MMA and me; day 158

I grappled...pretty much all two and a half hours I was at the gym. Rolled with Coach Wise for an hour or so. Worked on not turning my back to an opponent, staying calm, and breathing, and not reaching. It was a pretty damned good sweat, and I was very loose when jiu jitsu class started. First we stretched, and worked our rolls. Shrimping drills, front and back, side rolls, shoulder rolls. Lastly we worked on some take downs. First was a double leg to outside trip. Dropping to your lead knee, shoot both arms around the thighs, and swing your outside leg around and behind their feet to trip them down as you drive forward. Make sure to clear your legs and get to side control with a C block so you don't end up in their half guard. Next was a single leg "running the pipe". Turning to the outside as you shoot in, grab the single leg, and tuck your ear against their belly button. Pick up the leg and pin it between your thighs. Keeping your inside leg stationary, pivot on it while pushing against their core with your head until they fall to the mat, again making sure to clear their legs as you follow them to the mat and keep their legs away with a C block. We worked on a couple of single leg variations next. First was the step across trip. As you isolate the leg, reach to under hook with the outside arm. Reach around their waist with your inside arm, and lift the leg up high as you step across their body with the inside leg. Drive into them forward over your leg with your arm, tripping them to the mat, and then spinning away from them to pass the guard and end in side control, of course establishing the C block to prevent them from reclaiming guard. The other variation, was a leg sweep from the same double under hook of the leg position. Wrap your near arm around their back this time, and while lifting them, sweep their leg our from underneath them, swing their body out and plant their back on the mat, landing in side control and establishing the C block. Lastly, we worked a snap guillotine from the Thai clinch, to snap down, to taking back mount. From the Thai clinch, push into them, and as they push back, pull down on the head, pulling it into a guillotine. Now from there, if you didn't feel you had the guillotine, or wanted something more secure, you could sprawl out, and then from your knees, pull the choke out to push their head to the mat, leaving you free to take their back.

MMA and me; day 157

Monday was a day for cardio in kickboxing. We started with our usual ten minutes of jump rope, then went into ten minutes of alternating between ten squat hops, and ten lunge hops. Suffice to say, this wore out my quads something fierce. Next, we partnered up and did three rounds each of ten jumping knees from each side, ten with both knees, ten jumping knees with a leg held off the floor on both sides, ten one legged squats from both sides. That also murdered my legs. We then worked on throwing a 1-2-3 combo, where we mirrored the movements of our partner. Next we switched out the hook for slipping the lead hand behind the head to initiate the Thai clinch, and lastly from the clinch we threw a rear knee, lead switch knee, and then brought the lead hand over the neck, and turned while pushing them off to the side to start all over.

In grappling, we worked on a defense if someone is trying to take your back after you they sprawled on a take down attempt. As they spin around behind you, straighten out your inside leg so it doesn't get hooked by your opponent, and suck your outside leg in tight, so you drop to your hip. As you drop to your hip, drive your inside arm up towards their armpit, and roll them over your body while simultaneously sitting up until you have swept them and end in side control. From side control, pinch your leg side knee and elbow together under their legs, and switch to low judo, also switching your elbow under their legs to hook your own leg, bringing their legs up off the mat on top of your knee. Shrimp your butt back, and them swim your arm over their outside leg, and under their inside leg, crossing their legs over each other, gable gripping your hands, and sitting back. From here, all you need to do, is post your free elbow on their top knee, make sure your leg that is away from their head is posted firmly, and while pushing on their knee with your elbow or forearm, drop your arm pit onto the leg you have secured until they tap. It doesn't feel good at all. :) Thanks Coach Vern!

UFC 134

The UFCs first foray into Brazil in over a decade promises to be a hell of a night of fights. We've got several former champs in their respective weight classes throwing down, and some exciting up and comers ready to prove that they are on the verge of stardom. Without further ado, the fights!

Luiz "Banha" Cane vs Stanislav Nedkov
light heavyweight

After a couple of tough losses in a row, Cane rebounded nicely with a dominant stoppage over Eliot Marshall. He looks to maintain momentum against newcomer Nedkov. Nedkov is undefeated, but other than a tightly contested split decision win over an aging Kevin Randleman, he has not fought anyone of note, and faces a tough challenge in his UFC debut. Cane is a nasty striker, and has a strong desire to finish things violently. If Nedkov can't get this fight to the ground, and away from Cane's bread and butter, it is likely to be a short night. Cane will be buoyed by his last fight, and fighting in his home country (expect this theme to repeat itself) and blitz Nedkov early and often on his way to a late first round stoppage.

