NO HOLDS BARRED

My latest piece, "2026 NCAA Division I Men's Wrestling Championships Schedule on ESPN", is up on the No Holds Barred Patreon page.

Labels: college wrestling, Eddie Goldman, ESPN, NCAA wrestling, No Holds Barred

My latest piece, "Something Big Is Happening In Wrestling", is up on the No Holds Barred Patreon page.

Labels: college wrestling, Eddie Goldman, National Duals Invitational, NCAA wrestling, No Holds Barred, wrestling

NO HOLDS BARRED on PodOmatic

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with one of the hottest rising stars in mixed martial arts, King Mo Lawal. Mo just upped his pro record to 4-0 by taking a lopsided unanimous decision over Ryo Kawamura, who is also the light heavyweight King of Pancrase, at the Sengoku card, held March 20 in Tokyo.

In a lengthy interview, we discuss the injuries to Mo's knee and hand which necessitated a change of strategy in his latest fight, how he will likely undergo surgery to repair his knee, how long he will probably be unable to fight because of this surgery, his plans to incorporate submissions into his repertoire, his training in boxing and kickboxing, why he has adopted this entertaining King Mo persona, how he feels about sportsmanship in mixed martial arts, his plans for an eventual return to wrestling where he was a three-time U.S. national freestyle champion, his views on college wrestling compared to the international styles of wrestling, how he likes fighting in Japan and for the Sengoku organization, whether he would consider fighting in the U.S., his relations with the fans in Japan, his Queens who accompany him in Japan, 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.

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:

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.

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

Wrestling 411, providing coverage of the sport of wrestling on TV, the Internet, and radio. Wrestling 411 is produced by Media Sports Productions, whose sole mission is the marketing and promotion of the sport of wrestling.

Fair Deal for Atlantic City Dealers, a campaign organized by an alliance of casino workers and unions in Atlantic City, New Jersey, to fight for justice in the gaming industry and achieve a fair deal for all casino workers.

Labels: college wrestling, Eddie Goldman, King Mo Lawal, mixed martial arts, MMA, Muhammed Lawal, NCAA wrestling, No Holds Barred, Sengoku, UFC, World Victory Road, wrestling

NO HOLDS BARRED on PodOmatic

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses two events which were held this past weekend which showcased some of the best aspects of the combat sports.

We begin by discussing the Sengoku 7 mixed martial arts card, which was held in Tokyo, Japan, Friday, March 20. Among the featured fights was the fourth straight win in the young professional career of three-time U.S. national freestyle wrestling champion King Mo Lawal. Despite several injuries, he dominated his fight and won a three-round unanimous decision over Ryo Kawamura, who is also the light heavyweight King of Pancrase. The first round of the Sengoku featherweight tournament was highlighted by the submission clinic put on another rising star, Hatsu Hioki, who defeated Chris Manuel by an arm bar submission in the first round of their fight. There were several other good fights on this card as well, which overall displayed a very high level of technique for mixed martial arts.

The 2009 NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships are now in the books, and this event, held March 19-21 in St. Louis, proved to be one of the most exciting, evenly-matched, and important of its kind. While Iowa won their second straight national team title, they had no individual champions. Instead, wrestlers from ten different schools won these honors in the ten weight classes contested in college wrestling. One of the most historic upsets took place in 149-pound finals, as Darrion Caldwell of North Carolina State dominated the top-seeded and unbeaten Brent Metcalf of Iowa, 11-6. We also discuss the incredible story of Anthony Robles, the Arizona State wrestler who was born with only one leg, and placed fourth in the nation at 125 pounds in this tournament to win All-American status.

We discuss this amazing tournament, and what it all means for wrestling, with our correspondent Bob Mayeri, who was matside in St. Louis for this event.

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.

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:

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.

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

Wrestling 411, providing coverage of the sport of wrestling on TV, the Internet, and radio. Wrestling 411 is produced by Media Sports Productions, whose sole mission is the marketing and promotion of the sport of wrestling.

