FEBRUARY 2011 £3.95 Stay Ripped During The Off Season FIGHT THE WINTER FLAB B R O C K L E S N A R Would a Return Benefit the WWE? U C M M A - ‘ F A C E O F F ’ Who Will Become Stars of 2011? M - 1 C H A L L E N G E 1 1 Kunitskaya Shocks Dandois! N E W ! C A G E Q U E E N Our Monthly Coverage of Women’s MMA F I G H T A N A L Y S I S Joe Calzaghe vs Jeff Lacy K I C K B O X I N G - M U A Y T H A I - M M A - K - 1 - B O X I N G www.fightersmag.co.uk MARTIALARTSSHOW the THE NEC BIRMINGHAM 7TH & 8TH MAY 2011 BRINGING MARTIAL ARTS TO LIFE!!!
Transcript
FEBRUARY 2011 £3.95
Stay Ripped DuringThe Off Season
FIGHT THEWINTER FLABBROCK LESNARWould a Return Benefit the WWE?UCMMA - ‘FACE OFF’Who Will Become Stars of 2011?M-1 CHALLENGE 11Kunitskaya Shocks Dandois!NEW! CAGE QUEENOur Monthly Coverage of Women’s MMA
FIGHTANALYSISJoe Calzaghevs Jeff Lacy
KICKBOXING - MUAY THAI - MMA - K-1 - BOXING
www.fightersmag.co.ukMARTIALARTSSHOWthe THE NEC BIRMINGHAM
7TH & 8TH MAY 2011BRINGING MARTIALARTS TO LIFE!!!
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Well, 2011 is upon us and it already looks like it is going to be an evenbigger and better year than 2010.
The UFC has merged it’s WEC francise into it’s ranks creating two newweight divisions, Featherweight and Bantamweight. That means as theywere both the current holders of these titles, Jose Aldo becomes UFCFeatherweight Champion while Dominic Cruz becomes BantamweightChamp. This will create more competition in the Lightweight divisionalso with two pools of fighters merging into one weight class. And what ofBrock Lesnar? Rumours of a return to the WWE were abound after hisloss to Cain Velasquez. Is it really a possibility or just pure speculation?Read our article on page 48 to find out more. One thing is for sure, Brockhas just been confirmed as a coach on season 13 of the Ultimate Fighter.He will face off against number 1 contender Junior Dos Santos who hasdecided not to wait around for Cain Velasquez to return from injury butinstead put that number 1 contender position on the line and go head tohead with Brock as a coach on the new season and then after in the cageto determine who Velasquez’ first title defence will be against.
Closer to home we preview a huge night of fighting as UCMMA kicks off2011 in style on February 5th with it’s ‘Face Off’ event. Featuring some ofthe best talent British, and European MMA for that matter, has to offer,including the much anticipated Welterweight title fight between DeanAmasinger and John Maguire, should be one to watch!
With female MMA taking off more and more all the time we thought itwas right that we should make sure we had it covered with our very ownmonthly column. So please join me in welcoming Fighters latest recruit,Isobel Carnwath. She will be covering everything going on in the scenehere and abroad in her ‘Cage Queen’ section of the Mag.
For those of you who have been heading down the gym this January as aresult of those new years resolutions, we have an interesting article thatmight just help you keep up the good start to 2011. The dark winter monthscan be the hardest when it comes to excersise so we have put together ahelpfull and informative piece to help you ‘fight the winter flab’. We take alook at some of the things you can do to stay ripped during the ‘off’ season.
If Wrestling is your thing, then we’ve got that covered too! Our Wrestlingnews section should keep you abreast of all the comings and going’s whilewe also catch up with our very own Brit Abroad, Nick ‘Magnus’ Aldis,you might remember him as Oblivion off Sky T.V’s Gladiators series. Hetell’s us about what he’s been upto since he signed up with one ofAmerica’s biggest wrestling organisations, TNA.
As well as our monthly catch up with what is happening on the IrishMMA scene in our ‘Irish section’ we have reports from some of the bestevents from up and down the Bristish Isle’s, so what are you waiting for?
Finally, good luck to all our british fighters fighting this month includingUFC patriots, Paul Taylor and Paul Kelly @ UFC 126 and Mike Bispingand Ross Pearson @ UFC 127.
Keep it locked!
6 NEWS ROUND-UPDomestic & International
12 THE NEIL ADAMS SUBMISSION CLINICBy Fergus Dullaghan
14 FIGHT ANALYSISEpisode 10 - Calzaghe vs Lacy
20 WRESTLING NEWSAll the Latest Gossip from The World of Wrestling
24 CAGE QUEENOur Monthly Women’s MMA column
26 JUNIOR FULL CONTACT COUNCILFight Preparation
32 ARE YOU READY?Fight the Winter Flab, Stay RippedDuring the Off Season!
38 WARTIMEWith Mark ‘Wartime’ Carling
40 NICK ‘MAGNUS’ ALDISThe TNA and ex Gladiator Star (you may remember him as Oblivion)Talks Exclusively to Fighters Magazine
44 CHALINENE BASSINAH‘I See a Target, I hit it’
48 BROCK LESNARWould a Return Benefit the WWE?
50 ULTIMATE CHALLENGE UK‘Face Off’ Preview
52 M-1 CHALLENGE 11Kunitskaya Shocks Dandois
56 CLASH OF WARRIORS 10‘Fearless’ Preview
63 WRSA IN TAMWOTHFull Contact Fight Night
64 THE BODY SNATCHER STRIKES AGAIN‘Maximum Impact 2’
66 EL MAACHI RULES SUPREME‘Judgement Day’
71 FIGHTERS IRISH SECTIONAll The Latest News & Views From ‘The Emerald Isle’ inc...Joe ‘Kid Chaos’ Clarke, Justin Robbins& CWFC 39, SBGI’s John Kavanagh,Joe Clarke, Team Ryano and Chaos 7
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Page 6 NEWS ROUND-UP - DOMESTIC & INT’
Fedor Makes Appearance at M-1Challenge XXIII Press ConferenceMoscow, Russia (January 18, 2011)– Kicking off 2011 with M-1Challenge XXIII, M-1 Global hosted apress conference in Moscow today tofield questions on the main-eventbout and the undercard that is get-ting stronger by the day. Making aspecial appearance to show his sup-port of the March 5th event takingplace at the Crocus City Arena inMoscow, Russia was the great FedorEmelianenko.
“Having Fedor in attendance certainlyadded additional excitement to the M-1 Challenge XXIII conference,” saysEvgeni Kogan, Director of Operationsof the worldwide mixed martial artspromotion. “Having been in Moscowto finalize his Visa for the February12th Grand Prix fight against AntonioSilva, Fedor’s timing couldn’t haveworked out better. Having our mar-quee fighter talk about the title fightand the event in general truly is anexample of how much Fedor supportsM-1’s plans for this year.”
With additional bouts being added towhat is progressively becoming oneof M-1 Global’s greatest cards in thecompany’s 13 year history, fans canexpect an action-packed event.
Under Card Bouts:MiddleweightMagomed Sultanakhmedov (28-5)vs. Plinio Cruz (5-3) LightweightDaniel Weichel (25-7)vs. Magomedrasul Khasbulaev (16-4) HeavyweightKenny ‘Deuce’ Garner (5-3)vs. Alexander Volkov (9-2-1) Additional bouts to be announced
Go to www.M-1Global.com for addi-tional information.
Gym boost for MMA teamScotland’s most successful mixedmartial arts team is set to grow evenbigger with the opening of a purpose-built training camp in the Southsideof Glasgow.
The Dinky Ninja Fight Team (DNFT),which already has bases at LanarkMMA, Dumbarton’s D-Unit and theGriphouse on Possil Road, can nowadd Future Fitness in Shawlands toits list of training facilities.
Coaches Thomas Weir and DeanReilly will assist Griphouse boss GuyRamsay, with the trio joined on themats by Ciaran Duffy, the top Britishmiddleweight boxer who will pass onhis stand-up skills.
Jason Evans is the owner of FutureFitness and a keen MMA student.
He spent £20,000 converting unusedoffice space at the gym into the newMMA facility, to be known as theGriphouse Southside.
Jason said; “I’ve trained in martial artsunder Guy Ramsay for around 10years and have watched with interestas MMA has grown massively.
“The Griphouse was where I trainedand I felt there might be a good casefor opening an MMA gym here in theSouthside.
