Right on the BUTTON!

Enter ROLLJUNKIE

Fri, 08 Mar 2013 18:30:00 GMT

With the continued popularity and mainstream expansion of the sport of MMA, along with the grappling arts that make up a core component of the sport, it is not surprising to see a similar increase in the number of start-up fight-ware companies. Fighters have aspirations of becoming the next Anderson Silva or George St. Pierre, fight-ware companies catering to fighters and the sports fan base want to be the next Tapout.

Like everything else in life, there is good and bad and a good place to see this juxtaposition is with some of these fight-ware companies. There are some, actually many (who shall remain nameless), that are out there hawking poor quality fabrics and materials and downright awful designs. Fights We Want is happy to feature a fight-ware company that gets it right, RollJunkie.

To the non-practitioner their company name may seem enigmatic but for fans and students of the grappling arts it is quickly understood. The designs are clean and products brandishing their logo and grappling head silhouette are fast becoming more prominent and recognizable at MMA events, training facilities and at the local grocery store. While the company is more than happy to have anyone and everyone wear the manifold of designs that are the products of their initial launch, make no mistake about it, these designs and images are geared toward the lovers of the grappling arts.

“When your passion for your sport becomes a lifestyle, its something that few outsiders will ever understand. It’s a passion Rolljunkie was built on.” - (RollJunkie Website)

“Committing yourself to jiu-jitsu or wrestling is committing yourself to a lifestyle and we're proud that our customers want us to be a part of that.” – Matthew Eaton Co-founder, RollJunkie

We look forward to seeing more from this company.

Pink Gi jiu-Jitsu

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 04:02:39 GMT

Pink Gi jiu-Jitsu: To any of our women readers who have not tried Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu but have always been curious; I invite you to check out the blog Pink Gi Jiu-Jitsu. The blogger, Risa K is endearing in her curiosity, honesty and vulnerability as she shares her musings on her trials, tribulations and triumphs as she embarks on learning “The Gentle Art.”

The Warriors Cup XIV recap

Fri, 09 Mar 2012 03:00:00 GMT

Muay Thai is alive and well in NJ. Fightswewant.com was on hand at the Warriors Cup XIV held on March 3rd 2012 at the Rahway Rec Center in Rahway NJ. This was an extremely well run event with 16 amateur bouts of nonstop action which included two title matches. The fighters represented various local gyms in New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania and as far away as Massachusetts and Virginia. Also on the card where 3 female matches and as is typically the case, they came to bang and did not disappoint.

While all the bouts were entertaining, we wanted to make mention of and highlight a few of them here. The second bout of the night was contested at the B-Class Welterweight division (145 lbs) between Robinson Marte fighting out of the Lions Roar Muay Thai gym in the Bronx, NY and Alexandre Paulinho from Gold Team BJJ). We had Marte winning the first road and ahead on points when he dropped Paulinho at 1:05 in the second round for the TKO win.

Photo By Glen Molchan for FightsWeWant.com

Photo By Glen Molchan for FightsWeWant.com

The second female bout of the night had B-Class Super Featherweights (130 lbs) Joanie Di Meo (Weapons 9 –SCA) versus Kate Allen (Cool Hearts Muay Thai Camp). It appears Di Meo was having difficulty with Allen’s long range. Allen fed her a steady diet of power leg kicks in route to a 30-27 unanimous decision.

Photo By Glen Molchan for FightsWeWant.com

Photo By Glen Molchan for FightsWeWant.com

Photo By Glen Molchan for FightsWeWant.com

Packed House - Photo By Glen Molchan for FightsWeWant.com

Photo By Glen Molchan for FightsWeWant.com

Victor Romero (Modern M.A. - W9- SCA)scoring with good form in route to a Unanimous Decision win over Chris Edmond (Alex Wilkies MMA)
Photo By Glen Molchan for FightsWeWant.com

The first of two title fights and part of the co main event was between the Middleweight (155 lb) Champ, Rich Brattole representing W9/SCA against the Challenger Romain Gaston fighting out of Boston Muay Thai. This won went the distance with Brattole dominating the four rounds to record the unanimous decision.

The Champ Rich Brattole (W(/SCA) retains his title- Photo By Glen Molchan for FightsWeWant.com

The co main event was a Super Middleweight (168) title defense tilt between the Champ, Stephen Regman , fighting out of Tiger Schulman MMA and the Challenger, Flavio Brita fighting out of Boston Muay Thai. This one ended in a controversial draw. If you don’t beat the champ in convincing fashion you should not win a title fight. While both camps and fans were unhappy, I think the judges got it right. Overall it wasn't too good of a night for the out of town guest.

Challenger Flavio Brita (Boston Muay Thai) eats one from Champion Stephen Regman (Tiger Schulman) as they battle to what ultimately was a draw

The Warriors Cup Ring Girls - Photo by Glen Molchan for FightsWeWant.com

Some of the ladies from Girlfight in attendance and in support (who by the way will be making women's history at Madison Square Garden on March 16th, 2012.) Photo by Glen Molchan for FightsWeWant.com

It was a great night of fights and every match was entertaining with the combatants representing their camps well. If you live relatively local to any of their future upcoming events, I would recommend checking out The Warriors Cup. Please go to our facebook page to see more pictures from the event (and please "like" the page to support the site and receive updates on the news feed.

Full Fight Results below:

1
B-Class Welterweights(145Lbs) 3X2
Brandon Browne (Modern Martial Arts) def. Joey Suarez (Sitan Gym NY) via Unanimous Decision
2
B-Class Featherweights(125Lbs) 3X2
Robinson Marte (Lions Roar Muaythai) def. Alexandre Paulinho (Gold Team BJJ) via TKO (Referee Stoppage due to Leg Kick) at 1:51 Round 2
3
B-Class Female Super Bantamweights(120Lbs) 3X2
Liz Welch (Modern Martial Arts) def. Khrystelle Mayunag (Jersey Fight Club) via Unanimous Decision
4
B-Class Middleweights(155Lbs) 3X2
Jimmy Reid (Iron Wolverines Mt) def. Jordan Mamroud (B-52 Muaythai Gym) via Split Decision
5
B-Class Super Cruiserweights(190Lbs) 3X2
Marcus Chin (Modern Martial Arts) def. Davide Fuoco (Nick Catone's MMA) via Split Decision
6
B-Class Super Lightweights(140Lbs) 3X2
Carl Gaeta (Five Points Academy NYC) def. Sean O'gorman (Sitkangmongkorn NJ) via Unanimous Decision
7
B-Class Female Super Featherweights(130Lbs) 3X2
Kate Allen (Cool Hearts Muaythai Camp) def. Joanie Dimeo (Weapons 9-SCA) via Unanimous Decision
8
B-Class Light Heavyweights(172Lbs) 3X2
Paul Azeceta (Sitkangmongkorn NJ) def. Jovan Davis (Osma-Warriors Gym VA) via KO punch at 1:41 Round 1
9
B-Class Middleweights(160Lbs) 3X2
Paul Huffman (Sitkangmongkorn Pittsburgh) def. Mike Martinez (Newburgh Muaythai KMT) via Unanimous Decision
10
B-Class Female Lightweights(135Lbs) 3X2
Christina Peteraf (Cool Hearts Muaythai Camp) def. Lynette Pope (Osma-Warriors Gym VA) via Unanimous Decision
11
B-Class Super Welterweights(150Lbs) 3X2
Jose Cruz (Five Points Academy NYC) def. Jeffrey Hsieh (Sitkangmongkorn NJ) via Unanimous Decision
12
B-Class Midlleweights(155Lbs) 3X2
Luis Cancel (North Jersey Muaythai) def. Ahmed Sherif Mouer (Osma-Warriors Gym VA) via Unanimous Decision
13
B-Class Light Heavyweights(170Lbs) 3X2
Victor Romero (Modern M.A-W9-SCA) def. Chris Edmond (Alex Wilkies MMA) via Unanimous Decision
14
B-Class Middleweights(160Lbs) 3X2
Ankur Mathew (North Jersey Muaythai) def. Brandon Cuttino (Tiger Schulmann MMA) via Unanimous Decision
Title Bouts
15
A-Class Middleweight Title Defense(155Lbs) 4X2
Rich Brattole (Champ-W9/Sca) def. Romain Gaston (Challenger-Boston Muaythai) via Unanimous Decision
16
A-Class Super Middleweight Title Defense(168Lbs) 4X2
Flavio Brito (Challenger-Boston Muaythai) ties Stephen Regman (Champ-Tiger Schulmann MMA) via Majority Draw

Anderson (The Spider) Silva vs. Jon (Bones) Jones

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 03:10:00 GMT

Anderson (The Spider) Silva vs. Jon (Bones) Jones

We at www.fightswewant.com have been getting a lot of comments and emails on that needs to be made sooner rather than later before it gets relegated to a dream match status. Reason being is that Anderson Silva, the current UFC Middleweight Champion (as well as longest reigning) is on the wrong side of 35 years old for this sport. At this point in his very impressive MMA career, he should only be looking at big fights and super bouts that could and should include things like matches held at a catch-weight. Speaking of catch weights, this fight would be one of those as Jon Jones, the current UFC Light Heavyweight Champion.

For Anderson Silva, he has a rematch Chael Sonnen tentatively slated for sometime this summer in Brazil. This bout has also been one receiving a lot of chatter on the www.fightswewant.com site and has long been anticipated ever since the first fight when they met at UFC 117. A bout that saw Sonnen completely dominate Silva for four plus rounds only to be submitted late in the fifth by Silva via a triangle choke. Regardless if Anderson Silva wins this fight or not, the bout with Jones would still be an intriguing matchup and one that still command a lot of PPV buys or strong ratings as a headliner on the FOX network.

Regarding Jones, he is expected to face former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans at UFC 145 on April 21, 2012. Here again, it would seem to make sense that Jones vs. Silva should happen regardless of the outcome of this fight.

There are some MMA industry experts that feel putting him in against Silva at this point would be too soon. On the flipside there are those who feel he can hang with Silva and then some. Jones is a 25 year old phenomenal fighter who gets better every time he fights. He absolutely ran through Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (former PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix winner, Former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion) to win the UFC Light Heavyweight title. He then made his first title defense facing another former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion in Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. He won that fight by Submission in the 4th round. In his second title defense he faced yet another former UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Lyoto Machida; who he beat late in the second round with a nasty standing guillotine that left Machida unconscious in a crumpled heap against the cage.

I tend to agree more with the latter point of view. This has the ingredients to be a great fight and would be an equally tough task for both fighters. Would it be Silva taming the up and coming young buck or will it be Jones continuing his road of destruction by solving the conundrum that has been Anderson Silva.

By Rich Serpa

Bellator 54 Follow up - Claudio Ledesma

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 03:45:00 GMT

We have received (and appreciate) a lot of emails from our two interviews with up and coming MMA fighter Claudio Ledesma. Many of the emails have asked if we could provide some follow up to Claudio’s last fight at Bellator 54. We heard you and are happy to share with you the two following videos. The first one is a video blog/diary that Claudio made documenting his training and time leading up to the fight. The video was shot, produced and edited by Alex Kennedy who is a freelance videographer/journalist and martial artist. For our Spanish Speaking fans we are happy to share the second video which was shot for MMA - Latino.

Claudio Ledesma - Can't keep a good man down

Thu, 13 Oct 2011 18:35:00 GMT

Almost exactly a year ago this week, Fights We Want created a new section in our blog called “On the Rise” where we showcase up and coming fighters within the various combat sports we cover. Our very first interview was with a fighter by the name of Claudio Ledesma who at the time had a professional record of 2-1. We wanted to do a follow up interview with Ledesma as his star continues to rise and burn brightly.

FWW: Claudio, hello again and thank you for taking the time out from your training to talk to us.

CL: No problem Rich! Anything for you! It still feels weird every time I do an interview.

FWW: Claudio, first off, congratulations on being selected to fight for the Bellator Fighting Championship.

CL: Thanks! It still feels unreal. It won’t really hit me until I get there.

FWW: You have enjoyed a good deal of success in a relatively short period of time. Since last you visited with us you have had 3 fights bringing your record to 4-2. Talk to us about this past year as it relates to these fights and how, if at all have they changed you and or your fighting style or approach to the sport?

CL: This year has been crazy for me. I learned a lot about myself. I learned that if I show up to a fight and do what I do I’m very tough to beat. At the same time I’ve learned that if I don’t follow my game plan I’ll give away fights that I should win. No matter how much success I had this year it’s overshadowed in my head by the time I shit the bed.

FWW: You have stepped up your game not only as it relates training but also with regards to the training partners you are training with. Tell us a little about that and how has it helped you as you prepare for what is easily the biggest fight of your career coming up this Saturday in Atlantic City, NJ?

CL: I haven’t really changed much to be honest. I have just learned to train smarter. I would be crazy to believe that I don’t have to evolve and change certain aspects of my game. Bellator is a big deal for me but to be honest it’s still just me and another guy in a cage.

