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An Amber Nicole Pictorial
By Brian Piepenbrink
Photo Credit Shane Oneal, Stylist Christy Moeller and Hair and Makeup Zee Clemente
copyright 2010, by scrapp! fight magazine. all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced
or transmitted in any form or by any means without permission in writing from scrapp! fight magazine. the
publisher accepts no responsibility unsolicited manuscripts, photographs, artwork or advertisements. scrapp!
fight magazine is a quarterly publication. all information regarding editorial content is deemed reliable. no
representation is made as to the acuracy hereof and os printed subject to errors and omissions.
scrappfightmag.com 02
staff
SCRAPP!
George Boley
Brian Piepenbrink
Publisher
George has been an MMA fan since 1990, has been in martial
arts for the 27 years. George is the Program Director for
Sports Action Network International and the Current Host the
Knuckle UP radio show on Sports Action Network Radio.
Managing Editor
Brian Piepenbrink is one of the most experienced media figures
in Mixed Martial Arts. He played high school football and
dabbled in amateur boxing. During college Brian witnessed the
first Ultimate Fighting Championship and fell in love with it’s
style of competition. Within a matter of months Brian began
training in Brazilian Jiujitsu and submission wrestling. Brian has
worked with Sherdog.com, Fight Sport magazine and is the
director for PR and media at Sports Action Network Online.
William Cooling
UK Editor
Will Cooling is a British Internet commentator who has been
writing for the Inside Pulse family of websites since 2004. He
regularly writes for Inside Fights about mixed martial arts and
boxing, with his work also appearing on Fox Sports.com.
contributors
SCRAPP!
Shawn Smith
Shawn Smith – is a Canadian journalism student who is
also a contributor to Bleacher Report, MMACanada.net and
MMAHQ.com. He has been writing mixed martial arts articles
for over two years and was the co-community leader of the
DREAM section of Bleacher Report with fellow SCRAPP! writer
“Aki” Kuwabara. Ideally Shawn would someday be able to
make a career out of mma journalism but in reality would like
to become a sports journalist for a major Canadian publication.
Josh Davis
Josh Davis is a freelance journalist covering the world of mixed
martial arts. In addition to writing for Scrapp! Fight Magazine,
and MMA Sport Magazine, Josh also writes themmacorner.
com website.
Jonathan Kirschner
Mary Bell
Jon Kirschner is a young writer from New Jersey who watches
mixed martial arts around the world. Kirschner has been following MMA since 1998 and has been writing about it for 4
years. His work has appeared on Fox Sports and in SCRAPP!
Fight Magazine. He is also a regular contributor to Inside Fights
and BJPENN.com.
Mary Bell received her education as clinical dietitian from UT
Southwestern Medical Center in 1993. She has been a sports
and wellness dietitian for over 10 years in the Dallas area. The
concept of RUDOG was developed as a natural extension of
her personal involvement with MMA kickboxing and martial
arts. RUDOG currently works privately with fighters all over the
United States and also provides on-line MMA nutrition education for a monthly fee.
Justin Faux
Justin Faux is a mixed martial arts journalist based out of
Australia and have been writing published articles for little over
a year now. You can count on my articles to deliver a highly
educated point-of-view on breaking news and interestingperspective stories. Justin has been featured on on such sites
as www.bleacherreport.com/mma, www.headkicklegend.com,
ifight365.com, mmafans.co.uk, fighting-mma.com, Sports
Illustrated and now Scrapp! Fight Magazine.
message from the editor
As managing editor of SCRAPP! Fight Magazine I want to personally welcome our
new Spanish readers. SCRAPP! Fight Magazine has been in existence since August
of 2009, and during this past year we have kept our commitment to our international fan-base. Publishing SCRAPP! in Spanish is just a continuation of this effort.
The Latin MMA community is ever growing in both fighters and fans. We here at
SCRAPP! are honored to be a part of that.
I hope you enjoy our magazine because you are now part of the SCRAPP! familia!
And just as with our English readers, George Boley Jr. and I welcome any feedback
you might have. Here’s to MMA and here’s to Espanola!
Brian Piepenbrink
[email protected]
Amber
Nicole
Undisputed Beauty
An Amber Nicole Pictorial
By Brian Piepenbrink Photo Credit Shane Oneal
Stylist Christy Moeller and Hair and Makeup Zee Clemente
Ring Card Girls. The sweet oasis during the
often brutal engagements of modern combat
sports. Although attractive women have been
used to promote fights throughout history, it
was not until the 1950’s that Las Vegas made
the card carrying beauties’ a staple of the
boxing world. Wanting to simulate the show
girls for which the city had become famous,
fight promoters went all out to add glitz and
glamour to what many considered a blood
sport. Initially the UFC did not have rounds so
obviously there was no need for girls to mark
them. Of course once MMA began to become
sanctioned by the states, and the popularity
of the sport exploded throughout mainstream
America, it was just a matter of time before
ring card girls were added to MMA events
nationwide.
