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Sunday, May 31, 2009
[Blog] Frank Trigg talks UFC ret...: Mr. Trigg in his most recent video blog talks about his return to the UFC. Just remember, PRO MMA (promma.info) was posting Trigg's video blogs back when he had no fight home and no one seemed to give a rip. Now that he is back in the big show, surely you will see his blogs all over the place. That's just the way it goes. Trigg talks about getting a four fight deal over 18 months, discusses possible opponents, training, family, and m... -*
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Apache/2.2.9 (Fedora) Server at www.s3nt.com Port 80
[Blog] PRO MMA interview with MMA model Erin J...: PRO MMA (promma.info) recently had the pleasure of speaking to the lovely MMA model Erin Jade. If you are not yet familiar with Erin, well... where have you been?
She has been featured in such publications as Fighters Only Magazine, Natural Muscle, and Physique, and has worked with such reputable MMA affiliates as Hardcore Sports Radio and The Fight Network. She's even done a bit of film.
Maybe you need a model for an upcoming photo shoot, or a hot chick to appear in your next movie, or maybe you just want to check out the type of girl who loves MMA. Meet Erin Jade.
PRO MMA: You have a very exotic look, tell us a little about your background, and where you live and work today.
Erin Jade: I was born and raised in Toronto but my background is Filipino.
PRO MMA: Being an MMA model, have you ever taken any classes, or tried jiu jitsu?
Erin Jade: No, I haven’t taken any classes yet. My schedule has been really hectic and I haven’t had the time to take up any training. I know someone who takes Muay Thai and he teaches me some things but that’s about it.
PRO MMA: I'm sure you've met many fighters during photo shoots and at different events. Outside of the cage, which fighter impressed you the most as a person, outside of their fighter persona?
Erin Jade: The fighter that impressed me the most outside of the cage would have to be Brandon Verra. He was really funny, down to earth, and easy to talk to.
PRO MMA: I know you love to watch MMA, but did you get a chance to watch the Pacquaio/Hatton fight a few weeks back?
Erin Jade: I did! I absolutely love Pacquiao! He makes all Filipinos proud. I’d love to watch a Pacquiao fight live one day.
PRO MMA: I read on your site that you like to draw and write. Have you ever thought about writing and illustrating your own book? If so what would Erin Jade tell the world?
Erin Jade: I actually have. I like to write poetry, so I was thinking of writing a collection of poems. Either that, or a novel. I haven’t come up with a storyline as of yet, but I’d like to write something that can be inspirational to others. My own book probably won’t be out anytime soon, as my schedule has been really busy lately, but writing my own book is something that I have definitely considered.
PRO MMA: You've worked with a long list of companies and have built a very diverse portfolio. Has your petite size held you back in any way since you started modeling?
Erin Jade: Yes and no. Back when I used to be with an agency, my height restricted me from taking on jobs other than commercial modeling. However, height requirements were mainly for jobs such as runway, and high fashion shoots. On the other hand, I’m interested in focusing mainly on import, fitness, and MMA modeling which don’t have height requirements, so it all works out. Many people used to tell me that I was too short to model, and too petite to take on certain jobs… and I wanted to prove them wrong. Looking back, I’m glad that they doubted me, because it helped me to get where I am today.
PRO MMA: I know you had a small role in an upcoming movie, tell us a little bit about that.
Erin Jade: I just did some background work for the movie Death Warrior. The film features UFC fighters Georges St. Pierre, Rashad Evans, Keith Jardine, Rampage Jackson…etc. I’m in one of the scenes just watching the fights on pay-per-view and cheering the fighters on.
PRO MMA: Do you see yourself continuing to build off that experience and continuing to look for acting roles?
Erin Jade: I originally started off with acting before I got into the modeling industry. The experience of going back into that industry has definitely made me want to start acting again.
PRO MMA: I know that you've thought about or planned to start your own clothing line. What kind of line do you envision for this project?
Erin Jade: I would like to start my own line of tank tops, t-shirts and bikinis. At shows and events, I’m always creating my own outfits out of existing bikinis, t-shirts etc, and I like to make them my own. I tend to cut them up, add/remove different designs…etc. I’ve always been pretty creative and designing outfits is something I love to do. Whenever I’m bored, I always find myself doodling different clothing designs onto paper. It would be nice to see these designs come to life one day.
PRO MMA: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us here at PRO MMA. Are there any shout-outs you'd like to send out?
Erin Jade: Thanks for having me! I’d like to thank my friends, family, fans, and everyone who's supported me throughout my modeling career. You all know who you are… I couldn’t have done it without you!
Check out Erin Jade's website at www.erinjade.com and find her on Facebook and MySpace
By: Denny H... -*
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She has been featured in such publications as Fighters Only Magazine, Natural Muscle, and Physique, and has worked with such reputable MMA affiliates as Hardcore Sports Radio and The Fight Network. She's even done a bit of film.
Maybe you need a model for an upcoming photo shoot, or a hot chick to appear in your next movie, or maybe you just want to check out the type of girl who loves MMA. Meet Erin Jade.
PRO MMA: You have a very exotic look, tell us a little about your background, and where you live and work today.
Erin Jade: I was born and raised in Toronto but my background is Filipino.
PRO MMA: Being an MMA model, have you ever taken any classes, or tried jiu jitsu?
Erin Jade: No, I haven’t taken any classes yet. My schedule has been really hectic and I haven’t had the time to take up any training. I know someone who takes Muay Thai and he teaches me some things but that’s about it.
PRO MMA: I'm sure you've met many fighters during photo shoots and at different events. Outside of the cage, which fighter impressed you the most as a person, outside of their fighter persona?
Erin Jade: The fighter that impressed me the most outside of the cage would have to be Brandon Verra. He was really funny, down to earth, and easy to talk to.
PRO MMA: I know you love to watch MMA, but did you get a chance to watch the Pacquaio/Hatton fight a few weeks back?
Erin Jade: I did! I absolutely love Pacquiao! He makes all Filipinos proud. I’d love to watch a Pacquiao fight live one day.
PRO MMA: I read on your site that you like to draw and write. Have you ever thought about writing and illustrating your own book? If so what would Erin Jade tell the world?
Erin Jade: I actually have. I like to write poetry, so I was thinking of writing a collection of poems. Either that, or a novel. I haven’t come up with a storyline as of yet, but I’d like to write something that can be inspirational to others. My own book probably won’t be out anytime soon, as my schedule has been really busy lately, but writing my own book is something that I have definitely considered.
PRO MMA: You've worked with a long list of companies and have built a very diverse portfolio. Has your petite size held you back in any way since you started modeling?
Erin Jade: Yes and no. Back when I used to be with an agency, my height restricted me from taking on jobs other than commercial modeling. However, height requirements were mainly for jobs such as runway, and high fashion shoots. On the other hand, I’m interested in focusing mainly on import, fitness, and MMA modeling which don’t have height requirements, so it all works out. Many people used to tell me that I was too short to model, and too petite to take on certain jobs… and I wanted to prove them wrong. Looking back, I’m glad that they doubted me, because it helped me to get where I am today.
PRO MMA: I know you had a small role in an upcoming movie, tell us a little bit about that.
Erin Jade: I just did some background work for the movie Death Warrior. The film features UFC fighters Georges St. Pierre, Rashad Evans, Keith Jardine, Rampage Jackson…etc. I’m in one of the scenes just watching the fights on pay-per-view and cheering the fighters on.
PRO MMA: Do you see yourself continuing to build off that experience and continuing to look for acting roles?
Erin Jade: I originally started off with acting before I got into the modeling industry. The experience of going back into that industry has definitely made me want to start acting again.
PRO MMA: I know that you've thought about or planned to start your own clothing line. What kind of line do you envision for this project?
Erin Jade: I would like to start my own line of tank tops, t-shirts and bikinis. At shows and events, I’m always creating my own outfits out of existing bikinis, t-shirts etc, and I like to make them my own. I tend to cut them up, add/remove different designs…etc. I’ve always been pretty creative and designing outfits is something I love to do. Whenever I’m bored, I always find myself doodling different clothing designs onto paper. It would be nice to see these designs come to life one day.
PRO MMA: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us here at PRO MMA. Are there any shout-outs you'd like to send out?
Erin Jade: Thanks for having me! I’d like to thank my friends, family, fans, and everyone who's supported me throughout my modeling career. You all know who you are… I couldn’t have done it without you!
Check out Erin Jade's website at www.erinjade.com and find her on Facebook and MySpace
By: Denny H... -*
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The requested URL /robot.php was not found on this server.
Apache/2.2.9 (Fedora) Server at www.s3nt.com Port 80
[Blog] PRO MMA interview with MMA model Erin J...: PRO MMA (promma.info) recently had the pleasure of speaking to the lovely MMA model Erin Jade. If you are not yet familiar with Erin, well... where have you been?
She has been featured in such publications as Fighters Only Magazine, Natural Muscle, and Physique, and has worked with such reputable MMA affiliates as Hardcore Sports Radio and The Fight Network. She's even done a bit of film.
Maybe you need a model for an upcoming photo shoot, or a hot chick to appear in your next movie, or maybe you just want to check out the type of girl who loves MMA. Meet Erin Jade.
PRO MMA: You have a very exotic look, tell us a little about your background, and where you live and work today.
Erin Jade: I was born and raised in Toronto but my background is Filipino.
PRO MMA: Being an MMA model, have you ever taken any classes, or tried jiu jitsu?
Erin Jade: No, I haven’t taken any classes yet. My schedule has been really hectic and I haven’t had the time to take up any training. I know someone who takes Muay Thai and he teaches me some things but that’s about it.
PRO MMA: I'm sure you've met many fighters during photo shoots and at different events. Outside of the cage, which fighter impressed you the most as a person, outside of their fighter persona?
Erin Jade: The fighter that impressed me the most outside of the cage would have to be Brandon Verra. He was really funny, down to earth, and easy to talk to.
PRO MMA: I know you love to watch MMA, but did you get a chance to watch the Pacquaio/Hatton fight a few weeks back?
Erin Jade: I did! I absolutely love Pacquiao! He makes all Filipinos proud. I’d love to watch a Pacquiao fight live one day.
PRO MMA: I read on your site that you like to draw and write. Have you ever thought about writing and illustrating your own book? If so what would Erin Jade tell the world?
Erin Jade: I actually have. I like to write poetry, so I was thinking of writing a collection of poems. Either that, or a novel. I haven’t come up with a storyline as of yet, but I’d like to write something that can be inspirational to others. My own book probably won’t be out anytime soon, as my schedule has been really busy lately, but writing my own book is something that I have definitely considered.
PRO MMA: You've worked with a long list of companies and have built a very diverse portfolio. Has your petite size held you back in any way since you started modeling?
Erin Jade: Yes and no. Back when I used to be with an agency, my height restricted me from taking on jobs other than commercial modeling. However, height requirements were mainly for jobs such as runway, and high fashion shoots. On the other hand, I’m interested in focusing mainly on import, fitness, and MMA modeling which don’t have height requirements, so it all works out. Many people used to tell me that I was too short to model, and too petite to take on certain jobs… and I wanted to prove them wrong. Looking back, I’m glad that they doubted me, because it helped me to get where I am today.
PRO MMA: I know you had a small role in an upcoming movie, tell us a little bit about that.
Erin Jade: I just did some background work for the movie Death Warrior. The film features UFC fighters Georges St. Pierre, Rashad Evans, Keith Jardine, Rampage Jackson…etc. I’m in one of the scenes just watching the fights on pay-per-view and cheering the fighters on.
PRO MMA: Do you see yourself continuing to build off that experience and continuing to look for acting roles?
Erin Jade: I originally started off with acting before I got into the modeling industry. The experience of going back into that industry has definitely made me want to start acting again.
PRO MMA: I know that you've thought about or planned to start your own clothing line. What kind of line do you envision for this project?
Erin Jade: I would like to start my own line of tank tops, t-shirts and bikinis. At shows and events, I’m always creating my own outfits out of existing bikinis, t-shirts etc, and I like to make them my own. I tend to cut them up, add/remove different designs…etc. I’ve always been pretty creative and designing outfits is something I love to do. Whenever I’m bored, I always find myself doodling different clothing designs onto paper. It would be nice to see these designs come to life one day.
PRO MMA: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us here at PRO MMA. Are there any shout-outs you'd like to send out?
Erin Jade: Thanks for having me! I’d like to thank my friends, family, fans, and everyone who's supported me throughout my modeling career. You all know who you are… I couldn’t have done it without you!
Check out Erin Jade's website at www.erinjade.com and find her on Facebook and MySpace
By: Denny H... -*
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She has been featured in such publications as Fighters Only Magazine, Natural Muscle, and Physique, and has worked with such reputable MMA affiliates as Hardcore Sports Radio and The Fight Network. She's even done a bit of film.
Maybe you need a model for an upcoming photo shoot, or a hot chick to appear in your next movie, or maybe you just want to check out the type of girl who loves MMA. Meet Erin Jade.
PRO MMA: You have a very exotic look, tell us a little about your background, and where you live and work today.
Erin Jade: I was born and raised in Toronto but my background is Filipino.
PRO MMA: Being an MMA model, have you ever taken any classes, or tried jiu jitsu?
Erin Jade: No, I haven’t taken any classes yet. My schedule has been really hectic and I haven’t had the time to take up any training. I know someone who takes Muay Thai and he teaches me some things but that’s about it.
PRO MMA: I'm sure you've met many fighters during photo shoots and at different events. Outside of the cage, which fighter impressed you the most as a person, outside of their fighter persona?
Erin Jade: The fighter that impressed me the most outside of the cage would have to be Brandon Verra. He was really funny, down to earth, and easy to talk to.
PRO MMA: I know you love to watch MMA, but did you get a chance to watch the Pacquaio/Hatton fight a few weeks back?
Erin Jade: I did! I absolutely love Pacquiao! He makes all Filipinos proud. I’d love to watch a Pacquiao fight live one day.
PRO MMA: I read on your site that you like to draw and write. Have you ever thought about writing and illustrating your own book? If so what would Erin Jade tell the world?
Erin Jade: I actually have. I like to write poetry, so I was thinking of writing a collection of poems. Either that, or a novel. I haven’t come up with a storyline as of yet, but I’d like to write something that can be inspirational to others. My own book probably won’t be out anytime soon, as my schedule has been really busy lately, but writing my own book is something that I have definitely considered.
PRO MMA: You've worked with a long list of companies and have built a very diverse portfolio. Has your petite size held you back in any way since you started modeling?
Erin Jade: Yes and no. Back when I used to be with an agency, my height restricted me from taking on jobs other than commercial modeling. However, height requirements were mainly for jobs such as runway, and high fashion shoots. On the other hand, I’m interested in focusing mainly on import, fitness, and MMA modeling which don’t have height requirements, so it all works out. Many people used to tell me that I was too short to model, and too petite to take on certain jobs… and I wanted to prove them wrong. Looking back, I’m glad that they doubted me, because it helped me to get where I am today.
PRO MMA: I know you had a small role in an upcoming movie, tell us a little bit about that.
Erin Jade: I just did some background work for the movie Death Warrior. The film features UFC fighters Georges St. Pierre, Rashad Evans, Keith Jardine, Rampage Jackson…etc. I’m in one of the scenes just watching the fights on pay-per-view and cheering the fighters on.
PRO MMA: Do you see yourself continuing to build off that experience and continuing to look for acting roles?
Erin Jade: I originally started off with acting before I got into the modeling industry. The experience of going back into that industry has definitely made me want to start acting again.
PRO MMA: I know that you've thought about or planned to start your own clothing line. What kind of line do you envision for this project?
Erin Jade: I would like to start my own line of tank tops, t-shirts and bikinis. At shows and events, I’m always creating my own outfits out of existing bikinis, t-shirts etc, and I like to make them my own. I tend to cut them up, add/remove different designs…etc. I’ve always been pretty creative and designing outfits is something I love to do. Whenever I’m bored, I always find myself doodling different clothing designs onto paper. It would be nice to see these designs come to life one day.
PRO MMA: Thanks for taking the time to talk to us here at PRO MMA. Are there any shout-outs you'd like to send out?
Erin Jade: Thanks for having me! I’d like to thank my friends, family, fans, and everyone who's supported me throughout my modeling career. You all know who you are… I couldn’t have done it without you!
Check out Erin Jade's website at www.erinjade.com and find her on Facebook and MySpace
By: Denny H... -*
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Apache/2.2.9 (Fedora) Server at www.s3nt.com Port 80
[Blog] M-1 Challenge back to Kansas City on Jun...: We at PRO MMA (promma.info) are always on the look out for MMA's up-and-coming talent, potential future stars of tomorrow. A couple of weeks ago we introduced you to one such heavyweight prospect by the name of Liron Wilson (4-2) and we talked with him the day prior to his fight at King of the Cage.
Wilson fought Jason Bedker at KOTC: EL LOBO on May 23rd in Colorado and walked away with an armbar submission victory just 1:09 into round one. A few days following the bout, Wilson received the short notice offer to fight on the June 5th card at the M-1 CHALLENGE event in Kansas City, Missouri.
Because Wilson's victory came so quickly and he came out of the May 23rd fight unscathed, he jumped at the prospect of fighting at the June 5th M-1 CHALLENGE event. Wilson will be representing Team Turkey as they take on the World Team and his opponent will be Michael Kitta.
The event which will air on HDNet will feature Team USA East taking on Team Finland, England taking on France, and Team Turkey taking on the World Team. This will mark the second time in less than ten months that M-1 CHALLENGE has held an event in Kansas City.
M-1 Global live events President Jim Kelly commented on returning to the Missouri,
"We packed the Voodoo Lounge this past October, proving that Kansas City is a rising market for MMA. It truly was one of the most-attended events in M-1 history. But now with the lure of a total of 15 M-1 Challenge fights, we felt we needed to book an even larger venue. Tickets sales have been very strong and we're looking forward to another big show."
FIGHT CARD:
USA East vs Finland
Renato Migliaccio vs Niko Puhaka
Anthony Ford vs Janne Tulirinta
Valdir Araujo vs Lucio Linhares
Rodney Wallace vs Marcus Vanttinen
Mike Ottman vs Toni Valtonen
England vs France
Ian Butlin vs Makhtar Gueye
Simon Phillips vs Gael Grimaud
Matt Thorpe vs Christophe Dafreville
Danny Giblin vs Johan Romming
Rob Broughton vs Soufian Elgarne
World Team vs Turkey
Romano De Los Reyes vs Akin Duran
Diego Gonzales vs Faith Dogan
Nathan Schouten vs Ahmed Bayrak
Ryan Sturdy vs Abdullah Ahmady
Michael Kitta vs Liron Wilson
Here are the full team rankings breakdown as of May 30th: Team Rankings Breakdown
By: Jack Brat... -*
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Wilson fought Jason Bedker at KOTC: EL LOBO on May 23rd in Colorado and walked away with an armbar submission victory just 1:09 into round one. A few days following the bout, Wilson received the short notice offer to fight on the June 5th card at the M-1 CHALLENGE event in Kansas City, Missouri.
