Daniel Straus vs Mike Corey - photos by Joey Hill

Season six of Bellator has delivered on almost every single level and the featherweight tournament has been a shining example of what is going right for the promotion. The opening round had its fair share of issues leading up to the fights with injuries and missed weight, but that didn’t stop the fighters from putting on amazing performances.

There’s one semi-final round battle that is left in the tournament, and that features two of the best in the midwest: Mike Corey versus Daniel Straus.

Straus’s history is intriguing when you look back at it. Prior to his fights in Bellator, his last loss was in 2009 at XFO 29 against Pat Curran. After the loss, Straus went on to win seven fights in a row before getting a chance to fight for Bellator at Bellator 23. There he took on Chad Hinton and won a unanimous decision.

He then took two more fights outside of Bellator, one for XFO and one for Shark Fights. He won both, increasing his win streak to ten. That win streak was enough for Bellator officials to officially invite him to take part of the season four featherweight tournament.

Still he was a relative unknown in the tournament and many had placed him the lower half. But he made the most of it by defeating Nazareno Malegarie in the opening round. He moved onto the semis and submitted Kenny Foster four weeks later. In the finals he ran into Patricio Freire, who was likely the favorite for the entire tournament. Straus put up a good fight, but lost a unanimous decision.

Straus then returned to his winning ways with a decision over Jason Dent. Impressed with his performance both in and out of the tournament, Straus was given another opportunity to compete in the featherweight tournament. His first opponent was the undefeated Jeremy Spoon, and like Malegarie, Straus handed him his first loss.

Standing across the cage from Straus is someone who has watched a good number of his fights from cageside in Corey. Corey’s Bellator story is shaping up to be one that will go down in the history books.

In 2010, Corey was asked to be apart of the season two lightweight tournament. After accepting the spot, he was forced to withdraw due to an injury and in stepped his teammate Pat Curran. Curran went on to win the lightweight tournament, lost to the champ Eddie Alvarez, won the featherweight tournament, and became the champ after knocking out Joe Warren.

But Corey didn’t let the injury phase him. After recovering and able to train, Corey took a fight at XFO 38. He won a unanimous decision over Tom Ahrens that night. Bellator officials were calling him and asking him to fight for them again.

He got his chance at Bellator 57 against Chris Horodecki. The fight was billed as a tournament qualifier; meaning the winner would be invited to compete in the upcoming lightweight tournament. Unfortunately for Corey, Horodecki, and Bellator, the fight was ruled a draw and neither fighter would be asked to be in the tournament.

But Corey stayed positive and new his chance would come. While his teammate Pat Curran was scheduled to fight in the main event at Bellator 60 against Joe Warren for the title, Corey got a chance to fight on the undercard and took it.

Training was going well for the Team Curran fighter, then with less than two weeks till the fight, one of the featherweight fighters had to withdraw due to injury. Corey, a lightweight his entire career, jumped at the chance to not only partake in a Bellator tournament, but try his hand at a weight class ten pounds lighter.

Like his teammate Curran during season two, Corey was stepping in to fight one of the top fighters in the tournament. Many were giving Ronnie Mann the victory as soon as the fight was announced, but that didn’t deter Corey.

Prior to the fight, Corey said he wanted to turn the fight into a scrap. He knew Mann possessed great technical boxing and he wanted to avoid that as much as possible. The first round of the fight, Mann kept the fight in his world. Slipping and counter punching Corey relatively easily. Mann landed a big right hand that landed and a mouse immediately formed under Corey’s eye.

Unhappy with the first round, Corey wanted to turn the tables and took the fight to the ground. While Mann was able to work his way back to his feet, the tide clearly turned. Corey started to land with confidence and took Mann down when he wanted to. After what was probably the most exhausting ten minutes, Corey’s hand was raised in victory.

Both Corey and Straus are the type to grind their opponent until they break. The question is, will either of these two break? Trying to compare the two and figure out who has the edge is nearly impossible.

Straus has always enjoyed a size advantage over his opponents in the featherweight division, but Corey is just as big. Both like to use their wrestling to get their opponent down and break them, and both have dangerous standup. The only possible advantage you could give to either fighter would be Corey’s jiu jitsu.

While Bellator 65 has some exciting fights on deck, including a bantamweight title fight, Corey vs Straus is looking like it could be the fight of the tournament.

