Chris is a Rigan Machado 4th degree Black Belt.

12-1:30 GI
1:30-3 No Gi

$60 for one session, $80 for both.

Chris served on the Machado USA competition team as a coach and competitor. In addition to many colored belt victories, in 1997 he placed 2nd at the Pan American Invitational and took 1st at the US Open and the Joe Moreria Open, as a black belt. Additionally, he is the first American black belt to have competed in the Mundial de Jiu-jitsu, the world championship event held each year in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He has numerous Super Fight victories.

Arts For Fitness
3545 Mary Ader Ave
Charleston SC 29414
MAP

More information at the official site.

Here’s a quick break down of some of the recent updates that have come out of the upcoming UFC Undisputed 2010, which will be available on the XBOX 360 and Playstation 3 consoles.

The list for this year’s sponsors of UFC Undisputed 2010 has come out, and there are some surprising new additions. Clinch Gear will be in the game, despite a ban on the clothing line when Dan Henderson signed with Strikeforce.

A list of the game sponsors are below:

UFC

Affliction (New)

American Fighter

And 1

Bad Boy (New)

BSN (New)

Cage Fighter

Clinch Gear

Death Clutch

Dethrone Royalty (New)

Ecko MMA (New)

Fairtex

The Fight! Network (New)

Fighters Only Magazine (New)

FYT

Hayabusa

Headblade (New)

Hitman Fight Gear (New)

Hostility

Lugz (New)

Metabolic Adaptation

MMA Connected (New)

MMA Elite (New)

MMA Warehouse

MMA Fighting (New)

MusclePharm (New)

MicroTech

Nogi

NuVasive

One More Round

OTM Fight Shop

Pain Inc.

Punishment Athletics (New)

Premier Fighter (New)

RVCA

Silver Star (New)

Sinister

SPIKE TV (New)

SPRAWL

Suckerpunch

Take A Nap

TapouT

Throwdown (New)

Toe 2 Toe

Tokyo Five (New)

Venum (New)

Warrior International

Xyience

Yard Barker (New)

Yuke’s

Also, the classic fights mode has been upgraded to “Ultimate Fights” mode this year, and you play as the loser of a fight, and get the chance to change history by winning. You will be selecting from different fights, each one in a different category and you will have to pick up the victory the same way you lost. For PS3 owners, you will have five PS3 exclusive fights to pick from. Here is the list:

UFN 18 – Carlos Condit vs. Martin Kampmann (Ultimate 2009 Category)

UFC 102 – Nate Marquardt vs. Demian Maia (Ultimate Knockouts Category)

UFC 60 – Matt Hughes vs. Royce Gracie (Ultimate Classics Category)

UFC 66 – Keith Jardine vs. Forrest Griffin (Ultimate Classics Category)

UFC 68 – Martin Kampmann vs. Drew McFredries (Ultimate Submissions Category)

Good luck PS3 owners trying to KO Nate Marquardt with Demian Maia.

Gamestop also revealed their full list of bonus fighters that you get when you purchase the game, and all of them come from this past season of The Ultimate Fighter. Marcus Jones, James McSweeney, Brendan Schaub, and season winner Roy Nelson will be unlocked able when you pick up your reserved copy. For PS3 owners, you get three exclusive fighters along with the four TUF fighters, as you can unlock Royce Gracie, Dan Severn, and Jens Pulver.

UFC Undisputed 2010 hits stores on May 25 in the US, May 28 in Australia and Europe.

Strikeforce officially announced two heavyweight matchups for it’s May 15th event “Strikeforce St. Louis: Heavy Artillery.” Strikeforce heavyweight champion Alistair Overeem (32-11) will step into the cage against Brett “The Grim” Rogers (10-1) and former UFC heavyweight champ Andrei Arlovski (15-7) faces former EliteXC title-holder Antonio “Bigfoot” Silva (13-2) in the co-headline event.

World Heavyweight Champ Alistair Overeem will return to action against Brett Rogers in the main event of STRIKEFORCE: St. Louis on May 15.

In another heavyweight confrontation on the same card, Andrei “The Pitbull” Arlovski will clash with Antonio “Big Foot” Silva at Scottrade!

The announcement was made via the ShoSports Twitter site on Friday, with no information given as to whether the Overeem vs. Rogers bout would be a title fight or not. The event takes place at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis and will air on Showtime.