Because Wilson's victory came so quickly and he came out of the May 23rd fight unscathed, he jumped at the prospect of fighting at the June 5th M-1 CHALLENGE event. Wilson will be representing Team Turkey as they take on the World Team and his opponent will be Michael Kitta.
The event which will air on HDNet will feature Team USA East taking on Team Finland, England taking on France, and Team Turkey taking on the World Team. This will mark the second time in less than ten months that M-1 CHALLENGE has held an event in Kansas City.
M-1 Global live events President Jim Kelly commented on returning to the Missouri,
"We packed the Voodoo Lounge this past October, proving that Kansas City is a rising market for MMA. It truly was one of the most-attended events in M-1 history. But now with the lure of a total of 15 M-1 Challenge fights, we felt we needed to book an even larger venue. Tickets sales have been very strong and we're looking forward to another big show."
FIGHT CARD:
USA East vs Finland
Renato Migliaccio vs Niko Puhaka
Anthony Ford vs Janne Tulirinta
Valdir Araujo vs Lucio Linhares
Rodney Wallace vs Marcus Vanttinen
Mike Ottman vs Toni Valtonen
England vs France
Ian Butlin vs Makhtar Gueye
Simon Phillips vs Gael Grimaud
Matt Thorpe vs Christophe Dafreville
Danny Giblin vs Johan Romming
Rob Broughton vs Soufian Elgarne
World Team vs Turkey
Romano De Los Reyes vs Akin Duran
Diego Gonzales vs Faith Dogan
Nathan Schouten vs Ahmed Bayrak
Ryan Sturdy vs Abdullah Ahmady
Michael Kitta vs Liron Wilson
Here are the full team rankings breakdown as of May 30th: Team Rankings Breakdown
By: Jack Brat... -*
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[Blog] INSIDE MMA (5-29-...: On the May 29, 2009 edition of INSIDE MMA, Kenny and Bas look back at DREAM.9 and UFC 98 and take a look forward at STRIKEFORCE: LAWLER vs. SHIELDS coming up next weekend. Panel guest Andrei Arlovski talks about his upcoming fight with Brett Rogers. Rafael Feijao and Antonio McKee are also guests on the panel and "Big" John McCarthy is in "Kruck's Corn... -*
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[Blog] MMA LIVE (5-28-...: MMA LIVE's Jon Anik, Kenny Florian, and Franklin McNeil are back this week to talk all things mixed martial arts. They take a look back at all the action from UFC 98 as the Lyoto Machida era begins and review Jose Canseco's MMA bout in Japan at DREA... -*
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Saturday, May 30, 2009
[Blog] WCSC PLAY BY P...: A night of both Muay Thai and MMA is about to kick off from the Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco. We have already seen the local MMA stars turn out for this event including names like Kurt Osiander, Darren Uyenoyama, Gilbert Melendez, Jake Shields. Not to be outdone, Anderson Silva is here cornering two of his fighters! The arena begins to fill up and sepearte in their academies sections. Stay tuned as the fights will start shor... -*
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[Blog] WCSC PLAY BY P...: A night of both Muay Thai and MMA is about to kick off from the Kezar Pavilion in San Francisco. We have already seen the local MMA stars turn out for this event including names like Kurt Osiander, Darren Uyenoyama, Gilbert Melendez, Jake Shields. Not to be outdone, Anderson Silva is here cornering two of his fighters! The arena begins to fill up and sepearte in their academies sections. Stay tuned as the fights will start shor... -*
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[Blog] WAR GODS V - play by play and live resu...: WAR GODS V takes place tonight, Saturday May 30th, from the Viejas Casino in Alpine, California. PRO MMA (promma.info) will be providing live round by round updates and results during the event. You can watch all the LIVE MMA action through the online WEBCAST brought to you by PRO MMA (promma.info) in association with Go Fight Live beginning at 8:30 PM CT/6:30 PM PT.
WAR GODS V fight card:
Vernon White vs. Lew Polley
Kit Cope vs. Steve Magdaleno
David Gardner vs. Joe Duarte
Bryan Travers vs. Tom Belt
Tarec Saffiedine vs. Lucas Gamaza
Rick Slaton vs. Derek Thornton
Salah Zabian vs. Tony Johnson
Bailey Byne vs. Joey Gibran Alvarez
Ryan Shamrock vs. Willie G... -*
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WAR GODS V fight card:
Vernon White vs. Lew Polley
Kit Cope vs. Steve Magdaleno
David Gardner vs. Joe Duarte
Bryan Travers vs. Tom Belt
Tarec Saffiedine vs. Lucas Gamaza
Rick Slaton vs. Derek Thornton
Salah Zabian vs. Tony Johnson
Bailey Byne vs. Joey Gibran Alvarez
Ryan Shamrock vs. Willie G... -*
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[Blog] Rashad Evans and Quinton Jackson confirmed as coaches for The Ultimate Fighter season...: The Ultimate Fighting Championship has officially confirmed that former light heavyweight champions "Suga" Rashad Evans and Quinton "Rampage" Jackson will serve as coaches for season 10 of "The Ultimate Fighter" reality series on Spike TV.
The premiere of "TUF 10" will air Wednesday, September 16, 2009. The tenth season will focus exclusively on MMA's heavyweight division with two teams of eight fighters competing. It will be the first time since season 2 that the heavyweights have participated.
Evans himself was a contestant and ultimately the winner of the heavyweight division on season 2 and Jackson was a coach opposite Forrest Griffin on season 7, so the experience will not be entirely new to either fighter.
Season 10 will conclude on December 5th in Las Vegas with two heavyweight finalists battling it out inside the Octagon for a "six-figure contract" with the UFC. Coaches Jackson and Evans are also expected to face each other at season's end although no date has been set.
PRO MMA (promma.info) was on the scene in Seattle for the TUF 10 tryouts back in April. You can read about what took place here and check out our photos from the tryouts here.
By: Jack Brat... -*
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The premiere of "TUF 10" will air Wednesday, September 16, 2009. The tenth season will focus exclusively on MMA's heavyweight division with two teams of eight fighters competing. It will be the first time since season 2 that the heavyweights have participated.
Evans himself was a contestant and ultimately the winner of the heavyweight division on season 2 and Jackson was a coach opposite Forrest Griffin on season 7, so the experience will not be entirely new to either fighter.
Season 10 will conclude on December 5th in Las Vegas with two heavyweight finalists battling it out inside the Octagon for a "six-figure contract" with the UFC. Coaches Jackson and Evans are also expected to face each other at season's end although no date has been set.
PRO MMA (promma.info) was on the scene in Seattle for the TUF 10 tryouts back in April. You can read about what took place here and check out our photos from the tryouts here.
By: Jack Brat... -*
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Apache/2.2.9 (Fedora) Server at www.s3nt.com Port 80
[Blog] Before they were fighters: Hector Lombard Edit...: PRO MMA (promma.info) brings you a new weekly feature. Before they were fighters will showcase a new MMA fighter every week before they turned to MMA. With the cross over nature of MMA this should continue to be an interesting feature.
This week BTWF takes a look at Balltor's middleweight fighter Hector Lombard. This video is a ippon highlight from a Judo match between Lombard and France's Daniel Fernandes in the 2002 world team championships.
LOMBARD (CUB) x Daniel FERNANDES
by McCormick1971
Long before Hector Lombard was a Bellator Fighting Championship middleweight tournament finalist, he was a member of the Cuban Olympic Judo team. After making his big show debut with two fights in PRIDE, losses to Akihiro Gono and Gegard Mousasi, Lombard had a great deal of trouble entering the United States to fight. He was supposedly signed by the UFC and Elite XC, but neither fight ever materialized.
Finally he was able to get a visa and fight in the States. He now trains at American Top Team. Perhaps one day this can become a pipeline of Cuban Judo and wrestling talent, much in the same way Cuban baseball players end up in the major leag... -*
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This week BTWF takes a look at Balltor's middleweight fighter Hector Lombard. This video is a ippon highlight from a Judo match between Lombard and France's Daniel Fernandes in the 2002 world team championships.
LOMBARD (CUB) x Daniel FERNANDES
by McCormick1971
Long before Hector Lombard was a Bellator Fighting Championship middleweight tournament finalist, he was a member of the Cuban Olympic Judo team. After making his big show debut with two fights in PRIDE, losses to Akihiro Gono and Gegard Mousasi, Lombard had a great deal of trouble entering the United States to fight. He was supposedly signed by the UFC and Elite XC, but neither fight ever materialized.
Finally he was able to get a visa and fight in the States. He now trains at American Top Team. Perhaps one day this can become a pipeline of Cuban Judo and wrestling talent, much in the same way Cuban baseball players end up in the major leag... -*
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Apache/2.2.9 (Fedora) Server at www.s3nt.com Port 80
WAR GODS 5 - LIVE MMA WEBCAST TODAY!!! Vernon White, Kit Cope, Ryan Shamrock and more! 9:30pm ET / 6:30pm PT http://promma.info
Friday, May 29, 2009
[Blog] UFC 99 in-depth preview (vid...: Question: What looks like a St. Patrick's Day gift shop exploded? Watch this in-depth preview of "UFC 99: The Comeback" to find out. This UFC 99 preview highlights the main event fight between Rich Franklin and Wanderlei Silva and why UFC Middleweight Champion Anderson Silva asked Franklin to come train with him. Also featured is the UFC 99 scheduled bout and feud between Marcus Davis and Dan Hardy. UFC 99 takes place on June 13 in Cologne, Germ... -*
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[Blog] Trump to host NYC press conference to announce Emelianenko vs Barn...: PRO MMA (promma.info) received notice Friday evening that Donald Trump will be hosting a New York City press conference on June 3rd officially announcing Affliction M-1 Global's "Trilogy" featuring Fedor Emelianenko vs. Josh Barnett.
Emelianenko, who is considered by most MMA experts as the number one heavyweight in the world, will face Barnett on August 1st at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The event will air live on pay-per-view.
The press conference will take place next Wednesday at the Trump Tower Atrium (25th Floor) beginning at 11:00 AM ET. Those attending will be: Donald Trump, Tom Atencio, Mark Cuban, Fedor Emelianenko, Josh Barnett, and Vadim Finkelstein.
The official poster for "Affliction: Trilogy" lists the following fighters competing on the August 1st card: Gegard Mousasi, Ben Rothwell, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Tim Sylvia, Mark Hominick, Dan Lauzon, Chris Horodecki and Paul Buentello. Stay tuned to PRO MMA (promma.info) for more official fight announcements on this card.
By: Jack Brat... -*
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Emelianenko, who is considered by most MMA experts as the number one heavyweight in the world, will face Barnett on August 1st at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California. The event will air live on pay-per-view.
The press conference will take place next Wednesday at the Trump Tower Atrium (25th Floor) beginning at 11:00 AM ET. Those attending will be: Donald Trump, Tom Atencio, Mark Cuban, Fedor Emelianenko, Josh Barnett, and Vadim Finkelstein.
The official poster for "Affliction: Trilogy" lists the following fighters competing on the August 1st card: Gegard Mousasi, Ben Rothwell, Renato "Babalu" Sobral, Tim Sylvia, Mark Hominick, Dan Lauzon, Chris Horodecki and Paul Buentello. Stay tuned to PRO MMA (promma.info) for more official fight announcements on this card.
By: Jack Brat... -*
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[Blog] "Bellator IX" results from Monroe, Louisi...: "Bellator IX" took place Friday, May 29, 2009 at the Monroe Civic Center in Monroe, Louisiana. The event featured the Bellator Fighting Championships Middleweight Tournament Semi-Finals and saw Hector Lombard deliver a quick beat down to Damien Stelly for a first round TKO and Jared Hess finish off Yosmany Cabezas with a third round TKO. Lombard will now face Hess for the Bellator Middleweight Championship. Here are the full results from Friday's action:
BFC Middleweight Tournament Semi-Finals
Hector Lombard def. James Damien Stelly by TKO rd1
Jared Hess def. Yosmany Cabezas by TKO rd3
Non-Tournament Bouts
Chad Leondhardt def. Dan Keenan by KO rd1
Nick Ring def. Isidro Gonzalez by sub. (guillotine) rd1
Shawn Jordan def. Jayme Mckinney by sub. (choke) rd2
Shad Lierly def. Nathan Murdock by unanimous decision
Chas Skelly def. Mike Braswell by split decision
Alex Andrade def. Christian Fulgram by TKO... -*
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BFC Middleweight Tournament Semi-Finals
Hector Lombard def. James Damien Stelly by TKO rd1
Jared Hess def. Yosmany Cabezas by TKO rd3
Non-Tournament Bouts
Chad Leondhardt def. Dan Keenan by KO rd1
Nick Ring def. Isidro Gonzalez by sub. (guillotine) rd1
Shawn Jordan def. Jayme Mckinney by sub. (choke) rd2
Shad Lierly def. Nathan Murdock by unanimous decision
Chas Skelly def. Mike Braswell by split decision
Alex Andrade def. Christian Fulgram by TKO... -*
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Apache/2.2.9 (Fedora) Server at www.s3nt.com Port 80
[Blog] "New Breed Fighters XXII" online webcast Saturday May 30 live from New Jer...: This Saturday, May 30th, 2009 New Breed Fighters returns to the Resorts Superstar Theater in Atlantic City, New Jersey and PRO MMA (promma.info), in association with Go Fight Live, will be providing you LIVE access to all the action via webcast.
There will be a total of FIVE title fights on the card, headlined by a Welterweight Championship bout between Robbie “Flawless” Lawless (4-1) from Miletich Fighting Systems taking on the champion Jared “Flash” Gordon (4-1) from Rhino, N.Y. Fight Team.
Lawless will be looking for revenge in what will be the third title fight between the two. In their first match-up last November, Lawless won the title from a doctor's stoppage due to a cut in round two. They met again four months later and Gordon won the welterweight title back from Lawless with a split decision.
Other title fights on the card include big Kyle Weaver (6-1) returning to defend his Super Heavyweight crown against Fight Factory's Dan "Bear" Hughes (1-0). David McMahon (6-1) out of X-Treme Miletich will put his Light Heavyweight Title on the line against AFS Team Asylum's Kyle Rigby (3-2).
Evan Chmielski (3-2) also out of X-Treme Miletich will be challenging the New Breed Super Welterweight Champ Ryan Vaccaro (4-2) representing Jersey Fight Club/Triumph Wrestling.
In the final title fight of the night for the vacant Cruiser Weight Title, Anton Burzin (3-0) from Rocco MMA will take on Devan Salisbury (2-0) who is fighting out of Renzo Gracie's New York academy and Kru Phil Nurse's Wat.
In addition to the five title fights, there are 13 other competitively matched-up bouts scheduled featuring some of the finest fighters representing the top teams and MMA academies in the North-Eastern United States. Expect over five plus hours of MMA action and the best part is you can watch it all LIVE for only $4.99!!
To watch the LIVE online broadcast of "New Breed Fighters XXII" on Saturday, May 30, 2009 beginning at 6:30 PM ET / 3:30 PM PT CLICK HERE or on the "New Breed Fighters XXII" poster on the PRO MMA (promma.info) home page.
New Breed Fighters XXII
Jared "Flash" Gordon vs. Robbie "Flawless" Lawless
Dan "Bear" Hughes vs. Kyle Weaver
Evan Chmieleski vs. Ryan Vaccaro
Collin Sharpe vs. Matt Harker
Bobby Shea vs. TBD TBD
"Hardcore" Wayne Hargrove vs. Anthony Chipe
Robert "Carrot Top" Tittermary vs. John Gartiser
Ivan Gomez vs. Victor Romero
Jason Ostrowski vs. Aldo Equia
Lenny Lefebe vs. Joe Synol
Luis Finateri vs. Justin Jiminez
Harry Zander vs. David Colabella
Gary Griffin vs. Alex Puma
Phillip Ferraro vs. Jeremy Pompei
Harry Sankey vs. Alex Rodriguez
"The Fightin Inferno" Mike Andrillo vs. Wayne Peters
Kyle Rigby vs. Dave McMahon
Anton Berzin vs. Kevan Salisbury
To learn more about the fighters on this card or the New Breed Fighters promotion check out their website at www.newbreedfighters.tv
(NOTE: The scheduled bouts above are subject to change or cancellation without not... -*
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There will be a total of FIVE title fights on the card, headlined by a Welterweight Championship bout between Robbie “Flawless” Lawless (4-1) from Miletich Fighting Systems taking on the champion Jared “Flash” Gordon (4-1) from Rhino, N.Y. Fight Team.
Lawless will be looking for revenge in what will be the third title fight between the two. In their first match-up last November, Lawless won the title from a doctor's stoppage due to a cut in round two. They met again four months later and Gordon won the welterweight title back from Lawless with a split decision.
Other title fights on the card include big Kyle Weaver (6-1) returning to defend his Super Heavyweight crown against Fight Factory's Dan "Bear" Hughes (1-0). David McMahon (6-1) out of X-Treme Miletich will put his Light Heavyweight Title on the line against AFS Team Asylum's Kyle Rigby (3-2).
Evan Chmielski (3-2) also out of X-Treme Miletich will be challenging the New Breed Super Welterweight Champ Ryan Vaccaro (4-2) representing Jersey Fight Club/Triumph Wrestling.
In the final title fight of the night for the vacant Cruiser Weight Title, Anton Burzin (3-0) from Rocco MMA will take on Devan Salisbury (2-0) who is fighting out of Renzo Gracie's New York academy and Kru Phil Nurse's Wat.
In addition to the five title fights, there are 13 other competitively matched-up bouts scheduled featuring some of the finest fighters representing the top teams and MMA academies in the North-Eastern United States. Expect over five plus hours of MMA action and the best part is you can watch it all LIVE for only $4.99!!
To watch the LIVE online broadcast of "New Breed Fighters XXII" on Saturday, May 30, 2009 beginning at 6:30 PM ET / 3:30 PM PT CLICK HERE or on the "New Breed Fighters XXII" poster on the PRO MMA (promma.info) home page.
New Breed Fighters XXII
Jared "Flash" Gordon vs. Robbie "Flawless" Lawless
Dan "Bear" Hughes vs. Kyle Weaver
Evan Chmieleski vs. Ryan Vaccaro
Collin Sharpe vs. Matt Harker
Bobby Shea vs. TBD TBD
"Hardcore" Wayne Hargrove vs. Anthony Chipe
Robert "Carrot Top" Tittermary vs. John Gartiser
Ivan Gomez vs. Victor Romero
Jason Ostrowski vs. Aldo Equia
Lenny Lefebe vs. Joe Synol
Luis Finateri vs. Justin Jiminez
Harry Zander vs. David Colabella
Gary Griffin vs. Alex Puma
Phillip Ferraro vs. Jeremy Pompei
Harry Sankey vs. Alex Rodriguez
"The Fightin Inferno" Mike Andrillo vs. Wayne Peters
Kyle Rigby vs. Dave McMahon
Anton Berzin vs. Kevan Salisbury
To learn more about the fighters on this card or the New Breed Fighters promotion check out their website at www.newbreedfighters.tv
(NOTE: The scheduled bouts above are subject to change or cancellation without not... -*
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Apache/2.2.9 (Fedora) Server at www.s3nt.com Port 80
[Blog] The next wrestler could be Daniel Corm...: Even the MMA analysts who saw Joe Warren’s star potential did not think he would be this impressive this early on. In the wee hours of Tuesday morning, here in the States, the self-proclaimed “Baddest Man on the Planet” defeated perennial pound-for-pound fighter, Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto. In only his second MMA fight, Warren relied mostly on his wrestling skill and took the fight by decision.
