Tag Archives: Royce Gracie

Ronda Rousey Highlights the Good, Bad and Ugly of WMMA

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by Cory Braiterman – http://www.galsguidetomma.com

JaJayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE – Presswire

Sarah Kaufman (blue shirt) and Ronda Rousey (black shirt) during their Strikeforce MMA women’s bantamweight title bout at the Valley View Casino Center. Rousey won in 54 seconds of the first round. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-US PRESSWIRE

Before people start busting out the pitchforks and torches, I would like to state unequivocally that I’m a pretty big Ronda Rousey fan. That said, it’s kind of looking like Rousey might not really be able to push/pull/drag women’s MMA into some sort of golden era by herself.

One of the main problems people have with WMMA is the perceived lack of competition. Honestly it isn’t an unfair criticism to make. There are so few people who are complete well-rounded fighters with only minor flaws. The men’s side of the ledger has fighters in every division that one could argue for fabled pound-for-pound awesomeness or are even just legit contenders to the belt. Dos Santos, Overeem, Velasquez, Jones, Silva, St. Pierre, Condit, Henderson, Edgar, Aldo, Cruz, Barao, etc. This dozen isn’t even counting the second tier of veteran names who’ve had stellar careers and have the stellar records to match. Machida, Evans, Henderson, Koscheck, Shields, Fitch… outside of ‘Reem, there isn’t a man listed with double digit losses and most of those guys have been fighting for a decade or more.

When we get to the women, that top of the mountain is soooo much smaller. Rousey is the Royce Gracie of WMMA, and while there’s a couple of other people we think might make it competitive, the only serious other person on the map right now is still suspended for steroids. Outside of Santos and Rousey… what do you have? People like Fujii and Tate and Kaufman do fall into that second tier, but as for challengers to the throne? It’s a pretty sparse grouping of talent.

Marloes Coenen is the best looking match to make right now at 135, and Sara McMann is a decent enough prospect waiting in the wings, but after that… it’s looking as barren as men’s Light Heavyweight. It isn’t like the other divisions are brimming to the top, either. 145 got decimated by a similar dominant champion, who was also the most obvious steroid user since Mark McGwire. 125 has some talent in Tara La Rosa and Rosi Sexton (plus Zoila Gurgel is she unretires) and 115 has Jessica Aguilar and Megumi Fujii, but shoot… not a one of them outside of maybe Fujii and La Rosa really move the needle a lick.
As my fellow Guider, Donna Hurrle wrote just earlier this week,

While most people would say you’re kicking butt right now, I respectively disagree. True, you’ve got Ronda Rousey, who is an incredible representative for what women in MMA can do. The problem is, she’s just one person, and right now, you’ve got no one that can beat her… The problem with you, Women’s MMA, is that right now no one can beat Ronda because you don’t have any fighters in her league. That’s a problem. So please, start working on your talent pool.

In my book, that’s pretty much it in a nutshell. The good, even the great thing about this past weekend was watching a fantastic athlete steamroll another opponent, despite the opponent knowing almost to the letter what was coming. It’s like watching Babe Ruth call his home run, but it happens every time Ronda steps out there. In reality, the comparison to Ruth is a pretty apt analogy. Assuming WMMA sticks around, Rousey will probably get looked at as the Ruth or Ty Cobb of the era – a superlative player that was just so far ahead of everyone else that they go down as part myth, part legend.
The bad and the ugly are also the same thing. Where are the great female athletes that can foist a challenge here? WMMA can’t make it as a series of squash matches. Hopefully the growing popularity of Ronda can inspire more women, but that’s a long ways away – there has to be someone, and someone soon, or this will just wither on the vine.

http://www.galsguidetomma.com/2012/8…d-ugly-of-wmma

@ANDREACALLEcorp

Three Gracies confirmed for ONE FC Manila event

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Three Gracies confirmed for ONE FC Manila event

written by John Joe O’Regan

ONE Fighting Championship has confirmed that the legendary Gracie family will be represented in a big way at ‘ONE FC: Pride of a Nation’ on 31 August.  Rolles Gracie, Igor Gracie and Gregor Gracie have all been added to the card, which takes place in the Philippine capital city of Manila.

Rolles Gracie was born into the royal family of BJJ and MMA, the legendary Gracie family, and is the grandson of Carlos Gracie Sr, the founder of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu (BJJ). Rolles is physically the largest fighter in the history of the Gracie clan, standing at 193cm tall.