“It’s fantastic that my gym will beassociated with the Griphousebecause the Dinky Ninja Fight Teamis the best in Scotland.
“And I really believe the coaches wehave working here form the bestcoaching team in the country.”
While some of Scottish MMA’s elitewill soon call Griphouse Southsidehome, Jason is at pains to point outanyone with any interest in the sportis welcome to join classes, whatevertheir level of experience.
He said: “MMA is growing at a rapidrate and for it to continue to do soyou need new people to get involved.
“Not everyone who trains in MMA willwant to fight and we will run classesfor pro fighters right down to com-plete novices.
“It’s a great way to keep fit, loseweight or just to learn more aboutmixed martial arts.”
NEWS ROUND-UP FEBRUARY 2011
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NEWS ROUND-UP - DOMESTIC & INT’ Page 7
The new gym boasts the full range oftop training equipment, including state-of-the-art 40mm matting throughout.
Although linked to the originalGriphouse, and very much a part ofthe DNFT stable, both gyms will runas separate entities and have theirown membership plans.
Classes cost £5 each with monthlyplans also available.
The full timetable of classes, which canbe found at www.thegriphouse.co.uk/southside, will be up and running fromMonday, January 24.
Fedor – A Humble Star in theCast of Great WarriorsThe deal is done; the stage is set;the time is fast approaching: threeclichés that fans around the worldhave been eagerly waiting to hear.On February 12th, when the first bellsounds to kick off what is being wide-ly considered as the greatest heavy-weight tournament in mixed martialarts history, it’s in proper fashion thatthe assembled cast of superstars setto collide in the single-eliminationbrackets include Fedor Emelianenko.
In the main event of M-1 Global andStrikeforce’s co-promoted event fromthe IZOD Center in East Rutherford,New Jersey, Emelianenko (31-2, 1NC) is set to take on Antonio Silva(15-2) in the evening’s second quar-terfinal fight of the three-stage, sin-gle-elimination tournament. With alleight participants equally talented, nofighter is receiving a free pass toadvance to the semi-finals and Silvarepresents a true threat in his ownright as a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu blackbelt winning eight of his last nine; allbut two of his victories have come byknockout with only five tilts venturingpast five minutes.
Clearly the heavyweight tournamentof 2011 represents a new era of
increasingly talented, hybridizedmixed martial artists and marks anew challenge for Emelianenko, whois as stoic and ready as he has everbeen. “I have been training very hardsince my last fight and eager to getback inside the cage. Strikeforce hasassembled a roster filled with thebest heavyweights in the world andI’m blessed to have the opportunityto fight them in a great tournamentformat.”
With only one other official lossto his record resulting from adoctor stoppage due to anearly cut against TsuyoshiKosaka during theirDecember, 2000 bout,Fedor seized the opportu-nity to avenge the blemishnearly five years later withhis own first-round TKO ofKosaka at a PRIDEFighting Championshipsevent. If the brackets playout in favour of Fedor’sfans, Emelianenko couldface Werdum later thisyear and provide yetanother grand stage toavenge his secondcareer loss within thetournament. But fol-lowing in the humblefootsteps ofEmelianenko, fanswill wait in earnestfor the clock to tickdown to February12th and play outthe ‘what-if’ sce-narios at the closeof this legendarytournament’s firstbouts.
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Page 8 NEWS ROUND-UP - DOMESTIC & INT’
Kimbo Slice returns to compe-tition for Japanese WrestlingKevin Ferguson, aka “Kimbo Slice”took the mixed martial arts world bystorm when he first entered into thenew and unfamiliar sport.
Though he honed his skills in back-yard brawls and private gyms all overthe South of Florida, Kimbo parlayedthose skills acquired into a some-what successful mixed martial artscareer which eventually saw the 36-year-old make his way into the UFC,the worlds largest MMA promotion.
Now, after severing ties with the orga-nization and rumors of a professionalboxing debut now squelched, it lookslike that Slice will be venturing intosome more unfamiliar territory whenhe competes now as a professionalwrestler in the Japanese circuit.
Josh Barnett, who is currently partici-pating in the Strikeforce heavyweightGrand Prix is also said to be one ofthe active participants in the eight-man tournament, though it will likelyconflict with his obligation’s with theSan Jose based promotion.
This will mark the first public appear-ance of Slice returning to some formof active competition, albeit slightlymore skewed to the entertainmentside of things, since his release fromthe UFC in May of last year.
While professional wrestling seemslike a stretch for even Kimbo, some-how, he’s still gotta make that bread.
PKR.com to introduce live eventsand new BAMMA sponsorshipAward-winning 3D poker sitePKR.com is set to host a series offriendly live events, in a bid to give itsfour million-plus members a chanceto meet the faces behind the avatars.
Not content with the new live eventsto kick off the new year with,PKR.com are also branching out tothe martial arts market after havingsigned a sponsorship deal with theBritish Association of Mixed MartialArts (BAMMA).
PKR spokesperson Erika SchwartzPoole said: “It is with great pleasurethat we announce our official partner-ship with BAMMA. Mixed Martial Arts isbecoming hugely popular and we arevery much looking forward to workingwith them throughout the coming year.”
You can expect to see the PKR branddisplayed on all BAMMA events, andBAMMA logos on the poker site.PKR.com are incorporating their newrelationship with martial arts into thelive events, by inviting 150 players fora drinks reception, which will be fol-lowed by an evening of martial arts atthe BAMMA 5 event.
DREAM & K-1 is officially doomed,according to it’s PresidentIt’s a scary thing when you hearreports constantly about fighter’s notbeing paid timely, if at all. Or whenpromoter’s speak so publicly andopenly about their struggling finan-cial situation.
And like the Pride Fighting Champ-ionships before it, it looks like DREAMand K-1 will now become a victim dueto their hierarchy’s lack of success.
So now, both the most visible kick-boxing promotion in all of the world,and Japan’s leading mixed martialarts organization will now cease toexist, and all of this is according totheir leading man, PresidentSadaharu Tanikawa.
While FEG has struggled to securehigher ratings on their TBS televisionprogramming provider in Japan, theyhave also not been able to securelucrative sponsors that will hope to keepthe order of operations going behind thescenes, and as such, it looks like wemight have another PRIDE fiasco onour hands all over again-maybe not“Yakuza” bad, but bad nonetheless.
“There are probably staff membersthat will leave as well. The eventname will be left but the promotionwill change. If the current structureremains as it is it will be impossibleto continue. If many investmentsfrom companies overseas do notcome in we can’t survive.”
While the Japanese mixed martial artsscene has struggled to survive sincePRIDE had been eliminated altogetherin 2006, following the collapse due tofinancial ruin and mired in controversywith allegations of “Yakuza” beinginvolved, it looks like any hope for aresurrection will now die. Along withDREAM, K-1 too will now be a victim,despite reaching it’s height in populari-ty in recent years with stars such BadrHari, Alistair Overeem, and SemmySchilt coming into prominence.
We very well could see the UFC stepin once again and purchase the com-panies assets, though talking aboutthat would be too premature andnothing is certain, though all signspoint to FEG falling altogether.
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UFC champ Velasquez has shoulder surgeryUFC heavyweight champion CainVelasquez could be out eight monthsafter recent surgery to repair his tornrotator cuff.
UFC president Dana White believesrehabilitation on Velasquez’s shoul-der could keep him out of the octa-gon until at least September, sidelin-ing the mixed martial arts promotion’snew champ for nearly a full yearbetween fights.
“He’s doing great, actually,” Whitesaid. “They were saying therecovery time is usually eightmonths, and hopefully he cando it a little quicker than that,but we’ll see.”
White had hoped to matchVelasquez with Brazilian con-tender Junior Dos Santos atUFC 129 in the main event of theUFC’s first show in MMA-crazyToronto on April 30. Instead,Velasquez revealed late last year thathe tore his rotator cuff while pound-ing Lesnar.
“Surgery went well,” Velasquez tweet-ed on Monday. “Back at Joe Grasso’slifting legs. Best place to train.”
White has already said he won’tname an interim heavyweight champin Velasquez’s absence, but the UFCalready formulated a plan to keepfans interested in the talented heavy-weight division in the meantime.
