Friday, December 23, 2016
No Holds Barred: King Mo on Dec. 29 Rizin Fight with Cro Cop, Bellator Fight with Ishii, and Bernard Hopkins
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Bellator MMA fighter King Mo Lawal.
After winning a unanimous decision on December 16 at Bellator 169 in Dublin, Ireland, against Olympic gold medalist judoka Satoshi Ishii, King Mo will be making a quick return to action, also on the road.
Last year he won the Rizin Heavyweight Grand Prix tournament at Rizin's two-day end of the year show in Japan, and this year he returns in the second round of the Rizin Fighting World Grand Prix 2016 open weight tournament.
His opponent in this round will be MMA veteran Mirko "Cro Cop" Filipovic. This fight will take place Thursday, December 29, at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan. The finals will take place Saturday, December 31.
We spoke with King Mo by phone Thursday.
Despite the quick turnaround for this fight, he is confident that he will defeat Cro Cop and advance in this tournament.
"I'm just going to go out there and handle business," he said. "I got a game plan we're working on right now, implement it, and get that 'W'.
"If I can stop him, I'm going to stop him. If I have to grind him out for a few rounds, I'll grind him out."
As for his fight with Ishii, he said Ishii is basically a martial artist, and, "He's not a fighter. He's an athlete that fights."
We discussed the logistics of how it was decided after the Ishii fight on such short notice that he will be fighting in this Rizin tournament in Japan, how he is prepared to fight three times in two days if he goes to the finals again, what was billed as the final fight for Bernard Hopkins, and much more.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.
No Holds Barred is available at Google Play Music.
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 here.
The PodOmatic Podcast Player app is available for free, both for Android at Google Play, and for iOS 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 sponsored by:
The Boxing Tribune, boxing's independent media. Unlike every other major boxing website, The Boxing Tribune is not funded or owned by promoters, managers, or networks, and is fully independent and free to write the truth. For independent boxing news and views, go to http://boxingtribune-news.com.
The North American Catch Wrestling Association, a grassroots organization designed to help rebuild the sport of catch-as-catch-can-wrestling. For more information, go to their Facebook page at facebook.com/NorthAmericanCatchWrestlingAssociation.
Labels: Bellator, Bernard Hopkins, Cro Cop, Eddie Goldman, Grand Prix, King Mo, MMA, No Holds Barred, Rizin, Satoshi Ishii
Monday, September 10, 2012
No Holds Barred: John Perretti Likes the K-1 U.S. Grand Prix Championship
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again speaks with lifelong martial artist, former UFC and Battlecade Extreme Fighting matchmaker, TV commentator, and our senior correspondent, John Perretti.
On Saturday, September 8, John covered the K-1 U.S. Grand Prix Championship for No Holds Barred. Put on by the revamped K-1 kickboxing organization, this event was held at the Los Angeles Sports Arena in Los Angeles, California.
By virtue of their victories on this September 8 card, four heavyweight fighters - Xavier Vigney, Rick Roufus, Jarrell Miller, and Randy Blake - advanced to the K-1 World Grand Prix Final 16, scheduled for Sunday, October 14, in Tokyo, Japan. The finals of this tournament, the K-1 World Grand Prix Final 8, are scheduled for Wednesday, December 26, at Madison Square Garden in New York.
We spoke with John Perretti by phone Sunday to discuss this show. John was also an international kickboxing champion in the 1970s, so he is uniquely qualified to analyze such an event from any angles.
Saying he "really enjoyed" the live show, he offered a positive evaluation of many aspects of it.
"All in all I want to say that the show was an absolute B-plus," he said in this interview. "Most of the athletes were B-plus to A to A-list athletes. The matches were damn good, on average. The athletics within the context of the individual fights were A, A-list."
We also discussed some problems with the organization of the event such as with the live online streaming, how the culture around kickboxing has changed since the 1970s (and not for the better), and much more.
You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.
No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher.
Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.
The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.
No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
ONE Fighting Championship. ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com.
MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 1 and 2 for the fourth annual MMA World Expo, featuring an amateur MMA tournament, the Renzo Gracie BJJ Open 2012 tournament, the Big Apple No-Gi tournament, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, and much more. The 2012 MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 1, and Sunday, December 2, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.
Beezid.com - Penny Auctions. Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions.
American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.
Labels: Eddie Goldman, Grand Prix, John Perretti, K-1, kickboxing, MMA, No Holds Barred
Thursday, January 20, 2011
No Holds Barred: Donovan Craig on Strikeforce World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with Donovan Craig, the editor-in-chief of Fight! Magazine.