With the UFC seeking to become the world
leader in quality of fighters, so to have they
sought the best when it comes to ring card
girls. And who is the best of the best? Well
in the opinion of this humble journalist that
would be Amber Nichole Wood. I am not
alone in this assertion. Many fighters and
fans enjoyed and now miss Amber Nichole’s
presence during televised fights. Despite
having the beauty and grace that would put
many a Hollywood starlet to shame, these
are not the only qualities that make Amber
numero uno in the world of MMA. You see
Amber did not look at our beloved sport as a
simple vehicle to “bigger and better” things.
Amber has a true love and appreciation for
the sport. Her knowledge of MMA rivals that
of any forum geek. Even after parting ways
with the UFC she has maintained a presence
in the fight community, promoting MMA at
every opportunity. She even married Ultimate
Fighter participant and now gym owner, John
Wood. An Amber Nichole has done all of this
despite being offered numerous opportunities to showcase her talents in other industries
in other cities far away from the fight capital
of Las Vegas. Amber Nichole does not need
MMA, yet she has chosen to remain loyal to
and to remain among the fighters and fans of
the sport.
Amber Nichole was born and raised in Denver
Colorado. “I loved it. It was real casual and
laid back” she states. Even as a child Amber
knew that she was meant to be the center of
[
“From the moment I
knew what a camera
awas a ham”
]
[
]
“After meeting these
girls it really changed
my mind”
attention “From the moment I knew what
a camera was, my mom said I was a ham”.
Amber Nichole and her family relocated to
Las Vegas after she graduated high school.
Amber jumped right into modeling and
entertainment. As hard as it is to imagine
there were some “industry professionals”
who thought Amber should lose weight for
certain assignments. Being of an athletic
and healthy build, Amber decided to specialize in sports modeling. Apparently this
was a good choice. “I met the Fertittas at
one of their hotels, Green Valley Ranch”.
Though she did not realize it at the time,
this chance meeting would take her professional life in an entirely new direction.
Amber Nichole began her run as a UFC
ring girl with the organization’s 28th event.
To this date Amber Nichole has the longest
running tenure of any the UFCs spokesmodels. Despite having one of the most
visible jobs in MMA it was not all fun and
games. Amber Nichole states that the
rumors of ring card girls not getting along
off camera were absolutely true. Being
that current UFC beauty, Arianny Celeste,
had recently posed for Playboy Magazine, I
asked Amber Nichole if she ever considered
being in the famous publication. “The
original Playboy shoot was my deal. And
when I parted ways with the UFC, Rachelle
took that spot. That’s all I’m going to say
about that”. Amber Nichole is friends
with a number of girls who have donned
the UFC two-piece. She states that she is
comadres with Logan Stanton, and Natasha Wicks. Amber Nichole and Chandella
Powell became friends while both of them
worked at the Palms. Chandella works in
the Playboy lounge and Amber Nichole was
the “Fun Enforcer” at Moon.
Amber Nichole’s career continued to
climb even after her departure from the
UFC. She maintains a partnership with
Xyience and resigned with the supplement company in 2009. She has also
become the top model in Las Vegas
which is no small feat. Currently Amber
Nichole has ventured into television and
will host Ultimate Women Challenge
alongside Maxim 100 model, Joanna
Krupa. The Ultimate Women Challenge is a reality series that showcases
female MMA fighters and is set to air in
late 2010 or early 2011. The show was
filmed at Throwdown Training Center
in Las Vegas, which is run by Amber
Nichole’s husband, John Wood. Amber
Nichole admits that she was not sold on
female MMA at first but had a change
of heart once the show began filming. “After meeting these girls it really
changed my mind”. Amber Nichole
went on to state how impressed she was
with the training and determination of
these female athletes. Amber Nichole
is already linked to another reality show
that will showcase celebrities and MMA.
The sky is the limit for this Denver girl,
now Las Vegas woman. Look for Amber
Nichole to appear in numerous sport
and MMA related campaigns in the near
future. But remember, she’s not just a
pretty face, she’s a true MMA fan!
Please visit:
www.UltimateWomenChallenge.com
Follow Amber Nichole on Twitter @
AmberNichole1
SCRAPPFIGHTMAG.COM
UFC
Friday – First Impressions of Fan Expo:
Walking into the Earls Court Exhibition
Centre one can’t fail to be impressed
by the scope of the Fan Expo. The main
exhibition arena is impressively large,
dominated by a main stage at the very far
end and in the centre a full-size Octagon and multi-screen. There are two
major training areas, one on either side.
At the far end the UFC has a huge area
coordined off for itself half of it used for
fighter autographs and the other half for
a clothing store. The clothing store is particularly impressive, with temporary walls
surrounding what is essentially a normal
clothes shop.
General Observation : Okay, I greatly
appreciate the UFC putting on classic
Int
Fan
Not
By Will Cooling Photos
fights all over the giant screens but one
can’t help but think that we’re being
slightly teased by having the Best of Pride
featured so prominently. It might be an
idea to get the show on television here
in the UK before putting the show on a
loop for two straight days.
Friday – Dana White Question and Answer Session:
Its 2pm and Dana White appears before
the crowd for his Question and Answer
session. White gets a lot of criticism but
few sports owners are as adept at being
the public face of their organization,
when people say he’s more popular than
most of the fighters they’re not wrong.
While he struggles with the accents of
fans from all across Europe he displays
plenty of his own unique brand of charm
when fielding questions from fans in an
impressively un-stage-managed event.
