California USA Wrestling Joins the Fight to Save the UC Davis Wrestling Program
 
Fresno, CA – June 28th, 2010 – California USA Wrestling Inc. announced today that they have joined forces with the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) to help financially support the fight to reinstate the University of California, Davis wrestling program. The California USA Wrestling Board of Directors recently donated $20,000 to the cause.
 
Duane Morgan, state chair for California USA Wrestling, had this to say, “Wrestling programs throughout the state of California have taken a big hit over the past six months. Due to the elimination of the UC Davis wrestling program, the student-athletes are essentially left with very few options to stay within the state and wrestle at the Division 1 level. We chose to partner with the NWCA in an effort to help formulate a plan that not only translates into the reinstatement of the wresting program at UC Davis, but that also serves as a long term solution for the remaining college wrestling programs in California.”
 
In April, UC Davis abruptly announced that they were eliminating the wrestling program, and three other intercollegiate sports programs, effective July 1, 2010. The $20,000 donation made to the NWCA, by the California USA Wrestling Board of Directors, is an effort to help sustain an ongoing attempt to reinstate the UC Davis Wrestling program, and to help maintain existing Division 1 wrestling programs in the state of California.  Should UC Davis drop the wrestling program as announced, there will be no remaining collegiate wrestling programs in the University of California system.
 
UC Davis head wrestling coach, Lennie Zalesky, issued a public statement within hours of the announcement stating that the wrestling program had been eliminated. According to Zalesky, in the fall of 2009, he was informed by personnel at the University, that no matter what may come to be, football and wrestling were safe at UC Davis, yet the wrestling program was cut without any notice to the student body, student-athletes, coaching staff or coach Zalesky. Further, UC students were not allowed to attend the press conference announcing the elimination of the program.
 
According to Chancellor Linda Katehi, dropping athletics teams and losing opportunities for student-athletes is regrettable but necessary. However, neither Chancellor Katehi, any university administrators or Athletic Director Greg Warzecka ever discussed the prospect of eliminating the sports programs with the students, student-athletes or the coaching staff, despite the fact that the sports programs are largely funded from self-imposed student fees.
 
Mike Moyer, the executive director of the NWCA, feels that despite the financial situation California continually finds itself in, solutions may be better found with the active involvement of all parties.  Moyer stated, “To purposely ignore the student body, student-athletes and the coaching staff, and to ignore the student initiative, in which the student body agreed to a self imposed fee for sports programs, are disrespectful and irresponsible.”

 
Moyer also expressed his gratitude to California USA Wrestling, “The NWCA would like to personally thank Duane Morgan and the entire California USA Wrestling Board of Directors for their support. Their financial contribution is a testament to their continuous resolve to protect the interests of the wrestling community inCalifornia.”
 
The UC Davis wrestling program had the second highest fund-raising numbers (behind football) over the last three years (averaging $65,000/year), the highest alumni/donor support, and one of the most profitable per contest gates of any sport at UC Davis. This specific criterion was supposed to be examined when determining which programs to retain. The elimination of the UC Davis sports programs, which includes wrestling, as well as men’s and women’s swimming, currently effects 73 female and 80 male student-athletes.
 
About California USA Wrestling Inc.:
 
California USA Wrestling Inc. (CA-USAW) is a non-profit corporation that promotes amateur wrestling in many forms to Californians of all ages. California Wrestling is an affiliate of USA Wrestling in Colorado Springs, the national governing body for international-style amateur wrestling in the United States. They are the designated representatives for USA Wrestling in the State of California. CA-USAW educates the California public in both collegiate and international wrestling styles. In addition, the organization conducts and sponsors well-planned wrestling activities, including wrestling camps, clinics and tournaments, and other related programs in order to improve the quality of California wrestling at all competitive levels. 

About The National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA):
The National Wrestling Coaches Association, established in 1928, is a professional organization dedicated to serve and provide leadership for the advancement of all levels of the sport of wrestling with primary emphasis on scholastic and collegiate wrestling programs. The membership embraces all people who are interested in amateur wrestling. The NWCA, through its organizational structure, promotes communication, recognition achievement, recommends rules and regulations, sponsors events and serves as an educational and informational source. Additionally, the NWCA strives to foster the sportsmanship and integrity that are the cornerstones of athletic competition.

If you are in Northern California, enjoy the opportunity to learn from the source! Mauro Ayres BJJ Black belt 1st degree will be hosting Carlson Gracie Jr. BJJ Black belt 5th degree Seminar in Davis, CA.

Mauro Ayres BJJ & Carlson Gracie Team members $50, Non-members $…60 , at the door $75.

213 E Street, Suite D
Davis, CA 95616
MAP

More information on the official site.

During last night’s “WEC 49: Varner vs. Shalorus” post-fight press conference, WEC official Reed Harris announced the “Fight Night” bonuses for the event.

Walking away with a $10,000 bonus were Mark Hominick and Yves Jabouin for “Fight of the Night,” while Eddie Wineland earned the “Knockout of the Night,” and “Submission of the Night” was warded to Josh Grispi.

