NO HOLDS BARRED

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with lifelong martial artist, former UFC and Battlecade Extreme Fighting matchmaker, TV commentator, and our senior correspondent, John Perretti.

Our main subject was a sad one, the passing of one of the true pioneers in the sport once known as no-holds-barred fighting (NHB) and now known as mixed martial arts, Phyllis Lee. But we also used this occasion to celebrate her remarkable life.

Coming from a background as a pro wrestler, Phyllis Lee was one of the first fight managers in the earliest days of MMA. All over the world, she was known as the First Lady of NHB. Besides getting fighters in North American organizations such as UFC and Battlecade Extreme Fighting, she had a particularly close relationship for many years with the Pancrase organization of Japan.

After a bout with pneumonia, Phyllis Lee passed away January 18, 2015, at age 76, while in her sleep and hospitalized. A memorial service was held January 31, at her church in West Unity, Ohio.

We spoke with John Perretti, who is now in Japan, by phone Monday (Sunday New York time).

He decried what he called attempts for the history of MMA to be "backfilled" by people who were "not there" in the 1990s and early 2000s when Phyllis Lee was particularly prominent in the sport. Calling Phyllis Lee "a great human being", he said she "has to be remembered for her devotion to, whatever, one almost-sport and two, three real sports. She did incredible things as a woman, and she did incredible things as an individual, and she was usually a joy to be with. And I'll miss her tremendously."

We discussed some of the highlights of her life, but also how some fighters whom she represented were accused of breaking their contracts with her. He said, "I don't understand why people did what they did to her."

We also discussed what he called a "unique time" in the formative days of modern MMA, why "the time was about camaraderie", some of our experiences involving the April 1996 arrests of eight participants at Battlecade Extreme Fighting 2 (including John Perretti) in Montreal, 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:

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.

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Takedown Wrestling Media, America's wrestling TV and radio shows, which are hosted by founder Scott Casber, and have been airing on radio and Internet for over 17 years. Takedown Media produces a weekly TV program seen in 54 million homes in the U.S. on DirecTV, Dish Network, and cable affiliates around the country, called Takedown TV. Takedown Media also produces the weekly USA Wrestling TV show for the governing body of the sport, USA Wrestling. For more information, go to TakedownRadio.com.

Labels: Battlecade Extreme Fighting, Eddie Goldman, First Lady of NHB, John Perretti, MMA, No Holds Barred, Pancrase, Phyllis Lee, UFC, wrestling

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with the ex-pugilist, lifelong martial artist, former UFC and Battlecade Extreme Fighting matchmaker, TV commentator, and our senior correspondent, John Perretti.

We spoke with him by phone Monday.

With the growing awareness of the health and safety dangers in MMA, a sport in which he played a key role in establishing, he has now revised his original view that MMA is safer than boxing.

"Quite frankly, we were wrong," he said. "I sense that the tide is turning." With more and more MMA fights, he argued that there is now more of a basis for making a judgment on this issue.

"If we really start looking at it outside of the mixed martial arts media universe, and we start to have autopsies, we're going to find out some really nasty things about repetitive trauma and vertebral concussion and compression and how that affects someone in later stages of life," he said.

As for what can be changed in MMA to make it safer and more acceptable, he spoke of eliminating what he calls "the anvil effect," where fighters get struck in the head while on the ground.

"For MMA, I think one of the greatest catalysts for improving the health and welfare of the animal involved is to not allow any blows of any kind to the head on the ground."

We discussed these issues in depth, as well as the lawsuit by over 4,500 players against the National Football League over covering up the real health dangers of playing American football, how the health of some aging former MMA fighters is deteriorating, what the future might hold for sports with repetitive head trauma, why he is happy that his sons are not involved with any martial arts but are competing in weightlifting, injuries and bad training techniques in sports like grappling and wrestling, 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.

GrappleGnostic, sponsored by Defense Soap. Where the will to win meets the power of knowledge. Features, interviews, analysis, health tips, and information on wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and all the grappling arts, written by some of the best writers and experts in the world. Check out their web site, a http://defensesoap.com/grapplegnostic.

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 http://defensesoap.com.

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: anvil effect, ban head blows, Battlecade Extreme Fighting, concussions, CTE, Eddie Goldman, football, grappling, John Perretti, mixed martial arts, MMA, NFL, No Holds Barred, UFC, wrestling

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with the ex-pugilist, lifelong martial artist, former UFC and Battlecade Extreme Fighting matchmaker, TV commentator, and our senior correspondent, John Perretti.

With the 20th anniversary of the formation of the UFC, a lot of rubbish is being put out. We spoke with John Perretti by phone Tuesday to counter that.

