When an arena clears at the end of a Mixed Martial Arts event it’s often assumed the men (and/or women) whose blood and sweat still stain the canvas have finished fighting as it relates to that particular show. They typically pack up their gear, take care of on-site media obligations, and head to a hotel room to either lick their wounds or get dressed for an after-party where an entirely different sort of tongue-wagging may eventually come into play. Regardless of extra-curricular choices or the evening’s earlier result, those who entertain in the ring exit the venue with the closure of knowing they can move forward in life and onto the next opponent; that the work they’ve done will be rewarded with adulation from supporters, the personal satisfaction brought on by competition, and of course some level of financial gain.

Or so it’s assumed.

On May 15th, 2010 a show promoted by an organization known as the British Association of Mixed Martial Arts took place in Birmingham, England. The card featured a number of recognizable names, including those with Octagon experience on their resume like Seth Petruzelli, Matt Horwich, and War Machine. Petruzelli and the man once known as John Koppenhaver fared better in result than Horwich but all three spent weeks preparing in the gym with the mutual understanding BAMMA 3 would be like any other event.

On June 8th, 2010 all three men are still awaiting payment for the commitment each fulfilled. Apparently, BP isn’t the only dealer of dismay from across the pond with an element of slime involved. Money depended on for training costs, mortgages, general bills, food, family, and any other imaginable want or need remains a promise unkept, and thoughts originally turned towards a future competitor now look at an opponent possibly looming in a ring far different from any used in combat sports – a court of law.

News of the situation first came to light a week ago when Petruzelli and War Machine took to different realms of cyberspace to plead their cases. Said Petruzelli on popular MMA forum The Underground, “This is B.S! We feed our families with this money.” Meanwhile, the Ultimate Fighter Season 6 alumnus went the route of Twitter and addressed the topic in standard form, writing “Sure would be nice if BAMMA decided to FINALLY f*cking PAY US! Or maybe that’s too much to ask? WTF!? Really getting PISSED now! Contract said 72 hours…lol That’s 3 days right? Just wondering because it’s been 3 WEEKS!” He even went as far as to send a message to BAMMA’s account questioning whether or not they were going to pay or if the promotion felt they didn’t deserve their money.

In Horwich’s case, the woman he married a day after an IFL title defense (Kelly) spoke up to elaborate on the situation. “The promoter…had the balls to tell me he didn’t know we needed to be paid so urgently. People think fighters are rich and famous…they are normal people that need their money to eat too. We’re starving over here peoplel!!!!!” She also, understandably angry about things, made it clear she was thankful she and her husband hadn’t purchased a new house as they’d been considering, or else “WE WOULDN’T HAVE BEEN ABLE TO (HAVE) PAID THE GOD DAMN RENT!!!!!”

Fast-forward to this past Wednesday when Petruzelli stated he’d received half of his expected winnings with the remainder promised for payment later in the day while management for War Machine and Horwich, by proxy of his wife, claimed neither camp had received a dime of their purses. Hours later BAMMA apparently made good on their word to Petruzelli and War Machine, yet Horwich was left in the cold. As of Saturday, June 12th – nearly a month after the actual event – the same remains true. (UPDATE: Horwich was FINALLY paid today, a month to the day after the card’s completion.)

Unfortunately, circumstances like the above are not as uncommon as fans (and fighters) might hope nor are they limited to small shows. Far too often the men and women who sacrifice their bodies for our entertainment are victims in an industry where expectations often exceed ticket-sales and PPV buys. Quinton Jackson, among others, has spoken in the past about PRIDE shorting him and delaying payment during the promotion’s heyday. DREAM has been associated with with similar activities, most notably with current Strikeforce welterweight champ Nick Diaz after he defeated Katsuya Inoue at DREAM 3 in May 2008. The same was essentially true in the case of the mid-card fighters set to square off at Affliction III before Tom Atencio folded up shop ten days out from the event. In reality, considering the rarity of a promoter not being associated on some level with questionable financial practices, it’s really no wonder the UFC is the cream of MMA’s crop.