Wrestlers crossing over into MMA is almost as old as the sport itself. The accomplishments of these wrestlers are so well documented, that there is no need to go through them once again. Now, it seems as if any person who won more wrestling matches than they lost is considered to be world-class.
Recently two actual world-class wrestling stylists, Muhammed Lawal and Joe Warren, have made stunning advancements in the MMA world since crossing over. Even though these are two fighters Mike Goldberg could get away with calling “world-class” neither one was actually a member of the 2008 United States Olympic team – although Warren deserved to be.
With the early success of Lawal and Warren, the MMA punditry has been wondering who the next cross over star will be. As always PRO MMA (promma.info) tries to keep fans in the loop. On the eve of this weekend’s 2009 wrestling world team trials in Council Bluffs, Iowa, here is an Olympic wrestler who could someday make an impact on the MMA world.
Daniel Cormier
Although he entered his international wrestling career without an NCAA title, Daniel Cormier has become a fixture on the US national team for the last five years.
Cormier began his wrestling career by winning three Louisiana state high school titles. He then passed up an opportunity to play division one football, and instead chose to wrestle for Colby Community College. It turned out to be a good decision, in two seasons, he went 61-0 and won to NJCAA titles.
After his junior college career, Cormier transferred to wrestling powerhouse Oklahoma State, which is run by Olympic legend John Smith. As previously stated he was unable to score an NCAA title, but the roadblock his senior year was Cael Sanderson. Cormier pushed the future gold medalist, but ended up with a runner up finish.
Since 2003, Cormier has made every US national team in freestyle wrestling. This includes the 2004 and 2008 Olympic games. Highlights of his career include making it to the semifinals of the 2004 games and a bronze medal at the 2007 world championships. Sadly, Cormier had trouble making weight for the 2008 games and had to bow out due to potential kidney failure without even wrestling a match.
Those who think any wrestler with serious credentials is destined for MMA success need only to look at Eldari Kurtanidze, Istvan Majoros, or Kevin Jackson. Not only do quality wrestlers need proper training, but also they need a style that is conducive to MMA.
Daniel Cormier wrestles with an extremely physical and grinding style. On the first season of the short-lived Real Pro Wrestling, Cormier was actually fined for being too violent in his victory over Tommy Rowlands. Also, much like Joe Warren, most of his offense comes off the front headlock. The controlling hold could easily translate into a dirty boxing and knee game.
It is unclear yet if Cormier is planning on going to the 2012 Olympics. During the build up for Beijing, the 29-year-old continually spoke of MMA positively, but at the same time he made it clear wrestling in the Olympics was his dream. Fans and MMA pundits will have to wait and see if he makes the switch, but if he does, he should be the next converted wrestling to shake up the MMA landsc... -*
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Apache/2.2.9 (Fedora) Server at www.s3nt.com Port 80
Wrestlers crossing over into MMA is almost as old as the sport itself. The accomplishments of these wrestlers are so well documented, that there is no need to go through them once again. Now, it seems as if any person who won more wrestling matches than they lost is considered to be world-class.
Recently two actual world-class wrestling stylists, Muhammed Lawal and Joe Warren, have made stunning advancements in the MMA world since crossing over. Even though these are two fighters Mike Goldberg could get away with calling “world-class” neither one was actually a member of the 2008 United States Olympic team – although Warren deserved to be.
With the early success of Lawal and Warren, the MMA punditry has been wondering who the next cross over star will be. As always PRO MMA (promma.info) tries to keep fans in the loop. On the eve of this weekend’s 2009 wrestling world team trials in Council Bluffs, Iowa, here is an Olympic wrestler who could someday make an impact on the MMA world.
Daniel Cormier
Although he entered his international wrestling career without an NCAA title, Daniel Cormier has become a fixture on the US national team for the last five years.
Cormier began his wrestling career by winning three Louisiana state high school titles. He then passed up an opportunity to play division one football, and instead chose to wrestle for Colby Community College. It turned out to be a good decision, in two seasons, he went 61-0 and won to NJCAA titles.
After his junior college career, Cormier transferred to wrestling powerhouse Oklahoma State, which is run by Olympic legend John Smith. As previously stated he was unable to score an NCAA title, but the roadblock his senior year was Cael Sanderson. Cormier pushed the future gold medalist, but ended up with a runner up finish.
Since 2003, Cormier has made every US national team in freestyle wrestling. This includes the 2004 and 2008 Olympic games. Highlights of his career include making it to the semifinals of the 2004 games and a bronze medal at the 2007 world championships. Sadly, Cormier had trouble making weight for the 2008 games and had to bow out due to potential kidney failure without even wrestling a match.
Those who think any wrestler with serious credentials is destined for MMA success need only to look at Eldari Kurtanidze, Istvan Majoros, or Kevin Jackson. Not only do quality wrestlers need proper training, but also they need a style that is conducive to MMA.
Daniel Cormier wrestles with an extremely physical and grinding style. On the first season of the short-lived Real Pro Wrestling, Cormier was actually fined for being too violent in his victory over Tommy Rowlands. Also, much like Joe Warren, most of his offense comes off the front headlock. The controlling hold could easily translate into a dirty boxing and knee game.
It is unclear yet if Cormier is planning on going to the 2012 Olympics. During the build up for Beijing, the 29-year-old continually spoke of MMA positively, but at the same time he made it clear wrestling in the Olympics was his dream. Fans and MMA pundits will have to wait and see if he makes the switch, but if he does, he should be the next converted wrestling to shake up the MMA landsc... -*
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The requested URL /robot.php was not found on this server.
Apache/2.2.9 (Fedora) Server at www.s3nt.com Port 80
[Blog] The next wrestler could be Daniel Corm...: Even the MMA analysts who saw Joe Warren’s star potential did not think he would be this impressive this early on. In the wee hours of Tuesday morning, here in the States, the self-proclaimed “Baddest Man on the Planet” defeated perennial pound-for-pound fighter, Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto. In only his second MMA fight, Warren relied mostly on his wrestling skill and took the fight by decision.
Wrestlers crossing over into MMA is almost as old as the sport itself. The accomplishments of these wrestlers are so well documented, that there is no need to go through them once again. Now, it seems as if any person who won more wrestling matches than they lost is considered to be world-class.
Recently two actual world-class wrestling stylists, Muhammed Lawal and Joe Warren, have made stunning advancements in the MMA world since crossing over. Even though these are two fighters Mike Goldberg could get away with calling “world-class” neither one was actually a member of the 2008 United States Olympic team – although Warren deserved to be.
With the early success of Lawal and Warren, the MMA punditry has been wondering who the next cross over star will be. As always PRO MMA (promma.info) tries to keep fans in the loop. On the eve of this weekend’s 2009 wrestling world team trials in Council Bluffs, Iowa, here is an Olympic wrestler who could someday make an impact on the MMA world.
Daniel Cormier
Although he entered his international wrestling career without an NCAA title, Daniel Cormier has become a fixture on the US national team for the last five years.
Cormier began his wrestling career by winning three Louisiana state high school titles. He then passed up an opportunity to play division one football, and instead chose to wrestle for Colby Community College. It turned out to be a good decision, in two seasons, he went 61-0 and won to NJCAA titles.
After his junior college career, Cormier transferred to wrestling powerhouse Oklahoma State, which is run by Olympic legend John Smith. As previously stated he was unable to score an NCAA title, but the roadblock his senior year was Cael Sanderson. Cormier pushed the future gold medalist, but ended up with a runner up finish.
Since 2003, Cormier has made every US national team in freestyle wrestling. This includes the 2004 and 2008 Olympic games. Highlights of his career include making it to the semifinals of the 2004 games and a bronze medal at the 2007 world championships. Sadly, Cormier had trouble making weight for the 2008 games and had to bow out due to potential kidney failure without even wrestling a match.
Those who think any wrestler with serious credentials is destined for MMA success need only to look at Eldari Kurtanidze, Istvan Majoros, or Kevin Jackson. Not only do quality wrestlers need proper training, but also they need a style that is conducive to MMA.
Daniel Cormier wrestles with an extremely physical and grinding style. On the first season of the short-lived Real Pro Wrestling, Cormier was actually fined for being too violent in his victory over Tommy Rowlands. Also, much like Joe Warren, most of his offense comes off the front headlock. The controlling hold could easily translate into a dirty boxing and knee game.
It is unclear yet if Cormier is planning on going to the 2012 Olympics. During the build up for Beijing, the 29-year-old continually spoke of MMA positively, but at the same time he made it clear wrestling in the Olympics was his dream. Fans and MMA pundits will have to wait and see if he makes the switch, but if he does, he should be the next converted wrestling to shake up the MMA landsc... -*
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Apache/2.2.9 (Fedora) Server at www.s3nt.com Port 80
Wrestlers crossing over into MMA is almost as old as the sport itself. The accomplishments of these wrestlers are so well documented, that there is no need to go through them once again. Now, it seems as if any person who won more wrestling matches than they lost is considered to be world-class.
Recently two actual world-class wrestling stylists, Muhammed Lawal and Joe Warren, have made stunning advancements in the MMA world since crossing over. Even though these are two fighters Mike Goldberg could get away with calling “world-class” neither one was actually a member of the 2008 United States Olympic team – although Warren deserved to be.
With the early success of Lawal and Warren, the MMA punditry has been wondering who the next cross over star will be. As always PRO MMA (promma.info) tries to keep fans in the loop. On the eve of this weekend’s 2009 wrestling world team trials in Council Bluffs, Iowa, here is an Olympic wrestler who could someday make an impact on the MMA world.
Daniel Cormier
Although he entered his international wrestling career without an NCAA title, Daniel Cormier has become a fixture on the US national team for the last five years.
Cormier began his wrestling career by winning three Louisiana state high school titles. He then passed up an opportunity to play division one football, and instead chose to wrestle for Colby Community College. It turned out to be a good decision, in two seasons, he went 61-0 and won to NJCAA titles.
After his junior college career, Cormier transferred to wrestling powerhouse Oklahoma State, which is run by Olympic legend John Smith. As previously stated he was unable to score an NCAA title, but the roadblock his senior year was Cael Sanderson. Cormier pushed the future gold medalist, but ended up with a runner up finish.
Since 2003, Cormier has made every US national team in freestyle wrestling. This includes the 2004 and 2008 Olympic games. Highlights of his career include making it to the semifinals of the 2004 games and a bronze medal at the 2007 world championships. Sadly, Cormier had trouble making weight for the 2008 games and had to bow out due to potential kidney failure without even wrestling a match.
Those who think any wrestler with serious credentials is destined for MMA success need only to look at Eldari Kurtanidze, Istvan Majoros, or Kevin Jackson. Not only do quality wrestlers need proper training, but also they need a style that is conducive to MMA.
Daniel Cormier wrestles with an extremely physical and grinding style. On the first season of the short-lived Real Pro Wrestling, Cormier was actually fined for being too violent in his victory over Tommy Rowlands. Also, much like Joe Warren, most of his offense comes off the front headlock. The controlling hold could easily translate into a dirty boxing and knee game.
It is unclear yet if Cormier is planning on going to the 2012 Olympics. During the build up for Beijing, the 29-year-old continually spoke of MMA positively, but at the same time he made it clear wrestling in the Olympics was his dream. Fans and MMA pundits will have to wait and see if he makes the switch, but if he does, he should be the next converted wrestling to shake up the MMA landsc... -*
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The requested URL /robot.php was not found on this server.
Apache/2.2.9 (Fedora) Server at www.s3nt.com Port 80
Thursday, May 28, 2009
[Blog] Sherk explains UFC 98 post-fight incid...: On May 23rd Sean Sherk lost a unanimous decision to Frankie Edgar at UFC 98 in what was definitely the upset of the night. The BetUS.com odds going into the fight had Sherk at -300 and Edgar at +200. Even a perplexed UFC President Dana White said after the bout he had not foreseen any way Edgar could win.
Maybe surprised most of all was the former UFC Lightweight Champion himself, who following the judges' ruling, ran out of the Octagon and the MGM Grand Garden Arena shirtless and still donning his fight shorts and gloves. Reports stated Sherk was running down the street into the Vegas night and at one point was seen approximately a half mile from the arena where the fights were being held.
Sherk who was a guest Wednesday on Sherdog's "Beatdown" radio show spoke about the incident and gave his side of the story,
"After the fight was over I went for a run. I was kind of frustrated and just had to burn off some steam, so I just went for a jog and I left before I talked to the doctor. The doctor didn’t get a chance to look at me. I wasn’t hurt at all so I just said f*ck it. I’m going for a run. The Commission got kind of pissed because I didn’t talk to the doctor first and they suspended me for 45 days for that. It’s kind of excessive I think. I don’t think I deserve to get suspended for going for a run. I wasn’t gone that long. I was gone maybe an hour. But what do you do?”
However, Keith Kizer, the Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, told Sherdog that Sherk's 45-day suspension was completely due to medical reasons and had absolutely nothing to do with him running out of the building.
The original concern seemed to be that it is possible a fighter may be asked to submit a urine sample immediately after a fight and with Sherk running out it could possibly be looked at as a way to avoid a test. Fortunately for him, Sherk did return and it was not an issue.
Sherk's medical suspension lasts until July 8th with no contact until June 23rd.
By: Jack Brat... -*
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Maybe surprised most of all was the former UFC Lightweight Champion himself, who following the judges' ruling, ran out of the Octagon and the MGM Grand Garden Arena shirtless and still donning his fight shorts and gloves. Reports stated Sherk was running down the street into the Vegas night and at one point was seen approximately a half mile from the arena where the fights were being held.
Sherk who was a guest Wednesday on Sherdog's "Beatdown" radio show spoke about the incident and gave his side of the story,
"After the fight was over I went for a run. I was kind of frustrated and just had to burn off some steam, so I just went for a jog and I left before I talked to the doctor. The doctor didn’t get a chance to look at me. I wasn’t hurt at all so I just said f*ck it. I’m going for a run. The Commission got kind of pissed because I didn’t talk to the doctor first and they suspended me for 45 days for that. It’s kind of excessive I think. I don’t think I deserve to get suspended for going for a run. I wasn’t gone that long. I was gone maybe an hour. But what do you do?”
However, Keith Kizer, the Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, told Sherdog that Sherk's 45-day suspension was completely due to medical reasons and had absolutely nothing to do with him running out of the building.
The original concern seemed to be that it is possible a fighter may be asked to submit a urine sample immediately after a fight and with Sherk running out it could possibly be looked at as a way to avoid a test. Fortunately for him, Sherk did return and it was not an issue.
Sherk's medical suspension lasts until July 8th with no contact until June 23rd.
By: Jack Brat... -*
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The requested URL /robot.php was not found on this server.
Apache/2.2.9 (Fedora) Server at www.s3nt.com Port 80
[Blog] Sherk explains UFC 98 post-fight incid...: On May 23rd Sean Sherk lost a unanimous decision to Frankie Edgar at UFC 98 in what was definitely the upset of the night. The BetUS.com odds going into the fight had Sherk at -300 and Edgar at +200. Even a perplexed UFC President Dana White said after the bout he had not foreseen any way Edgar could win.
Maybe surprised most of all was the former UFC Lightweight Champion himself, who following the judges' ruling, ran out of the Octagon and the MGM Grand Garden Arena shirtless and still donning his fight shorts and gloves. Reports stated Sherk was running down the street into the Vegas night and at one point was seen approximately a half mile from the arena where the fights were being held.
Sherk who was a guest Wednesday on Sherdog's "Beatdown" radio show spoke about the incident and gave his side of the story,
"After the fight was over I went for a run. I was kind of frustrated and just had to burn off some steam, so I just went for a jog and I left before I talked to the doctor. The doctor didn’t get a chance to look at me. I wasn’t hurt at all so I just said f*ck it. I’m going for a run. The Commission got kind of pissed because I didn’t talk to the doctor first and they suspended me for 45 days for that. It’s kind of excessive I think. I don’t think I deserve to get suspended for going for a run. I wasn’t gone that long. I was gone maybe an hour. But what do you do?”
However, Keith Kizer, the Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, told Sherdog that Sherk's 45-day suspension was completely due to medical reasons and had absolutely nothing to do with him running out of the building.
The original concern seemed to be that it is possible a fighter may be asked to submit a urine sample immediately after a fight and with Sherk running out it could possibly be looked at as a way to avoid a test. Fortunately for him, Sherk did return and it was not an issue.
Sherk's medical suspension lasts until July 8th with no contact until June 23rd.
By: Jack Brat... -*
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Maybe surprised most of all was the former UFC Lightweight Champion himself, who following the judges' ruling, ran out of the Octagon and the MGM Grand Garden Arena shirtless and still donning his fight shorts and gloves. Reports stated Sherk was running down the street into the Vegas night and at one point was seen approximately a half mile from the arena where the fights were being held.
Sherk who was a guest Wednesday on Sherdog's "Beatdown" radio show spoke about the incident and gave his side of the story,
"After the fight was over I went for a run. I was kind of frustrated and just had to burn off some steam, so I just went for a jog and I left before I talked to the doctor. The doctor didn’t get a chance to look at me. I wasn’t hurt at all so I just said f*ck it. I’m going for a run. The Commission got kind of pissed because I didn’t talk to the doctor first and they suspended me for 45 days for that. It’s kind of excessive I think. I don’t think I deserve to get suspended for going for a run. I wasn’t gone that long. I was gone maybe an hour. But what do you do?”
However, Keith Kizer, the Executive Director of the Nevada State Athletic Commission, told Sherdog that Sherk's 45-day suspension was completely due to medical reasons and had absolutely nothing to do with him running out of the building.
The original concern seemed to be that it is possible a fighter may be asked to submit a urine sample immediately after a fight and with Sherk running out it could possibly be looked at as a way to avoid a test. Fortunately for him, Sherk did return and it was not an issue.
Sherk's medical suspension lasts until July 8th with no contact until June 23rd.
By: Jack Brat... -*
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[Blog] Ask Wanderlei Silva your questi...: We here at PRO MMA (promma.info) have set it up so mixed martial arts legend and current UFC fighter Wanderlei Silva will answer your questions. Any questions you may have for "The Axe Muderer" just type in the comment box below. All we ask is that you be respectful. Other than that it is up to you.
Wanderlei is a true icon of the sport with wins over some of the biggest names in the game including Quinton Jackson, Dan Henderson, Sakuraba, Ricardo Arona, and Keith Jardine to name just a few. Wanderlei's next fight will be against Rich Franklin at "UFC 99: The Comeback" in Cologne, Germany on June 13th.