"20 years ago something occurred," he said. "A little kid in his pajamas got to wrestle a bunch of boneheads and beat them and create a sport. At the same time, Extreme Fighting was creating a different kind of sport. And then the metamorphosis of Extreme Fighting and the UFC occurred. How that happened, I guess, I was there. I remember what happened. Others do not."

He continued, "I really don't have anything to celebrate about what has occurred after my departure - my intentional departure, let me state, again, for the record."

We discussed how most of the people writing about and commenting on MMA history "have no credibility," how many of them are promoting "Hitlerian deceit," why Senator John McCain is a "hypocrite," the mistakes which were made in the early days of UFC and Extreme Fighting, the growing problems of concussions and head injuries in MMA, the many problems facing those who are trying to create real professional grappling and wrestling organizations, and much, 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:

LenneHardt.com, the web site of the world's greatest ring announcer, Lenne Hardt. Need a unique and cool combat sports-related gift? At LenneHardt.com, you can order personalized messages, wedding calls, ringtones, phone answering messages, and more, all recorded by Lenne herself, in the style of your choice. For more information, go to LenneHardt.com.

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.

GrappleGnostic, sponsored by Defense Soap. Where the will to win meets the power of knowledge. Features, interviews, analysis, health tips, and information on wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and all the grappling arts, written by some of the best writers and experts in the world. Check out their web site, a http://defensesoap.com/grapplegnostic.

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 http://defensesoap.com.

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: Battlecade Extreme Fighting, concussions, Contenders, CTE, Eddie Goldman, grappling, history, John Perretti, mixed martial arts, MMA, No Holds Barred, UFC, wrestling

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with the ex-pugilist, lifelong martial artist, former UFC and Battlecade Extreme Fighting matchmaker, TV commentator, and our senior correspondent, John Perretti.

Following up on our previous episode of No Holds Barred with Stephan Kesting of Grapplearts, on MMA, brain damage, concussions, and CTE, we continued to explore these issues. We began with the ethical considerations about participating in and supporting combat sports with striking, where head injuries and brain trauma are necessary results of way those sports are conducted.

We spoke with John Perretti by phone Monday.

"I can keep it short and simple: If you get hit, you get hurt," he said. "And that's not a belief. That's not something that is just beloved of me. That's a fact."

He stated, as he has said before, that he is no longer interested in watching fighters "getting battered," even though he was one of the founders of modern MMA, came up with the basic framework of rounds, gloves, and weight classes used today, and even was using the term "mixed martial arts" as far back as the 1970s.

While he does watch some boxing and other dangerous sports like American football at times, he has lost interest in MMA.

"I just do not care to watch that anymore," he said. MMA, he added, with the growing emphasis on striking both standing and on the ground, has become "a lot more dangerous than it was" when many of us had argued that MMA was safer than boxing. And the main appeal of MMA these days, especially in the U.S., he said, is to those who are "attracted to the violence." It is turning more into a cult or even a "religion," he added.

In fact, partially due to his influence, his two teenage sons, Lucca and Enzo Perretti, no longer train in martial arts or play football, but instead focus on Olympic weightlifting. Both are among the top-ranked weightlifters in the U.S. in their age groups and weight classes.

Although weightlifting is widely practiced and respected, the Olympic weightlifting program is far from reaching its potential as a popular sport.

"Olympic weightlifting is really something that has been neglected," he said. While other sports are plagued with injuries about which we are understanding more and more each day, he said that according to medical studies, Olympic weightlifting has "the lowest injury rate of any sport in the United States of America."

Besides discussing the future of Olympic weightlifting in the U.S. and what it needs to do to popularize itself (hint: look at wrestling's continued failures), we discussed the potential for various styles of grappling and wrestling to grow, what the future holds for combat sports where there is head trauma, why he does not like to watch martial arts films, the great dangers to kids training in MMA, and much, 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.

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: Battlecade Extreme Fighting, boxing, concussions, CTE, Eddie Goldman, ethics, grappling, injuries, John Perretti, kickboxing, MMA, No Holds Barred, UFC, weightlifting, wrestling

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with the ex-pugilist, lifelong martial artist, former UFC and Battlecade Extreme Fighting matchmaker, TV commentator, and our senior correspondent, John Perretti.

Despite having come up with the term "mixed martial arts" and being a pioneer and one of the founders of modern MMA, John Perretti is no longer involved in the sport. Nor does he even watch it, either on TV or live, although he does sometimes keep up with other combat sports like boxing, kickboxing, sumo, and wrestling.

"It just didn't interest me," he said in our interview, recorded by Skype this past week on Tuesday. "The whole thing just had devolved into something I had no interest in."

