Europa-cup.com

The founding father of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and patriarch of the Gracie family, Helio Gracie, died in early 2009 at the age of 95. His influence in martial arts as well as the sport of mixed martial arts is mind boggling. The Gracie family name will forever be synonymous with Brazilian sports, jiu-jitsu, MMA and the UFC–not only due to Helios own accomplishments but the legacy he created both by training others and through his family.

Helio Gracie began his training in mixed martial arts early, and by his teenage years was already teaching judo. While he had no problem mastering the theoretical aspects of judo, he found that many of its techniques were less effective for a practitioner with a smaller build. Along with his brother Carlos, Gracie began to work out his own fighting system by adapting many of judo’s techniques and making them more a product of leverage rather than brute strength. This led to the creation of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (BJJ), frequently called Gracie Jiu Jitsu in his honor.

Gracie also had a professional fighting career of his own, taking on champions from other fighting disciplines in an early version of modern MMA. These bouts were arduous, unregulated affairs with arbitrary rules and no time limits. By his own recollection, Gracie fought 15 times against the top opponents of his time. He began his career in’32 by submitting professional boxer Antonio Portugal in just 32 seconds. Later that year, he fought American catch wrestler Frank Ebert to a draw after the ringside doctor ordered the bout stopped after an ungodly fourteen ten minute rounds.

read more »

Classical Martial Arts against MMA, this is an fascinating question. On one hand, we have the classical practitioner, as in Krav Maga or Tai Chi Chuan and that sort of art. On the other hand we have the people who praise the UFC and regimens such as one would see on Strikeforce.

Now, obviously, we are going to have a difference of opinion, the main thing is can we come up with some facts, or at least opinions so well grounded, that there is a clear winner? I believe we can.

First, there is sport versus art. In a sport one fights somebody else. In an art, one is in conflict (attempting to resolve conflict) with oneself.

read more »

Two titles changed hands at UFC 92, with Rashad Evans defeating Forrest Griffin by TKO to win the light heavyweight title and Frank Mir knocking out Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira to claim the UFC interim heavyweight title.

While nominally taking subordinate status to the Evans/Griffin main event the most shocking result by far was Frank Mir’s second round TKO stoppage of Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Nogueira was the overwhelming favorite coming into the fight and had never been stopped inside the distance during a career where hed faced the best of the best:

Mir, meanwhile, had been on the verge of a full time move to the broadcast booth before his victory over WWE superstar turned MMA fighter Brock Lesnar. The conventional wisdom concerning Mir was that hed never fully recovered from a serious motorcycle accident in 2004 and that he was essentially a shot fighter physically, emotionally and psychologically. He eventually returned to the octagon, and after two TKO losses in his first three comeback fights began to consider the possibility that he just didnt have it any more.

Always a quick witted and highly cerebral fighter, Mir had been very impressive with his commentary work on WEC broadcasts. A highly respected BJJ black belt, his knowledge of submission technique was legendary but in his broadcast role also displayed not only tremendous poise behind the mic but the sort of innate ability to see the fight several moves ahead of the competitors”the same ability displayed by the legendary Bas Rutten in his broadcasting work. When the fight against Brock Lesnar was signed, the perception among most fans was that Mir was a high profile setup for the former WWE champ”a big name on the downside of his career that would be physically overwhelmed by the strength and athleticism of his opponent. The expectation was that after a one-sided loss to Lesnar that Mir would transition into the next phase of his career as a broadcaster.

read more »

With World Extreme Combat (WEC) 51 now in the books, the unavoidable discussion has come to light once more, will Zuffa make plans to combine the WEC and also the Ultimate fighting championship? Even though the WEC is profitable by itself, it’s facing the same concerns as not just the Ultimate fighting championship, but all of the secondary promotions in America. Market over saturation is an extremely genuine thing, and even though the sky is not about to fall, it’s hard to argue that too much of a good thing is a good thing at all. For every Ultimate fighting championship 116, we get a handful of UFC 119’s. Looking forward, we also see lots of the sports greatest names passing their primes, and there is more going out than you’ll find arriving recently. In my opinion, undeniably, that opening up the featherweight and bantamweight classes inside the UFC can aid the promotion in avoiding lack luster cards that send bloggers and journalists sounding alarms, but more to the point, lead to more money.

Do not get me wrong, the title of this post is not “Why Zuffa NEEDS to Merge the UFC and WEC”, I’m not of the perception that I’ve a fraction of the knowledge required to run a multi-million dollar company, but neither of those promotions needs one other. Yet, I do feel that all parties involved would be best served making this move, and us, the fans, will reap the huge benefits.

Following the jump, my three big motivators in making this theoretical move a real possibility.

read more »

You can not just enter the ring during an MMA title fight appearing like a hobo who just came in from the streets. Even though they don’t wear much clothing throughout a fight, mma competitors take pride in themselves, and in turn would like to wear something that is comfy yet fashionable at the same time. MMA shorts and grappling shorts are a part of that uniform, and a number of vendors take pride in the items they develop for this special class of athletes.

The reasons for selecting a high quality pair of men’s MMA shorts over just any old pair of shorts are many. To begin with, brands like Dethrone, Manto, Hayabusa Fightwear, Tapout, Jaco, among others spend considerable money and time developing materials that breathe well, are comfortable and flexible during competition, and endure the deterioration of frequent use. The colors and specific designs used to attract the fans in the stands enjoying the action, along with a well-chosen set of MMA shorts can promote professionalism and reliability for the fighters themselves.

To illustrate a few of the features of the finest grappling shorts and MMA shorts available on the market, let’s examine several specific types. There are the Venum Red Hurricane FX Fight Shorts, for instance, which have impressive design details in a bold white and red pair of shorts. They are constructed of an exceptionally lightweight Microfiber material that’s durable and tear resistant. They’ve got split outer leg seams to permit freedom of movement, and a special Flex Lycra panel on the inside for comfort.

read more »

Ever since he burst onto the MMA scene Joe Lauzon has been working to earn respect. Hes lost only once since then–to top contender Kenny Florian in a bout that earned fight of the night honors–but for some reason hes had trouble being taken seriously as a top contender in the UFCs lightweight division. In the main event at the UFC Ultimate Fight Night in Tampa, Lauzon withstood a game challenge from late replacement Jeremy Stephens to earn a 2nd round submission victory.

Lauzon was in control of the fight throughout, but Stephens gave a good account of himself despite his opponents obvious technical superiority on the ground. Lauzon appeared to be on the verge of ending the fight midway through the second with a ground and pound assault that he attempted to transition into a rear naked choke. Stephens fought back with a vengeance despite his disadvantageous position and opened a nasty cut on Lauzon’s forehead with an elbow strike.

As puddles of crimson gathered anytime Lauzon’s head neared the mat, he gained a new sense of urgency not wanting to lose on a stoppage due to the cut. He regained control on the ground and from full mount twisted into a nasty arm bar. Stephens tried to extricate himself, but was eventually forced to tap giving the bloody Lauzon a hard fought triumph.

read more »