NO HOLDS BARRED

(Photos by Suzanne Teresa, Premier Boxing Champions)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses the Leo Santa Cruz-Abner Mares and Julio Ceja-Hugo Ruiz fights on the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) card from the Staples Center in Los Angeles held Saturday, August 29. This card was shown live in the U.S. on ESPN.

In the main event, Santa Cruz (31-0-1, 17 KOs) won a majority decision over Mares (29-2-1, 15 KOs) in a 12-round featherweight fight. In this incredible fight, over 2000 punches were thrown, with Santa Cruz landing 373 of 1057 thrown, and Mares landing 227 of 980 thrown.

In the co-feature, Julio Ceja (30-1, 27 KOs) rebounded from a third-round knockdown to win by TKO over Hugo Ruiz (35-2, 30 KOs) at 2:34 of the fifth round in their super bantamweight fight.

We discuss why this fight makes Santa Cruz a major star and top pound-for-pound fighter in boxing, how this was PBC's best show since they started running in March of this year, why PBC need better announcing, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

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:

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 AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.

Labels: Abner Mares, Eddie Goldman, Hugo Ruiz, Julio Ceja, Leo Santa Cruz, No Holds Barred, PBC, Premier Boxing Champions

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Michael Rosales, coach of the Texas Catch Wrestling Club.

We spoke with him by phone Wednesday.

Beginning in September, the Houston chapter of the Texas Catch Wrestling Club will be moving to a new location: the Metroflex at 8150 Westpark Drive, Houston, Texas 77063.

This is, he said, "Houston's premier strongman, powerlifter, Olympic-type lifting gym." Besides the standard training available there, he explained that athletes can prepare for the types of events that take place in strongman contests.

"Something that has always been a part of our club is not just wrestling itself, but also strength and conditioning, or what they used to call in the old school parlance physical culture," he said.

We also discussed the state of catch wrestling today, how to spark more interest in it, upcoming tournaments in other styles such as sambo and grappling, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

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:

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 AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.

Labels: catch-as-catch-can, Eddie Goldman, Houston, Michael Rosales, No Holds Barred, physical culture, Texas Catch Wrestling Club

(Photo of Leo Santa Cruz from Suzanne Teresa/Premier Boxing Champions. Photo of Abner Mares from Abel Madrid.)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses the deluge of Premier Boxing Champions (PBC) shows coming up in the next month, previews the Leo Santa Cruz-Abner Mares fight coming up this Saturday, August 29, and spoke with Roman Martinez and Orlando Salido, who fight on September 12 on the Mayweather-Berto pay-per-view.

According to the PBC's schedule, they will be having a total of ten televised shows in the U.S. between August 29 and September 29, with many more planned in the months to come. All will be live and on non-premium networks, including NBC (2), CBS (1), ESPN (1), Spike (1), Bounce TV (1), and Fox Sports 1 (4), where PBC begins a weekly Tuesday night telecast September 8. Most of these shows are in prime time, with many fights also being shown internationally.

The first of these PBC cards will take place this Saturday, August 29. The feature bout pits Leo Santa Cruz (30-0-1, 17 KOs) against Abner Mares (29-1-1, 15 KOs). This fight will be at the Staples Center in Los Angeles and will be shown live in the U.S. on ESPN. This will only be the second fight at featherweight for Santa Cruz, who has held belts at bantamweight and super bantamweight. Mares has held belts at bantamweight, super bantamweight, and featherweight, and we discuss the stakes involved in what should be a very competitive fight.

Roman Martinez (29-2-2, 17 KOs), who holds the WBO junior lightweight belt, will have a rematch September 12 with Orlando Salido (42-13-2, 29 KOs) of their April 11, 2015, fight of the year candidate, which Martinez won by unanimous decision. This will be part of the Showtime pay-per-view headlined by the Floyd Mayweather-Andre Berto fight.

We spoke with both Roman Martinez and Orlando Salido on Monday's media conference call.

We also discussed the significance of all this for boxing and televised sports, why this is an important month for PBC, the build-up to the September 12 Mayweather-Berto Showtime pay-per-view, the role of Al Haymon and the future of PBC, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

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:

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 AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.