Our main discussion focused upon the upcoming Strikeforce World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament, which begins February 12 at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and will be shown live in the U.S. on Showtime.
We began our discussion by reviewing the previous records of the fighters in this tournament against each other. Seven of the eight have previously faced other fighters in it, with each having already faced more than one of the tournament fighters. Every one of these seven fighters has at least one win and at least one loss against the tournament fighters they have already fought.
Besides discussing the brackets, the historical importance of this tournament, and how we see it going, we delved into numerous other topics. Among those we talked about were the cultural and political reasons why MMA is still not legal in New York, the role of movies and fiction in combat sports, the significance of and lessons from the Ali-Frazier trilogy and rivalry for MMA, the Jacob Volkmann-Obama situation, the omission of MMA by a recent Harris Poll on their survey about favorite sports, the actual position of M-1 Global on drug-testing and this tournament, and much more.
In addition, an online petition has just been started for Strikeforce to get the legendary Lenne Hardt as a ring announcer for this tournament. You can sign it here.
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.
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.
BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.
Our main discussion focused upon the upcoming Strikeforce World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament, which begins February 12 at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and will be shown live in the U.S. on Showtime.
We began our discussion by reviewing the previous records of the fighters in this tournament against each other. Seven of the eight have previously faced other fighters in it, with each having already faced more than one of the tournament fighters. Every one of these seven fighters has at least one win and at least one loss against the tournament fighters they have already fought.
Besides discussing the brackets, the historical importance of this tournament, and how we see it going, we delved into numerous other topics. Among those we talked about were the cultural and political reasons why MMA is still not legal in New York, the role of movies and fiction in combat sports, the significance of and lessons from the Ali-Frazier trilogy and rivalry for MMA, the Jacob Volkmann-Obama situation, the omission of MMA by a recent Harris Poll on their survey about favorite sports, the actual position of M-1 Global on drug-testing and this tournament, and much more.
In addition, an online petition has just been started for Strikeforce to get the legendary Lenne Hardt as a ring announcer for this tournament. You can sign it here.
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.
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.
BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.
Labels: Donovan Craig, Eddie Goldman, Grand Prix, No Holds Barred, Strikeforce
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
No Holds Barred: Josh Barnett
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with mixed martial arts heavyweight fighter Josh Barnett.
He will be competing in the Strikeforce World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament in a quarterfinal fight against Brett Rogers at a date and location to be announced.
Barnett is the most controversial fighter in this tournament, since he currently is not licensed to fight in North America. He tested positive for an anabolic steroid prior to a planned August 2009 fight with Fedor Emelianenko, and was thus denied a license by the California State Athletic Commission. This was his second official positive drug test, plus one test run of drug-testing in 2001. (Barnett denies ever taking steroids.) He next fought in Japan and Australia in 2010, where the requirements and standards for allowing fighters to compete are lower than in North America. But he is still regarded as one of the top heavyweights in the world.
He also has been playing cat-and-mouse with the California commission at several hearings which were supposed to have addressed his status. His case is still unresolved following the failure of both him and his legal representation to show up at these hearings at the same time.
Yet there are indications that other commissions may indeed grant him a license if he tests clean in whatever drug-testing they or Strikeforce may conduct. He would then be legally entitled to fight in those jurisdictions.
While Barnett may be able to take advantage of the weak drug-testing by these athletic commissions and lack of any central authority in the combat sport to conduct such drug-testing, his playing the system once again highlights the need for the adoption of the protocols of the World Anti-Doping Agency in the combat sports and by all these athletic commissions. But it also would be wrong to focus mainly on the shortcomings of this one fighter, since it is the very flawed system which is in place which has allowed this situation to exist.
In light of all this, we spoke with Josh Barnett on January 10 when he was in New York for a Showtime and Strikeforce photo and promo shoot. We did ask him about his license situation, but mainly focused on his upcoming fight and related issues. We discussed the importance of this tournament, his fight with Brett Rogers, the issues of the role of grappling and striking in mixed martial arts, and his coaching of fighter Megumi Fujii and her recent loss to Zoila Frausto. We also focused on the role of catch wrestling, its future as a sport and discipline, why a wrestling base is so important for competing in mixed martial arts, why catch wrestling is so important as well, and more.
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.
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.
BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.
He will be competing in the Strikeforce World Grand Prix Heavyweight Tournament in a quarterfinal fight against Brett Rogers at a date and location to be announced.
