“Aesopian’s Totally Awesome Journal”

Although it hasn’t been updated in a while, I’m a huge fan of Aesopian’s Totally Awesome Journal.  It is a blog that covers brazilian jiu jitsu by providing lessons (through pictures and videos).  Also it has reviews of various seminars that the blogger has attended, books and videos relating to this topic as well as personal events in the bloggers life revoling around jiu jitsu.

My only minor complaint about the site is that a lot of the time it covers techniques that use the gi and I train without one.  However, this is such a slight complaint as many techniques he shows (with the exception of gi related chokes) can be adapted in some ways to no gi rolling. 

Also I really liked this posting in which he linked various positions bjj positions together.  Kind of reminds how Eddie Bravo does this in his books with regards to his techniques.

Kickboxing and Grappling Tournament

Yesterday I competed in my first kickboxing and grappling tournament.  Although I got my ass kicked in it, I am still some what happy with my results.  It’s a weird feeling to have someone swinging at you and trying to remain calm and for the most part I did it.  Other than some sore shins from blocking some kicks I was fine.  I got defeated in the first round in the kickboxing division but the guy who beat me went on to win so that was reassuring in a way.  In the grappling division I again was defeated in the first round but it was from a guy who I’ve grappled with before.  We tend to trade submissions meaning that he wins one, I win one, etc… so once again it was kind of nice to know that.

Henderson vs Silva Results and Fight

Here’s the play by play according to Sherdog.com.  Again, don’t read if you don’t want to know the results.  The bottom of the post has a link to the fight.  It most likely will be taken down by YouTube though.  Update: Found a new link.

Round 1
Silva shook hands with Henderson during Herb Dean’s instructions but refused to touch gloves once the bell rung. The fighters felt each other out for the first minute, until Dan broke the stalemate with a right hand. Silva answered with a low kick to Henderson’s left leg. Henderson clinched with Henderson and took the top position on the ground in half-guard. The challenger punched the head with his right hand while Silva held him tight. Henderson covered Silva’s mouth and nose with his glove and wound up on a big elbow that grazed. Henderson moved to side-control briefly until Silva got back to full guard.

Josh Gross scored the round 10-9 Henderson
TJ De Santis scored the round 10-9 Henderson
Mike Fridley scored the round 10-9 Henderson

Round 2
Dan used his footwork to stay away from the champion, but Silva landed a kick to the legs and found himself o top after Henderson slipped. Henderson got back to his feet, where he clinched with Silva against the fence. Henderson landed a right hand but was overwhelmed by Anderson’s speed as he was hit with a punch and a knee. Henderson dropped to his knees in search of a takedown, which Silva stuffed and took the top in half-guard. With a minute left in the round, Henderson gave up his back, where Silva punched away with a body-triangle. Silva sunk in a rear-naked choke which forced Henderson to tap. Silva retains the middleweight crown at 4:52 of the second.

Here’s the fight.  It most likely will be taken down by YouTube so enjoy it while you can.

Update: It is back up on a different site.  http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x4kdug_silva_extreme

Dan Henderson vs Anderson Silva

Dan Henderson and Anderson Silva fight tonight at UFC 82.  It’s the main event of the card and the match that I am looking forward to the most.  Henderson is fighting in a different weight division (his last bought against Quinton Jackson was as a light heavyweight) so it should be interesting to see if he has a lot more strength than Silva.

I don’t know what to expect.  They are both relatively the same height (Silva is 1 inch taller than the 6’1″ Henderson).  Silva is known for knocking people out and Henderson has never been knocked out.  Silva is a striker and Henderson doesn’t mind to exchange either.  However on the ground their styles are some what different.  Henderson is more of a ground and pound guy while Silva is a black belt in jiu-jitsu.  It is interesting to point out that Silva received his belt from Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira who beat Henderson in a Pride fight by armbar.

I don’t really have a favorite or a person who I prefer to win.  All I know is that I will be surprised if it isn’t a full out war.

Eddie Bravo and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

The past few weeks I’ve been unable to work out or practice kickboxing and brazilian jiu jitsu (bjj) due to a fun thing I ended up getting.  A few weeks ago I was “rolling” (or sparring bjj) and ended up getting a knee to the face.  A few days later I had a welt under my eye and thought it was a black eye.  No big deal.  A few days later the mark got bigger and closer to my eye and looked different from a black eye so I went to the doctor.  Ends up that I caught a staph infection near my eye.  It surprised me because I’ve heard horror stories about how they are painful but mine wasn’t.  Anyways because of that I stayed away from the gym and working out because I didn’t want to take a chance in being the guy that gives it to everyone else.

So I’ve been on some anti-biotics and the doctor told me to not work out while on them because of the side effects they can cause.  I hate sitting around at home and not being able to workout when I’m frustrated or bored.  So the past few days I’ve decided to watch and read some of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu instructionals I have.