It’s common knowledge we live in a money-driven society where characters ranging from legitimate to downright shady will attempt to capitalize on a trend in hopes of striking it rich. As such, we have to accept the business of Mixed Martial Arts is no different, and the practice of exploiting others in hopes of turning a profit is anything but a newly invented concept. However, that’s not to say people should stand idle while athletes we respect or are personally invested in as fans pay the price after already sacrificing so much for our mere enjoyment. We need to stop focusing so much on the figures and turn our attention to whether or not a contractual agreement was actually fulfilled. When a promotion, like BAMMA, shafts a fighter you need to let your opinion be known both in written/verbal form as well as when it comes to buying future shows/tickets. Likewise, when fighters are paid on time you need to support those companies for living up to their word. Mixed Martial Artists fight for us. Now it’s our turn to fight for them.

**Updated With Document**

It has been brought to the attention of Powerlifting Watch that some powerlifting federation or federations have been giving a certain amount of variance to competitors when they officially weigh in. While the matter is currently under investigation, we would like to get your input.

What does the readership think? It is my understanding that most (if not all) federation's rule books have specifically defined ranges for a particular weight class. If a person is .1 kilos over, then they are over.

In addition, how much responsibility falls on US- the competitors? Could you, as a competitor compete in a weight class if the official weighing you in "gives you" some variance?

Finally, if this can be proven-what are we to do about the lifts that are done in those federations? Are they null and void?

A welterweight bout between Mike Pierce (11-3) and UFC newcomer Amilcar Alves (11-1) looks to be set for UFC 118 according to sources close to the event. Their fight is expected to take place on the preliminary card of the event.

UFC 118, not yet made official, is expected to take place on Aug. 28 at the Boston TD Garden and will be headlined by a UFC lightweight title bout between champ Frankie Edgar vs. former champ BJ Penn.

Pierce defeated Julio Paulino in his last octagon appearance, having earned a unanimous decision in March at the UFC Live: Vera vs. Jones event. He’s 1-1 in his last two but is 7-1 in his past eight fights. His last four fights have all gone to a decision, with the lone loss against Jon Fitch at UFC 107 in December.

While Alves, who makes his promotional debut and will fight in the US for the first time, has won his past eight fights. The bout against Pierce will be his first in 2010, having only fought twice last year. Eight of his career wins have come via stoppage, with seven earned in the first five minutes.

US Grappling’s Domionion Grappling Championships V will be held on Saturday, August 7, 2010 at Patrick Henry High School in Ashland, VA. Patrick Henry High School is conveniently located off of I-95, just north of Richmond, VA.

Saturday weigh ins will be held from 8 AM to 9:30 AM for anyone competing in no gi divisions, and will be extended to noon for anyone that will only be competing in the gi. Competitors can also register and weigh in Friday night from 6-8 PM at the venue. Competitors do not need to wear the gi during weigh ins.

Note: This event is for adults only. Teens may compete in adult divisions with permission of their parents and coaches.

Patrick Henry High School
12449 W Patrick Henry Rd
Ashland, VA 23005-3152
MAP

More information on the official site.

(photo courtesy of Sherdog.com)

Normally we reserve the ‘News, Notes & Quotes’ for some of the larger events but Friday night’s “Moosin: God of Martial Arts” event had so many interesting news notes, freak show comes to mind, going for it that we thought we’d post one up for our readers.

Friday night’s Moosin event went down at the DCU Center in Worcester, Mass. with the main card airing on pay-per-view.

The main event saw former UFC heavyweight champ Tim Sylvia handily defeat the five time World’s Strongest Man Mariusz Pudzianowski, by forcing him to tap to strikes in the second round. Not the way most mma fans would like to see a fight end.

Here is the ‘News, Notes & Quotes’ from the last night’s action.