On 31 August, Rolles will face his toughest test to date when he squares off against top Australian fighter, Tony “The Gun” Bonello. Bonello is considered one of the top submission specialists in the heavyweight division, with 15 of his 16 victories coming via submission. Bonello will look to notch another submission victory in Manila when he makes his ONE FC debut.

Igor Gracie is a Bellator Fighting Championship and Strikeforce veteran who holds an MMA record of five wins and two losses with four wins coming by way of submission. He is a 3rd degree Black Belt in BJJ and has a list of grappling credentials that is nothing short of extraordinary.

Igor is a four-time Rio de Janeiro State Champion, Pan American Championship Silver Medalist and a two time Brazilian National Champion, just to name a few. He knows that a victory over the KO specialist Jung Hwan Cha at ONE FC: Pride of a Nation will get him one step closer to his ultimate goal of becoming a ONE FC champion.

Gregor Gracie is a talented grappler who is both the Pan-American and Brazilian National BJJ Champion. Gregor has chalked up a series of impressive MMA wins since his successful debut in 2007. With the exception of one win by decision, the BJJ black belt has ended all his other fights via submission.

Gregor will have to add a few more dimensions to his game when he steps in the ONE FC cage against Nicholas “The Apprentice” Mann. Mann is no stranger to Filipino MMA fans, given that all of his MMA fights have been on Filipino soil. He will look to continue his four fight win streak when he steps up to fight Gregor Gracie on 31 August 2012.

Mixed Martial Arts and BJJ legend Renzo Gracie stated, “Rolles, Igor and Gregor Gracie have never trained so hard for a fight in their lives. All three of my students understand that ONE FC in Manila will be the largest MMA event in the history of the Philippines.

“They are embracing this experience whole-heartedly and are training exceptionally hard to achieve victory in front of 16,500 fans. The fans in Manila will get the chance to see the next generation of the Gracie family dominate the world of MMA once again.”

@ANDREACALLEcorp

Fertitta on most important fights in UFC history

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by Dave Deibert | source: thestarphoenix.com

Before Saturday night’s sold-out debut in Calgary, reporter Dave Deibert highlights the most important battles in UFC history, plus what UFC chairman Lorenzo Fertitta had to say about each one.

10. FRANK SHAMROCK VS. TITO ORTIZ, UFC 22 (9/24/1999)
The beginning of highly conditioned, multi-discipline MMA fighters.

Lorenzo Fertitta: “Anybody who watched that fight I think saw the transformation of the sport being from athletes that maybe had one discipline and were very one dimensional to full-fledged mixed martial artists.”

9. QUINTON JACKSON VS. CHUCK LIDDELL, UFC 71 (5/26/2007)
MMA breaks through to mainstream notice.

Lorenzo Fertitta: “That fight was a culmination really of the buildup of PRIDE and UFC. You had many years of fans, the hardcore fans, arguing which promotion was better, which fighters were better.”

8. CHRIS LEBEN VS. JOSH KOSCHECK FEUD, TUF 1 (2005)
Record breaking fight was preceeded by a season of Kos being such a heel, that Leben turned into the babyface.

Lorenzo Fertitta: “Once again, there’s a common theme here. Things that generate interest, fights that generate interest, are typically ones that come with some sort of rivalry.”

7. CHUCK LIDDELL VS. RANDY COUTURE TRILOGY, UFC 43 (6/6/2003), UFC 52 (4/16/2005), and UFC 57 (2/4/2006)
Mohawked and tattooed striker vs. clean cut wrestler, with Liddell taking two of three.

Lorenzo Fertitta: “Definitely the one that will go down in history as our version of Ali-Frazier.”

6. BROCK LESNAR VS. FRANK MIR, UFC 100 (7/11/2009)
UFC reaches a level only achieved by Mike Tyson, Oscar De La Hoya, Floyd Mayweather, Lennox Lewis and Evander Holyfield, with 1,600,000 PPV buys.

Lorenzo Fertitta: “It really was our first what I’ll call ‘mega event’ that shot way past over a million buys, which is really the benchmark for whether or not a fight is a mega event.”

5. CHUCK LIDDELL VS. TITO ORTIZ, UFC 66 (12/30/2006)
PPV breaks 1,000,000 buys, and UFC outgrosses boxing and pro wrestling for the year.