Eddie Bravo is one of the guys who’s material I’ve recently been watching.  To quote Wikipedia, he is known for ” his win as a brown belt against Royler Gracie by triangle choke in the Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling championships the year 2003, and his unique style of no-gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu”.  As well he is the pot head buddy of comedian Joe Rogan.  While I don’t have a problem with his pro-marijuana stance, it sometimes gets annoying when you are reading one of his books or watching one of his instructionals and he spends a decent portion of time talking about it.  It just seems out of place. 

What really impresses me about Eddie Bravo’s bjj style is how fluid he is and his crazy flexibility.  Here’s part of an instructional from a magazine featuring him that demonstrates his ingenuity and flexibility in regards to bjj:

It hurts me just to watch this.  I guess I better start stretching.  I hope he comes out with a stretching instructional.

Kimbo vs Tank Results

  

The Kimbo vs Tank fight happened last night and here are the results.  If you don’t want to know the results, don’t read any further.  Instead, I have a link to the fight at the bottom of this post.  Here’s the play by play according to Sherdog.com

---

Kevin Ferguson (Pictures) vs. David Abbott
Round 1
Kimbo charged forward with a flurry of punches. A right and left hand hurt Tank as he went for a takedown. With Tank eating shots while on his knees, Kimbo was warned for hitting the back of the head. After a restart, the fight was stopped to clear the ring of an object that was thrown from the stands. Kimbo picked up the crumpled wrapper and threw it back into the crowd. An explosive scene followed, with Kimbo landing two right hands that forced Tank to take a knee. After standing, Kimbo finished Tank with a right hook and a glancing left. Tank fell face-first to the canvas at 43 seconds of the first round.

---

The fight went how I thought it would.  Tank is getting old and hasn’t been that successful (he has one win in his last nine fights).  The two of them went all out and the ref stopped it at an appropriate time.  I found it interested that Kimbo got a warning (and not a point reduction like Lesnar did) for a few punches to the back of the head.  Maybe a difference between EliteXC and UFC rules?

Here’s a video for the fight.  Once again, I don’t know how long it will be up for.

Kimbo vs Tank Abbot

 

This Saturday (February 16) sees Kimbo Slice and Tank Abbott square off in Miamia for EliteXC: Street Certified card.  Tank is well known for his early UFC fights (his first fight was UFC 6) where he would often bum rush his opponent and fight them in a street brawling type of style.  Kimbo is well known for his underground fights which can be found on YouTube.

While some may claim both of these fighters as just brawlers, Abbott does have a wrestling background.  Also Kimbo Slice has been training under Bas Rutten and had an impressive victory at :19 of the first round over Bo Cantrell.  It will be interesting to see who will win.

Steve Mazzagatti Discusses Lesnar-Mir Fight

  I promise this will be the last post on this fight as everything seems to be cleared up with this interview.  It is from an interview done by mmajunkie.com

  In case you want to read all of it, here is a link to the full interview.  Here are some of the key points from it:

MMAJUNKIE.COM: OK, onto the fight. When we spoke earlier, you mentioned that the decision to deduct Lesnar one point for strikes to the back of Mir’s head was pretty clear. Can you explain?
STEVE MAZZAGATTI: These fighters are extremely skilled fighters, and a grappler like Frank, that’s what they’re trained to do: when you have a guy in half guard on top of you, you don’t want to give the guy room to punch. So that was Mir’s defense. You suck up close to (your opponent’s) chest, tuck yourself up under them, and that covers you from getting hit. At first, Brock started to do the right thing by winding up with the hook from behind and pushing Mir’s head away from his stomach. Then you can blast him in the face… but to have to worry about getting struck in the back in the head in a situation like that isn’t something Frank should have had to worry about. But that was a target that presented itself to Brock.

MMAJUNKIE.COM: Just to be clear, did you think the strikes were intentional?
STEVE MAZZAGATTI: I don’t think it was through any fault of his own. It was just there for him, so he started coming down with that hammerfist. But the back of the head is not a target you can take. And honestly, we see it all the time. A lot of people are comparing it to that the Tibau Gleison-Tyson Griffin fight earlier in the night. They were doing the exact same thing. Gleison took down Tyson, Tyson scooted up toward Gleison, and he had the opportunity to hit him (in the back of the head) but didn’t take it. Instead, he moved his head out so he could get in some punches, which is what you’re supposed to do.

MMAJUNKIE.COM: Did you issue Lesnar a warning? That’s a big part of this whole thing, you know? Some fans think you didn’t issue a warning.
STEVE MAZZAGATTI: Yeah, I did. Brock’s excited. It’s a big, big opportunity for him, and — in my opinion — he looked down and saw the head there, and he took three shots at him and caught him. I jump in and say, “Don’t hit at the back of the head.” A few more seconds go by, Mir tucks up under there again, and Brock comes down with the second couple hits to the back of the head. That’s when I jumped in and had to do my job. That’s what I saw.

MMAJUNKIE.COM: So, just to be perfectly clear, you did issue Lesner a warning before you stopped the fight and deducted a point?
STEVE MAZZAGATTI: Oh yeah, I did. But can you imagine the decibels in there? That was one of the fights everyone came to see. Of course, I came home and did my homework, watched the tape, and I can’t hear myself give the warning. I couldn’t hear myself say, “Bring it on!” on that beginning (either). [laughs] That’s my thing. I always shout that. If you watch the tape, you can barely even hear that.