FWW: On August 29th, Hurricane Irene ripped through Denville NJ and in doing so, destroyed your home. Clearly it is hard enough training for a fight under “normal” conditions. You have a full time job, you have a wife and a 3 year old son, responsibilities you have to juggle as you train. It must have been and I am sure to a large extent, continues to be, extremely challenging to maintain your workout schedule and mental focus while dealing with the aftermath of the Hurricane and how it literally up ended your life. How have you been dealing with this?

CL: The single reason I was able to prepare for this fight has been my wife. I can’t even put into words how great it is to have a person like her in my life. When I started this fight camp she reassured me that I had nothing to worry about but working and training, and she stood by what she said. She has taken care of everything, from finding the townhouse we moved into to putting together the furniture. She is truly amazing.

FWW: You are fighting 4-1 Brian Kelleher who fights out of Long Island. What do you know about your opponent?

CL: He is teammates with my last opponent. His game seems to be pretty well rounded. He seems like he’s pretty good at everything. I like challenges like this. They make me step my game up.

FWW: When last we spoke, you indicated that one of your dreams was to fight in the WEC. You also went on to say you would love the opportunity to fight Miguel Torres. A lot has changed in the Professional MMA landscape, one being that the WEC has been merged into the UFC. Given these changes, what are your goals now? How have they changed?

CL: My goals haven’t changed. I just have one goal. To get the best out of myself and live with no regrets. Whether it’s becoming the UFC Bantamweight champ or just fighting on a Bellator undercard. I’d like to know that I went as far as I could with my god given talents.

FWW: As a fan of the sport, what MMA fights would you like to see happen?

CL: I’d like to see Frankie Edgar fight Jose Aldo. I think Frankie can solve that riddle.

FWW: Claudio, we want to thank you again for your time. We wish you the best of luck this weekend and continued success.

CL: Thank You Rich! I appreciate your interest. I’d like to take this time to thank my friends and family for their support throughout these tough times. And of course all of my sponsors: Nutrition Zone in Butler, The Law Offices of Freier Levitt , and Buddhasport.com.

Interview by Rich Serpa

A candid interview with Cesar Gracie

Thu, 15 Sep 2011 08:25:00 GMT

A candid interview with Cesar Gracie

FWW: This is Rich Serpa from FightsWeWant.com and we are here today with Cesar Gracie. Cesar, we are glad you could join us.

CG: thank you, glad to be here

FWW: Cesar, there is not a lot of information out there as it relates to your childhood or formative years training in Brazilian jiu Jitsu (BJJ). Where did you grow up and could you talk to us a little bit about that?

CG: I grew up in Brazil and moved when I was 8 years old to the states and moved back to Brazil as a teenager……life was good growing up, all the family was into BJJ and you got into because it was expected of you. I really enjoyed learning the family art.

FWW: When did you start training in BJJ and who were some of your early instructors? What was that experience like?

CG: I started when I was 4 or 5 years old. It was all about having fun, learning something new. It didn’t get serious until I was a teenager. My first instructor was Herion Gracie. And one of my biggest influences was Rickson.

FWW: Many long term BJJ stylist hold such a devotion to the sport that they describe it as a “life changer” or a “lifestyle.” What is it about BJJ that you think would make someone describe it in those words?

CG: I have an interesting advantage point being Brazilian and American, I saw when I lived in the states as a child the Americans were not very comfortable with the physical contact, it was strange for them to train BJJ with another guy because of the physical aspect. You learn to look beyond that and train with people who feel just as passionate about the art as you do. Not only does BJJ help you make friends, but it gives young people something cool, positive and active to do, instead of doing illegal activity on the streets. Here they meet positive role models that will help direct them in the right direction. .

FWW: One of the more interesting aspects of ‘The Ultimate Fighter” reality television show has been getting a glimpse into the various coaching teams that the Head Coaches bring in to support them. We have seen representation from American Top Team and Greg Jackson’s crew just to name a few. The Cesar Gracie Fight Team is without question one of the most successful and talented MMA fight teams around. I would think there would be appeal from a rating standpoint to have one of your fighters be season head coach with your team there to support them. What are your thoughts on the show and would you consider being a part of it on a future season?

CG: The Ultimate Fighter show is to put known fighters as coaches and that fighter will bring in another coach. So if one of my guys is the coach on the show, it would be fun to do something like that. We would be excited to be a part of a season of the show. I know who the good coaches are and who they aren’t. But there are hype up coaches and I know who they are. That’s all the matters to me.

FWW: We recently interviewed John Danaher and asked him this question. We received a lot of emails from fans commenting on this topic and it generated a lot of dialogue. With that said, we wanted to ask you the same question. As you know, in the early days of MMA in this country, specifically as it relates to the “The Ultimate Fighting Championship” (UFC), the tournament featured martial artists from different disciplines facing each other in no-holds-barred combat to determine the best martial art. Since then, the sport has evolved and it is not uncommon to see that just about any of the top 5-10 fighters in any weight class in any league have a high level knowledge and ability in multiple martial arts disciplines. That said, in the majority of instances the fighters still began training and studying in one discipline. As an instructor and trainer, what are your thoughts on some of the fighters that are getting into the sport now trying to learn “MMA” as a discipline in and of itself without a base style per se’?

CG: Well MMA is - mixed martial arts. You will gravitate to one of the martial arts more than the other. It is rare to find someone who has great standup and ground game, but there are a select few that are lucky to have the talent of both. People come into the academy and want to take the mma class, but we say learn jiu jitsu, learn boxing, etc…..learn your stand up and takedowns. There is not just one MMA class.

FWW: The Gracie Fight Team has well known fighters such as Nick and Nate Diaz, Jake Shields and Gilbert Melendez, are there any students training their now in either MMA, BJJ or Muay Thai that you would consider an up and coming prospect or exceptional talent that we can look forward to seeing compete soon?

CG: We have many up and coming guys coming through the pipe that I am excited about, like Roy Boughten. Roy has natural talent and you will be seeing a lot of him soon.

FWW: Well it has been a crazy week to say the least. We had originally prepared a few questions at the end of this interview that pertained to the original bout that was set between Geroges St. Pierre and Nick Diaz. As a result of Nick missing some media obligations and subsequently being removed from the card, and then added back as a co main event, we needed to scrap those questions and regroup. With that said, and to the extent that you can, tell us where things stand now with you and Nick? Clearly he is like family to you and family members do not see eye to eye at times but has the recent events changed the dynamic between the two of you as it relates to being his trainer and manager?

CG: Nothing has changed between us. It was a tough time and I was upset but we are back on the training schedule for the upcoming fight.

FWW: How much if at all will the fight preparation change now that Nick is fighting BJ Penn? He obviously brings a different skill set to the table.

CG: BJ has better boxing fundamentals and a more technical ground game. He is not as strong as George is and probably not as in as good of shape.

FWW:These changes have certainly added some unwanted stress to a lot of people involved, particularly with those that have skin in the game if you will. It will also no doubt create maybe even more media attention to this fight. As Nick’s manager and trainer, tell us little bit about how you are doing? It must be challenging having to be managing the business side of things while at the same time overseeing the training, especially as you navigate through the recent issues?

CG: It was a tough time for me, we have worked hard for a long time to get this opportunity and it was hard to watch it slip through my fingers. I have learned that you have to take the bad and the good in life so I will put it behind me.

FWW: Lastly, the Fightswewant.com website is a site that’s set up for fans to pick bouts and their dream bouts they would like to see regardless of what league, camp or affiliation a fighter might be fighting for or what have you. If you had to pick a dream bout, and we cover all combat sports so whether it’s MMA or BJJ or Boxing or Judo etc., but if you had to pick a dream bout that you’d like to see most… and again, it doesn’t have to be someone from your camp or someone you train with, although it could be…but if you had to pick a bout that you would like to see, which would it be?

CG: GSP vs nick Diaz!

FWW: Cesar, I want to thank you again very much for your time.

CG: Thank you.

It's a Mad Mad World!

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 08:00:00 GMT

Every few months FightsWeWant.com features interviews that focus on up and coming talent in combat sports in our “On the Rise” section of the blog. Of the five we have done so far, three have been female of which 2 have been under 18. The fact that you have these ladies getting into the sport at a young age is just another example of how much this sport has grown in recent years. In our continued effort to help support women in combat sports we are happy to share our latest interview with a very talented young (12 year old) fighter by the name of Mad Mad Madison. In just three short years, Madison has garnered over 60 martial arts awards such as the 2010 USAKA National Kickboxing Champion, AMMA National Champion and is also an undefeated cage fighter with a 3-0 record just to name a few.

FWW: This is Rich Serpa from Fightswewant.com and we are here today with Mad Mad Madison. Madison, thanks for spending time with us today, we are happy to have you.

MMM: You’re welcome.

FWW: Before we get into anything else, we have to ask you how you got you name Mad Mad Madison?

MMM: Well, I got my name when I was really little. I had really curly hair and it reminded my parents of a mad scientist and they would call me that. So I thin of it as I was born to be a fighter because that’s my name now.

FWW: When and why did you start taking Karate?

MMM: I started taking karate when I was six. My mom had gotten diagnosed with cancer and I was really really down at that time. We had kept going past the Karate place and I kept asking if I could try it. She said ok because she was hoping it would help to maybe get my mind off of things. So that is how I got started.

FWW: Excellent. Tell us about how you came to begin training MMA and cage fighting?

MMM: I started training a few years after I had begun teaching karate. I enjoy it because its different.

FWW: I understand you built up a record of 3 and 0 but unfortunately the state of Indiana where you currently live has since outlawed it in 2010. Is this something you want to continue to do but just look for fights out of state?

MMM: Yes, we are trying to find fights that are not too far away. So I still want to cage fighting and I plan on continuing to train so that I can fight in my home state when I am old enough.

FWW: I would imagine it is difficult alone finding sparring partners let alone someone to fight.

MMM: Yes, it is.

FWW: Now the fights that you had, did you fight girls in the cage?

MMM: Two of them were female and one was male.

FWW: Really? That’s impressive. How did you win those 3 bouts?

MMM: The first two fights I won by decision and the third one I submitted my opponent with a Kimura.

FWW: Very nice, very nice. And I also understand that you are also training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ).

MMM: Yes.

FWW: Who are you learning that from?

MMM: One of my students, Anthony Cruz, who I train in Karate started training in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and I asked him if he wanted to help me. So that is how that started.

FWW: Tell us about your experience in becoming the 2010 USAKA Kickboxing National Champion.

MMM: It was ver different but the girl I fought was my age and around my weight. It was really exciting and it got me interested in kickboxing. So I started training in kickboxing as well.

FWW: Did you have to fight multiple opponents the same night of did you only fight the one girl?

MMM: I only had to fight the one girl.

FWW: How many rounds did you fight and how many minutes were each round?

MMM: I had 3 rounds and they were a minute and a half each.

FWW: How often are you training these days?

MMM: I am training 4 days a week. Teaching classes and then doing a workout.

FWW: When you train are you training in multiple disciplines?

MMM: The first class, it is a little bit of everything. There is a little bit of Judo, Jiu Jitsu, Karate, you know, stand up and ground.

FWW: Have you done any wresling?

MMM: No, I have not.

FWW: Ok, we have to get that going.

MMM: (Laughs).

FWW: Madison, if you would, tell us who or what inspires you?

MMM: Well I really think my parents inspire me a lot. And, the people at church inspire me a lot too. Because they keep me going and they help me out a lot.

FWW: That’s great.

FWW: And what do you like to do for fun?

MMM: I like to do tractor pulls with my dad and my grandpa. And I like to go fishing and hunting with my dad. And I love to go shopping with my mom and swim with my brother.

FWW: OK, Awesome. Are you training for anything now? What is on the horizon now for you?

MMM: Yes, I will be competing in the Tae Kwon Do Junior Olympics coming up in New Orleans at the end of the month. I will be participating in point sparring and Olympic sparring. And on August 20th I have a kickboxing/Muay Thai match coming up in Dayton Ohio.

FWW: Where can people go if they want to find out more about you or where you might be competing next?

MMM: Well they should go to my website www.madmadisonfights.com and that has a lot of information about me.

FWW: Ok, do you have anything else?

MMM: Yes, they can also go to facebook, twitter and youtube.

FWW: Well Madison, thank you very much, it was a pleasure speaking with you and we look forward to seeing more of you in the not too distant future.

MMM: Thank you, we really appreciate you doing this.

John Danaher talks TUF, GSP / Diaz, Steven Seagal and his dream bouts

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 08:15:00 GMT

Recently Fightswewant.com had an opportunity to do an interview with Renzo Gracie Black belt John Danaher. Many people have only recently become familiar with John from his stint on The Ultimate Fighter Season 12 as he is also the current UFC Welterweight champ, Georges Saint Pierre’s Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ) coach. John Danaher is considered by many BJJ practitioners as well as many of his contemporaries in the sport, to be one of the best BJJ instructors in the world (see Dave Camarillo's article and this article from BJJ Heroes ).

FWW: Recently you were on “the Ultimate Fighter” season 12 (TUF 12) reality show as a coach on TEAM GSP. Prior to that, maybe only some of the hardcore Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and MMA fans and practitioners knew who you were. Given you are admittedly a private person, who prefers and is or was comfortable, living somewhat in relative obscurity; how if at all has being on the show created any changes in your life as opposed to before the show aired?

