NO HOLDS BARRED

NO HOLDS BARRED on PodOmatic

On this week's edition of NO HOLDS BARRED, host Eddie Goldman begins by addressing some of the recent problems and latest scandals in the mixed martial arts and the combat sports. Among the issues discussed are the latest round of dope cheats getting caught, the latest failure of a one-day tournament in Pride, the failure of the cage in groups like UFC to be a good place to encourage the use of the best technique possible in MMA, and the very bad decision in the Chris Lytle-Matt Serra fight in UFC this past Saturday night.

Next comes the good stuff.

Although he is retired from fighting, mixed martial arts and wrestling legend Randy Couture will be returning to the mat at least one more time this Friday, November 17. Couture, a four-time U.S. Greco-Roman national champion and a three-time All-American at Oklahoma State, and a former UFC heavyweight and light heavyweight champion, will be competing in a submission wrestling match in the main event of the Professional Submission League (PSL) show Friday at the Veterans Memorial Hall in Culver City, Calif., near Los Angeles.

Couture's opponent will be the two-time Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Absolute Mundial and ADCC World Submission Champion, Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza from Manaus, the capital of the Amazon State in Brazil, and considered by many to be one of the top submission artists in the world.

This PSL event can be seen live as an Internet pay-per-view webcast and will also have a free live audiocast. For more information, go to the PSL site at http://www.prosubleague.com/.

We spoke with Randy Couture in a telephone interview about this event, as well as several other issues, including the documentary film called "FIGHTER", directed by filmmaker and former wrestler Pericles Lewnes, which is making the rounds of the film festival circuit.

This film provides a rare behind-the-scenes glimpse into the mixed martial arts world of the mid- to late-1990s. The film also documents the key role played by former NCAA wrestling champion and Iowa Hawkeye Rico Chiapparelli in training wrestlers to make the transition to mixed martial arts. That period is considered by yours truly as the real Golden Age of UFC. The documentary "FIGHTER" is a must-see for all those interested in mixed martial arts, wrestling, combat sports, or sports in general. It pulls no punches, and is thus a treat for those who like their combat sports history no-holds-barred.

"FIGHTER" is available on video from MMA Classics. The web site of Randy Couture is here. The web site of his new gym, the Legends Mixed Martial Arts Training Center in Hollywood, Calif., is here.

We also got a chance to speak with MMA legend Ken Shamrock and International Fight League (IFL) CEO and co-founder Gareb Shamus on a media conference call last week. Ken Shamrock is the IFL's newest coach and will head the Northern California-based Lions beginning with the 2007 IFL season. We spoke with Ken about that, and also Gareb Shamus about the business and television side of the IFL.

To listen to NO HOLDS BARRED, just click here or here or here.

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The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The NO HOLDS BARRED theme song is called "The Heist", by musician Ian Carpenter.

NO HOLDS BARRED is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

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