Brought to you by the Bloody Elbow Grappling team! 

Alliance achieved the Grand Slam of BJJ this year, which is absolutely ridiculous. In a world that has long been dominated by people and teams whose last name is Gracie (or whose first name has R's that are pronounced like H's), the Alliance team, headed by Romero Jacare Cavalcante and Fabio Gurgel, has hit its stride.

This year, they took the Grand Slam of BJJ. In the adult division, Alliance won the Pan American championships, the European Championships, the World Championships, and even the Brazilian Nationals. They pretty much owned the world as far as competition BJJ is concerned.

More after the jump.

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Edited and Promoted to the Front Page by Anton Tabuena

At the 2011 Mundials, held this past weekend, female MMA fighter Cristiane "Cyborg" Santos brutalized her way to a gold medal in the Female Heavyweight Purple Belt division.

Competing under the name Cristiane Justino, and representing the Atos team under Andre Galvao, Cyborg showed the dominant positional control, power and speed she is known for in her MMA bouts on her way to gold. Plus she threw a bunch of people on their heads.

It's one way to keep busy I suppose, while Strikeforce's new owners figure out what to do with her.

Check out the video after the jump. 

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I finally got around to finishing off the video interview I did with some friends in Japan last year. We spoke to loads of famous JMMA stars, Imanari was by far the strangest.

You can read about the experience of filming it here in a previous post.

Video after the jump!

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I visited Japan last year, and was able to meet and interview a few famous fighters. This is the third part in a series of articles on my blog. I left the first part out as it's not directly related to MMA. Part two can be found here. Hope you enjoy!

We're following Dan, our defacto guide. The grizzled veteran with the five-day beard and delapidated sandals. Leading us through the wide streets, the pleasant labyrinth of skyscrapers. Endless skyscrapers in Shinjuku. Clean lines, strong, reassuring lights, the night sky that never truly darkens. As usual, we're humping the camera gear around, pounding the Tokyo pavement. Thankfully it's the evening and the sun is gone from the sky, but it's not forgotten. It's still coming up in hazy invisible waves from the street, still hanging in the dusk air. Breeze like the warm, stinking breath of the living city. We're ants on the floor.

Two Japanese superheroes, comic book characters. The Master of Flying Techniques and the Master of Leglocks. We are meeting both of them at DEEP Official Gym, Shinjuku, Tokyo. Dan, pulling his camera equipment along the pavement, suffers a flat tyre. His sandal pops loose, flap flap flapping on the floor. It's about the fourth time this has happened. I consider buying him a new pair.

We arrive at the gym. I'm surprised, again, at how small it is. Champions are made here. Some of the toughest fighters in Japan. The gym is on a backstreet away from the main drag, nothing more than a box with a glass side.

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Steven Seagal, the mastermind behind Anderson Silva's most recent display of dominance at UFC 126, has revealed that he will be opening up his own mixed martial arts academy.

(Pic via via cdn.fd.uproxx.com)

"Well for me it was an obvious move. I have actually been mixing the martial arts for years now, much like my contemporary Bruce Lee who I was better than. Naturally I draw on my extensive aikido background as a base, and I add to that the knowledge I have picked up here and there from people like Jet Li, the Dalai Lama, and Royce Gracie's best friend's cousin who I met in Costa Rica during my time working for the CIA. By the way, I am not allowed to talk about that even though I just mentioned it a second ago. Don't ask me if I killed anyone or not because I won't be able to tell you if I did. But I did, 22 times. I think that combined with my extensive acting career and DVD library, as well as my packed wardrobe of snazzy ethnic clothing, qualifies me to start my own MMA gym."

Seagal took credit for Anderson Silva's front kick knockout of Vitor Belfort at the weekend hesitantly at first but with increasing vigour as the night went on. Initially, Seagal admitted he had worked with Silva "once or twice". By the final interview of the night, Seagal made it clear that not only did he invent the act of attacking people using the foot (a technique he christened "kicking"), he taught it in great detail to Anderson, reminded him about it just before he stepped into the octagon, and told him the exact moment of the round at which to unleash it on Vitor Belfort's face.

Detractors may point to Seagal's complete lack of experience in any of the arts that commonly make up the core of the modern MMA fighter; his garganguan belly; and his thinning hair as reasons against this proposed move into MMA, but Seagal waves them off with a sinister and deeply threatening smirk.

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Supported by Manto and Scramble.

http://www.mantofight.com/
http://www.scramblestuff.com/

To my knowledge, this is the only fully translated video interview in the world with the legend that is Yuki Nakai.

