Thursday, November 13, 2014
No Holds Barred: Chris Thomas on Bellator 131, Wanderlei Silva, and Robot Fighting
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with our longtime colleague and correspondent, Chris Thomas.
He will be covering this Saturday's Bellator 131 card at the Valley View Casino Center in San Diego, California, headlined by the Tito Ortiz-Stephan Bonnar, Will Brooks-Michael Chandler, "King" Mo Lawal-Joe Vedepo, and Melvin Manhoef-Joe Schilling fights.
We spoke with Chris Thomas by phone Wednesday.
Besides discussing the fights on the Bellator 131 card, we also noted how MMA legend Wanderlei Silva had originally been scheduled to appear at a pre-party kickoff event for that card the night before the fights, but was pulled from that, reportedly because of contractual obligations.
"For anybody to begrudge someone like Wanderlei Silva, who's given so much of himself to this sport for so many years, and to not allow him to make a living, is ridiculous in where the sport is today in 2014," he said. "That's horrible."
We also had a wide-ranging discussion on numerous topics, including the potential for robot fighting to become the future of combat sports, even in the wake of the poor ratings for the Robot Combat League TV show last year; the WSOF 15 card with three title fights, also on November 15; the proposal to have same-day weigh-ins in MMA and boxing, as is done in wrestling; in boxing, last Saturday's Bernard Hopkins-Sergey Kovalev light heavyweight title fight, and this coming Saturday's Wladimir Klitschko-Kubrat Pulev heavyweight title fight; the success of the Baltimore Orioles and failures of the New York Yankees in baseball, along with the reasons for the sharp increase in injuries in that sport; the issue of doping in sports; 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.
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: Bellator, Chris Thomas, Eddie Goldman, fighting, King Mo Lawal, Michael Chandler, MMA, No Holds Barred, Robot Combat League, Stephan Bonnar, Tito Ortiz, Wanderlei Silva, Will Brooks
Monday, November 10, 2014
No Holds Barred: Mark Setrakian on the Future of Robot Fighting
On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with robotics expert Mark Setrakian.
Besides being the designer and creator of the robots on the Robot Combat League, which aired in 2013 on Syfy in the U.S. and on Space in Canada, he has been involved in robotics and animatronics since his youth. He started his professional career at the age of 19 at George Lucas's Industrial Light & Magic. Besides developing animatronics for numerous major films, he has been involved in several robot fighting ventures including Robot Wars, BattleBots, and RoboGames, which is still holding events.
We spoke with Mark Setrakian right after he made a presentation on Saturday, November 8, entitled "Making TV and Movie Magic with Robots" at the Engadget Expand New York 2014 event at the Javits Center in New York.
At present, the Robot Combat League TV show is in limbo. It received disappointing ratings last year on Syfy, and was not renewed, or, for that matter, officially cancelled. Numerous problems in the positioning of that show led to a decline in its ratings as the season progressed.
"We went in with the intention of creating a sports show," he said. The Syfy network, however, is more "skewed" to running what are called (usually inaccurately) "reality shows".
"It became more like a reality competition and less like a sporting event," he continued. "And as a result, I think the tone of the show came off inauthentic enough that people who were tuning in who really wanted to see the sport aspect of it were really disappointed."
We discussed the status of that show, which he also noted did not draw a big enough audience to survive, and was not promoted well. However, there has been a change in leadership at Syfy, so there is a glimmer of hope that it can be revived.
Whatever the fate of that particular show, he is committed to robot fighting.
"I can tell you on my own, that I have been thinking about it non-stop since the show was on," he said. "I am still very much intending to go forward with some form of humanoid robot fighting. I really believe in that format."
Right now he is in the process of developing new robot prototypes. We discussed how close we are technologically to the creation of the kind of self-contained humanoid robots seen in the popular fictional movie "Real Steel", which was set in the future.
We also discussed events like RoboGames which do not use humanoid robots, whether one day robot fighting can at least partially replace combat sports which have people fighting, why it is "inevitable" that there will be successful humanoid robot fighting shows and events, 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.
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: combat sports, Eddie Goldman, fighting, Mark Setrakian, No Holds Barred, Real Steel, Robot Combat League, robotics
Monday, April 22, 2013
No Holds Barred: Robot Combat League Finals, Catch Wrestling in New York, Boston Bombings, Beautiful Boxer
The finals of the first season of the Robot Combat League will be telecast this Tuesday, April 23, with Crash, with Amber and Dave Shinsel at the helm, taking on Steampunk, with Ashley Nunes and Kyle Samuelson at the controls. This show, which was prerecorded, will air on Syfy in the U.S. and the Space channel in Canada. The future of this show is uncertain, and little promotion of it by the network, which owns it, is evident, so the fate of this series may depend on the reception (and ratings) the final fight receives.
