Pros Pick: Velasquez vs. Silva 2

A little more than a year ago, Cain Velasquez painted the Octagon red with the blood of Antonio Silva. Now, “Bigfoot” gets a second crack at the American Kickboxing Academy ace, this time with the Ultimate Fighting Championship heavyweight title on the line.

Velasquez will defend his crown against Silva in the UFC 160 main event on Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. The 30-year-old Californian recaptured the championship with a one-sided unanimous decision over Junior dos Santos at UFC 155 in December. Meanwhile, Silva sent shockwaves through the heavyweight division three months ago, as he stopped Alistair Overeem on third-round punches in one of the year’s most violent knockouts.

Sherdog.com touched base with a number of professional fighters and trainers to gauge their opinions on the UFC 160 headliner:

Jason Dent: Velasquez all the way. He has the better boxing, wrestling and cardio. I hope Antonio can make a battle out of it, though, for the fans.

For the rest of the Sherdog picks, click HERE

Edited by: Bob Donaghy

Jeff Curran Seminar a Big Hit

It took Dent, Swift and Walker together
to do it, but they 'submitted' Curran

Jeff 'Big Frog' Curran actually delivered two seminars on Saturday.  The first, a two hour gi session brought 22 onto the mat, and the second, a two hour no-gi session brought out 24 with about 50% overlap in attendance. 

Both seminars were very detailed with lots of direct coaching.  Jason said, “Jeff's hands on approach went over really well with the classes.  It was very technical, and the guys learned a lot.  It's clear why his seminars are so popular.  We will try to get Jeff back here again for sure.”
With the great support shown for this seminar Jason intends to continue the GR tradition of bringing in big name famous fighters to meet and train with our members.

Written by: Bob Donaghy

Jeff Curran Seminar Rescheduled to May

Due to the pressure of being a highly successful and in demand fighter and trainer, Jeff Curran has been forced to reschedule his seminar at GriffonRawl.

The original date was April 6th.. since that date was set, Jeff's calendar has filled up with unavoidable obligations.  On Thursday, April 4th, Jeff will be in Atlantic City to corner one of his students at Bellator, and on Saturday the 6th, he will be in Stockholm, Sweden cornering another student for the UFC.  At his request we have rescheduled the seminar to May 18th. 

We apologize for the inconvenience, and will gladly pay refunds to anyone unable to attend on the new dates.

Written by: Bob Donaghy

Dedication Pays Off for Tony Reel

 

About two months ago, long time GR member Tony Reel had a major disappointment.  When Relson Gracie visited GR, he administered belt testing for several members.  Tony was trying for his Black Belt.  Master Gracie felt there were one or two details in Tony's technique that needed polishing before the belt could be awarded.  Rather than dwell on his disappointment and let it turn into useless anger, Tony doubled down on his training and made the suggested adjustments.  This is how progress is made.

In April he broadened his exposure to new technique with a trip to Miami for the Rickson Gracie seminar.  On May 3rd you could find Tony on the mat at the Rodrigo Medeiros Seminar.  May 11th  Tony traveled to Pennsylvania with GR's BJJ coach, Jeff  Starr and he was retested by Relson Gracie.  His hard work paid off and Tony is GR's newest Black Belt.

Congratulations Tony, your dedication is a lesson for all of us.

Written by: Bob Donaghy

Tim Stafford Wins Boxing Debut

Tim Stafford & Ron Conley

Congratulations to GR Team Fighter "Psycho" Tim Stafford on winning his Boxing debut fight Saturday night (May 11th).  The event was 'Battle in the Ballroom IX', organized by the West Side Boxing Club.

This was Tim's second outing against this fighter, Steve Traczyk.  They faced off at a Mauy Thai smoker hosted by Evolve MMA in February.  On that night, Traczyk got the nod. 

Tim had this to say about the fights, “It was my second fight against him. The first was a Muay Thai smoker that I lost. Ron, Donny, and Jason really helped me to understand the point scoring in boxing which really helped me understand that straight jabs score. My thanks to all at GriffonRawl.“

Everyone at GriffonRawl is very proud of you, Tim.

Written by: Bob Donaghy