NO HOLDS BARRED

by Eddie Goldman

North American Catch Wrestling Association/King of Catch Results
MMA World Expo
December 12, 2015
Jacob Javits Center, New York

Joe Shick vs. Anthony Pipola, middleweight
1 - Joe Shick pinned Anthony Pipola, 4:30
2 - Joe Shick pinned Anthony Pipola, 3:01
Joe Shick wins, 2 falls to 0

Pat Sabatini vs. Lee Yalowitz, catchweight
1 - Pat Sabatini pinned Lee Yalowitz, 1:31
2 - Pat Sabatini pinned Lee Yalowitz, 1:30
Pat Sabatini wins, 2 falls to 0

Justin Sumter vs. George Mecaj, light heavyweight
1 - Justin Sumter wins by rear naked choke submission, 37 seconds
2 - Justin Sumter pinned George Mecaj, 24 seconds
Justin Sumter wins, 2 falls to 0

West Coast King of Catch Travis Newaza vs. East Coast King of Catch Thomas Velasquez, for 2015 North American King of Catch Heavyweight Title
1 - Travis Newaza wins by inverted heel hook submission, 6:11
2 - Thomas Velasquez pinned Travis Newaza, 1:44
3 - Thomas Velasquez pinned Travis Newaza, 12:21

Labels: Anthony Pipola, Dan Kanagie, Dan Severn, Eddie Goldman, George Mecaj, Joe Shick, Justin Sumter, King of Catch Wrestling, Lee Yalowitz, MMA World Expo, NACWA, Pat Sabatini, Thomas Velasquez, Travis Newaza

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with two-time East Coast King of Catch Wrestling Thomas Velasquez, and his coach, Ray Karakas.

As the reigning and two-time East Coast King of Catch Wrestling, Thomas Velasquez will be facing the West Coast King of Catch Wrestling, Travis Newaza, for the 2015 North American Heavyweight King of Catch championship.

This match will headline a catch wrestling card put on by the North American Catch Wrestling Association at the 2015 MMA World Expo.

The catch wrestling takes place Saturday, December 12, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

We spoke with Thomas Velasquez and Ray Karakas by phone Sunday.

Speaking of his extensive and varied background, Thomas Velasquez said, "I've been training for so long. I've enjoyed catch wrestling. It's a very beautiful sport. Vicious, and it really works every aspect of the grappling game, which is the most important in my eyes. So it's good. I have a little bit of everything."

He mentioned that besides catch wrestling, he is a Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu black belt, a judo brown belt, and has trained in sambo.

"So I have some stuff."

Interestingly, in the past he also had participated in the worked pro wrestling, and his arsenal also includes some submissions, especially crossfaces and armlocks, adapted from that to real competition. Since the worked pro wrestling largely emerged out of real catch wrestling, this should not be surprising.

We also discussed with both Thomas Velasquez and Ray Karakas how Thomas is a "hybrid wrestler"; how Travis Newaza's style is "made for us"; their training at the Endgame Combat Sports Academy in Teterboro, New Jersey, with people like grappler Nick Caggia, who was the catch wrestling absolute champion at the 2014 MMA World Expo; why catch wrestling deserves as much respect as Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and any other sport; and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

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, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free 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 free to listen to and is sponsored by:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 12 and 13, 2015, for the sixth annual MMA World Expo, featuring submission-only grappling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, 2015, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

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.

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: BJJ, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Eddie Goldman, grappling, King of Catch Wrestling, MMA World Expo, No Holds Barred, Ray Karakas, Thomas Velasquez, Travis Newaza

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with grappler and martial artist Travis Newaza.

As the reigning West Coach King of Catch Wrestling, he will facing the two-time East Coast King of Catch Wrestling, Thomas Velasquez, for the 2015 North American Heavyweight King of Catch championship.

This match will headline a catch wrestling card put on by the North American Catch Wrestling Association at the 2015 MMA World Expo.

The catch wrestling takes place on the second day of this two-day Expo, Sunday, December 13. The location is the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

We spoke with Travis Newaza by phone Sunday.

"I love being on No Holds Barred," he said.

"And we got an awesome opportunity for a lot of the martial arts to see catch wrestling on display and to actually see a national title brought together there. And I can't wait to bring it home for California."

While he respects his opponent's ability, he said he expects to win by submission, which is "my whole goal". He promised, "I'm going to be very vicious," and said that the best-of-three-falls match may never make it to a second fall.