Cane via TKO, Rd. 1


Ross "The Real Deal" Pierson vs. Edson Mendes Barboza
lightweight

After a stunning loss to Cole Miller, Pierson has righted the ship by soundly defeating tough vet Spencer Fisher, and looks to be the first fighter to post a win against Barboza. That will be a very tough road to hoe, however, as Barboza has some of the nastiest leg kicks in all the lightweight division, and with his range and speed, he will most likely try to stay on the outside and pick Pierson apart, while stuffing take downs. Pierson will need to get in close, and utilize the clinch, and work for take downs to try and work his ground and pound. He also needs to have good head movement, and absolutely has to be prepared to check leg kicks, or his evening will come to an end very early. Barboza is a striking beast, and is not to shabby off his back. He will pick Pierson apart on the feet, and be able to neutralize his ground and pound if he gets put on his back. Barboza gets the nod after three solid, albeit mostly one sided rounds.

Barboza via Unanimous Decision


Antonio Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira vs. Brendan "The Hybrid" Schaub
heavyweight

Nogueira has his first match in 18 months in his homeland, which is, oddly enough for a man who's been fighting as long as he has, his first fight in Brazil. Finally healthy, Nogueira is trying to get back on track for a title shot, but Schaub is a big tough roadblock, and might be too much for the legendary Brazilian. A former NFL prospect, Schaub has turned his phenomenal athleticism towards MMA and has found success. After losing his first UFC match to grizzled vet Roy Nelson, Schaub has rattled off four straight wins, and looks to springboard off a win over Nogueira to a title contender match, but first he actually has to win. Nogueira has solid boxing, and surprisingly slick takedowns, but his real bread and butter is his grappling. With some of the best jiu jitsu in the heavyweight division, and the heart of a true warrior, Nogueira may have the pure cojones to pull this one out, but I feel that such a long layoff, and facing a young hungry stud like Schaub are a bad combination. I hope I'm wrong, but I see Schaub getting a KO early in the second round.

Schaub via KO, Rd. 2


Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Forrest Griffin
light heavyweight

A rematch of Ruas first UFC bout is the co-main event, and it is likely to go nothing like their first fight. When healthy, Rua is one of the most dynamic, exciting fighters in the world. When that is tempered by injury, and poor conditioning, he instead looks like a shell of the man who ran roughshod over PRIDE, and blitzed Lyoto Machida into a first round ko. Supposedly functioning at near full capacity, he will still have his hands full with the man mountain Griffin, who is going to look to bully Rua, and make the fight ugly. Griffin is at his best when he takes a punch to give one, and drags the fight into the later rounds. When he gets tagged often and early, is when things tend to fall apart. Griffin will get in Ruas face, and force "Shoguns" cardio to either put up, or shut up, and think that Rua will not have an answer. He wont get the finish this go around, and it may be close on the cards, but Griffin gets the nod from the judges in a close, if unspectacular fight.

Griffin via Split Decision


MIDDLEWEIGHT CHAMPIONSHIP
Champion Anderson "The Spider" Silva vs Yushin "Thunder" Okami

What can be said about Silva that hasn't been said before? Ummm, he has tremendous hair? Okami has a win over Silva via DQ when Silva tagged him with an illegal upkick in a tournament in Hawaii five years ago. Hungry to avenge the last loss on his record, Silva will test the waters early, before striking with his pin point accuracy. Okami will try and replicate what Chael Sonnen nearly accomplished by repeatedly taking down the Brazilian and pounding him at every chance he gets. While Okami is a beastly strong fighter, and has improved his wrestling immensely under the tutelage of Sonnen, it simply will not be enough to wrest the belt away from Silva who will get the stoppage win mid way through the third round, causing the entire arena to cheer loud enough for us to hear it in the states!

Silva via TKO, Rd. 3

MMA and me; day 156

Boxing was another day of reactive defense. A round each of parrying the jab, catching the straight, and catching the hook, all followed by a 2-3-2 counter. For more detail, check out day 154. We finished off with a round each of trying to punch the medicine ball out of our partners hands, and then two rounds of medicine ball belly passes. (It's a real drill, I swear!)