Yuki Nakai fought Rickson Gracie in Vale Tudo Japan, was instrumental in popularising BJJ in Japan, and has guided some of Japan’s top fighters, including Shinya Aoki.

We visited the headquarters of Paraestra, Nakai-san’s network of dojos, in a small suburb of Tokyo. This is the place where the best jiu jitsu fighters in Tokyo come to practice (hence all the noise in the background while we were filming.)

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(Pic via allelbows.com)

From The Grappling Dummy (me).

The UK is blessed to have one of the best grapplers in the entire universe living on our grey and cloudy shores.

Roger Gracie, who teaches and resides in London, is fighting Trevor Prangley in Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Cyborg on January 29th.

This will be Roger’s biggest test in MMA to date, with Prangley coming off a win over solid UFC vet Keith "Herky Jerky Style" Jardine.

I called him up and he, graciously, answered…

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Promoted to the Front Page by Kid Nate.

In September 2010 I visited Japan. There, I met Dan Herbertson and Dean Marchand. Together we visited some of our favourite MMA stars to talk with them and shoot video.

This is Shinya Aoki, Dream lightweight champion.

We spoke of a lot of things, some of which are no longer relevant due to the time that has passed since the interview. Aoki himself was also a little hesitant, as he is known to be with a lot of western media. However, once the interview was 'over', he seemed to really loosen up and we had a good discussion about Japanese and American MMA, how much he loves the UFC, who is favourite fighters are and his opinion on 'wrestle-boxers'.

I hope Western fans will enjoy seeing another side of Aoki. Once we began talking about MMA, it was clear that he was very passionate and knowledgeable on the subject.

Made by The Grappling Dummy 
Presented by Manto (Manto USA) and Scramble.

I recently visited Japan, and was able to meet and interview a few famous fighters. This is the second part in a series of articles on my blog. I left the first part out as it's not directly related to MMA. The video of the interview below will be coming out soon. Hope you enjoy!

Gold’s Gym Omori is big. It reeks of money.

Real estate is expensive in Tokyo, and this place takes up a lot of it. I can’t imagine the kind of lives the people lead who lift weights at Gold’s Gym Omori. Huge muscles, tanned skin, expensive cologne, high paid jobs, lunch breaks lifting weights, neatly trimmed beards.

I’m wearing an old jiu jitsu t-shirt with a hole in it, and despite my best efforts to conserve energy, have sweated into it badly. We are waiting for Megumi Fujii to arrive.

There’s me, Dan, Dean, Duncan who is along for the ride (ostensibly as Microphone Holder), and Masa, our translator. I have the strongest feeling that I have met Masa before, although I haven’t.

A reasonably mysterious staircase in the middle of the gym leads to the upper floor. That’s where AACC is. The Abe Ane Combat Club, one of the most well known MMA, jiu jitsu and wrestling gyms in the country.

We wait.

I feel as if we are being tolerated by the receptionists and the staff at the Protein Bar, but only barely. None of us have big muscles, or expensive cologne, or neatly trimmed beards. Although Duncan has nice pair of Raybans.

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Megumi Fujii last night secured her place as not only one of the greatest, if not the greatest, female fighters on the planet, but one of the most successful MMA fighters ever.

She advanced her record to an unblemished 22 wins with no losses when she submitted Lisa Ward by armbar in the first round, as she has done to so many in the past.

Her final test in the current stanza of her career will be Zoila Frausto, who beat Jessica Aguilar to secure her place in the finals of the Bellator women's 115lb tournament. 

I recently met and interview Megumi Fujii in Japan. You can see a brief write up of the meeting here.

(Originally published on my blog)

My good friend Jeff Lawson has scored the fight of his dreams in Japan.

He’s fighting Hatsu Hioki at Sengoku Raiden Championships 14.

That’s big! Hioki is a seasoned vet in Japan, and the featherweight champion of Shooto.

But Jeff will be ready! He has moved down to featherweight not so long ago and brings with him a lot of power, technique, explosiveness, and unpredictability.

I first met Jeff when I came back from living in Japan. I visited the only MMA gym I knew of in the area, the Bulldog, to see if they were interested in flogging any of the gear I had brought back with me. Who did I see when I walked in the door – none other than Jeff Lawson, from The Ultimate Fighter 9, that I had been downloading and watching in Japan just weeks before!

A couple of years ago... posing like a proper fan boy!

We’ve been friends since then; Jeff is one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met which is quite impressive considering a) I’ve met lots of nice guys and b) Jeff posesses the latent ability to rip your elbows off and snap your shins in half pretty much just by looking at them.

He has been kind enough to do some training with me here and there, too.

I got some words from Jeff about his upcoming bout in Japan.

The Grappling Dummy (GD): Congrats on the fight. What does it mean to you to fight in Japan?

