Flashback: A Bunch of Random Stuff in My Camera!

NEW YORK

Usually I'm very meticulous about keeping track of articles and photos. Everything has clearly labeled folders marked with dates and places, so if I need to go back and look for something, it's easy to find. But then I got a new camera and promptly loaned it out, and now... disarray! Anyway, here are a bunch of pics from, gosh, a lot of different things. And since I can't figure out which folder it all belongs in, you're getting it in one mishmash of New York combat sports. Enjoy!

Attention UFC: The Kung Fu Community Wants Its Octagonal Shape Back

UFC

I have no words.

None.

Just watch the video.

NYFE 2: "Ides of March" Preview, Part 1

NEW YORK

The New York Fight Exchange's second show is on Saturday, and if their sophomore effort is anything like the first one, the Amazura Concert Hall in Jamaica, Queens is going to be packed with fans cheering on some very entertaining fights.

Now, given that the NYFE event is the next big MMA show on tap for New York City, it deserves some preview coverage. However, the nature of the amateur beast is such that giving a detailed breakdown of the card and its fighters could be an exercise in futility - amateur fighters aren't pros, so they could fail to make weight, fail a pre-fight physical, or even just not show up, thereby rendering a carefully-crafted preview moot.

Instead, I'm going to post some vids of the fighters who will likely (hopefully!) be in the cage come fight night. Watch them in action here, and get psyched to see them on Saturday.

Did Eduardo Dantas Cheat to Beat Anthony Leone?

BELLATOR

So New Yorker Anthony Leone lost in his bid to dethrone champ Eduardo Dantas at Bellator 111 on Friday night, and the win came via a pretty slick transition to back-mount and rear naked choke. But Leone's teammate Brian Kelleher raises a very good point...

Sunday Link Dump - 3.9.14

NEW YORK

I've been working on a longform piece for Fightland that involves digging up some links about New York MMA and the whole Culinary Union mess, so today's link dump pertains to stuff about that. Read them and weep. Literally.

• Since the Culinary Union has been so vocal about how they feel the UFC is evil, Zuffa struck back with this nice little webpage.
• There isn't much by way of direct evidence or smoking gun that ties the anti-MMA effort to the Culinary Union, and according to Pete Lampasona, the whole union angle is a red herring. However, I can say that I've spoken to a few high-ranking insiders off the record, and to them the union influence is real.
• In case you wanted to know how the ban came about, you should read this.

Observations From My Couch: UFC Fight Night "Gustafsson vs. Manuwa"

UFC

• Solid win by Louis Gaudinot, but did Phil Harris not know he was capable of that guillotine? The dude had won with that move twice before, and had threatened opponents with it many times. Come on, Phil, watch some tape.
• Igor Araujo, Danny Mitchell, Claudio Silva and Brad Scott only got to fight in the UFC because Bellator hasn't come to the UK yet and therefore doesn't need local scrubs for prelim bouts.
• Keep feeding Luke Barnatt nobodies and he'll keep looking good.
• Ilir Latifi versus Pat Cummins - make it so!
• Gunnar Nelson looked fantastic on the ground. On the feet, he looked the very opposite of fantastic.
• How old is Brad Pickett? The dude looks to be about 60. Is that a result of the hard Pikey life?
• I love a good fighter rebirth, and therefore enjoy seeing Michael Johnson's slow climb out of the depths of ignominy and into the world of ass-kickery.
• Remind me again why Alexander Gustafsson didn't get an immediate rematch with Jon Jones?

Flashback: Elite Cage Challenge - 3.17.13

NEW YORK

Promoting ain't easy, which is the lesson learned from Elite Cage Challenge's March 17, 2013 show - a show that had serious trouble finding a venue when their first choice gave them the boot after realizing that there would be some fights in a cage (duh!). But this ECC event still managed to come to fruition, and the action was solid.

Northeast MMA Vet Jay Hieron Retires

NEW YORK

Jay Hieron announced his retirement from MMA competition yesterday, and the move caps off a pretty amazing career that began right here in the Northeast nearly ten years ago.

Jus wanna say Thank you to my family,friends, & fans. I'm Officially Retiring from Professional Fighting today!
— Jay Hieron (@Jayhieron) March 7, 2014

Hieron, a.k.a. "The Thoroughbred", made four appearances in the Octagon, and though he never managed to get a "W" there, he did fight against the likes of Georges St. Pierre, Jake Ellenberger and Tyron Woodley. He also was a regular in the IFL, and fought in Bellator, Strikeforce and the WEC.

From the Archives: Matt Serra in 1997

MATT SERRA

Fact: Matt Serra's accomplishments in jiu-jitsu and MMA make up much of the foundation upon which Northeast MMA is built upon. Also fact: BAMA Fight Night was pretty much the only place for MMA fights in the late '90s and early '00s, so of course the twain would inevitably meet.

I'm about 90% sure the following video is of Matt fighting in a BAMA Fight Night. The clues include a very mullett-ed referee that looks like Big Dan Miragliotta, a venue so intimate you're practically on top of the action, and that fact that this vid is from 1997.

The Long and Winding Road of Anthony Leone

BELLATOR

It's a wonderful thing when you can look at the very beginning of a fighter's career and then look at where they're at now and the only thing you can say is "Wow, that's crazy!" Such is the case with Anthony Leone, who had his first MMA fight ever at an UCL event at a grungy boxing gym in the South Bronx back in 2006, yet through a series of happy accidents is fighting in the main event of Bellator 111 tonight, taking on bantamweight champ Eduardo Dantas for the belt. You know what that is?

THAT'S CRAZY!