Grappling was just that, grappling. I went for close to 45 minutes straight with my gi on, got tapped about a hojillion times, and started to get very frustrated, but I never quit, and I did my best to stay calm and maintaining even breathing. I was a little mentally fatigued by the end of the day, but I remain confident in my abilities. I will not be broken, and I will not be deterred.

MMA and me; day 155

Back at Alderwood, I came for the earlier class and worked on kickboxing. We started with a 1-2-3-10. A big part of throwing the 10 is stepping to the outside and leaning over your lead leg so you don't get punched in the face. Next was a 2-3-10, leading with the straight is different than the jab, and you have to make sure you keep your weight back and don't over extend. We moved on to using a push kick, and added it on to the 1-2-3. I like the method of turning the heel up, and driving their body back. After the teep, you have to slide forward to close the space. We then started throwing a heel kick to the thigh after the 1-2-3, and I gotta say, that sucks big time. A well placed heel in the center of the side of the leg hurts quite a bit. Next we worked on throwing a quick front kick to the thigh at the end of the combo. Simply bringing up the leg and slapping the front of the quad muscle was all it took. We finished by throwing a spinning back heel to the other thigh. It was a slightly different entry with the punches. It went 2-3-spinning back heel. Before the 2, you fake the jab, then drive the 2 straight down the middle. You then come up as you throw the hook, and then drop the head to spin to the outside and take a peak over your shoulder before spinning the outside leg around and driving your heel into the middle of their thigh. Again, quite painful! We ended class with Reagan leading us through some beastly ab drills, and after barely scratching my way through them, it was time for jiu jitsu.

It was a fairly simple class, but that doesn't mean it was easy. We started with a nice stretching session, working the hip flexors, groins, and backs. Then we moved onto drills, like shoulder rolls, front and back rolls, mirror rolls with a partner, but scoot drills (sorry coach, that's the best way I can think to describe the walking back and forth on the mat using only our bottoms and feet) Then we went right into flow grappling for the last bit of class. I really liked working with new people (Hannah and Nikki, you rock!) and I can't wait to put all this hard work to good use!

MMA and me; day 154

Boxing was a defensive day. We first worked on parrying a jab, then countering with a straight, hook, straight. On the parry, don't throw the hand down too far. All you need to do is knock the punch off line, and then quickly counter. Next, we worked catching a straight on the shoulder, and firing back with the counter. Don't turn your head away from the incoming punch, but instead tuck your chin behind your shoulder as you roll it so you can see what might follow. We then defended the hook, by bringing the right hand up to the side of the head to catch the punch, then countered. You don't need to bring the hand up too far, because it leaves your mid section open to getting attacked. lastly, we worked on catching and countering incoming punches and combos without our partner telling us what was coming. I had a very tough time with this, but was starting to get it as I realized that I didn't have to catch each punch perfectly, but just stop the punches and then throw the counter. I need to work on it some more, but I will get it!

For jiu jitsu, I started off by rolling with one of our fighters for about half an hour. I got tapped frequently, but I was feeling pretty comfortable the whole time. Fought off some tough chokes for a long while, and managed to stay out of big trouble. Finished off the day by working a little stationary bike, flow grappled for a bit, and then rolled with Coach Wise for a little bit as well. A good day of classes, and I feel more and more confident every day!

MMA and me; day 153

Monday was a fun little day. Kickboxing was a lot of cardio. Started out with ten minutes of alternating between ten push ups, and ten burpies. Next came three rounds of skippies for three minutes each, then we moved on to Muay Thai drills. First the right knee, getting our partner in the Thai plum, pushing away the head ans then pulling in and throwing the knee. Next was the left knee, thrown from switch stance. As you push their head away, you switch legs, then pull the head in as you throw the left knee. We finished with three minutes of partner sit ups, and moved on to grappling.

We worked on side control and the howdy. From side control, get a far side under hook, and straighten out your leg nearest to their hips, and slide to high judo, keeping that leg pinned up against the side of their body, and staying up on the ball of your other foot. From here there are a couple ways to get the arm triangle. First, if they push away on your shoulder, use your free hand to push that arm across their chest, and pull your under hook out to reach that arm under their head, trapping their arm with your chest, and bringing your knee into their hip, as you straighten out your other leg. Chop your arm under their head to get it through as far as you can, and grab your other bicep. With your other hand, place it on their face, and maintaining chest pressure, squeeze for the tap. The next way to get them to extend their arm, was by bringing your outside leg from high judo over their head, forcing them to push your leg away, which enables you to trap that arm across their chest, and go through the steps to get to the arm triangle again. Now Vern wanted to make sure I covered this last bit, so only if you promise to keep it close to the vest, because it's high level ninja stuff. When you have your chest pressure trapping their arm across their neck and chest, pinch their ear by folding the lobe and cartilage four times into itself, and twist for the figure four earlock. Shhhhhhhhh!

