Saturday, September 29, 2012
No Holds Barred: Dan Curry, author of "Kung-Fu Lesbian"
His debut novel is an outrageous, funny, thoughtful, and provocative book, inspired by the Blaxploitation films of the 1970s, entitled "Kung-Fu Lesbian".
Set in 1976, the book's lead character, known as Holly X, is an African American lesbian who is a karate black belt and a master of many deadly techniques. The story involves a wild chase with Holly delivering a mysterious briefcase while being pursued by ruthless killers. Although it doesn't exactly follow the plot, there is also a short, hilarious trailer for the book at http://youtu.be/e2yJC3TfUB0.
We spoke with Dan Curry Friday afternoon at Doc Holliday's Bar in New York, shortly before a book release party in Brooklyn.
Speaking about the title of the book, which is what the lead character is called by friends even though it inaccurately describes her martial arts skills, Dan said in this interview, "When you label someone, no matter what it is, it's not a reliable indicator of who that person really is." He continued, "I fly my own flag basically. And that's the one thing I share with my lead, Holly."
We discussed what he tried to accomplish in this book, the cultural and historical setting in 1976 and in San Francisco where Holly lived, the challenge of a white heterosexual male writing about an African American lesbian lead character, the martial arts sub-theme in the book, and a lot more.
My capsule review: "Kung-Fu Lesbian" is provocative, outrageous, funny, and thoughtful. Read this book or else I'll smash you -- or at least Holly will.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.
No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.
Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.
MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 1 and 2 for the fourth annual MMA World Expo, featuring an amateur MMA tournament, the Renzo Gracie BJJ Open 2012 tournament, the Big Apple No-Gi tournament, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, and much more. The 2012 MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 1, and Sunday, December 2, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.
Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.
American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.
Labels: blaxploitation, Dan Curry, Eddie Goldman, Holly, humor, karate, Kung Fu Lesbian, martial arts, No Holds Barred
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
No Holds Barred: Paul Paone on 2012 MMA World Expo
The MMA World Expo, now in its fourth year, will take place this year on Saturday, December 1, and Sunday, December 2, once again at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.
The program for this year's Expo includes an event which is already attracting a lot of attention: an amateur mixed martial arts tournament held in association with FILA, the international wrestling federation which, besides governing Olympic wrestling, also runs tournaments and world championships in grappling, amateur MMA, and many other styles.
We spoke with Paul Paone Wednesday evening in New York.
Speaking about the historic amateur MMA tournament, he said, "We're fortunate enough to be working with an internationally-renowned organization, FILA." He explained that "they already have a highly-organized, proven structure in place" to ensure fighter safety and provide fairness through their rules and open scoring system.
In addition, we discussed the Renzo Gracie BJJ Open 2012 tournament, the Big Apple No-Gi tournament, the seminars with world-class instructors, the panel discussions, and much more about what will take place at the 2012 MMA World Expo.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.
No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.
Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.
MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 1 and 2 for the fourth annual MMA World Expo, featuring an amateur MMA tournament, the Renzo Gracie BJJ Open 2012 tournament, the Big Apple No-Gi tournament, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, and much more. The 2012 MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 1, and Sunday, December 2, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.
Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.
American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.
Labels: amateur, BJJ, Eddie Goldman, FILA, grappling, MMA World Expo, New York, No Holds Barred, Paul Paone, Renzo Gracie
Sunday, September 23, 2012
No Holds Barred: Arnaud "The Game" Lepont
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with ONE FC fighter Arnaud "The Game" Lepont.
Originally from France but now living in Malaysia and a member of the Muayfit fight team, "The Game" has been training for his next fight at Tiger Muay Thai in Thailand.
That fight will be a lightweight super fight on the ONE FC: Rise of Kings card on Saturday, October 6, in Singapore, against the Japanese MMA and grappling star Shinya "Tobikan Judan" Aoki. This card can be seen live on a webcast pay-per-view and on TV in the U.S. on same-day, tape-delay on pay-per-view.
We spoke with Arnaud "The Game" Lepont Saturday by Skype.
In this interview he stated that he had asked ONE FC CEO Victor Cui for a fight with Shinya Aoki.
"Shinya Aoki, for me at 155 pounds, is definitely the best Asian current fighter at this weight," he explained in this interview. "You cannot aim at belts or stuff like that. You have to live your dream, and my dream is fighting the best fighter in Asia right now, and at 155 pounds there is no doubt that the best fighter in Asia is Shinya Aoki."