Leone's career has certainly been a long and winding one with more than a few ups and downs. His first loss was in the WEC, against future UFC champ Renan Barao, and over the course of seven fights in 2010 and 2011, he went 2-5. But the New Yorker kept at it, and in his five fights since 2012 began, he's only lost once.

I'm not going to speculate on Leone's chances against Dantas, but I will tell you what that first fight back in November of 2006 was like. Come with me for a stroll down memory lane...

UFC 170 Highlights: Now With More Drama

UFC


Nothing says "drama" like slow-motion replays dubbed with orchestral music that begins with ghostly wailing - which is what the below UFC 170 highlight video contains. Seriously, watch this thing and tell me it doesn't remind you of about a million over-produced NFL videos that play in constant loops on Sundays during football season. I feel like it's almost a religious statement or something.

Jesse McBroom - Long Island's No-Nonsense Scrapper

NEW YORK

For some, stepping into the cage against a tough opponent is an almost insurmountable task that requires the kind of guts and ability that can only be mustered with weeks of preparation.

Jesse McBroom scoffs at that notion. 

For him, it's all about just getting in there and throwing down - which is what he intends to do on March 15, when he squares off against the New York Fight Exchange's welterweight champ Jerome Mickle at NYFE's "Ides of March" show. Jesse, who, alongside Bobby Campbell, runs a fight school in Copiague on Long Island, is taking the fight on 10 days notice. That's a testament to both his confidence and the depth of his combative sports resume.

Flashback: Cage Fury Fighting Championship 15

NEW JERSEY


The Cage Fury Fighting Championship has done some remarkable things in its time on Earth (Kimbo Slice's first fight, anyone?), and now they're experiencing a period of pretty decent growth, putting on shows in New Jersey and Pennsylvania with great frequency.

In honor of their success, here's a stroll down memory lane: pics from a show they did in June of 2012.

Watch Alexander Gustafsson Do His Thing

UFC

Alexander Gustafsson is headlining UFC Fight Night 38 this weekend, so to get you prepared for the violence he'll likely bring, here's a video of him in action. Enjoy!

One on One with Carlos Brooks, TSMMA's Quiet Warrior

NEW YORK

He may have a career in the cage that's seen some ups and downs, but Carlos Brooks is living the dream. After all, he gets to train and train others - two things he loves - and he earns a living doing it.

I sat down with Carlos when I visited the new Manhattan TSMMA school last week (where he teaches), and as his students buzzed about preparing for class, the Ring of Combat and Bellator veteran talked of his goals, his son, and his recovery from the eye injury he sustained when he fought Tom DeBlass last April.

Check out the interview below.

Mickle vs. McBroom to Headline NYFE March 15 Show

NEW YORK

The next big MMA show in New York City will be the New York Fight Exchange's March 15 event, and though they've had to work to find a suitable opponent for welterweight champ Jerome Mickle, it seems they finally have one that will make for one heck of a main event contest.

Mickle will be defending his belt against veteran fighter Jesse McBroom.

UFC Fight Pass: Great for Watching UFCs at Odd Times

UFC

UFC Fight Pass has a wealth of videos from old MMA events in its library, but the greatest thing about the new online subscription service are the live events that are broadcast on it - events that take place in countries with vastly different time zones and therefore vastly different start time for the shows. Last week, we got to watch the TUF: China Finale (which took place in Macau) at 6:20am on Saturday morning; this Saturday it will be a Fight Night in London at 12:30pm. After years of being conditioned to expect UFC action on Saturday nights, these events at odd hours are a nice change of pace.

Anyway, here's a preview vid for Saturday's UFC.

Jimmie Rivera on Aljamain Sterling: "I Don't Even Think He's That Good"

NEW YORK

To hear Jimmie Rivera tell it, Aljamain Sterling isn't all that.

At a visit to the Tiger Schulmann MMA school in Manhattan last week, The MMA Journalist sat down with the Bellator and WSOF veteran and talked with Rivera about his past, present and future. Rivera - who had just taught a kids' class and was about to teach a class full of adults - spoke of his TUF 14 loss to eventual runner-up Dennis Bermudez, as well as his goals in the sport. But one fighter on the UFC's roster drew much of Rivera's ire, a local fighter who Rivera claims twice turned down fights with him before the UFC called him up.

That fighter was Team Serra/Longo rep Sterling. Not long ago Rivera had pegged Sterling as someone who, if he beat him in the New Jersey regional circuit, would be his ticket back to the Octagon - a destination Rivera has been hoping to reach since before he won belts in King of the Cage and Ring of Combat.

Get to Know Bernardo Cano, One of New York City's MMA Champs

NEW YORK

While you were sleeping, New York's MMA scene was churning out amateur shows and crowning champs. One such champ is Bernardo Cano, who earned his welterweight belt in November at the last Golden MMA Championships with a pretty nice guillotine. Are you feeling a little left out because you didn't know this? Well, here's a video on Bernardo to help bring you up to speed.

Sunday Link Dump - 3.2.14

NEW YORK

If a tree falls in the woods and no one is around to hear it, it still makes a sound. Such is the case with fighting in New York - even if I'm not there to cover it, it's still going on. Therefore, here are some links to stuff I did not cover, as well as things that are simply just relevant to The MMA Journalist is about. Consider it your Sunday reading assignment.

• There was a Friday Night Fights kickboxing show at the Broad Street Ballroom and Bauzen was there to snap quality pics.
• Andrew Leone had his first fight in the UCL, now the New Yorker fights in ONE FC in Singapore. Pretty cool, huh? 
• Oh look, another amateur MMA show, this one taking place upstate.
• In case you're a numbers person, here's some recent polling data on MMA's consumer base.
• Here's an oldie but a goodie by Peter Rugg. It gives some good insight to the NYC fight scene.