MMA and me; day 151/152

Wednesday was another day at Alderwood, and after some light grappling early, followed by some good core exercises, we worked on flow grappling. Alternating moves, not going hard, and just flowing from position to position. Very, very helpful in seeing things you might miss going at a "regular" pace, and in forcing you to help your partner be successful as well. A really fun day.

Thursday I started boxing by helping a new guy with his basic footwork, and focused on the jab and the straight. Showed him where to hold his hands, how to balance his weight, and then worked a bit on a couple of the combos we covered in class, and free flowed a bit as well. I'm sure we'll work on those combos again soon, so I'll get them up later. Curse this forgetful mind of mine! That will teach me to post things later than the next day!

In grappling on Thursday we did some light drills, shoulder rolls, somersaults in place, rolling around the back with arms in place, and finished with some flow grappling. A good day of classes, and I walked out of the gym feeling great.

MMA and me; day 150

Tuesday was one big day of grappling for me. Rolled with Coach Wise for 25 minutes or so, then with Seth for about the same amount of time. I hadn't intended to miss boxing, but I just started grappling and kept on going. Worked a lot on staying calm when on the bottom, and relaxing my breathing. Then we went into gi class.

We worked on the same chokes we have for the past several classes, the clock choke, loop choke, baseball choke, belt grab, clock choke #2, step over loop choke, and the whizzer choke. The ones I need to work on are the clock choke, and baseball choke, mostly where I grip the lapels. I'm usually either too deep, or too loose. Something to work on.

MMA and me, day 148/149

Finally got to the gym on a Monday, but before I cover yesterday, lets go over what we worked on Thursday.

Boxing was more of what we worked on earlier in the week, with the burst drills starting low-high, working of catches of shots to the body, and ending with changing angles. If you want to check the combos, check out day 147.

Grappling was also more of what we had worked earlier in the week, with one extra choke thrown in, the whizzer choke. From the previous days classes was the clock choke, loop choke, baseball choke, belt grab choke, clock choke #2, and step over loop choke. For more details on these, check days 145, 146, and 147. The whizzer choke is from top control in half guard. You're applying pressure with a same side as half guard under hook, when the bottom person pummels for an under hook of their own. Immediately grab an over hook, also called a whizzer, and with your other hand, pull open the far side of their lapel, and grab it tight with the over hook hand. With the free hand, dig your forearm into the side of their neck, and really apply pressure, while pulling on the lapel until they tap out. Pretty simple, but very effective.

Yesterday in kickboxing, we worked a very cardio heavy class. We started with light jogging and calisthenics, before getting into the meat and potatoes. First was the jumping knee drills, 10 with the right, 10 with the left, 10 with both, 10 with one leg lifted up, then 10 with the other. Three sets of these, then we moved on to three rounds of skippies for three minutes each. Then it was time for Muay Thai knee drills. A round with the left, a round with the right, and lastly, a round of doing what our partner called out, in one, two, or three. We were sweaty, but ready to grapple!

A full hour of grappling, in mini shark tanks! Got tapped plenty, but did a fair amount of my own as well. Felt good to grapple for an extended period for the first time in a while. It also felt good to get into the gym on a Monday for the first time in a month. Thanks Coach Vern, you'll be seeing more of my smiling face for sure!

UFC Live 5

Short and sweet for this preview.

Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone vs Charles "do Bronx" Oliviera
lightweight

Fight of the Night practically guaranteed here. Both men like to stand and trade, and have slick ground games to boot. Cerrone might have a bit of reach, but Oliviera is likely the more aggressive striker. A close fight, and though I like Cerrone a lot, "do Bronx" is simply a much more dynamic striker, and will outpoint him for a unanimous decision in what will truly be an outstanding fight.