XFO 43 Final Poster

On Friday, April 13, XFO returns to the Copernicus Center for XFO 43. The night of action is scheduled to feature an all pro mixed martial arts card with thirteen fights. The first 1,500 fans to arrive will receive a free 2012 X-Treme Ring Girls calendar.

Fans of mixed martial arts in Chicago will not be disappointed as the card is stacked with local talent. Established pros like Dan Aguirre, Mike Santiago, Adam Ward, Joey Diehl, and Christian Reynoso all will be looking to not only improve their fan base, but increase their fans.

Phil Williams, Andre Feliciano, Jerald Williams and Damian Norris are names many have seen on the amateur circuit in the Chicagoland area. All of them are battle tested and will try to start their pro careers with a win.

Doors open at 6pm and the first fight is set to start at 7:30pm. The full card now includes:
Daniel Vizcaya vs Brandon DelPrado
Daniel Aguirre vs Ryan McIntosh
Mike Santiago vs Tory Bogguess
Adam Ward vs Bobby Ferrier
Andrew Krzeptowski vs Lawrence Dunning
Joey Diehl vs Dominic Blanco
Matt Tobie vs Ryan Storey
Rafal Skibinski vs Jason Graves
Christian Reynoso vs Brandon Wood
Damian Norris vs Jordan Griffin
Ramy Daoud vs Johnny Coleman
Andre Feliciano vs Jerald Williams
Phil Williams vs James Smith

If you take your conditioning and strength training seriously, musclehq.com has great offers. Today they have The Burn Machine Speed Bag for just $105.

Click to view the photos…

Chase Beebe at CC20 - photo by Joey Hill

Chase Beebe will be returning to fight at Colosseum Combat on Saturday, May 12 in Kokomo Indiana against Cory Mahon. The night of action is scheduled to have six professional fights and six amateur bouts.

Beebe fought at Colosseum Combat XX and defeated David Love. The fight was his first victory since July 2011 as he lost to Marcos Galvao at Bellator 51 and fought Enoch Wilson to a draw at Caged Combat 5. Beebe submitted love with a rear naked choke just past the three minute mark of the first round. It marked his sixteenth submission victory in his career.

Mahon is riding a two-fight win streak into the contest. He submitted both Brady Hovermale and Ryan Mcintosh by rear naked choke in the first round. Prior to the win streak he suffered four losses in a row to Chris Liguori, Dave Janseen, Evan DeLong and Dustin Neace.

The rest of the professional card includes:
Roberto Nieto vs Tyson Triplett
Joshua Kinser vs Bobby Emmons
Atsuhiro Takano vs Casey Craft
Brady Hovermale vs Ryan Smith
Evan DeLong vs Luke Taylor

For more information on Colosseum Combat 21 visit them on facebook at facebook.com/ColosseumCombat

Indianapolis based LFC will be hosting their 52nd show on Friday, April 13th at the 8 Seconds Saloon in Indianapolis, Indiana. The semi-final round of the bantamweight tournament will feature Chris Collins versus Tom McKenna and Alp Ozkillic versus Chico Camus. The winner of the bantamweight tournament will be offered a contract to fight for Tachi Palace.

Collins is coming into the semi-finals with the least amount of experience under his belt. But his two pro fights have ended quickly submitting both Ruddy Gray and Michael Shields by guillotine in the first round.

McKenna will be bringing in a four-fight win streak to the fight. He made his pro debut in September of 2010, losing to Ben Jensan. Since then he has won every fight, finishing three of his opponents. He took on Quinn Broomfield at LFC 51 in the quarterfinals of the tournament.

Ozkilic will put his undefeated streak on the line in his semi-final matchup. He earned a unanimous decision over Andrew Huffman at the quarterfinals. His cardio is never in question as he has gone the distance and outworked his opponents four times.

Camus is the most experienced fighter in the tournament having thirteen professional fights. He fought in the co-main event of Chicago Cagefighting Championship 4 losing a split decision to Rob Menigoz. Since then he has put together a two-fight win streak with victories over Eugene Crisler and Dan Aguirre in the opening round of the tournament.

LFC 52 takes place on Friday, April 13 at the 8 Seconds Saloon in Indianapolis, Indiana.

While we are approaching the end of March and it seems like it has been forever since an actual UFC event other than The Ultimate Fighter, it is time to recap what has transpired in the first quarter of 2012 with regards to the UFC.