Jeff Lawson (JL): Ever since I started judo as a kid I always looked up to the Japanese style. Since then it has always been a dream of mine to train at the kodokan. As I’ve grown up the dream of Japan has still remained but some of the things I want to do out there have changed obviously!

GD: How do you feel about fighting Hioki, one of Japan’s top fighters?

JL: It is a complete honour to be fighting Hioki. I really want to make an impression on the Japanese fans so you can guarantee that I will be bringing my (quirky) A game.

GD: What are your goals beyond this fight in Sengoku?

JL: I want them to have me back time and time again so my goal is to win this next fight in any way possible and climb up the world rankings.

GD: Do you have plans to fight somewhere else this year?

JL: Well, hopefully Sengoku will have me back after this fight.

GD: For those who don’t follow British MMA or don’t have you on their radar, who is Jeff Lawson and what do you bring to this fight?

JL: Jeff Lawson isn’t even on the radar at all! I don’t hold much stature even in the UK. I’m regularly overlooked but I am happy with that as I am usually the underdog which I like. I bring a lot of experience to this fight I have been doing MMA since 99 and competitive martial arts since I was 8 years old. I may bring an armbar with me too if I can get it through customs.

GD: Do you have any specific plan for Hioki?

JL: Well I am the heavy underdog so it’s gonna have to be all guns blazing. I really don’t have a specific plan for him I’m just going to fight on autopilot as I always do.

GD: Tell us about the recent drop to featherweight – you seem to have settled in nicely?

JL: Since I left The Ultimate Fighter I have realised that I am too small to be a lightweight, even though I had good success at 155. I hope to get even more at 145 which seems to be happening for me.

I wish Jeff the best of luck – especially in smuggling that armbar through customs!

Jeff would like to thank his sponsors:

§  Full Tilt Poker (www.fulltiltpoker.com)

§  Nogi Fightwear (www.nogi.com)

§  Scramble (www.scramblestuff.com)

§  Hooligans United (www.hooligansunited.com)

§  Tatami Fightwear (www.tatamifightwear.com)

§  JST Nutrition (www.jst-nutrition.com)

§  Cherry Active (www.cherryactive.co.uk)

§  Viridian Nutrition (www.viridian-nutrition.com)

§  FBT Pro (www.fbtsports.com/en/index.php)

§  Nutrichef (www.nutrichef.co.uk)

An old Jeff Lawson highlight video:

Jeff Lawson Montage (via SDCooper19)

Since the last two videos were well recieved, I wanted to stick this one here, too. I hope that's OK.

It's an interview and some training with Nic Gregoriades, who is a black belt under Roger Gracie.

You might see Nic fighting MMA one day, and if you do, you can say you saw it here first!

Continue reading this post »

I'm going to enter into the dangerous business of making predictions. 

Wild, crazy predictions pulled from odiferous nether regions into existence.

Genki Sudo will be the saviour of Japanese MMA. He is going to place it on his shoulders alongside the soaring eagle tattoo and carry it back to its former glory.

Genki Sudo is Big in Japan.

Just to fill you in if you didn't know, The Neo Samurai retired from MMA but has written a number of best-selling books in Japan and has recently embarked on a J-pop career under the pseudoynm WORLD ORDER, causing tears of pure joy to spurt from my ears in response to the pure unadulterated awesome that is his dancing.

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Manto Presents: The Grappling Dummy - Greg Nelson from martial farts on Vimeo.

Presented by Manto. 

In this episode, I talk to Greg Nelson. Greg is one of the most famous MMA coaches in the world, working with a number of fighters from the amateur circuit all the way up to top level athletes like Sean Serk and Brock Lesnar.

Just like all truly great martial artists, Greg is an incredibly nice guy and has the ability to put someone at ease instantly. It comes across in the video just how friendly he is.

We spoke at length about a lot of things, from his martial arts background (he medalled in BJJ in the Pan Ams) to his beating a rare form of cancer twice, and what superpower he'd like to have.

Greg also showed us a nice BJJ technique - a lethal guillotine from the sprawl, and a sweep from under the sprawl. It was an absolute pleasure to meet and train with Greg. I hope you enjoy the video.

Many thanks to Fightlinker without whom The Grappling Dummy wouldn't exist.

Lastly, Scramble!

Filmed at the Gary Baker academy, May 2010.

PS Just so it's clear - I'm not saying Greg Nelson is a dummy. It just happens to be the name of the show.

Dan Herbertson at MMA Fighting has the scoop:

"Towards the end of the negotiations, because of reasons that I am not able to tell you, although the two fighters agreed to fight, it happened that these fighters could not fight. It's not because of money, but if the reasons are something that I cannot tell you then you might be able to guess what they would be. Beause of that, we are not able to have these two fighters fight."

