Bellator I

Bellator I
Friday, April 3, 2009
Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino
Hollywood, Florida.
Telecast via one-day tape-delay, ESPN Deportes.

Tournament

• Lightweight Quarter-Final: Jorge Masvidal vs. Nick Agallar

Masvidal def. Agallar via TKO (punches) @ 1:19 of R 1.

• Lightweight Quarter-Final: Eddie Alvarez vs. Greg Loughran

Alvarez def. Greg Loughran via submission (guillotine choke) @ 2:44 of R 1.

• Featherweight Quarter-Final: Nick Gonzalez vs. Yahir Reyes

Reyes def. Gonzalez via TKO (spinning backfist) @ 2:11 of R 1.

• Featherweight Quarter-Final: Estevan Payan vs. Luis Palomino

Payan def. Palomino via split decision.

• Featherweight Quarter-Final: Joe Soto vs. Ben Greer

Soto def. Greer by TKO (punches) @ 3:40 of R 1.

• Lightweight Quarter-Final: Alonzo Martinez vs. Toby Imada

Imada def. Martinez via submission (rear naked choke) @ 3:26 of R 1.

Non-tournament bouts

• Lightweight bout: Lorenzo Borgomeo vs. Daniel Morales

Borgomeo def. Morales via submission (rear naked choke) @ 3:46 of R 3.

• Middleweight bout: Daniel Sarafian vs. Gary Padilla

Padilla def. Sarafian via TKO (punches) @ 3:04 of R 2.

^{(photo credit Dave Mandel for Sherdog.com)}

• Featherweight bout: Jonathan Brookins vs. Stephen Ledbetter

Brookins def. Ledbetter by submission (rear naked choke) @ 3:32 of R 1.

 (Results sourced from: http://mmajunkie.com/event/595/bellator-fighting-championships-debut-on-espn-depo.mma)

Bellator Fighting Championships. Season 1.

Season One of the Bellator Fighting Championship events followed a single-elimination tournament format that began with quarterfinal match-ups April 3, 2009, proceeded through semi-finals, and concluded with title title-match finals for each of four weight classes. Bellator XII, held June 19, 2009, was the last event of Season One. 

Bellator Season One Events

No.	Event	Date	Venue	Location
1	Bellator I	April 3, 2009	Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino	Hollywood, Florida
2	Bellator II	April 10, 2009	Mohegan Sun Arena	Uncasville, Connecticut
3	Bellator III	April 17, 2009	Lloyd Noble Center	Norman, Oklahoma
4	Bellator IV	April 17, 2009	Lloyd Noble Center	Norman, Oklahoma
5	Bellator V	May 1, 2009	Hara Arena	Dayton, Ohio
6	Bellator VI	May 8, 2009	Central Pavilion Arena	Robstown, Texas
7	Bellator VII	May 15, 2009	Aragon Ballroom	Chicago, Illinois
8	Bellator VIII		None	None
9	Bellator IX	May 29, 2009	Monroe Civic Center	Monroe, Louisiana
10	Bellator X	June 5, 2009	Citizens Business Bank Arena	Ontario, California
11	Bellator XI	June 12, 2009	Mohegan Sun Arena	Uncasville, Connecticut
12	Bellator XII	June 19, 2009	Seminole Hard Rock Hotel &Casino	Hollywood, Florida

Bellator Fighting Championships (est. 2008)

Bellator Fighting Championships is the new kid on the MMA block. Founded in 2008 by Bjorn Rebny, Bellator's tournaments are held in a circular cage and adhere, with little exception, to the Unified Rules of Mixed Martial Arts. The competition structure gives considerable monetary and prestige incentive to fighters to take risks and make exciting fights in the hopes of catapulting to renown as champion in their weight class (one of four, ranging from featherweight to middleweight). At present, both tournament format and championship titles are reserved for male contestants. Women's bouts have been featured at some Bellator events, including Kerry Vera's (spouse of UFC fighter Brandon Vera) professional debut at Bellator VII. In its first season (Bellator I through XII), the organization focused its efforts on capturing the attention of Hispanic fight enthusiasts. Shown on with time-delay on ESPN Deportes, the fights were presented by bilingual M.C.s and were notable for some impressive submissions and KOs (e.g. standout Toby Imada's inverted triangle choke v. Jorge Masvidal, Yahir Reyes's spinning backfist KO v. Estevan Payan, and Nick Pace's Flying Knee KO of Collin Tebo). Now approaching its second season, the organization aims for live broadcasts and has broadened its scope with the intention to capture more English-language viewers via Fox Sports Net and NBC, in addition to its telecasts on Telemundo and other International affiliates.