We discussed his disillusionment with a sport in which he had such a key role in creating. He explained how he finds most MMA in the USA "abysmal" and "unwatchable"; how his relationship with the sport has ended similarly to how personal or romantic relationships end; how he "quit" and was never fired from his position as UFC matchmaker; why he considers MMA "not creative anymore"; and the dangers of head trauma and CTE (chronic traumatic encephalopathy) in MMA and other sports.

When we discussed grappling, he said he wished he had started his groundbreaking professional grappling show, The Contenders, before he had started Extreme Fighting. The Contenders had just one event, in October 1997, after Extreme Fighting, which ran from 1995 to 1997, had gone out of business. What would combat sports history have been like if he had done that?

Besides training his sons in weightlifting - they are both at the top of their weight classes in their age groups in the USA - he plans to open a gym next year in Japan when he relocates there full-time.

And we also asked a broader question from all this: If MMA founders like John, Rorion Gracie, Bob Meyrowitz, Donald Zuckerman, and others are all no longer involved in the sport and have moved on, what does this say about the long-term viability of MMA?

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/.

The First Annual Liberty Bell Classic East Coast King of Catch Tournament, organized by the North American Catch Wrestling Association in conjunction with Scientific Wrestling. This catch wrestling tournament will take place Saturday, August 31, 2013, at the Klein JCC, 10100 Jamison Ave., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19116. No points! No politics! Only submissions and pins win! For more information, go to http://nacwa.weebly.com.

Labels: Battlecade Extreme Fighting, boxing, concussions, Contenders, CTE, Eddie Goldman, grappling, history, John Perretti, kickboxing, mixed martial arts, MMA, No Holds Barred, sumo, UFC, wrestling

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with MMA pioneer and fighter Carlos Newton.

The first Canadian to hold a UFC title, he has fought all around the world and in most major promotions, starting at age 19 in Battlecade Extreme Fighting and going to UFC, Pride, Shooto, Heros, IFL, and others. He also is known as one of the most skilled grapplers ever to have competed in MMA.

Based in the Toronto, Ontario, Canada, area, he currently is an instructor at Revolution Mixed Martial Arts and Fitness and at Warrior Mixed Martial Arts in Newmarket. Although he has not fought in MMA for several years, he now hopes to return to action.

We spoke with Carlos Newton by phone Tuesday.

Asked where he might make his return fight, he minced no words.

"Oh, where I might fight for me is not a question," he said.

"My next fight will be for myself. I will be my own promoter. That's just the way it's going to be."

Although there is no imminent date set for this venture, his plan is to start by running a small show, in a hall with 500 seats. "You don't need a promoter to do that."

This was in line with a major theme of our discussion, that anti-competitive practices in MMA are stifling the marketplace and hurting the interests and livelihoods of most MMA fighters.

We thus compared the structure of boxing to that in MMA. Even with all the well-documented flaws and problems in the sport and business of boxing, boxers overall do better financially than MMA fighters, and also have more rights.

While boxers "have caviar," he said, "we're going to McDonald's."

Some prominent boxers like Floyd Mayweather and the now-retired Oscar De La Hoya have formed their own promotional companies. You generally do not see that in MMA, which is one of the many reasons Carlos prefers the structure in boxing to that in MMA.

We also discussed why he wants to return to fighting, some possible solutions to the problems facing MMA fighters, how the de-emphasis on grappling in MMA has been detrimental to it, 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.

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 First Annual Liberty Bell Classic East Coast King of Catch Tournament, organized by the North American Catch Wrestling Association in conjunction with Scientific Wrestling. This catch wrestling tournament will take place Saturday, August 31, 2013, at the Klein JCC, 10100 Jamison Ave., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19116. No points! No politics! Only submissions and pins win! For more information, go to http://nacwa.weebly.com.

Labels: anti-competitive practices, Battlecade Extreme Fighting, boxing, Carlos Newton, Eddie Goldman, grappling, MMA, No Holds Barred, UFC

Labels: Battlecade Extreme Fighting, concussions, Contenders, CTE, Eddie Goldman, grappling, John Perretti, Martist, MMA, NFL, No Holds Barred, UFC

Labels: Battlecade Extreme Fighting, Eddie Goldman, John Perretti, mixed martial arts, MMA, No Holds Barred, spectacle, sport, UFC

Labels: Battlecade Extreme Fighting, Eddie Goldman, John Perretti, mixed martial arts, MMA, No Holds Barred, spectacle, sport, UFC

Labels: Battlecade Extreme Fighting, Contenders, Eddie Goldman, grappling, John Perretti, MMA, No Holds Barred, Olympics, UFC, wrestling