NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Dan Kanagie of the North American Catch Wrestling Association.

Their next event is a big one, as the 2015 North American Heavyweight King of Catch title will be decided as well as at least three more matches held at the 2015 MMA World Expo.

The catch wrestling takes place on the second day of this two-day Expo, Sunday, December 13. The location is the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

Headlining the catch wrestling will be the 2015 North American Heavyweight King of Catch championship match between West Coast King of Catch champ Travis Newaza and two-time East Coast King of Catch champ Thomas Velasquez.

Also set are three more matches:
Joe Shick vs. Anthony Pipola - Middleweight
Phil Caracappa vs. Hassan Hope - Lightweight
Justin Sumter vs. Steven Yokay - Light Heavyweight

We spoke with Dan Kanagie by phone Friday.

This is the third consecutive year there will be catch wrestling at the MMA World Expo, but the first time it will be organized by the North American Catch Wrestling Association.

"This is going to be our first time at the Expo, which is exciting for us. It's a huge event, with a lot of exposure, a lot of big names going to be there," Dan Kanagie said. "It's exciting for us to be there and have them want us to be there part of it."

For catch wrestling, this is very important because there will be "a title match there to show everybody some of the top wrestling that we have."

Besides the four matches already set, opponents are being sought for a super heavyweight match with last year's absolute division tournament winner Nick Caggia, and a women's match with catch wrestler and grappler Gillian Davis.

We also discussed how these matches will use the Karl Gotch catch wrestling rules, how catch wrestling is still "at the beginning of the journey" in its revival, the backgrounds and experience of the wrestlers who will be competing, plans to video record these matches and post them online, 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:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 12 and 13, 2015, for the sixth annual MMA World Expo, featuring submission-only grappling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, 2015, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

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.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: Dan Kanagie, Eddie Goldman, King of Catch Wrestling, MMA World Expo, No Holds Barred, Thomas Velasquez, Travis Newaza

(Photo credit: Tom Hogan - Hoganphotos/Roc Nation Sports/Golden Boy Promotions)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses some of the issues around Saturday's unanimous decision victory by Canelo Alvarez over Miguel Cotto, the formation of the Pro Wrestling League in India which will air real wrestling matches on national TV there, how American wrestling needs more competent people to run it, why wrestling does not automatically teach positive values, how we can understand the role of the combat sports in society, and 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:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 12 and 13, 2015, for the sixth annual MMA World Expo, featuring submission-only grappling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, 2015, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

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.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: boxing, combat sports, Eddie Goldman, No Holds Barred, TV, wrestling

(Photo credit: Tom Hogan - Hoganphotos/Roc Nation Sports/Golden Boy Promotions)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with our colleague, correspondent, and award-winning boxing writer, Charles Farrell.

He is also co-editor of The Boxing Standard.

Our main focus was the major fight card taking place this Saturday, November 21, as Miguel Cotto (40-4, 33 KOs) takes on Saul "Canelo" Alvarez (45-1-1, 32 KOs) at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas, Nevada. This card will be shown live in the U.S. on HBO pay-per-view and in the U.K. on BoxNation, as well as on many other networks around the world.

We spoke with Charles Farrell by phone Thursday.

"Were they both in their prime and were they both fighting at 147, I would go with Cotto. He's a better fighter. He's more versatile. He is actually the better puncher of the two," he said.

"But I think at this point it's a question of their respective arcs, where each one of them is heading. And I think it's a propitious time for Alvarez."

He continued, "I think that Cotto will start well. He's a good boxer, and Alvarez is a slow starter. But the years and the abuse that he's going to take from Alvarez, who is a good body puncher, are going to catch up with him. And I don't think anybody is going to sit around and let him take too much abuse. So my guess is eight or nine rounds."

Besides discussing more on this fight and the pay-per-view card, we delved into our continuing analysis of the Premier Boxing Champions (PBC), which has been running numerous fight cards on non-pay TV in the U.S. since March. We discussed PBC's stagnant and sometimes sagging TV ratings, how PBC has offered many competitive and exciting fights and upsets, how PBC has good matchmaking but has not been good at star-making, 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:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 12 and 13, 2015, for the sixth annual MMA World Expo, featuring submission-only grappling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, 2015, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

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.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: Charles Farrell, Eddie Goldman, Miguel Cotto, No Holds Barred, PBC, Premier Boxing Champions, Saul Canelo Alvarez

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Michiel Thomas and Yuhei Ogawa, the executive producers of the documentary film "Game Face".

This documentary chronicles the coming out of two LGBT athletes: Fallon Fox, who is the first openly transgender MMA fighter, and Terrence Clemens, who came out as openly gay during his college basketball career.

We spoke with Michiel Thomas and Yuhei Ogawa Monday in New York at a showing of "Game Face" as part of DOC NYC, which is America's largest documentary film festival.

"There's a lot of reasons why we wanted to make the film," said Michiel Thomas, who also directed the film. "There were personal reasons for me, because I love basketball and I'm gay myself. But also I'm originally from Belgium, and when I moved out here I got to meet several friends who I found out that they lost their scholarship when they went to school because the school found out that they were gay. At the same time there was also a wave of teenage suicides going on. So all these events made me want to do something about it. And I thought this documentary could be a perfect answer. So that was the approach from the beginning."