Hominick and Jabouin fought in the co-main event and saw both men push the pace. Near the middle of the second frame, Hominick put Jabouin into the fence and presses the attack. Jabouin climbs back to his feet and responds with a right hand that put’s Hominick on the mat. As Jabouin jumps in to finish he’s caught in Hominick’s guard who rolls him over to gain mount and finishes the fight.

Wineland was awarded the “Knockout of the Night” after stopping opponent Will Campuzano in the second round at 4:44. Wineland used a couple of tough body shots to Campuzano to put him to the mat and finishes with a good shot to the jaw to win the fight.

Grispi won the “Submission of the Night” after submitting opponent L.C. Davis in the middle of the first round. He beat out four other fighters who also earned submission victories on the evening. Davis refused to tap out and was put into unconsciousness by the choke.

There’s a few video interviews and trailers available for this coming Sunday’s World Extreme Cagefighting’s “WEC 49: Varner vs. Shalorus” event kicking around. Instead of posting them in single posts, we’ve put them all together.

Click here to view the embedded video.

WEC 49 event preview.

HT: TheFightNetwork.com

Click here to view the embedded video.

Jamie Varner and Kamal Shalorus pre-fight interviews.

HT: WEC.tv

Watch more videos after the jump

Click here to view the embedded video.

Josh Grispi and LC Davis pre-fight interviews.

HT: WEC.tv

Click here to view the embedded video.

Jamie Varner interviewed by Affliction

HT: Affliction

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (June 17, 2010) – Bellator Fighting Championships crowned its second Season 2 champion Thursday night as former NCAA wrestling superstar and U.S. Olympian Ben Askren put on a grappling clinic to neutralize knockout artist and rising MMA star Dan Hornbuckle in a dominating and well-rounded performance.

The 25-year-old University of Missouri product drew from the vocal support of an adoring crowd at the Kansas City Power & Light District to win a unanimous decision victory and complete the metamorphosis from highly touted prospect to full-fledged MMA star that many experts had predicted.

With his new wife Amy watching cageside, Askren (6-0) controlled the fight from the start, taking the veteran Hornbuckle to the mat early on in all three rounds and holding him at bay with his world-class wrestling skills. Hornbuckle tried to stop the momentum a few times, attempting a triangle choke mid-way through Round 2 and a kimura mid-way through Round 3, but Askren was able to escape both submissions.

“This is exactly the kind of performance we had hoped Ben would put on when we signed him six months ago,” Bellator founder and CEO Bjorn Rebney said. “He showed some great talent in his first two Bellator fights but saved the best performance for last. It was a tremenously impressive night for Ben all the way around.  As an MMA fan, I cannot wait to see his World Title fight against Lyman Good this fall. ”

Afterward, Askren told Bellator color commentator Jimmy Smith that he has already shifted his sights to reigning Bellator Welterweight Champion Lyman Good, who he’ll face in a title fight later this year.

“Lyman, keep my belt warm,” he said as his hometown crowd egged him on. “Shine it up once a week and enjoy it while you can because it’s mine, baby.”

Joining Askren in the winner’s circle was Lisa Ward, the 27-year-old Seattle-based submission artist who improved her pro record to 13-3 and gave fans a sneak preview of what they’ll see when she enters the cage as part of Bellator’s upcoming Season 3 Women’s Tournament beginning in August.

Ward wasted no time locking 19-year-old MMA up-and-comer Stephanie Frausto (2-2) into a tight rear-naked choke, putting her to sleep and ending the fight via technical submission just 2:01 into Round 1. Ward said after the fight that she is hoping for tournament matchup with Megumi Fujii, the world’s No. 1 pound-for-pound female fighter, who handed Ward one of her three losses during a 2007 showdown in Canada.

“I would love another shot at Megumi,” Ward said. “We definitely have some unfinished business.”

Earlier, 24-year-old Missouri native Jose Vega delivered yet another Bellator “YouTube moment” with a highlight-reel knockout of North Carolina-based jiu-jitsu specialist Jarrod “The Wild Card” Card just 39.8 seconds into the first round of their “Bantamweight Feature Fight.”

After setting it up with a pair of stiff leg kicks, Vega (8-3) connected with a left hook to Card’s jaw, knocking him unconscious and dropping him to the canvas, bringing Vega’s many hometown fans to their feet.

“I’m lost for words,” an emotional Vega said afterward. “I’ve never had a KO before, but my hands have improved – [former Bellator fighters] Brian Davidson, James Krause and Tyler Stinson have been helping me with that. I saw the opening and I just went for it.”

In the first televised fight of the night, IFL and M1 veteran Raphael Davis improved his record to 9-1 by dominating Arena Football League veteran and one-time Nebraska state high school wrestling champion Demetrius Richards (5-3). Davis took the fight to the ground early on and quickly took Richards’ back, wearing him down with hammer fists and a flurry of knees to the body before Richards submitted to punches just 2:51 into Round 1.