The UFC announced last week thatLesnar and Dos Santos will be thecoaches on the next edition of “TheUltimate Fighter,” the UFC’s popularreality show on Spike TV. Lesnar andDos Santos then will fight on a pay-per-view show in June, and the win-ner will get a title shot whenVelasquez returns.
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Page 10 FIGHT ANALYSIS... CALZAGHE VS LACY
FightOr Learning from the Greats
by Rocky Sondhi & Tommy Thompson
Episode 10 - Joe Calzaghe v Jeff Lacy - March 4, 2006 in Manchester, England.
analysis...
FIGHT ANALYSIS... CALZAGHE VS LACY Page 11
Joseph William Calzaghe, CBE (born23 March 1972) is a former Welsh pro-fessional boxer. He was rated by Ringmagazine as pound for pound one ofthe top 10 boxers in the world... Heretired in February 2009 with an unde-feated record, becoming only the fourthEuropean boxer, after Terry Marsh,Michael Loewe and Sven Ottke, toretire as an undefeated world champi-on. After his retirement, Ricky Hattondescribed him as “the best British fight-er we’ve ever had”.
Calzaghe is sometimes referred to asthe “Pride of Wales”, or the “ItalianDragon” in reference to his mixed her-itage (the dragon being both a Welshemblem and a Sardinian myth). He isthe former WBO, WBA, WBC, IBF,The Ring Magazine and British supermiddleweight champion.
Calzaghe is the longest-reigning worldchampion in recent years, having heldthe WBO super middleweight title forover ten years until he relinquished thetitle to concentrate on fighting at light-heavyweight. As his super-mid-dleweight and light-heavyweight reignsoverlapped, he retired with the longestcontinual time as world champion ofany active fighter. He is part of theTeam Calzaghe based at theNewbridge boxing club.
In 2007, Calzaghe became BBCSports Personality of the Year, bygaining 28.19% of the public vote.This made Calzaghe the firstWelsh winner of this award sinceshow jumper David Broome in1960. He was also awarded theYoung Boxer of the Year Award
in 1995.
Calzaghe was the first RingMagazine Super
MiddleweightChampion after hisimpressive winagainst undefeatedAmerican Jeff Lacy;He also becameRing Magazine
Champion in his second weight divi-sion after beating future hall of famerBernard Hopkins for the LightHeavyweight Title. This made him atwo weight world champion.
Calzaghe had some big wins against for-mer Super Middleweight world champi-ons like WBO Champion Chris Eubank,WBC Champions Robin Reid andRichie Woodhall, IBF Champions JeffLacy and Charles Brewer, WBAChampion Byron Mitchell, Current IBOChampion Sakio Bika. He beat the thenchampion Mikkel Kessler for theWBA/WBC Titles. In 2008, he had winsover former WBA/WBO/WBC/IBF/RING Middleweight and RING LightHeavyweight Champion BernardHopkins, and over Roy Jones Jr who hasheld titles at middleweight, super mid-dle, light heavy and even heavyweight.
Jeffrey Scott Lacy (born May 12, 1977in St. Petersburg, Florida) is anAmerican boxer. He is a formerInternational Boxing Federation supermiddleweight champion.
Lacy had 210 fights as an amateur, win-ning the 1999 National PAL amateurchampion at 165 pounds, the 1998 U.S.National amateur champion at 165pounds, and the 1998 National PALamateur champion at 165 pounds. Lacyfought at the 1996 Eastern OlympicTrials, stopping Kenneth Head in thefirst round. In the quarter-finals, Lacydefeated Rubin Williams. In the semi-finals, Lacy lost to Darnell Wilson andfinished third.
In the 1997 National Golden Gloves,Lacy again defeated Rubin Williams,but lost against Randy Griffin in thesemi-finals and finished in third place.In the quarter-finals of the 2000Olympic Team trials, Lacy won a deci-sion over Brad Austin. In the semi-finals, Lacy won a decision over JersonRavelo. During the finals, Lacy won a26-10 decision over Randy Griffin.
During the 2000 Olympic Team Box-offs, Lacy lost to Arthur Palac. In his
second fight, Lacy defeated him on thescorecards. He was a member of the2000 United States Olympic boxingteam along with future undisputed mid-dleweight champion Jermain Taylor.During his first bout in Sydney,Australia, Lacy knocked out CleitonConceição of Brazil at 0:58 of the thirdround. During his second bout, Lacydefeated Pawel Kakietek of Poland, enroute to a 21-7 decision. During thethird bout, Lacy was stopped at 1:49 ofthe third round by GaidarbekGaidarbekov of Russia.
The fight - an overviewRound 1Both fighters come out to the centre ofthe ring, testing each other. Calzaghe,in his famous southpaw stance andLacy in orthodox stance. Within thefirst minute the two fighters engage,with Calzaghe tying Lacy up and mov-ing him around the ring whilst in aclinch. On release from the clinchCalzaghe fires an effective hook to thehead. The first few punch combinationsfrom Calzaghe end up in clinches.Calzaghe is trying to maintain rangewhilst Lacy is looking to make the fighta closer affair. Both fighters are veryeffective and delivering the jab andmoving away. parts of this first roundare becoming quite messy as Lacy triesto tie Calazaghe up, holding his head...
This series of monthly articles in Fighters magazine will analyse professional fights from the his-tory of boxing, involving some of the World’s greatest fighters. The fights will be analysed usingour tvp (Technique, Variety and Predictability) framework and then provide a short, 15 minutetraining programme to develop some of the key features from these fights for you to add to yourown arsenal of skills. So enjoy and grow!
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This is most obvious in the WWEwhere, despite John Cena supposedlybeing fired as per the stipulation fromSurvivor Series (yes they wussed out ofthe Cena heel turn that would have setthe company alight again), he is back inWWE with Nexus on the verge on selfdestructing. This clears the way forCena to have another run for the gold.
Talking of gold, we have a new WWEChampion. As I predicted exactly 12months ago, 2010 was indeed the yearThe Miz broke through and he has nowcashed in the Money In The Bankbriefcase the day after Survivor Seriesand pinned Randy Orton to becomechamp. Unfortunately they are portray-ing him as a ‘lucky’ champ and onlyable to hang on to the belt through out-side interference. They are clearly usinghim as a transitional champion to allowCena to regain the gold once reinstated.
Still talking of gold, or should I sayGold Dust, he has now undergonesurgery for an injury that will see himsidelined for up to 6 months.
One star that won’t be part of WWEplans in 2011 will be MVP. His contractexpired at the end of November and hewas keen to walk away from the WWEas he feels he has gone as far as he canthere. He claims to be keen on the ideaof competing in Japan, but as WWEwrestlers have a clause written into theircontracts that stops them competing fora rival company for 3 months after theyleave, I think he will take some time offbefore joining TNA next spring wherehe would surely be given a huge push.
In TNA they wound down 2010 byreleasing a number of stars that havecome to the end of feuds and have beenlet go to keep costs down. This includes
Raven, Rhino, Kevin Nash, and Sting(although I suspect those two will beback at some point in 2011).
They have also setup several new feudsfor the New Year with both MattMorgan and now Douglas Williamsleaving the Fortune faction. This is abig boost to both, as Morgan is nowfinally being pushed as a legitimate titlecontender, and Williams is beingpushed to the max and has picked upimpressive victories over FrankieKazarian and AJ Styles.
Two stars that won’t be featuring inTNA plans for this year are Hamada asshe has been granted her contractrelease and she is apparently headingback to Japan, and Lacey Von Erichwho has decided to hang up her boots(for now at least) as she is about to getmarried (congratulations to her, and tothe jammy guy that is marrying her!). I always felt Lacey got a lot more stickthan she deserved backstage, but Iguess you have big boots to fill in thewrestling industry if you carry the VonErich name.
Jeff Jarrett MMA legend? Well if his lat-est persona is to be believed then yes!This has got to be the funniest gimmickI have seen in a long long time, and heis playing it totally dead pan...
Page 12 WRESTLING NEWS FEBRUARY 2011
WrestlingNews ‘February’ 2011
Well as 2010 starts to become a distant memory, in the WWE the new year brings new opportunities and new storylines as the big two start laying the groundwork for 2011.
