Carlos Gracie Junior

This week’s episode of the FightWorks Podcast is really two episodes in one. Each of the two interviews we present here would normally be a week’s worth of content but we are feeling especially generous with the 2010 BJJ World Championships on the way this coming weekend!

The first feature interview is with Carlos Gracie Jr.. Many of the Gracie family are key characters in how jiu-jitsu became what it is today Carlos Junior is no exception. He is the head of all Gracie Barra schools, the president of the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation, and the publisher of GracieMag. Influential indeed!

The second of our interviewees is none other than Jean Jacques Machado. One of the five Machado brothers (and a cousin to Carlos Gracie Jr.), Jean Jacques won his weight class in the 2001 ADCC Submission Grappling Championship and is highly regarded for his teaching skills. Another terrific interview brought to us by FightWorks Podcast contributor Christian Simamora.

Of course we will also review some listener email, voicemail, and go over the plans to cover the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championship coming up this weekend at the Long Beach Pyramid in Los Angeles!

[iTunes] Subscribe to the Podcast directly in iTunes (recommended)
[mp3] Download the show

Ever wonder why Dana White spends so much time on Twitter?

Well, during an early-morning guest appearance on NBC's "Late Night with
Jimmy Fallon," the UFC's head honcho explains "the power or Twitter."

In the enclosed video clip, White shares a story about how he showed a
marketing professional how the social-networking service allows him to
connect with fans in a way never previously possible.

Fresh off the announcement of a new UFC-Canada office, UFC president
Dana White appears on tonight's new episode of "Late Night with Jimmy
Fallon" on NBC.

The UFC's head honcho is expected to discuss the hiring of former
Canadian Football League Commissioner Tom Wright for the new office, as
well as this weekend's UFC 114 event and the highly anticipated Rashad
Evans vs. Quinton "Rampage" Jackson headliner.

"Late Night with Jimmy Fallon" airs at 12:35 a.m. ET/PT.

Ultimate Fighting Championships officials today announced they'll open a dedicated Canadian office and have named former Canadian Football League Commissioner and one-time Adidas Canadian president Tom Wright as the division's new head.

UFC chairman and CEO Lorenzo Fertitta and UFC president Dana White made
the announcement today at a press conference at the Rogers Centre in
Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

The Canadian city, which is the country's largest, will be home to the UFC's Canadian office.

With the UFC 114 headlining bout between Quinton “Rampage” Jackson vs. Rashad Evans less than a week away, coach Greg Jackson has spent months preparing Evans for this fight and can take a moment to reflect on their preparation for this fight.

One aspect leading up to any fight is the trash talk that goes on between fighters, and the amount that has gone on between Jackson and Evans has been nothing short of brutal as both men have left nothing back in their verbal sparring.

Coach Jackson knows it’s just all part of the game of getting inside an opponents head.

“I do know that [trash-talking] is a tool that has been used by a lot of people before. You have Muhammad Ali calling Floyd Patterson an “Uncle Tom” before their fight for example. How fighters conduct themselves is nothing new. They have the responsibility of selling fights, but you’d have to ask Rashad how personal that is.

“I don’t think it’s that serious. I think it’s just a tool to get in [Rampage’s] head. It has nothing to do with race. Again, you have a tradition of that kind of stuff — people claiming that their opponents aren’t true Mexicans or stuff like that. It’s been going on for years. Rashad is so smart. People don’t really understand how smart this guy is. He knows better than to get emotional or heated about it. I think he’s going to be all business at fight time. I’m not worried at all about him getting drawn in and trying to knock Rampage out in 15 seconds. He’s a real sharp and careful guy.”

With “Rampage’s” long lay-off, ‘ring-rust’ is always something fighters talk about but for this fight Evans and Coach Jackson are expecting to face a fighter at the top of his game.

“You can’t go in thinking about that. It’s pointless,” Jackson said of Rampage’s layoff. “If he’s not the best Rampage ever, that will make our strategy that much better. If he’s Rampage as usual, then it’ll be business as usual. As soon as you can go in there and say, ‘Oh, Rampage had a year off,’ you get yourself in trouble. I think we’re going to run into the best Rampage we’ve ever seen and I hope that’s the case, because we have the best Rashad anyone has ever seen.