From January 1st through March 31 the UFC held seven events. The first of which took place on January 14th and the span ended on March 3rd. That was seven events in seven weeks. No wonder the UFC decided to take some time off as the next event scheduled isn’t until April 14th.

Looking back at the events, there were several memorable moments. From fights to knockouts to submissions, the first quarter did not disappoint in the least. Let’s take a look at some of the best of the best through out this quarter.

Submissions
During the quarter there were a total of seventeen submissions. Some were obviously more memorable than others. But there was something special about our top five submissions. It could be because a fighter stuck to his bread and butter, it could have been a submission that hasn’t been seen before, or it could have been just from the sheer fact that the fighter got the submission. In all cases, just mentioning the fight and the submission it is likely to bring images of people tapping to the forefront of your brain.

5. Jim Miller defeated Melvin Guillard by rear naked choke at UFC on FX: Guillard vs Miller
4. Dustin Poirier defeated Max Holloway by mounted triangle armbar at UFC 143
3. Martin Kampmann defeated Thiago Alves by guillotine choke at UFC on FX: Alves vs Kampmann
2. Rousimar Palhares defeated Mike Massenzio by heel hook at UFC 142
1. Charles Oliveira defeated Eric Wisely by calf slicer at UFC on Fox: Evans vs Davis

Knockouts
Nothing gets the crowd going more than a crazy knockout. Sometimes a ref is merciful and is able to stop the barrage of attacks and other times, a single shot sends a foe to the canvas stiff as a board. No matter how the knockout happened, fans will always place the fighter that delivered the finishing strike on a new pedestal wanting him to take on a step up in competition.

5a. Stephen Thompson defeated Dan Stittgen by head kick at UFC 143
5b. Anthony Pettis defeated Joe Lauzon by head kick at UFC 144
4. Tim Boetsch defeated Yushin Okami by TKO at UFC 144
3. Lavar Johnson defeated Joey Beltran by uppercuts at UFC on Fox: Evans vs Davis
2. Jose Aldo defeated Chad Mendes by knee at UFC 142
1. Edson Barboza defeated Terry Etim by spinning heel kick at UFC 142

Fights
While there were several memorable fights across all the cards, there is just something extra about the fights that received fight of the night honors from the UFC. Some fights were quick, others were one sided beatings, and others were great back and forth battles. With that said, here’s the top 5 fights from the first quarter.

5. Evan Dunham vs Nik Lentz at UFC on Fox: Evans vs Davis
4. Diego Sanchez vs Jake Ellenberger at UFC on Fuel TV: Sanchez vs Ellenberger
3. Roy Nelson vs Fabricio Werdum at UFC 143
2. Demetrious Johnson vs Ian McCall at UFC on FX: Alves vs Kampmann
1. Frankie Edgar vs Ben Henderson at UFC 144

Overall Card
Pay per views always tend to have a higher ranking as far as star power is concerned, and justifiably so; they require someone to purchase the event instead of watch it for free. But sometimes the free cards can out perform their pay per view counter parts on the fact that the fighters want to be on the main card of a pay per view instead of televised card. It was a difficult decision to rank the cards, but here’s the top 5.

5. UFC on Fuel TV: Sanchez vs Ellenberger
4. UFC on FX: Guillard vs Miller
3. UFC on FX: Alves vs Kampmann
2. UFC 142: Aldo vs Mendes
1. UFC 144: Edgar vs Henderson

Team Top Notch Logo - photo by Joey Hill

Classes Offered:
Classes are offered for both fighters and non-fighters. Classes offered include Muay Thai kickboxing, boxing, no-gi jiu jitsu, and wrestling.

Kids ages 8 and up are welcome.

Other programs:
Private lessons are available

Cost:
Contact Matt for any special promotions currently running

Review:
In the movies you always see gyms that have these great fighters but seem like little holes in the wall.  Team Top Notch Fitness is likely the inspiration for these.  Yes when you walk in there is a nice sitting area and a small kitchen, but just past the two rooms lies the heart of the team; the gym.  When you enter the gym you see nearly wall-to-wall green wrestling matts, both on the floor and up two walls.  On one side are shelves of equipment, both for the fighters and the non-fighters.  The entire area is surrounded by heavy bags of varying sizes and shapes.  Continuing around there is a large ring to get work in.  This is unusual for an mma gym, but with a primary focus on Muay Thai, it makes perfect sense.  On the other side of the ring are some weights and cardio machines completing the workout area.  Strung around the ceiling are flags of nearly every country, likely with a story of training in each location.