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WRESTLING NEWS FEBRUARY 2011 Page 13
By Teddy G
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London ShootfightersI fell into MMA whilst hunting forself-defence classes. As a workingsingle mother, for many years I’dnot been in any position to committo a regular class. Finally and whenI could, I first tried Shorinji Kempofor a number of months but gotfrustrated: I had reasons for wanti-ng to know what worked and tolearn fast. Then some-one told meabout a cage-fighting gym called
London Shootfighters near to whereI lived and about the amazingadvantages of Brazilian Jujitsu and Iwas fascinated: I figured if guyswere using these techniques todefend themselves in real fights thenthey had to work. LondonShootfighters’ website was full of allthese big, muscled guys so eventhough I wasn’t sure if women werewelcome to train, the guys lookedlike fighters and I urgently wantedto learn so I plucked up the courageand passed down there one evening.
London Shoot has since been re-housed in a large commercial com-plex but at the time it was your typi-cal backstreet, spit and sawdustfighting gym imbued with sweat andgrit and the air ringing with the fuseof studiousness and aggression.When I asked if women wereallowed to train there it was tower-ing head coach Paul Ivens whoshowed me around and shortly afterI started heading down on a regular
basis and fell in love with it. I can’ttrain as much as I’d like so Iprogress like a tortoise but over thelast couple of years the moment I’vegot time and a babysitter LondonShoot has come before nights out ordates and kept me sane throughenough stress.
MMA JournalismI’m a massage therapist by tradeand for a while was practising atLondon Shoot. My first publishedpieces were wellbeing articles. As amassage therapist with years prac-tising yoga I was surprised at howlittle printed or on-line informationthere was on self-care for fightersand so I got pitching to press.
Michelle TylerThere must have been 5 girls maxi-mum at the original London Shootand Michelle Tyler was one ofthem. Michelle was a Thai boxerwith her heart set on pro MMA.We’d grappled in the same classes
Page 14 CAGE QUEEN - WITH ISOBEL CARNWATH
I am really excited to have been invited by FIGHTERS magazine to provide monthly women’sMMA coverage which I consider a privilege. As Female MMA Sub Editor, I am keen for there tobe a slant towards UK and European MMA - grassroots as the scene is, though obviously themain focus will be international to reflect the biggest fights.
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(but clearly she overtook me longago!) and she’d been helping mewith my striking. Michelle had seenthe press I’d got for the gym,including a cover feature onHathaway. She was desperate tofight and was getting frustrated atthe way things were going and soaround June this year she asked if Icould help find her a list of oppo-nents to take to her coaches andalso if I could get her publicity toattract sponsors.
Cage Queen Documentary I knew that the fight press wouldn’tbe interested in Michelle at thisstage of her career, so I realisedwe’d have to create our own media.I asked a film-maker friend of mine,Victoria Wood (Arid Pictures), ifshe would be interested in making adocumentary about Michelle. Vichad been photographing at LondonShootfighters and through ourmany conversations we’d discusseda lot of different themes and issues.I’d become fascinated by vintage
female wrestlers like Mildred Burkeand also by the fact that thatwomen’s boxing didn’t get legisla-tion until 1998. We’d also beenchatting a lot about why MMA was-n’t being recognised as an officialsport in the UK and how the mediawas treating it. We came to the con-clusion it would be interesting tomake a broader documentary aboutwomen in MMA and the UK scenein general, covering the manythings that had intrigued us, andfilming MMA really beautifully tohonour the skill and intricate tech-niques of the art. Michelle’s journeyfrom an unknown into the world ofpro MMA would be a nice way totell some of the story. Vic invitedme on board as a writer. Michelle’sfight was arranged during the mak-ing of the documentary and shedebuted at UCMMA on 4thDecember beating Vickie Wattswith a knock out that caused the refto stop the fight. The documentaryis going to edit over the comingweeks to be televised in early 2011
UCMMA and Halo PRUCMMA couldn’t have beenwarmer in the way they openedtheir doors to us during filming andwelcomed us into their network. Asa journalist I’d already come intocontact with their uber-glamorouspublicist, Zara Shirwan of Halo PR,but when it came to promotingMichelle’s fight six weeks ago therewas an obvious cross-over betweenwhat Zara and I were doing. Wemet for a coffee, randomly both intracksuits and fur coats, to discusswho would be doing what. A fewdays later I emailed Zara and saidI’d like to work with her...
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Page 16 JUNIOR FULL CONTACT COUNCIL COLUMN
JFCCFight Preparation
Junior Full Contact Council ColumnWritten by Dean Sugden Head of JFCC “Junior Full Contact Council” Former Professional World Kick BoxingChampion & Trainer of several World, numerous European, Commonwealth & countless British / National Champions.
3 x KEY Elements to FightPreparation - Physical,Technical & MentalI promised last month to cover insome more detail on the 3 Key ele-ments. In particular week after afight, Injuries, Diet & Nutrition.
Physical - Week after a fight - Theweek after is a great time to rest andrecuperate and you should listen toyour body but as a junior. You areresilient and fit plus keen to keeplearning as a junior. Immediatelyafter a fight you can learn and work
on while it is fresh in your mindand your coaches what went wrongand what went well. You can coversubjects like his strengths and weak-nesses of your opponent and workon drills which will help you toovercome the next time you fightsomeone of similar style.
Injuries - ICE (Ice CompressionElevation) 15 to 20 mins no morefrequently than every 1.5 hours.Consult your doctor / instructor andask him the best way to look afteryour injury. It is quite usual that youcan train round a particular injury,but you must let your coach knowso he can advise and be aware ofrestrictions and ensure you are notgoing to aggravate in the class.
When icing use a good ice bag andsecure it firmly to the area that issore. Wear a support on thestrained, bruised area BUT only
Over the next few issues I am going to cover Fight Preparation for juniors and will focus on the 3x KEY Elements. There are a number of aspects which are aimed at the older juniors due to thephysical stress the body will be put under. Before taking part in any serious training you must con-sult your GP and Coach to ensure this program or certain aspects of this program will benefityou. If in doubt email me at [email protected]
when you are being active. Supportsshould never be worn in bed orwhen resting.
Diet & Nutrition - Protein is greatfor building muscle but also critical inmuscle recovery and a massive sourceof energy before competition.Everyone is different but some peoplecan eat anything but what again ishighly important is that you don’tchange your diet in last few daybefore a fight as you body will not beable to take the goodness and benefitsof that new food as well as if it hadbeen eating regular but different foodsin their diet.
Lactic Acid - The build up of lacticacid is what causes you to ache theday after training. A great way toreduce this is to drink plenty of
water following your training ses-sion. An easy way to tell if you havethe taken in the correct levels offluid is the colour of your urine. If itis clear in colour then this is usuallya sign of being well hydrated. If youare de hydrated the colour can bevery yellow in appearance.
As always if worried about anyaspect of the above you should con-sult a physician or doctor.
TechnicalGrading - why is it important to a fighter? Well time has proven to me that allmy junior students who grade arethe more complete and versatilefighters. Lacking in the technicalarea is always a frustration for afighter. When a student takes no
short cuts and gets to Black Belt itgives them confidence of their abili-ty. We also focus on Ring Craft aspart of the grading syllabus. In yourfirst grade its controlled defence ofbasic punches and kicks then as youprogress through the grades andgrowing in confidence you areexpected to perform against a sus-tained attack. If you can masterdefence then you can fight!..
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WINTER BLUE’SIt’s cold, dark and miserable. The timeof year when everyone, even us dedi-cated fighters, adds a layer of fat overour previously hard earned six pack.It’s understandable, rigorous trainingand dieting week in week out formonths on end for the sole purpose ofbeing your absolute best when the fightcomes. That’s if it comes. Many timeswe endure tough training then the fightis pulled at the last minute. This canlead to an unmotivated and weak willedfighter chomping down on any junkthat comes by and skipping workouts.We’ve all done it, even WorldChampion fighters such as RickyHatton balloon up between fights.
Does it make you better?Time to be tough, do you think thatadding fat will help you in any waywhen training for your next fight?Thought not. Even though you get thesatisfaction of enjoying a great meal ifthis lasts too long you’ll be so fat, weakand out of condition people will startcalling you Ricky Fatton.
It’s time for a change.What I’m about to present is a time effi-cient, motivating training and nutrition-al strategy perfect for this time of yearand can also be used during periodsbetween fights. You can stay lean andmean throughout the winter and haveall the trimmings with your Christmasdinner. The workouts will be brief andintense to stimulate your metabolismand give you enough time to finish theChristmas shopping.