“We want to make sure that we’ve addressed all of the contingencies that can happen. Rampage is a powerful striker. He’s a pretty good wrestler. He’s a savvy veteran who knows when to relax a bit and then come right back. I have a lot of respect for him. However, I’m pretty confident in Rashad’s kickboxing ability. Rampage is an excellent boxer, it’s true, but Rashad is good as well and I’m always going to bet on my guy.”

You can listen to the entire radio interview with Greg Jackson over at Sherdog.com

Greg Jackson is also taking his first steps into the promotion business, as he and his gym, “Jackson’s Gym” will be presenting their first series of mma events on June 5 at the new Hard Rock Casino and Hotel in Albuquerque, N.M.

The event is labeled “Jackson’s MMA Series I” and will be streamed live on pay-per-view on the internet at www.jacksonsmmaseries.com.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Press Release

PORTLAND, ORE. (May 21, 2010) – Newly turned 40-year-old Matt “The Law” Lindland sent the raucous Portland MMA fans home with smiles on their faces as he battered “King” Kevin Casey with a barrage of punches in a fight stopped at 3:41 in the third round, earning Lindland his first Strikeforce Challengers win on Friday night on SHOWTIME.

Lindland (22-7) of Eagle Creek, Ore., was able to escape a rear naked choke attempt in the first round by a skillful Casey (3-2), a 28-year-old from Hawthorne, Calif., and from there completely dominated the rest of the middleweight fight in an impressive victory.

“Thank you, Portland, for coming out and showing me this support,” Lindland told the crowd. “That guy’s got a head like piece of rock. I hit that guy with some shots.”

Afterward, Lindland told the media: “He didn’t really do anything to me to cause any damage. I feel good about the fight. It’s hard to evaluate how you did because there’s a lot going on in your head. But I’ll watch it.”

The former Olympic Greco Roman wrestling silver medalist added, “I had a smile on my face the entire day. These are my friends and family. I just love the state of Oregon.”

In a matchup between two former college wrestling standouts, rising MMA star Tyron Woodley (7-0) of St. Louis, Mo., stayed unbeaten with his fourth Strikeforce victory, taking a close split decision against Portland’s Nate Coy, 29-28, 27-30, 29-28.

“Going into the third round I thought I was ahead but I wasn’t just trying to hang onto it,” Woodley said. “At the end of the third round I realized I’m in Portland. I don’t want to leave it in the judge’s hands.”

But that’s exactly what he did, and then walked out of the cage to a chorus of boos from the displeased Portland fans who thought Coy did enough to get the win.

“Of course I’m upset with the decision because I hate to lose,” Coy said. “The game plan was to stick and move and eventually wear him out. But he’s a tough kid. That’s a high-level wrestler/MMA guy right there.”

Roger Bowling of Cincinnati, Ohio, remained unbeaten at 8-0 after being awarded a unanimous technical decision over Bobby Voelker (21-8) of Kansas City, Kan., with all three judges scoring the welterweight bout 29-28.

At 3:33 of round three the tip of Voelker’s glove grazed the eye of Bowling. It was declared an accidental foul therefore giving Bowling the technical decision after going to the scorecards. Cory Schafer, President of the International Sport Karate Association, said afterward: “The state of Oregon, in the event of an accidental foul if it occurs in the third round of a three-round fight and the injured fighter can’t continue, the partial round is scored and we go to the scorecard for the technical decision.”

During the telecast, SHOWTIME play-by-play announcer Mauro Ranallo declared, “Roger Bowling was born to fight. Roger Bowling was born to maybe even be a future champion.”

It took just one devastating right-hand punch from Tarec Saffiedine (9-2) to send Nate Moore (6-2) to the floor as the Temecula, Calif., fighter Saffiedine recorded his first career knock out win midway through the second round in an otherwise entertaining welterweight matchup.

