So the burning question is this – is it “takedowns” or “take downs”? I’m not a grammar snob, and I’m into evolving language so I naturally think “takedown” is the winner, despite my spell checker’s evil red underlines. Anyway, I just heard that Quinton Rampage Jackson hurt his knee, so for UFC 98 it will be Lyoto Machida vs Rashad Evans.
I think it’ll be a great fight; Machida is a defensive mastermind and smooth operator, while Rashad is a young, explosive buck with strong wrestling. Both guys have focused, accurate striking.
I expect that Rashad’s camp will be trying to concoct a specific strategy for Machida – tie him up, push him to the cage, rough him up a bit – or maybe try to just it to the ground. Whatever the case, I suspect that a deciding factor in the fight will be who can pull off takedowns or sweeps, and who can’t.
Above there are two video’s, one of Shogun defending the double underhooks and subsequent throws, the other of Yves Edward showing how to defend the single leg takedown.
Below is a link to John Hackleman teaching about takedown defense via lateral movement, striking etc. Remember that John is one of Chuck Liddell ‘s trainers, and the Iceman has great takedown defense.
I just heard about this while listening to X96 this morning – West Valley City seeks to negatively regulate MMA with a new ordinance. The full article can be found here.
A few snippets of choice are:
“Watching cage fighting can lead to a visceral, emotional reaction in the crowd, city police said during a recent study meeting. The charged, volatile environment can lead to folding chairs being used as projectiles, and mini-riots can erupt into situations that are impossible for law enforcers to control, they said.”
“As written, the ordinance would make the E Center at 3200 Decker Lake Drive the only suitable venue for fights.”
I agree with Mike Stidham’s summary when in the article he said that this ordinance will only stunt the the growth of MMA in WVC.
If you’d like to give your two cents, there is an open public hearing at 6:30 p.m. Tuesday at City Hall, 3600 Constitution Blvd. I don’t know what happens in these kinds of meetings and if yelling/heckling is encouraged/allowed, but at least you can show up and use your disappointed face to let the city officials know how you feel.
Plus, if there is an emotional reaction in the crowd, no doubt there will be folding chairs flying around, creating an uncontrollable mini-riot. Sounds like fun.
Especially true for amateurs, there is always someone better. Some times it’s a harsh thing for your ego – but a good thing for your character (the best ego defense is not to have one).
BJ Penn has cleared out his division and was handed a crushing defeat by GSP. I remember when Wallid Ismail beat Royce Gracie with a clock choke back in 1998 – it was the first time I heard of a Gracie being defeated. Now of course, there are tons of people better than me, but I recently got owned by John McCain (not the Presidential candidate, but a Utah local MMA’er ) while rolling. John was kind enough to show me a couple pointers on how he uses side control, and I was grateful for his help.
Does this stuff diminish from how good the Gracie’s really are? Or does this mean that BJ isn’t top notch in his weight division? Of course not. For a moment, sure, there’s a depression with the loss but ultimately, if you let it, defeat can be an awesome tutor.
Defeat is an opportunity – so is criticism and failure. So you’re the biggest fish in your grappling pond? Finder a bigger pond and work your way up the food chain. If you’re at the top, it just takes one bad day, another set of rules, or a new weight class and boom – #2 spot for you.
I think it’s kind of liberating, actually. Instead of having to defend and justify – you can just accept, evolve and move on.
In short, there is always someone better. Unless you are this guy.
Throwdown puts on another great showing for MMA here in Utah with almost 7,000 attendees.
Last month, Throwdown put on their third, and largest MMA event at the Energy Solutions Center on Feb 20th. There were a ton of fights – almost six hours of MMA – longer than their last promotion.
My friend Shaun scored some awesome tickets – 3rd row from the cage, and was closer to the action than Big John McCarthy and some Utah Jazz Players. He gave me the details of the fights to post up here.
The main fight on the card was Shonie Carter vs George Lockhart, which was a little lackluster. Shaun, not very familiar with Shonie, went back home and watched some his older fights – remarking that Shonie’s getting a little old and is probably “losing it”. Despite this, Shonie still pulled off the win by decision after 5 rounds.
Jordan Smith defeated Sean O’Connell with a rear-naked-choke midway into round 1 – apparently much like his Throwdown II victory over Ben Fuiamaono. Aggressive exchange of strikes, O’Connell goes to the ground where Smith capitalizes and eventually takes the back and RNC.
I’ve been a Smith fan ever since I met him after his Throwdown II fight. He’s a strong left handed man and super nice guy. He teaches 7th or 8th grade here in Utah (geography I think), FYI.
Steve “Razor” Sharp beat Dayne Aristizabal by way of knock out in the first round. I’m glad Razor finished with a clean KO after his loss to Rad Martinez in the last Throwdown. Sharp is an fun fighter to watch – a few months ago he said in a post fight chat that he really tries to make exciting fights, giving it all he’s got. He didn’t disappoint.
Again, super nice guy who can explosively beat the crap out of you. When I met him, I walked right up to him and said hello, got an autograph and he really made the effort to be personable – even though I’m just some random fan.
I always love to hear of Jujitsu blackbelts kicking butt in MMA, but had to morn Fabio Serrao‘s loss by unanimous decision to Eddie Pelczynsk. Eddie just put the beat down on Fabio who was largely unsuccessful in taking the fight to the ground.
In the other fights, reported by Throwdown -Steve Siler def. Nick Mamalis by Submission (Guillotine Choke) at 1:25, R1
-Tyler Lee def. David Anderton by TKO at 2:58, R1
-Travis Marx def. Jesse Brock by Unanimous Decision, R3
-Kyacey Uscola def. Hank Weiss by Unanimous Decision, R3
-Jake Paul def. Cole Rose by Unanimous Decision, R3
-Parris Swain def. Jeff Willingham by Split Decision, R3
-Camrann Pacheco def. Oliver Bradstreet by Split Decision, R3
-Daniel Gardner def. Jeremy Razonable by Submission (Shoulder Lock) at 3:20, R1
-Jamie Anton def. Brad McRae by Submission (Armbar) at 0:27, R1
-Jake Truman def. Brandon Rordame by TKO at 4:43, R1
Anyway, I’m glad to hear that fun was had, in UTAH no less, due to Mixed Martial Arts.
Note: This article was written by one of my students, Garland Hummel. In my MMA class up at the University of Utah, I asked my students to write a short paper, and his is excellent. He used a number of books at videos as reference (some of which I’ve interspersed in the post), along with his Muay Thai training. He goes over some basic and advanced clinch work and considerations. With his express permission, I present,
The Clutches of Siam: Gross Prummb/Clinch 101
By Garland Hummel
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