We discussed what mix of grappling and striking there may be in this fight since both fighters have won the bulk of their bouts by submission; what he sees as Aoki's biggest weakness; why he moved from France to Asia; his experiences fighting for the Dare Championship based in Thailand; the banning of MMA in France, New York, and Thailand; how he feels respected as a fighter in ONE FC and in Asia; why he supports the recent change to ONE FC's rules that now allow soccer kicks to the head at any time; and much more.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.
No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.
Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.
MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 1 and 2 for the fourth annual MMA World Expo, featuring an amateur MMA tournament, the Renzo Gracie BJJ Open 2012 tournament, the Big Apple No-Gi tournament, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, and much more. The 2012 MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 1, and Sunday, December 2, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.
Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.
American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.
Labels: Arnaud Lepont, Eddie Goldman, Game, MMA, No Holds Barred, One FC, Rise of Kings, Shinya Aoki
Friday, September 21, 2012
No Holds Barred: Coyte Cooper on Marketing Wrestling
As a former top-level college wrestler and with a PhD in Sport Management, he is using his unique set of skills and experience to work with the National Wrestling Coaches Association (NWCA) to develop research to help enhance the sustainability of college wrestling programs. This is an especially critical task since literally hundreds of college wrestling programs in the U.S. have been closed down over the past few decades. Towards these goals, he authored the recently-published NWCA Marketing Manual. This can be downloaded for free online here.
We spoke with Coyte Cooper by phone Thursday afternoon about the need for college wrestling to step up its marketing efforts, and now.
"Coaches have to take control of things," he said in this interview. "The way that wrestling is going to grow in the future is if we do it at the grassroots level, meaning coaches take that proactive approach where they start to really value what marketing is."
We discussed a lot in this interview, including the need for wrestling coaches to embrace a marketing mindset; how this requires the wrestling coaches to view themselves as CEOs of their programs; why a culture change in college wrestling is necessary to accomplish this; why effective use of social media such as Twitter, YouTube, and Facebook is essential today; the need for coaches to delegate many of these tasks to people at their schools whether or not those people are wrestlers; the recent controversy about crowning a national team champion through a dual meet tournament rather than through the existing national tournament; and much more.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.
No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.
Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.
MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 1 and 2 for the fourth annual MMA World Expo, featuring an amateur MMA tournament, the Renzo Gracie BJJ Open 2012 tournament, the Big Apple No-Gi tournament, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, and much more. The 2012 MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 1, and Sunday, December 2, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.
Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.
American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.
Labels: coaches, college, Coyte Cooper, Eddie Goldman, manual, marketing, NCAA, No Holds Barred, NWCA, wrestling
Thursday, September 20, 2012
No Holds Barred: A Schedule for Champions
Also commentary is offered on the exceptional TV ratings in the U.S. for the Canelo-Lopez boxing card on Showtime on September 15; the disastrous ratings for the season premiere of "The Ultimate Fighter"; the positive drug test for marijuana by Julio Cesar Chavez Jr.; the effect of the lockout of the players by the National Hockey League on TV slots for MMA; and the rescheduling of the FILA World Championships for grappling, Pankration, and amateur MMA to November 15-18 in Raminskoe, Russia, near Moscow. FILA is the international federation which governs the Olympic and non-Olympic styles of wrestling.
While many details remain to be finalized, FILA also plans to sanction the amateur MMA tournament at the MMA World Expo in New York, December 1-2. Also discussed is the bizarre legal situation facing MMA in New York, where professional MMA is outlawed, but amateur MMA is both legal and unregulated.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.
No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.
Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.
MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 1 and 2 for the fourth annual MMA World Expo, featuring an amateur MMA tournament, the Renzo Gracie BJJ Open 2012 tournament, the Big Apple No-Gi tournament, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, and much more. The 2012 MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 1, and Sunday, December 2, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.
Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.
American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.
Labels: ADCC, amateur, boxing, Canelo-Lopez, Chavez Jr., Eddie Goldman, FILA, grappling, Kung-Fu Lesbian, Midwood, MMA, New York, No Holds Barred, One FC, Pankration, World Expo, wrestling
Sunday, September 16, 2012
No Holds Barred: King Mo on Martinez-Chavez Jr., Canelo-Lopez, Bellator, Olympic and Pro Wrestling
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again speaks with a true aficionado of all the combat sports, "King" Mo Lawal.
He is set to make his debut with the Bellator Fighting Championships in January, as well as his debut in the TNA pro wrestling company this fall.