The current weight classes and respective (inaugural Bellator) title holders are:
Featherweight:     136 - 145 lbs. (61 - 66 kg)
                               Joe Soto                          (BFC X: June 5/09)

Lightweight:         146 - 155 lbs. (67 - 70 kg)
                               Eddie Alvarez                  (BFC XII: June 19/09)

Welterweight:       156 - 170 lbs. (71 - 77 kg)
                               Lyman Good                   (BFC XI: June 12/09)

Middleweight:      171 - 185 lbs. (78 - 84 kg)
                               Hector Lombard              (BFC XII: June 19/09)

Morote Gari: Two Hand Reap

(photo credit to Judo Club Campoo at http://www.judoclubcampoo.com/judo/gokio/naguewaza/Morote-Gari3.jpg)

Morote-Gari is one of the Shinmeisho No Waza (newly accepted techniques) added to the standard syllabus of Kodokan Judo throwing techniques (40 throws arranged in 5 groupings, dating from 1895 at Eishoji Temple, Tokyo) circa 1982.
Essentially, this technique is a double-leg take-down executed in a dynamic fashion. Neither a wrestling shoot or driving tackle, Morote-Gari characterized (on Wiki, sorry!) as a

"smoothly delivered reap of the opponents legs from behind the knees augmented by a shoulder thrust above the centre of gravity near the solar plexus. Care should be taken to have the chin tucked in to prevent the guillotine choke and the legs to be swept slightly to one side to avoid landing in the opponents guard should one follow into groundwork."

Of interest is the recent emergence of seemingly anti-MMA sentiments in competitive Judo events, notably the ban on initiating techniques 'below-the-belt' from a standing position such as the Morote-Gari (very possibly due to a resemblance to take-down techniques used in MMA and wrestling). This recent change to refereeing was announced August 2009 and was tested out at the October 2009 World Junior Championships held in Paris, France. Here is a quote from the press conference announcing the ban:

“We don't want our sport to be mixed with other martial arts. Judo is judo, and all IJF wants is to come back to the true judo”, explains the Head of the Refereeing Commission, Mr. Juan Carlos Barcos. “We may lose a few techniques with this decision, but on the other hand we will be awaking some techniques who we don't see any more in the combats due to the sitting position the athletes take while they try to grab the opponents leg”, adds Mr. Barcos.

Following the event, the IJF posted a document to their website indicating the Executive Committee felt validated by the results of the Junior WC. More events will be used in the closing months of 2009 to further 'validate' the rule changes, with a conclusive decision being arrived at at the beginning of 2010.

Lori O'Connell Sensei of West Coast Jiu-Jitsu (B.C.) frames this phenomenon of substantial Judo bans as a matter of trying to "prevent cross-fertilization" and preserve 'purity' -- a move she characterizes as absurd in her post at Jiu-Jitsu Sensei (here ). In contrast, Judo and Aikido instructor Pat Parker maintains a neutral facade as he outlines the pro and con viewpoints of Morote-Gari in his post entitled, The great morotegari debate.

Techniques have been banned in Judo competition before, but the motivation had generally been competitor safety. What is so controversial in this case is the specific anti-Sambo and Anti-wrestling fixation in some Judo circles that desires to eradicate Judo practices that resemble the aforementioned offending disciplines. Ultimately, this construction undermines any valid notion of what constitutes 'true Judo ' (or potentially any martial art subjected to revisionism, rather than evolutionary growth).

Some illustrative and instructional video clips of the technique can be found below:
Morote Gari Set
Judo Instructional - Morote Gari (from grip)
Ugly Judo: The Effectiveness of Morote Gari
Ugly Judo 101: Morote Gari Inside Peak
Sukui-Nage Morote-Gari (at 3:45)
Morote Gari to Pass Guard

UFC 1: The Beginning (1993)

UFC 1: The Beginning (1993)
Ultimate Fighting Championship
November 12, 1993
McNichols Arena
Denver, Colorado




 UFC 1 RESULTS
1 Gerard Gordeau / Teila Tuli           TKO (Kick to the Face)   R1   0:26
2 Kevin Rosier      / Zane Frazier      TKO                               R1   4:20
3 Royce Gracie     / Art Jimmerson   Submission                    R1   2:18
4 Ken Shamrock   / Patrick Smith      Submission (Heel Hook) R1   1:49
5 Gerard Gordeau / Kevin Rosier      TKO (Corner Stoppage)  R1   0:59
6 Royce Gracie     / Ken Shamrock    Submission (RNC)          R1   0:57
7 Jason Delucia    / Trent Jenkins      Submission (RNC)         R1   0:52
8 Royce Gracie    /Gerard Gordeau    Submission (RNC)         R1   1:44

Aikido

Aikido founder Morihei Ueshiba.