Overeem has fought seven times since defeating Paul Buentello in November of 2007 for the Strikeforce title. The Dutch fighter has won six of those seven bouts, including one No Contest, none of which have been to defend the Strikeforce belt. Overeem’s last fight was at the New Year’s Eve “Dynamyte!!! 2009″ event where he KO’d Kazuyuki Fujita at 1:15 of the first round. The fight against Rogers will also mark the first time the Strikeforce champ has fought on US soil since winning the title.

Rogers is coming off-of the first loss of his career after being TKO’d by Fedor Emelianenko last November at the “Strikeforce: Fedor vs. Rogers” event. In his previous two Strikeforce bouts, Rogers has defeated Andrei Arlovski and Abongo Humphrey in 2009, both of which where by TKO. Nine of his ten victories have come via KO or TKO.

Arlovski hasn’t fought since his loss to Rogers last June making it two defeats in a row. The fight before Rogers was against Fedor Emelianenko at the “Affliction: Day of Reckoning” event, where “The Pitbull” was knocked out at 3:44 of the first round. Before the back-to-back losses, Arlovski had won five straight matches with wins over Roy Nelson, Ben Rothwell, and Fabricio Werdum.

“Bigfoot” Silva will also look to climb back into the win column after losing to Werdum at the past November Strikeforce show. Before the loss Silva had won six straight fights, including a victory over Justin Eilers for the EliteXC heavyweight championship. Afterwards, the Brazilian tested positive for steroids on post fight drug test and was stripped of the title as well as given a year long suspension by the California State Athletic Commission.

Former UFC heavyweight champ Timi Sylvia (25-6) could have up to three fights on his dance card in the near future from March till June. Sylvia may find himself fighting in Japan, Boston, and Canada if all three bouts happen.

Sylvia had been offered a bout with another former UFC champ Josh Barnett in Japan as part of the upcoming DREAM 13 event. Sylvia’s and his manager Monte Cox, turned down the fight and have left the promotion looking for a new opponent. The DREAM 13 event is set to take place on March 22 in Yokohama, Japan.

The Boston Herald published an article stating that Sylvia would face five-time World’s Strongest Man champion Mariusz Pudzianowski in his US debut. With new regulations for mixed martial arts going into effect Monday in Massachusetts, promoters Corey Fischer and Eric “Butterbean” Esch told the Herald that they have teamed up with the Korean-based promotion company, Moosin, to promote the fight between Sylvia and Pudzianowski as it’s headliner. The event is tentatively set for April 23rd at the DCU center in Worcester, Mass.

Recently a rematch between Sylvia and recent “TUF” competitor Wes Sims for an “Adrenaline MMA V” event was turned down by the Ohio Athletic Commission after they deemed the match as “non-competitive.” Since that time the Telegraph-Journal in New Brunswick, Canada reported that this bout could happen on June 5 in Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada as part of a International Fighting Confederation event.

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US Grappling
Brazilian Jiujitsu and Submission Grappling Tournaments
Submission Only VIII / NC Junior Championships

Poster for US Grappling's Submission Only VIII Grappling tournamentFebruary 20th, 2010 – Simkins Indoor Sports Pavilion @ Barber Park – Greensboro, NC.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Joe “Daddy” Stevenson (31-10) will face Aussie fighter George Sotiropoulos at UFC 110 next Saturday in Sydney Australia. Catch Stevenson’s Australia video blog as he makes the journey from US soil to Australian soil with Rashad Evans, Greg Jackson and Keith Jardine.

Coming off of an eventful 2009 and looking to complete his personal triple crown of championships, no-gi world champion and Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt Alexandre “Xande” Ribeiro (2-0 MMA) looks to add an MMA world title to his collection of accomplishments.

Recently, Xande took a short trip to island of Oahu to recharge his batteries where FiveOuncesofPain.com had the opportunity to sit down with the decorated submission specialist with nothing but knockouts on his professional fighting resume during a training session at Central Oahu Jiu jitsu Academy.

Needing to take a break, Xande Ribeiro decided to vacation with some old friends and introduce his newborn daughter to the island he has been visiting since he was a 16-year old purple belt.

“I didn’t have a New Year,” said Ribeiro. “I just need five days off for rest.”