Labels: Abner Mares, Al Haymon, deluge, Eddie Goldman, Leo Santa Cruz, No Holds Barred, Orlando Salido, PBC, Premier Boxing Champions, Roman Martinez

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with our colleague and correspondent Kid Peligro.

Our main topic was the 2015 ADCC (Abu Dhabi Combat Club) Submission Fighting World Championship, which will be held Saturday, August 29, and Sunday, August 30, at the Ginásio Poliesportivo Mauro Pinheiro (Ginásio do Ibirapuera), Rua Manuel da Nóbrega, 1361 - Ibirapuera, São Paulo - SP, 04001-140, Brazil.

It is the most important and prestigious grappling tournament in the world, and as always will feature competition in no-gi grappling.

Besides the competition in the five men's and two women's weight classes and the absolute division, there will be two superfights. Defending superfight champion André Galvão will face 2013 Absolute Champion Roberto Cyborg, and in a masters' superfight, two legends will compete: Zé Mario Sperry and Ricardo Libório.

The 2015 ADCC Submission Fighting World Championship will be shown live on an Internet pay-per-view on Budovideos.com.

We spoke with Kid Peligro by phone Wednesday.

While there are a number of returning champions in this year's competition, the 2015 ADCC event will also see many new competitors from around the world going for their first world championship.

"ADCC seems to somehow every year come up with a whole new group of fighters that compete real well, and exciting names," said Kid Peligro. "The ADCC committee just always seems to bring up new names, and there's a whole new crop of competitors that are pretty exciting."

We discussed each weight class, who are the favorites and the underdogs, the many national and regional qualifiers which led up to this world championship, and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

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:

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 AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.

Labels: Abu Dhabi, ADCC, BJJ, Brazil, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Eddie Goldman, grappling, Kid Peligro, No Holds Barred, no-gi, São Paulo, Submission Fighting World Championship

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Steve Koepfer, the owner and head coach of New York Combat Sambo.

He will also be serving as the head coach of the 2015 Men's U.S. Combat Wrestling Team, which will be competing at the 2015 Combat Wrestling World Championship. This is the first world championship hosted by the recently formed International Federation of Combat Wrestling (FICW).

This historic event will be held Saturday, August 22, at the Stadion Spartak (Spartak Stadium) in Varna, Bulgaria. Video of it will be recorded for showing at a later date.

We spoke with Steve Koepfer by phone Friday.

Late last year, he was contacted by Ivaylo Ivanov, the founder and president of FICW, about setting up a USA Combat Wrestling organization, and also that there would be a world championship event this year. Now less than a year later, FICW has national federations in at least 17 countries on four continents, with the world championship this coming week.

"It's amazing how far he's come in the last year," he said. "I would say the majority of the work has really been done internationally with Ivaylo leading the charge, and behind him, with full support of [combat wrestling founder] Mr. [Noriaki] Kiguchi, Masa Yoshizawa in Japan, who is the head official for the new FICW. And he'll be also bringing the Japanese team over."

The 2015 Men's U.S. Combat Wrestling Team, which is composed of the winners in each weight at the U.S. Combat Wrestling Team Trial which was held April 11 in Lowell, Arkansas, includes:

100kg - Kevin Sniff. Westside MMA, Little Rock, Arkansas
90kg - Anthony Sansonetti. Team Renegade, Levittown, New York
82kg - Morgan Bracken. Criqui BJJ, Topeka, Kansas
74kg - Roli Delgado. Westside MMA, Little Rock, Arkansas
68kg - Denny Lenormand. NOLA BJJ/Rdojo, New Orleans, Louisiana

The rules of combat wrestling allow for victory by points scored by takedowns, throws, pins, and superior positions, as well as victory by submissions. The wrestling takes place on a wrestling mat and is overseen by a referee and officials.

Combat wrestling, first popularized in the 1990s in Japan by Noriaki Kiguchi, differs from other types of wrestling and grappling in that it is not a style, but "a set of rules," Steve Koepfer said. Because of that, it has attracted many athletes from various styles of wrestling, sambo, jiu-jitsu, judo, and MMA.