Besides this match, he is also scheduled to compete at the Good Fight's Tournament of Brotherly Love submission-only jiu-jitsu event in a heavyweight title match against ADCC veteran and two-time ADCC North American Trials champion Tom DeBlass. That takes place March 12, 2016, at Cairn University in Langhorne, Pennsylvania. This no-time-limit, submission-only match will have him facing, said Travis Newaza, his "toughest opponent."

We also discussed his free seminar at the MMA World Expo following his catch wrestling match, his training at CSW with Erik Paulson and Josh Barnett, why he finds it necessary to be "a well-rounded grappler," competing and training under different rulesets such as jiu-jitsu and catch wrestling, and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

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, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free 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 free to listen to and is sponsored by:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 12 and 13, 2015, for the sixth annual MMA World Expo, featuring submission-only grappling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, 2015, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

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.

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: BJJ, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Eddie Goldman, grappling, King of Catch Wrestling, MMA World Expo, No Holds Barred, Thomas Velasquez, Travis Newaza

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Dan Kanagie of the North American Catch Wrestling Association.

Their next event is a big one, as the 2015 North American Heavyweight King of Catch title will be decided as well as at least three more matches held at the 2015 MMA World Expo.

The catch wrestling takes place on the second day of this two-day Expo, Sunday, December 13. The location is the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

Headlining the catch wrestling will be the 2015 North American Heavyweight King of Catch championship match between West Coast King of Catch champ Travis Newaza and two-time East Coast King of Catch champ Thomas Velasquez.

Also set are three more matches:
Joe Shick vs. Anthony Pipola - Middleweight
Phil Caracappa vs. Hassan Hope - Lightweight
Justin Sumter vs. Steven Yokay - Light Heavyweight

We spoke with Dan Kanagie by phone Friday.

This is the third consecutive year there will be catch wrestling at the MMA World Expo, but the first time it will be organized by the North American Catch Wrestling Association.

"This is going to be our first time at the Expo, which is exciting for us. It's a huge event, with a lot of exposure, a lot of big names going to be there," Dan Kanagie said. "It's exciting for us to be there and have them want us to be there part of it."

For catch wrestling, this is very important because there will be "a title match there to show everybody some of the top wrestling that we have."

Besides the four matches already set, opponents are being sought for a super heavyweight match with last year's absolute division tournament winner Nick Caggia, and a women's match with catch wrestler and grappler Gillian Davis.

We also discussed how these matches will use the Karl Gotch catch wrestling rules, how catch wrestling is still "at the beginning of the journey" in its revival, the backgrounds and experience of the wrestlers who will be competing, plans to video record these matches and post them online, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

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, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free 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 free to listen to and is sponsored by:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 12 and 13, 2015, for the sixth annual MMA World Expo, featuring submission-only grappling and Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, 2015, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

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.

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Labels: Dan Kanagie, Eddie Goldman, King of Catch Wrestling, MMA World Expo, No Holds Barred, Thomas Velasquez, Travis Newaza

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with grappler and martial artist Travis Newaza.

He has been in the New York area this week to conduct seminars and train. We spoke with him Sunday at New York Combat Sambo.

While he has still been competing in various tournaments and events under many different rules of grappling and wrestling, it appears that he may soon be taking a prolonged break.

Asked if he had ever competed under sambo rules, while he said no, he added, "I would love to. And I think I will."

But that may have to wait.

"I am dealing with a lot of injuries," he said. "I think that moving forward and just seeing how dedicated I could be and how precise I could be with fighting these injuries with anti-inflammation diets and constant mobility workouts, if I can stretch out more matches in other grappling arts, but as of right now, I only am going to do five more grappling matches, and then I will be retiring from the sports grappling."

Among those matches he hopes to have soon are a catch wrestling match with Curran Jacobs, who had challenged him to such a match earlier this year.

"He's number one. He's my next date before anyone else," he said.

Also on that list are rematches with Josh Hinger, whom he competed against at the Gracie Worlds, and Adam Wheeler, whom he faced at a Metamoris event.

But his focus after that will be solely on conducting seminars as well as training and learning. "It's a season of leaning I feel like I'm going to be going into," he said.