JD: No, there have been no significant changes. My daily life still consists, as it always has, of teaching jiu jitsu throughout the course of the day, from morning till night and trying to improve my own knowledge of the sport and finding better ways to impart that knowledge to other people.

FWW: Talk to us a little bit about TUF 12. What was that experience like and would you ever consider doing it again?

JD: TUF 12 was a fascinating experience. Six weeks in a distant city, training daily with Georges and his team and helping them compete against Mr Koscheck's team. Georges went out of his way to make sure both the team and the many coaches he brought in had the best time possible, showing a great deal of generosity throughout the duration of the series. I was the only coach who was present for the entire six weeks. This was easy for me, as I do not have my own school to run and I am single with no children, thus I can relocate on short notice for extended periods without difficulty. During this time we tried hard to communicate to our students the process of going from being a talented amateur fighter to being a professional MMA athlete. It was gratifying to see them change and take on aspects of Georges' professionalism and athletic preparation - knowledge that will help them throughout the duration of their careers. Georges and I were proud of their excellent performance, despite having to go against what appeared to be a more talented team, coached by the highly successful AKA coaching staff, they won eight fights against the other teams three, most of those victories coming by way of submission - very gratifying to a grappling coach like myself. My memories of the series are very positive, so I would be happy to do it again.

FWW: The TUF fighters being sequestered for the entire time they are there has been well documented and covered by the fighters on the show as well as Dana White. No contact with the outside world, no cell phones and TV. What constraints if any do they put on the coaches and staff of the teams?

JD: There are absolutely no restrictions on the coaching staff other than the two - two hour training sessions per day, seven days a week. Even then, coaches have the option of simply not coming to every session and having stand-in coaches do the work for them, but Georges and I never took this option, indeed, we usually had a third workout for ourselves at the end of the day at another private gym. Other than that, we had total freedom. Of course I often took advantage of this by going out to nightclubs and misbehaving as much as possible while Georges tried to keep me under control and make sure I did not end up in prison. We hatched all kinds of crazy plans that thankfully never came to fruition. For example, Mr Koscheck was a fine prankster, one of the best I ever had the pleasure of meeting (and overall a very nice fellow, despite his public image on the show). Every day he would park his car so close to ours outside the gym that it was difficult to get into our car. I immediately decided to counter prank by arranging to get one of those crazy American monster trucks with the huge wheels with a skilled driver and have him run Mr Koscheck's car over and flatten it like a pancake while he was training his team. Being a gentleman, I figured the cost of the car was around $10,000, so I planned to leave a briefcase of $10,000 on top of the flattened vehicle. Georges has far greater common sense than me and wisely recommended not to take this course of action, but instead to simply park next to a hydrant so that we could no longer be boxed in - a much more sound strategy - I guess that's why he is the world champion! Still, I think my approach would have been better for the ratings!

FWW: Agreed without question. That aspect of the show is an interesting dynamic as it adds an additional mental stress that the fighters need to deal with as well as creates (clearly by design) a pressure cooker as the weeks go by, not to mention at times it has also led to the exposure of the fighters maturity levels (both good and bad) and or character flaws. What are your thoughts on this and are the coaches allowed to view any footage prior to the final edit that goes on the air?

JD: The concept of the fighters living in a house under conditions designed to create stress and conflict (primarily through boredom, intoxication and competition) is in interesting one. It illustrates well the close relationship between athletic prowess and entertainment value which is one of the most contentious areas of this developing sport. Is this a sport or a mode of entertainment? If it is both, how do we correctly weigh the value of each? For hard core MMA fans, the training and the fights are the prime appeal of TUF, for others it is the human drama which appeals the most. The coaches have absolutely no influence or control over the show and do not see any footage until the show is actually aired. By the time the six weeks is over, Spike has enough footage to portray any man in any way they wish between the extremes of sinner and saint.

FWW: John, as you know, in the early days of MMA in this country, specifically as it relates to the “The Ultimate Fighting Championship” (UFC), the tournament featured martial artists from different disciplines facing each other in no-holds-barred combat to determine the best martial art. Since then, the sport has evolved and it is not uncommon to see that just about any of the top 5-10 fighters in any weight class in any league have a high level knowledge and ability in multiple martial arts disciplines. That said, in the majority of instances the fighters still began training and studying in one discipline. As an instructor and trainer, what are your thoughts on some of the fighters that are getting into the sport now trying to learn “MMA” as a discipline in and of itself without a base style per se’?

JD: MMA is still a very young sport. As such, most of the current athletes began their training either before MMA existed or early in its existence. For this reason they began with a single style, wrestling jiu jitsu, Muay Thai etc. and branched out from there after they decided to switch from their original sport to MMA. Thus the current habit of beginning with one style and adding on others at a later date arose out of necessity as single-discipline athletes took on the new sport. Now youngsters have the option of beginning with the sport of
MMA as their foundation. The task of learning modern MMA as a foundational discipline (rather than each of the base martial arts that combine to make MMA) is interesting, but has an obvious problem - there are few, if any coaches who have the necessary expertise in all areas of combat to be able to coach a young athlete to a high level of expertise in all areas. Any coach who tries to master all of the skills of MMA will inevitably have to opt for a more superficial knowledge of all the skill areas rather than really deep knowledge of each of them due to time constraints and the sheer amount of knowledge he would have to possess. As a result of these considerations I believe the pattern for the future will not be so much athletes learning MMA from a single instructor and treating MMA as an autonomous discipline in itself, but rather, having a group of specialized coaches in each skill area who each have the depth of knowledge to take them to a high level in each art. The primary difference between current and future athletes, then, will not be that fighters of the future learn MMA as a foundation, but that they learn each of the main skill areas from qualified coaches at the same time from the onset of their training, rather than beginning with one and trying to play catch up with the others areas later in their careers. This leads me to speculate about the future in several ways. First, I believe that future athletes will not have the glaring weaknesses in their game which is still seen in many current athletes. Second, I believe their ability to merge the skills of the various combat arts into a seamless flow between the various skills of boxing, Muay thai, karate, wrestling, judo, jiu jitsu and sambo, will be far superior than is currently the case. Currently some fighters have good skills in several areas, but struggle to maximize their potential due to failures in connecting those different skill areas into a smooth continuum. This is what will distinguish the athletes of the future from those who are currently fighting. The role of MMA coaches in the future will not be so much technical instruction in the skills of the sport (that will come from the specialists), rather it will be to help athletes combine the various skills they have and translate this into improved MMA performances. Indeed, I believe that decades from now, people will look upon most of the current MMA athletes in the same fashion we look upon old time boxers such as Jim Corbett, Jack Johnson, Bob Fitzsimmons etc. as fascinating, but primitive relics.

FWW: Many people who train at the Renzo Gracie Academy (RGA) in New York (including Renzo himself) have oft joked about how much time you spend at the Academy. When you are not teaching class or traveling to train fighters competing in MMA events, what are some of the things you like to do not Martial arts related?

JD: Most of the time I am a rather quiet fellow, who likes to read about Philosophy, Mathematics and History, but like most people I also have a deep appreciation of sex and violence...

FWW: Speaking of the RGA, are there any students training there now in either MMA, BJJ or Muay Thai that you would consider an up and coming prospect or exceptional talent that we can look forward to seeing compete soon?

JD: One of the joys of teaching in New York is the large number of talented people that come through the academy, both regular students and visitors. There are too many to mention, but some do stand out. One of my fellow teachers, Gregor Gracie has matured so much in the last two years and is showing tremendous talent. Currently I am training a lot with Gunnar Nelson, who I think is an extremely talented and interesting young man. Also Gianni Grippo, who recently won the Mundials at purple belt, has a very bright future. Frankie Edgar has been training very hard in Jiu jitsu and his progress has been astounding. Overall the academy has a very strong student base and forces everyone to train hard and improve in short order.

FWW: Starting at White belt and every belt thereafter to Black; what attributes do you look for in a student in order to consider them for elevation to the next rank both as it relates to their physical and mental approach to the art?

JD: The first and most important criteria for promotion is performance. Can you successfully apply your moves in live training in the gym against people in the belt category above yours? Or, for those who like to compete, have you consistently excelled in local compeitions within your current rank? To this fundamental demand I add some other considerations. There may be some handicaps that a student has that soften my demand for performance. The age of the student, for example. I don't expect a 55 year old blue belt student to tap out 22 year old purple belts. I also look at the breadth and precision of the student's technique. If he consistently wins in class with only a few sloppy moves from a limited number of positions due mostly to advantages in strength and size, I will be reluctant to promote him until he improves his technical repertoire. In general I am fairly easy in giving out belts as I do not attach great importance to them. If you make jiu jitsu a lifetime study (as I hope all my students do), the vast majority of your training years will be at black belt level and beyond, so the amount of time taken to acquire the various early belts is not a significant issue. In all truth, you do most of your learning over a life time post-black belt. Accordingly I see people growing into their belts over time, so I don't like to hold people back in rank forever.

FWW: The much anticipated match up in October between Georges ST. Pierre and Nick Diaz has been by far the number one requested dream bout on the Fights We Want website. To the extent that you can and speaking at a high level on the subject, what are your thoughts on this match relative to their styles?

JD: Nick Diaz is a very interesting opponent indeed. He has excellent (and quite unorthodox) boxing skills allied with strong forward pressure that often exhausts his opponents and breaks them both physically and mentally. He is very dangerous on the ground from both top and bottom position and scrambles extremely well. He has excellent training partners and his confidence is justifiably high given his tremendous winning streak in recent years, often against very talented opponents such as Takanori Gomi, Paul Daley and Mach Sakurai. Most of Georges' opponents have been very dangerous in one area. Nick Diaz presents many problems because he is equally dangerous both standing and on the ground, and, given his great ability in a scramble, everywhere in between. This makes him a difficult man to game plan against. In addition, he is mentally very tough. He will not be intimidated at all by Georges record and reputation and will come out to fight as he always does, with confidence and aggression. He will have the advantage of his friend and training partner Jake Shields recent experience to draw upon to formulate his own plans and devise strategies. It will be a bout that Georges will have to prepare for with even greater than usual professionalism and hard work if he is to prevail again.

FWW: The Fightswewant.com website is a site that’s set up for fans to pick bouts and their dream bouts they would like to see regardless of what league, camp or affiliation a fighter might be fighting for or what have you. If you had to pick a dream bout, and we cover all combat sports so whether it’s MMA or BJJ or Boxing or Judo etc., but if you had to pick a dream bout that you’d like to see most… and again, it doesn’t have to be someone from your camp or someone you train with, although it could be…but if you had to pick a bout that you would like to see, which would it be?

JD: Among the current crop of combat athletes, the fight I would most like to see would be Chuck Norris versus Steven Seagal. This would truly be a battle for the ages. Seagal's front kick and wristlocks versus Norris's side kick and beard. We could not allow an actual physical fight between these two, as the energy clash resulting from their titanic struggle would probably result in a fireball great enough to ignite the earth's atmosphere and create a planetary explosion that would destroy two thirds of our solar system, forming a second sun that would turn icy Pluto into a sandpit resembling the Mojave desert. Instead, they would stand on opposite sides of the octagon and describe the move they would perform, then the other fellow would describe his counter, until it was agreed that one man had been defeated. Segal would have the Dalai Lama and Linda Lovelace in his corner, while Chuck would go with a talking mannequin of Bruce Lee in his. The only man qualified to referee such a bout is, of course, Jean-Claude Van Damme. The judges would be Ron Van Clief, Jim Kelly and Sho'nuff (from The Last Dragon). The ring girls would be Pam Grier and the chick that played the madam from Enter The Dragon. Of course the entire live audience would have to be dressed in HAZMAT suits in case the powers of concentration exuded by the combatants somehow changed the air inside the stadium into deadly nerve gas. Outside, the entire population of planet Earth would stop to watch this epic showdown of sheer unstoppable awesomeness... admittedly such a bout is unlikely to take place, therefore I will settle for my second favorite bout which would be a boxing match between Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao. This would of course, pit the two finest boxers of this generation against each other in what would be a mesmerizing display of skill and strategy. Probably not the most exciting bout, as neither could afford to risk much against such a dangerous opponent, but to the purists, a true privilege to watch. My favorite fantasy match up: A prime Masahiko Kimura (from the 1940's) versus prime Rickson Gracie (from the 1980's) grappling match, with a gi, thirty minute time limit, no points - a battle of the gods to be sure!

FWW: I love it!! John, I want to thank you again for your time and an enjoyable exchange.

JD: You’re quite welcome.

Interview by Rich Serpa

Wrestling's Influence on Modern MMA

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 04:05:00 GMT

Wrestling's Influence on Modern MMA

by Gene Wronko

Few grasp that wrestling's history can be traced back to the ancient Romans, Greeks, and beyond. Wrestling was considered one of the top competitions of the ancient Greek Olympiads. Since its reappearance in the more modern Olympic Games in 1904, it can be argued that it remains one of the most challenging paths for winning a Gold Medal.
Unlike many other popular team sports today, wrestling provides its competitors with the assurance that the outcome of their match is solely within their own grasp. There's no one to blame for not sinking a basket, catching a ball, or making a hit. Your coaches and teammates can help you prepare for your match however they cannot step out on the mat for you.