We spoke by phone Sunday, starting off by analyzing the two major boxing cards held Saturday, September 15, which we both watched simultaneously. On the Showtime card, Saul "Canelo" Alvarez defeated Josesito Lopez by fifth-round TKO. On the HBO pay-per-view, Sergio Martinez dominated most of the fight with Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., surviving a twelfth-round knockdown to win a unanimous decision. We also discussed the other fights on these cards, as well as what they say about boxing and MMA.
"I heard both arenas sold out," he said during this interview. "So there goes the whole 'boxing is dead' thing' that a lot of these ignorant MMA fans try to use when they try to compare two different sports against each other. MMA is MMA, boxing is boxing. I felt there are two different demographics. But, last night I was highly entertained by both fights."
"King" Mo also watched some of the wrestling at the 2012 Olympics, and we discussed that and whether or not U.S. schools should switch from American folkstyle to freestyle, which is practiced internationally. We also discussed how he will balance his preparations for TNA and for Bellator. In addition, we discussed the different demographics of the fans in various combat sports, in particular the popularity of boxing among African Americans as compared to other combat sports, and more.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.
No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.
Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.
MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 1 and 2 for the fourth annual MMA World Expo, featuring an amateur MMA tournament, the Renzo Gracie BJJ Open 2012 tournament, the Big Apple No-Gi tournament, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, and much more. The 2012 MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 1, and Sunday, December 2, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.
Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.
American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.
Labels: African Americans, Bellator, boxing, Canelo Alvarez, Eddie Goldman, Josesito Lopez, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., King Mo Lawal, MMA, No Holds Barred, Olympic, Sergio Martinez, TNA, wrestling
Thursday, September 13, 2012
No Holds Barred: Chavez Jr.-Martinez and Canelo-Lopez Previews with John Perretti
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again speaks with lifelong martial artist, former UFC and Battlecade Extreme Fighting matchmaker, TV commentator, and our senior correspondent, John Perretti.
On Saturday, September 15, during the weekend of Mexican Independence Day, the sport of boxing, if you can call it that, will have two major, televised, competing cards taking place in the same city, Las Vegas, at the same time.
The show at the MGM Grand Garden Arena will be headlined by the unbeaten WBC super welterweight champion Saul "Canelo" Alvarez defending his belt against rising star Josesito Lopez, who earned the title shot with an upset TKO win over Victor Ortiz in June. Also on that card, WBC featherweight champion Jhonny Gonzalez fights Daniel Ponce De Leon, Marcos Maidana faces Jesus Soto Karass in a 12-round welterweight fight, and IBF bantamweight champion Leo Santa Cruz fights Eric Morel. This card will be televised live on Showtime in the U.S., BoxNation in the U.K., and Televisa in Mexico.
Not far away, at the Thomas & Mack Center, recognized linear middleweight world champion Sergio Martinez will fight WBC middleweight champion Julio Cesar Chavez Jr. Also on that card, Roman Martinez will fight Miguel Beltran Jr. for the vacant WBO super featherweight title, WBA super bantamweight champion Guillermo Rigondeaux will defend his belt against Robert Marroquin, and Matthew Macklin will fight Joachim Alcine in a ten-round middleweight fight. This card will be televised live on HBO pay-per-view in the U.S., Primetime pay-per-view in the U.K., and Azteca in Mexico.
We spoke with John Perretti by phone Thursday about these fights.
Asked if he had to choose just one of these cards to watch live, perhaps surprisingly he replied that it was "a no-brainer" that he would choose the one headlined by Chavez Jr. and Martinez.
As for a prediction, he said in this interview, "If, indeed, this Martinez-Chavez fight is real and not a debacle, and not another uproar, a burning at the stake of Pacquiao, if it is real, I will tell you that Martinez will go down from a body shot and it will be a TKO for Chavez."
We also discussed the practice of Top Rank, Chavez Jr.'s promoter, of only booking fights when they are virtually certain that their fighter will win, which is why Chavez Jr. has not fought the 37-year-old Martinez until now. Top Rank boss Arum wants to build Chavez Jr. into a superstar on the level of Mayweather and Pacquiao. We discussed how these plans may or may not factor into what happens in this fight and the possibility of - gasp - another major controversy in boxing.
We also discussed the Canelo-Lopez fight, which John Perretti believes is harder to predict. We talked about how that entire televised card actually is stronger than the one headlined by Chavez Jr. and Martinez, the $100,000 bonus on that card for the best knockout, how he was the one who initiated bonuses when he was a matchmaker in MMA, and much more.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.
No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.
Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.
MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 1 and 2 for the fourth annual MMA World Expo, featuring an amateur MMA tournament, the Renzo Gracie BJJ Open 2012 tournament, the Big Apple No-Gi tournament, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, and much more. The 2012 MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 1, and Sunday, December 2, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.
Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.
American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.
Labels: boxing, Canelo Alvarez, Eddie Goldman, John Perretti, Josesito Lopez, Julio Cesar Chavez Jr., No Holds Barred, Sergio Martinez
Monday, September 10, 2012
No Holds Barred: John Perretti Likes the K-1 U.S. Grand Prix Championship
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again speaks with lifelong martial artist, former UFC and Battlecade Extreme Fighting matchmaker, TV commentator, and our senior correspondent, John Perretti.
On Saturday, September 8, John covered the K-1 U.S. Grand Prix Championship for No Holds Barred. Put on by the revamped K-1 kickboxing organization, this event was held at the Los Angeles Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California.
By virtue of their victories on this September 8 card, four heavyweight fighters - Xavier Vigney, Rick Roufus, Jarrell Miller, and Randy Blake - advanced to the K-1 World Grand Prix Final 16, scheduled for Sunday, October 14, in Tokyo, Japan. The finals of this tournament, the K-1 World Grand Prix Final 8, are scheduled for Wednesday, December 26, at Madison Square Garden in New York.
We spoke with John Perretti by phone Sunday to discuss this show. John was also an international kickboxing champion in the 1970s, so he is uniquely qualified to analyze such an event from any angles.
Saying he "really enjoyed" the live show, he offered a positive evaluation of many aspects of it.
"All in all I want to say that the show was an absolute B-plus," he said in this interview. "Most of the athletes were B-plus to A to A-list athletes. The matches were damn good, on average. The athletics within the context of the individual fights were A, A-list."
We also discussed some problems with the organization of the event such as with the live online streaming, how the culture around kickboxing has changed since the 1970s (and not for the better), and much more.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.
No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.
Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.
MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 1 and 2 for the fourth annual MMA World Expo, featuring an amateur MMA tournament, the Renzo Gracie BJJ Open 2012 tournament, the Big Apple No-Gi tournament, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, and much more. The 2012 MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 1, and Sunday, December 2, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.
Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.
American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.
Labels: Eddie Goldman, Grand Prix, John Perretti, K-1, kickboxing, MMA, No Holds Barred
Friday, September 07, 2012
No Holds Barred: Lenne Hardt
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with the legendary world champion of MMA ring announcers, Lenne Hardt.
Once again she was cageside at the ONE FC: Pride of a Nation card on August 31 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in the Philippines, livening up an already lively show with her unique style of announcing the ring entrances.
We spoke with Lenne Hardt, who lives in Tokyo, by Skype Thursday to get her take on the atmosphere of this card and her impressions of the growth of MMA in Asia and the Philippines.
"I LOVE the people of Manila," she said in this interview. "They were enthusiastic, friendly, everyone smiles. At the drop of the hat, they'll smile."
We also discussed her love of MMA, how she is still involved with performing for her jazz band, comparisons between contemporary Tokyo and New York, and much more.
In addition, while MMA in Asia is growing, noted on this edition of No Holds Barred are some important developments in the combat sports in the northeastern part of the U.S., including the 2012 MMA World Expo on December 1-2 in New York; the inaugural World Cup of Mixed Martial Arts on September 15 at Foxwoods in Mashantucket, Connecticut; and the recent formation of the Snake Pit U.S.A. Catch Wrestling Association based in Englishtown, New Jersey.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.
No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.
Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.
MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 1 and 2 for the fourth annual MMA World Expo, featuring an amateur MMA tournament, the Renzo Gracie BJJ Open 2012 tournament, the Big Apple No-Gi tournament, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, and much more. The 2012 MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 1, and Sunday, December 2, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.
Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.
American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.
Once again she was cageside at the ONE FC: Pride of a Nation card on August 31 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in the Philippines, livening up an already lively show with her unique style of announcing the ring entrances.
We spoke with Lenne Hardt, who lives in Tokyo, by Skype Thursday to get her take on the atmosphere of this card and her impressions of the growth of MMA in Asia and the Philippines.
"I LOVE the people of Manila," she said in this interview. "They were enthusiastic, friendly, everyone smiles. At the drop of the hat, they'll smile."
We also discussed her love of MMA, how she is still involved with performing for her jazz band, comparisons between contemporary Tokyo and New York, and much more.