Also on Tuesday, April 23, the first of three historic catch wrestling matches, recorded February 17, 2013, at the MMA World Expo in New York, will air on the Kristal Hart Show. The first match has Jorge Martinez taking on Mike Robinson. There are also interviews with the catch wrestlers aired on this show. This show is on Manhattan Neighborhood Network at 9 PM, on Time Warner Cable channel 56, RCN channel 83, and Verizon FiOS channel 34. It can also be viewed online at http://www.mnn.org.
The bombings this past week in Boston have been pinned on two brothers who were combat sports athletes, Golden Gloves boxer Tamerlan Tsarnaev and high school wrestler Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Both of them had some success in their athletic careers, although what they actually did or didn't do in these bombings, and their motives, are still open to question. Discussed are what lessons you do and do not get from the combat sports, and why these sports should neither be blamed for, or viewed as barriers to, such activity as these bombings.
Also, the discussion over the role of transsexual athletes in the combat sports has renewed interest in the story of transsexual muay Thai fighter Parinya Charoenphol, also known as Nong Toom. The wonderful film "Beautiful Boxer" was reviewed in 2005, and this article is reposted on the No Holds Barred blog.
The movie is also now available on YouTube.
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.
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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: Beautiful Boxer, Boston bombings, catch wrestling, Eddie Goldman, MMA, No Holds Barred, Nong Toom, Robot Combat League, transgender, transsexual, Tsarnaev
Sunday, March 31, 2013
No Holds Barred: Mark Setrakian on Robot Combat League
Five of the nine episodes of the Robot Combat League have already aired on Syfy in the U.S. and on Space in Canada. The shows are now featuring the quarterfinal round of the 12-robot tournament.
On the fifth episode, Team Scorpio, with Diana Yang and Chris Hardouin at the controls, sliced in half yet another robot to gain a knockout victory over Team A.X.E., with MMA fighter Andrew Montanez and Ross Mead at the helm.
We spoke by phone Friday with Mark Setrakian about the past, present, and future of robot fighting.
"This show, this season, is my attempt to kick off a whole new genre of fighting: motorized fighting," he said in this interview. Unlike other combat sports, this is "a motor sport of fighting," he said, with "weapons that you cannot use in human fighting."
He stressed, "What we're entering into is a level of combat that you cannot do with human beings but you can do it with robots, because at the end of the day, nobody's hurt. The robots are wrecked, but the human fighters, apart from their egos, are fine."
We discussed what happened on episode five with Scorpio's victory, why he "wouldn't change a thing" about how the robots were designed, the future of Robot Combat League, why robot fighting is the future of combat sports, why he believes that there will be more seasons of this show, the need to keep human athletes controlling the robots, the buildup to the semifinals and finals of this tournament, 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.
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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: A.X.E., combat sports, Eddie Goldman, fighting, Mark Setrakian, No Holds Barred, Robot Combat League, Space, Syfy, Team Scorpio
Monday, March 18, 2013
No Holds Barred: A Lot of Numbers and a Lot of Trouble
Topics discussed include the exciting but brutal fight Saturday night between Timothy Bradley and Ruslan Provodnikov on the HBO boxing telecast and what it might do to each of these fighters; a main reason why Russian president Vladimir Putin is supporting reinstating wrestling on the Olympic program; a main reason why New York Governor Andrew Cuomo may be supporting the legalization of MMA in his state; what such a law would and would not mean for MMA and its fighters especially in terms of fighter rights; the declining ratings for the Robot Combat League's telecasts in the U.S.; and 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: boxing, Cuomo, Eddie Goldman, MMA, NCAA, New York, No Holds Barred, Olympics, Robot Combat League, Ruslan Provodnikov, Timothy Bradley, Vladimir Putin, wrestling
Monday, March 11, 2013
No Holds Barred: Devonric Johnson of Robot Combat League
The second show of the Robot Combat League, shown in the U.S. on Syfy and in Canada on Space on March 5, saw his robot, Brimstone, which he controls with robo-tech Russell Tait, defeat Thunder Skull by second-round disqualification. This win, in their first fight, means that they now move on to the second round of competition on this show, whose nine episodes have already been filmed.