Notable moments include a heated exchange about Paul Daley (which we’ll pick
up later), an interesting revelation about
Jose Aldo possibly fighting in the UFC and
the latest public promise to do George St.
Pierre versus Anderson Silva by the end
of 2011. The most memorable exchange
came when a fan pressed White on the
need to sign Fedor Emelianenko, saying
“His record stands for himself” which
to laughter draw the stinging response
“So does Muhammed Ali’s…should I sign
him!?!”.
Friday - UFC 120 Weigh Ins:
While the previous Q&A had been well
attended, the audience swelled significantly for the Q&A with not only all the
seating being taken but the overspill
taking the crowd beyond the barriers that
demarcated the main stage and exhibition
floor. The warm-up guy said he saw 2,000
people there, but I wouldn’t be surprised
if that was a low estimate as the place
was truly packed. The crowd was buzzing and was very keen to welcome the
home fighters. An increasingly enjoyable
parlor game is to try to work out whether
Michael Bisping or Dan Hardy gets the
biggest reaction from British fans. I
think Hardy probably shades it this time.
Credit has to go to Mike Pyle who alone
amongst the Americans embraces the role
of foreign heel by donning a tasteful pair
of Stars and Stripes underpants.
General Observation: Something that I
don’t think is talked enough about is the
lack of reaction for TUF 9 winner James
Wilks from British fans. At both UFC
105 and again UFC 120 the reaction he
received was significantly less rapturous
than what fans gave to other British fighters, including some on the undercard.
For example at the weigh-ins, McSweeny
received louder cheers than Wilks despite
McSweeny having portrayed negatively
on television and being far less accplomished. I suspect that Wilks permanent
residence in California is just a hump he
can’t get over in terms of connecting with
the British crowd. One has to wonder
whether the UFC didn’t miss a trick in
having him be a member of Team USA in
TUF 9, making him the turncoat ex-pat
bad guy for UK UFC fans.
is that there are not more talks that go
beyond the superficial and look in-depth
at key issues. Now obviously such talks
would be of interest to only a fraction of
fans but they could easily be facilitated by
having them take place in seminar rooms
away from the main exhibition centre.
This actually leads me to my biggest
criticism of the Fan Expo, that it’s overly
focused on appealing to a certain type
of fan. Every other stall is selling MMA
t-shirts and hoodies while most of the rest
are divided between selling posters, toys
and championship belts. With the exception of a couple of magazine stalls there
really isn’t anything beyond the main
stage to appeal to the fan that isn’t a
General Observation: Annoyingly, the
party to the whole “MMA Lifestyle”. For
notorious London traffic prevents me
from attending Dan Miragliotta’s talk on instance I didn’t see one stand that was
selling MMA books. I hate to say it, but it
MMA judging which was probably the
session I was most interested in. Indeed if would be nice if more effort was made to
I have one criticism of the talks schedule appeal to the ‘thinking fan’.
nternational
an Expo
otebook
Will Cooling was on location at the UFC International
Fan Expo, here is his notebook of what was the biggest weekend in British Mixed Martial Arts history.
hotos Credits Zuffa, LLC
Saturday - Lorenzo Ferttita Question & Answer Session:
Whatever Dana White can do his longtime best friend and (whisper it) boss can
do, with Lorenzo Ferttita taking the stage
to answer questions from the fans. His
manner is more laidback and businesslike
than White, answering question smoothly
without ever connecting with the fans in
the way that White does. Some interesting newsbits from the Q&A include the
UFC plan to make their Toronto debut in
April at the Toronto Centre, that the UFC
will return to Abu Dhabi but earlier in the
year to avoid the beginning of the sum-
mer and that Ben Henderson may fight in Daley landed on the American. White said
the UFC. Also raised again was the issue that he never wanted to see Daley back
of Paul Daley.
in the UFC although Ferttita refused to go
that far. When the issue was first raised,
Hot Topic – Paul Daley: Both Dana
the pro-Daley questioner received a huge
White and Lorenzo Ferttita were pressed cheer but White was able to turn the fans
about the possibility of British welterin favor of his position by the end of the
weight Paul Daley being allowed to make exchange. I personally was surprised to
a return to the UFC. White was clear that see such support for Daley as what he did
he felt that Daley’s behavior after the Josh at UFC 113 undoubtedly crossed the line
Koscheck fight was uniquely despicable, and that transgression was compounded
saying that he felt “sick to my stomach” by the way he handled the immediate
thinking about the sucker punch that
aftermath.
Both Days – Freebies and Future Shows:
Both Q&A sessions with the men in
charge of the UFC were dominated by
fans asking for freebies or when the
promotion would be coming to their
town. The first is a surreal experience, I
can’t think of a single sport where fans
queue up and try to score free tickets off
the President or CEO let alone ask if they
can sit next to them for a fight. I mean
can you imagine a Manchester United fan
daring to ask Sir Alex Ferguson whether
he could sit next to him in the dug-out
at the next home game? No, me neither!