Balance, control, conditioning, discipline and technique is ingrained into the wrestler from the time they take their first steps on the mat. Kids from an early age learn the importance of mental and physical toughness. They learn that often their minds, not their bodies are the limiting factor in reaching the next level. Each practice, match, and tournament helps them overcome a fear or eliminate a deficiency in their game. These are just a few reasons why
wrestling is considered by many to be one of the most important ingredients in making an MMA Champion.

The Wrestlers - is a famous Roman marble sculpture after a lost Greek original of the third century BCE, now in the Uffizi collection in Florence, Italy

When you review the list of past champions like Randy Couture, Chuck Lidell, Dan Henderson, Tito Ortiz and Matt Hughes, you find they all share the same common solid base in wrestling. Each of them can be considered legends and pioneers within the sport of MMA. Wrestling's pedigree in MMA is not just limited to the path either. Many of today's current and recent champions like Frankie Edgar, Cain Velasquez, Jon Jones and Brock Lesnar can also point to their base in wrestling as being a key contributor of their success.

Gone are the days of the MMA when most fighters excelled at one style or had a limited overall set of skills. In order to be successful today, fighters need to have a solid understanding of each aspect of the game. Where it is true that wrestlers should learn the other technical aspects of MMA such as Jiu Jitsu, stand-up, and fighting from the clinch, it can be said that their strong core base in wrestling provides them with the necessary tools to continue to be successful competitors in MMA for years to come.

Jessi Lee Parent --Up and coming women's MMA talent on the rise in Brewer Maine

Fri, 10 Jun 2011 04:20:00 GMT

FWW: Hi this is Rich Serpa from Fightswewant.com and I am here today with 16 year old MMA up and comer from Brewer Maine, Jessi Lee Parent. Jessi, it’s a pleasure to talk to you and we thank you for your time today.

JLP: Not a problem, I certainly want to be here.

FWW: Jessi, you currently wrestle on the Brewer High Wrestling Team.

JLP: That’s correct.

FWW: How did it all come about you got into wrestling, wrestling on the boy’s team and what that whole experience was like for you?

JLP: Well, first of all, when I went to Team Irish MMA fitness Academy, my trainer Garth Krane was doing a grappling class. He is a phenomenal wrestler, mma fighter, and coach and he suggested that I should start wrestling. So I was like, oh great, the high school I am going to be going to I am going to be wrestling. So that is how I got into it and it was basically to get the experience of it and really help me with my mixed martial arts training.

FWW: So you actually started out at Team Irish and then you joined the wrestling team at school?

JLP: Right, that is how it worked out.

FWW: And so the high school didn’t have a woman’s wrestling team or a girls division?

JLP: Oh certainly not, no…you are lucky if you see one girl on each wrestling team. In Maine there are not a lot of girls that wrestle. If you do its really rare and especially to find a girl in your own weight class. So I am wrestling boys…all the time. We just had the first Maine State Girls Wrestling State Championships not too long ago. They paired me up with a girl, who was closest to my weight mind you, that was 250 Lbs. I did also wrestle another girl but it was in the open division and she was closer to my weight but much older than me, we went almost 3 rounds; and I almost had her a few times but she got me in the scramble in the end of the 2nd round. She won wrestling nationals a few years ago when she graduated.

FWW: And what weight class do you compete at?

JLP: 150, so there aren’t a lot of girls.

FWW: When you went and joined the team did or was your team, family and friends supportive of you initially? Did you experience any push back?

JLP: The boys on the team, they are really great. They are great teammates but were always a little iffy because I was the girl and they didn’t know how to take that. I mean they had girls on the team in the past but it was still kind of iffy for them and I don’t think they knew how to handle it because there were some of them never had a girl on their team before. So for them it was like “oh wow, this is weird.” But they always support me no matter what and it’s a blessing to have them as teammates. I mean I see some boys and girls on some wrestling teams and they look like they all hate each other. So I am very blessed to be on the Brewer wrestling team, for sure, they always support me. My coach (she says laughing), he always says, “Girls shouldn’t wrestle.” That is his way of thinking but he still accepts me on the wrestling team and he treats me like one of the boys. So that is always good. My father is a 100%, I mean he wants me doing this. Even though sometimes it’s hard for him to watch me, he really wants me doing this and that feels good to me. My mother, she supports me. She always tells me, “It’s not what I want you to do but I am going to support you on this.” So I have really good support for the most part. I always get the questions of “why do you do that?” “That’s kind of stupid.” And then I have some people that say girls should never wrestle. But, you know, I honestly could care less.

FWW: What about when you go to tournaments? Do you ever get any flak from any of your male opponents that maybe do not want to wrestle a girl?

JLP: I never met a male opponent that didn’t want to wrestle me. Actually if anything, it’s more that they go harder on me. Because when they wrestle me, they realize I am not just going to flop over and get pinned. I am actually going to fight them and they are going to have to work for that pin. And most of the time, they have to try and beat me. So they realy try to muscle down on me. I remember my freshman year, there was this one guy, I believe he was a state champion and I went up against him. I had never wrestled before. It was my first year wrestling. When he realized he wasn’t going to take me down so easily…and the times he did take me down I got straight back up…he wasn’t too happy with that. We ended up in a scramble and he broke my collarbone. He was just pushing so hard. I have heard of boys that didn’t want to wrestle girls but, all the boys I ever faced…they all wanted to wrestle me. So I never had to experience that.

FWW: Incidentally, the girl you mentioned you faced that was 250 lbs, how did you fare against her?

JLP: Well, I won, at the end but my strategy was to tire her out the first two rounds. We were tie at one point but it was mostly me being the aggressor the entire match. I was the one pushing. If you look back at the pictures, you see me pushing forward, you see me muscling under her head and getting control. But I just wanted to be safe, I didn’t want to be cocky or anything and I just wanted to wait till it was a good time to get her down. At the very end, I got her down and got the last few points. And I won by decision. I was very happy that day.

FWW: Sort of along the same lines, how did you come to start training at Team Irish MMA Fitness Academy and what has the experience been like?

JLP: It has been just absolutely phenomenal. That is probably the greatest gym ever. My dad supports me 100%, he's the one that got me into all this; he taught me how to box when I was very little, and he's always wanted me to learn how to defend myself. He brought me to team Irish and that's when I found that I really enjoyed MMA. So he decided to go there first to see what it was like and he met Garth and he met Marcus and all them. And he thought “wow, this is a great gym.” Then I started going there for the kids grappling classes and I just fell in love with it. That was about two years ago. I thought to myself, wow, this is so different and a lot of girls don’t do this. It was just up my alley. It is a great environment. You don’t feel threatened; you don’t feel scared to be around all the males. Everybody there is a family. That is what we always say, were all a family we are all teammates and we all help each other out. And that’s the best part about it. I think the biggest thing that females fear is about being around males all the time. And how scary they are going to be or act like a punk. You know, “ I am so big and tough and big and bad” this and that but at Team Irish, it is not like that at all. We’re all there to help each other; we’re all there not to beat each other up. We’re to just be a family and that is why I love training there. Marcus Davis is a great trainer too. He really likes what he does so it really helps. And like I said, Garth Krane is also an amazing trainer. He is an uber genius as we call him. It's a great place to learn, and Marcus and Garth are great teachers.

FWW: In addition to going to school and training you are also a part of Brewer Air Force Junior ROTC Unit. I'm also the Co-Commander for our Drill Team.

JLP: I started that this year and basically Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corporation is not really recruiting for the military although it kind of is. It is more of leadership and becoming a better citizen. The reason that I am involved with it is because I am really interested in joining the military and now I am interested in joining the Air Force. So I thought it could help me when I get out of high school, I can join the military. Right now I am a Second Lieutenant and I am the PT Health & Wellness Officer, which basically means I create all the workouts that we do as a group. And also the health and wellness part of it. So basically I keep everybody in shape. So that is going to help me for what I want to do in the military. I am also the Co-Commander for our Drill Team. I want to be not only an MMA fighter but I also want to be serving my country in the US Air Force. I am actually having a little bit of internal conflict deciding between the Air Force and the Navy. I haven’t really made up my mind yet.

FWW: Well that is a good segue, you might have touched on it a little bit but talk to us a little about your goals and aspirations in the sport of wrestling as well as MMA?

JLP: Well my biggest and number one goal has always been to become a world champion mixed martial artist. At the same time, I obviously know you have to have a life outside of that. So I really want to also have a big military life because that is what I think I am made for. I really want to be a Military Police Officer or a Combat Arms Specialist. Do something in the security forces. I also thought about possibly becoming a trainer in the military about mixed martial arts and self defense. I have always also wanted to travel to Thailand and train with Muay Thai Masters as well as go to Israel to train with Krav Maga masters because Krav Maga, to me, is the best self defense fighting style you can have. That would be perfect for the line of work I want to do. You know you not only have to know how to shoot a gun and everything else. You also have to know how to defend yourself if there are no weapons around. I am all about the fighting, I am all about security and whatnot so I really want to be serving my country and doing MMA at the same time. Just like Brian Stann. I always say to people that I want to be the female version of Brian Stann. He is one of my biggest role models.

FWW: That’s a great compliment and yet another good segue as my next question is who or what inspires you?

JLP: Brian Stann for sure is one just because he is a phenomenal MMA fighter and he is in the military. He is one of my biggest. Tisha Rodrigues, she really inspires me too. She teaches me that not only can you be sweet and beautiful and nice but you can be tough as nails too. She is really awesome. Gina Carano, she was the one that first inspired me. I saw her and I was like “wow, I want to be just like her.” And my dad said, “You can!” So that was awesome, she totally kicks A**.

FWW: Have you ever trained with Tisha?

JLP: No, I want to though, really really bad. We were talking about it a little while ago. I would like to take a few weeks off in the summer and go train with her. That’s how you get better. You go from gym to gym and pick up different things as you go. Felice Herrig, she’s awesome too. I love Courtney, what’s her last name her name?

FWW: Courtney Cardoza?

JLP: Yes, she is the cutest little thing and I really hope she keeps going along with this because she is just awesome too.

FWW: Yes, she is a sweetheart and a talent without a doubt.

JLP: And Marcus Davis Garth Krane inspire to as well. They really inspire me to go the distance and really keep up with this. They support me all the time.

FWW: Relatively speaking, the sport of MMA is still young and professional women’s MMA even younger. How does it feel to know you are a part of the emergence of women’s MMA as it has increased so much in popularity over the past years?

JLP: That makes me want to do this even more. I want to be one of the founding women about this. I really want to help make this big. You know obviously Gina Carano, Tisha and all of them, they have set the path for us. For us girls out there interested in this. I think girls that are out there my age and younger should really try and expound upon that and really try start trying to get this going even more.

FWW: Jessi, as you know the Fightswewant.com site is set up for fans to pick bouts and their dream bouts they would like to see regardless of what league a fighter might be fighting for or what have you. If you had to pick a dream bout, and we cover all combat sports so whether it’s MMA or BJJ or Boxing or Judo, but if you had to pick a dream bout that you’d like to see what fight would that be?

JLP: I would love to see Felice Herrig Fight Gina Carano or Lisa King fight Gina Carano in a Muay Thai match. I am not sure if they are all in the same weight class but those would be a few I would like to see.

FWW: Do you have any events planned in the next 3 to 6 months that you will be competing in?

JLP: Yes, I will be competing in theScarborough Maine Wrestling Tournament.

FWW: Lastly, if people want to get more information on you or where are some of the places they can go to follow you or hear about what you are doing?

JLP: Well, I don’t have a website right now. I sort of like to be low key. But I am on Facebook and if anyone was interested in following me or reaching out to me they can send me a message and a friend request. You know, just mention they saw this interview or something like that and I can connect with them that way.

FWW: Ok, great. Well Jessi, I want to thank you again for your time and we wish you luck in the tournament and we hope to be hearing and seeing more of you soon.

JLP: Thank you very much Rich. I really appreciate it.

Strikeforce World Champions Nick Diaz & Jacare Souza Conference call:

Fri, 21 Jan 2011 09:50:00 GMT

Strikeforce held their national media conference today for their World Championship double header being held on Saturday, January 29th at the HP pavilion in San Jose, California and being aired live on Showtime (10PM ET/PT, delayed on the west coast).

The call which featured Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker, Welterweight Champ Nick Diaz and Middleweight Champ Jacare Sousza started a few minutes late. Diaz was also several minutes late getting on the call.

Coker made a some brief and general opening comments before handing off to the fighters to make their comments (which were even more general and brief then Coker’s). Kudos to John Beyrooty from Brener Zwikel & Associates, who had the unenviable task of moderating the call. He did a good job giving what he had to work with. It was difficult to hear many of the responses at times due to bad connections, children wailing in the background (not sure if this was from Jacare, Diaz or one of the many journalist on the call). Jacare asked and answered question though an interpreter which was fine. The lion’s share of the questions were directed toward Diaz. This was probably due in part to the fact that he typically does not do many interviews and clearly does not appear to enjoy being interviewed and the media wanted to take the opportunity to talk with Nick.