Type in your questions after the jum... -*
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Wanderlei is a true icon of the sport with wins over some of the biggest names in the game including Quinton Jackson, Dan Henderson, Sakuraba, Ricardo Arona, and Keith Jardine to name just a few. Wanderlei's next fight will be against Rich Franklin at "UFC 99: The Comeback" in Cologne, Germany on June 13th.
Type in your questions after the jum... -*
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[Blog] "War Gods V" live webcast Saturday May...: "War Gods V" takes place this weekend, Saturday, May 30, 2009 at the Viejas Casino in Alpine, California. Headlining the card will be UFC veteran Vernon "The Tiger" White (26-32-2) vs. Canadian ECC Lightweight Champion Lew Polley (9-2).
Also on the card will be Muay Thai Champion Kit Cope (2-4) taking on undefeated Pancrase veteran Steve Magdaleno (5-0). Cope is most well known for being featured on MTV's "True Life" on two separate occasions. His particular episode of "True Life" is one of the most successful and replayed episodes of any MTV show ever.
Other notable names on this card are Ryan Shamrock (1-1), son of UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock, and MMA veteran David Gardner (16-11), who lost to Shinya Aoki at DREAM 7 earlier this year. Mark your calendars as PRO MMA (promma.info) will be providing access to a LIVE WEBCAST of "War Gods V" this Saturday night!
To watch the LIVE WEBCAST of "War Gods V" beginning at 9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT on Saturday, May 30, 2009 click HERE, on the poster above, or the "War Gods V" poster on our home page. Cost of event is only $9.99. Be sure to log into the webcast about 5 minutes early to set up your account if you do not already have one.
War Gods V fight card:
Vernon White vs. Lew Polley
Kit Cope vs. Steve Magdaleno
David Gardner vs. Joe Duarte
Bryan Travers vs. Tom Belt
Tarec Saffiedine vs. Lucas Gamaza
Rick Slaton vs. Derek Thornton
Salah Zabian vs. Tony Johnson
Bailey Byne vs. Joey Gibran Alvarez
Ryan Shamrock vs. Willie Gates
To learn more about the War Gods promotion you can visit their website at www.wargod... -*
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Also on the card will be Muay Thai Champion Kit Cope (2-4) taking on undefeated Pancrase veteran Steve Magdaleno (5-0). Cope is most well known for being featured on MTV's "True Life" on two separate occasions. His particular episode of "True Life" is one of the most successful and replayed episodes of any MTV show ever.
Other notable names on this card are Ryan Shamrock (1-1), son of UFC Hall of Famer Ken Shamrock, and MMA veteran David Gardner (16-11), who lost to Shinya Aoki at DREAM 7 earlier this year. Mark your calendars as PRO MMA (promma.info) will be providing access to a LIVE WEBCAST of "War Gods V" this Saturday night!
To watch the LIVE WEBCAST of "War Gods V" beginning at 9:30 PM ET/6:30 PM PT on Saturday, May 30, 2009 click HERE, on the poster above, or the "War Gods V" poster on our home page. Cost of event is only $9.99. Be sure to log into the webcast about 5 minutes early to set up your account if you do not already have one.
War Gods V fight card:
Vernon White vs. Lew Polley
Kit Cope vs. Steve Magdaleno
David Gardner vs. Joe Duarte
Bryan Travers vs. Tom Belt
Tarec Saffiedine vs. Lucas Gamaza
Rick Slaton vs. Derek Thornton
Salah Zabian vs. Tony Johnson
Bailey Byne vs. Joey Gibran Alvarez
Ryan Shamrock vs. Willie Gates
To learn more about the War Gods promotion you can visit their website at www.wargod... -*
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[Blog] "Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields" conference call highlig...: On Tuesday, May 26th, Showtime in association with Strikeforce held a media conference call in anticipation of their upcoming June 6th event entitled "Strikeforce: Lawler vs. Shields" which will be held at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri and will air live on the Showtime premium cable network.
Fighters participating in the conference call were Andrei Arlovski and Brett Rogers, who will face each other and Scott Smith who will be fighting Nick Diaz on the card. Strikeforce Director of Communications Mike Afromowitz also participated in the call.
The following quotes are highlights from the conference call:
OPENING COMMENTS:
Brett Rogers: “Things are great. I’m just getting ready for next week. This is definitely going to be a step up in class. Arlovski has been in the game for quite some time. He has plenty of experience. Those are the type of fighters I’m trying to fight from here on out. For me, now, it’s about building respect. I feel like I don’t have it, so fighting Arlovski is going to be a fun and challenging event on June 6.’’
Scott Smith: “I’ve been real fortunate the past year to be given great opponents to put on exciting fights. This is just one of those fights. Nick is a top pound-for-pound fighter in the world in my eyes. He is the kind of fighters I want. I don’t want to fight a C-class fighter. I’m going to use everything I got beat him.
“This is a very exciting card. I’m glad to be a part of it. This is definitely the best MMA card of the year. This will be my third fight on SHOWTIME. They do a great job of producing the fights. I’m excited to be fighting on SHOWTIME again. I’m ready to go.’’
Andre Arlovski: “I’m very excited about this fight. I’m looking forward to fighting Brett Rogers June 6.”
QUESTIONS:
What kind of fight do you expect this to be with Nick?
Smith: “I plan on keeping this fight standing. I think he is going to try to take me apart. He’s a more technical fighter than I am. He’s going to want to take this fight to the ground. His best chance of winning is getting it to the ground. I’m going to use my sprawl and brawl technique.”
What was your thought process in approaching (accepting) this fight?
Smith: “I wasn’t asking to jump in right away, but I’m definitely healthy enough to jump in and fight. I have a tendency after fights to get out of shape. When I start my training camps, half of the camp is just getting myself back into shape. Although I did get banged up in the Benji (Radach) fight, I stayed in great shape. I started training three days after it. The key to me is cardio, especially fighting a guy like Nick, who has excellent cardio. My cardio is terrific so I’d rather take the fight this close to my previous one even though it was a war. I got cut, I got stitches in my eye and lip, but that’s all healed up. You have a potential to get cut no matter what. I wasn’t going and asking for a fight but I’m glad I accepted it.’’
How do you evaluate Diaz’ striking skills?
Smith: “I think people don’t give him enough credit. He has a lot more power than what it seems. He just does a good job of picking people apart and setting up the power punches. I’m definitely not underestimating his power at all. I’ve definitely had to change up a few things in my technique to train for Nick.’’
What are your thoughts on being offered this big step up in opposition?
Rogers: “I’m at that point in my training where I have a great gym now. We have top coaches. I’m doing everything I need to do to take on top fighters. Once I got the phone call and Arlovski was set in stone, I was excited. I remember watching this guy at a younger age and thinking, ‘man I get to take on someone like= that?’ He’s an explosive guy; he likes to move around. It’s definitely going to be a challenge, but nothing I don’t think I can handle. He’s big, slimmer guy. He likes to move, he likes to be quick and move his hands. I’m kind of mellow with the fighting stance, so it’s definitely going to be me taking my time and controlling the fight.’’
Does it hold special significance because of who you’re fighting?
Rogers: “I’m not going to allow myself to get caught up in it. I’m pushing aside everything. Back in the day, I was more a fan. I’ve just been pushing that all out of my head and looking at different fighters as fighters. Arlovski is just one out of a few people I’m aiming at. I’m just going to go out there and just fight. Just do what I do. I love doing it. It’s a fun sport, it’s growing. There’s lots of money in it. I just can’t complain and I can’t wait.’’
How long have you been training full time as a fighter?
Rogers: "Pretty much (since) after the Abongo (Humphrey) fight. That was pretty much my retirement from the working world. Now, I have great coaches -- top wrestling coaches, top Muay Thai coaches, boxing, everything. My gym has some of everything.
“We haven’t really had the chance to show off yet, so hopefully Arlovski pushes me to that point where I have to do something and do something different.’’
How long have you been training for this fight -- after planning on fighting Alistair Overeem?
Rogers: “I was hoping someone would bring that up. I thought I was fighting him, but I got this one about three weeks ago. It’s cool because, the way I see it, it’s actually going to be a better fight than the one with Overeem would have been. With Overeem, we might have ended up on the ground and did all that up-and-down stuff. With Arlovski, he likes to stand and bang and I like to do that too. This is going to make for a better fight. I was putting in some time for Overeem. Then he wanted to act like a fool. He’s a pro fighter and he wanted to act like a fool. That’s on him. I’m moving onto bigger and better. I’m getting this fight. I’ll knock Arlovski out and hopefully move on to somebody better. I’m trying to get into that top-10 ranking. This isn’t going to be forever so I need to make my move like right now when I’m healthy.’’
How do you feel you did in you last fight with Humphrey and what adjustments are you making going into this fight?
Rogers: “More condition and a little more control. I definitely want to control this fight. Arlovski is a lighter heavyweight. He’s really light on his toes, so I’m definitely working on more control and conditioning.’’
Can you talk about the pressure that was involved with the Abongo fight?
Rogers: “You can pull anyone from the street and tell them you’re going to get ‘x’ amount of money, you’re definitely going to feel that pressure that you’ve got to get out there and do whatever. I went into that fight with that kind of mindset. I knew a small amount of his background and I wasn’t going to give him a small chance of doing anything. That’s when I decided just to clog whatever he wanted to do and just stay up on him.
“I just went in there, clogged his stuff and did what I needed to do. There was too much money riding on it. If I didn’t win that fight, I’d still be working. I feel like I’m still in the same situation with the Arlovski fight. If I move forward, it’s great, but if I don’t I’ve got a problem. He’s just another man. He walks around with vampire teeth; he’s supposed to be a monster. We’ll, I’m a monster too. I like to go in there and just hurt. That’s all I want to do. I don’t want to do anything else. None of that soft tacky stuff … just hurt.’’
How do you grade Arlovski?
Rogers: “I give his standup a high rank because he does like to use his hands. He can move his head really good. He has a nice right, I’ll give him that. But, as far as anything else go, there isn’t anything that would make me nervous. I’m just the type of fighter that likes to control the pace. I’m going to be the heavier fighter. I’m sure he’s going in around 250. I’m always on top of the weight. I just have to stand and bang with him. That’s all I can do, really. If he gets real careless or real crazy I might have to just check him and bang him around the ring a little bit and try to calm him down. I’m not going into this fight to try and be bouncey-bouncey with him.’’
Do you need to change your style for Rogers?
Arlovski: He’s obviously a very good striker so I think this is going to be an interesting fight for the fans. He likes to strike, I like to box.’’
Is there pressure on you to win this fight?
Arlovski: Yeah, there’s pressure because I lost my last fight. I’m just focused right now on my fight against Rogers on June 6. All my trainers are very excited for the fight.’’
Do you fear anything about Rogers?
Arlovski: Of course. This is the heavyweight division. He’s a good fighter and he’s 9-0. He’s not a joke. He’s a good= striker. He’s going in about 25 pounds heavier than me. He has a longer reach than me. So, of course, I have to correct my fighting style specifically for him.’’
Do you feel your only way of winning is by a knockout?
Rogers: “I won’t say it’s my only way of winning. First and foremost that’s going to be the first thing I go for. If it comes down to us turning around on the ground, I feel safe with the Jiu-Jitsu game. I know he has a background in that, but he’s just another man. It’s just another day in the gym, except we’re going 100 percent. Hopefully, he’s not sleeping on that.’’
What weaknesses in Rogers’ game do you see?
Arlovski: “If it goes to the ground, I have a chance to do something with my fists. He’s a good fighter so I’m taking him very seriously.’’
Scott, what does a win over Nick Diaz do for you? Does it lead you to Cung Le or a rematch with Robbie Lawler?
Smith: “I would think it’s one of the two. The 185-pound weight class is the most stacked weight class in Strikeforce. But the champion is not fighting and we have to do something about that. I definitely think I am in line for one of the top fights, but I do understand timing is everything. Lawler’s last two fights were against me. I have won two fights since then. I do understand if I have to wait in line and wait my turn.’’
Are you 100 percent physically and mentally after such a grueling bout two months ago?
Smith: “I’m way healthier now than I was going into the Radach fight. I had a pretty tough knee injury and I could not even do Jiu-Jitsu or wrestling practice going in. I think part of the reason why I was so flat-footed was because I was so worried about the take down. I’m doing hardcore Jiu-Jitsu now. The knee is completely fine. This is the best shape I’ve been in for a fight and I’m healthy and ready to go.’’
Do expect Nick to stand mostly or do you think he’ll try to take it to the ground?
Smith: “If he’s smart he’s going to try to get it to the ground. That’s where he has the advantage. But I think he’s going to go out there and bang with me. I’m ready for everything. I just have to worry about what I do best and control the fight and not wait for him. If I wait for him, he’s going to pick me apart.’’
Were you surprised by the result of Nick’s fight with Frank Shamrock?
Smith: “I really did think Shamrock was going to be the bigger, stronger fighter. I remember when we had the press conference that Diaz was saying how Shamrock was too small for him and it kind of threw me for a loop. I think it was combination of Shamrock looking a little beat up and Diaz picked him apart. He fought a good fight. But I was a little surprised with the domination.’’
What are your thoughts on Benji Radach’s appeal?
Smith: “As far as the appeal, I think it’s pretty unfortunate and kind of taking away from what was such a great fight. Win or lose, it was a great fight for both of us. He looked great until he got caught in the end. I think he’s kind of taking away from that. I don’t think anything is going to happen with this appeal. He is just trying to reassure a rematch down the road. That fight was such a great fight; we need a rematch no matter what. That’s kind of unfortunate though.
“With the appeal saying he wasn’t knocked out, and I hit him with an illegal strike to the back of the head. Yes I did, but not intentionally. If a guy is lying on the ground face down and able to get hit in the back of the head then the fight should be stopped. If he’s lying face down not even able to see a blow coming, then the fight needs to be stopped. I dropped him and I knew he was hurt obviously. I went in for the kill and I didn’t know he was knocked out with his face down and I unfortunately accidentally hit him in the back of the head.’’
Are you anticipating a first-round knockout?
Smith: “I’m definitely anticipating a knockout. I’ll be going for it in the first round. (But) whether it is in the first, second, or third, it doesn’t matter to me … as long as the fight doesn’t go the distance.’’
Do you respect the middleweight champion (Cung Le) even though he is not defending his belt?
Smith: “He’s a champion. I know he’s busy and he has things going on. But we’ve got to do something. Maybe get (a fight for) an interim belt. We can’t just sit around and wait forever, especially after this card. There’s going to be some guys deserving of that title. He’s definitely the champion, he’s unbeaten, and hopefully I’ll be the champ someday to test myself against him.’’
What did you learn in your last fight?
Arlovski: “When I fought Fedor (Emelianenko), I didn’t follow my game plan. I just went through the fight. Like all my trainers told me, you have to follow your game plan.’’
A lot of people say you’re only as good as your training partners. Who have you been training with as you get ready for this fight?
Rogers: “I’ve just been training with my same old team. I’ve been good so far so hopefully it takes me to the next level with Arlovski. We’re still working on trying to build a camp to get more pro fighters. I’ve just been more concerned with speed and working with guys with a lot of speed -- especially fighting a guy like Arlovski who’s going to want to move around a lot. I guess if you’re going to play it like that, just keep in mind that I’m still undefeated and I still plan on being that way after June 6.’’
Who is it that you have your eye on in the heavyweight division?
Rogers: “I did have my mind set on that belt. I was kind of concentrating on that. So whenever Overeem heals, I’m going to go for that. Pretty much I want to fight anybody people say are better than me. I’ll fight Overeem, I’ll fight Arlovski, I’ll fight Fedor. I’ll fight whoever is up there. I’m going for all the top-10 guys in the heavyweight division.’’
It’s been a long time since (Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair) Overeem fought for Strikeforce. Are you going to draw a line with him saying you have to fight by this time or else we’re putting another title out there?
Mike Afromowitz: “The thing is, we’re expecting Alistair to return by the end of the summer, or mid-summer, so it’s really not an issue at this point. But we can revisit that if something comes up again or he is unable to defend his title by late August. As of right now, we are planning his return and he’s 100 percent confident that he’ll be back in time. The injury he sustained was unfortunate. It was some kind of infection in his hand. He was in New York a few weeks ago promoting the fight and all of a sudden that happened. It’s unfortunate; we were looking forward to having him return. But we are confident that he will be back by August.’’
What is the status of Arlovski? Is he going to continue to fight for Strikeforce or is this a one time deal?
Afromowitz: Andrei, we’d love to have him return. We can’t really go into dialogue about it right now. Andrei is a great fighter and we’re looking forward to having him fight on this card and hopefully we’ll see about the future.’’
The Rogers-Overeem fight was for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Title, correct?
Afromowitz: “Correct.’’
What is the likelihood of the winner of the June 6 Arlovski-Rogers facing Overeem?
Afromowitz: “There are a lot moving parts there depending on the winner. It’s definitely a possibility, but there are a lot of moving parts. We’d have to revisit where Andrei is at if he wins. If Brett wins and he’s healthy, it’s definitely a possibility. Right now, we’re focused on this fight and we’ll see what happens. But either fighter skill-wise could easily challenger Alistair for the title.’’
Is Alistair a fight you still want?
Rogers: “Definitely, man. He holds the best, so whenever he’s healthy I’m waiting for it.’’
How did the 180-pound catch weight come about for the Diaz-Smith fight?
Afromowitz: “It’s something both fighters agreed upon. Nick has fought at lower weights before and he’s big for the weights he’s fought at. I’m not really sure as far as he is concerned. He might be gradually moving up in weight. He’s naturally big for 170 or even a 179-pound fighter, which was (the weight for) his last fight. This could be a sign of his decision to fight at 185. As far as the fight right now, to make it happen we had to do it at 180 pounds. Scott obliged and he came off his last fight very healthy. The circumstances allowed it to be at the catch weight of 180 pounds.’’
Was it hard for you to shed those last five pounds?
Smith: “No, especially since I got the fight on such quick notice after my fight (with Radach on April 11 on SHOWTIME). I got the call about two weeks after my fight. I’m usually 205 by then but I was only 195 when I got the call. It’s going to be no problem. My last fight I weighed in at 184, so it’s only a four-pound difference. As far as the catch weight goes, I think it’s great because it leaves doors wide open. Just like Mike said, maybe potentially if Nick wins, he realizes that 185 is the weight class for him because that’s where all the great fighters are. Likewise, if I win, and I feel great at 180, maybe 170 is the weight class for me to go. I think it’s good because it leaves doors open for guys to go up or down.’’
How did the Arlovski-Rogers fight happen? Did Affliction come to you or did you go to them?
Afromowitz: “I’d say it was more of a mutual opportunity. I’ll leave it at that. The opportunity came about and it just worked out for both of us.’’
Do you ever worry that the overall mileage of your career is higher than it should be because you’ve been through so many wars?
Smith: “It’s something I think about a little. But the way I see it, I fight the way I fight because I have fun doing it. I don’t think I would have fun going in there and having a three-round snore fest. I had a terrible fight against Patrick Cote that went the distance.
“After that fight, I promised myself I’d never fight like that again and leave it all out there. If it gets to the point that my body can’t handle it anymore then it’s just time to get out of the game. But I’m not going to sit there and try to change my style of fighting to try to prolong my career.”