It of course speaks volumes about the
both Irish and Scottish fans and promised that they would try to get to both
countries sometime in 2011. Indeed the
possibility of a Scottish event was part of
one of the underlying stories of both Q&A
sessions, which was that the UFC is keen
to run several Fight Night style events in
On future shows, we learnt that Brathe UK (maybe as many as eight or ten).
zil and France are the most likely new
Talking to UFC UK President Marshal
countries to have Zuffa events in next
Zelaznik after UK 120 he confirmed that
year while Italy and South Korea are
earmarked for possible expansion in the this was something the organization was
working on and that they hope to be able
medium-term, while a return to Japan
to make an announcement within ninety
unlikely to happen anytime soon. White
mentioned that he had been harassed by days.
unique bond that Dana White has managed to build between the UFC and its
hardcore fanbase, a bond that encourages fans to identify with the company
and closely follow all its events.
Saturday – Close of Fan Expo:
Technically the Fan Expo closes
with the Jon Jones Q&A although the activities apparently
take time to die down afterwards. Having already been bitten by the London traffic I leave
immediately after Jones finishes
talking, so leaving plenty of
time to arrive at the O2 Arena.
Unfortunately the UFC crew is
less able to take such preventive steps and so predictably
get stuck in traffic on their way
from the main hotel to the UFC
120 venue. Unbeknownst to
fans, this causes the fights to be
delayed by around an hour as
the UFC plays catch up. By the
seat of their pants they manage
to get the event up and running
and 17,133 fans get to see out
their Saturday evening by enjoying the UK’s only slice of UFC
action in 2010.
Alastair Overeem
From MMA to K-1: Can Overeem Do It?
For the past seventeen years in the Far
East, K-1 has been solidified as one of
main ways to truly test yourself in the
world of combat sports. Their “Super
Bowl” of events is the K-1 World Grand
Prix, which is a sixteen-man elimination style tournament to determine
the K-1 World Grand Prix Champion.
Throughout its seventeen years, history
has proven that whenever mixed martial
artists enter the K-1 World Grand Prix,
things don’t seem to go their way.
success in MMA.
One man has the opportunity to defy
history and become the first K-1 World
Grand Prix Champion while simultaneously holding a MMA Heavyweight
Title. Allistair Overeem has bulldozed
through his competition so far in the
K-1 World Grand Prix, showing amazing
improvement since his last bouts with
K-1. Currently the Strikeforce Heavyweight Champion, Overeem is scheduled to take on Tyrone Spong in December. A victory there will take him one
step closer to become the World Grand
Prix Champion. Join me as I break down
and analyze why I think this year, Allistair Overeem is the favorite to win the
K-1 World Grand Prix.
By Jon Kirschner Photo Credit: Strikeforce
in 2009, it’s his composure. Throughout his stint in the 2009 tournament,
Overeem lost his patience and composure multiple times after smelling
the blood and attempting to go in for
the kill. It proved to be successful up
until his matchup against Badr Hari
in the semi-finals. You could see the
buildup for the fight had clearly gone
to Overeem’s head, whether it made
him overconfident or nervous, and you
could just see anxiety pour out with
every wild haymaker. One of those
wild haymakers caused his first knockdown with over a minute to go in the
fight, which usually leads to two more
knockdowns and a loss in K-1. When he
re-emerged in the tournament in 2010,
you could see how much Overeem had
evolved in such a short amount of time.
Even though there are a decent handful
of mixed martial artists who have tested
themselves in the Grand Prix, they have
seen little-to-no success. In a sense,
comparing MMA to K-1 is the equivalent of comparing MMA to Boxing; they
are two completely different sciences.
For example, much like MMA fighters
Striking: If there is one thing that Alusually don’t fare well in the world of
listair Overeem has improved on since
Overeem’s bouts against Ben Edwards
K-1, K-1 fighters haven’t seen much
his appearance at the World Grand Prix and Dzevad Poturak were his most
impressive performances to date, both
throughout his K-1 and MMA career. In
his fight against Ben Edwards, Overeem
let Edwards be the aggressor, which
gave Overeem the chance to look for
openings. The fight ended in the first
round after Overeem dissected and embarrassed Edwards, knocking him down
three times in a row with right hooks
or overhand rights. Edwards’ non-stop
flurry of striking never got to the head
of Overeem, which led to him being
able to stick to his game plan and keep
his composure.
Blocking/Defense: In the defensive
world of mixed martial arts, Allistair
Overeem would have to worry about
sprawling, submission defense, and
blocking strikes. In K-1, however, all
he simply has to worry about is blocking strikes. Allistair has always been
phenomenal and checking low-kicks,
but his weakness was always blocking
punches. Using his fight against Hari as
an example again, whenever Hari would
throw an onslaught of kicks and punches, Overeem would do one technique
right, and another horribly wrong. He
would block the strikes with his gloves
and forearms, but the part where things
when downhill for him was when he
would back away from his opponent,
opening the distance. A huge part of
any striking combat is finding your
distance; if you find your distance, you
have the upper-hand. When Overeem
was always backing away without
looking what his opponent was doing,
it was easy for them to telegraph what
Overeem’s next move was.
his advantage. Dzevad Poturak, much
like Hari, was the aggressor. Instead of
blocking the strikes and backing away,
Overeem blocked the strikes and closed
the distance, pressing and cornering Poturak multiple times. Inside the distance,
the significantly stronger Overeem had
the advantage and with his newfound
composure and patience, clocked
Poturak with a punch and knocked him
out with a knee for the victory.