We also discussed how they made contact with Fallon Fox through transgender basketball player Kye Allums, how the film premiered in April and has played in more than 45 film festivals with many more to come, plans to have it shown in schools and universities, future plans to get it on TV and online, the comparison of the reactions in MMA to Fallon Fox and the reactions in basketball to Terrence Clemens, 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:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 12 and 13, 2015, for the sixth annual MMA World Expo, featuring two days of the Renzo Gracie Open 2015 no-gi and gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, 2015, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

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.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.
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Labels: basketball, Eddie Goldman, Fallon Fox, Game Face, LGBT, Michiel Thomas, MMA, No Holds Barred, Terrence Clemens, Yuhei Ogawa

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with MMA fighter and two-time ADCC champion Jeff Monson.

While he will be 45 years old in January, Jeff Monson is still very active as an athlete. He will be competing in a professional no-gi grappling match at the Berkut Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu event November 21 at the Dynamo sports hall in Moscow, Russia. Next is a two-day seminar in Smolensk, Russia, November 23 and 24. He also plans to lead another seminar in January 2016 in Odessa, Texas, and continue fighting in MMA events as well.

We spoke with Jeff Monson by phone Thursday.

Although he has fought in over 80 professional MMA fights, his first love is grappling. However, as many grapplers and wrestlers like Jeff have found out, the financial realities have led them to focus on MMA rather than grappling or wrestling.

"I couldn't make a living doing it," he said. But "I like grappling a lot more" than MMA.

"I love grappling," he said, but for him, fighting "is a job." And it is a job where he knows he is going to get hurt: "I'm going to get punched, I'm going to get kicked."

Thus, "I'd rather grapple somebody. But I did it [MMA] because I have to to support my family."

At his age, however, especially after some brutal knockouts and fighting on a number of unsanctioned MMA shows mainly in Russia, his emphasis is starting to shift back to his roots of grappling. In fact, he said he hopes to open a school in Russia and set up a Russian grappling team to compete at international grappling events.

We also discussed how he believes that he has not suffered any serious head or brain injuries from fighting, his plans to conduct seminars on a more regular basis, the potential in various countries for grappling to succeed as a televised spectator sport, 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:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 12 and 13, 2015, for the sixth annual MMA World Expo, featuring two days of the Renzo Gracie Open 2015 no-gi and gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, 2015, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

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.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: Berkut, Eddie Goldman, grappling, Jeff Monson, MMA, No Holds Barred, Russia, wrestling

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with journalist John S. Nash.

Writing primarily for the web site Bloody Elbow, his articles have ranged from the Martial Chronicles series on the history of combat sports, to a lengthy analysis of the available data about the UFC's finances, to how fighters are unfairly treated in MMA and how they are attempting to organize themselves.

We spoke with John Nash by Skype Tuesday.

Besides writing about the colorful history of catch wrestling in the 19th and 20th centuries, he has been closely following the rebirth of this sport, and made several key observations.

"I think catch-as-catch-can can be a much more popular sport than it is now. It's a few people holding events across the country and the world. They're trying to revive it," he said.

Even with the popularity of MMA and the many styles of submission grappling, he was cautious about the potential for catch to succeed.

"I just don't know if it's television-friendly enough to be that popular, put it on TV and get the revenue necessary to be a major combat sport, a major competitor," he said.

Whether or not it can be successfully revived will in large part be determined by the direction taken by those in the sport itself.

"Hopefully whoever helps make catch a bigger sport, they do it right, because this is going to be the golden age of any new catch, where the foundation is going to be laid of how is the sport going to be for the next -- well, I guess it's going to decide if the sport becomes bigger or if it survives and what form it survives for the next century, let's say," he noted.

"If done right, it's in a great position," he said. Catch wrestling has "mixed martial arts, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and pro wrestling all to piggyback off of. It has an avenue besides just college wrestling, it has an avenue to capture fan bases that are already out there."

In addition to discussing a lot more about catch wrestling, we discussed the future of sports like American football and combat sports where head injuries and brain trauma are common, the widespread corruption which continues to exist in sports in general, the reaction to the articles on UFC's finances, the growth of interest among MMA fighters in being part of a fighters' association and/or union, the challenges facing those combat sports journalists who dare to tell the truth, why he uses the handle "not the face", 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:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 12 and 13, 2015, for the sixth annual MMA World Expo, featuring two days of the Renzo Gracie Open 2015 no-gi and gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, 2015, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

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.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: catch wrestling, combat sports, corruption, Eddie Goldman, John S. Nash, MMA, No Holds Barred

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with fighter manager Bill Eng.

Bill was born in New York but has lived in China for many years, and was visiting New York this week. We spoke with him Sunday in New York's Chinatown.

The MMA and combat sports scenes are booming in China today, but not a lot about them is known by many people in the West.

"There are a lot of organizers, organizations local in each province, in each major capital city itself," he said, running fight events.