“What a blistering knockout,” said SHOWTIME announcer and MMA legend Pat Miletich. “That was amazing. Beautiful technique. Pay attention to that if you’re learning how to fight.”

In a lightweight fight that opened the evening’s SHOWTIME telecast, Portland’s Pat “Bam Bam” Healy (23-15) looked impressive handing Bryan Travers (13-2) of Bakersfield, Calif., just his second career loss in a unanimous decision, 29-28, 29-28, 30-27. It was Healy’s 38th professional fight.

“I’m a huge Blazer fan so anytime I can perform in the Rose Garden is a thrill for me,” Healy told the crowd afterward. “I saw (Blazers center) Joel Przybilla in the crowd so it’s nice for you guys to be watching me out here for once.”

Asked how long he thought it would to be before he possibly got a Strikeforce title shot against lightweight champion Gil Melendez, Healy said: “There are two guys in the 155-pound as far as I’m concerned and that’s Josh Thomson and Gil Melendez. I’ll fight anyone.” Thomson, who was in attendance, took note and said he was impressed with Healy’s performance.

Friday’s fights will re-air on Tuesday, May 25, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME 2. The telecast will also be available On Demand beginning Wednesday, May 26, and running through June 8.

MMA action returns to SHOWTIME during a special edition of Strikeforce on Wednesday, June 16, as Robbie Lawler faces off against Babalu Sobral at a catchweight of 195 pounds. Taking place at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, the event will be live on SHOWTIME at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast). Other bouts include heavyweights Bobby Lashley vs. Ron Sparks and Marius Zaromskis against Cyborg Santos in a welterweight matchup.

On June 26, Strikeforce and M-1 Global team up in co-promotion as the world’s No. 1 heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko returns to the cage to face Fabricio Werdum in the main event at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., live on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/PT). Strikeforce Women’s Middleweight champion Cris Cyborg will try to retain her title against challenger Jan Finney in the co-feature while K.J. Noons battles “Krazy Horse” Bennett in a lightweight division matchup.

Complete STRIKEFORCE Challengers Results:

Main Card:

Matt Lindland def. Kevin Casey via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 3:41

Tyron Woodley def. Nathan Coy via split decision via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)

Roger Bowling def. Bobby Voelker via technical unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Tarec Saffiedine def. Nate Moore via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 1:21

Pat Healy def. Bryan Travers via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Preliminary Card:

Pro Escobedo def. Jason Sharp by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)

Blaine Macintosh def. Ben Morgan by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)

David Lloyd def. Jay Schafer by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

Patrick Whittington def. Jason Lambert by triangle choke (1:39 of the first round)

Hamza Salim def. Lee Flores by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

PORTLAND, ORE. (May 21, 2010) – Newly turned 40-year-old Matt “The Law” Lindland sent the raucous Portland MMA fans home with smiles on their faces as he battered “King” Kevin Casey with a barrage of punches in a fight stopped at 3:41 in the third round, earning Lindland his first Strikeforce Challengers win on Friday night on SHOWTIME.

Lindland (22-7) of Eagle Creek, Ore., was able to escape a rear naked choke attempt in the first round by a skillful Casey (3-2), a 28-year-old from Hawthorne, Calif., and from there completely dominated the rest of the middleweight fight in an impressive victory.

“Thank you, Portland, for coming out and showing me this support,” Lindland told the crowd. “That guy’s got a head like piece of rock. I hit that guy with some shots.”

Afterward, Lindland told the media: “He didn’t really do anything to me to cause any damage. I feel good about the fight. It’s hard to evaluate how you did because there’s a lot going on in your head. But I’ll watch it.”

The former Olympic Greco Roman wrestling silver medalist added, “I had a smile on my face the entire day. These are my friends and family. I just love the state of Oregon.”

In a matchup between two former college wrestling standouts, rising MMA star Tyron Woodley (7-0) of St. Louis, Mo., stayed unbeaten with his fourth Strikeforce victory, taking a close split decision against Portland’s Nate Coy, 29-28, 27-30, 29-28.