Oliviera via Unanimous Decision

Duane "Bang" Ludwig vs. Amir Sadollah
welterweight

Another fight pitting two tough strikers against each other. Ludwig has the experience edge in spades, and is very tough to boot. Sadollah has a very technically sound Muay Thai game, but an underrated grappling skill set as well. While Ludwig has the seasoning, he also has the mileage, and his submission defense is probably his least developed area. If Sadollah gets frustrated early, he can and will get this fight to the ground, and try to get some ground and pound or a submission. This will be a fun fight either way, and could go in either direction. I'm taking youth and a more well rounded fighter in Sadollah getting the judges nod after three rounds.

Sadollah via Unanimous Decision

Jim Miller vs Ben "Smooth" Henderson
lightweight

There's a very good chance that the winner of this fight gets the next crack at the lightweight title. Former WEC champ Henderson looks to prove that he deserves a spot among the elite, while Miller tries to keep his impressive streak going. Henderson is just like his nickname suggests, smooth. A very fluid striking game, coupled with an impressive ground attack, and his seemingly impenetrable submission defense make him a tough nut to crack. Miller on the other hand, well, he's as game as they come. Black belt in BJJ, very accomplished wrestler, and always improving stand up, plus the desire to push the pace as long as necessary. This comes down to who can force the other to make a mistake. I think Miller is the better wrestler, and can get inside the reach of Henderson to work the body, and get him to the ground. He may not submit him, but he will punish him with ground and pound relentlessly and may even score some damage on the feet. While this will be a very entertaining fight, I see Miller getting his hand raised after three tough rounds.

Miller via Unanimous Decision

Dan "The Outlaw" Hardy vs Chris "Lights Out" Lytle
welterweight

This fight will be the one we should have had in March when Hardy fought Anthony Johnson. Two tough sluggers going toe to toe and trying to hand the other man his walking papers. Lytle has already announced that win or lose, this will be his last fight, but Hardy is on a three fight losing streak, and you gotta think that if he loses, he's gone. Hardy has a very nasty stand up game, with solid kicks, and sound boxing. His ground game is somewhat suspect though, and that may prove to be his downfall. Lytle never met a slugfest he didn't like, but his dirty little secret is that he has a fantastic ground game, and when he gets fights to the ground, he has a propensity to finish them. Lytle wants to go out with a bang, and Hardy will be more than happy to oblige him. For three rounds, these two will engage on the feet, and leave it all in the cage, and if Cerrone/Oliviera somehow produce a stinker, this fight wins Fight of the Night. It's tough to pick, but if Hardy can keep his hands up, and stick to peppering Lytle without leaving his chin out, he can win a decision.

Hardy via Split Decision

MMA and me, day 147

Another day of gi grappling at Alderwood, and I was sweating bullets right away. After shrimping drills, we worked the arm bar, triangle, omoplata drill for five minutes, and I was soaked. We then moved onto working the chokes we've been working on for a few days. We've been doing these for a while now, so I'll just touch on the refinements I've found help them get pulled off a bit easier.

Clock choke: Making sure that the hands are equally deep on the lapels, but not too deep. Also, getting the knees higher up the body makes it way easier to lean over the head and round your back to apply pressure.

Loop choke: When looping under the head, and then the elbow over the chin, bring it as far towards your body as you can, THEN slide it towards their head, under the chin, and try to put your elbow on the mat, keep it there, and motorcycle grip with the elbow DOWN!

Baseball choke: If you can't get it with your elbows in, flare them out to either side of the neck, and bring them to the mat, and sprawl out on your toes, putting as much pressure on their neck as possible, remembering to motorcycle grip, and pull your hands in a reverse punch motion.

Belt choke from guard: Bring them in tight after grabbing the lapel, with your knees. Open your guard and really shrimp your butt out so you can reach over to grab their belt in the middle of their back, with the inside of your armpit on the side of their neck, close the guard up tight, and pull the lapel while twisting your hips.

Clock choke #2: Drop your elbow deeper over the top to make the hole smaller that their neck is in. Have a firm grasp on their arm with your paddle grip so they can't turn into you, and walk around to get your lateral muscle on their neck, but keep the motion consistent, and keep the hips perpendicular to the floor.

Step over loop choke: Use your knee to prevent them from turning into you, much like the paddle grip in the Clock choke #2, and try to make the step over the head as fluid as possible. When you lean back, don't go over the head, really lean straight back, so when you hit the mat, it's very simple to grab the half nelson to finish the tap. You can also try putting in the half nelson before you roll back, if you're having a hard time getting it on the mat.