The event also played host to five Local Feature Fights:

-       Tyler Stinson def. Leonardo Pecanha via rear-naked choke (1:42)

-       Rudy Bears def. Brian Green via rear-naked choke (3:49)

-       Cole Konrad def. John Orr via unanimous decision

-       Jared Downing def. Chad Vandenberg via rear-naked choke (11:35)

Fans who missed Thursday night’s action can watch all the best moments this weekend during special highlight shows on NBC, Telemundo and the cable network mun2. Check your local listings for exact dates and times.

Bellator returns to action next Thursday night from the Fourth Street Live entertainment district in downtown Louisville, Ky., where Bellator will conclude its second season with the championship rounds of its Middleweight and Featherweight Tournaments.

The two championship fights and the rest of the Bellator 23 featured card will again be televised live on FOX Sports Net.

Click here to view the embedded video.

After being sidelined by an injury, the promising Josh Grispi returns. Still 21, he has a bright future in the divsion. In order to compete for the title, he must get past the devasting clinch of LC Davis this Sunday. Don’t miss WEC: Varner vs Shalorus Live on Versus – June 20th at 6pm PT/ 9pm ET.

HT: WEC.tv

On Saturday June 26 mma fans are going to have a choice of watching Fedor Emelianenko take on Fabricio Werdum on Showtime or they can watch Mauricio “Shogun” Rua defeat Lyoto Machida for the UFC light-heavyweight title.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship will be counter programming “Strikeforce and M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Werdum” by re-airing “UFC 113: Machida vs. Shogun II” on Spike TV.

The Strikeforce show will air at 10 p.m. ET/PT and besides featuring the Fedor vs. Werdum fight, the co-main event features a womens 145 pound title fight between champ Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos vs. challenger Jan Finney, and a rematch between Cung Le vs. Scott Smith. The event is being held at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif.

While UFC 113 offers the UFC light-heavyweight title fight between Machida vs. Rua, a heavyweight match between Kevin “Kimbo Slice” Ferguson vs. Matt Mitrione, and the “Fight of the Night” winners Jeremy Stephens vs. Sam Stout. The event was held at the Bell Centre in Montreal.

Spike TV is available in 98.6 million homes while Showtime reaches approximately 12 million.

The UFC 113 rebroadcast will include the following bouts:

- Lyoto Machida vs. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua
- Kimbo Slice vs. Matt Mitrione
- Sam Stout vs. Jeremy Stephens
- Joe Doerksen vs. Tom Lawlor
- Marcus Davis vs. Jonathan Goulet
- Patrick Cote vs. Alan Belcher

The originally scheduled rematch between Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett and K.J. Noons was called off as Bennett mysteriously dropped out of the fight according to a recent report from MMAWeekly.

The fight was originally scheduled to take place at the Strikeforce on June 26, but now Noons will face off with Conor Heun on June 16, ten days before the previously anticipated event.

Heun debuted in the promotion at Strikeforce’s second Challengers event, losing a decision to Jorge Gurgel. Huen also faced off with LC Davis in the IFL promotion, where Conor lost a close split decision in 2007.

Noons came off of a two-year layoff and defeated Andre Amade at DREAM 13 by unanimous decision. Noons had signed with Strikeforce in December of 2009 and will be making his debut for the promotion against Heun.

“Strikeforce: Los Angeles” will take place on June 16 from the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles, California.

"Big Al" Davis, Germany's Holger Kuttroff and Chip "Big Hoot" Edalgo are all photo featured in the July 2010 issue of Jeff Everson's Planet Muscle Magazine.

Fresh from his victory this past weekend, Marcus the “Irish Hand Grenade” Davis (17-6) may step back into the octagon as soon as August against Nate Diaz (12-5).

UFC 118, not officially announced, is expected to take place on Aug. 28 at the TD Garden in Boston, Mass., the first visit by the UFC since state officially sanctioned MMA earlier this year. The event headliner should be a title rematch between champion Frankie Edgar and former champ B.J. Penn.

Both fighters have agreed to the bout and agreements are expected to be signed shortly.

Davis defeated Jonathan Goulet this past weekend at UFC 113 by TKO, erasing a two-bout losing slide. With losses to Ben Saunders and Dan Hardy, Davis could have been looking at the end of his time with the UFC if he had been defeated by Goulet in Montreal, instead he’ll have one more fight at least with the promotion.

Meanwhile, Diaz made his move to welterweight in his last bout against Rory Markham at UFC 111. Markham failed to make weight and both fighters agreed to a catchweight bout of 177 pounds. Diaz went on to win the match handily, earning a TKO victory at 2:47 of the first round.

Diaz is also awaiting word from the Tennessee Athletic Commission on a possible suspension and/or fine for his actions at the “Strikeforce: Nashville” event. Diaz participated in a brawl that broke after middleweight Jason “Mayhem” Miller called out Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields in the wake of Shields’ victory over Dan Henderson at the April 17 event.

HT: MMAjunkie.com