Friday, June 10, 2011
Liveblog: CFFC 9 Part 4
Vagner Fernandes vs. Drew Puzon. Huzzah. Puzon was a tough dude back when Reality Fighting and Ring of Combat were the only MMA events New Jersey had to offer, so homeboy is definitely seasoned. At first it looks like Puzon might be in trouble, as Fernandes wields some healthy striking to go with his grappling game. But all it takes is one mistake, and Puzon is soon on Fernandes back, judiciously applying the rear naked choke. Fernandes taps at 3:29 of Round 1. And now it's time for Igor Gracie and Quinton McCottrell to do the dance. McCottrell's first mistake is poking Gracie in the eye with his very first punch. His second mistake is letting Gracie get his hands on him. After a brief recovery period, Gracie comes after his foe and ties him in knots - first with an armbar attempt and then with a guillotine. McCottrell taps at 4:01 of Round 1. Time for Cholish and Massouh. Hoo-ha. Round 1 is a lesson in poise, with Massouh roughing Cholish up a bit on the feet and Cholish firing right back with some technical striking. With jiu-jitsu Yoda John Danaher calmly voicing instructions from outside the cage, Cholish finds Massouh's chin with his right hand, then pounces on the stunned fighter and guillotines him at 2:01 of the second round. Cholish is now the CFFC lightweight champ. And that's it.
Liveblog: CFFC 9 Part 3
Roger Zapata and Mike Wade enter the cage. I know nothing about these guys. Hey, cut me some slack. I'm not omnipotent. The opening frame sees a lot of hugging against the cage. Like, a lot. The last minute, though, is some nice back and forth action on the ground, so that's something, right? Wade manages to put Zapata in some hairy positions in Round 2, and though Zapata escapes, it's easy to see who's racking up points. The final round is all about Wade doggedly getting the takedown and Zapata doggedly punching him from the bottom. Wade takes the unanimous decision. Trevor Suter and Steve Perez are up next. Suter is so mean and aggressive, pitbulls keep him as a pet, so this should be a good one. Sweet Jesus, this one is fast-paced. Perez is on Suter like some kind of angry wrestling demon right off the bat, but they battle back and forth in insane fashion. Round 2 has Perez nailing the slam and catching Suter in a rear naked choke at 1:52 of the frame. Very impressive.
Liveblog: CFFC 9 Part 2
I just ran into legendary female fighter Laura D'Auguste. You might remember her from such classic films as "Oh My God She Killed That Girl!" and "I'm The Best Female Fighter In The World So Kiss My Ass". She retired at the top to marry one of the Bittencort BJJ black belts and become a housewife, and she's quite content doing her thang. *Sigh*
First fight of the evening and it's hard-hitter Ariel Sepulveda against Shedrick "Chocolate Thunder" Goodridge. There's a joke somewhere in there re: that nickname, but, uh, I got nothing. Round 1 has Goodridge getting the early advantage on the ground, dominating position and going for subs, but Sepulveda's got a whole arsenal of sweeps and subs of his own, and soon he's got his foe defending. In Round 2 Sepulveda still can't seem to avoid the bottom, but he still manages a huge crowd-pleasing slam and an attempted Peruvian Necktie (!). The final round is pretty much all Sepulveda, as he nearly taps Goodridge with a choke and is dropping bombs at the bell. The split decision goes to Sepulveda. Next up is promising scrapper Artur Rofi against Nihad Rosic. In his last fight, Rofi snapped his opponent's arm then TKO'd him with punches. We'll see if Rosic takes a similar amount of punishment. Um, no, this time an armbar is enough. After a brief struggle on the feet, Rofi gets the takedown, mount, and extends the arm. It's over in two minutes exactly.
First fight of the evening and it's hard-hitter Ariel Sepulveda against Shedrick "Chocolate Thunder" Goodridge. There's a joke somewhere in there re: that nickname, but, uh, I got nothing. Round 1 has Goodridge getting the early advantage on the ground, dominating position and going for subs, but Sepulveda's got a whole arsenal of sweeps and subs of his own, and soon he's got his foe defending. In Round 2 Sepulveda still can't seem to avoid the bottom, but he still manages a huge crowd-pleasing slam and an attempted Peruvian Necktie (!). The final round is pretty much all Sepulveda, as he nearly taps Goodridge with a choke and is dropping bombs at the bell. The split decision goes to Sepulveda. Next up is promising scrapper Artur Rofi against Nihad Rosic. In his last fight, Rofi snapped his opponent's arm then TKO'd him with punches. We'll see if Rosic takes a similar amount of punishment. Um, no, this time an armbar is enough. After a brief struggle on the feet, Rofi gets the takedown, mount, and extends the arm. It's over in two minutes exactly.