It generally is a good rule of thumb when asking Nick questions to not ask him questions that can elicit a yes or no response because 99% of the time, that is what you will get. Unfortunately even when asked questions that would require something more than a yes or no, Diaz would seldom engage. To be fair, it is possible that he was also having difficulty with audio and he did in fact drop off the call for a portion of the conference.

When asked about his upcoming opponent Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos, Nick was very respectful in discussing what he thought his Cyborg’s strength’s were. Diaz also talked about participating in triathlons as well as his strict vegan diet. Things were moving along relatively well all things considered till the topic of other opponents came up, specifically Jason “Mayhem” Miller. Then he went on a tear.

Nick began by saying that he was not ducking Miller who had been calling out Diaz since last April. It was more about not wanting to “derail” his training for a year to move up in weight. He indicated it was a big inconvenience for him and he would consider it if he was compensated for his troubles. Or, as Nick put it he would do it if Strikeforce would pay him “a couple of f**king million dollars.” This was followed up by an incensed Diaz stating “I’m over here driving a F**king Honda because my shit’s breaking down. F**k all you mother f**kers.” While I can’t say for sure who Nick was directing this comment to, I wouldn’t be surprised if the majority of the media on the call felt it was them. There were a few more colorful lines in the balance of the call. My personal favorite was when he referred to some MMA fighters as “abercrombe looking mother f**ers.”

Diaz was also asked who he would consider a dream match for himself to which he replied GSP and Anderson Silva. Also stating he felt GSP would lose to Nick’s training partner and close friend Jake Shields. At some point Josh Koscheck;s name came up. Diaz said he was in the UFC before all of these guys (GSP, Koscheck etc) and he fought all tough opponents. He felt that many of the fighters who are ranked in the welterweight division had built their records on lesser skilled opponents. He shared a story of cornering a fighter who was fighting Koscheck a few years back, claiming the guy wasn’t even a fighter but rather someone who just drinks at a bar and wanted to to fight.

The call ended shortly after that with much of Diaz’s comments being inaudible.

Love him or hate him, there is no denying Nick Diaz is an exciting fighter to watch and is arguably one of the top ten welterweights in the world. From a marketing and public relations perspective, he would do and be so much better if he would dial it back a bit. There are some who will say he is just keeping it real and not being a sellout. He could still be true to himself and still fulfill his media responsibilities. If nothing else, certainly it would help get him more exposure and potentially more sponsors and fans, which in turn could and should translate into helping augment and supplement his income.

By Rich Serpa

Introducing Courtney "The Dragon" Cardoza

Mon, 17 Jan 2011 07:15:00 GMT

FWW: Hello this is Rich Serpa with fightswewant.com and we are here today with a very special guest, 7 year old Brazilian Jiu Jitsu sensation Courtney Cardoza. Courtney, how are you today?

CC: Good.

FWW: Great, thank you for joining us. Courtney is also accompanied by her Dad. Dad thanks for joining us as well.

CC/Dad: Thank you for having us.

FWW: Courtney, so before we get started, we need to clarify some things regarding your nick name. I have seen you called, ”The little Gem”, “The Dragon”, and Courtney Drew Jitsu. Which is it and which do you prefer?

CC: The Dragon.

FWW: The Dragon! Dad, she has got more nick names than Apollo Creed.

Dad: Laughing, yes, she loves these nick names.

FWW: Well alright Courtney, your bio says that you started training in Jiu Jitsu in February of 2010, so not even a year ago. How did you get started in it?

CC: My parents asked me if I wanted to start and I said yes.

FWW: And you started just last February?

CC: Yes.

FWW: what do you like the most about BJJ?

CC: Cleber Jiu Jitsu is really nice. I like to learn new moves and I like doing arm bars from the guard and from mount.

FWW: I was going to ask you what you favorite submission is so there it is. I have seen some of your videos and you hit those pretty well.

CC: Thank you.

FWW: In 2010 alone you placed and medaled in 10 tournaments. Of those events, which was your most memorable?

CC: The Worlds.

FWW: Why was it memorable for you?

CC: Because it was really fun and most of my family was there. And I felt really happy for myself.

FWW: That’s great. It looks like 2011 started off very well for you. I saw you took first at an event called Operation Grapple on January 9th. And you are competing this weekend in Long Beach.

CC: Yes.

FWW: You have a very busy schedule.

CC: (Laughs).

FWW: I understand that in addition to training in BJJ you are also training in MMA and kickboxing, tell us a little bit about your training schedule.

CC: It’s really fun and I like punching and kicking.

FWW: How often are you training Brazilian jiu Jitsu?

CC: Five days a week.

FWW: And how about MMA?

CC: Five days a week too.

FWW: I see that you have also been training with Chris and Evangelitsa Cyborg Santos. What is that been like?

CC: It’s hard training.

FWW: (laughs) It’s hard training huh?

FWW: I am going to take a wild guess here and say that you are picking Evangelista to beat Nick Diaz later this month is that right?

CC: yeah.

FWW: Courtney at 7 and 1/2 years old, almost going to be 8, you have a very impressive roster of Sponsors already. Tell us who they are and how some of those came to be.

CC: Tussle.

FWW: Tussle Fight Gear?

CC: Yes. (Long pause and Dad is laughing).

FWW: Who else?

CC: And MMA Most wanted. And House Cat MMA. And Diablo Blanco.

FWW: Ok great. And did you find them or did they find you?

CC: They found me.

FWW: Who are some of your hero’s or some of the people that you look up to?

CC: Cris Cyborg. Evangelista Cyborg. And Tisha from Facebook.

FWW: Tisha from Facebook…Tisha Rodriques?

CC: Yeah.

FWW: I spoke to Tisha a few weeks ago and she is a very big fan of yours also. She had a lot of very nice things to say about you.

CC: Giggles (Embarrassingly)

FWW: Ok, now Courtney, it’s time to get down to some serious business here. OK?

CC: Yeah.

FWW: Are you ready?

CC: Yeah.

FWW: If you had to pick only one, which do you prefer: Shake it up, Sweet life on Deck or iCarly?

CC: iCarly.

FWW: Ok, and how about between iCarly and Sunny with a chance?

CC: Sunny with a chance.

FWW: All right how about between Vanilla, Chocolate or Strawberry ice Cream?

CC: Chocolate.

FWW: I’m a chocolate guy myself, that’s good. So Courtney have you been to the Fightswewant.com site?

CC: Once

FWW: Are there any MMA bouts or MMA matches that you would like to see? Fighters that you would want to see fight?

CC: Cris Cyborg. I want to see Cris Cyborg fight Tisha.

FWW: Ok, very good. And then, lastly, where can people go if they want to get more information on you or see where you will be competing next?

CC: I have a website.

FWW: Ok, what is the address?

CC: www.courtneycardoza.com and I have a facebook fan page.

FWW: Well Courtney, it has been a pleasure to speak with you and we look forward to seeing more from you in the near future and we wish you the best of luck in the tournament on Sunday. Dad, thank you very much for your time as well.

CC: Thank you

DAD: Thank you very much.

FWW: You are both very welcome.

DAD: She wants to know if she can ask you something else? She forgot she wanted to say something.

FWW: Absolutely she can.

CC: I wanted to say hi to my BJJ BFF Aalijah.

FWW: Of course. Consider it done.

CC: Thank you.

FWW: Thank you!

Editors Note

Oh and PS: the The Grappling X tournament Courtney competed in that was referenced in the interview...she took Gold, winning three matches. Two of which went into overtime. Word on the street has it that her BFF did pretty well too!

Tisha "THE LIL' BULLY" Rodrigues Exclusive Announcement

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 23:30:00 GMT

FWW: hello this is Rich Serpa for www.fightswewant.com and we are here today with woman’s MMA rising star Tisha Rodrigues. Tisha welcome and thank you for joining us.

TR: Hi everyone and thank you for having me.

FWW: Tisha, for some of our readers who may not be familiar with you yet, could you tell us a little bit about your background as it related to figure, fitness and body building?

TR: I was in the sport of Fitness and Figure for about seven years. I actually started out doing the Fitness America Pageant, just doing the bikini competitions. About four years through I decided I wanted to take it to the next level and actually add the fitness routine segment to my training. Which is basically, you do the same thing with the figure competition but you have a fitness routine added in for points. From that point I went on to NPC which is one of the largest federations out there for the sport, in hopes to obtain my pro card. But, it just came to the point with my last show that no matter how much I trained and the kind of diet that I was on, I just physically couldn’t get my body big enough. You know, add enough muscularity to my body naturally to get to where I knew I was going to need to go to get my pro card. So I basically decided from there what I was going to do from that point. And it was at that point that I started just doing some Muay Thai to stay in shape for my competitions. That is when I decided it just wasn’t worth it anymore because naturally my body wasn’t changing anymore and I knew i wasn’t going to get the pro card that way. So I just made my decision to leave Fitness and figure competitions for good.

FWW: When and how were you introduced to MMA?

TR: Basically my husband has been involved with the martial Arts his entire life. So I always knew of the martial arts. My Husband has always been very into it. We started actually, just like hitting the pads. Things like that, as a way to stay in shape. And when I did it, it was something that came natural and my husband was actually pretty surprised. He was like, “you know, you should try going to a class sometime, I think you’d like it because you did very well and it seems like it comes natural towards you. And I am like, um well, I don’t know about that. But it was eventually what I ended up doing. I ended up coming to the Boneyard, which is in Tauton MASS. My husband was already training there. He had started training a year prior to me in mixed martial arts. He had been in kickboxing and Tae Kwon Do, all that kind of stuff prior. So I came in, I did a Muay Thai class. The second class that I did, it was something, I don’t know what happened in me but we had Sityodtong, which is a training center that Mark Dellagrotte owns, I am sure you have heard of him.

FWW: Yes, sure.

TR: They are awesome people. They came down for a seminar and there was another trainer there. His name was Kru Eric Armington, who actually passed away a couple of years ago. And, he was one of the first trainers to hold the pads for me at this seminar. He turned to Mark Dellagrotte and said “This is our next fighter right here.” Because I was so into it and something rung in my head at that moment and I was like yeah, I want to give fighting a shot. That was it, nine months later…I mean when I put something in my head, it’s in my head. And, whether or not I succeed at it, I am going to try. And nine months later I got in the cage and this was 3 ½ years ago, I had my first MMA fight and I haven’t stopped since.

FWW: That was a great compliment.

TR: Yeah, it was cool.

FWW: Given that you are a personal trainer and your experience in training, when you are preparing for a fight do you coordinate that yourself or do you work with strength and conditioning coach?

TR: I mean I do, I definitely up the intensity of my own workouts that I give myself at the gym but basically I work with a strength and conditioning coach which is actually my husband. My husband is in charge of doing all of my conditioning. Also my Muay Thai coach Bobby Diaz, he’ll do conditioning with us as well. The fight teams that we go through, I mean every school is different and I don’t know how different fight camps are but basically our fight camps alone are conditioning. It’s pretty much called “Shark Bait”. You get into the cage and every minute you get a fresh guy. So it depends on how many minutes they are going to give you that night but that’s like conditioning in itself. We do that at least two or three times a week. I go through the shark bait, no less than two times a week. And then I do my strength conditioning another two times per week.

FWW: How many rounds are you doing?

TR: It depends, sometimes, even though I am at amateur level where it’s only three, 3 minute rounds; they usually give me 5 minute rounds, just because they are trying to push you to your furthest level. You know, it’s basically; you’re not going to win at fight team. I am the only girl at my school, I am the only girl fighter so I have to go up against all these guys. So on top of the fact that, I am going up against guys, I am also doing 5 minute rounds, which I am not normally fighting at but it’s just to push you past that point. It really depends on how well your doing. If you don’t end the round in a good position, they make you keep going. So if I am at five minutes and I’m the bottom, they are going to make me keep working till I get a better position. So it really depends.

FWW: Intense.

TR: Yes, basically I know myself and I am sure anybody else who is a personal trainer out there knows or anybody in general knows you are never going to push yourself, like that hard, as hard as you are actually supposed to go. When I am in the gym I do put together conditioning drills for myself to do. But if I am tired at 10 I am going to stop at 10. I am not going to do the 15 you know? I am not going to wait 30 seconds in between rounds. I am going to give myself that minute or that two minutes. I am going to stop and I am going to be finished and when I am finished I am finished. So I know that I need that conditioning coach sitting there making me, you know yelling at me, making me do every minute of every round, making me work hard.

FWW: You currently have an amateur record of 2-1, do you have your next fight lined up yet?

TR: Actually, yes I do. Well, actually I guess I can just give you the news. I had actually posted on my facebook recently that I was going to be announcing news but I might as well tell you. My last amateur fight was supposed to be scheduled for February 19th for Full Force Productions and I was going to go on to continue to pro in late spring. But what happened was the card that I was going to fight on in February isn’t going to be happening in February anymore. It’s actually going to be happening April 2nd, in a completely different location. So I have spoken with my husband and I have spoken with my trainers and now I am just going pro. So there is going to be no more amateur fights for me. My next fight is going to be pro, which is a huge deal for me because everything changes. Sponsor wise, my training, absolutely everything.

FWW: When is that date set for?