“Going into the third round I thought I was ahead but I wasn’t just trying to hang onto it,” Woodley said. “At the end of the third round I realized I’m in Portland. I don’t want to leave it in the judge’s hands.”

But that’s exactly what he did, and then walked out of the cage to a chorus of boos from the displeased Portland fans who thought Coy did enough to get the win.

“Of course I’m upset with the decision because I hate to lose,” Coy said. “The game plan was to stick and move and eventually wear him out. But he’s a tough kid. That’s a high-level wrestler/MMA guy right there.”

Roger Bowling of Cincinnati, Ohio, remained unbeaten at 8-0 after being awarded a unanimous technical decision over Bobby Voelker (21-8) of Kansas City, Kan., with all three judges scoring the welterweight bout 29-28.

At 3:33 of round three the tip of Voelker’s glove grazed the eye of Bowling. It was declared an accidental foul therefore giving Bowling the technical decision after going to the scorecards. Cory Schafer, President of the International Sport Karate Association, said afterward: “The state of Oregon, in the event of an accidental foul if it occurs in the third round of a three-round fight and the injured fighter can’t continue, the partial round is scored and we go to the scorecard for the technical decision.”

During the telecast, SHOWTIME play-by-play announcer Mauro Ranallo declared, “Roger Bowling was born to fight. Roger Bowling was born to maybe even be a future champion.”

It took just one devastating right-hand punch from Tarec Saffiedine (9-2) to send Nate Moore (6-2) to the floor as the Temecula, Calif., fighter Saffiedine recorded his first career knock out win midway through the second round in an otherwise entertaining welterweight matchup.

“What a blistering knockout,” said SHOWTIME announcer and MMA legend Pat Miletich. “That was amazing. Beautiful technique. Pay attention to that if you’re learning how to fight.”

In a lightweight fight that opened the evening’s SHOWTIME telecast, Portland’s Pat “Bam Bam” Healy (23-15) looked impressive handing Bryan Travers (13-2) of Bakersfield, Calif., just his second career loss in a unanimous decision, 29-28, 29-28, 30-27. It was Healy’s 38th professional fight.

“I’m a huge Blazer fan so anytime I can perform in the Rose Garden is a thrill for me,” Healy told the crowd afterward. “I saw (Blazers center) Joel Przybilla in the crowd so it’s nice for you guys to be watching me out here for once.”

Asked how long he thought it would to be before he possibly got a Strikeforce title shot against lightweight champion Gil Melendez, Healy said: “There are two guys in the 155-pound as far as I’m concerned and that’s Josh Thomson and Gil Melendez. I’ll fight anyone.” Thomson, who was in attendance, took note and said he was impressed with Healy’s performance.

Friday’s fights will re-air on Tuesday, May 25, at 10 p.m. ET/PT on SHOWTIME 2. The telecast will also be available On Demand beginning Wednesday, May 26, and running through June 8.

MMA action returns to SHOWTIME during a special edition of Strikeforce on Wednesday, June 16, as Robbie Lawler faces off against Babalu Sobral at a catchweight of 195 pounds. Taking place at the Nokia Theatre in Los Angeles, the event will be live on SHOWTIME at 11 p.m. ET/PT (delayed on the West Coast). Other bouts include heavyweights Bobby Lashley vs. Ron Sparks and Marius Zaromskis against Cyborg Santos in a welterweight matchup.

On June 26, Strikeforce and M-1 Global team up in co-promotion as the world’s No. 1 heavyweight Fedor Emelianenko returns to the cage to face Fabricio Werdum in the main event at the HP Pavilion in San Jose, Calif., live on SHOWTIME (10 p.m. ET/PT). Strikeforce Women’s Middleweight champion Cris Cyborg will try to retain her title against challenger Jan Finney in the co-feature while K.J. Noons battles “Krazy Horse” Bennett in a lightweight division matchup.