Plus you’ll be ahead of the game; ifyour competition starts training inJanuary you’ll be weeks ahead in fitnessand strength to crush anyone who stepsinside the ring or cage.
Some points to consider.If you feel so unmotivated the very ideaof training makes you curl into thefoetal position then listen to your bodyand take a break. This will allow yourhunger to come back and will make thisprogramme more effective. Also if anyinjury stops you from doing the pre-scribed exercises then feel free to substi-tute it for another that causes no pain.
Exercise descriptions and why youshould be doing them.
All of the following exercises have a fewthings in common. They work lots of muscle,thereby burning lots of calories, they areexplosive, they work your heart and lungsand they are fun to perform. And when I sayfun I mean hard, but that’s fun, right?
1. KETTLEBELL SWING - pick upthe bell and stand tall, feet shoulderwidth or slightly wider. Squat back withthe bell between your legs and use aquick hip thrust to generate the power.Don’t let it rise above your shouldersand immediately descend with the bellinto the next rep.
Why? - Great total body exercise withoutbeing too difficult to learn. Helps increaseposterior chain power endurance and cardio-vascular conditioning.
2. PRESS UP - probably don’t need adescpription for this one, but keep yourabs rock solid and use a full range ofmotion, chest to the floor.
Why? - just because it aint fancy doesn’tmean it’s a great exercise. Upper bodystrength and endurance plus core stability.Just do them...
Page 18 ARE YOU READY - FIGHT THE WINTER FLAB
RReeaaddyy??AArree YYoouu
By Ally Smith
KKeettttlleebbeellll SSwwiinngg
Fight the Winter Flab: Stay Ripped during the “Off” season
Welcome back to your monthly slice of WARTIME life. This month has been even more busythan normal. I’ve been working on a new TV show, concentrated all my training down to one gymand set up my own TV company.
WARTIME WITH MARK CARLING Page 21
I’ve been working with my agent todevelop a new, exclusive walk outtune in partnership with ‘TheCoalition Fight Music’ - based inCalifornia, they the world’s firstMMA band and have made musicfor loads of UFC fighters - can’t waitto hear the final cut. I’ve also beendeveloping my own WARTIMEclothing line made by Big DogzFightwear, if you want to look theabsolute nuts and be the envy ofevery one you choke out and punchsenseless then you need to get on tobigdogz-fightwear.com and snap upsome WARTIME clobber.
And, of course, I attended ULTI-MATE CHALLENGE and havebeen busy helping the legend DaveO’Donnell on Sky Sports and asalways we have been getting somereally positive feed back for the‘Gym of the Week’ section on‘Cage Fighter.’
I have a new TV show called‘Mind Over Matter’ that I’mpreparing to start filming in earlyJanuary 2011 and it features someof the biggest names in UK MMAsuch as Gary Turner, NickChapman, Kenny Moyston,
Jamaine Facey and Michelle Tyler -all pitted against each other in thebiggest scientific experiment everto applied to MMA!
I have just joined the ZT FightSkool fight team under the guidanceof Sol Gilbert. He’s the man thatlaunched John Hathaway to UFCand also has some amazing fightersin the squad, including KennyMoysten, (who has been out in the
U.S.A helping Rampage Jacksonprep for UFC 123), Ryan White(this dude has smashed his wayacross every major fight card in theUK) and Oli Thompson, who wasBritain’s strongest man...
This month’s give-a-waysI have a Big Dogz fightwear T-shirtfrom bigdogz-fightwear.com, two hugetubs of 80% whey protein fromEvolution Sport Nutrition, SignedUCMMA program by none otherthan Dave O’Donnell and an ULTI-MATE CHALLENGE t-shirt.
To win this lot of MMA goodness, juste-mail me a picture of you in full fightwear in the strangest location (theweirder the better) and good luck.
STOP, SHOCK AND KNOCKOUTThis month we caught up withUCMMA fighter Harry ‘Hitman’Shoebridge who is 2-0-0 and gettingready to step into the cage again andkeep up his winning ways. Let’s findout what makes this young dude suchan animal in the cage......
Name: Harry ShoebridgeAge: 20Fighting out of: Keddles
Food: TunaFun: MMAColor: RedTime: Is money!Place: CageStyle: Stand upMusic: ViolenceHate: Man ULove: TrainingFight: Winning
If you want to find out more about theHitman then get on to ucmma.com
‘A relaxed and cerebral guy, he was very easy to chat to andhad a lot to say about the business...
Nick, firstly many thanks for taking the timeout of to do thisinterview, and congratulations on the new contract.
NICK ALDIS: No worries, and thank you.
I liked the old Brutus Magnus character but I like the ‘new’Magus, character more. And I’m liking the new beard (laughing).
NICK ALDIS: Backing the beard (signalling to Williams),another person backing the beard! (laughs).
Where do you see your new team with Desmond Wolfe(London Brawling) going?
NICK ALDIS: Yeah, anytime your in a tag team and there’schemistry there, you want to get the most out of it....Anytime that something works creatively, as is the case withDesmond and I, as far as I’m concerned I want to get themost out of it and go as far as possible with it.
They have finally partnered you with someone who can talkmore than you do! (Joking)
NICK ALDIS: well.... I don’t know about that! (Laughs),but we bounce of each other well.
When Eric Bischoff and Hulk Hogan joined TNA at the end of2009, they attracted some negativity from people, as pushesand story lines seemed to stop for no apparent reason, butnow there seems to be a lot more progression and cohesionto the way it’s written...
NICK ALDIS: With Explosion (their secondary TV show)getting into a lot more markets, it’s provided another plat-form for a lot us to get stuff over and its proved to be a bit ofa testing ground for us for us to test ideas and concepts for usto then carry over to Impact.
Writing wrestling isn’t easy, because fan expectations are sohigh now... people have their own expectations... sometimesthings can be a little over engineered, sometimes it writes itself.
Sometimes it obvious where it goes and it should go thereand I think that maybe in the past it’s been tweaked toomany times.
Page 22 NICK ‘MAGNUS’ ALDIS
I recently met up and interviewed TNA wrestlers, Doug Williams, and Nick Aldis. This is the 2ndpart of that interview featuring Nick ‘Magnus’ Aldis. Some of you may know him better asOblivion from Sky TV’s revamped Gladiators. But at 6’ 3” and just over 17 stone of muscle...once you’ve seen Nick you tend to remember him!
‘
AldisMagnusNick
I think the new regime... it may have taken them a bit of timeto gel I think, especially with the influx of talent, I think therewas a transitional period and now things are starting to hap-pen... and the great thing about what I’m doing now is it’sorganic. I used to do this sort of stuff on the independent cir-cuit... that’s what I miss more than anything. That’s what Ilove about wrestling, being outrageous, that’s why I lovedoing what I’m doing now. I can push the envelope withoutbeing offensive, that’s where I think my real talent lies.
With TNA now opening offices here in the UK, how would youlike to see them expands here, would you like to see themhave a UK developmental territory over here.
NICK ALDIS: there have been rumblings like that....
I know you can’t give anything away...
NICK ALDIS: Well, there’s nothing togive away is the honest truth in thatrespect. I know there are certain peo-ple out there that will put stuff outthere to help their own course... Theymay claim to be with us or inleague with the office... butthere may be one telephonecall or one email (from them toTNA) that is then blown outof all proportion. I Think TheUK right now is producingsome of the best talent in theworld, and that’s not justnecessarily putting us over,but its there for everyone tosee right now, both in WWEas well as TNA. They bothhave talented British wrestlers and they arebeing used right, they aren’t just being pigeon holed
Yes, even your original Brutus Magnus character inTNA as ‘the modern day gladiator’ was sort of a logicalprogression of what you’d done on Gladiators...
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Joining Diesel in February 2009, she threw herself in thedeep end from day one and immersed herself in training. Shehas already fought in four major competitions - includingMuay Thai Legends and Fast and Furious in Penzance, whereshe fought on the same bill as Julie Kitchen - and now hastwo belts under her, belt; the IKBF British title at 61.5kg andthe IKF English 63kg title. During that time she’s trained forand run the New York marathon too (in a respectable 3h46m). She also trains in MMA, and puts her own studentsthrough their paces at the gym’s Diesel Chicks women’sclass. Oh, and that’s along with holding down a day jobcrunching serious numbers along with all the alpha males inthe City of London. ‘Game’ doesn’t even come close.