TR: The date is set for April 2nd. I figured if everything was going to go through in February it was going to be my last amateur fight. You know, i want to get it going, I want to get to the next level. I don’t want to wait until after February to have another amateur fight. And then wait again. It’s just too much. The problem I see is people, mainly women, who are just having fight after fight after fight, after fight. And I don’t see how you can go in the cage and fight and then let your body rest. Then go back to training and learn. You know, learn what you did wrong. You know I think it’s a huge thing. You know I felt the pressure from it for a little bit. You know I had people asking “Why aren’t you fighting? Why aren’t you fighting more?” It just doesn’t make any sense to me because, if you lose a fight, you have to go back; you have to sit with your trainers. look at the video. See what you did wrong. Go back to your training camp and work on it. Basically, in an actual fight camp, you’re not really leaning. You’re really in your fight camp for doing things like Shark Bait. That’s for the endurance. That’s to push you through your furthest point possible. Your actual training, your actual classes, that’s where you learn. Like if you don’t have the time to actually go back to all your training classes and take the time to learn technique, you’re never going to get better by just jumping into the cage. You know you’re just going back into survival mode, especially at an amateur level. And you know I have seen it with girls that just get back in the cage again and you don’t see that improvement, where they needed to improve. And I feel the way I have been training and taking the time to do my fights and do it right, I’m learning. You know the first loss that I actually took was on the ground. It was you know, my weakness at the time was Jiu-Jitsu and I fought a girl who was really high level Jiu Jitsu. And she actually became a very good friend of mine. She is one of my best friends now and she is actually also a training partner. And when our fight was set up, she was my second fight. I was more of a Muay Thai girl and she was just a jiu Jitsu girl. So when we found out that we were fighting each other, she just then started her stand up and I just started my ground. So when I went into that fight and I went in with really the wrong mindset.

It was basically letting her play her game and not playing mine. Instead of worrying about, let me stand up with this girl and doing what I can do on my feet...I was waiting for that take down, you know I was waiting for her to rush me into the cage and try to take me down from there. And really mentally it screwed me up big time. You know i look back at that fight and there were so many things I need to work on. Not only the mental aspect of it but I knew I needed to push it up a level. The problem with so many people is they concentrate on all of their strengths. You know I am good at this or I am good at that. I am just going to keep working that because that is what I am good at, so I like it. But for me it was, Jiu Jitsu , it never came to me as quick as the stand up did. So I turned it up a notch. I went back and I trained my ass off in Jiu Jitsu. You know how many times I was going per week. I stayed after class, came in on the weekends. I started doing tournaments. You know grappling tournaments for the experience just on the ground alone. And I ended up just winning the expert division belt just a few months back.

FWW: This was at NAGA?

TR: Yes, that’s right it was at NAGA. And so for me that was huge because this was the girl that came into Jiu Jitsu class and it was like learning a foreign language. I mean I just wasn’t getting it. I just think it’s a huge, huge important thing for people to go back and look at their fights and really work on their weaknesses. I mean I am not this great Jiu Jitsu person or this outstanding stand up person. I think I am just even. You know I think I am good at both things and I think I am just evolving and I am still learning. And I am always going to be leaning and try to better myself. But if you don’t take that time off to really not just have that fight in your head, you know you go into your gym and you have that pressure of that upcoming fight, I don’t think you absorb information like you would if you were more relaxed. I feel like when I am just coming into training and I ‘m not thinking about that upcoming fight, I have that extra time to really learn my technique. And see what I am doing wrong. And learn my escapes. And learn from whatever I did wrong in my fight. Even look at my fights that I have won and say, ok, well what could I have done better here or what could I have done up against the cage? You know whatever, you can learn from your wins and your losses.

FWW: Sure sure. Ok well that is great news. What is the Organization you’re fighting for on April 2nd?

TR: If all goes well, it will be Full Force Productions. If for whatever reason something ends up falling through with that card or I know it’s not going to happen then I already have myself prepared with one of my sponsors. Actually is name is Slade he is from Tussle. He helps a lot finding fights for women and also, Sam Wilson, who works with him. They find a lot of fights for girls and I totally trust him. He is a very good source. We have a very close relationship. He is not just a sponsor he actually a really close friend. I have already spoken to him about it and if it’s not going to happen with Full Force, it’s going to happen either way. I am definitely going pro and I definitely want to fight and I am definitely fighting in April. If not maybe a little bit before then if I know it’s not going to work out.

FWW: Do you know who you are fighting on April 2nd?

TR: No I have absolutely no idea. The problem with being amateur around here is that there is only a small group of women and on top of it, you know in my weight class. And on top of that you have to ask these amateur women; well all right I want to go pro, are they willing to go pro too? You know, to take that fight. Now actually, by turning pro, I will have more opportunity, because now I can just travel and fight anywhere as a pro. Where as an amateur fighter i don’t have the funds to just go pay for hotels, pay for corners you know all this stuff. So as a pro all this stuff is paid for. So I think it should be a lot easier for me to get a fight. I don’t really think it will be a problem.

FWW: That’s great, love your attitude. Ok, so relatively speaking, the sport of professional MMA, which grows bigger every year, is still young and woman’s professional MMA even younger. Given the early successes you have achieved so far, and also being a married mother of three, how do you balance your time and what advice would you give to a woman or young girl looking to try the sport out?

TR: Well I’d have to say balancing time is definitely difficult. The good thing is my whole family is involved with Martial Arts. The positive in that is my kids train at the same time as we do. My daughter actually does a Jiu Jitsu class with our friend Alex. He actually teaches a kids program on the same night I am doing fight team and conditioning stuff as well as my Muay Thai class. So my daughter is downstairs doing a children’s class. And my boys who are older, 16 and 12; they both do the Muay Thai and the jiu Jitsu. So whenever we go in and train they go with us. And whenever we are not raining, I have my oldest who is 16 watching the younger ones. Either way, there is no easy way around it. It’s tough. Come fight time, I would say for that last 8 to 10 weeks leading up to the fight, it’s really hard. I mean i train all of my clients. I am a personal trainer like I said, in the morning. I try to get in as much of my cardio and conditioning, my strength training then. And we just have to, you know, it’s a sacrifice. And you know I have a very supportive husband and really supportive kids. They are huge fans. They love it, they are into it. And like I said, thank God they come there and they do the classes. But there are moments in time when I feel selfish about doing it. Which is why again I said, after I am done with the fight, I take time and I spend that time with my kids and my husband and my friend because it’s just crunch time. Especially that last 8 weeks. Forget I have absolutely no social life. My head is just 100% completely focused on that fight. For anybody looking to get into the sport, you know I have seen a lot of people, women and men, come in and say they want to fight. Then, they see what it takes and everything that really goes into doing it, some of them don’t come back. Or they might go through one Shark Bait session and they are like, “I‘m out of here.” I mean it’s crazy. Some people, you know, they look at it and say how hard could it be? And then when they actually see what it takes. I mean all of the dedication that it takes, not just the fighting alone but the training that goes into it, the time, everything that you give up. It’s a lot of work. So if you are ready to give 110% of yourself and you have a good group of trainers, friends and family that support you, you have a goof fight team and your ready to do it, then I say go for it. Just be ready and be prepared that you are going to have zero social life. If you are in this as a career, this is what I am trying to do. This is my life; this is what I am doing. That’s it. It’s your fight training and there is very little time for anything else. But I encourage woman especially, to get in there. We want you, we need you. We need more women in the sport. I just want to see the right women in the sport. I don’t want to see the women who are out there trying to be the next Gina Carano. You know, she’s a cute girl so I can do it. Or how hard could it be? Because there is a lot of that mentality going around. You know there is a lot of great women out there and then there is a lot of women getting into the sport for the wrong reasons. So if you’re dedicated and you’re serious about it, then by all means, get in there. We need you. I have seen young girls...there is a young girl, Courtney “Jiu Jitsu” Cardoza. I don’t know if you have seen her on facebook but this little girl is 7 years old and she trains in everything. She has won countless awards and medals. I mean that is the future of MMA right there. There is another girl; she trains with Team Irish, Jessi Parent. She is a 17 year old girl in high school, winning wrestling championships. She is wrestling with all the guys. She is the only girl on the wrestling team. She also does the Muay Thai, She also does the Jiu Jitsu. I look at these girls...they scare me! (laughs). They’re coming for me you know. I am going to do what I can now in this sport now.

FWW: Ok that is great. You are definitely a type A personality with a lot of great energy but what inspires you? Or maybe who? What or who?

TR: Basically it’s not just one thing really. I think my main inspiration comes from a really bad past. I was physically and mentally abused my entire life. It was pretty bad. You know I didn’t have the white house and picket fence growing up story by far. I was bullied on top of that, what i got at home; I was also bullied for like seven years of my life pretty much, through elementary school up to about the 7th grade.

FWW: Interesting that your nick name is “The Lil Bully”.

TR: Oh yeah, that is what everybody says. You know, who is the bully now? But I am the bully only in the cage. Absolutely, you know I draw a lot of strength from that, from my past. You know like, you can’t hurt me anymore. You know, no one is going to step all over me anymore. A lot of it comes from that. Just a really really tough life. You know it’s built me up to be the person that I am. The way I look at it, you know I get in the cage and those doors close, I may have nerves... you know I always get nervous before a fight. But, I look at my opponent across the cage and there is nothing that they are going to do to me that is worst than what I have been through. I just love this sport. I just love it. Like I said my inspiration comes from everywhere but basically it really comes from the life that I had and what it’s turned me into, the person that I am now.

FWW: The Fightswewant.com site is set up for fans to pick bouts and their dream bouts they would like to see regardless of what league a fighter might be fighting for or what have you. If you had to pick a dream bout, and we cover all combat sports so whether it’s MMA or BJJ or Boxing or Judo, but if you had to pick a dream bout that you’d like to see fight?

TR: I would like to see Megumi Fujii and Miesha Tate (she says immediately and without hesitation). Actually you know who I would like to see, Felice Herrig and Megumi Fugii.

FWW: There was no pause on your part. Those came out right away.

TR: Yeah yeah, I would like to see that. I love Megumi Fugii, hands down. She and Miesha tate are probably my favorite fighters…definitely by far. And I like also, Cyborg, Gina Carano. I would love to see her come back. I mean I look at Megumi Fugii and I think wow that girl’s in my weight class you know? They way I look at it, if I ever fought her, regardless, it’s an honor. I just think she is that amazing. I would definitely like to see, I mean I know Felice and Megumi are in the same weight class. I know Felice had been asked to do the tournament at Bellator. I don’t know what happened with that. Maybe she had other stuff going on but I think that would be an awesome matchup. They are both great fighters. Their styles are both a little different. You know Megumi can stand with you but she is more of a ground person with her Judo and stuff. I would love to see her and Felice Herrig go at it, definitely.

FWW: Where can people go if they want to follow what you are doing or get more information on you?

TR: They can follow me on facebook, Tisha Rodrigues, on Twitter MMA chick7 and the can visit my website www.thelilbully.com

FWW: Well Tisha, we want to thank you again for your time and we look forward to seeing you in the cage again soon, hopefully it will be the April 2nd date and we wish you the best of luck.

TR: Thank you and thanks for having me on. It was fun.

All Female MMA Academy Celebrates their 1st year Anniversary

Mon, 06 Dec 2010 04:10:00 GMT

FWW: Hello this is Rich Serpa from FightsWeWant.com and we are here to today with the Prairie Rugilio, the owner and founder of New Jersey’s first all female martial arts academy Girl Fight Martial Arts. Prairie, welcome and thank you for joining us.

PR: Thank you for having me.

FWW: Girl Fight Martial Arts, when did you start the Academy and why?

PR: I started the academy December of last year. I was just looking to have something that kind of committed me to my training. Was a workaholic in real estate and I felt there weren’t any local gyms that were really inspiring me. So I figured I would just do it on my own and maybe try to inspire some woman to get into something new that they thought they would see themselves doing.

FWW: The gym, it’s in the Brick Police Athletic League, is that correct?

PR: Correct.

FWW: Can you tell us a little bit about what is your background in the Martial Arts?

PR: As a kid I studied Tae Kwon Do and then in my twenties I was actually trying to look into a fun way to try and lose weight and get back in shape. I was working for the police athletic league at the time and I started doing boxing and judo over there. Then finally a Muay Thai school opened up at the shore and I started doing that and I was hooked. I have probably been training in you know, between boxing and kickboxing for the last nine to ten years.

FWW: Do you have classes for different age groups?

PR: Yes, we offer a girl’s class from 6 to 12 and then the teens-by the time their thirteen we allow them to come into the adult class. Because there is so many women of different shapes and sizes and they tend to work in well. And the teens, once they get comfortable with all the movements are the dangerous ones I think (laughing).

FWW: Could you talk to us a little bit about some of the different programs you offer? I notice you have one that I thought was real creative, the 8 week Bridal Party Boot camp? What are some of the different programs you offer?

PR: Well we offer the bridal party boot camp, because usually everybody wants to look great on that day. And we do a lot of co-ed private lessons which is kind of cool because the husbands come in and we make sure we give them an extra good workout so they respect their wives and what they do when they are at GirlFight. We also offer a program called “Butts and Guts.” It’s all in the name more or less (Laughing). And then we offer—are classes really consist of a mixture of Muay Thai, some ground defense, boxing and plyometrics and calisthenics relying on your natural strength and all that.