What do you feel is your advantage in this fight?
Smith: “My punching power. Definitely.”
Do you feel like this is almost a no-lose situation for you based on your level of opposition?
Rogers: “A no-lose situation? I don’t want to say it’s a no-lose situation because I always feel like I have to win. If it goes the other way around, will it affect it? I don’t know. I haven’t felt that other side and I’m not trying to feel that other side. I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing and just go out there and fight to the best of my ability. Hopefully that means me leaving the fight with the win.’’
If this wasn’t such a high profile fight with Nick, do you think you would have taken this fight or do you think you would have taken more time off?
Smith: “Considering I was in great shape, I would have taken this fight regardless. But, yeah, part of it is that a Diaz fight is such a high-profile fight that I can’t say no. I think I’d still have taken the fight. Any fight in the 185-pound class in Strikeforce is a high-profile fight so I think I’d have taken it regardless.’’
Roy Jones Jr. said he would like to fight for an MMA organization. Can we expect to see Roy Jones Jr. with Strikeforce?
Afromowitz: “No, not right now.”
Where do you see Strikeforce going over the next 12-26 months?
Afromowitz: “The agreement with SHOWTIME, who is a tremendous partner, is a multi-year agreement. SHOWTIME is our TV partner and we’re looking forward to really building our brand on the network. They’re an outstanding partner. We’ve done four shows with them to-date, one in 2007 and one in 2008. Then the multi-year agreement took effect on the April 11 show and this will be our third event of the year. It’s going really well right now and I think we’re moving forward with our efforts to build the brand into a prominent, national MMA brand.’’
What are your biggest challenges in expanding?
Afromowitz: In the past, there has been a lot of competition with other organizations. But the agreement with SHOWTIME has really allowed us to establish ourselves and put us in the forefront of the stage. Also, our acquisition of 42 fighters from ProElite really helped to strengthen our roster. It basically doubled our roster. We were able to bring aboard great fighters like Scott Smith, Brett Rogers and Nick Diaz. We’re very fortunate to be in the position we’re in because we have a major platform like SHOWTIME to showcase these fighters and bring our brand to millions of viewers. SHOWTIME’s platform is our home and we’ve taken the steps necessary to move forward.’’
What is the status of the contact negations with Gina (Carano) and the women’s division in Strikeforce?
Afromowitz: “Well, they’ll have a fight in August. That’s the way things are looking but we won’t know for certain until she actually signs, but we’re hoping to get that done soon.
“I think the talent is out there and the SHOWTIME brand is allowing us to build these stars. You saw from the women’s fight on our last card, that overall it was probably the best fight we put on and we had nine or 10 total fights on the card. The fight between Sarah Kaufman and Miesha Tate (May 15) was a phenomenal fight and I think there are more talented women fighters out there. It’s just a matter of building them on a national platform like SHOWTIME, and we’re fortunate to be in a position to be able to do that.
“Women’s fighting is nothing new to Strikeforce. We started out as a kickboxing event back in 1995. Some of the best fights we ever put on in that kickboxing series were between women. So, while women’s fighting may be relatively new to MMA on a national level, it’s nothing new to Strikeforce. We’re thrilled about being a pioneer of women’s fighting in MMA.’’
In the event that Nick Diaz and Jake Shields are both successful, they’re both training partners and won’t fight each other. What type of conflict does that make for you guys?
Afromowitz: “That’s really a question for them. I’m not sure if they’d fight each other. Our middleweight division is very deep right now and there are a lot of guys lining up for that title shot. It’s something that we could address down the road, but we can’t make the fight if they won’t fight each other. I know it’s an unwritten rule that the students of the Gracies won’t fight each other, so we’ll respect that.’’
Can you update us on the interest of Strikeforce in Kimbo Slice and Bobby Lashley?
Afromowitz: “We’re interested in both those fighters. Hopefully, someday soon, they may fight, but it really depends on the fighters’ interests and if we can work with them. But we’re definitely interested.’’
CLOSING COMMENTS
Arlovski: “Thank you for hearing me and I look forward to a good fight on June 6.”
Rogers: “I want to thank Strikeforce for once again allowing me to go out and prove myself to America. Hopefully I’ll be in an exciting fight as well and I’ll see you June 6.”
Smith: “Thanks to Strikeforce. They’ve been giving me absolutely great fights. Like I said, June 6 will be the biggest MMA card of the year so tune in to SHOWTIME and watch it. I promise to put on an exciting fight... -*
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Fighters participating in the conference call were Andrei Arlovski and Brett Rogers, who will face each other and Scott Smith who will be fighting Nick Diaz on the card. Strikeforce Director of Communications Mike Afromowitz also participated in the call.
The following quotes are highlights from the conference call:
OPENING COMMENTS:
Brett Rogers: “Things are great. I’m just getting ready for next week. This is definitely going to be a step up in class. Arlovski has been in the game for quite some time. He has plenty of experience. Those are the type of fighters I’m trying to fight from here on out. For me, now, it’s about building respect. I feel like I don’t have it, so fighting Arlovski is going to be a fun and challenging event on June 6.’’
Scott Smith: “I’ve been real fortunate the past year to be given great opponents to put on exciting fights. This is just one of those fights. Nick is a top pound-for-pound fighter in the world in my eyes. He is the kind of fighters I want. I don’t want to fight a C-class fighter. I’m going to use everything I got beat him.
“This is a very exciting card. I’m glad to be a part of it. This is definitely the best MMA card of the year. This will be my third fight on SHOWTIME. They do a great job of producing the fights. I’m excited to be fighting on SHOWTIME again. I’m ready to go.’’
Andre Arlovski: “I’m very excited about this fight. I’m looking forward to fighting Brett Rogers June 6.”
QUESTIONS:
What kind of fight do you expect this to be with Nick?
Smith: “I plan on keeping this fight standing. I think he is going to try to take me apart. He’s a more technical fighter than I am. He’s going to want to take this fight to the ground. His best chance of winning is getting it to the ground. I’m going to use my sprawl and brawl technique.”
What was your thought process in approaching (accepting) this fight?
Smith: “I wasn’t asking to jump in right away, but I’m definitely healthy enough to jump in and fight. I have a tendency after fights to get out of shape. When I start my training camps, half of the camp is just getting myself back into shape. Although I did get banged up in the Benji (Radach) fight, I stayed in great shape. I started training three days after it. The key to me is cardio, especially fighting a guy like Nick, who has excellent cardio. My cardio is terrific so I’d rather take the fight this close to my previous one even though it was a war. I got cut, I got stitches in my eye and lip, but that’s all healed up. You have a potential to get cut no matter what. I wasn’t going and asking for a fight but I’m glad I accepted it.’’
How do you evaluate Diaz’ striking skills?
Smith: “I think people don’t give him enough credit. He has a lot more power than what it seems. He just does a good job of picking people apart and setting up the power punches. I’m definitely not underestimating his power at all. I’ve definitely had to change up a few things in my technique to train for Nick.’’
What are your thoughts on being offered this big step up in opposition?
Rogers: “I’m at that point in my training where I have a great gym now. We have top coaches. I’m doing everything I need to do to take on top fighters. Once I got the phone call and Arlovski was set in stone, I was excited. I remember watching this guy at a younger age and thinking, ‘man I get to take on someone like= that?’ He’s an explosive guy; he likes to move around. It’s definitely going to be a challenge, but nothing I don’t think I can handle. He’s big, slimmer guy. He likes to move, he likes to be quick and move his hands. I’m kind of mellow with the fighting stance, so it’s definitely going to be me taking my time and controlling the fight.’’
Does it hold special significance because of who you’re fighting?
Rogers: “I’m not going to allow myself to get caught up in it. I’m pushing aside everything. Back in the day, I was more a fan. I’ve just been pushing that all out of my head and looking at different fighters as fighters. Arlovski is just one out of a few people I’m aiming at. I’m just going to go out there and just fight. Just do what I do. I love doing it. It’s a fun sport, it’s growing. There’s lots of money in it. I just can’t complain and I can’t wait.’’
How long have you been training full time as a fighter?
Rogers: "Pretty much (since) after the Abongo (Humphrey) fight. That was pretty much my retirement from the working world. Now, I have great coaches -- top wrestling coaches, top Muay Thai coaches, boxing, everything. My gym has some of everything.
“We haven’t really had the chance to show off yet, so hopefully Arlovski pushes me to that point where I have to do something and do something different.’’
How long have you been training for this fight -- after planning on fighting Alistair Overeem?
Rogers: “I was hoping someone would bring that up. I thought I was fighting him, but I got this one about three weeks ago. It’s cool because, the way I see it, it’s actually going to be a better fight than the one with Overeem would have been. With Overeem, we might have ended up on the ground and did all that up-and-down stuff. With Arlovski, he likes to stand and bang and I like to do that too. This is going to make for a better fight. I was putting in some time for Overeem. Then he wanted to act like a fool. He’s a pro fighter and he wanted to act like a fool. That’s on him. I’m moving onto bigger and better. I’m getting this fight. I’ll knock Arlovski out and hopefully move on to somebody better. I’m trying to get into that top-10 ranking. This isn’t going to be forever so I need to make my move like right now when I’m healthy.’’
How do you feel you did in you last fight with Humphrey and what adjustments are you making going into this fight?
Rogers: “More condition and a little more control. I definitely want to control this fight. Arlovski is a lighter heavyweight. He’s really light on his toes, so I’m definitely working on more control and conditioning.’’
Can you talk about the pressure that was involved with the Abongo fight?
Rogers: “You can pull anyone from the street and tell them you’re going to get ‘x’ amount of money, you’re definitely going to feel that pressure that you’ve got to get out there and do whatever. I went into that fight with that kind of mindset. I knew a small amount of his background and I wasn’t going to give him a small chance of doing anything. That’s when I decided just to clog whatever he wanted to do and just stay up on him.
“I just went in there, clogged his stuff and did what I needed to do. There was too much money riding on it. If I didn’t win that fight, I’d still be working. I feel like I’m still in the same situation with the Arlovski fight. If I move forward, it’s great, but if I don’t I’ve got a problem. He’s just another man. He walks around with vampire teeth; he’s supposed to be a monster. We’ll, I’m a monster too. I like to go in there and just hurt. That’s all I want to do. I don’t want to do anything else. None of that soft tacky stuff … just hurt.’’
How do you grade Arlovski?
Rogers: “I give his standup a high rank because he does like to use his hands. He can move his head really good. He has a nice right, I’ll give him that. But, as far as anything else go, there isn’t anything that would make me nervous. I’m just the type of fighter that likes to control the pace. I’m going to be the heavier fighter. I’m sure he’s going in around 250. I’m always on top of the weight. I just have to stand and bang with him. That’s all I can do, really. If he gets real careless or real crazy I might have to just check him and bang him around the ring a little bit and try to calm him down. I’m not going into this fight to try and be bouncey-bouncey with him.’’
Do you need to change your style for Rogers?
Arlovski: He’s obviously a very good striker so I think this is going to be an interesting fight for the fans. He likes to strike, I like to box.’’
Is there pressure on you to win this fight?
Arlovski: Yeah, there’s pressure because I lost my last fight. I’m just focused right now on my fight against Rogers on June 6. All my trainers are very excited for the fight.’’
Do you fear anything about Rogers?
Arlovski: Of course. This is the heavyweight division. He’s a good fighter and he’s 9-0. He’s not a joke. He’s a good= striker. He’s going in about 25 pounds heavier than me. He has a longer reach than me. So, of course, I have to correct my fighting style specifically for him.’’
Do you feel your only way of winning is by a knockout?
Rogers: “I won’t say it’s my only way of winning. First and foremost that’s going to be the first thing I go for. If it comes down to us turning around on the ground, I feel safe with the Jiu-Jitsu game. I know he has a background in that, but he’s just another man. It’s just another day in the gym, except we’re going 100 percent. Hopefully, he’s not sleeping on that.’’
What weaknesses in Rogers’ game do you see?
Arlovski: “If it goes to the ground, I have a chance to do something with my fists. He’s a good fighter so I’m taking him very seriously.’’
Scott, what does a win over Nick Diaz do for you? Does it lead you to Cung Le or a rematch with Robbie Lawler?
Smith: “I would think it’s one of the two. The 185-pound weight class is the most stacked weight class in Strikeforce. But the champion is not fighting and we have to do something about that. I definitely think I am in line for one of the top fights, but I do understand timing is everything. Lawler’s last two fights were against me. I have won two fights since then. I do understand if I have to wait in line and wait my turn.’’
Are you 100 percent physically and mentally after such a grueling bout two months ago?
Smith: “I’m way healthier now than I was going into the Radach fight. I had a pretty tough knee injury and I could not even do Jiu-Jitsu or wrestling practice going in. I think part of the reason why I was so flat-footed was because I was so worried about the take down. I’m doing hardcore Jiu-Jitsu now. The knee is completely fine. This is the best shape I’ve been in for a fight and I’m healthy and ready to go.’’
Do expect Nick to stand mostly or do you think he’ll try to take it to the ground?
Smith: “If he’s smart he’s going to try to get it to the ground. That’s where he has the advantage. But I think he’s going to go out there and bang with me. I’m ready for everything. I just have to worry about what I do best and control the fight and not wait for him. If I wait for him, he’s going to pick me apart.’’
Were you surprised by the result of Nick’s fight with Frank Shamrock?
Smith: “I really did think Shamrock was going to be the bigger, stronger fighter. I remember when we had the press conference that Diaz was saying how Shamrock was too small for him and it kind of threw me for a loop. I think it was combination of Shamrock looking a little beat up and Diaz picked him apart. He fought a good fight. But I was a little surprised with the domination.’’
What are your thoughts on Benji Radach’s appeal?
Smith: “As far as the appeal, I think it’s pretty unfortunate and kind of taking away from what was such a great fight. Win or lose, it was a great fight for both of us. He looked great until he got caught in the end. I think he’s kind of taking away from that. I don’t think anything is going to happen with this appeal. He is just trying to reassure a rematch down the road. That fight was such a great fight; we need a rematch no matter what. That’s kind of unfortunate though.
“With the appeal saying he wasn’t knocked out, and I hit him with an illegal strike to the back of the head. Yes I did, but not intentionally. If a guy is lying on the ground face down and able to get hit in the back of the head then the fight should be stopped. If he’s lying face down not even able to see a blow coming, then the fight needs to be stopped. I dropped him and I knew he was hurt obviously. I went in for the kill and I didn’t know he was knocked out with his face down and I unfortunately accidentally hit him in the back of the head.’’
Are you anticipating a first-round knockout?
Smith: “I’m definitely anticipating a knockout. I’ll be going for it in the first round. (But) whether it is in the first, second, or third, it doesn’t matter to me … as long as the fight doesn’t go the distance.’’
Do you respect the middleweight champion (Cung Le) even though he is not defending his belt?
Smith: “He’s a champion. I know he’s busy and he has things going on. But we’ve got to do something. Maybe get (a fight for) an interim belt. We can’t just sit around and wait forever, especially after this card. There’s going to be some guys deserving of that title. He’s definitely the champion, he’s unbeaten, and hopefully I’ll be the champ someday to test myself against him.’’
What did you learn in your last fight?
Arlovski: “When I fought Fedor (Emelianenko), I didn’t follow my game plan. I just went through the fight. Like all my trainers told me, you have to follow your game plan.’’
A lot of people say you’re only as good as your training partners. Who have you been training with as you get ready for this fight?
Rogers: “I’ve just been training with my same old team. I’ve been good so far so hopefully it takes me to the next level with Arlovski. We’re still working on trying to build a camp to get more pro fighters. I’ve just been more concerned with speed and working with guys with a lot of speed -- especially fighting a guy like Arlovski who’s going to want to move around a lot. I guess if you’re going to play it like that, just keep in mind that I’m still undefeated and I still plan on being that way after June 6.’’
Who is it that you have your eye on in the heavyweight division?
Rogers: “I did have my mind set on that belt. I was kind of concentrating on that. So whenever Overeem heals, I’m going to go for that. Pretty much I want to fight anybody people say are better than me. I’ll fight Overeem, I’ll fight Arlovski, I’ll fight Fedor. I’ll fight whoever is up there. I’m going for all the top-10 guys in the heavyweight division.’’
It’s been a long time since (Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion Alistair) Overeem fought for Strikeforce. Are you going to draw a line with him saying you have to fight by this time or else we’re putting another title out there?
Mike Afromowitz: “The thing is, we’re expecting Alistair to return by the end of the summer, or mid-summer, so it’s really not an issue at this point. But we can revisit that if something comes up again or he is unable to defend his title by late August. As of right now, we are planning his return and he’s 100 percent confident that he’ll be back in time. The injury he sustained was unfortunate. It was some kind of infection in his hand. He was in New York a few weeks ago promoting the fight and all of a sudden that happened. It’s unfortunate; we were looking forward to having him return. But we are confident that he will be back by August.’’
What is the status of Arlovski? Is he going to continue to fight for Strikeforce or is this a one time deal?
Afromowitz: Andrei, we’d love to have him return. We can’t really go into dialogue about it right now. Andrei is a great fighter and we’re looking forward to having him fight on this card and hopefully we’ll see about the future.’’
The Rogers-Overeem fight was for the Strikeforce Heavyweight Title, correct?
Afromowitz: “Correct.’’
What is the likelihood of the winner of the June 6 Arlovski-Rogers facing Overeem?
Afromowitz: “There are a lot moving parts there depending on the winner. It’s definitely a possibility, but there are a lot of moving parts. We’d have to revisit where Andrei is at if he wins. If Brett wins and he’s healthy, it’s definitely a possibility. Right now, we’re focused on this fight and we’ll see what happens. But either fighter skill-wise could easily challenger Alistair for the title.’’
Is Alistair a fight you still want?
Rogers: “Definitely, man. He holds the best, so whenever he’s healthy I’m waiting for it.’’
How did the 180-pound catch weight come about for the Diaz-Smith fight?
Afromowitz: “It’s something both fighters agreed upon. Nick has fought at lower weights before and he’s big for the weights he’s fought at. I’m not really sure as far as he is concerned. He might be gradually moving up in weight. He’s naturally big for 170 or even a 179-pound fighter, which was (the weight for) his last fight. This could be a sign of his decision to fight at 185. As far as the fight right now, to make it happen we had to do it at 180 pounds. Scott obliged and he came off his last fight very healthy. The circumstances allowed it to be at the catch weight of 180 pounds.’’
Was it hard for you to shed those last five pounds?
Smith: “No, especially since I got the fight on such quick notice after my fight (with Radach on April 11 on SHOWTIME). I got the call about two weeks after my fight. I’m usually 205 by then but I was only 195 when I got the call. It’s going to be no problem. My last fight I weighed in at 184, so it’s only a four-pound difference. As far as the catch weight goes, I think it’s great because it leaves doors wide open. Just like Mike said, maybe potentially if Nick wins, he realizes that 185 is the weight class for him because that’s where all the great fighters are. Likewise, if I win, and I feel great at 180, maybe 170 is the weight class for me to go. I think it’s good because it leaves doors open for guys to go up or down.’’