On any random night there will be upwards of fifty students crammed in, kicking pads, working combinations and sweating.  It’s hard not to want to just punch or kick a bag when you see this many students all doing just that.  There’s a reason they are all there, putting in hard work, and it makes one question why they aren’t participating along.

Team Top Notch - Ring - Photo by Joey Hill

Team Top Notch Fitness - Heavy Bag - photo by Joey Hill

Team Top Notch Fitness Garrett Washington - photo by Joey Hill

Patricia Vidnonic - photo from patriciavidonic.com

On Friday, April 13th live on HDNet, Little Patricia Vidonic will be taking on Felice Herrig in a battle in the women’s 115lb division. The two were rumored to fight a couple times before, but sometimes the wait is worth it. After the back and forth banter between the two ladies, one can expect fireworks in this battle. We got the chance to sit down with Little Patricia and talk about the fight with Felice, the hype for the fight, her work with local charities and more.

How’s everything going today?
Everything is going great.

You are fighting Felice Herrig on Friday April 13 for XFC and this is a fight that many are looking forward to. How long did it take you to sign the contract to fight Felice?
It didn’t take that long. We’ve been scheduled a couple times before just last year. The fight’s been kind of in the works and brewing around. I was leaving my fight in February, and the XFC contact me on the way home. I was happy about not having to line up another fight.

This is a fight that has kind of been brewing in the works. There was a card up here in Chicago that you were one of the rumored opponents for her and when I asked Felice, she said that she went with Nicdali because she was calling her out on twitter. Were you upset about being passed up for that fight?
I wasn’t offended, but I felt like my toes were stepped on a bit because I had a contract in my email. We were getting ready to sign it. All that happened and that is part of the game. I knew that she would still fight me later on and I am sure she felt the same way. We are both game opponents. I knew it would be waiting for me.

There always seem to be certain fights where people wonder why hasn’t it happened yet, or the other way is thinking that this is the right time for this fight. I think the later is more accurate. You are both coming off of a loss and one of you will have two in a row. What’s the thought process of losing a fight and needing to regroup to get back on the winning ways?
That was the main thing. I needed to change my mental focus. That’s what happened to me in the JAG fight. I didn’t perform. I need to regain myself after that. I am glad I have that fight with Felice. All I have done is gotten better and it will be nice to showcase my skills against her standup skills.

Felice is a very accomplished Muay Thai fighter and you have amazing wrestling skills. Felice has said that you are just like all the other fighters she has fought in that they just want to try and take her down. How does that motivate you as far as your training is concerned?
Everything in the game motivates me. The silly little things like that really motivate me. The time will come on Friday the 13th when everyone will see. I am just doing my own thing and I will go in there and work.

There hasn’t seemed to be too much trash talking between the two of you until you gave your dog a new toy of a sock monkey. You are laughing about it now. Felice didn’t seem too thrilled by those photos. What was the thought process of trying to hype the fight, but wanting to trash talk?
I mean I was just poking fun here and there. She is taking it way too seriously. I told everybody on my blog a few weeks ago that I am just trying to hype the fight and having fun with it. Im not being derogatory or being rude. I haven’t called her names or done anything like that. I have just poked fun at her. She likes sell her body for publicity. To each his own. What I am saying isn’t rude. She’s actually talked crap and come off as rude and derogatory towards me, my teammates, my coach calling them wannabees. I don’t care, it’s part of the game. If she doesn’t like it, then don’t look at it.

How do you see yourself winning this fight?
I see myself winning it by submission. It’s MMA and a fight is a fight and anything can happen. I know I am going to walk away with my hand raised. I know it will go to the ground and I am sure I will snatch up a limb of hers.

Whenever there is a female fight on Strikeforce, people always say that they want to see certain female fighters fight without regards to which weight classes they are in. I know that people have said they wanted to see you fight Cris Cyborg or Gina Carano, what’s your take on when people make these comments?
I kind of just chuckle. I mean it’s Cyborg. Or anyone way bigger than me it would super cool to train with them. But as for fighting they are way out of my weight class. I’m little Patricia.

Meisha Tate and Ronda Rousey both said that because of the lack of women’s fights on a televised card, that they had to bring it more so than the guys. Do you think that’s an accurate statement they made?
I think just the fact that we are females in a man’s sport we have to give it more no matter what.