FWW: Do you have any students now who have expressed an interest in competing either in the amateur or professional level?

PR: Yes, I have a group of about ten to fifteen right now. It started really—a majority of the girls come in for fitness. Then after a few years of training…I am sorry, after a few months of training, some of them get the itch, the highly competitive ones. We have about you know, ten to fifteen girls who are training full contact right now and are pretty sure they want to go at least once. Just to, you know, whether it’s a bucket list and see how it is. But it’s pretty good, ten to fifteen, I think.

FWW: Yes, absolutely.

PR: There is ten consistent, there is five that are, you know, they come and go. They haven’t fully committed (laughing).

FWW: Did you do any competition on the amateur level?

PR: Not where someone would pay to come and get through the door. I have done, inter school, full contact matches within students but what I am looking to do is probably after the new year, maybe February or March, take my first Muay Thai bout. And I am hoping, I have been working on my ground game and I am hoping by the end of 2011, I can take my first MMA bout, on an amateur level.
FWW: Who do you train with for your jiu Jitsu?

PR: Tom DeBlass out of the Ocean County Brazillian Jiu Jitu.

FWW: Ok, and how bout your Muay Thai?

PR: My Muay Thai is through a gentleman, his name is Bernie Zurella and then my boxing is through Rahn Carter at the Police Athletic League.

FWW: Where can people find out more about Girlfight Martial Arts?

PR: At www.girlfightmma.com.

FWW: Anything on facebook or twitter?

PR: Yes, it is http://www.facebook.com/pages/Brick-Township-NJ/GIRL-FIGHT-Martial-Arts/271751850707 and the twitter is http://twitter.com/GirlFightMMA.

FWW: The Fightswewant.com site as we talked about initially is a site is set up for fans to pick bouts and their dream bouts they would like to see regardless of what league a fighter might be in. And we cover all combat sports so whether it’s MMA or BJJ or Boxing or Judo, but if you had to pick a dream bout that you’d like to see fight?

PR: Well on a female level I think it would be a very sick fight between liz Carmouche and Cyborg. Depening, you they could be in the same weight class. I think they are both you know, power houses and it would be a good fight.

FWW: No doubt. Ok Great. Prairie, we want to thank you again for your time and we wish you a lot of luck with the school and look forward to some future interviews with your up and coming talent.

PR: Great, thanks so much for the support it really means a lot to us.

Andre Ward Defeats Sakio Bika, retains WBA Title

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 09:15:00 GMT

It would be an understatement to say that Andre Ward was in the proverbial dog fight when he defended his WBA title against Sakio Bika on Saturday night at the Oracle Arena in Oakland California and also aired live on Showtime. Clearly Bika’s strategy was centered on the old adage and conventional boxing wisdom to brawl a boxer and box a brawler.

Bika came out with the intent to make this a street fight of sorts throwing a lot of tight elbows from the inside and both fighters were cut early in the fight due to the many head butts. Ward showing his mettle was giving it right back to Bika and then some. Much of the fight was fought from in the cinch with a good deal of dirty boxing going on. At times it looked more like a Muay Thai fight than a boxing match. This went on for 12 vicious rounds although the last two rounds saw Bika beginning to wilt.

Bika, who took this fight when Andre Dirrell, Ward’s original opponent was forced to withdraw from Showtime's Super Six Super Middleweight Tournament (which this fight was not a part of) went on to lose to Ward who won by Unanimous Decision by 120-108, 118-110, and 118-110 on the judge’s score cards. In doing so, Andre Ward keeps his unbeaten record alive at 23-0. In fact, kudos to Ward as well in that he didn’t even need to take this fight.

The Andre Ward partisan crowd, while sparse, showered Bika with boos during his entrance and roared when the local favorite entered the ring. Throughout the fight, chants of SOG (Son of God) could be heard.

Next up for Ward, who continues to show inprovement with each fight, is the former IBF Middleweight Champion, Arthur Abraham most likely to occur sometime in the first quarter of next year.

By Rich Serpa

Strikeforce # 1 ranked Welterweight contender Miesha Tate

Sat, 27 Nov 2010 08:55:00 GMT

PHOTO by Paul Thatcher

FWW: Hi this is Rich Serpa from FightsWeWant.com and we are here today with the Strikeforce # 1 Welterweight contender Miesha Tate. Miesha, thank you for joining us?

MT: Thank you for having me.

FWW: Miesha, this past August you competed in Strikeforce’s 135-pound women's one night tournament and in doing so defeated Maiju Kujala by Unanimous Decision after two rounds to advance to the tournament final, then defeated Hitomi Akano also by Unanimous Decision after three rounds to become Strikeforce Women's Welterweight Tournament Champion. Based on a poll that Strikeforce ran that night as well as a lot of the fan feedback on the various MMA internet sites, the tournament format is clearly very popular. From a fighter’s standpoint in terms of preparation and strategy, talk a little bit about that experience.

MT: Yes, personally from a fighter’s standpoint I am not a fan of tournaments because they are just really stressful and it’s hard to prepare. Usually when you are fighting one person you can kind of prepare for them but in a tournament you really don’t know who you’re going to face so you have to prepare…which I guess I mean I guess that is good your always preparing to be the best yourself. But it’s that roller coaster effect that you really have to try and keep your mind in the game after your first fight if you won. You have to not let yourself come back down. You have to kind of stay even and it takes a lot of mental focus. It is kind of tough but you know, I felt like I did pretty well with it and I know that the fans really enjoy it.

FWW: Right, well certainly in a 4 person tournament you have to train to fight all 3 fighters.

MT: Exactly, yes, I did. And I had to be prepared to fight any of them because you really didn’t know who …and also we really didn’t know who we were matching up with first, until the night of weigh ins. It could have been anyone.

FWW: Right right, well you did real well obviously.

MT: Well thank you.

FWW: You recently moved camps from Washington with Dennis Hallman to Sacramento with Ultimate fitness and Team Alpha Male. What has been the biggest benefit you have noticed so far?

MT: The biggest benefit, well a little more consistency in our team practice trainings. In that we train more as a team here in Sacramento. And the biggest thing I found, is that they understand moreso here that its more than just about being physically ready but their all like a brotherhood. They spend a lot of time together. They are very much about positive reinforcement. There is really no negativity at all, which is actually a hard thing to accomplish. You know I have been around to plenty of camps and there always seems to be like that one person or a few people that kind of tend to maybe drag that atmosphere of the team down a little bit. But truly, in Sacramento, with this team there isn’t any of those people. Everyone’s really positive and very uplifting. Their mental focus is just on a whole other level.

FWW: That’s great.

MT: Yes, it is.

FWW: Do they do anything different with regards to strength and conditioning or with regards to getting a fighter prepared than what you may have done in the past?

MT: Well they are a very independent team. The guys are so self motivated that they don’t even need anyone to push them because they are so on it already. But the whole team is always there backing them anyways. And it’s really…everyone has different strengths and weaknesses and different needs and everything. What’s also really nice about this gym is that whatever you need to work on is available there at your fingertips. I mean we have world class striking coaches, world class grappling coaches, world class wrestlers, world class fighters and amazing strength and conditioning coaches as well there. So it’s all just a matter of you targeting what you need to work on. And just going to the gym, it’s all there for you. So that’s really nice being there because all the tools and everything are right at your fingertips to make you a world champion.

FWW: Moving on to your upcoming title fight with Marloes Coenen that is slated for the early part, first quarter of 2011. You have not fought since August. And you have actually had a pretty active year, you had four fights in 2010 including the tournament obviously. What if anything have you been doing to stay in shape and when will you start your camp?

MT: Well you know what I’ve been doing is training like I would train to be ready for a fight basically. I mean there is a little difference in that I’m not doing like iron man rounds. Usually when I get ready for a fight, you will actually have focus on you and you’ll have to stay in and basically be grinded out by a bunch of new fresh people for 3 five minute rounds or in my case coming up, fighting for a title it will be 5 five minute rounds with a new fresh person every round. I haven’t been doing that. I have just been doing the normal training like what the people who don’t have fights coming up. But I am there every day and I work out twice a day. So I am making sure that I am really well conditioned. And I have been going over a lot of technique and therefore if the fight pops up in January I am going to be ready if its February or if its March. Those are kind of the target windows that they said possibly could happen. So I am basically staying ready so I don’t have to get ready (laughs).

FWW: Ok, great. You started Wrestling in High school on the boy’s team, won the high school women's state championship and went on to win nationals at the World Team Trials in the 158lb division. What advice would you give young girls who may want to try wrestling in the high school level but goes to a school that doesn’t have a woman’s division?

MT: They can’t tell you-you can’t wrestle for one. If there is only male wrestling offered. You just have to be prepared for, you know for it being really hard and you know a male dominated atmosphere takes a little bit of getting use to but if you want to do than just do it. I feel like we are really fortunate. I have traveled around the world a little bit and I got to experience some other countries and I haven’t yet been in any kind of a third world country or anything like that but I know that American women and American people in general but especially women are privileged in a lot of ways. And I feel like we should take advantage of that. We live in a place where woman have pretty dang close to equality rights and there is no reason not to pursue your dream if that is what you want to do.

FWW: You are fighting for Strikeforce, which has become one of if not the premiere woman’s MMA organization. You are the #1 Welterweight Contender. Talk a little bit about what it means to be in the forefront of woman’s MMA.

MT: It means a lot to me. I feel like I work really hard to get where I’m at and I am almost in disbelief to me that I have come so far. I am actually now visiting home and training with the team that I very first started with. And just kind of reminiscing about where I started and where I am at now. And, it’s just been a really amazing transition. I feel like I have fortunately had a lot of good people behind me and I have taken the right steps to further my career. Even though at times it was scary and I wasn’t quite sure, you know, if leaving my comfort zone was a good idea. But I pushed myself to get out there and try to make the most of this fighting career and I feel like that’s what I’ve done.

FWW: Do you have any hidden talents or hobbies, something you like to do outside of MMA that some of your fans may not know about?

MT: Yeah, I like to bake and decorate cakes.

FWW: Did you do any of that for Thanksgiving?

MT: I didn’t do anything for Thanksgiving no. I was going to but I didn’t bake any cake because we were traveling so I usually don’t pack up all my stuff to go other places but I did make a real nice fruit salad (laughing).

FWW: There ya go. Ok, well I don’t know if you had a chance to go to the site but the Fightswewant.com site but the site is set up for fans to pick bouts and their dream bouts they would like to see regardless of what league a fighter might be fighting for or what have you. If you had to pick a dream bout, and we cover all combat sports so whether it’s MMA or BJJ or Boxing or Judo, but if you had to pick a dream bout that you’d like to see fight?

MT: Umm, a fight I’d like to see.

FWW: That could be men’s, women’s or both.

MT: Yeah, let me think here for a second. Hmm. Maybe for a men’s bout I think that Lyle Beerbohm vs. Gilbert Melendez would be a hell of a fight. I think that would be really amazing. For females, um damn it’s like we had so many good ones over this last year. And it’s like everyone is fighting everyone. Uh, maybe Zoila Frausto vs. Lisa Ward.

FWW: You have recently been nominated for the The Fighters Only Female Fighter of the year being held at the end of this month. Where can fans of your go to cast their vote for you?

MT: Laughs, it’s kind of a long URL but it's http://www.onlineawards.co.uk/fightersonly/home.asp

FWW: That has to be exciting.

MT: Yes, it is exciting. I t would be huge for me if I won.

FWW: Absolutely. As the sport of MMA in general grows and Women’s MMA specifically, as well as your continued popularity, how have you adapted to the media demands and responsibilities that come along with it? Has that posed a challenge for you?

MT: Yes, sometimes because I don’t have the best time management, I’m not going to lie (laughing). But I try really hard and I don’t have a lot of people behind the scenes. Like my boyfriend and trainer Bryan Caraway helps me a lot with certain things. But as far as the media stuff goes and keeping my fan page updated and Facebook and doing interviews and things like that; I do all that scheduling on my own. So it could be trying at times trying to fit it into my schedule or just remembering to put it down and coordinate all the other times. But I am getting better at it you know practice makes perfect. I guess.

FWW: Right right. And speaking of which and lastly, if people want to get more information on you or where are some of the places they can go to follow you or hear about what you are doing?

MT: Well you can face book me MieshaTate.
And you can go to my website www.takedowntate.com it has a lot of real cool videos and it has a chat on there that I go on occasion and I chat live with fans. I definitely appreciate fan support. So I am always willing to give back and answer any questions that they might have. And also Twitter, its just @ MieshaTate.

FWW: Miesha, thank you again for your time and we wish you the best of luck in your title fight next year.

MT: Thank you Rich.

Strikeforce Woman's MMA middleweight contender Shana Olsen, inspired and Inspiring

Sat, 13 Nov 2010 09:20:00 GMT

FWW: Hi this is Rich Serpa from Fightswewant.com and I am here today with Strikeforce Middleweight contender Shana Olsen. Shana, it’s a pleasure to talk to you and we thank you for your time today.

SO: Hi Rich, it’s great to talk to you too.