Barnett is the most controversial fighter in this tournament, since he currently is not licensed to fight in North America. He tested positive for an anabolic steroid prior to a planned August 2009 fight with Fedor Emelianenko, and was thus denied a license by the California State Athletic Commission. This was his second official positive drug test, plus one test run of drug-testing in 2001. (Barnett denies ever taking steroids.) He next fought in Japan and Australia in 2010, where the requirements and standards for allowing fighters to compete are lower than in North America. But he is still regarded as one of the top heavyweights in the world.
He also has been playing cat-and-mouse with the California commission at several hearings which were supposed to have addressed his status. His case is still unresolved following the failure of both him and his legal representation to show up at these hearings at the same time.
Yet there are indications that other commissions may indeed grant him a license if he tests clean in whatever drug-testing they or Strikeforce may conduct. He would then be legally entitled to fight in those jurisdictions.
While Barnett may be able to take advantage of the weak drug-testing by these athletic commissions and lack of any central authority in the combat sport to conduct such drug-testing, his playing the system once again highlights the need for the adoption of the protocols of the World Anti-Doping Agency in the combat sports and by all these athletic commissions. But it also would be wrong to focus mainly on the shortcomings of this one fighter, since it is the very flawed system which is in place which has allowed this situation to exist.
In light of all this, we spoke with Josh Barnett on January 10 when he was in New York for a Showtime and Strikeforce photo and promo shoot. We did ask him about his license situation, but mainly focused on his upcoming fight and related issues. We discussed the importance of this tournament, his fight with Brett Rogers, the issues of the role of grappling and striking in mixed martial arts, and his coaching of fighter Megumi Fujii and her recent loss to Zoila Frausto. We also focused on the role of catch wrestling, its future as a sport and discipline, why a wrestling base is so important for competing in mixed martial arts, why catch wrestling is so important as well, and more.
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.
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.
BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.
Labels: Eddie Goldman, Grand Prix, Josh Barnett, No Holds Barred, Strikeforce
Tuesday, October 30, 2007
NO HOLDS BARRED: Jay Larkin on Calzaghe-Kessler, IFL Grand Prix, and Changes in IFL Team Concept
On this special edition of NO HOLDS BARRED, host Eddie Goldman speaks with Jay Larkin, the new president and COO of the International Fight League.
Jay Larkin headed the acclaimed boxing telecasts on Showtime for two decades. He still is involved in boxing and will oversee HBO’s broadcast of the super middleweight title unification fight between Joe Calzaghe and Mikkel Kessler in Cardiff, Wales, this Saturday, November 3. While in Wales, he also will be on the phone to run the first-ever live MMA event on primetime network TV, when the IFL holds its World Grand Prix broadcast live on MyNetworkTV from the Sears Centre near Chicago. Both events will air live at 9 PM ET/8 PM CT.
We spoke with him Monday at his IFL office in New York as he was preparing for both events. We discussed the latest news on the Calzaghe-Kessler fight; the IFL Grand Prix; the major changes that are in store for the IFL's team concept; and much more.
To listen to NO HOLDS BARRED, click here or here and just press the play button on the player.
You can also listen to it through this blog and my MySpace page, also by pressing the play button on the player.
Also, NO HOLDS BARRED is available through iTunes.
The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.
If you want to leave a comment on the show, you can do so on this blog.
The NO HOLDS BARRED theme song is called "The Heist", by musician Ian Carpenter.
NO HOLDS BARRED is free to listen to and is sponsored by:
Art of War, the undisputed arena fighting championship, promoted by SUN Sports and Entertainment, producing world class mixed martial arts events. For more information, check out their web site, ArtOfWarLive.com.
IFL, the International Fight League, the world's first professional mixed martial arts league. Make sure to check out their regular TV shows on FSN (Fox Sports Net) in the U.S. and to check your local listings for dates and times. You can also catch IFL Battleground on MyNetworkTV. Check out the IFL web site, ifl.tv, for a listing of IFL live events and their TV schedule.
Gladiator Challenge, shaking up the mixed martial arts world since 1999, and now with 30 shows per year. For more news and info, check out their web site, GladiatorChallenge.com.
BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.
Gladiator Magazine, for in-depth coverage of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, submission grappling, and MMA, as well as lifestyle articles on surfing, cars, movies, and more. Gladiator Magazine is available at any major bookstore and online at BJJMart.com or Jiu Jitsu Pro Gear.
FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.
Labels: boxing, combat sports, Eddie Goldman, Grand Prix, IFL, International Fight League, Jay Larkin, Joe Calzaghe, Mikkel Kessler, mixed martial arts, MMA, No Holds Barred, UFC, ultimate fighting