Labels: Anthony Robles, Bob Mayeri, Brent Metcalf, college wrestling, Darrion Caldwell, Eddie Goldman, ESPN, King Mo Lawal, mixed martial arts, MMA, NCAA wrestling, No Holds Barred, Sengoku, UFC, wrestling

NO HOLDS BARRED on PodOmatic

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman begins by explaining why no tears should be shed for the decline of the mainstream media, and in particular the newspapers, largely due to new technology making their business models obsolete. We also discuss the mainstream media, especially in America, their abject failure in covering the combat sports, and the need to support independent media.

We next focus on the rarity coming up this weekend, when boxing and wrestling will be featured back-to-back on both Friday and Saturday nights on the ESPN networks in the U.S.

The always-exciting semifinals of the 2009 NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships will be shown on ESPN2 Friday night, March 20, beginning at 7 PM EDT, followed by Friday Night Fights.

On Saturday, March 21, the WBC heavyweight title fight between champion Vitali Klitschko and challenger Juan Carlos Gomez will be shown live from Germany on ESPN beginning at 5 PM EDT. At 6:30 PM EDT, the finals of 2009 NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships will be shown live on ESPN. There is also an assortment of other telecasts and webcasts this weekend in the combat sports, some more worthy than others.

We discuss these telecasts and webcasts, analyze the Klitschko-Gomez fight, and make some recommendations about how to allocate your viewing time this busy weekend.

Also, we discuss the rapid growth of social media, including Twitter, where somehow one ranking service almost inexplicably stated, "Eddie Goldman is ranked 1st in their location on twitterholic! (by followers in 'New York NY USA')" Maybe, maybe not, but you can join the party at http://twitter.com/nhbnews.

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.

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:

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.

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

Wrestling 411, providing coverage of the sport of wrestling on TV, the Internet, and radio. Wrestling 411 is produced by Media Sports Productions, whose sole mission is the marketing and promotion of the sport of wrestling.

Labels: boxing, college wrestling, Eddie Goldman, ESPN, Internet, Juan Carlos Gomez, media, mixed martial arts, MMA, NCAA wrestling, newspapers, No Holds Barred, Twitter, UFC, Vitali Klitschko, wrestling

NO HOLDS BARRED on PodOmatic

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with our correspondent, veteran wrestling journalist and photographer Bob Mayeri, with our annual preview of the NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships. This event takes place from Thursday, March 19, to Saturday, March 21, at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

We discuss the clear favorite to capture yet another national championship, the unbeaten Iowa Hawkeyes. We preview the title race both for the teams and for the ten weight classes, listing who the favorites seem to be. And we discuss the new qualifying system put in place this year by the NCAA to avoid some of the inequities of past years.

There will be extensive live television and online video coverage in the U.S. of the 2009 NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championships.

The finals start Saturday, March 21, at 6:30 PM EDT, and will be shown live both on TV on ESPN and online at ESPN360.com. Here is the entire schedule, with all times EDT:

Fri., Mar 20
11 a.m. - Quarterfinals – Live on ESPNU HD / ESPN360.com
7 p.m. - Semifinals – Live on ESPNU HD / ESPN2 HD / ESPN360.com

Sat., Mar 21
10:30 a.m. - Championship Medal Round - Live ESPNU HD / ESPN360.com
6:30 p.m. - Finals – Live ESPN HD / ESPN360.com

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.

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:

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.

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

Wrestling 411, providing coverage of the sport of wrestling on TV, the Internet, and radio. Wrestling 411 is produced by Media Sports Productions, whose sole mission is the marketing and promotion of the sport of wrestling.

Labels: Bob Mayeri, college wrestling, Eddie Goldman, FILA, freestyle wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling, NCAA, NCAA wrestling, No Holds Barred, St. Louis, USA Wrestling, women's wrestling, wrestling

NO HOLDS BARRED on PodOmatic

On this edition of NO HOLDS BARRED, host Eddie Goldman continues playing interviews recorded at the 2008 NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championship, which were held March 20-22 in St. Louis, Missouri.