In his most recent fight against Ben
Edwards, Overeem patched up that one
With the recent improvement in his
huge flaw in his game and used it to
striking and defense, Allistair Overeem
has all the tools to become the K-1
World Grand Prix Champion in 2010.
While Overeem has just recently found
his K-1 flow, Semmy Schilt has been
the king of K-1 for a very long time. In
order to take the title home, Overeem
has to get past Semmy Schilt. Much
like Overeem and Hari’s match back
in 2009, the build-up and anticipation
may make this the most exciting fight in
K-1 history. Let’s just hope Overeem is
confident enough to keep his cool this
time.
upcoming events
Pancrase - Passion Tour 10
November 3, 2010
Differ Ariake,
Tokyo, Japan
UFC 122 - Marquardt vs. Okami
November 13, 2010
Konig Pilsener Arena,
Oberhausen, Germany
Heat - Heat 16
November 6, 2010
Zepp Osaka,
Osaka, Japan
Strikeforce - Challengers 12
November 19, 2010
Jackson Convention Complex
Jackson, Mississippi, United States
Brazilian Fight League 9
November 6, 2010
Curitiba, Parana, Brazil
UFC 123 - Rampage vs. Machida
November 20, 2010
The Palace of Auburn Hills,
Auburn Hills, Michigan, United States
Raging Wolf 10 - Mayhem in the Mist 5
November 6, 2010
Seneca Niagara Casino and Hotel,
Niagara Falls, New York, United States
WEC 52 - Faber vs. Mizugaki
November 11, 2010
Palms Casino Resort,
Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Universal Reality Combat Championship 18
November 13, 2010
A-Venue Events Hall,
Makati City, National Capital Region, Philippines
MMA Big Show - The Uprising
November 27, 2010
Belterra Casino Resort and Spa,
Florence, Indiana, United States
K-1 Scandinavia - Rumble of the Kings
November 27, 2010
Hovet Arena,
Stockholm, Stockholm County, Sweden
GCM - Cage Force 20
November 28, 2010
Differ Ariake,
Tokyo, Japan
Scrapp! Trainer of the Month:
Trevor Wittman
By: Josh Davis
Photo Credit Trevor Wittman
Wittman is one of the most humble and well
respected trainers in the business. He is able
to bring the best out of the people around
him. He makes average fighters good, good
fighters great and great fighters champions.
He has trained numerous champions in numerous divisions in numerous organizations
but his success has not gone to his head.
You can still walk into Grudge Training CenAfter training Ludwig, Wittman’s gym
ter and find him sitting in his office taking
began to take shape. Combined with the
time out of his day to talk strategy with any
notoriety of the Ludwig win, Wittman’s
one who asks and some days he spends all
fight knowledge, easy going attitude and
teaching ability caused fighters to be drawn of his free time with the fans. Wittman is
Wittman grew up in Denver, and wrestled
to him. Fighters were coming from all over even currently writing a training curriculum
during high school as well as trained in
that he plans to share with other trainers to
boxing. After he left high school, Wittman the world to train and learn from him and
began to compete in boxing until an injury eventually a few of them would make T’s KO help improve the sport of mixed martial arts.
forced him out of the sport that he loved. It their permanent training facility. He was rewas at this time the he decided that he was ceiving so many requests that he eventually Grudge Training Center is home to some of
going to start training fighters and boxing’s had to start turning some fighters away.
the best fighters in the world and numerous
loss has been MMA’s gain. Wittman first
champions; behind all of them is Trevor WitIn September of 2009 Wittman changed
opened up T’s KO gym and began to work
tman. Wittman brings a style of teaching
the name of his gym from T’s KO to Grudge and training that many fighters can relate
with and train boxers. Wittman found his
true calling and began to train some of the Training Center. He changed the name
to. He is able to break down his opponents
to match part of his training philosophy.
best boxers in the world.
and come up with effective game plans for
Wittman says that every fighter enters the
his fighters. Fighters that train under Witoctagon with a grudge and he wanted his
2003 would be a year that would change
tman have access to one of the best mixed
training to reflect that. The second part
not only Wittman’s career but his life.
martial arts trainers of our times and will
of his philosophy that made him want to
Duane “Bang” Ludwig, a rising star in the
sport of mixed martial arts, asked Wittman change the name was he wants everything immediately be one step closer to reaching a championship. It is this type of ability
to help him with his boxing for an upcoming to be about the team and not about him
that will continue to make Grudge Training
fight with Jens Pulver at UFC 12. With the and in order for that to be the case he
Center one of the elite training camps in all
needed to change the name.
boxing tutelage and fight game plan from
Wittman, Ludwig knocked Pulver out in just
of mixed martial arts.
Behind every great fighter, behind every
great fight team, and behind every great
fight camp is a great trainer and Grudge
Training Center in Wheat Ridge, Colorado
has one of the best in mixed martial arts,
Trevor Wittman. Wittman is the gym owner
and head trainer to some of the best fighters in the world like Shane Carwin, Rashad
Evans, Nate Martquardt, Brendan Schaub,
as well as many more. In total Wittman has
over 30 fighters that train at Grudge Training Center.
over one minute of the very first round. It
was at this point that Wittman knew his true
calling was to train mixed martial arts fighters. Wittman stopped training boxers and
began to focus all of his attention on mixed
martial arts. T’s KO gym started on the path
of becoming one of the best mixed martial
arts gyms in the country.