In addition, while MMA in Asia is growing, noted on this edition of No Holds Barred are some important developments in the combat sports in the northeastern part of the U.S., including the 2012 MMA World Expo on December 1-2 in New York; the inaugural World Cup of Mixed Martial Arts on September 15 at Foxwoods in Mashantucket, Connecticut; and the recent formation of the Snake Pit U.S.A. Catch Wrestling Association based in Englishtown, New Jersey.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.
No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.
Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.
MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 1 and 2 for the fourth annual MMA World Expo, featuring an amateur MMA tournament, the Renzo Gracie BJJ Open 2012 tournament, the Big Apple No-Gi tournament, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, and much more. The 2012 MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 1, and Sunday, December 2, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.
Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.
American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.
Labels: Eddie Goldman, jazz, Lenne Hardt, MMA, No Holds Barred, One FC, Philippines, Tokyo
Thursday, September 06, 2012
No Holds Barred: Edward Catucci of World Cup of Mixed Martial Arts
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with Edward Catucci, the executive director of the World Cup of Mixed Martial Arts (WCMMA).The first show for the WCMMA will take place Saturday, September 15, at the MGM Grand Theater at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in Mashantucket, Connecticut. The WCMMA will feature both nation vs. nation team competition as well as individual title fights.
On this card, Team USA, coached by Ricardo Liborio, will face Team Portugal, coached by Kleber Repolho. A heavyweight title fight will pit Alexey Oleinik against Mike Stewart (replacing the injured Kelly Anundson).
Three fghters from China will also be competing for WCMMA titles on this card against three American fighters. Wang Sai will fight Brett Oteri for the WCMMA middleweight title, Yao Honggang will fight Dave LaChapelle for the WCMMA featherweight title, and Yang Jianping will fight Bill Jones for the WCMMA lightweight title.
The WCMMA has an ambitious plan of running events in many countries including later this year, establishing franchises in these countries, and building up to an actual World Cup team event in 2017 in Rome, Italy.
We spoke with Edward Catucci Wednesday night by phone about the WCMMA. The values promoted by WCMMA and its positioning stand in contrast to those of many MMA organizations.
The philosophy and mantra of WCMMA, he said in this interview, is "Respect, honor, and discipline." He emphasized, "What we wanted to do is really, truly pay respect to the discipline and art form of mixed martial arts." He views this project as a "public service" which is family-oriented and can influence young people to make "a real positive change, if guided in the right direction."
We thus discussed a lot about the concepts behind the WCMMA, the plans for running WCMMA events for the next several years, plans for television and for an Internet pay-per-view for the September 15 event, and much more.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.
No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.
Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.
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American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.
Labels: Eddie Goldman, Edward Catucci, MMA, No Holds Barred, WCMMA, World Cup of Mixed Martial Arts
Monday, September 03, 2012
No Holds Barred: ONE FC Pride of a Nation Review, MMA in New York, Junior Wrestling Worlds, Andre Ward-Chad Dawson
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman comments on some of the most recent and upcoming important events in the combat sports.
ONE FC: Pride of a Nation took place August 31 at the packed Smart Araneta Coliseum in the Philippines before an enthusiastic crowd. There are many lessons from these fights, as well as from the ONE FC rules and the announcement that their next card, on October 6 in Singapore, will feature for the first time three ONE FC title fights. ONE FC: Pride of a Nation thus represented a step forward in the maturation process of Asia's largest MMA event.
In wrestling, the 2012 Junior World Championships will be held September 4 to 9 in Pattaya, Thailand. This event is a showcase of many future world and Olympic champions, with two of last year's junior world champions winning Olympic gold medals this year.
In boxing, the top fight pits two champions against each other, as light heavyweight champion Chad Dawson goes down to super middleweight to face super middleweight champion Andre Ward. This fight will take place Saturday, September 8, in Oakland, California, and be shown live in the U.S. on HBO. We have comments from both fighters as well as Ward's trainer Virgil Hunter from the recent media conference call to preview this fight.
The 2012 MMA World Expo will take place December 1-2 at the Jacob Javits Center in New York and, for the first time, will feature an amateur MMA tournament, which is legal in New York. More details are forthcoming, but this is an important development for MMA in New York as well as for this event, now in its fourth year.
In addition, we mention the RUFF 5 MMA card which will take place this Saturday, September 8, in Hohhot, China, and will be shown live on TV in China and online internationally, and more.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.
No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.
Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.
Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.
American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.
Labels: Andre Ward, boxing, Chad Dawson, Eddie Goldman, Junior Wrestling Worlds, MMA, New York, No Holds Barred, One FC, Pride of Nation, RUFF