Another awesome class, and I got a little run in after too. Thanks Morgan for the run, and thanks to Seth for making me work. As always, fun class Coach Aric!

MMA and me, day 146

A couple days late, but I had to redo the boxing we worked because it was kinda tough for my brain to process. We worked four combos, that all began, and ended the same. Everything started with a low/high combo, and they all ended with a left turn double hook, straight, right turn, jab jab. First, we followed the opening with a catch of a left body hook into a rear uppercut, straight, hook, straight, jab slip, counter. Second, was a right body hook catch, lead uppercut, hook, straight, roll, counter. Next was pull, counter, jab slip, straight slip, body hook, hook, straight. The last combo was right body hook catch, left body hook catch, rear uppercut, lead uppercut, hook, straight, high catch, counter. They all looked like this

1) low 1-1-2-catch body 3-6-2-3-2-jab slip -counter-left turn-3-3-2-right turn-1-1
2) low 1-1-2 catch body 4-5-3-2-roll counter-left turn-3-3-2-right turn-1-1
3) low 1-1-2-pull counter-jab slip-straight slip-body 3-3-2-left turn-3-3-2-right turn-1-1
4) low 1-1-2-catch body 4-catch body 3-6-5-3-2-high catch counter-left turn-3-3-2-right turn-1-1

We finished with partner leg throw downs, and moved on to grappling. Thanks Coach Troy for a great class. Btw, listening to GnR right now, love that shit!

We worked some more on chokes using the gi. First we did the clock choke from mount, and then the loop choke from side control that we covered Tuesday and Thursday last week, plus the baseball choke, and the belt grab choke we covered on Thursday.We then added in two new chokes from new positions. From the side of an opponent on all fours (also known as four quarters), reach your near side arm over their head, and reach under their neck to grab their near lapel with your thumb. Next, paddle grip their near arm by snaking your far arm inside theirs over the wrist and securing it to prevent them from turning into you. From there, walk your hips around behind them, and slip your outside lat muscle (which is now on the inside) onto the side of their neck, and keeping your hips perpendicular to the mat, walk around their head until they tap out. This is the clock choke #2. Next, from the same position, reach your far arm under their neck, and grab their far lapel, with your thumb out. Slide your near leg behind them, and bring your far leg up their side, so your crouching on the near knee, and the far leg is on it's foot, with the knee in their shoulder. Next, step over as though you're going to take their back, and instead S pass your leg all they way around their head, and roll to your back, then with your free arm, snake in a half nelson, pull the lapel, and they'll either tap, or go to sleep. Thanks Coach Aric for another great class. More to come on these chokes later......

UFC 133

Tired, and feeling like all I want to do is go play Assassins Creed II (I'm behind the times, bite me) Here's what I think goes down tonight.

Rory "Ares" MacDonald vs Mike "Quicksand" Pyle
welterweight

Pyle is as tough as they come, but MacDonald is something new. A 21 year old with experience, and an impressive skill set with very few holes, and the ones he has are getting filled in very quickly. Pyle will keep it interesting, maybe even steal a round, but MacDonald runs away with the final round in a very entertaining fight.

MacDonald via Unanimous Decision


Jorge "El Conquistador" Rivera vs Constantinos Philippou
middleweight

Rivera was originally supposed to fight Alessio Sakara, who succumbed to injury and and had to replaced on short notice, but for this card, that's nothing new. (More on that later) Rivera needs a win to get the bad taste of his last fight out of his mouth, and Philippou is not going to do much to stop him. With superior boxing, and a far greater reach, this is Rivera's fight to lose. I see Philippou eating the mat early in the second.

Rivera via KO, Rd. 2


Dennis "Superman" Hallman vs Brian "Bad Boy" Ebersole
welterweight

With over 120 professional fights between them, it's safe to say that in ring jitters will be non existent. Hallman is a solid wrestler with a great ground game, if only average striking. Ebersole is the master of unorthodoxy, with strikes from odd angles, and no slouch in the submission area himself. It will likely come down to Hallman being a better wrestler, and a larger, stronger fighter. I just can't root against Ebersole though, and he'll likely find a way to eke out a decision. It worked against Chris Lytle! Why not now?