In a sense, Devonric Johnson's background is similar to that of other athletes from the combat and contact sports. Growing up dirt poor and living in a shack in Terrell, Texas, he was adopted at the age of 13, became a model student, found success in the sport of football, and then was a star linebacker at Southern Methodist University.
But in another sense, his athletic career took another turn which is also becoming more well-known in these sports. He suffered a concussion in one of those college football games, ended up with post-concussion syndrome, and suddenly, while still in college, his football career was over.
Later on he moved to Los Angeles to pursue careers in acting and modeling. It was there that he had another opportunity to participate in a new type of combat sport, which would not injure him, and on a new TV show: robot fighting on the Robot Combat League. And he is loving it.
"I personally think that there's going to be a future of it because there's nothing of its kind," he said in this interview, which was recorded by phone Saturday. "It's really cool to see these magnificent machines in action. If you were actually at the arena you would be like, 'Wow! This is crazy!' Because, imagine a thousand-pound pressure coming from a machine on each single punch, and watching these machines being maneuvered by people on these platforms. It's amazing. The technology is amazing. It's way ahead of its time and it's just going to get better."
We also discussed more about the future of robot fighting and its relation to human combat sports, what happened in Brimstone's fight that led to a controversial disqualification of Thunder Skull, and the issue of head trauma and concussions.
In addition, Devonric also is the founder of the non-profit organization Brothers By Choice, which assists at-risk youths. We discussed that important work, 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/.
Labels: Brimstone, Brothers By Choice, concussions, Devonric Johnson, Eddie Goldman, fighting, football, No Holds Barred, Robot Combat League, Syfy
Wednesday, March 06, 2013
No Holds Barred: Ross Mead, Robo-Tech on Robot Combat League
A robo-tech controls the bottom half of the eight-foot tall robots, with the top half controlled by a robo-jockey, as these robots are sent to fight one another in the Robot Combat League.
When Ross Mead is not helping to smash giant robots, he is a PhD research student at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, focusing, of course on robotics. While his goal there is to help develop robots which could assist people in their homes and daily lives, his experience in the Robot Combat League has left its mark on him.
"I was Iron Man," he said in this interview, which was recorded Wednesday on Skype. "You can't get away from the superhero aspect of this. I was driving this gigantic robot. No one can really say that. There are 24 people on the planet Earth who can say that right now. That's pretty incredible. That's really freaking awesome."
Adding that he already missed doing the show, whose episodes have already all been filmed, and that he would do it again, he said, "I wish everyone could experience it because it was absolutely incredible. It's a life-changing experience."
We get our first chance to see Ross Mead in action this coming Tuesday, March 12, when he teams with MMA fighter Andrew Montanez on the robot A.X.E. as it battles Game Over. In the other fight on that show, Robo Hammer, with MMA fighter Amanda Lucas as the robo-jockey, fights Drone Strike.
The Robot Combat League is telecast on the Syfy network in the U.S. and on Space in Canada.
Our discussion with him also touched on the relation of human fighting to robot fighting. He has some training in boxing and martial arts and is a fan of MMA, but he explained just how a background in human fighting is both "a blessing and a curse" for developing techniques for robot fighting. We discussed just where the technology is at now for robot fighting, some of the ethical questions of it as this new sport evolves, how many including boxing trainer Freddy Roach believe that robot fighting may one day replace or surpass human fighting in popularity, how he got involved with 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/.
Labels: A.X.E., Andrew Montanez, boxing, Eddie Goldman, fighting, MMA, No Holds Barred, Robot Combat League, Ross Mead, Syfy
Monday, March 04, 2013
No Holds Barred: Bernard Hopkins, Tavoris Cloud, Don King, and Reflections on Real Steel
The Cloud-Hopkins fight takes place Saturday, March 9, at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York, and will be televised live in the U.S. on HBO.
In "Real Steel", set in the year 2020, robot boxing has replaced human boxing and, apparently, MMA. This film was just repeated on Showtime in the U.S. on Saturday, March 2 -- right before the live Showtime boxing card headlined by the wild Abril-Bogere fight.
The film "Real Steel" is loosely based on the 1956 short story "Steel" by Richard Matheson, which was made into a 1963 episode of "The Twilight Zone" TV series starring Lee Marvin. In both the short story and the TV show, boxing had been banned; the movie is more ambiguous about the future legal status of the human fighting sports. In the U.S., the debut show of the Robot Combat League on the Syfy network last Tuesday, February 26, featuring 12 eight-foot robot boxers in a tournament format, drew over 1.35 million viewers, with a total of nine weekly episodes already filmed.