MMAJUNKIE.COM: Do you think Lesnar heard you?
STEVE MAZZAGATTI: I don’t know. I can’t say that he heard it. I yelled it loud enough for them to hear. It was awfully loud. I yelled it, though. I’ve got kids, so I know how to yell. [laughs] I used to be in a rock band, so I’ve got some lungs.

MMAJUNKIE.COM: I think that’s where the controversy is — if there is, indeed, any controversy — that some people think you never issued a warning. But you’re saying it’s just a matter of people not hearing it, correct?
STEVE MAZZAGATTI: Absolutely, yeah. Let me also say that striking to the back of the head is one of my pet peeves — that and grabbing the cage. The back of the head is a very dangerous spot of the body in this sport. If you were to put a RAZR cellphone right above your C-spine where it connects to your skull, that’s the most dangerous part of the skull. A good, strong hit there can really hurt a fighter. That’s the part of the head that is considered illegal. Right behind the ears is not illegal. Sometimes we caution people not to hit there. That’s not necessarily a warning… we just know the possibility is there. Like I said, I’m just there to look for illegal techniques. And if you go back through my history, you’ll see that I’ve deducted a lot of points for strikes to the back of the head.

MMAJUNKIE.COM: Obviously, it can be easy to accidentally hit someone in the back of the head unintentionally if an opponent if flailing around. Where do you draw the line?
STEVE MAZZAGATTI: Accidental strikes happen. But when you look at the back of the guy’s head and connect, it’s, “OK, that might be cool. He didn’t mean it.” Then you hit twice, and it’s time to start considering if you’re doing it intentionally. Then the third one comes down, and that’s when I jump in and say, “No strikes to the back of the head!” as loudly as I possibly can. Brock knows what he did. He has nothing to say about it being controversial. I don’t think his corner protested at all about it. It’s all left to interpretation. But was a foul committed? Yes, it was… If you look at the fight several times, unfortunately, the majority of the powerful shots were to the back of the head.

While some may disagree with his call, I give him credit for coming out and saying why he did what he did and why he thought it was necessary.  I’d be interested to see if there was another camera angle for the fight and if the shots to the back of the head could be seen more clearly from another angle.

Mir vs Lesnar Controversy

A lot of controversy has risen since the Frank Mir and Brock Lesnar fight at UFC 81.  If you haven’t heard what happened and don’t want it spoiled for you, quit reading now.

I found the fight on YouTube but I don’t know how long it will stay up.  For now, here is a link to it:

Although I wanted Mir to win, if you watch the video at around 50 seconds in Steve Mazzagatti stands the fighters up.  This is because Lesnar hit Mir in the back of the head from half guard.  There is no denying that Lesnar hit Mir in the head (more than once) but Mir also turned away from the punches that Lesnar was throwing so he was somewhat responsible.  I’ve seen other instances where this has happened and the ref has warned a fighter and let the fight continue on the ground.  Mazzagatti gave no warning to Lesnar about the punches, stood the fighters up and deducted a point.  While it is possible that Mir could have recovered from half guard if Mazzagatti just warned Lesnar and let the fight continue from the ground, it is also possible that Lesnar would have been able to win from half guard with grounding and pounding, as he did in his other mixed martial arts fight.

This leads to a tricky situation in which there must be a balance between the fighter’s safety and the power of the referee.  While I disagree with Mazzagatti’s call, there are others who agree with.  Personally, I feel it would have been better to issue a warning to Lesnar and let the fight continue from the same position.  There have been other fights such as between Shamrock and Ortiz or Ortiz and Liddell where some felt that the ref stopped it to early.  The one argument I’ve heard is that they are fighters and should expect damage.  While this is true, there might be situations where a fighter is unable to tap or verbally submit and instead of serious damage occuring the ref should stop in.  Isn’t it more important for a fighter to be able to fight again then to risk serious injury?

Frank Mir vs Brock Lesnar – Decision

  WARNING: If you do not want to know the results of the fight, do not read this.

   Like I said in my previous post that I don’t like making predictions because I am normally wrong, I was wrong again.  Mir won the fight.  Sherdog.com has the following play by play:

 Round 1
Lesnar caught a kick and immediately took Mir down. From half-guard, Lesnar blasted away with elbows and punches. Steve Mazzagatti took a point away from Lesnar for hitting the back of the head. Lesnar dropped Mir with a right hand. Lesnar pounced with punches and had Mir hurt. Mir went for an armbar but Lesnar escaped and continued to tee off. As Lesnar went to posture up, Mir locked on a kneebar that forced Lesnar to tapout at 1:30 of the first.

  Mir was smart and not trying to stand toe to toe with the bigger man and going for a submission.  It reminds me of Fedor Emelianenko’s recent fight against Hong Man Choi where he won by armbar.