The past few months have been very hectic for Ribeiro. He has been preparing for another MMA match, recently became a father, and along with his brother Saulo, has just completed filming a new instructional BJJ video.

While Ribeiro does not have a confirmed fight for the upcoming March Sengoku, he closed out 2009 by increasing his training schedule to twice a day at the Arena MMA training center in San Diego alongside top competitors including Diego Sanchez, while at the same time, he’s been teaching at the University of BJJ.

“I have been doing a lot of MMA,” said Xande, who has competed near the 205 pound mark for the bulk of his competitive career. “I am dropping down to 185 [pounds], so I have been doing a lot of cardio.

“I will train three times a day [once he returns from Hawaii]… I am really focused”.

Ribeiro states that he is under contract with Sengoku where he has compiled an unblemished 2-0 record until August of this year. He has no intention of breaking his current contract, but he did allude to the fact that fighting in the US is a possibility that may present itself in the near future.

“There are some things in the works that I cannot talk about,” said Ribeiro.

Some view Ribeiro’s drop to 185 pounds as a perfect fit for the growing Strikeforce middleweight roster, while others speculate that he would be a welcome addition to the middleweight roster of the UFC.

Ribeiro had a few goals for his island getaway; most important was spending time with his daughter, stating, “I had to bring my daughter to swim in the ocean.”

Once he returns home to San Diego, Xande will join his brother Saulo and they will complete editing their new instructional video and have it on the shelf prior to the PanAm BJJ tournament. Although Ribeiro has made the transition to MMA, the Brazilian Jiu Jitsu World Champion has not ruled out another run at a BJJ World Championship.

”Worlds is a possibility,” said Ribeiro.

One thing is certain, 2010 will definitely be a breakthrough year for Xande Ribeiro.

Jake Mackenzie on the podium in Lisbon. Photo courtesy Jake Mackenzie.

Bruce Hoyer, a regular contributor to the FightWorks Podcast sends us this quick interview with Jacob Mackenzie, the lightweight gold medalist at the 2010 BJJ European Championships.

The FightWorks Podcast: For those people that may not know you yet give everyone a little background on you and how you got started.

Jake Mackenzie: I am 24 years old, I train at Fightsports South Beach in Miami, and I am a brown belt under Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu. I am originally from Truro, Nova Scotia, Canada. I began training jiu-jitsu there 9 and a half years ago, and I trained exclusively in Canada until I was 17 years old. At 17 I began spending 6 months at a time in Rio de Janeiro, so that I could improve my jiu-jitsu, and so I could compete almost every weekend. The last 3 years I have been living 6 months in Miami and 6 months in Rio to learn and compete as much as possible.

The FightWorks Podcast: You recently won the European Championships, talk a little bit about some of the matches that you had this time around.

Jake Mackenzie: It was my first time competing at the Euros, and I am really glad that i made the trip over to Lisboa to compete. I had 15 guys in my division (brown belt, lightweight). I was able to submit all of my opponents except for my opponent in my semi final match, he was a really tough competitor from Manaus, Brazil, and was a former world champion at purple, he was able to take me down at the start of the match, and was up to 2×0 for the first four minutes, I eventually swept him from my guard and I almost mounted and took his back. The fight ended 2×2 but I had 3 advantages points, so was able to secure the win. In the final, I was able to submit my opponent in 2-3 minutes with a choke from the back.

The FightWorks Podcast: Talk about your experience with traveling all over the US and the world frankly competing and training in BJJ.

Jake Mackenzie: I travel all year round, trying to compete as much as possible, I usually fight 16-20 tournaments a year. I love competing every chance I get. I really like traveling as well, so being able to compete internationally is something I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.

The FightWorks Podcast: Where is your favorite place to compete?

Jake Mackenzie: I really like competing in California and in Miami, but I think Rio is my favorite place to compete, I fight almost every weekend when I stay there, and the majority of my tournament experience has been in Rio. There is something special about fighting in Rio, it is where everything started!

The FightWorks Podcast: Do you ever find that people from other gyms are not welcoming or is it pretty much open doors everywhere? Or in competition when you travel overseas do you feel an extra pressure?