How did the Arlovski-Rogers fight happen? Did Affliction come to you or did you go to them?
Afromowitz: “I’d say it was more of a mutual opportunity. I’ll leave it at that. The opportunity came about and it just worked out for both of us.’’
Do you ever worry that the overall mileage of your career is higher than it should be because you’ve been through so many wars?
Smith: “It’s something I think about a little. But the way I see it, I fight the way I fight because I have fun doing it. I don’t think I would have fun going in there and having a three-round snore fest. I had a terrible fight against Patrick Cote that went the distance.
“After that fight, I promised myself I’d never fight like that again and leave it all out there. If it gets to the point that my body can’t handle it anymore then it’s just time to get out of the game. But I’m not going to sit there and try to change my style of fighting to try to prolong my career.”
What do you feel is your advantage in this fight?
Smith: “My punching power. Definitely.”
Do you feel like this is almost a no-lose situation for you based on your level of opposition?
Rogers: “A no-lose situation? I don’t want to say it’s a no-lose situation because I always feel like I have to win. If it goes the other way around, will it affect it? I don’t know. I haven’t felt that other side and I’m not trying to feel that other side. I’m just going to keep doing what I’m doing and just go out there and fight to the best of my ability. Hopefully that means me leaving the fight with the win.’’
If this wasn’t such a high profile fight with Nick, do you think you would have taken this fight or do you think you would have taken more time off?
Smith: “Considering I was in great shape, I would have taken this fight regardless. But, yeah, part of it is that a Diaz fight is such a high-profile fight that I can’t say no. I think I’d still have taken the fight. Any fight in the 185-pound class in Strikeforce is a high-profile fight so I think I’d have taken it regardless.’’
Roy Jones Jr. said he would like to fight for an MMA organization. Can we expect to see Roy Jones Jr. with Strikeforce?
Afromowitz: “No, not right now.”
Where do you see Strikeforce going over the next 12-26 months?
Afromowitz: “The agreement with SHOWTIME, who is a tremendous partner, is a multi-year agreement. SHOWTIME is our TV partner and we’re looking forward to really building our brand on the network. They’re an outstanding partner. We’ve done four shows with them to-date, one in 2007 and one in 2008. Then the multi-year agreement took effect on the April 11 show and this will be our third event of the year. It’s going really well right now and I think we’re moving forward with our efforts to build the brand into a prominent, national MMA brand.’’
What are your biggest challenges in expanding?
Afromowitz: In the past, there has been a lot of competition with other organizations. But the agreement with SHOWTIME has really allowed us to establish ourselves and put us in the forefront of the stage. Also, our acquisition of 42 fighters from ProElite really helped to strengthen our roster. It basically doubled our roster. We were able to bring aboard great fighters like Scott Smith, Brett Rogers and Nick Diaz. We’re very fortunate to be in the position we’re in because we have a major platform like SHOWTIME to showcase these fighters and bring our brand to millions of viewers. SHOWTIME’s platform is our home and we’ve taken the steps necessary to move forward.’’
What is the status of the contact negations with Gina (Carano) and the women’s division in Strikeforce?
Afromowitz: “Well, they’ll have a fight in August. That’s the way things are looking but we won’t know for certain until she actually signs, but we’re hoping to get that done soon.
“I think the talent is out there and the SHOWTIME brand is allowing us to build these stars. You saw from the women’s fight on our last card, that overall it was probably the best fight we put on and we had nine or 10 total fights on the card. The fight between Sarah Kaufman and Miesha Tate (May 15) was a phenomenal fight and I think there are more talented women fighters out there. It’s just a matter of building them on a national platform like SHOWTIME, and we’re fortunate to be in a position to be able to do that.
“Women’s fighting is nothing new to Strikeforce. We started out as a kickboxing event back in 1995. Some of the best fights we ever put on in that kickboxing series were between women. So, while women’s fighting may be relatively new to MMA on a national level, it’s nothing new to Strikeforce. We’re thrilled about being a pioneer of women’s fighting in MMA.’’
In the event that Nick Diaz and Jake Shields are both successful, they’re both training partners and won’t fight each other. What type of conflict does that make for you guys?
Afromowitz: “That’s really a question for them. I’m not sure if they’d fight each other. Our middleweight division is very deep right now and there are a lot of guys lining up for that title shot. It’s something that we could address down the road, but we can’t make the fight if they won’t fight each other. I know it’s an unwritten rule that the students of the Gracies won’t fight each other, so we’ll respect that.’’
Can you update us on the interest of Strikeforce in Kimbo Slice and Bobby Lashley?
Afromowitz: “We’re interested in both those fighters. Hopefully, someday soon, they may fight, but it really depends on the fighters’ interests and if we can work with them. But we’re definitely interested.’’
CLOSING COMMENTS
Arlovski: “Thank you for hearing me and I look forward to a good fight on June 6.”
Rogers: “I want to thank Strikeforce for once again allowing me to go out and prove myself to America. Hopefully I’ll be in an exciting fight as well and I’ll see you June 6.”
Smith: “Thanks to Strikeforce. They’ve been giving me absolutely great fights. Like I said, June 6 will be the biggest MMA card of the year so tune in to SHOWTIME and watch it. I promise to put on an exciting fight... -*
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[Blog] Frank Trigg returns to the UFC with multi-fight d...: In a move that many long time MMA fans had given up hope of ever happening, Frank "Twinkle Toes" Trigg (19-6) is returning to the UFC. An update PRO MMA (promma.info) received as one of Trigg's followers on Twitter reads, "Veteran welterweight Frank Trigg returning to the UFC, signs multi-fight deal."
Trigg who is now 37-years-old (we share the same birthday), last appeared inside the UFC Octagon at UFC 54 back in August of 2005 when he fought Georges St. Pierre. Trigg went 3-2 in the UFC. He lost two title fights against Matt Hughes and he lost to St. Pierre. It is interesting to note that all of Trigg's losses in the UFC came by way of Rear Naked Choke submissions.
Trigg's victories in the UFC came against Renato "Charuto" Verissimo at UFC 50 and Dennis Hallman at UFC 48. Another interesting note is Matt Hughes beat Trigg twice, but Dennis Hallman beat Matt Hughes twice, and Trigg beat Dennis Hallman twice.
Since his departure from the UFC, Trigg has put together an impressive 7-2 record and is on a four fight win streak. During that time he defeated the likes of Jason "Mayhem" Miller, Kazuo Misaki, Edwin Dewees, Makoto Takimoto, and Falaniko Vitale.
Although Trigg has had a few fights at middleweight recently, he will be fighting at welterweight. There is no word yet on an opponent although some have speculated a potential third match-up with Matt Hughes could be in the cards. Trigg's first fight back with the UFC is expected to take place sometime later this year.
UFC President Dana White has always stated his favorite UFC fight of all time is Frank Trigg vs. Matt Hughes 2. He said he loved the way the fight went back and forth and Hughes was hurt and was able to come from behind to win, so it is not far-fetched to think these two could meet again.
You can view our exclusive interview with Frank Trigg prior to his last fight at "Rumble in Race Town" here. If you would like to follow PRO MMA and receive all of our updates on Twitter go to www.twiiter.com/promma.
By: Jack Brat... -*
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Trigg who is now 37-years-old (we share the same birthday), last appeared inside the UFC Octagon at UFC 54 back in August of 2005 when he fought Georges St. Pierre. Trigg went 3-2 in the UFC. He lost two title fights against Matt Hughes and he lost to St. Pierre. It is interesting to note that all of Trigg's losses in the UFC came by way of Rear Naked Choke submissions.
Trigg's victories in the UFC came against Renato "Charuto" Verissimo at UFC 50 and Dennis Hallman at UFC 48. Another interesting note is Matt Hughes beat Trigg twice, but Dennis Hallman beat Matt Hughes twice, and Trigg beat Dennis Hallman twice.
Since his departure from the UFC, Trigg has put together an impressive 7-2 record and is on a four fight win streak. During that time he defeated the likes of Jason "Mayhem" Miller, Kazuo Misaki, Edwin Dewees, Makoto Takimoto, and Falaniko Vitale.
Although Trigg has had a few fights at middleweight recently, he will be fighting at welterweight. There is no word yet on an opponent although some have speculated a potential third match-up with Matt Hughes could be in the cards. Trigg's first fight back with the UFC is expected to take place sometime later this year.
UFC President Dana White has always stated his favorite UFC fight of all time is Frank Trigg vs. Matt Hughes 2. He said he loved the way the fight went back and forth and Hughes was hurt and was able to come from behind to win, so it is not far-fetched to think these two could meet again.
You can view our exclusive interview with Frank Trigg prior to his last fight at "Rumble in Race Town" here. If you would like to follow PRO MMA and receive all of our updates on Twitter go to www.twiiter.com/promma.
By: Jack Brat... -*
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[Blog] Getting it on - PRO MMA exclusive interview with "Big" John McCar...: PRO MMA (promma.info) recently had the opportunity to speak with the original mixed martial arts referee "Big" John McCarthy.
"Big" John was introduced to MMA fans at UFC 2. However, he actually came very close to fighting inside the Octagon rather than being a referee. He explained to us why he made the choice to referee as opposed to fighting.
"Big" John took us back to the early days and how he got involved with the Gracie family and the UFC. He also talked to us about his time with the L.A.P.D., how MMA has evolved, Dana White, Bully Beatdown, having his own Round 5 action figure, and much more.
PRO MMA: First off I want to say thank you for taking the time to speak with us at PRO MMA (promma.info). I have pretty much followed your career since UFC 2 and have always considered you one of the most significant figures within the sport of mixed martial arts. How are you doing and what is keeping you busy these days?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Well thank you. I'm doing good. My schedule is either being home for a day or getting to an airport to go someplace else. In the last two weeks I was in Edmonton, Canada for the MFC show, when I got back I took off for Beijing, China and did the Art of War show. I just got back from that. I'm going to Kansas City to do a teaching course for Missouri, Oklahoma, and a couple other states' athletic commissions. When I get done with that I get to come home for a day and then go back to Orlando, Florida and do something for EA Sports there and then I go to St. Louis, Missouri from there to do the Strikeforce show so I'm busy.
PRO MMA: That sounds more like a rock star than an MMA referee.
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: (Laughs) I don't know if it's a rock star but it's definitely keeping me busy and keeping me moving, so... I'm enjoying it.
PRO MMA: I would like you to think back if you would as to what was your very first introduction to martial arts of any kind and how that finally led to you meeting the Gracie family?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: The first introduction I really ever saw to martial arts was in the movies through Bruce Lee. I used to watch at the time professional wrestling and my Dad would sit there and bag on professional wrestling cause he didn't like that, but he took me to boxing and I started becoming very involved in boxing and watching certain fighters and then I saw Bruce Lee and I wanted to do what I saw on TV. But my Dad, he was my reality king, he said no you're going to do amateur wrestling, so I started wrestling and boxing. Then when I got into the L.A.P.D. I had a friend that did judo told me there was these brothers, he didn't even know their name at the time, this was back in the beginning of the 90's, he said there are these brothers from South America, they like to fight on the ground and you would like what they do, and ended up finding out it was a guy named Gracie and I went down to South Bay and ended up meeting Rorian Gracie, and then Royce and Rickson and all of them and started working out with them and that's how it all started, that's how it all happened.
PRO MMA: I had read that you originally wanted to fight in the UFC but Rorian, who was your instructor, advised against it. Is that true?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Well, he didn't advise against it like... what happened was when they were coming up with the UFC, it was actually called "War of the Worlds" at the time, and then they changed it to the UFC, and then they put out applications for fighters and I filled out an application and put it on Art Davies' desk, and Rorian said I heard you put in a thing to fight, and I said yeah, and he said you can't do that, you know, you're with us, you're with Royce, Royce is fighting. I said I can totally understand that, I don't want to fight against Royce but when there's a chance I would like to do it. And he said when Royce is done we'll talk about you doing it. And I said ok, and that was all it was. And after UFC 1, which I was at, I was there as a sparring partner for Royce, they asked me to referee and did me the greatest favor of my life by getting me to referee because it turned into being something I was able to continue doing for many years and I would have been done as a fighter long ago.
PRO MMA: Had you refereed MMA fights prior to UFC 2?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Not what would be called an MMA fight, no I had not.
PRO MMA: Have you ever had any professional or amateur MMA fights?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I had about five amateur fights. No professional. But back then nobody knew anything. It was from about UFC 8 or UFC 10 where you started getting these really good athletes coming in that really changed the sport.
PRO MMA: Something I noticed about you over the years is that it seems your demeanor inside the cage has changed. In the early days you had a very forceful and authoritative demeanor where you wore somewhat of a scowl on your face. You had that look like you wanted to be in there yourself or if one of the fighters got out of line you would have no problem kicking their ass. But as time went on it seems your demeanor softened and you seem more relaxed in there now. Do you know what I’m talking about?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: (Laughs) You know what, I have people all the time tell me, "You look so mean" or "It looks like you're mad in there." I'm not mad, I was never mad or mean or anything like that and never had that intention. I was just very, I was intense about doing the best job I could do. That's what was important to me. There was things I did in the beginning that I softened because I didn't want to hurt people. In the beginning when I was able to stop fights there were a couple fights that happened, Tank Abbott vs. John Matua. John Matua was out and Tank was hitting him and I went in there and forcefully grabbed him and yanked him off of him, and the people who owned it at the time, SEG, the liked that. They said, "Hey, do that. We want, we've gotta have that." And so I started kind of bullying into guys. But I was going to hurt someone along the way and I realized it, so I stopped trying to do that as much and started instead of taking out the guy who is winning, it's like you're gonna win the fight but you're gonna get screwed over by the guy cause the referee is gonna nail you getting you off the guy, I started trying to change it and get in between the fighters and just put myself in the position so the guy who was winning couldn't hurt the person he was fighting any more. So yeah I tried to change things and you evolve as time goes on you do things that try to make you better at what you do. Have I evolved? Yeah, I've evolved, or at least I have.
PRO MMA: You were a police officer with the LAPD for many years. How old were you when you became a policeman?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: When I first became a police officer? 22-years-old.
PRO MMA: How long did you spend with the L.A.P.D.?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Almost twenty-three years, Twenty-two years and nine months.
PRO MMA: Your Dad was a police officer too, right?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Yes, he was.
PRO MMA: Is that pretty much what made you interested in it as well?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Yeah. Truthfully it was, he looked at me and said, "You're walking a fine line. You better figure out what you want cause you're going to end up in jail." I was doing some dumb things and getting in fights and not being smart about some things so it was, what side do you want to be on, and I would rather be putting people in jail than getting put in jail, so that's why I ended up going that way.
PRO MMA: What was your position with the LAPD?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I was a training officer. I worked all kinds of different assignments, from vice assignments in Hollywood to, I worked gangs for five years and ended up the last ten years of my career I was an instructor at the Academy doing tactics and defensive tactics.
PRO MMA: Were you ever on the TV show "Cops?"
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, I was never on Cops, thank God.
PRO MMA: When you look back from how the sport of MMA began and when you were in there refereeing those early UFC’s, did you ever have any idea that it would be where it is today?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, I didn't. At first when the whole concept came out and Rorian was putting it together, I loved the concept because I believed in the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and I thought that people were going to like it, and it was unique. And really a whole lot of people didn't catch on that fast before it happened, and then when it happened everybody jumped on and thought it was cool, and then the political pressure happened and they tried to kill it. It went through a lot of hard times and you tried to work through those and do the best that you can but never thought it was going to be enormous sport or entity that it is now.
PRO MMA: Did you have any conceptualization that you as a referee would one day have your own action figure?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Are you kidding me? Come on, no. Never. Never ever thought anything like that. MMA has given me a life that I can never complain about.
PRO MMA: I wanted to talk a little bit about your Round 5 action figure. Is that the proper terminology, "action figure"?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: That's it, it is an action figure, not a "doll". (Laughs) I don't know how much action I bring to it but it's an action figure.
PRO MMA: Tell me a little bit about your Round 5 action figure and how that came about?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: The Round 5 people contacted me through Randy Couture. Randy Couture had association, he started doing the Round 5 thing with the Lau brothers and they contacted me through him and I talked to them and they said they would like to do this action figure. I said, "Absolutely." And they've been fantastic to work with from the very beginning.
PRO MMA: What process did you have to go through as a model for them to create it?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: In the beginning that have you send pictures and have you take 360 degree pictures of you and they will ask you to be in a certain pose as if you were starting a fight. They wanted pictures of your tattoos so they could put it on the clothing that you wear. Everything that was associated with you and the sport they wanted to have some type of documentation and photo so they could start to create the doll, and for awhile you didn't see anything, but then they started sending information and photos of the figurine as they were starting to do it, what you thought of it, if there were any changes you thought there should be made in it. And they gave you that freedom to actually have an input on what was going to happen with it and how it was going to look and that was really neat. It wasn't just, this is what you're going to look like and I don't care if you like it or not and you're stuck with it. They were very good about giving you some input on what was going to happen with it.
PRO MMA: Do you have children of the age where they can play with daddy as an action figure?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, all my children are older. But they tell me they're gonna beat up on it. so... (Laughs)
PRO MMA: I hear that UFC is coming to the Staples Center in August. Could we see Big John back in the Octagon?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I doubt it. Dana White doesn't want me working UFC so I'm sure that he'll put something in saying he doesn't want me and that's fine.
PRO MMA: Can they do that? Do they have that option of saying who they do or don't want in there?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: They'll tell you they don't, but yes they do. Yeah. They have that ability, and that's fine.
PRO MMA: When is the last time you spoke with Dana White?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I haven't spoke to Dana since I left the UFC.
PRO MMA: Loretta Hunt is helping you write your book is that correct? Is it out yet?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Yeah, she's going to be writing the book. They just sold the book so we're working on it right now, but it's not out yet.
PRO MMA: Any due date on the book?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I believe it's going to be out Winter of 2010.
PRO MMA: What do you think about the recent incident with Dana White saying those things about her?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I think it's improper. It's wrong. If you don't agree with the story, that's OK. But to verbally attack somebody that way is childish. It's counter-productive to the sport and it's counter-productive to the image of the UFC. Dana has done a great job of helping the UFC become the brand that it is and he's very good for the UFC. I would never say otherwise. But there's certain things he'll do at times and it's just because of his temperament, his passion, the way he goes about things, sometimes is not the right way of doing things and people say it's Dana being Dana and it is, but Dana has to be smart about things like everyone because he is not in charge of a quarter-million dollar company, he's in charge of a one billion dollar company and he has an impact on the entire sport, and Dana needs to conduct himself in a professional manner.
PRO MMA: I just didn't understand the purpose of it. Why put it out there for everybody to see?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: That's the whole part that's kind of funny. He wanted it out there. It's not like he was having a conversation with you and someone off to the side was filming it. He wanted it out there and he put it out there. And in the end I'm sure he looks at it and says it was a bad decision. But what's done is done and he's going to have to deal with the things that occur off of it. Hopefully it goes by and in the end no one thinks about it any more, but it's not good for the sport because Dana is the face of the UFC and a lot of people associate the UFC with the sport, and they put a label on the entire sport with things that are being said in that video.