I couldn’t help but notice that you are doing a lot of charity work building up to this fight so whatever you want to say about it, it is your time.
Thanks. I am really stoked that here in Billings my manager and husband and I went down to the local St. Vincent hospital and there is a foundation here. We wanted to work with the pediatrics ward and we will be doing raffles on gear to raise more money every couple months. We are going to be doing parties down at the Ronald McDonald room for the parents and the kids that are able to come down. I am really excited to be able to do that. There are others that I will be getting into. I am really excited to be able to give back to the community as well as anyplace else I can as well.

Patricia is also getting involved with the Casey Lorenz fund.  Casey passed away recently from Rhabdomyosarcoma (muscle cancer).  Donations may still be made directly to the Cassie Lorenz Fund at Western Security Bank, 2812 1st Ave. North, Billings, MT 59101

Any sponsors or people you want to thank?
I want to thank my gym Sensi Dan who owns the gym, 4th Ave Dojo. Clint and Katie with alternative athletics with cross fit during the day. My coach who is my husband who is my everything. My kid, my training partners, all their families. Prommanow for having me on as a resident blogger every week, you guys for doing this interview. Follow me on my website www.patriciavidonic.com and on twitter @lilpatriciamma and Facebook at Little Patricia. Sponsors, Polanti Watches, Damage Control mouth guards, Nutra Bio, Super Body Care and Aces which is a local company who prints up all my shirts and rash guards. My signature shirts will be out very soon so keep your eye out for those.

Rashad Evans and Jon Jones are set to collide at UFC 145 in Atlanta, GA on April 21. And while most times the cost of airfare, hotel, and tickets to the event could be costly, now is your chance to win the entire package for just $5.

In partnership with the TD Foundation, a raffle is being conducted for a one-of-a-lifetime prize. Tickets start at just $5 and the odds are fairly good (as of this writing less than 1:200 to win).

How does one enter? Visit http://bit.ly/TDFCharity to register and purchase your $5 raffle ticket.

Don’t want to spend any money, but still want to win something? MMARecap has partnered with the people behind the promotion and have snagged a t-shirt and hat autographed by Rashad Evans who will be competing at UFC 145.

All you have to do like our Facebook page (facebook.com/mmarecap) and like the post mentioning this contest. Winner will be picked at random from all entries received on Wednesday April 4th at 8am. Best of luck!

Demetrious Johnson with Stefan Struve - by Heavy

King Mo Lawal received his punishment earlier in the day for testing positive for a steroid in his Larkin fight back in January. He received a nine month suspension and was fined nearly $40,000. To make matters worse, the ever vocal Lawal went on a tirade about the commission and just hours later was released from his Strikeforce contract.

Discussion about substance abuse testing continued as six fighters were tested for their UFC 146 bout yesterday. Two of the six had failed post-fight exam in the past, and it was not a surprise that the NSAC decided to do pre-event testing for these fighters. The question arose however of Nick Diaz’s case and the argument that he is likely to present about when a competition actually is and testing positive.

We then moved on to talk about UFC 147 and the fight between Chael Sonnen and Anderson Silva. Little was made of the fight itself, but talk of the massive size of the stadium, and if one would want to go to the event live.

The topic then changed to The Ultimate Fighter Live as we discussed the fight with Lawrence and Marcello, Chris Tickle’s antics, and Cruz’s tactic of going after Faber’s top guys.

Bellator ratings were up, largely due to Brent Weedman appearing on the show just weeks earlier. In all kidding aside, we were impressed with all the lightweight fighters and again mentioned how the ratings at this point probably don’t matter much to the folks at Bellator due to the impending move to Spike.

Bellator 63 will feature welterweights and this season isn’t filled with near as many names just due to the fact that Weedman and Hawn both dropped down in weight. We picked our favorites, Lozano, Baker and Saunders and are expecting a combination of those fighters in the finale.

Talk moved on to comparing fighters today with fighters of yesteryear. The question of if today’s UFC heavyweight fighters is as good as the heavyweight fighters from Pride in circa 2005 and we both agreed with the statement that today’s fighters will always be better than those of last year due to fighters evolving.

Demetrious Johnson then appeared on the show to talk about his first fight with McCall, the rematch and much more.

To listen to the show, use the player below.