Lorenzo Fertitta: “Tito was the champion. Chuck was a guy that was a faithful friend but at the same time Tito had what he wanted, which was the belt. He made no bones about it. Tito took it very personally. And a rivalry was born.”

4. JOHN MCCAIN VS. UFC
Mixed Martial Arts was admittedly more spectacle than sport when John McCain discovered his inner male grandmother, and drove the then-SEG owned UFC off PPV, and out of dozens of States.

Lorenzo Fertitta: “That’s really what drove UFC to becoming the sport that it is today. Guys like John McCain and other politicians holding the previous owners’ feet to the fire. You had to have to structure around it. That was an obvious tipover point with UFC. We’re glad John McCain won that one.”

3. TITO ORTIZ VS. KEN SHAMROCK TRILOGY, UFC 40 (11/22/2002), UFC 61 (7/8/2006), THE FINAL CHAPTER (10/10/2006)
Tito Ortiz saves the UFC, with PPV buy rates of 150,000 (best since 1996), 775,000 (then a record), and finally the then most viewed MMA fight in North American history.

Lorenzo Fertitta: “A lot of it had to do with their personalities –  Tito was young, he was brash, he was irreverent. Ken Shamrock was a guy who was well-respected, had accomplished a lot in this sport.”

2. ROYCE GRACIE VS. THE WORLD, UFC 1 (11/12/1993), UFC 2 (3/11/1994) UFC 3 (9/9/994), UFC 4 (12/16/1994), UFC 5 (4/7/1995)
In the beginning, there was Royce, and he was good.

Lorenzo Fertitta: “Probably did more for martial arts in those series of fights than had been done for martial arts in the previous 500 years.”

1. FORREST GRIFFIN VS. STEPHAN BONNAR, THE ULTIMATE FIGHTER 1 (4/9/2005)
Fertittas bought the UFC and went tens of millions of dollars in the hole. With one amazingly great fight on free tv, fortunes turned.

Lorenzo Fertitta: “It’s one of those perfect storms.”

Anderson Silva: I plan to fight for 10 more years

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by sportv.globo.com

In a recent interview with the Brazilian language SporTV, UFC Middleweight champion Anderson Silva covered  a wide variety of topics.

SportTV: The opening of his film shows a scene where Bruce Lee explains that the fighter has to behave like water, shaping up to the fence. He had great influence on his professional and personal life?

Anderson Silva: I am a big fan of his … I trained Wing Chun … he was very important in both my professional and personal life. I sisn’t know him personally, but he conducted his life in martial arts with great dedication, and passed it to several generations.

STV: At the end of the (Like Water documentary) you come to train with his son, Kalyl. Have you ever wondered coach him, if he is a fighter?

AS: I get very nervous, I do not know if I could be a coach my son. If they play soccer I get nervous, imagine fighting.

STV: Have your children  shown some willingness to fight?

AS: Kalyl like soccer, Gabriel likes to fight and wants to be a fighter, and John also trains. In fact, they all train, minus the girls. It’s a family tradition, and I always tell them that regardless of what you want to do in life: to be a football player, basketball, dancer, they have to learn and understand the philosophy of martial arts, and will have to train tp black belt. This is important in their lives.

STV: So no chance of seeing a dynasty in the world of MMA?

AS: A great possibility … I hope that does not happen (laughs). But, yes.

STV: We have a movie that shows the fight against Chael Sonnen, and it stays alive because of the rematch, which is one of the largest in the history.

AS: The truth is this. He is an athlete who got caught doping, I fought against him bruised, had problems with American justice, respects nothing, did not respect our country. What’s it mean? Nothing.

I respect the views and position of the promoters of the fight, the owners of the event, but I think he should not have a chance to fight me again. But this is not me who has to decide. I will prepare to fight like against any other opponent. But he disrespected our idols, who made history in the sport, like Lance Armstrong.

This guy is tricky, he has some personal problem with himself. The emphasis that the Brazilian media give this guy is bad. If any Brazilian said what he said about the USA, and American Idols, we would not even have the same opportunity to enter the country or to speak in American media. I think that Brazilians need to be more patriotic as Americans are. When I come out of Brazil, and I’ve fought in England, Japan, Korea, I always represent my country and the Brazilian people, apart from my personal side, as my family and my team.

STV: In the film we see Ed Smith, his manager, agreeing with a statement of Sonnen’s that the bows you do before and after the fights are not natural, and that if he made a bow like that in Brazil, he’d get hit in head and have his wallet stolen.

