Sunday, July 29, 2012
No Holds Barred: Victor Cui Previews ONE FC: Pride of a Nation
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman previews the ONE FC: Pride of a Nation mixed martial arts card with Victor Cui, the CEO of ONE FC.
ONE FC: Pride of a Nation will be held Friday, August 31, at the historic Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, the Philippines, the site of the 1975 "Thrilla in Manila" between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.
Among the many fights on this card, which is still being finalized, will be a showdown between Gustavo Falciroli, who holds the CFC (Cage Fighting Championship) bantamweight title, and the internationally-ranked Bibiano Fernandes, who holds the Dream bantamweight title.
"When you go to the Philippines and when you hear the level of excitement that people have for ONE FC coming to town and how fast our ticket sales are moving and how knowledgeable people are of MMA and what we're doing there, it's really, really exciting," Victor Cui said in this interview, which was recorded by Skype Friday (Thursday New York time).
"Our press conference there was supposed to be a half hour press conference, and they ended up doing interviews and talking for almost four hours," he added. "When we sell out Smart Araneta Coliseum, 16,000 people, it's going to be insane in there."
We discussed what fights are confirmed for this card, including the historic participation of three members of the Gracie family: Rolles, Igor, and Gregor Gracie. We discussed the many fighters from the Philippines who will also be featured, including Eric Kelly, Eduard Folayang, and others, and who is confirmed, likely (including Shinya Aoki), and not appearing on this card. We also discussed how ONE FC works with URCC, the major MMA company in the Philippines, as well as the plans for a live webcast of this event, and much more.
In addition, Eddie offers a commentary on the opening ceremony for the 2012 London Olympics, the important role played in it by athletes from the combat sports, and the true spirit of Olympism.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.
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", by Ian Carpenter.
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/.
ONE FC: Pride of a Nation will be held Friday, August 31, at the historic Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City, the Philippines, the site of the 1975 "Thrilla in Manila" between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier.
Among the many fights on this card, which is still being finalized, will be a showdown between Gustavo Falciroli, who holds the CFC (Cage Fighting Championship) bantamweight title, and the internationally-ranked Bibiano Fernandes, who holds the Dream bantamweight title.
"When you go to the Philippines and when you hear the level of excitement that people have for ONE FC coming to town and how fast our ticket sales are moving and how knowledgeable people are of MMA and what we're doing there, it's really, really exciting," Victor Cui said in this interview, which was recorded by Skype Friday (Thursday New York time).
"Our press conference there was supposed to be a half hour press conference, and they ended up doing interviews and talking for almost four hours," he added. "When we sell out Smart Araneta Coliseum, 16,000 people, it's going to be insane in there."
We discussed what fights are confirmed for this card, including the historic participation of three members of the Gracie family: Rolles, Igor, and Gregor Gracie. We discussed the many fighters from the Philippines who will also be featured, including Eric Kelly, Eduard Folayang, and others, and who is confirmed, likely (including Shinya Aoki), and not appearing on this card. We also discussed how ONE FC works with URCC, the major MMA company in the Philippines, as well as the plans for a live webcast of this event, and much more.
In addition, Eddie offers a commentary on the opening ceremony for the 2012 London Olympics, the important role played in it by athletes from the combat sports, and the true spirit of Olympism.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.
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", by Ian Carpenter.
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: Aoki, Bibiano Fernandes, Eddie Goldman, Gracie, Gregor, Gustavo Falciroli, Igor, London Olympics, MMA, No Holds Barred, One FC, Philippines, Rolles, Victor Cui
Sunday, January 01, 2012
No Holds Barred: Lessons from New Year's Weekend Fights, 2011 No Holds Barred Awards
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman reviews the fights and some of the issues arising from the New Year's weekend cards, and presents the 2011 No Holds Barred Awards.
The boxing card on Showtime Friday night, December 30, only re-raised questions about the neurological health of returning fighters Jermain Taylor and Andre Dirrell. The UFC card, also on Friday night, again exposed Brock Lesnar, who was blown out by Alistair Overeem in the first round and subsequently announced his retirement from MMA, as the worst UFC heavyweight titleholder in history.
But the spiraling contractual and legal issues facing Overeem, which led to him being sued by his former management and his purse being held up for this victory, also highlighted the need for MMA fighters to have their own association like athletes in other sports do, and to get the same protections as boxers do under the Muhammad Ali Act in the U.S.
Also addressed is the decline of submissions and of grappling in MMA, particularly in the U.S., and what this says about the relative safety and level of technique of MMA compared to boxing and other combat sports.
Dream held its annual New Year's Eve card at the Saitama Super Arena in Japan, featuring a mix of MMA and kickboxing fights with several fake pro "wrestling" acts. This says a lot about the weakness of the governance of this event. On the other hand, the real matches on the Dream card, held in a ring, featured numerous fights displaying a wide variety of grappling and striking techniques. The main event saw a first-round knockout by Fedor Emelianenko over Satoshi Ishii. The co-feature saw a great fight loaded with superior grappling where Shinya Aoki won a unanimous decision over Satoru Kitaoka to win the Dream featherweight title.
Next is the announcement of the very selective and purposely non-comprehensive 2011 No Holds Barred Awards, to highlight some of the good and the bad in the combat sports in 2011. Among the awards are the combat sports athlete of the year, combat sport of the year, boxer of the year, grappler of the year, sports organization of the year, comeback sport of the year, worst state regulation of combat sports in the U.S., best combat sports vlog, best wrestler and boxer in MMA, best MMA ring announcer, best MMA TV announcer, best new MMA journalist, MMA journalist of the year, and a few more awards of varying degrees of historical importance.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here. You can also download No Holds Barred here. If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.
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", by Ian Carpenter.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
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/.
The American Sambo Association, which is committed to becoming the premier association in the U.S. dedicated to the advancement of Sambo. Sambo is a form of sport, self-defense, and combat established in the former Soviet Union during the early twentieth century. For more information, go to ussambo.com.
Labels: Andre Ward, Aoki, boxing, Eddie Goldman, Fedor, grappling, Ishii, Lesnar, MMA, No Holds Barred, Overeem, wrestling