Videogame
Wars Part 3.
By Shawn Smith Photo Credits EA Sports
and THQ
EA Sports vs THQ Who will get the Loin’s share?
“I’m not tap-dancing around this thing game industry.
game featured updated striking, cage
or whatever. I’m telling you straight up,
I’m at war with them right now. That’s In the spring of 2009 the UFC, in ashow I look at it.”
sociation with Toy Head-Quarters (THQ),
released “UFC Undisputed 2009.” The
Never one to hide his feelings, UFC
game featured unparalleled realism
president Dana White has been quite
with advanced striking positions, bone
outspoken against Electronic Arts (EA) wrenching submissions and clinch work
Sports. They decided against signing
never before seen in the video game
with the UFC in favour of a more wide- world. It was far superior to anything
spread game that features talent from the UFC had released to date, and in
all over the world, a decision White was most people’s eyes the best mixed marnot fine with.
tial arts game to date.
White says what he thinks and does as
he pleases, for better or worse. This has
lent itself well to the cutthroat business
approach the UFC has adopted since
the Zuffa era began.
Safe to say, the game arrived to rave reviews. In a press release from February,
game developers THQ announced that
the critically acclaimed title had shipped
3.5 million copies.
Now, the war between the UFC and
the rest of the mixed martial arts world
has reached a new platform: The video
In May 2010, the UFC released their
second videogame under the THQ label
entitled UFC Undisputed 2010. The
work and all new submissions.
The game has for the most part, received lackluster reviews. A consistent
problem with online-play, as well as
a submission system that has proven
overly difficult to master has left fans
unpleased with the final product.
To the rescue comes the new release
from EA Sports. EA MMA, scheduled
for an Oct. 19 release, will be the first
game to feature Randy Couture, and
the first North American released videogame to feature “The Last Emperor”
Fedor Emelianenko.
On Sept. 28, EA Sports released the
demo for this highly anticipated release.
The demo featured heavyweights Bobby
Lashley and Alistair Overeem, as well as
middleweights Jake Shields and Mayhem Miller.
EA has responded to White’s attack
with one directed at UFC Executive Vice
The game has received mostly positive President Don Gold.
reviews since its release. The simplified
controls and lack of overall complexity A commercial released by EA quotes
have left some disappointed, but the
Gold as saying “…there is nothing in
advanced ground game, complex list of that game (EA Sports MMA) that would
submissions, and extraordinary striking entice me or anyone I know that’s an
have more than made up for it.
MMA fan to buy it.” The commercial
goes on to list the numerous features
White’s threat that anyone signing with the game has that are not available in
the game would face a permanent ban the UFC game. Included in the list are
from the UFC may have proven idle with the numerous international venues,
the signings of Vladimir Matyushenko
Japanese and Vale Tudo style rules, and
and Jake Shields, but the war between a list of legendary trainers that includes
the two games is anything but.
Pat Militech, Rickson Gracie, Randy
Couture, and Bas Rutten.
Without the star power of the UFC,
no one is quite sure what to expect
for sales out of this release. Many of
the biggest stars from Strikeforce and
Dream make an appearance in the
game, but they clearly do not have the
drawing power of a Brock Lesnar, Anderson Silva, or Georges St. Pierre.
With UFC Undisputed 2010 not doing
as well as expected, the market is up for
grabs. EA MMA will be looking to capture those disillusioned with the UFC,
and cash in on their falter.
Lyoto Machida and Quinton “Rampage” Jackson will meet
at UFC 123 in what is a must win fight for both. While
this fight has potential to be great, in many ways it is a bad
match up for both fighters. Both fighters must stick to their
strengths and stay with their game plans in order to win.
These are the three keys to victory for each fighter:
could end the fight with one punch at any time.
Counter punching: While Rampage is not the world’s
best counter puncher, he is effective in his counter strikes.
Jackson is able to use his power and punching speed to
effectively counter strike and make people pay when they
Machida’s karate style has posed problems for everyone he miss. He has knocked out several opponents with counter
has faced, but to beat Rampage, he must take advantage of punches.
his foot work, speed, and counter punching ability.
In order to win both fighters must stay within their strengths
Footwork: Machida has excellent foot work which allows
and stick to their game plans. If either fighter gets out of
him to move around very well and set up his punches as well
their comfort zone and gets away from what they do best
as his kicks.
then it could be a long night. The fighter who is best able to
utilize his strongest skills and capitalize on the other’s weakSpeed: Machida will certainly have the speed advantage
against Jackson and he will need to capitalize on it. Machi- nesses will most likely come out on top.
da will need to use his speed to elude Jackson and not allow
Jackson’s stalking style to cut the ring in half. He will also
need to use his speed to set up his strikes.