Jake Mackenzie: I really like getting a chance to train with new people and learn as much as I can. Here in Florida, a lot of the best academies train together. I get the chance to train Cyborg, Pablo Popovitch, Boca, Denis Mitchell, Wagner Rocha, Paulo Azambuja and many other top level black belts, so I am learning every time I step on to the mat. I would highly recommend all these gyms and instructors, they are all extremely technical and have a very open and friendly atmosphere. I don’t feel any extra pressure competing overseas, I have more tournament experience in Brazil than anywhere else, and I began competing there while I was still a blue belt, so think i got used to fighting overseas at very young age.

The FightWorks Podcast: You recently moved from Canada to Florida to train and teach at Fight Sport, how has the transition been?

Jake Mackenzie: I started training here in Florida about 3 years ago, that’s when i officially started training with Roberto “Cyborg” Abreu. Cyborg and I were friends before he opened his academy in the US, so when he opened the gym, he invited me to come down to Miami and train with him and help him teach a little bit as well. Shortly after moving down to Miami, I decided to train and compete exclusively under Cyborg, it was one of best decisions I ever made. He is amazing instructor and coach, it is so easy to stay motivated and train hard all year round, because Roberto brings so much positive energy to the gym everyday, and he really cares about making his students better, every class he teaches.

The FightWorks Podcast: Do you feel like you are able to learn faster training with like Cyborg and Marcel?

Jake Mackenzie: Absolutely, I feel like my jiu-jitsu has improved drastically in the time I have spent training with Cyborg and Marcel. Here at Fightsports I train 2 times a day, 6 days a week, every class that Roberto teaches he pushes me to train 100 percent. Marcel, is amazing training partner, he is a great competitor, and whenever we train, I know it is going to be war, a lot of the times we train together we will roll for 40-60 minutes straight. I also couldn’t ask for a better master and group of guys to train with.

The FightWorks Podcast: Anyone you would like to thank?

Jake Mackenzie: I really want to thank my mom and dad first and foremost, they have always supported me 110 percent. I really want to thank Cyborg, and all my family from Fightsports. Also I want to thank Pablo Popovitch, Wagner Rocha, Boca, and all the guys from their academies that help me train all year round. I really want to thank my friend and training parter Denis Mitcell too, he helps me soo much, he always get me makes sure I am 100 percent mentally before I fight, him and Cyborg are always with me whenever I compete. I want to also thank all my sponors, Shoyoroll Kimonos (the best kimonos period!), Jiu Jitsu Pro Gear, Legacy Fit, Source Security, Murphies Resteraunt, Inglis Jewellers. Without all of their help and support it would be impossible for me to compete and travel year round. I can’t thank enough.

US Grappling presents the NC BJJ Championships Saturday, March 27, 2010 at Net Sports in Morrisville, NC (just outside Raleigh).

This event will have single elimination divisions for men, women, 30+ men, and juveniles (ages 4-17). Teens will be permitted to compete in adult divisions with the permission of their parents / coaches.

Saturday weigh ins will be held from 8 AM to 10 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 (more info coming). Competitors do not need to wear the gi during weigh ins.

NetSports
3717 Davis Dr.
Morrisville, NC 27560
MAP

More information on the official site.

Strikeforce light-heavyweight champion Gegard Mousasi (28-2-1) is stateside to do some training for the first time on US soil with UFC welterweight champ Georges St. Pierre.

During an interview with Sherdog.com, Mousasi was asked about the possibility of facing Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal for his first title defense. The Strikeforce champ spoke positively about Lawal’s skills in the cage, but feels the “King” doesn’t hold any advantages.

“He’s undefeated. He’s confident, obviously,” said Mousasi of Lawal. “He has also proven himself in wrestling, from what I’ve heard. I think he does his homework. Style-wise he matches up very well for me and I think he feels the same way about my fight style against him.”

Mousasi, who’s lost only twice in his 31-bout career, believes he’d be the favorite over Lawal should they meet.

“Basically, if he wants to take me down, he has to set the takedown with punches. I don’t see that happening,” he said. “In the clinch, I’m much better with inside boxing, with knees, kicks. I’ve never seen him kick, so I see a lot of advantages. His only advantage, basically, is the wrestling and he has good ground-and-pound, but I feel I have the same ground-and-pound, so I don’t see any advantage that he has over me.”

Visit Sherdog.com for Mousasi’s comments on training in the States as part of GSP’s camp.