“I’m back,” said Sylvia. “But Mariusz Pudzianowski is one hell of a tough guy.”

“It was a bit of a hostile crowd to be honest,” he said. “I consider myself to be somewhat of a legend in MMA. I heard Mariusz’s entrance and the crowd was going crazy. When I came out they were still cheering, it had to be 40-60, with 60 percent for him. I saw Polish guys screaming at me and yelling his name. Fotunately the fight went my way and I was able to switch it back over.”

“Conditioning was the main reason [I tapped],” Pudzianowski said afterward through his interpreter. “I knew I could prolong the fight a little bit longer. But because of conditioning, or lack of it, there was no sense to do it. Conditioning was by far the deciding factor for me in continuing to go on.”

- Pudzianowski was not deterred by the loss and recognized that the difference in experience levels between he and Syliva played a huge role in his loss.

“The difference was obvious,” he said. “I’ve been training for seven months, he’s been training for 13 years. The difference was very visible. It’s just a stepping stone. I have to learn new things.”

“It was a great atmosphere,” he said later. “I want to thank the Polish fans. They were absolutely great. I want to tell them and you guys, you’re going to hear about me for sure. I’ve never given up at anything, and I won’t give up here.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

“I was really happy with the fight,” she said. “I was able to think clearly and strategically with the striking game. I consider myself a ground fighter. Now I can say that I can hang with the best of them. I don’t want people to just think, ‘I’m good for a girl.’ I want people to think I’m a good fighter.”

-The Worcester crowd was pretty loud last evening for a crowd of approx. 6,500 fans. Several carried Polish flags in support of Pudzianowski and gave him the loudest cheers.

Overall, Pudzianowski’s presence on the card may have been a bit of a “side show” but to create the interest and have fans cheering as loudly as they did for him last night, can only help to bring more attention to the sport in the long run.

-Well that may not be the truth but his inability to show up for fights in shape has really shown fans his motivation to return to the top of the sport. On Thursday, Sylvia tipped the scales at 305 pounds and looked rather chunky. He noted on his Twitter site that he had lost 25 pounds leading up to this fight, so really when he’s not preparing for a fight he sits around the house at 330 pounds…..

At UFC 65 he weighed 262.5 pounds in his last title defense. UFC 61 he weighed 258.5 pounds. If the man stayed in shape he could very well return to the top but instead the 305 pound fighter will most likely float around taking mma “Freak Show” bouts until he retires.

- Moosin promoter Eric “Butterbean” Esch spoke about the promotions plans for the future, noting that they will look to return in November to the USA but have other plans outside the country first.

“We have three locations in mind right now,” he said. “We’re looking both here and overseas. I think our November show will be in the U.S. We really don’t know for sure though. We’re looking in a lot of different places.”

“We’re going global with this,” he said. “If you notice, we have more countries and languages than the UFC ever thought of. I just mention them because they’re the show everyone gets compared to. We’re not out here to take over the UFC, but this is too big of a sport for one person to hold everything down. We’re going to do it global, with fighters from all over the world.”

-Michael David Smith, of MMAFighting.com, summarized the overall pay-per-view broadcast last night as being less than impressive. Taking nothing away from the fighters, he points the finger directly at the people behind the camera’s and their failure to put on a good mma telecast.

But the broadcast — everything from camera work to production quality to graphics to announcing to fighter interviews — failed to live up to the standard set by the fighters inside the cage.

Take that great Modafferi-LaRosa fight. In the second round, Modafferi was on her back, trying to submit LaRosa with a triangle choke. A well-done MMA broadcast would have given viewers a camera angle that allowed us to see how deep the choke was, and how close LaRosa was to being submitted. Instead we got … a view of LaRosa’s back. And that was it. Whoever was in the production truck presumably didn’t know enough about MMA to know what viewers need to see when a triangle choke is being attempted.