The National Wrestling Hall of Fame, located in Stillwater, Oklahoma, organized an exhibit and held a tribute program March 20 at the NCAA wrestling tournament honoring many of the key men who are historical figures in the African-American wrestling experience. Right after this event, we spoke with some of them.

We spoke with Simon Roberts, who, in 1957, wrestling at 147 pounds for the University of Iowa, became the first African-American wrestler to win an NCAA wrestling championship.

We spoke with Kenny Monday, who won an Olympic gold medal in 1988 and a silver medal in 1992 in freestyle wrestling, won a world championship in freestyle wrestling in 1983, won an NCAA title in 1984 wrestling for Oklahoma State at 150 pounds, and won the Extreme Fighting welterweight championship in 1997.

We spoke with Carl Adams, the longtime head wrestling coach at Boston University, who as a wrestler was a four-time national champion, winning two NCAA titles at Iowa State and two national freestyle titles.

In addition, the National Wrestling Media Association (NWMA), the national professional organization for journalists who cover the sport of amateur wrestling, held its annual meeting March 22 between the morning and evening sessions of the NCAA wrestling tournament. We spoke with Jason Bryant, vice president of the NWMA, and webmaster and lead writer of the noted wrestling web site InterMat, about the wrestling media and its tasks. This discussion will be of particular interest not only to those who follow wrestling, but also those interested in understanding media and journalism.

To listen to NO HOLDS BARRED, click here and just press the play button on the player.

You can also download it by scrolling down that page and clicking on the download link (right-click to save it).

You can also listen to it through the player on this blog and the NO HOLDS BARRED 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.

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:

YAMMA Pit Fighting. The producers of the original UFC and Live Nation, worldwide leaders in live entertainment, present YAMMA Pit Fighting mixed martial arts. On the streets, it's against the law. In the pit, it IS the law.

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. 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: African-American wrestlers, Carl Adams, college wrestling, Eddie Goldman, Jason Bryant, Kenny Monday, National Wrestling Hall of Fame, NCAA wrestling, No Holds Barred, Simon Roberts, wrestling

NO HOLDS BARRED on PodOmatic

On this edition of NO HOLDS BARRED, host Eddie Goldman speaks with our correspondent, veteran wrestling journalist and photographer Bob Mayeri, about the 2008 NCAA Div. I Wrestling Championship. This event takes place from Thursday, March 20, to Saturday, March 22, at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

We discuss the relative parity which has emerged this season in college wrestling, and both preview the team race and list the favorites in each of the ten weight classes. We also discuss some of the important wrestling-related activities which will be going on between sessions of this tournament.

The finals will be shown live on ESPN and ESPN360.com starting at 8:30 PM EDT/7:30 PM CDT Saturday night, March 22. The quarterfinals will air on ESPNU and ESPN360.com Friday, March 21, starting at 11 AM EDT/10 AM CDT. The semifinals will be syndicated by ESPNU Friday evening starting at 7 PM EDT/6 PM CDT, so check your local listings. ESPNU will also carry the medal rounds live Saturday morning, March 22, starting at 11 AM EDT/10 AM CDT.

To listen to NO HOLDS BARRED, click here and just press the play button on the player.

You can also download it by scrolling down that page and clicking on the download link (right-click to save it).

You can also listen to it through the player on this blog and the NO HOLDS BARRED 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.

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:

YAMMA Pit Fighting. The producers of the original UFC and Live Nation, worldwide leaders in live entertainment, present YAMMA Pit Fighting mixed martial arts. On the streets, it's against the law. In the pit, it IS the law.

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. 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: Bob Mayeri, college wrestling, Eddie Goldman, FILA, freestyle wrestling, Greco-Roman wrestling, NCAA, NCAA wrestling, No Holds Barred, St. Louis, USA Wrestling, women's wrestling, wrestling