SIDE BAR
Counter Punching: Machida is the better counter puncher With both fighters coming off of losses, this is a must win
situation for each if they want to get back into title contenin this match up. He will need to make Jackson pay every
time he misses and use his counter punching to dictate the tion. Machida lost the light heavyweight title to Mauricio
pace of the fight. His counter punching will also help him
“Shogun” Rua at UFC 113 by a devastating knockout and
set up the rest of the strikes in his arsenal.
Jackson lost to Rashad Evans at UFC 114, costing him a
chance to fight for the title. Machida suffered not only the
Jackson is a very aggressive fighter with excellent punching
first lost of his career, it was also the only time he has ever
power and good counter punching as well. He will need to
been knocked out. He will want to show the world that he
utilize these if he is going to victorious.
has recovered from that loss and is ready to contend for the
title again. When Jackson lost to Evans he had not fought
Stay aggressive: Jackson is a very aggressive fighter and he
likes to move forward and stalk his opponents to set up his in thirteen months and it showed. In addition to the obvistrikes. He will need to stay aggressive and constantly attack ous ring rust, Jackson looked slow and confused against the
Machida so that he can fight his fight and dictate the pace. speed of Evans. Jackson will need to prove that he can deal
with quicker, more elusive fighters if he is going to climb
Punching power: Jackson will have the advantage with
back to the top of the light heavyweight division. No matpunching power in this fight and he will need to capitalize
ter how this fight plays out, both Machida and Jackson will
on it if he is going to win. While Machida has knockout
power, Jackson has knockout power in both hands and
leave everything in the cage on their quests back to the top.
Carbs or Protein?
Part 2
by Mary Bell, the Fight Dietitian
Last month you read about carbs in the
diet, so this month it’s time to address
the protein issue. You were shown
last month that carbs are the body’s
primary fuel source. Every cell in the
body needs carbohydrate (in the form
of glucose) to operate. All carbs that
you eat are broken down into glucose.
The rice, the pasta, the tsp of sugar,
the whole wheat bagel……they all get
converted to GLUCOSE. Now, as long
as this is happening, the protein that
you eat is available to do other things
in the body. Protein is used for lots of
“maintenance” items: Growing new
hair, repairing muscle, making transport
proteins (like hemoglobin), making enzymes, hormones, white blood cells and
so much more! There are two functions
that are NOT on the list of things for
protein to do. Did you notice? The first
one is that protein is not used to BUILD
muscle. Now don’t pass out. Just listen.
It is true that muscle is made up of
protein. You do need protein to repair
muscle, but eating protein does not
add size to the muscle. The only thing
that adds size is EXERCISE, or stretching the muscle fibers. You have to have
carbs to fuel the exercise. The second
thing that protein is really not supposed
to be doing is providing a fuel source
for the body. Remember, the carbs are
supposed to be doing that. Protein CAN
be used as an energy source, but only
when carb intake is too low. It’s important to note that protein still has to
be converted to glucose in order to be
used as energy, and that is a much more
inefficient process. Think about it……
do you even WANT to burn protein
for energy? The answer is NO. When
the diet is mostly protein, you tend to
feel sluggish and tired. That’s because
the body just isn’t designed to operate
efficiently when it’s burning protein. It’s
also really hard to get enough calories
by eating mostly protein. That means
the body has to break down some of its
own protein to make up the shortage.
Muscle and organs are made of protein,
so they get broken down. Not such a
good idea, huh? The idea is to preserve
muscle, not break it down for energy.
The way you preserve muscle is by eating enough carbs, with enough protein.
So how much is enough? A simple rule
of thumb for figuring out your protein needs is the following: Take your
weight in pounds and divide it by 2.2.
This gives you your weight in kilograms.
Now take that number and multiply it
by 1.5. The answer you get is about the
maximum amount of protein you need
in one day.
For example, if you weigh 185lbs your
weight in kilograms is 84 kg. If you multiply that by 1.5 you will get 126. This
means your protein intake should not
be more than 126 g/day. Your minimum
would be the same as your weight in kilograms. Your protein range is 84-126g
protein. This is EASILY accomplished
through a balanced diet, and doesn’t
require the use of supplements. So,
what is the danger of eating too much
protein? Well, if you are eating plenty
of calories and are supplementing with
additional protein, you actually run the
risk of gaining fat weight. You really
want to make sure you are only eating
what you actually need. If you aren’t
sure, or would like help putting together a diet that has the correct balance
of carbs and protein, get a customized
meal plan. You will wonder why you
didn’t do it sooner.
Questions and comments are always
welcome. Contact me directly at Mary@
rudog.net
Written by Mary Bell, the Fight Dietitian
Scrapp! Fight Magazine:
Fighter of the Month!
Gustavo Falciroli
By Justin Faux Photo Credit Gustavo Falciroli
Gustavo Falciroli is one of the rising
stars in the world of Mixed Martial Arts;
he has taken on some of the best in his
home land of Australia as well as Japan.
Gustavo is currently riding a two fight
win streak heading into arguably the
biggest fight of his career thus far on
November 19th – Gustavo has the
opportunity to capture the Shooto
Pan-Pacific Lightweight Championship
however in his way stands Taiki Tsuchiya, a Japanese stand out with explosive
power in his hands.
Gustavo took some time out of his busy so my mother brought me a gi as a gift.
training schedule to talk with me about
life and his fighting career.
