Saturday, December 27, 2014

Wednesday, December 24, 2014

Monday, December 22, 2014

Because If You Ain't Wing Chun-ing in Central Park, You Might As Well Go Home

NEW YORK


Wing Chun versus Tae Kwon Do in Central Park - presented without comment:

Grapple at the Garden: Don't Mess With the Wrestlers

NEW YORK


Rule #1: Don't mess with wrestlers.

Rule #2: See Rule #1.

These rules were in full effect at the Team Renzo vs. Team Warren clash at Sunday's Grapple at the Garden, which saw teams fielded by Renzo Gracie and Bellator champ Joe Warren go at it on a mat laid down in the center of the arena at Madison Square Garden.

Thursday, December 18, 2014

Gladius Fights 14 Poster

NEW YORK



A Few More Fights From Saturday's Aggressive Combat Championships 9

NEW YORK


While you were watching Junior Dos Santos and Stipe Miocic kill each other on FOX on Saturday night, I was perched beside the cage at ACC 9, wielding my trusty Galaxy S4 like a futuristic combat correspondent. Curious about what you missed? Then be curious no more!

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Watch Me On the Last East Coast MMA Show Installment of the Year

NEW YORK


It's been an interesting year for New York MMA fans. As a whole, the scene has grown and evolved to the point where there are over 50 events annually, while fighters, camps and even promotions have honed their craft to near perfection - or not. This was the topic of discussion at last night's year-end installment of the East Coast MMA Show, with host Tom Kilkenny and I hashing out the good, the bad and the ugly of 2014.

Monday, December 15, 2014

Aggressive Combat Championships Ends Year With a Bang

NEW YORK


Aggressive Combat Championships ended 2014 with a bang on Saturday night, with their fifth and final installment of the year bringing together two ultra-talented female fighters in the cage and letting them battle it out for a championship title.

In a very competitive three-round war, Jillian DeCoursey and Hannah McGuckin did 115-pound fighters everywhere proud as they struggled to impose their respective wills on each other - and for both ladies, who hail from strong grappling schools, that "will" involved finding the dominant position on the ground. Ultimately, it came down to the third round and who could gain the advantage, and that ended up being DeCoursey, who trapped McGuckin against the cage and rained hell from above.

Friday, December 12, 2014

Thursday, December 11, 2014

Aggressive Combat Championships 9: Tino Nalpantidis Impresses

NEW YORK


Okay, this is the last ACC 9 preview post - I promise. And I'll keep it short: Tino Nalpantidis, East Coast United Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, young up-and-comer. Boom. Watch the video.

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

Aggressive Combat Championships 9 Primer: Watch Out for Pedro Villa

NEW YORK


Once upon a time, if you lived in New York City and had an interest in learning grappling, you either went to Renzo Gracie's academy, dropped by one of the budding boutique jiu-jitsu schools that were sprouting up here and there, or just went to Oishi Judo's open mat night. That was it, and "it" was expensive. But with time there came to be another, less costly option, and it involved shelling out $25 for a year-long New York City Department of Parks & Recreation membership, going to the Hamilton Fish Recreation Center on the Lower East Side, and helping unfurl the mats for Tuesday/Thursday meetings of the Twin Towers Wrestling Club.

Wrestling was, of course, the focus of the club. However, some of the members did work on submissions, and now, with years of training and competition under their belts (plus the infusion of some high-level instruction), they Twin Towers Wrestling Club has some serious badasses.

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Grapple at the Garden Hype Reel

NEW YORK


In less than two weeks, the arena in Madison Square Garden will be packed with wrestlers shooting for takedowns and sprawling like their lives depend upon it, while music blares and extremely partisan sections of the crowd cheer for their respective teams/heroes. To stand on the floor for that is the ultimate in sensory overload, so yeah, The MMA Journalist plans to be there once again for the event. In the meantime, here's a hype reel for us to savor.

Aggressive Combat Championships 9 Primer: The Ascent of Hannah McGuckin

NEW YORK


Kat Morales may have the "top female fighter in all of New York City" spot sewn up, but there's another name worth noting: Hannah McGuckin. McGuckin, of Maxum BJJ, returns to the ACC cage on Saturday night for a main event bout that will pit her against Jillian DeCoursey of East Coast United. Yes, there's a strawweight belt up for grabs. Yes, McGuckin can scrap, so odds are ACC 9 is going to be capped off by a pretty entertaining battle. And yes, I do have video of McGuckin in action.

Watch and enjoy.

Monday, December 8, 2014

Dead Serious MMA 13 Poster

NEW JERSEY



Aggressive Combat Championships 9 Primer: Christian Medina Kicking Ass

NEW YORK


The last big MMA show in New York City for 2014 will be this Saturday's Aggressive Combat Championships 9, which will bring with it all the combative goodness you've come to expect from an ACC event. There are a bunch of reasons why this installment is worthwhile, and they include the polished production, the talent-rich pool of camps that sends competitors into the ACC cage, and the always exciting fights. But instead of laying it all out in boring words, I'm just going to show you a video of one of the fighters on Saturday's card in action. Christian Medina is his name, and here he is, kicking some ass at an ACC in May.

Friday, December 5, 2014

New York Fight Exchange 5 Poster

NEW YORK



Underrated Fighter Finally Gets His Due

NEW YORK


Aaron Sifflet may not have a perfect record, but he's put in the hard work in the gym, fights hard in the cage, and wins when it matters. At Victory VII at Madison Square Garden, he rose to the occasion by tapping out a tough Yuting Hong with an armbar - proving to the world what many already knew: Sifflet is a pretty damn dangerous fighter.

Below is a short video on him. Watch it, absorb it, enjoy it, and gain a little insight on one of the people that makes the New York MMA scene what it is.

Thursday, December 4, 2014

Wednesday, December 3, 2014

The New Jersey Martial Arts Hall of Fame Dinner is Friday

NEW JERSEY


The annual New Jersey Martial Arts Hall of Fame awards dinner is Friday night, and though I won't be attending, I'll be there in spirit. Notable honorees this year include UFC fighters Chris Weidman, Dan Miller and Nick Catone, a badass cageside physician in Dr. Steven Oxler, Frankie Edgar's boxing coach Mark Henry, and MMA pioneer Chris Ligouri. The full list of inductees is below.

Monday, December 1, 2014