There were all sorts of stupid little things on the Moosin show. A pointless backstage interview with the ring card girls. A pre-fight interview being shown after the first round of the fight. An interview with Bas Rutten as he exited the men’s room. Inaccurate statements from the announcers about fighters’ backgrounds.

HT: Sherdog.com, MMAjunkie.com and MMAFighting.com.

Click here to view the embedded video.

As always, The MMA News does it’s best to bring you some of the best News, Notes, & Quotes from the post-fight action from Saturday nights “Strikeforce St. Louis: Heavy Artillery” event.

-Saturday’s event drew a total of 8,136 spectators to the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. A slightly smaller number than the 8,867 from the past June 2009 show, “Lawler vs. Shields” event, held at the same venue.

-The most popular fighter on the card did not make the broadcast. Jesse Finney, who owns a gym based in St. Louis, had the biggest fan support during the show. CEO Scott Coker reported that up to 20% of the tickets sold were to Finney’s friends and family and called the fighter the “Cung Le” of St. Louis. There was so much support for Finney by the city, that he got to throw out the ceremonial first pitch at Thursday’s St. Louis Cardinals game.

“Jesse, we call him the Cung Le of St. Louis,” he said. “This is his home base, and he has a really successful school here. He has his own promotions. And really, he could step back and say, ‘Hey, I really don’t want to help you guys.’ But we had a conversation about a year ago, and he welcomed us with open arms, and we’ve become very good friends, and I’m very thankful for his efforts.”

“Of course people are going to speculate, but it was a matter of time before I fought here, and I would just do the drug testing like everyone else. When I pass that, all the critics will be silenced.”


“I know there are some individuals who are responsible for these allegations, and all these individuals are in some way associated with an opponent I beat or personally dislike me for some reason,” Overeem said. “Then you’ve got the rumors spreading. But like I said, it’s people that don’t like me for some reason – of course they’re going to be against me.


“It’s just a matter of time. I’m going to defend my title, and I’m going to do the drug testing like everybody else. Once that’s clear, we’re done with that.”

-Women’s middleweight champion Cristiane “Cyborg” Santos (9-1) will defend her title against Jan Finney (8-7), who makes her promotional debut, on June 26 at the “Strikeforce and M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Werdum” event. Finney was given the opportunity after rattling off four straight victories.

- Female fighter Erin Toughill will return later this summer to Strikeforce, and if she’s victorious, will fight for the title later in the year according to Coker.

-After Saturday night, Brazilian jiu-jitsu world champion Roger Gracie improved his record to 3-0 (over a span of almost four years) and will now focus more on mma, vows to return soon.

“I’ve been very active for many years fighting in jiu jitsu and grappling, and now I’m more into MMA.

“I’m pretty sure I’ll be fighting (again) soon. I don’t really know exactly when but hopefully the second part of the year. I’ll be fighting more often now.”

-Middleweight contender Tim Kennedy (11-2) will make his return to the Strikeforce cage at the June 16 “Strikeforce: Los Angeles” show. He hasn’t fought since the summer of 2009 but could be marketed as a top-contender because of his record (11 wins of his past 12, with 10 stoppages).

Michael Langhi (Alliance) defeats Phillip della Monica (Gracie Barra) at the 2009 World Championship.

Remember the word back in 2008 about the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation ramping up its push for membership? This year the IBJJF is taking some very concrete steps in that direction which affect the way the 2010 BJJ World Championships will be carried out. I’ll post them below but as you read them, if you have any questions about them, please email them to me by Monday! I will be interviewing an IBJJF representative this coming week on the matter!

Starting at the worlds 2010, at any IBJJF event. It is mandatory for all the black belts to carry their federation membership id cards. Its required to present the I.D card to the event official prior to the match.