Nicknamed ‘the Chali-nator’ by fellow Diesel students, herpowerhouse fighting style could give even ArnoldSchwarzenegger’s indestructible T-101 a run for its money.Her trainer, Cliff Bura confirms, ‘Chali is an amazing athlete,an inspirational competitor and a success story that everyoneknows will continue to heady heights. I have seen many tal-ented fighters in my years as a trainer, and I have also seenfighters with immense dedication to their training; but Chalihas both traits in awe-inspiring amounts.’
It was a challenge pinning Chali down for a chat in betweenher nightly double muay Thai/MMA session, but somehowwe managed it...
Chali, you’ve picked up Muay Thai like a natural. Did you par-ticipate in any martial arts as a kid?
CHALINENE BASSINAH: No, I wasn’t into any martialarts, but I was only friends with boys, and we’d always endup fighting for some reason! I was introduced to Muay Thaiby a friend.
Can you remember anything that stands out about your earlylessons?
CHALINENE BASSINAH: I realised I enjoyed it prettymuch straight away. I was aching everywhere after everysession but I was still coming back for more. I met friendlypeople who made me feel like I was at home. I also remem-
Page 24 I SEE A TARGET I HIT IT - CHALI BASSINAH
‘I see a target, I hit it’Diesel Gym’s hottest new fighter, Chalinene Bassinah, is taking women’s Muay Thai by storm
Written by Sarah Maybank Sub Edited by Cris Janson-Piers
Chalinene Bassinah bakes a mean cherry pie and amazing fudge brownies. When she’s on a Diesel Gymgirls’ night out, she cuts a dash in cheeky hotpants teamed with high-heeled shoes decorated with pinkroses. With her second-to-none baking skills and girly clothes, there’s no denying that Parisienne Chali isa real lady. But ‘feminine’ lies abandoned in the changing room along with the flowery high heels whenshe steps into the gym. Chali, 29, is Diesel’s shooting star. Powerful, dedicated and blessed with relent-less energy, she has transformed herself from novice to national champion in the space of just over 18months, a well-deserved reward for her all-consuming work ethic.
CChhaallii && TTeeaamm DDiieesseell
ber picking it up quickly. That’s mainly due to the fact Iconnect pretty well with Cliff (Bura, Diesel’s owner).Whenever he explains something, I just remember it, inte-grate it and digest it. He knows how to find the best way toexplain the techniques.
Eighteen months training andyou’re already a veteran of fourbig competitions. What was yourtoughest fight?
CHALINENE BASSINAH: Myfirst pro fight, at Muay ThaiLegends in December 2009. Thatwas the most prestigious venueI’ve fought at and I wasn’t relaxedat all, although it didn’t reallyshow looking back at the DVD. But I was exhausted, I wasreally sick after that.
What made it so hard?
CHALINENE BASSINAH: I wasn’t breathing and relaxedenough, so the adrenaline rush hit me hard. I was tired afterthe third round and couldn’t fight to my game plan. I learnt alot from it though. It taught me to relax more and to not tryto count points while I’m fighting.
Have you had any bad injuries - or inflicted them on others?
CHALINENE BASSINAH: I broke my right hand frompunching too hard and I broke a toe kicking my sparringpartner’s knee! I’ve had sore ribs too... I haven’t inflictedreally bad injuries on anyone (touch wood!). I did sometimes
hurt people when I was a beginnerand I had difficulty controlling mypower, but now it’s getting better.
What do you think are the bestaspects of your technique and fightstyle, and what needs working on?
CHALINENE BASSINAH: Idon’t really have a style, I adapt tomy opponent. I work more by
instinct and anticipation: I see a target, I hit it. I always try tomix things up. I try to be technical, to have good technique.
You train six times a week, you fight in competitions and youteach. What has martial arts taught you about yourself?..
Another man who was involved in aHeavyweight Championship matchwas The Undertaker. “The Deadman” lost at Bragging Rights to hisbrother Kane in a Buried Alivematch.
Lesnar has been a name on the lipsof many a wrestling fan over thepast couple of months. As Lesnarleft the Octagon following his shockdefeat to Velasquez, he and ‘Takershared a tense stare down which ledUndertaker to say “Wanna do it?”He then went on to say that it was apersonal matter between the twomen and that he didn’t want to talkabout it further.
The return of “The Next Big Thing”would definitely increase the inter-est in the WWE. Lesnar was a bigdraw in his WWE run and waspushed a lot by the creative teamwho would love to have him backon board.
In just two years, he became a threetime WWE Champion, won the
King of the Ring and the RoyalRumble.
Even if Lesnar didn’t return to ProWrestling for a sustained period, itwould still be a good money spinnerfor both sides. WWE and ProWrestling in general have found ithard for the past few years. Ratingsand PPV buy rates are both downwith alternatives becoming more pop-ular.
Many of the fans who were broughtup on the Attitude Era during thelate 1990s are now in their late teensor early twenties. That was the begin-ning of the acceptance that wrestlingis pre-determined. Not before thenhad promoters come out and admit-ted that wrestling wasn’t a “proper”sport. Even though this happened,the popularity never dwindled; theaction was so controversial and hard-hitting that it still seemed real.
Wrestling in general has become alot less edgy than it was back then,especially with the recent change toPG programming from the WWE.Wrestling has almost becomeuncool and the fans that werebrought up on wrestling have nowmoved on to things such as boxingand in particular, mixed martialarts.
The UFC has really taken off in thepast few years and has really startedto dominate the PPV market. WithMMA being so popular, the returnto wrestling of Lesnar would only
help the WWE. There have beenquite a few wrestlers who haveturned to MMA, Ken Shamrock,Bobby Lashley, Dave Batista andLesnar himself to name but a few.The move from MMA back towrestling would be a welcomechange.
Lesnar last competed in the ring in2007 while wrestling in Japan. Helost his IWGP HeavyweightChampionship to the then TNAWorld Heavyweight Champion KurtAngle. His last appearance for theWWE was at Wrestle Mania 20against Goldberg, a match that bothmen would like to forget.The former NCAA wrestling cham-pion has unfinished business in theWWE. His last match was farcical;fans were singing “You sold out” asboth he and opponent Goldbergwere known to be leaving the com-pany.
Lesnar has since said that he oftenneeded pills and alcohol to get himthrough the rough schedule but heis a much stronger man now-bothmentally and physically-and couldeasily make the switch back to thesquared circle.
Lesnar’s return would open up a lotof possible matches. It would obvi-ously depend on how long he want-ed to return for but there wouldn’tbe any trouble in matching him upwith an opponent.
This has all come about because of
Page 26 BROCK - WOULD A RETURN BENEFIT THE WWE
Brock LeWould a return benefit the WWE?Brock Lesnar was expected to retain his UFC Heavyweight Championship at UFC 121 back inOctober, but the South Dakota native was beaten by challenger Cain Velasquez.
the exchanged words betweenBrock and Undertaker. ‘Taker looksset to retire at Wrestle Mania anda match between him andLesnar would bring in a seriousamount of viewers.
There’s also the opportunity of arematch with Goldberg. For twoguys who were held in such highesteem by fans, they didn’t havegreat send offs.
Both men were jeered throughouttheir Wrestle Mania farewell andGoldberg has expressed his desireto return to the ring as he looks setto be inducted into this year’sWCW themed Hall of Fame class.Another possibility is the BigShow, the two have put on goodmatches in the past and it couldhappen again. A tie-in with a for-mer WCW performer isn’t thatunlikely, Wrestle Mania is beingheld in the old stomping groundsof WCW, Atlanta.
Lesnar had it all and could havebecome a WWE legend. He hadonly been in the company for twoyears and had already held threeWWE Championships. Very rarelydoes somebody get pushed thatmuch, so quickly. As seen in hisUFC run, the man is a world classwrestler...
BROCK - WOULD A RETURN BENEFIT THE WWE Page 27
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Welterweight UK1 Title FightSymeon Kyurchiev vs Luke SinesUCMMA UK1 fights see fightersusing MMA gloves and this titleclash promises to be an excitingfight. Monster National Bulgarianchampion Simeon Kyurchiev alwaysputs up a fierce and fearless fight.Luke Sines presents a dangerouschallenge with a record of 20 -3.This will be his first fight atWelterweight.