"Combat wrestling has no cultural ownership over it," he said. Thus, athletes from so many different parts of the world have joined together in it, and federations have been formed, in such a relatively short period. Also avoided are the "turf wars" which have infamously plagued so many martial arts and combat sports, he added.

We discussed the activity of this new federation, which will have its first congress the day before the world championship, as well as an officials' certification. One key issue the congress will presumably address is the direction and governance of the federation, including whether or not to seek to become part of the Olympic movement, which is more and more engulfed in scandals and corruption, and facing popular resistance from Rio to Boston to Oslo and elsewhere.

In addition, we discussed some of the problems facing the catch wrestling movement, how there was a very small turnout at the catch wrestling North American championship in Montreal in July, plans for developing a combat wrestling circuit in the U.S., and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

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:

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 AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.

Labels: BJJ, Bulgaria, catch, combat wrestling, Eddie Goldman, FICW, International Federation, Ivaylo Ivanov, No Holds Barred, Noriaki Kiguchi, sambo, Steve Koepfer, Varna, World Championship

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Rose Gracie.

The next event she will be involved in running is the Gracie Worlds 2015.

It will take place Saturday, August 22, and Sunday, August 23, in conjunction with The FitExpo Anaheim, at the Anaheim Convention Center, 800 West Katella Avenue, Anaheim, California 92802.

The Gracie Worlds 2015 will be a submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu competition, with both gi and no-gi tournaments.

Saturday, August 22, will have the tournament for kids 12 and under, and the gi tournaments for both teens and adults. Sunday, August 23, will have the no-gi tournaments, also for teens and adults.

She will also be attending the Eddie Bravo Invitational 4 on Saturday, August 15, in Los Angeles, also a submission-only grappling event, and using the Periscope app to stream video from events leading up to the tournament and also possibly behind-the-scenes from the event itself.

We spoke with Rose Gracie by phone Tuesday.

It is her passion for jiu-jitsu and preserving the legacy of the Gracie family that have inspired her to continue with these submission-only tournaments.

"This is my art," she said. Jiu-jitsu "is something that is going to stay with me forever. It will be with me no matter what."

She emphasized, "It's my name," stressing, "This is who I am."

But the success of the submission-only movement and the growing number of events using this type of format has actually awed her.

"It's very surreal for me that I was able to put an idea out on paper, execute that idea, and make sure that people are out there interested in looking forward to" these events. Now she has found more and more people "who all think the same way as I do."

We also discussed this event's teen blue belt challenge, the superfights, the rules including which submissions are allowed in each division, the need to get "rid of politics in jiu-jitsu", growing problems in America's schools, and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

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:

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 AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.

Labels: Anaheim, BJJ, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Eddie Goldman, education, FitExpo, grappling, No Holds Barred, Rose Gracie, submission only, Worlds

(Photo of Steve Cunningham and Naazim Richardson from Ed Diller/DiBella, photo of Antonio Tarver courtesy of Showtime)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews the fights between heavyweights Antonio Tarver and Steve Cunningham, and cruiserweights Marco Huck and Krysztof Glowacki, and discusses the odious trash talk which has accompanied the buildup for the Tarver-Cunningham fight.

In the main event of a card to be held on Friday, August 14, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, the 46-year-old Antonio Tarver (31-6, 22 KOs), the former unified light heavyweight champion, will continue his improbable campaign to gain a heavyweight title as he faces the 39-year-old former cruiserweight world champion, Steve Cunningham (28-7, 13 KOs). In his last fight, in December 2014, Tarver scored a seventh-round knockout win over heavyweight contender Johnathon Banks. In March of this year, Cunningham lost a close and controversial decision to unbeaten heavyweight contender Vyacheslav Glazkov, a fight many thought Cunningham deserved to win.

While these two veteran fighters try to advance in the heavyweight rankings, the co-feature will have WBO cruiserweight champion Marco Huck (38-2-1, 26 KOs) defending his belt against unbeaten challenger Krysztof Glowacki (24-0, 15 KOs) of Poland. Huck, originally from Serbia and based in Germany, has only one loss in his career at cruiserweight: a 2007 TKO stoppage at the hands of Steve Cunningham.