You have a black belt in jiu-jitsu,
when did you get your black belt
Lets start at the beginning, when
and who gave it to you?
did you begin training?
13 December 2003 from my coaches
In December of 1996 I began training in Roberto Tozi and Roberto Godoi.
Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Outside of yourself, who do you
What were your biggest influences see as the best prospects based in
in beginning your training?
Australia?
Too many fights on the soccer field I
A lot of guys are very good but the best
guess, jiu-jitsu was there for me to do
right now is George Sotiropoulos, he is
doing very well for Australia over in the be a Champion.
UFC.
Have you had any offers to compete
What was it like competing in Jaover in the United States?
pan?
No, not yet – Right now I am not trying
It was pretty good, the crowd is the big to, I am focused on Japan at the modifference – they are a lot more apment because I don’t have the name
preciative, they respect you as a fighter value over in the United States. I just
more and realize this is your job, its very love to fight, but people need to know
different. The people over there are very me there before I go over there.
friendly, open to helping you out.
I recently read that you are a father,
Your next bout is in Japan on Nowhat’s it like being a dad?
vember 19th for the Shooto PanYeah, I recently had my second son and
Pacific Lightweight Championship, its great having a family – they are the
who are you fighting and tell us a
best part of my life, one reason I fight is
little about them.
to provide for them and make sure they
He’s another guy out there moving
have a good life.
their way up the ranks, trying to get
their name out there. He is a very good You have a number of impressive
striker, I feel this will be a good fight for victories over some of the toughest
me. Taiki Tsuchiya defeated Issei Tamura in your weight class, who has been
who was the last person to beat me so your biggest test to date?
it will be interesting.
All of them have been hard to fight; the
hardest would be against Akiyo Nishiura
How do you feel you match up
mainly because of the situation. Winagainst Taiki Tsuchiya and what are ning that fight would be a big step to
your keys to victory?
getting my name out there in Japan.
I don’t worry about the result, I do my Growing up in Brazil I saw Shooto and
best at the gym while training and do
over there its very well respected and I
my best to be prepared properly for my wanted to go there to prove myself.
opponent. I just want to go out there
and do my best, as long as I do that’s all Where do you see the sport of
that matters.
mixed martial arts going in the next
10 to 15 years?
Training for the fight is the hardest part, I think its coming along nicely, in fifteen
when you get in there and do it that’s
years from no w people will be more
just the fun part.
educated to the sport and understand it
more. People will understand that this is
For the folks out there who have
a job and we all have families to provide
never heard of you, tell them why
for, its not just people punching each
they should watch your upcoming
other for no reason.
title fight.
I’m going to do a good job – if people Over time bad publicity will stop when
want to watch me they will see me fight people understand more, just like Ausmy heart out, I’ve trained very hard for tralian Rules football or Cricket or any
fight day and I will put forward my best sport the fighters and the sport will get
effort to please the fans.
more respected over time when more
people understand it.
Winning a Championship in Japan
would put you in demand for some How long will it be until we can
of the larger MMA organization is
open a newspaper in Australia and
Japan, who would you like to face
see an MMA story on the front
in either DREAM or Sengoku?
cover?
I don’t care who I face in these organi- Probably ten years from now, it could
zations, I just want to be there and be be shorter but really people don’t like it
a good fighter. My dream is to fight in that much at the moment. Its still a long
Sengoku or DREAM in japan, I want to journey until its accepted and people
keep fighting on the big shows, the end understand its not just violence, its
results are irrelevant.
competition.
the ring.
With the new found popularity of
fellow Australian George Sotiropoulos, do you see MMA becoming a
huge thing in our home land?
No, its still far from that, MMA is coming out of Australia so it will take some
time for people to get interested in it
but we’re on our way and we will get
there.
Who have been your biggest supporters from the beginning?
The two main people are Myles Young
and Habby Heske – they helped get me
into the country and are always supporting me and helping to make my life
easier. From there I met lots of friendly
people, the entire Australian community
have been kind and helped me out in
some sort of way, I guess I have to than
the entire Australian community for
helping me and letting me do my job.
What is your dream fight? That
dream opponent or a fight you
would love to watch as a fan?
Any opponent, I just want to be on the
big shows against the big names. If I
get t here one day it will be a part of my
dream and I want to be the Champion.
I am not choosy, I am willing to fight
anyone to be the best.
As a fan, I always liked to watch Rickson
Gracie but I want to watch the upcoming fight between Vitor Belfort and
Anderson Silva – its good to see two
Brazilian fighters, will be a good fight.
Lets take a look into the future,
where is Gustavo Falciroli five years
from now?
I would love to keep fighting MMA, my
life is good right now – I get to do what
I love to do and make a living for it, I
hope to keep doing it. I always believed
that if you keep doing your job well
you’ll always get more out of life so I
will continue doing that.
Before we finish up, is there anything else you would like to say
Gustavo?
At the end of the day I want to be the It’s much safer to fight in a ring than at I would like to quickly thank my sponbest and be the champion so I will face a bar or a night club, people don’t bring sors Mill Gym, Tween Shoes, Yelo Shop
anyone, you can’t pick and choose to
and Scandium Financial.
weapons or bottles when you fight in