Complete STRIKEFORCE Challengers Results:

Main Card:
Matt Lindland def. Kevin Casey via TKO (punches) – Round 3, 3:41
Tyron Woodley def. Nathan Coy via split decision via split decision (29-28, 27-30, 29-28)
Roger Bowling def. Bobby Voelker via technical unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Tarec Saffiedine def. Nate Moore via knockout (punch) – Round 2, 1:21
Pat Healy def. Bryan Travers via unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

Preliminary Card:
Pro Escobedo def. Jason Sharp by unanimous decision (29-28, 29-28, 29-28)
Blaine Macintosh def. Ben Morgan by split decision (29-28, 29-28, 28-29)
David Lloyd def. Jay Schafer by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)
Patrick Whittington def. Jason Lambert by triangle choke (1:39 of the first round)
Hamza Salim def. Lee Flores by unanimous decision (30-27, 30-27, 30-27)

After his victory over Shinya Aoki last month, Strikeforce lightweight champ Gilbert Melendez has stated he’d like to fight the best in order to solidify his position as one of the top ranked lightweights in the World. He even named Bellator Fighting Championship champ Eddie Alvarez as a possible opponent.

“I want to make a statement, I want to be No. 1,” said Melendez. “I’m back on track, and I’m almost there, I want to prove it. I’d love to fight someone like Eddie Alvarez. Eddie Alvarez is a guy I’d really like to fight.”

Well Gilbert, challenge issued and accepted.

Bellator CEO Bjorn Rebney spoke to MMAWeekly Radio saying this is a fight he wants to make happen.

“As an MMA fan, first and foremost, Alvarez versus Melendez is an awesome fight at 155 that deserves to be seen and needs to be made,” Rebney said. “Gilbert has the heart of a warrior, just like our champion Eddie. I will do everything I can to get Gilbert what he asked for. Gilbert wants the fight, Eddie wants the fight and I want the fight. All we have to do is get Scott Coker on board and together we can make this happen. Eddie wants to fight the best and Gilbert wants to fight the best and there is no reason why any promoter or network should stand in the way of that.”

Even Alvarez is on board for this fight.

“Gilbert is a great fighter who’s got a lot of momentum going right now,” Alvarez said. “This is the match-up that all the fans want to see and it’d be a shame if it didn’t happen. I want to do it, Bjorn wants to do it and it sounds like Gilbert wants to do it. If I could sum up my thoughts in four words, it’d be: ‘Let’s make it happen.”

One might think that the only thing standing in the way of making this fight happen would be Strikeforce and it’s CEO Scott Coker, but the head of the company has co-promoted in the past. The true problem be whether this fight happens on Showtime or on Fox and would the two broadcast companies be willing to work together for this fight.

If the two organizations work out a deal, fans could see bouts pitting fighters like Hector Lombard, Bellator’s middleweight champ, against Strikeforce’s middleweight champ Jake Shields (provided he stays) or even the popular Dan Henderson.

HT: MMAWeekly.com for the story and the photo.

Fabio “The General” Gurgel, head of Alliance in Sao Paulo, Brazil, will be offering two seminars.

June 12: 2pm to 4pm
June 13: 12pm to 2pm

$90 for one day, $150 for two days.

Marcelo Garcia Jiu-Jitsu
25w 36th st 6th floor
(between 5th and 6th ave )
NY-NY 10018
MAP

More information on the official site.

The Japanese based World Victory Road made an announcement on Monday that their Sengoku mma series will now follow the “unified rules” for weight class limits.

The new rules will take effect on June 20th with their next show, Sengoku Raiden Championships 13 in Tokyo, Japan.

The promotion made the changes to help fighters transition more easily from North America to Japan, and vice versa.

WVR previous weight classes were based on kilograms, for example the middleweight division went up to 83 kilograms (183 pounds), and will now follow the standard weight divisions (185 pounds for middleweights).

The Unified Rules weight divisions:

135 pounds (bantamweight)
145 (featherweight)
155 (lightweight)
170 (welterweight)
185 (middleweight)
205 (light-heavyweight)
265 (heavyweight)
266-plus (super-heavyweight)

Despite the weight-class changes, WRV still uses a rules set that differs slightly from the one in the unified rules. For example, Sengoku fighters can use knees and stomps to the head of a downed opponent, though elbow strikes to the head are prohibited.