Ramy Daoud - photo by Tracy Lee For Combat Lifestyle

After taking several years off of fighting, Ramy Daoud will be returning to action on Friday, April 13th. He trains at the Midwest Training Center in Schaumburg, Illinois and has regained his passion for the sport of mixed martial arts. While his opponent is 0-5, Daoud says that he is treating him like he is 5-0.

How’s everything going today?
Everything is going great. It’s an honor to talk to you. I really like MMARecap and thanks for having me on.

You go into the gym day in and day out and put in the hard work and at the end of the day get paid to beat someone up for money. You train at MTC, which is known as a fighters gym, but there’s both fighters and non-fighters who train there. What’s the training schedule like for you with this training camp?
At MTC we are lucky enough to have the fighters be separated from the regular classes. That way we get a lot of attention on what we need to be working on; be it striking, wrestling, or ground game. Two times a day we have fighter training. We have a set schedule and every week we know exactly what we will be working on. One day we could be doing conditioning in the morning, and wrestle live at night. We get in two times a day, for an hour and half, two hours a session and then the fighters are also welcomed to join the regular classes. Some fighters do take advantage of these classes to sharpen up their skills either on the feet or on the ground.

Let’s talk about your fight against Johnny Coleman. Is this fight going to be contested at 135 or 145?
This fight is going to be at 135. It’s going to be one of my last fights at 35 before I make the transition to 125. Alex, my coach, said that if I am going to make a run at something I would have fight at 125. I walk around at about 140. I am not going to be cutting too much weight for this fight which is good because I love to eat and drink water. I know some fighters can go for a while without eating, especially those who come from a wrestling background. But I never came from a place with cutting weight and it is a new thing for me to learn and master. I want to do it correctly.

Your opponent is 0-5 and most people would think this is a gimmie fight as your record is 2-0, but on the same token you haven’t fought since 2008. I wouldn’t go so far as to say it is a gimmie fight by any means, looking at the names Coleman has fought. What are your thoughts on him?
That is something I did consider right away. I feel like I have a lot of pressure on myself. I haven’t fought in a long time. I do need a fight that isn’t a gimmie a fight, but more like a warm up fight. Coleman has been much more active than myself. I am trying to train as hard as possible and training for him like he is a big contender. That way I won’t psych myself out or convince myself that I already have the fight in the bag. Not fighting for years, there’s a lot of pressure. Everyone expects me to beat him. I am not treating him like he’s 0-5, I am treating him like he’s 5-0. As you know once you are in the cage, that record means nothing.

We’ve all seen great fighters get caught with a haymaker or land one lucky strike. I don’t want to be one of those stories or on the receiving end. I don’t want to hear, “Oh my God did you see that guy who was 0-5 knockout the guy who was 2-0” I don’t want to be that guy.

Later on he could be a contender. There’s a famous story about a Thai boxer who lost his first 10 fights and then went on to win his next 190. He’s a legend in Thai boxing circles for that reason. I don’t want to be the guy that Coleman starts his win streak on. I am going in there to beat him quickly, efficiently, and I am taking him very seriously as an opponent.

Speaking of being efficient, what would you say is the best aspect of your game?
I would have to say my strength is leg locks. I feel a lot of people aren’t very good at them, nor are they good at defending them. A lot of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu schools don’t allow you to train them until you are a purple belt level. I don’t think that is a good idea as they are a legitimate submission. Look at how Palhares is using them to great success in the UFC. I just think you need a coach who understands them and can teach them safely. To answer your question, I love submission, not just leg locks. Sakaraba is my hero and I try to follow his type of strategy which is always going for that submission. I really liken myself to the old Shoot pancrase style with a true finish.

You mentioned earlier that you haven’t fought in a while, what’s the reason that you haven’t fought since 2008?
This is going to sound pretty stupid and I will get made fun of for it. When PRIDE folded, I was like a kid who wanted to be in the NBA and then all of a sudden there was no NBA. I was always a big PRIDE fan, more than the UFC. That’s obviously changed. But at the time, my dream was to fight in Japan and fight in PRIDE. It was disappointing and at the time I didn’t see myself in the UFC cause there wasn’t the lower weight classes, nor was there much interest in them. After years of training and my own MMA club, I re-found my passion. What else could I be doing other than competing in a martial arts setting and bringing pride to my family back home. I am glad I took the time off, because if I hadn’t I know it would have been more like a job, a 9-5, and I have found a new passion for the sport.