IBJJF Membership ids and affiliated federation ids accepted for this event; IBJJF (for non US, Brazil, Japan, France and Portugal residents the IBJJF id is applicable), USBJJF for US residents, CBJJ for Brazil Residents, Japan federation for Japan residents, France Federation for France residentes Portugal federation for Portugal residents, Australia Federation for Australia residents.
For the World Jiu-Jitsu Championship 2010, IBJJF will release complimentary membership ids for the black belts registered in the world jiu-jitsu championship 2010. This includes the coaches with athletes registered in the event.

If you do not follow the guidelines, IBJJF reserves the right to deny participation of any athlete in this division. All registers in the Black Belt division are under IBJJF approval.

On Sunday during the black belt finals, coaches will be allowed next to the mat for the first time. Here are the rules about coaching that are new.

In any event, when coaches are allowed to be inside the competition area, the coach must wear the vest supplied by the event. The coach must present his/her black belt membership id from the authorized entities, valid for the current year. The coach must return the vest once he leaves the competition area, after the athletes match is over.

There will be 2 chairs located by the score keepers table per ring area, behind the publicity panels, where the coach will be seated.

The coach is responsible for the athletes conduct from the moment you enter and exit the event.

The coach’s action inside the competition area is limited to the communication to the athlete. Tactics and strategies advises, motivating, instructions to umpredictable situations, injuries.
The coach must remain seated during he whole match.

More details about the coaching situation can be found here, and full details about black belt registration requirements are here.

Like I said, if you have any comments about these changes, please email them to me as soon as possible so I can get those questions answered for you.

US Grappling returns to Kerr Vance Academy on Saturday, July 24, 2010 for Grapplemania NC! This event will have divisions for adults, 30+ men, and juveniles. This is a single elimination Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and submission grappling tournament.

The first 50 pre-registered (and paid) competitors will receive a free T-shirt!

Saturday weigh ins will be held from 8 AM to 9:30 AM for anyone competing in no gi divisions, and will be extended to noon for any adults that will only be competing in the gi. All juvenile competitors must weigh in by 9:30 AM. Competitors do not need to wear the gi during weigh ins. Competitors can also register and weigh in Friday night. More information on Friday night weigh ins coming soon.

Juvenile divisions at US Grappling events now use the Madison Bracketing System. There will no longer be preset weight classes for juveniles. Using the Madison system means children and teens will be less likely to cut weight since they won’t know the weight classes in advance.

Kerr-Vance Academy
700 Vance Academy Rd
Henderson, NC 27537-8725
MAP

More information on the official site.

The “Korean Zombie” Jung Chan Sung (10-2) has cemented himself with North American fans after his three round war with Leonard Garcia at WEC 48. Fans got to watch their fight for free on Spike TV, something that undoubtedly helped to increase the number of buyers for the WEC’s first ever pay-per-view.

Sung talked with TheGarv.com about his fight and his opinion of American mma fans.

“I understand firsthand why the U.S. has the top MMA in the world. I got to see how the fans root for someone, like me, not because I’m Korean or American, but because I fought hard and gave it my best. The American fans appreciate a good fight no matter who puts it on. I think that’s a big difference between the US and other countries. I continue to be shocked by the level of warmth and acceptance I get from the fans in the U.S.

On the level of promotions, you can’t even compare… Zuffa– the WEC—is incredible. They are so professional and on top of everything. From the smallest details to the big things, they are the best I’ve seen, without question. The staff and crew were all really great to work with, too!”

The “Korean Zombie” isn’t sure who he’ll face next but one fight that interests him is a rematch with Michihiro Omigawa, whom he defeated at a DEEP event in 2008.

“There’s talk about Omigawa coming to the WEC and normally I wouldn’t be that interested in fighting someone that I’ve beaten, but he’s gotten much better since our fight and I think I’ve gotten better, too. So, I’d like to fight him again, if possible. Beyond that, there’s no on in particular that I’d like to fight, just the strongest and the best fighters that they will put in front of me.”

You can read the rest of Sung’s interview by visitng TheGarv.com.

Photo courtesy of WEC.com.