PRO MMA: Are you involved with WAMMA?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, not at all.
PRO MMA: Never were?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, never was.
PRO MMA: Do you have any idea what's going on there with that group?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I have no idea at all, have no contact with them, and don't know anything.
PRO MMA: Have you been doing any commentating recently Big John?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, dang I guess the last time I commentated was back with Affliction, long ago.
PRO MMA: Do you want to do more of that?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Nope. I really don't. I like the refereeing, that's what I like doing. There's no point in doing something that is OK to do. Do what you love, if you don't make as much money at it, so what.
PRO MMA: What does the rest of 2009 hold for Big John McCarthy?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Well the rest of 2009 you know, is just staying busy. I'll be teaching my C.O.M.M.A.N.D. course for the certification of officials in MMA. I'll be doing that for the Association of Boxing Commissions coming up in July and just continue to referee fights. When someone wants me all that got to do is contact me and I'll come out and do the show.
PRO MMA: If people are interested in your referee certification classes how can they find out more?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: If someone is interested in taking either the judging or referee course they can go to my website at www.mmareferee.com. That will send them directly to the command course. Or they can go to my website for they gym which is www.bjmuta.com, there's a C.O.M.M.A.N.D. link they can touch on that will send them to it. That will give them a lot of information on the course, what it's about, how long it is, and it will give them a way to contact if they're interested.
PRO MMA: Are they going to have a second season of "Bully Beatdown," have you heard?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Yeah, they just contacted me, I was in China. They left me a voice mail saying hey we're getting picked up for another season and we want you to come and do this we need to talk to you, so I have to get back to them and talk to them about it but yeah they are going to have a second season.
PRO MMA: Thank you for your time Big John. You have a great rest of the year and hopefully we can talk again soon.
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Sounds good. Thank you.
By: Jack Brat... -*
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"Big" John was introduced to MMA fans at UFC 2. However, he actually came very close to fighting inside the Octagon rather than being a referee. He explained to us why he made the choice to referee as opposed to fighting.
"Big" John took us back to the early days and how he got involved with the Gracie family and the UFC. He also talked to us about his time with the L.A.P.D., how MMA has evolved, Dana White, Bully Beatdown, having his own Round 5 action figure, and much more.
PRO MMA: First off I want to say thank you for taking the time to speak with us at PRO MMA (promma.info). I have pretty much followed your career since UFC 2 and have always considered you one of the most significant figures within the sport of mixed martial arts. How are you doing and what is keeping you busy these days?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Well thank you. I'm doing good. My schedule is either being home for a day or getting to an airport to go someplace else. In the last two weeks I was in Edmonton, Canada for the MFC show, when I got back I took off for Beijing, China and did the Art of War show. I just got back from that. I'm going to Kansas City to do a teaching course for Missouri, Oklahoma, and a couple other states' athletic commissions. When I get done with that I get to come home for a day and then go back to Orlando, Florida and do something for EA Sports there and then I go to St. Louis, Missouri from there to do the Strikeforce show so I'm busy.
PRO MMA: That sounds more like a rock star than an MMA referee.
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: (Laughs) I don't know if it's a rock star but it's definitely keeping me busy and keeping me moving, so... I'm enjoying it.
PRO MMA: I would like you to think back if you would as to what was your very first introduction to martial arts of any kind and how that finally led to you meeting the Gracie family?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: The first introduction I really ever saw to martial arts was in the movies through Bruce Lee. I used to watch at the time professional wrestling and my Dad would sit there and bag on professional wrestling cause he didn't like that, but he took me to boxing and I started becoming very involved in boxing and watching certain fighters and then I saw Bruce Lee and I wanted to do what I saw on TV. But my Dad, he was my reality king, he said no you're going to do amateur wrestling, so I started wrestling and boxing. Then when I got into the L.A.P.D. I had a friend that did judo told me there was these brothers, he didn't even know their name at the time, this was back in the beginning of the 90's, he said there are these brothers from South America, they like to fight on the ground and you would like what they do, and ended up finding out it was a guy named Gracie and I went down to South Bay and ended up meeting Rorian Gracie, and then Royce and Rickson and all of them and started working out with them and that's how it all started, that's how it all happened.
PRO MMA: I had read that you originally wanted to fight in the UFC but Rorian, who was your instructor, advised against it. Is that true?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Well, he didn't advise against it like... what happened was when they were coming up with the UFC, it was actually called "War of the Worlds" at the time, and then they changed it to the UFC, and then they put out applications for fighters and I filled out an application and put it on Art Davies' desk, and Rorian said I heard you put in a thing to fight, and I said yeah, and he said you can't do that, you know, you're with us, you're with Royce, Royce is fighting. I said I can totally understand that, I don't want to fight against Royce but when there's a chance I would like to do it. And he said when Royce is done we'll talk about you doing it. And I said ok, and that was all it was. And after UFC 1, which I was at, I was there as a sparring partner for Royce, they asked me to referee and did me the greatest favor of my life by getting me to referee because it turned into being something I was able to continue doing for many years and I would have been done as a fighter long ago.
PRO MMA: Had you refereed MMA fights prior to UFC 2?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Not what would be called an MMA fight, no I had not.
PRO MMA: Have you ever had any professional or amateur MMA fights?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I had about five amateur fights. No professional. But back then nobody knew anything. It was from about UFC 8 or UFC 10 where you started getting these really good athletes coming in that really changed the sport.
PRO MMA: Something I noticed about you over the years is that it seems your demeanor inside the cage has changed. In the early days you had a very forceful and authoritative demeanor where you wore somewhat of a scowl on your face. You had that look like you wanted to be in there yourself or if one of the fighters got out of line you would have no problem kicking their ass. But as time went on it seems your demeanor softened and you seem more relaxed in there now. Do you know what I’m talking about?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: (Laughs) You know what, I have people all the time tell me, "You look so mean" or "It looks like you're mad in there." I'm not mad, I was never mad or mean or anything like that and never had that intention. I was just very, I was intense about doing the best job I could do. That's what was important to me. There was things I did in the beginning that I softened because I didn't want to hurt people. In the beginning when I was able to stop fights there were a couple fights that happened, Tank Abbott vs. John Matua. John Matua was out and Tank was hitting him and I went in there and forcefully grabbed him and yanked him off of him, and the people who owned it at the time, SEG, the liked that. They said, "Hey, do that. We want, we've gotta have that." And so I started kind of bullying into guys. But I was going to hurt someone along the way and I realized it, so I stopped trying to do that as much and started instead of taking out the guy who is winning, it's like you're gonna win the fight but you're gonna get screwed over by the guy cause the referee is gonna nail you getting you off the guy, I started trying to change it and get in between the fighters and just put myself in the position so the guy who was winning couldn't hurt the person he was fighting any more. So yeah I tried to change things and you evolve as time goes on you do things that try to make you better at what you do. Have I evolved? Yeah, I've evolved, or at least I have.
PRO MMA: You were a police officer with the LAPD for many years. How old were you when you became a policeman?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: When I first became a police officer? 22-years-old.
PRO MMA: How long did you spend with the L.A.P.D.?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Almost twenty-three years, Twenty-two years and nine months.
PRO MMA: Your Dad was a police officer too, right?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Yes, he was.
PRO MMA: Is that pretty much what made you interested in it as well?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Yeah. Truthfully it was, he looked at me and said, "You're walking a fine line. You better figure out what you want cause you're going to end up in jail." I was doing some dumb things and getting in fights and not being smart about some things so it was, what side do you want to be on, and I would rather be putting people in jail than getting put in jail, so that's why I ended up going that way.
PRO MMA: What was your position with the LAPD?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I was a training officer. I worked all kinds of different assignments, from vice assignments in Hollywood to, I worked gangs for five years and ended up the last ten years of my career I was an instructor at the Academy doing tactics and defensive tactics.
PRO MMA: Were you ever on the TV show "Cops?"
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, I was never on Cops, thank God.
PRO MMA: When you look back from how the sport of MMA began and when you were in there refereeing those early UFC’s, did you ever have any idea that it would be where it is today?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, I didn't. At first when the whole concept came out and Rorian was putting it together, I loved the concept because I believed in the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and I thought that people were going to like it, and it was unique. And really a whole lot of people didn't catch on that fast before it happened, and then when it happened everybody jumped on and thought it was cool, and then the political pressure happened and they tried to kill it. It went through a lot of hard times and you tried to work through those and do the best that you can but never thought it was going to be enormous sport or entity that it is now.
PRO MMA: Did you have any conceptualization that you as a referee would one day have your own action figure?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Are you kidding me? Come on, no. Never. Never ever thought anything like that. MMA has given me a life that I can never complain about.
PRO MMA: I wanted to talk a little bit about your Round 5 action figure. Is that the proper terminology, "action figure"?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: That's it, it is an action figure, not a "doll". (Laughs) I don't know how much action I bring to it but it's an action figure.
PRO MMA: Tell me a little bit about your Round 5 action figure and how that came about?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: The Round 5 people contacted me through Randy Couture. Randy Couture had association, he started doing the Round 5 thing with the Lau brothers and they contacted me through him and I talked to them and they said they would like to do this action figure. I said, "Absolutely." And they've been fantastic to work with from the very beginning.
PRO MMA: What process did you have to go through as a model for them to create it?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: In the beginning that have you send pictures and have you take 360 degree pictures of you and they will ask you to be in a certain pose as if you were starting a fight. They wanted pictures of your tattoos so they could put it on the clothing that you wear. Everything that was associated with you and the sport they wanted to have some type of documentation and photo so they could start to create the doll, and for awhile you didn't see anything, but then they started sending information and photos of the figurine as they were starting to do it, what you thought of it, if there were any changes you thought there should be made in it. And they gave you that freedom to actually have an input on what was going to happen with it and how it was going to look and that was really neat. It wasn't just, this is what you're going to look like and I don't care if you like it or not and you're stuck with it. They were very good about giving you some input on what was going to happen with it.
PRO MMA: Do you have children of the age where they can play with daddy as an action figure?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, all my children are older. But they tell me they're gonna beat up on it. so... (Laughs)
PRO MMA: I hear that UFC is coming to the Staples Center in August. Could we see Big John back in the Octagon?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I doubt it. Dana White doesn't want me working UFC so I'm sure that he'll put something in saying he doesn't want me and that's fine.
PRO MMA: Can they do that? Do they have that option of saying who they do or don't want in there?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: They'll tell you they don't, but yes they do. Yeah. They have that ability, and that's fine.
PRO MMA: When is the last time you spoke with Dana White?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I haven't spoke to Dana since I left the UFC.
PRO MMA: Loretta Hunt is helping you write your book is that correct? Is it out yet?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Yeah, she's going to be writing the book. They just sold the book so we're working on it right now, but it's not out yet.
PRO MMA: Any due date on the book?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I believe it's going to be out Winter of 2010.
PRO MMA: What do you think about the recent incident with Dana White saying those things about her?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I think it's improper. It's wrong. If you don't agree with the story, that's OK. But to verbally attack somebody that way is childish. It's counter-productive to the sport and it's counter-productive to the image of the UFC. Dana has done a great job of helping the UFC become the brand that it is and he's very good for the UFC. I would never say otherwise. But there's certain things he'll do at times and it's just because of his temperament, his passion, the way he goes about things, sometimes is not the right way of doing things and people say it's Dana being Dana and it is, but Dana has to be smart about things like everyone because he is not in charge of a quarter-million dollar company, he's in charge of a one billion dollar company and he has an impact on the entire sport, and Dana needs to conduct himself in a professional manner.
PRO MMA: I just didn't understand the purpose of it. Why put it out there for everybody to see?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: That's the whole part that's kind of funny. He wanted it out there. It's not like he was having a conversation with you and someone off to the side was filming it. He wanted it out there and he put it out there. And in the end I'm sure he looks at it and says it was a bad decision. But what's done is done and he's going to have to deal with the things that occur off of it. Hopefully it goes by and in the end no one thinks about it any more, but it's not good for the sport because Dana is the face of the UFC and a lot of people associate the UFC with the sport, and they put a label on the entire sport with things that are being said in that video.
PRO MMA: Are you involved with WAMMA?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, not at all.
PRO MMA: Never were?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, never was.
PRO MMA: Do you have any idea what's going on there with that group?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I have no idea at all, have no contact with them, and don't know anything.
PRO MMA: Have you been doing any commentating recently Big John?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, dang I guess the last time I commentated was back with Affliction, long ago.
PRO MMA: Do you want to do more of that?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Nope. I really don't. I like the refereeing, that's what I like doing. There's no point in doing something that is OK to do. Do what you love, if you don't make as much money at it, so what.
PRO MMA: What does the rest of 2009 hold for Big John McCarthy?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Well the rest of 2009 you know, is just staying busy. I'll be teaching my C.O.M.M.A.N.D. course for the certification of officials in MMA. I'll be doing that for the Association of Boxing Commissions coming up in July and just continue to referee fights. When someone wants me all that got to do is contact me and I'll come out and do the show.
PRO MMA: If people are interested in your referee certification classes how can they find out more?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: If someone is interested in taking either the judging or referee course they can go to my website at www.mmareferee.com. That will send them directly to the command course. Or they can go to my website for they gym which is www.bjmuta.com, there's a C.O.M.M.A.N.D. link they can touch on that will send them to it. That will give them a lot of information on the course, what it's about, how long it is, and it will give them a way to contact if they're interested.
PRO MMA: Are they going to have a second season of "Bully Beatdown," have you heard?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Yeah, they just contacted me, I was in China. They left me a voice mail saying hey we're getting picked up for another season and we want you to come and do this we need to talk to you, so I have to get back to them and talk to them about it but yeah they are going to have a second season.
PRO MMA: Thank you for your time Big John. You have a great rest of the year and hopefully we can talk again soon.
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Sounds good. Thank you.
By: Jack Brat... -*
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[Blog] Getting it on - PRO MMA exclusive interview with "Big" John McCar...: PRO MMA (promma.info) recently had the opportunity to speak with the original mixed martial arts referee "Big" John McCarthy.
"Big" John was introduced to MMA fans at UFC 2. However, he actually came very close to fighting inside the Octagon rather than being a referee. He explained to us why he made the choice to referee as opposed to fighting.
"Big" John took us back to the early days and how he got involved with the Gracie family and the UFC. He also talked to us about his time with the L.A.P.D., how MMA has evolved, Dana White, Bully Beatdown, having his own Round 5 action figure, and much more.
PRO MMA: First off I want to say thank you for taking the time to speak with us at PRO MMA (promma.info). I have pretty much followed your career since UFC 2 and have always considered you one of the most significant figures within the sport of mixed martial arts. How are you doing and what is keeping you busy these days?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Well thank you. I'm doing good. My schedule is either being home for a day or getting to an airport to go someplace else. In the last two weeks I was in Edmonton, Canada for the MFC show, when I got back I took off for Beijing, China and did the Art of War show. I just got back from that. I'm going to Kansas City to do a teaching course for Missouri, Oklahoma, and a couple other states' athletic commissions. When I get done with that I get to come home for a day and then go back to Orlando, Florida and do something for EA Sports there and then I go to St. Louis, Missouri from there to do the Strikeforce show so I'm busy.
PRO MMA: That sounds more like a rock star than an MMA referee.
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: (Laughs) I don't know if it's a rock star but it's definitely keeping me busy and keeping me moving, so... I'm enjoying it.
PRO MMA: I would like you to think back if you would as to what was your very first introduction to martial arts of any kind and how that finally led to you meeting the Gracie family?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: The first introduction I really ever saw to martial arts was in the movies through Bruce Lee. I used to watch at the time professional wrestling and my Dad would sit there and bag on professional wrestling cause he didn't like that, but he took me to boxing and I started becoming very involved in boxing and watching certain fighters and then I saw Bruce Lee and I wanted to do what I saw on TV. But my Dad, he was my reality king, he said no you're going to do amateur wrestling, so I started wrestling and boxing. Then when I got into the L.A.P.D. I had a friend that did judo told me there was these brothers, he didn't even know their name at the time, this was back in the beginning of the 90's, he said there are these brothers from South America, they like to fight on the ground and you would like what they do, and ended up finding out it was a guy named Gracie and I went down to South Bay and ended up meeting Rorian Gracie, and then Royce and Rickson and all of them and started working out with them and that's how it all started, that's how it all happened.
PRO MMA: I had read that you originally wanted to fight in the UFC but Rorian, who was your instructor, advised against it. Is that true?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Well, he didn't advise against it like... what happened was when they were coming up with the UFC, it was actually called "War of the Worlds" at the time, and then they changed it to the UFC, and then they put out applications for fighters and I filled out an application and put it on Art Davies' desk, and Rorian said I heard you put in a thing to fight, and I said yeah, and he said you can't do that, you know, you're with us, you're with Royce, Royce is fighting. I said I can totally understand that, I don't want to fight against Royce but when there's a chance I would like to do it. And he said when Royce is done we'll talk about you doing it. And I said ok, and that was all it was. And after UFC 1, which I was at, I was there as a sparring partner for Royce, they asked me to referee and did me the greatest favor of my life by getting me to referee because it turned into being something I was able to continue doing for many years and I would have been done as a fighter long ago.
PRO MMA: Had you refereed MMA fights prior to UFC 2?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Not what would be called an MMA fight, no I had not.
PRO MMA: Have you ever had any professional or amateur MMA fights?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I had about five amateur fights. No professional. But back then nobody knew anything. It was from about UFC 8 or UFC 10 where you started getting these really good athletes coming in that really changed the sport.
PRO MMA: Something I noticed about you over the years is that it seems your demeanor inside the cage has changed. In the early days you had a very forceful and authoritative demeanor where you wore somewhat of a scowl on your face. You had that look like you wanted to be in there yourself or if one of the fighters got out of line you would have no problem kicking their ass. But as time went on it seems your demeanor softened and you seem more relaxed in there now. Do you know what I’m talking about?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: (Laughs) You know what, I have people all the time tell me, "You look so mean" or "It looks like you're mad in there." I'm not mad, I was never mad or mean or anything like that and never had that intention. I was just very, I was intense about doing the best job I could do. That's what was important to me. There was things I did in the beginning that I softened because I didn't want to hurt people. In the beginning when I was able to stop fights there were a couple fights that happened, Tank Abbott vs. John Matua. John Matua was out and Tank was hitting him and I went in there and forcefully grabbed him and yanked him off of him, and the people who owned it at the time, SEG, the liked that. They said, "Hey, do that. We want, we've gotta have that." And so I started kind of bullying into guys. But I was going to hurt someone along the way and I realized it, so I stopped trying to do that as much and started instead of taking out the guy who is winning, it's like you're gonna win the fight but you're gonna get screwed over by the guy cause the referee is gonna nail you getting you off the guy, I started trying to change it and get in between the fighters and just put myself in the position so the guy who was winning couldn't hurt the person he was fighting any more. So yeah I tried to change things and you evolve as time goes on you do things that try to make you better at what you do. Have I evolved? Yeah, I've evolved, or at least I have.