Ebersole via Split Decision


Vitor "The Phenom" Belfort vs Yoshihiro "Sexyama" Akiyama
middleweight

Belfort has only a couple of fights since rejoining the UFC nearly two years ago, but in the 2+ years that Akiyama has been with the promotion, he's only had one more fight than that. Belfort is 1-1, and Akiyama is 1-2. Akiyama has looked tough, but hasn't shown an ability to keep his pace going for more than a round and a half. Belfort has had both his fights end in the first round, so his cardio is unknown. Akiyama is a game fighter, but Belforts speed, and striking prowess are going to be too much here. It may make it into the second round, but it wont make it out of it as Belfort gets a late round stoppage.

Belfort via TKO, Rd. 2

"Sugar" Rashad Evans vs Tito "The Huntington Beach Bad Boy" Ortiz
light heavyweight

Despite the fact that a draw is on the record for the result of the first time these two fought, Ortiz won the fight in the eyes of most people. Four years later, the roles have reversed with Evans being the top banana, and Ortiz being the hungry underdog. Evans should win this by all accounts, but Ortiz was supposed to get mauled by Ryan Bader too. Ortiz has looked and sounded more motivated than he has in years, and very well could pull off the upset victory. Evans has been more reliant on his hands ever since knocking Chuck Liddell out, but has still fought smart against superior strikers. Ortiz is a beastly wrestler in his own right, and take downs will not come easy. Ortiz is going to come out guns blazing, and look to push the pace to take Evans off his game. I don't know why I feel this, but either Ortiz gets another surprise stoppage, or he will have Evans so off balance early that he takes the first two rounds, and avoids trouble late for the upset victory. Ortiz gets the judges nod after all is said and done.

Ortiz via Unanimous Decision

MMA and me, day 145

Started boxing off with jump rope and shadow boxing before getting into the burst drills focusing on head movement and footwork. The drills were the same as Tuesday, so I'll focus on the things I worked on yesterday. When slipping, it's important to not slip back, but instead slip forward. You don't want to end up on the end of a punch, which is what you do if you shift to the side and back. Cut the punch off when you slip, and you wont allow your opponent to line up his next punch as easily. Keep your eyes up and chin down at all times, and when you roll, don't take your eyes off your opponent. Bend at the knees, don't lean with your back, or you're just asking to get tagged on your way up. We finished with five minutes of flutter kicks, and five minutes of bicycle crunches before moving on to jiu jitsu.

We worked on a couple of chokes we covered Tuesday and Wednesday (clock choke and loop choke) so I will instead focus on the chokes that we learned last night that are new. First was the baseball choke. From a knee ride position on their right side, using your left hand, grab a hold of their right lapel, near their ear, with your thumb tucked underneath. Grab across to their left lapel with your right hand, this time with your four fingers tucked underneath, and your thumb exposed. If you have the hands positioned properly, you should have a grip very similar to how you hold a baseball bat. Slide your knee ride off their body towards you, and at the same time, walk your hips around to north south position, which will cross your arms over their throat. As you walk around, flare your left elbow out above their chin, so when you slide to north/south, all you have to do is bring both elbows to the mat, sprawl your feet out behind you, and motorcycle grip your hands until they tap. We also learned a belt choke, which is very cool. From having an opponent in your guard, climb their right side lapel first grabbing it with your left hand, then further up with your right, pulling them in tight. Open your guard, and shrimp out to try and sit up, so you can reach over their back with your left hand to grab their belt in the middle of their back. Close your guard back up as tight as you can, and then pull your hands apart, while twisting your hips to the right, and your shoulders to the left until they tap. I had trouble with this at first because I was trying too hard to extend their body with my legs, instead of imploding and twisting, which will get a tap much quicker. Lots of cool stuff!