This card, part of the Premier Boxing Champions series, will be shown live in the U.S. on Spike TV.

We spoke with Antonio Tarver, Steve Cunningham, Marco Huck, and Krysztof Glowacki on a recent acrimonious media conference call.

We also explain why the Tarver-Cunningham fight is important and interesting on its own merits, why resorting to trash talk only promotes negative values, why even from a business perspective the trash talk is bad for boxing and the Premier Boxing Champions series, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

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:

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 AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Labels: Antonio Tarver, Eddie Goldman, Krysztof Glowacki, Marco Huck, No Holds Barred, PBC, Premier Boxing Champions, Steve Cunningham, trash talk

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman presents a commentary on why the September 12 fight between Floyd Mayweather and Andre Berto, contrary to the prevailing opinions of many who scribble about boxing, should be splendid.

This fight is being described as the final one in the career of the 38-year-old unbeaten Mayweather, who holds WBA and WBC welterweight belts. With a record of 48-0 and 26 KOs, Mayweather will be trying to tie the historic 49-0 record of heavyweight icon Rocky Marciano.

Mayweather's opponent, the 31-year-old Andre Berto (30-3, 23 KOs), is a former WBC and IBF welterweight champ, and now holds what is called the WBA interim welterweight title, for what that is worth. He has won his last two fights, although he is just 3-3 in his last six, including losses to Victor Ortiz and Robert Guerrero, both of whom Mayweaher has defeated.

This fight will take place Saturday, September 12, at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, and will be shown live in the U.S. on a Showtime pay-per-view, and also around the world on various networks.

In analyzing this fight and why it will exceed the expectations of many, a key factor is the likelihood of an exciting matchup of styles between Mayweather and the usually aggressive Berto, who will no doubt be highly motivated to display his best skills.

Also considered is why choosing other possible opponents for Mayweather does not make sense given the prevailing business structure in place in boxing. Some potential opponents like Keith Thurman, Amir Khan, Shawn Porter, and Danny Garcia also have Al Haymon as their manager/advisor as does Mayweather, but are all apparently in future plans when Mayweather retires and relinquishes his belts. Others, like Tim Bradley or Canelo Alvarez, whom Mayweather has already defeated, are under exclusive contracts to promoters who are suing Haymon in regards to his Premier Boxing Champions venture, which is not exactly a good way to get into his good graces to be part of what should be another lucrative Mayweather fight. They also have exclusive contracts with HBO, which of course is the premium network rival of Showtime, which has an exclusive contract with Mayweather. These networks have only worked together on mega-fights like Lennox Lewis vs. Mike Tyson in 2002, and Mayweather-Pacquiao earlier this year.

In addition, also discussed are the relative popularity and drawing power of Berto compared to other possible opponents for Mayweather, the possibility of a crowd-pleasing knockout to cap off Mayweather's career, the relative lack of Black fighters who have been opponents of Mayweather over his career, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

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:

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 AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Labels: Andre Berto, boxing, Eddie Goldman, Floyd Mayweather, No Holds Barred

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Jonathan Cohn, who is involved with the successful movement that stopped Boston from hosting the 2024 Olympics, and is a co-founder and an organizer with NoBoston2024.

We spoke with Jonathan Cohn by phone Sunday.

While the plans of the U.S. Olympic Committee and the bid organization Boston 2024 for Boston to be a candidate city to host the 2024 Olympics have collapsed and failed, chiefly because of mass opposition, several other American cities are still in the running for that spot. The USOC has said that it will soon choose between Los Angeles, San Francisco, and Washington D.C. to be an American bid city.

In addition, Canadian Olympic Committee officials are seriously floating the idea of a making a bid from Toronto, while the list of other cities around the world which have said they will bid includes Paris, Rome, Hamburg, and Budapest.

These cities, of course, will face the same issues which sank the Boston bid: localities being held responsible for cost overruns and debts incurred for hosting the Olympics, forced removal of people to make way for Olympic venues and subsequent gentrification of those areas, militarization of Olympic cities and areas, net loss of tourism, related issues involving the prevalent corruption in the Olympic movement, etc., etc., etc.