Interestingly, Ricco Rodriguez is never mentioned as having been a potential opponent for Overeem.

Instead, Andrei Arlovski is given as the fighter who was lined up to face Overeem, but the fight was scrapped due to some nebulous non-reasons that Sasahara doesn't go into.

Read the full statement as recorded by Dan here, although it can be summed up as "The fight is off and I'm not telling you why, in a very roundabout Japanese way."

After reading the Judo Chop on "The Lytle" from UFC 116, I thought now was as good a time as any to share a video I made earlier this year.

Some of you may have seen this on my blog, or on Fightlinker.

It's a series I'm making called "Grappling Dummies" about MMA and jiu jitsu, with the focus on grapplers and grappling.

It's about a trip I took to Japan (where I used to live) and the BJJ training I did there. I'm returning there in September for a top secret project involving - hopefully - lots of famous Japanese MMA people.

I've also just finished editing an interview with Greg Nelson that will be up in the next couple of days.

Anyway, if you want to see a jiu jitsu style explanation of "The Lytle", skip to around 18:30 (yes, it's a long video!)

BJJ black belt Yuki Ishikawa explains.

Or you could just watch the whole thing.

Grappling Dummies 2.0 BJJ in Japan from martial farts on Vimeo.

Wow, boy am I glad there was a pun left for me from the scraps of Fanpost headlines!

So, Brock Lesnar.

Brockle Snar. Brocky Balboa. The Brockness Monster. The Brock of Gibraltar.The Brocky Mountains.

The Brocktopus. Brighton Brock. Sex, Drugs and Brock and Roll. Um, The Brock.

OK, that's enough.

I don't like Brock Lesnar. Originally, I didn't like him in a serious kind of way. I didn't like the way he stomped into the UFC and predicted great things for himself. Perhaps because deep down in my intestines, I knew he was right? Who likes it when a giant monster of a man says "I'm going to beat everyone up"? 

It's just too predictable. It's not exciting. It's like kids playing cops and robbers with cool plastic guns and then ED-209 from Robocop clomps over, obliterates them with dual shoulder-mounted cannons and then kicks an old lady in the face.

Continue reading this post »

(Originally posted on my blog!)

Takeya Mizugaki is a Japanese mixed martial artist currently fighting for the WEC. On August 18, at WEC 50, he fights Urijah Faber in Faber's first fight at Bantamweight.  Mizugaki was the Shooto rookie of the year in 2003, and currently has a record of 14 wins and 4 losses, including wins over Jeff Curran and Rani Yahya. Big thanks to his manager Shu Hirata and Manto for making the interview happen. If you don't know who Shu Hirata is, he gave a fascinating interview to Dan Herbertson here for MMA Fighting where he discusses Japanese MMA and Japanese fighters very candidly and with sharp insight. And if you don't know about Manto, I pity the fool.

How do you feel about fighting Urijah Faber, former champ, in his first fight down at bantamweight?

He is a very tough opponent so its going to be a tough fight for me. But this is going to be his first fight at bantamweight, which means this he is going into unfamiliar territory so it's a big chance for me. And also, Urijah is a big name so it is an opportunity for me.

Western fighters often cut a lot of weight for fights and come in heavy on the day. Do you cut much weight?

I walk around at 72 kilo so I do cut around 10 kilo for the fight.

You made a lot of fans with your US debut against Miguel Torres. What are your favourite kinds of fights... the epic wars, or the quick victories?

I think it all depends on fight. There were fantastic fights [of mine] that went to decision and there were fights that ended in KO but were not necessarily so exciting. In terms of my fights, well, I would like to finish the fight with KO.

In Japan, it seems that winning or losing doesn't matter, but it's how much of a good performance you put on. In America, the focus is more on winning. How do you feel - do you want to win at all costs, or put on a good show for the fans?

That is a very difficult question. Of course, as a professional, it's very important for fighters to perform in a way that we can reach to the fans, however this is sports and this is competition. I think, put an effort to win the fight, is most important. So, I am thinking about winning first, then also, I am hoping to do an exciting fight.

How do you feel about Aoki Shinya's comments about Japan becoming a colony of the West... when you are working hard to fight in the USA?

I really don't know what Aoki meant by saying that but I think fight sport is an individual sport so I actually don't think too much about Japan or USA.

What do you think other Japanese fighters can do to have success outside of Japan?

I haven't achieved a success yet so I can't answer this question. When I became a champion, please ask me this again.

Where do you do the majority of your training - do you also train in the USA?