MMA and me; day 144

Another day of all jiu jitsu at Alderwood MMA, and it was a lot of fun. We started with our stretching drills, shoulder rolls, granby rolls, and got right into working clock chokes and loop chokes. The clock choke is from the mounted position, and begins by opening up your opponent on the bottoms gi. Using your right hand to pull it open, slide your left hand up the left side of their lapel, and firmly grasp it right before their ear. Using your right leg to grapevine their left leg and pull it out to the side, lean over their head with your right elbow, and pull their head towards you, while sneaking your right thumb inside their right lapel, in a similar position to your opposite hand. Posture up, and bring your elbows together, while shrugging your shoulders to "turtle" your back. lean down on them, keeping your back rounded, and try to put your head on the mat, as far above their head as you can, while curling your fists in until they tap. We also worked a loop choke, which begins from side control. Switching to low judo, open your gi jacket, and while you're at it, open your opponents as well. Sliding back to side control, grab the corner of the right side of the jacket, with a good couple inches extra poking out, and swim your hand under their head. Bring your elbow out and over their face until your forearm is under their chin and on their neck. At this point, bring your elbow towards the mat, and curl your fist inward, while extending your tricep until they tap. If that doesn't elicit a tap, reach your left hand under your gi and grab your right bicep and do it again. This makes it much tighter, and if they don't tap out, they'll be taking a nap. Thanks to Coach Aric for a great night of classes, and thanks to Jay, Morgan, and Nikki for grappling with me!

MMA and me; day 142/143

For Thursdays classes....umm, see day 141. Exact same boxing and jiu jitsu was covered. (How did I miss an entire day, again!?!)

Yesterday in boxing, we worked more burst drills, and focused on head movement. First was a jab, pull, straight, pull, counter, roll, left turn, triple jab. On the pull, it's important to be up on the ball of your rear foot, so you don't lean back at the waist, and get knocked off balance. Also important was what Coach referred to as "directional harmony". Simply put, when you pull, go straight back, and return straight forward. Don't go off at an angle, or you will end up dissipating a lot of the power of the return punch. Anyways, the next set was jab, pull, straight, pull, counter, slip, rear uppercut, straight, hook, straight, left turn, triple jab. Another thing that helped me with the pull, was using my lead hand to counter balance the other side of my body when I pulled back. Bringing my rear hand up to catch an incoming punch, and dropping my lead hand to the side just a bit, helped keep my shoulders square for the return punches. The following set was a jab, pull, straight, pull, counter, slip, slip, lead uppercut, hook, straight, left turn, triple jab. Another important thing for me, was remembering to set my feet after the left turn, and step into the triple jab. It's really easy to start jabbing early and flare your elbow out with your shoulders off kilter. Take a small moment to set your feet, and pump that jab. Lastly, was a jab, pull, straight, pull, counter, straight slip, roll, counter, left turn, triple jab. Here they are, broken down;
1) 1-pull-2-pull-counter-roll-left turn-1-1-1
2) 1-pull-2-pull-counter-jab slip-6-2-3-2-left turn-1-1-1
3) 1-pull-2-pull-counter-jab slip-straight slip-5-3-2-left turn-1-1-1
4) 1-pull-2-pull-counter-straight slip-roll-counter-left turn-1-1-1

We finished with 8 minutes of burnout punches on the heavy bags, and I was beat. Thanks for a great class Coach Troy!

Jiu jitsu started off with some shrimping drills, specifically building our shield. When shrimping from your butt with one hand behind you, and the other elbow posted on your knee, keep the lead leg stretched out, and the other leg curled up beneath you. Make sure the lead hand is perpendicular to the floor, and you have yourself a very difficult position for someone to attempt to reclaim guard on. As you slide the lead leg into the middle of their legs, press one of their knees to the ground, either with your rear hand that is your post, or with your knee that is off the mat. Remembering to stay shoulders back over your hips, and if they come up into you, push back with your shoulder, and pass over whichever of their legs you have nailed to the mat. Very effective, even though I need a lot of work. We worked on a couple of gi chokes. First, the clock choke. From mount use your right hand to open their gi, and slide your left hand up their left lapel, just below their ear, and firmly grip it with your palm facing up. Reach your right elbow over their head and place it on the mat, then bring it back to push their head off to the side, and grab their right lapel with your right hand, in a similar position to your other hand, but palm down, this is a cross grip. Slide your right elbow back over their throat, and try to put your head on the mat as far above their head as possible, while at the same time, pulling your elbows back until they tap out to the clock choke. Lastly we worked two varieties of loop choke. First, start in side control, switch to low judo, and open your gi, and slide back to side control. From there, grab the right corner of your gi, with a good couple inches sticking out of your hand, and bring your hand under their neck. Swim your elbow around to their chest, and then try to bring it to the near side of their neck until they tap. Also, if that's not working, swim your left hand behind your gi and onto your right bicep, and extend your right arm. That's a really tight choke, and one I'm not ashamed to say has rendered me unconscious. Great day of classes, thanks Coach Aric, and thanks to Hannah and Max for the rolls afterwards!