"There is a disconnect between the Western world and them, because they don't Facbook it, they don't Twitter it, but in Chinese media, they are there."

Many shows feature both MMA and Sanda fights on the same card. Sanda is a standup style of fighting which also allows throws, but no grappling.

"There's a lot of top Chinese talent that are in the Sanda circle and also in the MMA circle," he said.

"Just alone I have 100-something fighters. We have events almost every week. That's how busy we are."

One of the most popular shows in China is Chinese Kung Fu, or CKF. It features both MMA and Sanda fights in a Sanda ring. CKF airs on Tuesday nights on CCTV-5, China's national sports channel, and has a huge audience.

"We've got top talent there," he said. "You fight on that show, and you win a title, basically everybody is going to know you. You walk down the street and people are going to know you. Because that's what everybody is watching. That's what the middle class, that's what the proletariat, everybody."

CKF is "a main Chinese show because it's on CCTV. It reaches all across China. It's on public TV. It's in the public newspapers and media."

There are also many other popular shows. King of Combat, or Bojiwang, also features a hybrid of MMA and Sanda. Beijing Fight Night is on CCTV as well, featuring four MMA fights and four Sanda fights on its shows. Wulingfeng (The Martial Path) is, he said, the most popular show in China, featuring mostly Sanda and also some MMA fights. It airs on Hunan Cable.

With the use of the Internet, Wi-Fi, set-top boxes, and smartphones, many fights can be seen all throughout China.

We also discussed how Sanda is still far more popular in China than MMA, how many fighters in China are relatively well-paid, the rules used in MMA events in China, how non-Chinese MMA companies are not well-known in China and have had mixed success at best, how grappling is still not that big but is growing in China, 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:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 12 and 13, 2015, for the sixth annual MMA World Expo, featuring two days of the Renzo Gracie Open 2015 no-gi and gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, 2015, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

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.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: Bill Eng, CCTV, China, CKF, Eddie Goldman, kung fu, MMA, No Holds Barred, Sanda

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Paul Paone and Christian Montes of the MMA World Expo.

The 2015 edition of the MMA World Expo will be held Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, 2015, and as always at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

We spoke with Paul Paone and Christian Montes Wednesday at the New York office of the MMA World Expo.

For this year, the MMA World Expo's sixth annual event, there will be more of an emphasis on live combat sports competition than in past years.

"Basically, we're trying to ratchet up the quality of the content," said Paul Paone. "We've always had good content at the event, but I think you'll see a shift at this year's event in terms of the number of live competitions that we're doing, the ability for people that are walking through the door to actually see and experience in some hands-on way martial arts and various disciplines."

Thus, this year, "Different than other years, you're going to see not one, not two, not three, not four -- five different disciplines of martial arts in its actual competition form on both days of the event."

The plans so far are to have an amateur MMA event with the New York Fight Exchange; the Renzo Gracie Open in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and no-gi grappling; a Muay Thai tournament with The Wat; an amateur boxing tournament with USA Boxing; and a King of Catch Wrestling competition.

We also discussed plans for a series of panel discussions on the legalization of MMA in New York and other topics, the synergy with the motorcycle show which will also take place at the Javits Center the same weekend, using social media to announce many more details about this event including fighter appearances, 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:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 12 and 13, 2015, for the sixth annual MMA World Expo, featuring two days of the Renzo Gracie Open 2015 no-gi and gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, 2015, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

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.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: Christian Montes, Eddie Goldman, MMA World Expo, New York, No Holds Barred, Paul Paone

(Photo of Mike Chapman wearing Frank Gotch's favorite derby hat by Brad Wilder.)

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with wrestling historian and author Mike Chapman.

Our discussion focused on a new event, the Frank Gotch World Catch Championships. This catch wrestling event will be held Sunday, July 3, 2016, in Gotch's hometown, Humboldt, Iowa. It will be organized by the Catch Wrestling Alliance and co-sponsored by the Gotch Statue Committee and the Frank Gotch Kids Wrestling Club. It will take place at the Humboldt High School, 1500 Wildcat Road, Humboldt, Iowa 50548.

We spoke with Mike Chapman by phone Monday.

"The exciting thing about it," he said, "it is in the hometown of Frank Gotch, who many people would consider the greatest catch wrestler of all-time, or at least the best-known catch wrestler of all-time. He was heavyweight champion of the world from 1908 to 1915. His matches with the great George Hackenschmidt in Chicago are a part of wrestling folklore and legend. His second match in 1911 drew 31,000 people to Comiskey Park."

But Gotch's legacy still lives on a century later.

"Gotch in the state of Iowa is responsible, in my opinion," he said, "for the state's long-lasting love affair with the sport."

While this event is "still in the development stage," we discussed Gotch's importance for wrestling, the basic rules of catch wrestling where you win by pin or submission, the importance of holding this inaugural event in Gotch's hometown, activities planned around this event, information about Humboldt for those planning to travel there, 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: Eddie Goldman, Frank Gotch World Catch Championships, Humboldt, Iowa, Mike Chapman, No Holds Barred, wrestling