plea deal that either fell through or Whitehead decided not to take, there was a nearly one-year delay in bringing the case to trial.

(“Did I mention I bought Jimmy Dean sausages and I let her use my Star Wars pillow?”)

In spite of earlier reports that Mike Whitehead had reached a plea bargain deal with prosecutors in his felony sexual assault case, it looks like the former UFC fighter will now go to trial in an attempt to refute and disprove the allegations against him.

According to court records, Whitehead’s preliminary hearing will commence on August 19 at 9:00 am in Clark County district court in Las Vegas, NV. The case will be heard by Justice Janiece Marshall.

The preliminary hearing was originally set for last September, but because of delays and an apparent plea deal that either fell through or Whitehead decided not to take, there was a nearly one-year delay in bringing the case to trial.

The two female plaintiffs in the case, who were acquaintances of Whitehead’s contend that following a barbecue at his residence, the TUF alumnus invited the pair who were intoxicated to spend the night at his house in Las Vegas. According to the police report, the two went to sleep in Whitehead’s bed and he told them he would be sleeping on the sofa. One of the victims allegedly awoke to Whitehead having sex with her. After several minutes of telling him to stop, he proceeded to get up, dress and sit in the corner in a chair and stare at the two of them for an unspecified amount of time before leaving the room. The second victim claims that she awoke during the alleged rape to Whitehead fondling her breasts, but she didn’t say or do anything for fear of retaliation by the fighter.

Whitehead and several of his friends in the MMA community, including a handful of fighters he trains with at Xtreme Couture in LV contend that the facts in the case don’t add up and that the accusers are looking to frame Whitehead for monetary gain.

An interesting fact that has mysteriously been swept under the rug is that initial reports stated that when police attended Whitehead’s home to arrest him, they discovered a small marijuana grow operation. No drug charges were ever laid.

Xtreme Couture Wants Rashad Evans (VIDEO)

Xtreme Couture Head Grappling Coach, Neil Melanson tells us they [Xtreme Couture] are trying to get Rashad Evans to train at the gym. He feels his style of coaching is perfect for Evans and he could help him finish on the ground…no insult to Greg Jackson. Watch the interview below:

Watch Neil Melanson says Xtreme Couture […]

Xtreme Couture Head Grappling Coach, Neil Melanson tells us they [Xtreme Couture] are trying to get Rashad Evans to train at the gym. He feels his style of coaching is perfect for Evans and he could help him finish on the ground…no insult to Greg Jackson. Watch the interview below:

Watch Neil Melanson says Xtreme Couture wants Rashad Evans on RawVegas.tv