As a result, we are already seeing opposition developing in some of these potential Olympic host cities, which will grow as more people become aware of the overwhelming problems associated with hosting the Olympics.

So while NoBoston2024 and others were successful in thwarting Boston's bid, this struggle against these Olympics ripoffs will continue in many parts of the world.

"We're very interested in helping out any groups that form in those other cities," said Jonathan Cohn. He and his associates have already had discussions with and have learned from activists in London, who opposed the London 2012 Olympics, and in Chicago, who opposed that city's failed bid to host the 2016 Olympics.

"Just last week, a few of us had met with Chris Gaffney, who's an activist in Rio, and his wife [Juliana Barbassa] who is doing a book tour for a new book, Dancing With The Devil In The City Of God," he said. There is also discussion about holding an international conference of activists who oppose these Olympics ripoffs, perhaps later this year in Zurich, Switzerland.

We also discussed more on why the opposition to hosting a Boston Olympics was successful in mobilizing public support, how these bids are thinly disguised land grabs by private real estate interests, the continuing problems in Rio de Janeiro related to the upcoming 2016 Olympics, the farce of the supposed reforms of the Olympic Agenda 2020, how activists in Boston plan to continue other struggles to improve their communities, why those involved in sports must develop alternatives to the Olympics, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

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:

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 AmericanTopTeam.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

Labels: Boston, Eddie Goldman, IOC, Jonathan Cohn, Los Angeles, No Holds Barred, NoBoston2024, Olympics, Toronto, U.S. Olympic Committee, USOC

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman reposts an interview with Steve Nelson, who fought in and ran the Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation (USWF) in the 1990s in Amarillo, Texas.

This organization, which was one of the most successful local promotions of its time, held fights under what were called shootfighting rules, with only open hand strikes allowed, but with all submissions as well as kicks and knees permitted. It was thus a mixture of catch wrestling and MMA.

Steve was also a headliner in the company's most famous fight, when he took on Ralph Gracie, who had defeated him in under a minute in 1996 under no holds barred rules in Battlecade/Extreme Fighting 2 in the Mohawk community of Kahnawake near Montreal. The rematch took place August 22, 1998, as the main event of the USWF 11 show in Amarillo.

This fight was my selection as the 1998 Fight of the Year in mixed discipline combat sports.

A video of this fight can be seen here.

This interview was originally recorded in August 2008 to mark the tenth anniversary of his classic USWF fight with Ralph Gracie.

While MMA in the U.S. was facing many difficulties in 1998, the USWF, which just ran shows in Amarillo and West Texas, was drawing large crowds of upwards of 4000 fans.

Explaining this, Steve Nelson pointed out, "We didn't have a TV show. All we had was, we had posters around the town. I went and did a lot of interviews. So the other fighters did their interviews, too, on the radio, and we were pulling these kind of crowds."

They were so successful at the art of local promotion in the late 1990s that, "We were the top-drawing martial arts company in the United States at the time."

Much has changed since then, of course, with the USWF soon peaking and closing down a few years later. Many of its top stars then focused on MMA, including the late USWF and UFC champion Evan Tanner, or coaching wrestling like Steve, Paul Jones, and others.

Steve had been the head coach of the boy's and girl's wrestling teams at Palo Duro High School in Amarillo for many years, but retired from teaching and coaching in December 2013. He now works full-time as the manager of Sakura Japanese Steakhouse and Sushi Bar in Amarillo.

In our original lengthy interview, we spoke with Steve about the USWF and its history; his fights with Ralph Gracie; some of the fighters from the USWF who became notable in MMA; important tips for promoters, especially local promoters who need to avoid quickly losing money (which is today particularly important for those running catch wrestling and grappling shows); the accomplishments of the wrestling teams he coached; and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

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:

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Labels: Amarillo, Eddie Goldman, Extreme Fighting, MMA, No Holds Barred, Ralph Gracie, shootfighting, shootwrestling, Steve Nelson, Texas, Unified Shoot Wrestling Federation, USWF, wrestling