Ahhh, Aikido. Damn you, Steven 'The Ponytail' Seagal (shakes cutting-shears heavenward)! Seagal, edging out chief rival Jean-Claude Van Damme (thanks to a redeeming performance in JCVD (2008)) for Top Has-been Cheeseball Action Star status, is easily the most prominent and widely known Aikido practitioner outside of Martial Arts circles. As luck would have it, Seagal has now stepped into the sphere of reality television in Steven Seagal: Lawman, bringing with him his two decades long passion for law enforcement/manhandling-the-untrained and a revolver full of Hollywoodesque quips. God bless America! Fortunately, Aikido is much more dignified and intriguing than a sidelong glance at the once-Ponytailed menace would lead one to believe.

Aikido, is a martial and spiritual form founded by O' Sensei Morihei Ueshiba (1883 - 1969) in Japan during the 1930s. Literally translated as "the way of spirit harmony", Aikido represents the fruit of his efforts to converge mind, body, and spirit into a unifying martial art form, a form that emerged from a complex synergy O' Sensei intuited from beyond his martial practices of Kenjutsu, Kendo,Yagyu Shingan-ryu jujutsu, Kodokan Judo, Daito-ryu Aikijujutsu (most influential), as an expression of the essence of budo, or 'the warrior's path', and the oneness he sensed within all things. In an interview with Aikido Journal, Ueshiba refers to it as "the martial art of love" and states that an aikidoist must achieve "that special state of mind which brings violence into a state of harmony". Using his own words:

In aikido, there is absolutely no attack. To attack means that the spirit has already lost. We adhere to the principle of absolute non-resistance, that is to say, we do not oppose the attacker. Thus, there is no opponent in aikido. The victory in aikido is masakatsu agatsu (correct victory, self-victory); since you win over everything in accordance with the mission of heaven, you possess absolute strength. [...]

It only seems to be mystical. In aikido we utilize the power of the opponent completely. So the more power the opponent uses, the easier it is for you.

Which brings one to ask, "Why on earth include an entry on Aikido on an MMA blog?" Frankly, aside from the fact that it's a martial art that starts with 'A', it gives me a chance to mention Steven Seagal's ponytail. That is all. That, plus the fact 'mixed martial arts' today seems a bit of a misnomer--by and large MMA seems heavily biased toward a very few forms (not all of them martial arts) these days, e.g. striking forms such as Boxing, KB, Muay Thai and grappling forms like BJJ, wrestling, Greco-Roman, Judo. Generally speaking, some purists might say the structure and ethos of early martial arts forms is all but absent in gyms now sprining up to capitalize on the new interest in MMA and hybrid instruction. There's a solid article entitled, "The Truth about Aikido in MMA" (including some thoughtful contributions by commentators) over at SLC MMA assessing why there is so little Aikido visible in MMA. Bas Rutten even weighs in on the matter with his observations here.

As for current Aikido trained MMA fighters on the scene, Rik Ellis is a fighter out of the U.K., who has trained in Aikido with his 5th dan father, British Aikido pioneer Sensei Henry Ellis, since the age of five. Rik now trains with Katie 'Klassy Lassie' Price's on-again-off-again cross-dressing, rebound man-meat , Alex Reid. So, yeah, not gonna see a whole lot of Aikido entering the cage with much presence anytime soon. Check out Rik Ellis's fight versus TKD fighter Russell Dennis here.

Abu Dahbi Combat Club (ADCC)

Before Abu Dahbi Combat Club (ADCC) was one of my top MMA-related websites, it was (and still is) both a club and an invitational World Submission Fighting Championship incepted by Sheikh Tahnoon bin Zayed Al Nahyan (now Crown Prince and General), son of then-leader of United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.), Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed. After watching UFC 1 and becoming a fan of MMA in 1993, Sheikh Tahnoon began studying Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu while in San Diego, CA. When back home to the U.A.E., he established a plan and a vision to promote martial arts in the U.A.E.. Since the first edition of ADCC in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., March 20-22, 1998, ADCC has grown beyond the borders of the Arab world to become the preeminent submission fighting tournament in the world. The ADCC Submission Wrestling World Championships,held every two years, pits the world's best professional Wrestling, Sambo, Shooto, Jiu-Jitsu, MMA and Judo practitioners against each other over a couple/few days of competition by gender and weight class, with the inclusion of an "Absolute" category. Known to those-who-roll (a.k.a. grapplers, et al.) affectionately as 'Abu Dahbi', the prestigious grappling event has spread to North America and Italy/Europe in the form of regional events.

Introduction

Hi, All!

This is my first foray into the blogosphere, and I'm hoping to compile a blog that's both informative and interesting. As a complete beginner to MMA, I'm mostly assembling this material for my own edification and ease, but it would be great if it becomes a boon to others.

Hope to see you on the mats soon, and feel free to provide feedback!