Monday, December 20, 2010
No Holds Barred: Mike Thomas, Mixed Martial Arts Pioneer
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with Mike Thomas, the founder of First Nations Tae Kwon Do Mixed Martial Arts in the Mohawk Territory of Kahnawake, Quebec, Canada, and the former president of the International Fighting Championships (IFC).
Mike Thomas is a pioneer in mixed martial arts. He played the lead role in getting the province of Quebec to sanction the sport and adopt a set of rules to govern it in 1998. The Quebec rules were later basically adopted by California and New Jersey in 2000, which opened the door for the adoption of the unified rules of mixed martial arts in 2001, which were also based on all those rules.
Mike Thomas was also the on-site promoter for Battlecade Extreme Fighting 2, held April 26, 1996, in Kahnawake. The day after that event, eight participants were arrested in Montreal for supposedly participating in an "illegal prizefight," charges which were later thrown out.
It was our privilege and pleasure to speak by phone with Mike Thomas on Monday afternoon. We reviewed his own path which led him to the world of martial arts, which included some detours, and how martial arts allowed him to overcome many problems in life. We discussed at length the events leading up to the Battlecade Extreme Fighting 2 event, the relations between the Mohawk community and the governments of Quebec and Canada, the arrests after Battlecade Extreme Fighting 2, the vindication of those charged, and the eventual agreements which led to the adoption of the Quebec rules and the legalization and sanctioning of the sport in Quebec.
We discussed the importance of the combat sports to the culture and spirit of the people in Kahnawake, and why these sports remain so important today. We explained the pioneering role in mixed martial arts played by organizations including IFC and Extreme Fighting, and key individuals including John Perretti, Larry Hazzard, Paul Smith, and others. We thus clarified much of the early history and nature of mixed martial arts, about which so much misinformation and confusion has been spread.
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 Ian Carpenter.
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 http://americantopteam.com/.
BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.
FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.
Mike Thomas is a pioneer in mixed martial arts. He played the lead role in getting the province of Quebec to sanction the sport and adopt a set of rules to govern it in 1998. The Quebec rules were later basically adopted by California and New Jersey in 2000, which opened the door for the adoption of the unified rules of mixed martial arts in 2001, which were also based on all those rules.
Mike Thomas was also the on-site promoter for Battlecade Extreme Fighting 2, held April 26, 1996, in Kahnawake. The day after that event, eight participants were arrested in Montreal for supposedly participating in an "illegal prizefight," charges which were later thrown out.
It was our privilege and pleasure to speak by phone with Mike Thomas on Monday afternoon. We reviewed his own path which led him to the world of martial arts, which included some detours, and how martial arts allowed him to overcome many problems in life. We discussed at length the events leading up to the Battlecade Extreme Fighting 2 event, the relations between the Mohawk community and the governments of Quebec and Canada, the arrests after Battlecade Extreme Fighting 2, the vindication of those charged, and the eventual agreements which led to the adoption of the Quebec rules and the legalization and sanctioning of the sport in Quebec.
We discussed the importance of the combat sports to the culture and spirit of the people in Kahnawake, and why these sports remain so important today. We explained the pioneering role in mixed martial arts played by organizations including IFC and Extreme Fighting, and key individuals including John Perretti, Larry Hazzard, Paul Smith, and others. We thus clarified much of the early history and nature of mixed martial arts, about which so much misinformation and confusion has been spread.
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 Ian Carpenter.
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 http://americantopteam.com/.
BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.
FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.
Labels: Eddie Goldman, Kahnawake, Mike Thomas, MMA, No Holds Barred, Quebec
Monday, January 07, 2008
SecondsOut Radio: Paulie Malignaggi, Herman Ngoudjo, Glen Johnson, Lou DiBella, Yvon Michel
On this week's edition of SecondsOut Radio, host Eddie Goldman reviews the IBF junior welterweight title fight between champion Paulie Malignaggi (24-1, 5 KOs) and challenger Herman Ngoudjo (16-2, 9 KOs), which was held Saturday, January 5, 2008, at Bally's Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City. In this fight, Malignaggi retained his title with a 12-round unanimous decision.
We spoke with both Paulie Malignaggi and Herman Ngoudjo, as well as Malignaggi's promoter, Lou DiBella of DiBella Entertainment, and Ngoudjo's promoter, Yvon Michel of GYM (Groupe Yvon Michel), shortly after this fight Saturday night. We discussed their divergent views on the judges' scoring and the fight itself.
We also spoke with former light heavyweight world champion Glen Johnson, who scored an eighth-round TKO over Hugo Pineda on the undercard, about his fight and his plans to face WBC champion Chad Dawson April 12.
It is free to listen to SecondsOut Radio, but you must register to gain access to it. Just click here, and listen, learn, and enjoy.
Labels: Atlantic City, boxing, Brooklyn, Cameroon, Canada, Eddie Goldman, Glen Johnson, Herman Ngoudjo, Lou DiBella, No Holds Barred, Paulie Malignaggi, Quebec, Radio-Canada, Showtime, Yvon Michel
Thursday, January 03, 2008
NO HOLDS BARRED: Paulie Malignaggi, Herman Ngoudjo, Lou DiBella, Yvon Michel
On this edition of NO HOLDS BARRED, host Eddie Goldman previews the IBF junior welterweight title fight between champion Paulie Malignaggi (23-1, 5 KOs) and challenger Herman Ngoudjo (16-1, 9 KOs). This fight will be held Saturday, January 5, 2008, at Bally's Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City, New Jersey, and shown live on Showtime in the U.S. and on Radio-Canada Television in Canada.
We spoke with both Paulie Malignaggi and Herman Ngoudjo at the prefight news conference Wednesday in New York. We also spoke with Malignaggi's promoter, Lou DiBella of DiBella Entertainment, and Ngoudjo's promoter, Yvon Michel of GYM (Groupe Yvon Michel), about what to expect in this fight.
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.
If you want to leave a comment on the show, you can do so at 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. 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: Atlantic City, boxing, Brooklyn, Cameroon, Canada, combat sports, Eddie Goldman, Herman Ngoudjo, Lou DiBella, No Holds Barred, Paulie Malignaggi, Quebec, Radio-Canada, Showtime, Yvon Michel