Liveblog: CFFC 9 Part 1
MMA Journalist is here at the Resorts Casino in sunny Atlantic City for the ninth installment of the Cage Fury Fighting - an event where men are men, and evil lives in fear. Tonight the marquee bout features John Cholish. You might recognize the name; he once lopped off the head of the dreaded gorgon Medusa, and turned the Kraken into one heck of a structurally-unsound statue. Anyhoo, he's taking on last-minute replacement Jameel Massouh, who had a three-fight run in the WEC but might have a rough time with what Cholish is bringing. Also on the card is Igor Gracie, the veteran Drew Puzon and Ariel "I Knock Teeth Out" Sepulveda. So stay tuned.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
Monday, June 6, 2011
NY MMA Bill Clears First Assembly Committee, Two More Committees to Go
Don't celebrate just yet, but the first hurdle has just been cleared for the MMA bill in the New York State Assembly. The Committee on Tourism, Arts and Sports Development just voted 17-3 in favor of sanctioning MMA. Now it must pass through the Ways & Means Committee and the Codes Committee, then hit the floor for a vote. Sambo Steve sent around a press release, and here's a chunk of it: "This, along with the Senate's passage of the companion bill, is a clear mandate that New York wants MMA. Next up is the Ways & Means committee, chaired by Assemblyman Farrell. Farrell has a history of opposition to MMA in New York. Everyone contact Farrell and urge him to follow this mandate, and put the legislation on the Ways & Means calendar!"
An Interview with John Cholish's Mouthpiece
If you’ve been following the Northeast MMA scene, you’ve no doubt heard of John Cholish, the Team Renzo rep who juggles fighting with a job on Wall Street. He’s kicked ass judiciously and thoroughly, displayed a wide range of skills and earned himself a ROC belt, and in his last trip to the cage he submitted TUF vet Marc Stevens with a kneebar at Strikeforce’s grand New Jersey visit back in February. In short, Cholish is THE next big thing, and on Friday night he headlines the latest Cage Fury Fighting Championship installment with a bout against WEC vet Jameel Massouh. To gain some insight into this Northeast rising star, MMA Journalist tracked down Cholish’s mouthpiece for a quick interview.
- So, John Cholish’s Mouthpiece, thanks for taking some time out of your busy schedule to speak with me. JCM: “No problem. Pleasure’s all mine.”
- We’ve seen a lot of skills from John in the cage. Besides the jiu-jitsu he used to tie Marc Stevens in knots, he used some smooth kickboxing to chop down Hitalo Machado at UCC 2 and he used solid wrestling to out-maneuver Rich Moskowitz at Ring of Combat 32. Talk about the training that goes into acquiring those skills. JCM: “Well, I can tell you he does shootboxing with John Danaher and the boys and he also trains at Mushin MMA in Greenwich Village, but I can’t give you a specific breakdown of what he does. I’m mostly kept in a plastic case in his gym bag. I only come out for sparring.”
- Okay. Then maybe you can talk about John Cholish’s toughest battle in the cage? He really went to war with Moskowitz to snag that ROC title. JCM: “Um, you know what? I really can’t speak for John in that regard.”
- I see. You do know that Webster’s Dictionary defines a “mouthpiece” as “one that expresses or interprets another’s views”, right? JCM: “Dude, I’m just a piece of durable plastic that protects his teeth.”
- Right. Got it. Well, thanks again for your time. JCM: “No problem. Thanks for having me.”
Sunday, June 5, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Will It Happen or Not?
Will the MMA bill get done this year or will it fizzle out as usual? That is the big question. Justin Klein's got a solid update over on his blog (http://www.fightlawyerblog.com/2011/06/troubling-statements-from-assembly.html) - the gist of which is a big fat "maybe", with bill sponsor Assemblyman Steve Englebright trying to manage expectations. From what I've heard in off-the-record conversations, there's about a 60% chance it happens. It can roll through the three must-do committees quickly, and there should be enough votes if it makes it to the floor. The big roadblock is Assembly honcho Sheldon Silver, and whether or not he's inclined to give the bill its chance. The clock is ticking on the session, though, so if you pray to Crom, now would be a good time to mention to him how cool it would be to crush enemies in sanctioned MMA in New York.
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
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