For the full fight card check theUCMMA website
Fighters Under the SpotlightDean ‘The Renegade’ Amasinger (7-2) Dean was a very popular memberof the UFC’s Ultimate Fighter reali-ty show (TUF 9) giving him a greatfollowing of fans all round theworld, but particularly in the UKand US. Dean is considered one ofthe top prospects in the UK welter-weight division. Since TUF 9 Deanhas fought and won domesticallyand abroad when he beat the ranknumber 1 fighter from Poland at
KSW. The British Sri Lankan -Somalian is well-rounded and canfinish the fight standing or on theground. He’s very strong anddurable...
11The win improves Kunitskaya to 4-1,an equal record to Dandois; not badfor the Action-Force Fight Teammember who calls St. Petersburg herhome. The 22-year-old blondebombshell made her professional
debut in March of last year with aTKO victory over MagdalenaJarecka at the K-1 World Grand Prix.
In fact three of her four victoriescome by way of TKO with the
other being credited to a rear-naked-choke; dig a little deeper into this relatively unknown striker’srecord and you will find that all herwins come in the first round and heronly loss being a judge’s decision atthe hands of Maria HougaardNielson.
With the popularity of women’sMMA on a meteoric rise, M-1Global will certainly look to getKunitskaya back in action as soon aspossible so fans can witness morerelentless, exciting action from thisnewly rising star who’s currentlytwinkling extremely brightly...
Page 30 M-1 - KUNITSKAYA SHOCKS DANDOIS
M-1 ChallengeKunitskaya Shocks Dandois and Earns Knock-out of the Night
Blame it on mounting pressure, a fluke punch or any other reason but unfortunately rising-starCindy Dandois failed to deliver at M-1 Challenge XXII last Friday night in Moscow, Russia andlost some of her shine as she fell victim to Yana Kunitskaya. At the midway point of the woman’s145lb contention bout’s opening minute, Kunitskaya landed the shot which was more than enoughto flash-KO Dandois, forcing the referee in charge to halt the bout and prevent the fallen fighterfrom taking any unnecessary shots; the upset victory catapults Kunitskaya higher on the woman’sMMA radar and earns her the event’s Knock-out of the Night award.
Kieron McBride vs Nathan ThompsonMMA Professional fight (3 x 5 minutes)Clash of Warrior’s tenth professionalevent gets under way this evening. Ourfirst professional fight of the eveninggets off to a slightly cautious start forthe first few seconds. Both fightersattempt a few punches and kicks butboth are attempting to size up theiropponent before going in for the attack.After a couple more kicks, Kieronmakes his move and has Nathan pinnedup against the fence. Kieron gets in acouple of punches and then manages totake Nathan down to the cage floor. Fora while the two appeared to be lockedin position - although Kieron has hisopponent pinned down Nathan defendshimself well, and it seems to be impos-sible for either of them to get manypunches in.
Kieron bides his time and manages tomanoeuvre himself into a better posi-tion. Freeing his arms allows him todeliver a barrage of punches to his oppo-nent’s head and body, which he followsby changing his approach and trying toget Nathan in a choke. However, Nathanis still defending himself well and nowthat the punches have stopped, he man-ages to reverse the position and gets topposition and tries to dominate the fight.Kieron manages to take Nathan to a tri-angle position and tries to finish Nathan.At this point, Nathan attempts to liftKieron off the floor and drop him downto unlock the triangle, but despite a fewattempts, he is unable to break free. Atthis point, Kieron manages to completethe triangle lock causing Nathan to tapout. A very convincing win to kick offtonight’s event. The referee for this boutwas Judo Jim Wallhead.
Shaun Cooper vs Gurdeep SangheraMMA Semi-professional fight (2 x 5 mins)Gurdeep had brought plenty of supportwith him for tonight’s fight. As the fightbegins, it looks like the support is work-ing as Gurdeep lands a number of welltimed punches and looks like he got offto the better start of the two. However,one of the punches is mistimed andShaun uses this chance to go for thetakedown. A successful takedown byShaun results in a complete reverse offortune for Gurdeep who ends uppinned down on the cage floor. Usingthat position to his advantage, Shaunproceeds to deliver a barrage of punch-
0 es to the head and Gurdeep is forced totake the pounding. Shaun then wastesno time and moves into position tobring the fight to an end with an ArmBar. The referee for this bout was JudoJim Wallhead.
Winner: Shaun Cooper Loser: Gurdeep Sanghera Method: Arm Bar Round 1 - 1 min 23 secs
Andy Crichton vs David ZmijaProfessional Thai Boxing bout (3 x 3 mins)The third fight of the evening gets underway with a Thai boxing fight. At thestart of round 1 it looks like both fight-ers are favouring punches rather thankicks. David makes one of his punchescount and sends Andy to the floor, caus-ing the referee to step in and bring themboth back to their feet. After a few morepunches, this time David ends uppinned against the side of the cage. Bothtrying to use their knees at this point -Andy to attack and David to defend.
David seems to do a better job using hisknees as he has managed to turn thetables on Andy who now finds himselfpinned up against the side of the cageand forced to defend. This time, the twoof them seem locked together and thereferee is again required to step in tokeep the action flowing. Back in the mid-dle of the cage, a similar story unfoldswith both fighters going for the punchesin the last few seconds of the round.
A slightly different approach as round 2gets under way with both of them usingtheir legs to attack rather than their fists.One of David’s kicks makes contact andsends Andy to the floor. Once back onhis feet, Andy responds quickly andDavid ends up pinned against the sideof the cage once again. Andy tries toget in a few punches while he has thebetter position, but David once againmanages to switch things round on hisopponent and Andy ends up beingpinned up against the cage. The two ofthem end up on the floor and conse-quently the referee brings them back totheir feet. The two of them end upagainst the cage side as before howeverthey seem to be locked together thistime and unable to deliver manypunches. End of round 2. Both fighterslooking pretty even at this point.
Round 3 looked similar to the firstround, as both fighters reverted back topreferring punches to kicks. David man-ages to get Andy pinned to the fencebut Andy recovers quickly and is soonback in the centre of the cage. The paceseems a little slower than the last tworounds and both fighters are lookingtired. Both fighters are determined tosee it through to the end, however itlooks like Andy is doing more of theattacking at this point - certainly usinghis legs a lot more than David is. End ofround 3 and it is left to the judges. Thereferee for this bout was Wayne Kirk.
Winner: Andy Crichton Loser: David Zmija Method: Unanimous Decision Round 3 -3.00 mins
Chris Kent vs Damian ZlotnickiMMA Semi-professional fight (2 x 5 mins)One of the quickest but also most explo-sive fights of the evening. At the start ofthe fight, both of them looked prettyeven with a good number of punchesand kicks coming from both Chris andDamian. Damian then springs intoaction and goes for the takedown. Thetakedown is successful and he follows itup with a massive barrage of punchesand kicks. Chris can only take this kindof punishment for so long and the refer-ee is forced to step in to prevent anyserious damage. A very convincing per-formance from Damian. The referee forthis bout was Judo Jim Wallhead...
The Body Snatcher Strikes AgainPage 34 WRSA - THE BODY SNATCHER STRIKES AGAIN
Troy Varley, his opponent for thisbout, the home town fighter enteredthe ring to noisy support, but feltEdmondson’s power as he wasknocked to the canvas twice withinthe first minutes with devastatingbody punches. The referee steppedin and stopped the fight as Varley hitthe canvas for the second time. Thenoisy home crowd was stunned andsuddenly silent with disbelief.
The next fight in the ring was also aWRSA title fight between KieranJones from Scorpio Kickboxing andMick Lasie from the ContendersGym. Two very different style fight-ers, Kieran Jones using his kickingabilities and Mick Laise more inter-ested in getting in close and from
the middle of the first round it wasobvious whose style was prevailingwith Jones landing kicks regularlyand following them up with handcombinations. As the rounds pro-gressed Jones took more and morecontrol of the fight and Laise wasluck in the fourth not to get at leastone 8 count as Jones pined him inthe corner and rained punchesdown with no reply. It happenedagain late in the fourth round andLaise did not come out of his cornerfor the fifth making Kieran Jonesthe WRSA Northern Area SuperLightweight Champion.
The final bout of the night was forthe WRSA English Amateur LightHeavyweight title bout between
Brian Lane from Impact MartialArts and Rob Beach from Lion HartKickboxing.