AS: This is a problem. Ed Smith and Chael Sonnen are Americans. I have practiced martial arts since age eight and was taught early on to respect any person, whether or not an they are an opponent. They do not think the same way.

STV: You’re already 36 years old. Have you ever stopped to think at the time of retirement?

AS: Everyone thinks that. I’ve imagined myself in a lake, fishing with my grandchildren and my wife calling me into the house … joke. Not thought of yet. I think I still have another ten-year career, but have not discussed my contract with the UFC. After this fight I think there are still two or three, I’m not sure. They just call me and say they need the Spider. And then I go.

STV: Speaking of Spider, you’re a fan of Spiderman. In his life, he has a character that inspired him to become a great hero, who is Uncle Ben. And you? It has some “Uncle Ben” in your life?

AS: Of course I do! My uncle and my aunt, who are the people who raised me. If it were not for them I would not be the man and father I am today. I went to Curitiba at four years of age, and all my education was given by them. So they are my “uncles” Ben … Although I have my biological parents, even today I miss (my Aunt who is deceased). Whenever I go to see my uncle in Curitiba it renews my energy. He is a very wise person, like my biological father. I miss my aunt, I was very attached to her.

STV: Of all the struggles that you did today, what is your big fight, that you review and feel that is special?

AS: My first world title in Japan at Shooto, against Hayato Sakurai in 2001. It was important to me because at any given time, everything was against me and my team, and I found myself in a situation where I was against the whole Japan. At the time the fighters had to enter a runway and we take our things to leave them there before entering. At that time an organizer came and told me to get all my stuff away, because the champion had just passed, and only they could pass that way and leave their stuff there. I had already started to take my things away, and it was a bad sign. My coach at the time, Sergio Cunha, gave me an earful. He said: “Are you crazy? Leave your stuff there, you’ll come back here. If this is where the champions are, it is here that you will return. You go there and in five minutes you will come back. It was what happened.”

STV: Who in history do you most want to fight?

AS: My clone. I train to fight the best fighters in the world, and the worst possible situations. But I want to fight even with my clone, would be a fantastic fight. I can not say that I would like to fight so and sicano. If you ask me with whom you would like to fight in a boxing match, I would say Roy Jones Jr. is a dream that I have as a professional fight.

STV: What’s the worst moment of his career?

AS: When I was in Pride, and I didn’t know if I would stop fighting or not after leaving my team at the time. It was politics and I did not return to fight in Pride. I was a little frustrated.

STV: You’re more reserved than the average top fighters in MMA, but some interviews controversial in some people’s opinion. Are you egotistical?

AS: You’re a reporter, you know how things work. I can tell you put A, and they say A, B, C and D. Depends on the integrity of those who interview. But I do not think egotistically. I am as I am. I try to be better every day, but I’m not perfect. I have my flaws, not pleased with everything, but I like what I’m seeing.

STV: You see yourself as one of the great sports heroes of Brazil, like Pele, Ayrton Senna or Guga Kuerten?

AS: No. I think I can … make a difference to the children of our country. My big goal is this, change the heroes of Brazil. We are managing to do this, but much remains. I want children to see MMA athletes as their heroes, especially those who have no access to culture as wealthier kids do. The UFC does an excellent job of marketing the image of athletes and our work around the world.

STV: Royce Gracie once said that every fighter needs to have a base in MMA. Junior Dos Santos’s is boxing. Royce’s is jiu-jitsu. And yours? Is it muay thai? Or do you considered yourself a mixed martial arts fighter?

AS: I have to disagree with the master Royce. I train all aspect, so as not to lose ground to other athletes. I have many specialties in tkicking, because I trained boxing, capoeira, tae kwon do, wing chun, hapkido, and I feel safer in these forms of struggle. But I train wrestling, wrestling, I had the opportunity to go to a Xingu tribe in their struggle to learn, and loved it. It makes you adapt to the system, and if you’re not well prepared, and have no knowledge of certain techniques, you end up putting yourself at risk.

When you know and dominate a sport, you become an expert at it. But when you study and devote time of your life to learn about other areas and specialize in MMA, you learn its limits within each separate mode, and can handle what happens inside the Octagon, learning to avoid risk and not get hurt seriously. I do not fight to win. I train to exit the same way I entered the Octagon. Martial arts is not intended for attack, but for defense.