I train at my gym (Shooting Gym Hakkei), also at Reversal Gym headed by current Shooto champ Shuichirou Katsumura, and for wrestling, I go to Kiguchi Dojo. I haven't had a chance to train in America for a long term.

What are your (fighting) plans for the future?

As long as I can stay in the WEC I want to keep fighting for the WEC. I have no specific plan after retirement. If possible, I think, its not a bad idea to become F1 racer.

When you travel to America to fight, what do you miss most about Japan?

I wish there is a faster plane that shortens the travel time.

Japanese MMA - has the peak passed already, or can it get more and more popular?

I don't know so much about the business side of the MMA but as long as we can show good fights in a good way then the popularity should be back. If UFC or WEC comes to Japan, yes, I think that would revive the popularity of MMA.

Who do you think will win the World Cup in South Africa?

Yes I watch them all the time. I think Holland would win.

Do you read any manga? What is your favourite?

I like Dragon Ball ever since when I was a kid.

What's your favourite kan kohee (can coffee?)

I would have to say BOSS. Can you buy them in the States?

Any message to your fans?

It's going to be a tough fight but I want to capitalize on this opportunity so please give me support! The fans cheers and support boosts me up for sure.

Thanks to Takeya Mizugaki for taking the time to answer these questions for me. I can't wait for the fight. It's probably going to cause all barns in a one-mile radius to instantly set on fire. Osu!

Dream 15 is being billed as "Fated Rivals."

The poster, which was tirelessly translated by an a guy called Pete (an Australian living in Japan) features some of the greatest rivalries in Japan's cultural history.

• Goku vs. Vegeta, from Dragonball Z.
• Sakuraba vs. the Gracies
• Musashi vs. Kojiro
• Asashoryu vs. Hakuho, two sumo legends (both of whom are Mongolian, but that's besides the point)
  
• Asada Mao vs. Kim Yu-na (ice skating - huge in Japan!)
• And even Win vs. Mac

It's a cool poster, one that could potentially usher in the most epic of Dream cards.

Unfortunately, the Fated Rivals theme is being seriously underused at present.

Continue reading this post »

Joe gave his side of the story his brother Dan Lauzon is telling about Joe abandoning him in the middle of a training camp. 

Essentially, Joe felt that his brother was not giving 100% in training and so Joe would not commit to being in his corner. It seems fair enough, to me. They tried all other possible avenues and the last road available to them was the ultimatum of "train like we tell you to, or we won't corner you", which Dan failed to meet.

When Dan was 14 to 17, he trained like a mad man. He was in the gym all the time, but he is 22 now and that fire he once had is long gone. When he is in the gym, he comes in and works hard. He does a great job helping guys with technical things and teaching more subtle things as well. Unfortunately, he is never in the gym. If he has a fight, he is in sparingly. If he doesn't have a fight he is an absolute ghost.

 

Now we gave Dan an ultimatum. Joe Pomfret, Steve Maze and I knew we all had to act a single unit. This was all or nothing and we all used the same language and tone with him so there was no misunderstanding. We were very clear that if he failed to train 10 or 11 times a week, we were not going to corner for him. It’s not fair that we all make time for him in Vegas when he can’t do his job beforehand and train.

Read the rest on his blog, here.

I've just discovered a rich mine of Japanese MMA celebrities on Twitter. 

The Japanese are furious bloggers; they fastidiously blog on everything, from interesting and completely random things to a near-religious devotion to reporting on what they eat. 

Thanks to the Japanese mobile phone industry, which has long been set up to allow the maximum cross compatibility between the internet and mobile phones (all Japanese mobile phones have an email address for text messages that functions like a normal email address), the Japanese have been photoblogging for longer than most of us. They're also all sensitive and stuff, so you'll get former and current MMA champions commenting on the beauty of cherry blossoms.

What's more, in Japanese, one character can say a lot more than a single letter can in English, so they are able to cram much more information into a single tweet. 

Enough of that. Time for some stuff! First episode: Pictures!

Eiji Mitsuoka snaps His Sexiness slurping some lucky piece of dessert into his gob. What I wouldn't give to be a spoon right now. Or maybe an oversized watch face. Mmmm. 

Shigeru Saeki reveals the new DEEP light heavyweight belt.

Caol Uno: Elite level MMA fighter and designer of babies' bibs.

Aoki gets his Strikeforce gloves. Weapons of war.

Aoki "dreams of getting a bed this size." He must sleep on a tiny bed at the moment.

Aoki does peace sign in front of cherry blossoms. Every year, the Japanese go mad about some pink flowers.

 

Tapout show Aoki some love!

Next time: What they are saying!