Have you been training at MTC during this time off or were you training someplace else?
My first pro fight I was admittedly self-trained. My only formal training before was through Karate. The submissions and the grappling I learned on my own. I lived in Plainfield and at the time there wasn’t a legitimate mma school. So I saved up some money and bought an 8’x8’ Judo mat and invited anyone who had any wrestling, judo, or bjj experience and work with me. That is how I learned 70-80% of my techniques. I was very dedicated and took it very seriously. Then there was a Quinton Rampage seminar at the old MTC in Streamwood and I went there for that. After the seminar, Quinton told me to roll with Alex who is now the head coach of MTC. I rolled with him and he kicked my butt all over the place. He told me to come back that I had some good stuff and should come back. No one had taken an interest and it boasted my confidence. Ever since I have never left MTC and trained at another gym. I am a loyal MTC student. As of my second pro fight until now I have been there.

Are you planning on dropping gradually to 125 with catchweight fights or are you going to go straight to it?
That’s something I am going to leave up to Alex and my management team MataLeon. I am going to leave the hard decisions up to them. I am very fortunate that I don’t have to make those decisions. My first amateur fight was at 155. My opponent was like 5’10” and I am 5’5”. I weighed in like 151 after eating icecream right before the weigh ins. I can’t stress enough how little I knew. Now I am going to focus on training, cleaning up my diet and I will make the drop when my coaches or management push for it.

Any sponsors or people you want to thank?
I would like to thank myself for being incredibly good looking, articulate, and tall at 5’5”. All kidding aside, I would like to thank my parents who worked hard to allow me to have this life. I would also like to thank Alex the head coach at MTC for believing in me and all of my training partners for beating me up every day; Dennis Dombrow, Will Brooks, Dan Stittgen, Damian Norris, Andre Feliciano, Andrew Krzeptowski and Joe Smith. My students at Shinobe MMA who motivate me to be a better instructor. My sister who is the brains of the family. My friend George the Greek who is like a brother to me. Kyle who has helped me with doing all the business stuff, and my new management MataLeon. Also my friend Mario and you Brent for wanting to help me promote my fight. Finally the XFO for giving me a chance to come back and show everyone I am a talented fighter.

Ricardo “The Bully” Lamas talks about his injury, his fights against Matt Grice and Cub Swanson and more.

Matt Giancarlo won his second fight in a row with a modified version of a rear naked choke he learned from Matt Lindland. He discussed more than just his fight as he has trained under the famous Chael Sonnen and it is clearly evident in his interview.

Click to view the photos…

MTC Logo - photo by Brent Todd

Address: 455 State Parkway, Unit 103, Schaumburg, IL 60173
Phone: (847) 310-1200
Business Hours: 12pm-9pm Monday-Friday, 10am-3pm Saturday, Closed Sunday

Classes Offered:
Classes are offered for both fighters and non-fighters.  Fighter classes include wrestling, Muay Thai, jiu-jitsu, and strength and conditioning.  General students can attend classes in Muay Thai and both gi and no-gi jiu jitsu.

Kids ages 10 and up are welcome.

Other programs:
Private lessons are available

Cost:
Contact Joe Smith for any special promotions currently running

MTC-Cages photo by Brent Todd

MTC-Rings photo by Brent Todd

MTC - Mat Area - Photo by Brent Todd

Bourbon Street has played home to so many Cut Throat MMA events that the counter broke. It is one of the few locations where just the mere mention of the name gets mixed martial arts fans excited. To make the event even better, the second round of bantamweight quarterfinal fights will take place on the card.

Ryan Dipompeo will take on Miguel Garza while Lloyd Thorton goes to battle against Jason Ignacek completing the bantamweight quarterfinal matchups. The winners will then be matched up either against each other or against Jerald Williams or Manny Camacho.

Also in action Gilbert Grapplings Kalee Howell looks to improve her record to 4-1 with a victory on Friday. Should she be victorious, she will likely demand a shot at Audrey Pang in what could be for the vacant women’s 115lb title. Pang had her hand raised at Invasion the week prior and said she would take on who ever was put in front of her.

Cut Throat Bourbon Street takes place on Friday, March 23 at 115 Bourbon Street in Merrionette Park, Illinois. (Note to those trying to google the venue, the address is 3359 West 115th Street). Doors open at 6:30 and first fight is scheduled for 7:30pm.