FWW: You recently competed in the Strikeforce challenger series event held on October 22nd where you faced Canadian Julia Budd. Talk about if you will what the transition was like going from fighting for the newly merged CFX/XKL to Strikeforce, was there a noticeable difference as it relates to the organization and production of the show?

SO: Yes, I would say there was. The one thing about Strikeforce of course, being a little bit bigger organization, is its run really well. The promotion itself and the experience was really great, I had a great time and everyone was making sure we were taken care of and that everything ran smoothly. The California commission was great as well. So the experience there with Strikeforce was really great and I was happy to be there and be a part of that show.

FWW: OK, sought of along the same lines, this was also your first fight that was shown on national television, did it add additional challenges and what was that experience like?

SO: I didn’t really add additional challenges. I am fortunate in the fact that I am one of those people that, I go in the cage and I do what I have to do. It’s kind of funny now, watching it. You know that event replays on Showtime and I’ll have people call me and text me and say “hey, you’re on TV again.” So that is the funny part about it.

FWW: With regards to the fight itself, you suffered the first loss of your career but in reading your blog you clearly have the right attitude in that it you stated was only a defeat in the cage and not in your life and something that you learned from. You talked specifically about the fact that you have identified what it was in the fight you did wrong as well as right. Can you drill down a little bit and share with us what some of those things were?

SO: Sure, I think our game plan was good going into it. Going against someone with a Muay Thai background, you know, Julia’s clinch was really good. So I had a lot of body locks on her but really I should have focused more on my take downs on her legs. We had kind of stuck with the body locks and everything of the potential for knees and kicks and stuff coming at me. And, this is the first time in my career that I fought somebody who was stronger. She was physically stronger than I was at this point. So that in itself was a challenge for me to overcome. Something that I see now is, she really is about the size of, you know, her and Cyborg are about the same size so if those are the type of people I am going to be competing against, there are things I need to go back and add to my game

FWW: I think she had about a 3” reach also right?

SO: Yep, she had a 3” reach, she had a long reach. I think at the beginning of the second round I did a good job of getting inside. And I rushed a little bit to take it to the ground and that’s the thing about fighting, that’s the thing about MMA, somebody else capitalizing on your mistakes. That was a mistake; that was a flaw in my game plan. It wasn’t where I wanted to end up but, it happened and it’s definitely something that I learned from. I would say from all my fights, I learned a lot from that fight. It’s only made me hungrier to want to keep going and get even better.

FWW: Speaking of which, you’ve won the majority of your fights primarily due to your solid stand up and you also have a strong ground game, even though you haven’t had to rely on it. Going forward, what to do you feel is the biggest aspect of your overall fight game you want to improve upon as you work your way towards a title fight?

SO: I would say just perfecting my technique. I want to be someboy who can go against anybody and it’s not going to matter. I put on my Facebook that “ Size isn’t everything:” You look at some of the greatest champions in the world, Anderson Silva, Fedor, Frankie Edgar, you know, they aren’t bigger than their opponents, there not big guys. There not real physically muscular guys but they still dominate in their divisions. And a lot of it is because of their superior technique and skill.

FWW: What’s next or who’s next for you in terms of a potential opponent? Has Strikeforce, have you guys mapped that out yet?

SO: We haven’t really mapped that out. Steve with SIAB Sports, my management team, they have been talking to Strikeforce and we’re looking at a return here…we are hoping for end of January, beginning of February for a return. Again, I want to fight the best of the best because I want to get better.

FWW: Is there anybody you want to fight in particular?

SO: I would to say, you know there is a few of them coming up that I think would be good match ups; either Cindy Dandois or Amanda Nunes. You the thing about the 145 LB division is there’s very few American women in that division. Especially in Strikeforce and I want to bring that title back home where it belongs. That’s my goal.

FWW: They seem to have a lot more at the 135 lb weight class.

SO: Right.

FWW: Relatively speaking, the sport of MMA is still young and professional women’s MMA even younger. How does it feel to know you are a part of the emergence of women’s MMA as it has increased so much in popularity over the past years?

SO: It’s still kind of surreal in a way but I am very honored and appreciative to be a part of it, to be somewhere in the forefront. That’s thing that I think is so important in woman’s MMA and MMA in general. As it becomes more and more popular it becomes even important to be a good role model. And just show these kids that are up and just wanting to do it that it’s not just about fighting and getting in the cage and hitting each other. That there’s a respect and there’s technique and there’s dedication and determination. There are so many aspects of what we do that I think it sometimes gets lost in the fact that it being, you know a battle in the cage.

FWW: You know it’s funny that you say kids, but I had noticed, particularly right after your fight , I don’t know if their friends or fans but people posting on your Facebook that you inspired them so it’s kind of nice to see.

SO: Yes, you know that makes me feel good. It makes anybody feel good. And you know I hope I do that. That’s one of the things, that’s one of the goals I have in my career in MMA…is that people can see that if you put your mind to it, if you really work hard and have that dedication and drive you could do anything. It’s about putting that effort.

FWW: Speaking of inspiration, who or what inspires you?

SO: Probably the biggest inspiration for me is my daughter, Makalah. You know I want to be a good role model for her, a good mom. I just want to show her that she can do anything. She doesn’t have to let anything stand in her way of what she wants to do. She to me, even after this fight, you know I talked to her after the fight. She said “I am sorry that you lost your belt mom, now you will just have to train harder for the next one.”

FWW: How old is she?

SO: She’s five.

FWW: How cute.

SO: Yeah.

FWW: What advice would you give a female adult or a young girl looking to get started in MMA?

SO: Definitely give it a try. There’s lots of, you know as the sport becomes more and more popular, there’s a lot of good gyms out there. And make sure that you find your fit you know? If it’s something that you’re really interested in getting into, make sure you find the coach and the team and the gym that is right for you. I think that is an important part and an important key. You know my gym Minnesota Fight Factory isn’t just my gym there my family. That’s my home. That is such an important key and that plays such factor in being not only physically but mentally and emotionally ready for times that you have.

FWW: I don’t know if you had a chance to go to the Fightswewant.com site but the site is set up for fans to pick bouts and their dream bouts they would like to see regardless of what league a fighter might be fighting for or what have you. If you had to pick a dream bout, and we cover all combat sports so whether it’s MMA or BJJ or Boxing or Judo, but if you had to pick a dream bout that you’d like to see what fight would that be?

SO: Hmm, a dream bout? Hmmm, boy you know I still like the talk of that Anderson Silva/GSP fight. I still like the talk of that and truthfully, honestly I would also like to see, I think the Marloes Coenen and Miesha Tate fight is going to be a great fight. So that would be an exciting one to see too.

FWW: Yeah, and she’s great, there both great. We had a chance to interview her last week and she was very gracious about her win on her last fight.

SO: Yes.

FWW: Lastly, if people want to get more information on you or where are some of the places they can go to follow you or hear about what you are doing?

SO: Sure they can follow me on Twitter at MMA5145. I also have a Facebook fan group. And prettytoughfighter.com is my website.

FWW: Oh, is that yours?

SO: Well it’s my…SIAB has set up that website and then I have shanaolsen.prettytoughfighter.com

FWW: Ok good enough,, well Shana thank you again for your time and we look forward to seeing you in the cage again real soon.

SO: Ok, great thank you Rich.

Amateur sensation Colton Bowler awaits pro debut

Thu, 11 Nov 2010 19:39:40 GMT

He hasn’t yet made his pro debut, and fighters are already ducking him; that about sums up the past three months for amateur fighter Colton Bowler fighting out of Las Vegas. Following his third consecutive victory as an amateur, Colton Bowler and his team made the decision that it was time to turn pro.

At 19 years old Colton has proved he belongs in the cage, and from what he demonstrated as an amateur, he has a promising professional career ahead of him. But one key element is missing in his effort to begin his quest at becoming one of the top fighters in the world—getting a pro fight.

Colton and his team have made countless efforts at lining up his professional debut, and although at times it seemed as if it was going to happen, nothing has come through.

“Yeah, pretty much I’m getting ducked,” Colton said with a bit of a laugh. “We’ve had a couple fights set up, and then something happens at the last minute and the fighters back out.”

But Colton hasn’t allowed the delay in turning pro to deter him from his training. Rather than sitting back and becoming complacent, he has taken on a last amateur fight, and will go to battle Friday night at Tuff-N-Uff.

Since April, Colton has been training at UFC legend Frank Mir’s gym, Suffer, in Las Vegas, and he attributes his ongoing success to the team.

“Everything has improved since I started training over there,” said Colton. “My standup is a lot crisper and my ground game has gotten a lot better. I’m able to train with guys heavier than me as well as the same weight, and we train hard every time. Because of my training I know that I will be ready for anything that happens in the fight.”

A big difference for Colton when he steps into the ring Friday night is that he will be fighting at 135 pounds as opposed to 125, which was his previous weight.

“A big part of my training has been to incorporate more strength and mass, so we decided I’d jump up 10 pounds,” said Colton. “It has been a lot easier to drop weight to prepare for the fight now rather than having to lose 20 pounds in the past. Over the past few months I have added a solid 10 pounds of muscle, and I feel more comfortable at this weight.”

Having to deal with the disappointment of not getting a pro fight has not distracted Colton from his final amateur bout.
“I know about my opponent, and we’ve been working on our defense, and when it’s time to fight, I am going to go in there and feel him out, and go to work,” said Colton.

Knowing Colton is an avid MMA fan, I had to ask him about his thoughts about the merger between the UFC and WEC.

“I think it’s great that the lighter guys are going to get a bigger shot now, and even have a chance to be on The Ultimate Fighter,” said Colton. “Some people that may not have had a chance before will now have the chance, so it’s real good for the sport.”

And I had to find out what fight—if any—would be the dream bout he’d like to see take place. Colton laughed again, and replied, “It’s already going to happen, the war between Frankie Edgar and Gray Maynard.”

Colton is confident that he and his team will secure his professional debut by the end of January, and he knows the importance of staying focused on what he has to do to be ready.

“I want to thank everybody at Suffer, Ritchy Vadnais, all my teammates, and CoachBuck.com, and lastly my weight training coach, Coach Froman.”

Watch Colton in his last amateur fight by visiting TuffNuff.net or GoFightLive.tv.

Fights We Want thanks Colton for his time and wishes him the most success in his MMA future.

Manny Pacquiao looks for eighth title against Antonio Margarito

Tue, 09 Nov 2010 09:59:44 GMT

There isn’t much Manny “Pacman” Pacquiao hasn’t accomplished in boxing, or for that matter, in life as well. Outside of the ring he is a congressman in Sarangani—a providence of the Philippines, a musician, and has had several acting roles.

But what he has done inside the ring has put him amongst the names of the best fighters in the history of the sport. With an impressive record of 51-3 (38 KO), Pacman has won seven world titles in seven different weight classes, and Saturday night he searches for his eighth as he faces off against the dangerous Mexican fighter Antonio Margarito.

Although Margarito (38-6, 27 KO) stepped up to fight Pacman after Floyd Mayweather’s camp again failed to sign the contract to make the boxing ‘superfight’ take place, he may be the most formidable opponent Pacman has faced in recent fights.

Margarito has gone to battle with and defeated some top prospects in the boxing world—Miguel Cotto, Josh Clottey, Kermit Cintron—but is mostly known now for being suspended following his fight with Shane Mosley. Prior to the fight Mosley’s trainer, Naazim Richardson discovered that Margarito’s hand wraps contained an illegal plaster like substance. Following that announcement critics and boxing fans worldwide questioned the validity of any of Margarito’s wins. Did he have an advantage throughout his career, or was this simply a mistake by his trainer which Margarito knew nothing about?

Come Saturday night it’s not going to be about Pacman being distracted by the countless things going on in his life, or if Margarito cheated his way through his career, it is going to be about two warriors going to battle to determine who reigns supreme.

Pacman hasn’t lost since 2005, at the hands of Erik Morales, and he has shown improvement each time he went up a weight class and stepped into the ring. His resume speaks for itself—stopping Oscar de la Hoya, Ricky Hatton and Miguel Cotto in consecutive fights.
But Margarito is a different fighter—he is stronger than previous opponents of Pacquiao’s. Although it has appeared Pacman has been ready for the jump in weight and the increase in his opponent’s power, Margarito is in a different class than other light middleweights in the world.

At 32 years old this is by far the most important fight of Margarito’s life. Everything he has fought and worked for throughout his career has brought him to this fight against pound-for pound-the best fighter in all of boxing.

His key to having a fair chance is to knock Pacman off his game plan early in the fight. If he allows Pacman to establish his ring presence and dictate the pace of the fight, it will most likely be an early night for Margarito.

Pacman is going to bring the fight to him, and Margarito has to avoid trying to go toe-to-toe with him. Pacman has exceptional speed and power combined with dead on accuracy, and if he is able to find his range Margarito is going to find himself in a world of trouble.
Fans can expect this to be a hardnosed battle for a good five or six rounds. There’s been much speculation about Pacman being distracted coming into this fight, but he’ll alleviate any doubts within the first 30 seconds of the bout.

This may not be the ‘superfight’ boxing fans have been yearning for, but this will certainly be a war between two men who excel in the sport and will fight until the end to prove they’re the best in the world.

By Chris Cella