Even before all this buzz about robot fighting, boxing has long been a largely tragic sport. It is a slowly dying sport that is killing its own people, but which we still sometimes love. Therein lies the degree of sadness with which we approach it, especially when a 48-year-old fighter is involved.
We spoke with Bernard Hopkins, Tavoris Cloud, Cloud's new trainer Abel Sanchez, and Cloud's promoter, the one and only Don King, about this fight on a media conference call this past Wednesday.
"It's going to be a barnburner on March the 9th," promised Don King on this conference call. "Get ready. We coming. We coming to Brooklyn. And no one could be prouder. And if you cannot hear us, we'll say it a little louder."
We shall see whose barn burns down Saturday night.
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: Abel Sanchez, Bernard Hopkins, boxing, Don King, Eddie Goldman, fighting, MMA, No Holds Barred, Real Steel, Robot Combat League, Tavoris Cloud
Saturday, March 02, 2013
No Holds Barred: Chris Thomas On Why Robot Combat League Is The Future of Combat Sports
Based in Maryland, Chris has been involved both in MMA and traditional martial arts for many years in various capacities. He also is among those of us from the combat sports who are closely following the development of the new Robot Combat League, which had its debut show on Syfy in the U.S. Tuesday, February 26.
The Robot Combat League features 12 state-of-the-art robots engaged in a tournament where they fight each other. The robots are controlled by a human fighter known as a robo-jockey and an engineer known as a robo-tech. The first season of nine weekly episodes has already been filmed. Two of the 12 robo-jockeys, Andrew Montanez and Amanda Lucas, are professional MMA fighters.
The Nielsen ratings for the debut episode of the Robot Combat League showed it drew 1.351 million viewers, with just 1.143 million viewers for The Ultimate Fighter on FX on the same night but one hour earlier.
We spoke with Chris by phone Friday to discuss the significance of the Robot Combat League and review its first televised show.
"Coming out of the gate, Eddie, with drawing 1.35 million people on the debut night, it was pretty impressive," he said in this interview.
"It really gave a lot of people, I think, a glance at the future of combat sports. With the head injuries and the challenges of athletes getting bigger, stronger, and faster every single day, gosh, I can't say I hate to see it, but It could be the future of combat sports, these robots fighting with jockeys, so therefore there's no personal injury. Is it happening now? No. Do I hope it happens now? Not necessarily. But I sure did enjoy it."
We discussed what happened on this first episode, how apparently brains defeated brawn in the first televised fight, why we like the tournament format, what this sport might look like in the future, what improvements this show can make, and 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: boxing, Chris Thomas, Eddie Goldman, fighting, MMA, No Holds Barred, Robot Combat League, sports, Syfy
Saturday, February 23, 2013
No Holds Barred: Amanda Lucas on Robot Combat League and DEEP
Besides mainly fighting in Japan and holding the women's open weight title in the DEEP promotion, Amanda Lucas is a robo-jockey on the first season of the Robot Combat League.
The Robot Combat League features 12 giant state-of-the-art robots engaged in a tournament where they fight each other. The robots are controlled by a human fighter known as a robo-jockey and an engineer known as a robo-tech. The first season of the Robot Combat League, which premieres Tuesday, February 26, on Syfy in the U.S., has already been filmed. There will be nine weekly episodes of the Robot Combat League for this debut season. Two of the 12 robo-jockeys, Andrew Montanez and Amanda Lucas, are professional MMA fighters.
We spoke with Amanda Lucas by phone Wednesday both about her participation in the Robot Combat League and about her MMA career.
Discussing the Robot Combat League, she said in this interview that this show is "like nothing that's ever been done. It was a really cool experience. You've got these giant metal machines that can really do some damage. There was this crazy level of excitement." She also explained, "We're the first people to ever do this. You're also working with a teammate who you just met," referring to the robo-tech.