These fighters had faced each otherbefore so knew each other’s stylewell. The first two rounds wereedged by Beach and Lane edged thenext two rounds. So everything wason the final round, which swungback and forward between the twofighters. So everything was down tothe judge’s cards, one gave the fightto Beach, another to Lane and thefinal judge had it down as a draw,they will have to do it all again forone of them to win the title.
Mention has to be made of twoyoung fighters, Peri Mason and JoshElgie who for a light contact bouton this bill. The skill and passionthey showed in the rings was greatto see, with Mason winning a veryclose and entertaining fight. Thesenames will be ones to watch for inthe future.
Also a name to look for in thefuture among the ladies is DanniGriffin who had her first light con-tact bout against a much more expe-rienced opponent and came out thewinner...
Ryan ‘Body Snatcher’ Edmondson travel up to Middlesborough for the WRSA sanctionedMaximum Impact II at the Brambles Farm Social Club. Ryan took the fight with 24 hours noticeso the WRSA Area title bout planned for this event could take place.
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WRSA - THE BODY SNATCHER STRIKES AGAIN Page 35
Page 36 EL MAACHI RULES SUPREME
El Maachi Rules Supreme
By Gianluca (Rio) Di Caro
At the end of the five hour, 13 fightmarathon, those present, and justthose present, as it was an off-TVshow, witnessed one of the greatestfights held on British soil this year.Without doubt if this was an on-TVshow Yassine El Maachi - JimmyColas would be nominated for‘Fight of the Year’ honours.
Yassine El Maachi put on a masterfuldisplay that see him totally outboxJimmy Colas to retain hisInternational Light Mi-ddleweightcrown. To describe Yassine’s perfor-mance as exceptional would be anunderstatement, awe inspiring may bea better statement but still wouldn’tget across just how slick, classy andtotally dominating his performanceover the former EBU-EU, and cur-
rent WBC La-tino LightMiddleweight champion was.
From the first bell El Maachi teasedand frustrated Colas with hisunorthodox attacks. Time after timeEl Maachi would trip the light fan-tastic before letting rip with a flurryof punches, leaving Colas lashingout at his shadow. Close to the endof the round the crowd erupted asColas went crashing to the canvas,albeit from a push, El Maachi saun-tered over and stood, hands raisedabove his head, over the proneHaitian and taunted him to thecrowds delight.
Round two was more of the same ElMaachi dancing around and pickingoff the hapless Colas at will. The
third began with El Maachi pawingwith his jab before delivering aseries of wicked uppercuts thatrocked Colas to the core. Towardsthe end of the round El Maachistepped up the showboating as thecrowd chanted Yassine, Yassine,Yassine.
Rounds four and five were verymuch more of the same; fluid move-ment followed by wickedly fastuppercuts and combinations beforesashaying away before Colas couldeven respond. El Maachi wasdeducted a point by the referee, JeffHines, in the final quarter of roundfive for head butting. The crowdshowed their disapproval of the ref-eree‘s decision as it was just a clearlyunintentional by-product of hisunorthodox movement during aforceful attack.
Rounds six and seven the actioncontinued in the same vein althoughat a slightly slower pace, whichallowed Colas a modicum of closerange success. El Maachi steppedthe pace up again in round eightwhich culminated in a scintillatinglyfast and vicious right-left combina-tion that rocked Colas.
El Maachi shifted to high gear forthe final rounds, in doing so he puton one helluva show and picking offColas with exquisite uppercuts, rightcrosses and blisteringly fast combi-nations. A knockout finish looked to
Those lucky enough to score tickets for Steve Goodwin’s ‘Judgement Day’ event at York Hall weretreated to a thrilling night of pugilistic artistry at a level rarely seen these days.
be on the cards but in the end Colasshowed his durability by survivingthe constant onslaught, and a ratheramusing tangle that saw the pairtumble to the canvas in the finalseconds of the round.
Referee Jeff Hinds scored the bout98-92 to the reigning champ YassineEl Maachi.
The main support for El Maachi-Colas featured the resurgent formerEnglish Super Featherweight, andcurrent International MastersLightweight Champion Ryan ‘MrAttitude’ Barrett against CroatianAlmin Kovacevic.
Barrett controlled the fight from theopening bell using his super slick jab.Round two saw Barrett mix it up abit, letting rip with some crisp lefthooks that clearly hurt the advancingKovacevic. More success followed inthe third as Barrett again let rip witha vicious hook to the body.Kovacevic was clearly struggling andgrabbed Barrett to prevent anychance of a follow-up. Each timeBarrett came forward the Croatianwould grab hold of Barrett to stifleany attack. Late in the roundKovacevic received a warning forthe constant holding.
Kovacevic was again warned in thefourth for holding each time Barretttried to work up close. The fifthround saw Kovacevic being deducteda point for his constant holding,moments later Barrett pinned him tothe ropes with constant left-right bar-rage of shots, Kovacevic blatantlythrowing an elbow into Barrett’scheek, Barrett responding with amassive left that sent the Croatiancrashing to the deck. After taking theeight count Kovacevic then receiveda second point deduction for theelbow from referee Jeff Hines. Barrettwent in for the finish but againKovacevic grabbed hold, Jeff Hinesagain separating them, but on therestart Kovacevic thwarted Barrett’sattack by grabbing hold, albeit forthe last time as Jeff Hines called ahalt to the proceedings by disqualify-ing Kovacevic for continued holding.
Another disqualification precededthe Barrett-Kovacevic bout. Thistime John ‘The Gorilla’ Ryder wasdeclared victor after Sabie Montiethwas disqualified for illegal use of thehead
by referee Robert Williams after just30 seconds of the first round!
The major shock of the night camewhen Canning Town’s hugely popu-lar Super Featherweight debutantRichard Hines was stopped in thethird round by Norfolk’s ScottMoises. I say shock as the skillfulHines had easily controlled the firsttwo rounds, and was in charge inthe third until Moises let rip with acracking left-right that sent himcrashing to the deck. Hines beat thecount but it was clear that his fightwas over as his legs wobbled badlyas he stood. Referee RobertWilliams instantly called the fightoff and declared Moises winner byknockout.
Tyler Goodjohn gave a masterful dis-play against the experienced JasonNesbitt to earn a well deserved 40-36points decision. Goodjohn controlledthe first couple of rounds utilising hisjab along with stinging body shots...
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IRISH SECTION - BY THOMAS McCULLOUGH Page 39
FIGHTERS IRISH SECTION All the latest news and views from The Emerald Isle...
Ireland Welcomes
Fight StarsOne of MMA’s longest and most success-ful organisations, Cage Warriors FightingChampionship (CWFC) held a hugelysuccessful event on November 27. Heldin “Rebel County” Cork, CWFC 39 “TheUprising” saw exciting fighters such asRosi Sexton and Aisling Daly appear onthe fight card. Former WEC fighter, JustinRobbins spoke to Fighters Magazineabout his victory on the CWFC 39 card.
One of Ireland’s leading BJJ coaches,John Kavanagh took some time fromhis busy schedule and spoke to FightersMagazine about his work at the SBGIgym and his fighting background.
Without the tireless effort of coaches,Irish MMA wouldn’t have enjoyed therecent success it’s enjoyed. In continu-ing with our gym profiles, FightersMagazine spoke to Team Ryanofounder, Andy Ryan about the contin-ued success for his fight team.
Chaos Promotions have received a hugefan following since its establishment in2007. We spoke to the founder, JasonMcCabe who gives us an insight into thereasoning behind the promotions cre-ation and its future plans for growth.
It’s been exciting times for Irish MMAat the moment. CWFC 39 have showedtheir commitment towards the sport.Cage Contender VII closed 2010 hav-ing staged yet another sell out eventand Irish fight fans will witnessed thearrival of former UFC stars, RichClementi and Jeremy Horn whoappeared on Cage Wars “Validation” onDecember 10 at the Odyssey Arena,Belfast. Both these famous fighters livedup to their reputations earning victoriesto the delight of Irish fight fans.
At Fighters Magazine we will becontinue to cover these exciting
events. 2011 will be an excit-ing year for Irish MMA withmany exciting bouts andevents already planned!
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In continuing with Fighters Magazine’s coverage of Irish MMA, this month we start 2011 by tak-ing a look at one of Ireland’s most promising talent, Joe “Kid Chaos” Clarke. It’s been excitingtimes for Irish MMA and 2011 is set to be even bigger.
