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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.

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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.

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There are a lot of suggestions out there telling you how to defend your guard. Some of these are: do not allow the other fighter to get a hold of your knees, find an angle, or drive your legs to the ground. However, there is one suggestion that I often see novices failing to do. Head control is critical in retaining guard.

You see, as an opponent passes their head will generally go to one side and they will move their hips to the same side to reach side control. If they are smart they will control your legs and/or hips to prevent you from hip escaping away. However, if you are able to take control of his advance, you won’t even let him pass at all.

As your opponent starts passing to the right, push his head in that same direction. That will both create a large amount of space between you but also not allow him to progress into side control. You don’t have to be rough and go MMA on him, but you can be firm with a palm to the cheek or a forearm to the neck.

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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.

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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.

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Here’s a word of advice to future opponents of Bobby Lashley–don’t make fun of his background in professional wrestling. Mike Cook found that out the hard way in the co-main event of the Maximum Fighting Championships MFC 21: Hard Knocks event. After spending the run up to fight week making fun of Lashley’s tenure in the WWE, Cook lasted a mere :24 seconds before being choked unconscious.

In prefight interviews, Cook had suggested that Lashley would soil himself once he entered the ring (though in not so erudite terms). That clearly incensed the massive 64 250 pound Lashley, who despite his inexperience in MMA is hardly the sort of individual prone to losing bowel control at the prospect of a fight.

Even after the opening bell rang, Cooks arrogant approach to the fight continued as he immediately clinched with his opponent as if he had no regard whatsoever for Lashley’s strength. Lashley immediately locked in a guillotine choke and basically yanked Cook down to the mat by his head. Once on the canvas, Lashley cinched it in deeper as Cook flopped around”partially in an effort to escape, partially in an involuntary muscle reaction as he sunk into unconsciousness.

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