We also discussed why he is putting great effort in helping to grow submission-only no-gi grappling events, how catch wrestling can grow, the need for the catch community to get together to hold more tournaments and have better organization, the growth of combat wrestling, why hybrid no-gi grappling events have great potential, how his seminars emphasize teaching leg attacks, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

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, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free 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 free to listen to and is sponsored by:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City December 12 and 13, 2015, for the sixth annual MMA World Expo, featuring two days of the Renzo Gracie Open 2015 no-gi and gi Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, December 12, and Sunday, December 13, 2015, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

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.

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.

Labels: BJJ, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, catch wrestling, Eddie Goldman, grappling, No Holds Barred, Travis Newaza

Travis Newaza rolling with Sambo Steve Koepfer.


Travis Newaza and Adam Roman, West Coast King of Catch Wrestling champions.

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with grappler and martial artist Travis Newaza.

Besides competing in numerous tournaments in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and grappling, he has also been training in catch wrestling and many styles of combat sports with Josh Barnett and Erik Paulson.

On January 11, 2015, he was victorious in the absolute and heavyweight divisions of the West Coast King of Catch Wrestling Tournament held in San Diego, California, and won the Outstanding Competitor Award, winning all his matches by submissions.

A serious neck injury, however, has recently sidelined him from competition. He is currently on a national seminar tour, in part aimed at raising funds to help pay for an expensive corrective procedure.

We spoke with Travis Newaza by phone Sunday.

He had just completed a seminar at Sambo Steve Koepfer's New York Combat Sambo, and was himself very impressed.

"It was such an honor to, one, be able to be invited to Sambo Steve's academy," he said. "I'm a big fan of what Sambo Steve has done for the sport of sambo."

And he added, "And two, man, is he just a wealth to be drawn from, so many different styles of grappling that we're not really used to seeing."

He will be continuing his seminar tour across the U.S., with upcoming dates in Florida, Kansas City, Missouri, Los Angeles, and other cities.

The seminars, like his own competitions, do not focus on one style or discipline.

"I've never really been worried about rulesets," he said. "You should be able to adapt."

And that applies to everythng in grappling.

"I love to learn from all the different arts. Nothing's ever been off-limits. I'll put on the kimono. I'll take it off. I'll put on the kurtka. I'll take it off. I do judo. I love all those things," he said.

"It's all wrestling. It's all grappling."

We discussed what got him to start training so seriously in these styles of grappling three years ago, his hopes of bringing grappling training to non-profit youth organizations, his Newaza Apparel company, and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link doesn't work, please try another.

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, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free 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 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.

Labels: BJJ, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, catch wrestling, Eddie Goldman, grappling, No Holds Barred, Travis Newaza

My latest blog for the Defense Soap site, "A Challenge in Catch Wrestling", is up at http://blog.defensesoap.com/news/a-challenge-in-catch-wrestling.

Labels: Catch Wrestling Alliance, combat wrestling, Curran Jacobs, Defense Soap, Eddie Goldman, Ivaylo Ivanov, No Holds Barred, Travis Newaza

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with wrestler and former Michigan State Spartans' team captain Curran Jacobs.

After a victory by pin over Christopher Crossan of the Snake Pit Wigan on June 7, 2014, in the main event of the Catch Wrestling Alliance International Invitational: The Rebirth, at UCLA in Los Angeles, California, and thus winning the Frank Gotch Award, he is planning to return to action this year.

Towards this end, he is issuing a challenge to Travis Newaza, who was victorious at the West Coast King of Catch Wrestling Tournament held January 11, 2015, in San Diego, California.

We spoke with Curran Jacobs by phone Monday.

"I would like to actually call out that gentleman who won that tournament, Travis Newaza, I believe his name is," he said.

"He is being claimed the King of the West Coast, and I'm on the West Coast." He added that he was unaware of the January 11 event.

He went on to criticize his performance in that event.

"He's a good jiu-jitsu guy, but I saw no catch wrestling happening at all."

We discussed his continuing training at Catch Wrestling Los Angeles, why he considers there to be "fake titles" being handed out in catch wrestling today, why he believes that many of the matches at these tournaments are "not a good display of catch wrestling", why he calls the Catch Wrestling Alliance "the leader of the pack", and much, much more.

We also comment on the passing of an MMA pioneer, Phyllis Lee, who was known as the "First Lady of NHB".

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.

Payleg.com, which gives you the tools to develop a full-time income by building a home-based business. Teaching success in the home-based business industry since 1988, Payleg.com is available in 190 countries. For more information, go to Payleg.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: Catch Wrestling Alliance, Curran Jacobs, Eddie Goldman, No Holds Barred, Travis Newaza