PRO MMA: You were a police officer with the LAPD for many years. How old were you when you became a policeman?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: When I first became a police officer? 22-years-old.
PRO MMA: How long did you spend with the L.A.P.D.?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Almost twenty-three years, Twenty-two years and nine months.
PRO MMA: Your Dad was a police officer too, right?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Yes, he was.
PRO MMA: Is that pretty much what made you interested in it as well?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Yeah. Truthfully it was, he looked at me and said, "You're walking a fine line. You better figure out what you want cause you're going to end up in jail." I was doing some dumb things and getting in fights and not being smart about some things so it was, what side do you want to be on, and I would rather be putting people in jail than getting put in jail, so that's why I ended up going that way.
PRO MMA: What was your position with the LAPD?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I was a training officer. I worked all kinds of different assignments, from vice assignments in Hollywood to, I worked gangs for five years and ended up the last ten years of my career I was an instructor at the Academy doing tactics and defensive tactics.
PRO MMA: Were you ever on the TV show "Cops?"
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, I was never on Cops, thank God.
PRO MMA: When you look back from how the sport of MMA began and when you were in there refereeing those early UFC’s, did you ever have any idea that it would be where it is today?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, I didn't. At first when the whole concept came out and Rorian was putting it together, I loved the concept because I believed in the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and I thought that people were going to like it, and it was unique. And really a whole lot of people didn't catch on that fast before it happened, and then when it happened everybody jumped on and thought it was cool, and then the political pressure happened and they tried to kill it. It went through a lot of hard times and you tried to work through those and do the best that you can but never thought it was going to be enormous sport or entity that it is now.
PRO MMA: Did you have any conceptualization that you as a referee would one day have your own action figure?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Are you kidding me? Come on, no. Never. Never ever thought anything like that. MMA has given me a life that I can never complain about.
PRO MMA: I wanted to talk a little bit about your Round 5 action figure. Is that the proper terminology, "action figure"?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: That's it, it is an action figure, not a "doll". (Laughs) I don't know how much action I bring to it but it's an action figure.
PRO MMA: Tell me a little bit about your Round 5 action figure and how that came about?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: The Round 5 people contacted me through Randy Couture. Randy Couture had association, he started doing the Round 5 thing with the Lau brothers and they contacted me through him and I talked to them and they said they would like to do this action figure. I said, "Absolutely." And they've been fantastic to work with from the very beginning.
PRO MMA: What process did you have to go through as a model for them to create it?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: In the beginning that have you send pictures and have you take 360 degree pictures of you and they will ask you to be in a certain pose as if you were starting a fight. They wanted pictures of your tattoos so they could put it on the clothing that you wear. Everything that was associated with you and the sport they wanted to have some type of documentation and photo so they could start to create the doll, and for awhile you didn't see anything, but then they started sending information and photos of the figurine as they were starting to do it, what you thought of it, if there were any changes you thought there should be made in it. And they gave you that freedom to actually have an input on what was going to happen with it and how it was going to look and that was really neat. It wasn't just, this is what you're going to look like and I don't care if you like it or not and you're stuck with it. They were very good about giving you some input on what was going to happen with it.
PRO MMA: Do you have children of the age where they can play with daddy as an action figure?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, all my children are older. But they tell me they're gonna beat up on it. so... (Laughs)
PRO MMA: I hear that UFC is coming to the Staples Center in August. Could we see Big John back in the Octagon?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I doubt it. Dana White doesn't want me working UFC so I'm sure that he'll put something in saying he doesn't want me and that's fine.
PRO MMA: Can they do that? Do they have that option of saying who they do or don't want in there?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: They'll tell you they don't, but yes they do. Yeah. They have that ability, and that's fine.
PRO MMA: When is the last time you spoke with Dana White?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I haven't spoke to Dana since I left the UFC.
PRO MMA: Loretta Hunt is helping you write your book is that correct? Is it out yet?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Yeah, she's going to be writing the book. They just sold the book so we're working on it right now, but it's not out yet.
PRO MMA: Any due date on the book?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I believe it's going to be out Winter of 2010.
PRO MMA: What do you think about the recent incident with Dana White saying those things about her?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I think it's improper. It's wrong. If you don't agree with the story, that's OK. But to verbally attack somebody that way is childish. It's counter-productive to the sport and it's counter-productive to the image of the UFC. Dana has done a great job of helping the UFC become the brand that it is and he's very good for the UFC. I would never say otherwise. But there's certain things he'll do at times and it's just because of his temperament, his passion, the way he goes about things, sometimes is not the right way of doing things and people say it's Dana being Dana and it is, but Dana has to be smart about things like everyone because he is not in charge of a quarter-million dollar company, he's in charge of a one billion dollar company and he has an impact on the entire sport, and Dana needs to conduct himself in a professional manner.
PRO MMA: I just didn't understand the purpose of it. Why put it out there for everybody to see?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: That's the whole part that's kind of funny. He wanted it out there. It's not like he was having a conversation with you and someone off to the side was filming it. He wanted it out there and he put it out there. And in the end I'm sure he looks at it and says it was a bad decision. But what's done is done and he's going to have to deal with the things that occur off of it. Hopefully it goes by and in the end no one thinks about it any more, but it's not good for the sport because Dana is the face of the UFC and a lot of people associate the UFC with the sport, and they put a label on the entire sport with things that are being said in that video.
PRO MMA: Are you involved with WAMMA?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, not at all.
PRO MMA: Never were?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, never was.
PRO MMA: Do you have any idea what's going on there with that group?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I have no idea at all, have no contact with them, and don't know anything.
PRO MMA: Have you been doing any commentating recently Big John?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, dang I guess the last time I commentated was back with Affliction, long ago.
PRO MMA: Do you want to do more of that?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Nope. I really don't. I like the refereeing, that's what I like doing. There's no point in doing something that is OK to do. Do what you love, if you don't make as much money at it, so what.
PRO MMA: What does the rest of 2009 hold for Big John McCarthy?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Well the rest of 2009 you know, is just staying busy. I'll be teaching my C.O.M.M.A.N.D. course for the certification of officials in MMA. I'll be doing that for the Association of Boxing Commissions coming up in July and just continue to referee fights. When someone wants me all that got to do is contact me and I'll come out and do the show.
PRO MMA: If people are interested in your referee certification classes how can they find out more?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: If someone is interested in taking either the judging or referee course they can go to my website at www.mmareferee.com. That will send them directly to the command course. Or they can go to my website for they gym which is www.bjmuta.com, there's a C.O.M.M.A.N.D. link they can touch on that will send them to it. That will give them a lot of information on the course, what it's about, how long it is, and it will give them a way to contact if they're interested.
PRO MMA: Are they going to have a second season of "Bully Beatdown," have you heard?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Yeah, they just contacted me, I was in China. They left me a voice mail saying hey we're getting picked up for another season and we want you to come and do this we need to talk to you, so I have to get back to them and talk to them about it but yeah they are going to have a second season.
PRO MMA: Thank you for your time Big John. You have a great rest of the year and hopefully we can talk again soon.
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Sounds good. Thank you.
By: Jack Brat... -*
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Apache/2.2.9 (Fedora) Server at www.s3nt.com Port 80
"Big" John was introduced to MMA fans at UFC 2. However, he actually came very close to fighting inside the Octagon rather than being a referee. He explained to us why he made the choice to referee as opposed to fighting.
"Big" John took us back to the early days and how he got involved with the Gracie family and the UFC. He also talked to us about his time with the L.A.P.D., how MMA has evolved, Dana White, Bully Beatdown, having his own Round 5 action figure, and much more.
PRO MMA: First off I want to say thank you for taking the time to speak with us at PRO MMA (promma.info). I have pretty much followed your career since UFC 2 and have always considered you one of the most significant figures within the sport of mixed martial arts. How are you doing and what is keeping you busy these days?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Well thank you. I'm doing good. My schedule is either being home for a day or getting to an airport to go someplace else. In the last two weeks I was in Edmonton, Canada for the MFC show, when I got back I took off for Beijing, China and did the Art of War show. I just got back from that. I'm going to Kansas City to do a teaching course for Missouri, Oklahoma, and a couple other states' athletic commissions. When I get done with that I get to come home for a day and then go back to Orlando, Florida and do something for EA Sports there and then I go to St. Louis, Missouri from there to do the Strikeforce show so I'm busy.
PRO MMA: That sounds more like a rock star than an MMA referee.
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: (Laughs) I don't know if it's a rock star but it's definitely keeping me busy and keeping me moving, so... I'm enjoying it.
PRO MMA: I would like you to think back if you would as to what was your very first introduction to martial arts of any kind and how that finally led to you meeting the Gracie family?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: The first introduction I really ever saw to martial arts was in the movies through Bruce Lee. I used to watch at the time professional wrestling and my Dad would sit there and bag on professional wrestling cause he didn't like that, but he took me to boxing and I started becoming very involved in boxing and watching certain fighters and then I saw Bruce Lee and I wanted to do what I saw on TV. But my Dad, he was my reality king, he said no you're going to do amateur wrestling, so I started wrestling and boxing. Then when I got into the L.A.P.D. I had a friend that did judo told me there was these brothers, he didn't even know their name at the time, this was back in the beginning of the 90's, he said there are these brothers from South America, they like to fight on the ground and you would like what they do, and ended up finding out it was a guy named Gracie and I went down to South Bay and ended up meeting Rorian Gracie, and then Royce and Rickson and all of them and started working out with them and that's how it all started, that's how it all happened.
PRO MMA: I had read that you originally wanted to fight in the UFC but Rorian, who was your instructor, advised against it. Is that true?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Well, he didn't advise against it like... what happened was when they were coming up with the UFC, it was actually called "War of the Worlds" at the time, and then they changed it to the UFC, and then they put out applications for fighters and I filled out an application and put it on Art Davies' desk, and Rorian said I heard you put in a thing to fight, and I said yeah, and he said you can't do that, you know, you're with us, you're with Royce, Royce is fighting. I said I can totally understand that, I don't want to fight against Royce but when there's a chance I would like to do it. And he said when Royce is done we'll talk about you doing it. And I said ok, and that was all it was. And after UFC 1, which I was at, I was there as a sparring partner for Royce, they asked me to referee and did me the greatest favor of my life by getting me to referee because it turned into being something I was able to continue doing for many years and I would have been done as a fighter long ago.
PRO MMA: Had you refereed MMA fights prior to UFC 2?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Not what would be called an MMA fight, no I had not.
PRO MMA: Have you ever had any professional or amateur MMA fights?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I had about five amateur fights. No professional. But back then nobody knew anything. It was from about UFC 8 or UFC 10 where you started getting these really good athletes coming in that really changed the sport.
PRO MMA: Something I noticed about you over the years is that it seems your demeanor inside the cage has changed. In the early days you had a very forceful and authoritative demeanor where you wore somewhat of a scowl on your face. You had that look like you wanted to be in there yourself or if one of the fighters got out of line you would have no problem kicking their ass. But as time went on it seems your demeanor softened and you seem more relaxed in there now. Do you know what I’m talking about?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: (Laughs) You know what, I have people all the time tell me, "You look so mean" or "It looks like you're mad in there." I'm not mad, I was never mad or mean or anything like that and never had that intention. I was just very, I was intense about doing the best job I could do. That's what was important to me. There was things I did in the beginning that I softened because I didn't want to hurt people. In the beginning when I was able to stop fights there were a couple fights that happened, Tank Abbott vs. John Matua. John Matua was out and Tank was hitting him and I went in there and forcefully grabbed him and yanked him off of him, and the people who owned it at the time, SEG, the liked that. They said, "Hey, do that. We want, we've gotta have that." And so I started kind of bullying into guys. But I was going to hurt someone along the way and I realized it, so I stopped trying to do that as much and started instead of taking out the guy who is winning, it's like you're gonna win the fight but you're gonna get screwed over by the guy cause the referee is gonna nail you getting you off the guy, I started trying to change it and get in between the fighters and just put myself in the position so the guy who was winning couldn't hurt the person he was fighting any more. So yeah I tried to change things and you evolve as time goes on you do things that try to make you better at what you do. Have I evolved? Yeah, I've evolved, or at least I have.
PRO MMA: You were a police officer with the LAPD for many years. How old were you when you became a policeman?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: When I first became a police officer? 22-years-old.
PRO MMA: How long did you spend with the L.A.P.D.?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Almost twenty-three years, Twenty-two years and nine months.
PRO MMA: Your Dad was a police officer too, right?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Yes, he was.
PRO MMA: Is that pretty much what made you interested in it as well?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Yeah. Truthfully it was, he looked at me and said, "You're walking a fine line. You better figure out what you want cause you're going to end up in jail." I was doing some dumb things and getting in fights and not being smart about some things so it was, what side do you want to be on, and I would rather be putting people in jail than getting put in jail, so that's why I ended up going that way.
PRO MMA: What was your position with the LAPD?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I was a training officer. I worked all kinds of different assignments, from vice assignments in Hollywood to, I worked gangs for five years and ended up the last ten years of my career I was an instructor at the Academy doing tactics and defensive tactics.
PRO MMA: Were you ever on the TV show "Cops?"
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, I was never on Cops, thank God.
PRO MMA: When you look back from how the sport of MMA began and when you were in there refereeing those early UFC’s, did you ever have any idea that it would be where it is today?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, I didn't. At first when the whole concept came out and Rorian was putting it together, I loved the concept because I believed in the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and I thought that people were going to like it, and it was unique. And really a whole lot of people didn't catch on that fast before it happened, and then when it happened everybody jumped on and thought it was cool, and then the political pressure happened and they tried to kill it. It went through a lot of hard times and you tried to work through those and do the best that you can but never thought it was going to be enormous sport or entity that it is now.
PRO MMA: Did you have any conceptualization that you as a referee would one day have your own action figure?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Are you kidding me? Come on, no. Never. Never ever thought anything like that. MMA has given me a life that I can never complain about.
PRO MMA: I wanted to talk a little bit about your Round 5 action figure. Is that the proper terminology, "action figure"?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: That's it, it is an action figure, not a "doll". (Laughs) I don't know how much action I bring to it but it's an action figure.
PRO MMA: Tell me a little bit about your Round 5 action figure and how that came about?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: The Round 5 people contacted me through Randy Couture. Randy Couture had association, he started doing the Round 5 thing with the Lau brothers and they contacted me through him and I talked to them and they said they would like to do this action figure. I said, "Absolutely." And they've been fantastic to work with from the very beginning.
PRO MMA: What process did you have to go through as a model for them to create it?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: In the beginning that have you send pictures and have you take 360 degree pictures of you and they will ask you to be in a certain pose as if you were starting a fight. They wanted pictures of your tattoos so they could put it on the clothing that you wear. Everything that was associated with you and the sport they wanted to have some type of documentation and photo so they could start to create the doll, and for awhile you didn't see anything, but then they started sending information and photos of the figurine as they were starting to do it, what you thought of it, if there were any changes you thought there should be made in it. And they gave you that freedom to actually have an input on what was going to happen with it and how it was going to look and that was really neat. It wasn't just, this is what you're going to look like and I don't care if you like it or not and you're stuck with it. They were very good about giving you some input on what was going to happen with it.
PRO MMA: Do you have children of the age where they can play with daddy as an action figure?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, all my children are older. But they tell me they're gonna beat up on it. so... (Laughs)
PRO MMA: I hear that UFC is coming to the Staples Center in August. Could we see Big John back in the Octagon?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I doubt it. Dana White doesn't want me working UFC so I'm sure that he'll put something in saying he doesn't want me and that's fine.
PRO MMA: Can they do that? Do they have that option of saying who they do or don't want in there?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: They'll tell you they don't, but yes they do. Yeah. They have that ability, and that's fine.
PRO MMA: When is the last time you spoke with Dana White?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I haven't spoke to Dana since I left the UFC.
PRO MMA: Loretta Hunt is helping you write your book is that correct? Is it out yet?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Yeah, she's going to be writing the book. They just sold the book so we're working on it right now, but it's not out yet.
PRO MMA: Any due date on the book?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I believe it's going to be out Winter of 2010.
PRO MMA: What do you think about the recent incident with Dana White saying those things about her?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I think it's improper. It's wrong. If you don't agree with the story, that's OK. But to verbally attack somebody that way is childish. It's counter-productive to the sport and it's counter-productive to the image of the UFC. Dana has done a great job of helping the UFC become the brand that it is and he's very good for the UFC. I would never say otherwise. But there's certain things he'll do at times and it's just because of his temperament, his passion, the way he goes about things, sometimes is not the right way of doing things and people say it's Dana being Dana and it is, but Dana has to be smart about things like everyone because he is not in charge of a quarter-million dollar company, he's in charge of a one billion dollar company and he has an impact on the entire sport, and Dana needs to conduct himself in a professional manner.
PRO MMA: I just didn't understand the purpose of it. Why put it out there for everybody to see?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: That's the whole part that's kind of funny. He wanted it out there. It's not like he was having a conversation with you and someone off to the side was filming it. He wanted it out there and he put it out there. And in the end I'm sure he looks at it and says it was a bad decision. But what's done is done and he's going to have to deal with the things that occur off of it. Hopefully it goes by and in the end no one thinks about it any more, but it's not good for the sport because Dana is the face of the UFC and a lot of people associate the UFC with the sport, and they put a label on the entire sport with things that are being said in that video.
PRO MMA: Are you involved with WAMMA?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, not at all.
PRO MMA: Never were?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, never was.
PRO MMA: Do you have any idea what's going on there with that group?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: I have no idea at all, have no contact with them, and don't know anything.
PRO MMA: Have you been doing any commentating recently Big John?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: No, dang I guess the last time I commentated was back with Affliction, long ago.
PRO MMA: Do you want to do more of that?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Nope. I really don't. I like the refereeing, that's what I like doing. There's no point in doing something that is OK to do. Do what you love, if you don't make as much money at it, so what.
PRO MMA: What does the rest of 2009 hold for Big John McCarthy?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Well the rest of 2009 you know, is just staying busy. I'll be teaching my C.O.M.M.A.N.D. course for the certification of officials in MMA. I'll be doing that for the Association of Boxing Commissions coming up in July and just continue to referee fights. When someone wants me all that got to do is contact me and I'll come out and do the show.
PRO MMA: If people are interested in your referee certification classes how can they find out more?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: If someone is interested in taking either the judging or referee course they can go to my website at www.mmareferee.com. That will send them directly to the command course. Or they can go to my website for they gym which is www.bjmuta.com, there's a C.O.M.M.A.N.D. link they can touch on that will send them to it. That will give them a lot of information on the course, what it's about, how long it is, and it will give them a way to contact if they're interested.
PRO MMA: Are they going to have a second season of "Bully Beatdown," have you heard?
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Yeah, they just contacted me, I was in China. They left me a voice mail saying hey we're getting picked up for another season and we want you to come and do this we need to talk to you, so I have to get back to them and talk to them about it but yeah they are going to have a second season.
PRO MMA: Thank you for your time Big John. You have a great rest of the year and hopefully we can talk again soon.
BIG JOHN MCCARTHY: Sounds good. Thank you.
By: Jack Brat... -*
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