We also discussed how this show will likely appeal both to combat sports fans and those who do not watch combat sports, to what degree robot fighting represents the future of combat sports, her experiences and plans for fighting again for DEEP in Japan, women's MMA in Japan and the U.S., and 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: Amanda Lucas, DEEP, Eddie Goldman, fighting, Japan, MMA, No Holds Barred, Robot Combat League, Syfy
Saturday, February 16, 2013
No Holds Barred: Chris Jericho and Mark Setrakian on Robot Combat League Conference Call
The Robot Combat League features 12 state-of-the-art robots engaged in a tournament where they fight each other. The robots are controlled by a human fighter known as a robo-jockey and an engineer known as a robo-tech. The first season of the Robot Combat League, which premieres Tuesday, February 26, on Syfy in the U.S., has already been filmed. There will be nine weekly episodes of the Robot Combat League for this debut season. Two of the 12 robo-jockeys, Andrew Montanez and Amanda Lucas, are professional MMA fighters.
The main speakers on this conference call were WWE performer Chris Jericho, who hosts the show, and robotics expert Mark Setrakian, who designed and created these robots.
The question, of course, which comes to mind for those in the combat sports, is whether or not some day, like in the fictional movie "Real Steel", robot fighting can become sophisticated and popular enough to replace human combat sports.
Asked about this on this conference call, Mark Setrakian replied, "As a culture, we don't lose sports. We add sports to our repertoire. So I think robot combat is a new sport that's going to be added to what humans do. I don't think boxing or wrestling or any of those things are going to go away."
The discussion on the conference call also focused on many details of this new show, and provided a lot of answers as to what to expect when it debuts February 26.
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.
"The Martist" with John Perretti. A "martist" is an artist as well as a martial artist. This is a blog for those who think about fighting, published by John Perretti, the lifelong martial artist and former UFC and Battlecade Extreme Fighting matchmaker. Check out John's writings at http://johnperretti.com.
MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City February 16 and 17, 2013, for the fourth annual MMA World Expo, featuring an amateur MMA tournament, grappling, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, February 16, and Sunday, February 17, 2013, 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: boxing, Chris Jericho, Eddie Goldman, Mark Setrakian, MMA, No Holds Barred, Robot Combat League, Syfy, wrestling
Sunday, February 10, 2013
No Holds Barred: Andrew Montanez of Robot Combat League and MMA Surge
Andrew Montanez has a strong background in the combat sports. He wrestled at Mineola High School in Long Island, New York, and then at Nassau Community College, as well as wrestling freestyle at the Empire State Games. He is currently a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Although he is not currently an active fighter, he has fought numerous times in professional MMA, including Strikeforce where he was 1-1.
His latest foray into combat sports, however, was something quite different: Andrew served as a robo-jockey for an eight-foot tall robot named A.X.E. in the first season of the new Syfy network TV series called Robot Combat League.
The Robot Combat League features 12 state-of-the-art robots engaged in a tournament where they fight each other. The robots are controlled by a human fighter known as a robo-jockey and an engineer known as a robo-tech. The first season of the Robot Combat League, which premieres Tuesday, February 26, on Syfy in the U.S., has already been filmed.
We spoke with Andrew Montanez about the Robot Combat League and its relation to combat sports by phone Saturday.
"That's the main reason why I did the show. I saw the same vision. The sport's getting violent. We kind of need something else," he said in this interview. "I know a lot of girls that can't watch MMA because they can't watch people getting hit. But I brought a couple of them to the robot fights and they were like, 'This is awesome.' Because no one's actually getting hurt."
He continued, "The main reason I did this show was because I saw the potential and I wanted to be part of it," and to "try to see if we could start a new combat sport."
He did caution that there will be many factors determining the success or failure of the Robot Combat League, including the editing of the show, how the audience reacts to it, and how the fights actually look on television. "It's going to be a little bit of a process."
Still, he, along with many other people, are optimistic that the Robot Combat League can establish itself as a successful venture, be it as a replacement for combat sports involving humans or as a show existing alongside them.
We discussed what his tasks were as a robo-jockey, how he had an advantage over other robo-jockeys because he could utilize his combat sports skills to control his robot, why he believes that many fans of combat sports will enjoy the Robot Combat League, and 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.
"The Martist" with John Perretti. A "martist" is an artist as well as a martial artist. This is a blog for those who think about fighting, published by John Perretti, the lifelong martial artist and former UFC and Battlecade Extreme Fighting matchmaker. Check out John's writings at http://johnperretti.com.
MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City February 16 and 17, 2013, for the fourth annual MMA World Expo, featuring an amateur MMA tournament, grappling, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, February 16, and Sunday, February 17, 2013, 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: Andrew Montanez, boxing, Eddie Goldman, MMA Surge, No Holds Barred, Robot Combat League, Syfy, wrestling
