NAAFS Rock and Rumble 7 Results

Jason coaching Joe between rounds

Saturday August 24th delivered uncharacteristically fine weather for NAAFS 7 edition of Rock N' Rumble.  An event that's been plagued by sweltering heat and humidity and even near horozontal rain enjoyed near perfect fight weather.  Perhaps NAAFS got the hard part out of the way getting to fight day. The show suffered an unusual number of cancellations and last minute withdrawls making Greg Kalikas work overtime to pull the show together.  But he did it, and by all accounts it was a successful night with a near sellout of Jacob Pavilion and even a few suprising results to the fights.  But the last minute good luck for the show did not carry over to the two GriffonRawl fighters on the card. 

Joe Callari's record drops to 6-6 with his 3rd round submission loss to Eric Bledsoe (3-0 now).  Ironically, Joe was dominating the standup portion of the fight, and the former Toughman champ from Virginia, Bleadsoe, controlled the ground.  Unfortunately, in the third round, Bledsoe was able to lock in a arm triangle and Joe was forced to tap at 2:18.  Antony Disantis' fight was difficult, it was a back and forth war, and , according to some, possibly  the best fight on the undercard.  Neither fighter was able to finsih, and the judges had nearly as much trouble arriving finally at a split decision (29-8, 28-29, 29-28) for Tony's opponent, Zack Trout.  It's difficult to critisize either fighter when clearly both gave everything they had and even the judges couldnl't come to a clean decision. 

Both Tony and Joe are warriors, and while their pride is hurt, they know as a Team we win and lose as a Team, and they can count, as everyone on the Team can, on the full support of GriffonRawl as they work advance their skills.

Full results of the card (win/lose record includes RnR results)

Winner	Loser	Method	Round	Time
Jason Alexander (2-0)	Floyd Cisco (0-1)	Unan Dec	3
Nick Foxhuber (6-1)	Aaron McGraw (3-3)	Sub (RNC)	1	0:35
Tobiaus Taylor (3-0)	Adken Torchia (1-1)	Split Dec	3
Cheyne Jenkins (6-1)	Aaron Neighbors (7-5)	TKO	2	2:32
Bhrandon Poindexter (7-9)	Zach Forrester (2-5)	Unan Dec	3
Hassan Crutcher (3-0)	Steve Stocker (2-1)	Unan Dec	3
Eric Bledsoe (3-0)	Joe Callari (6-6)	Sub (arm triangle)	3	2:18
Scottie Weaver (7-3)	Rockey Clark (4-9)	Sub (strikes)	1	1:22
Zack Trout (3-0)	Anthony Disantis (2-2)	Split Dec	3
Darion Peterson (1-0)	Lillo General (1-1)	TKO	2	2:33
Nick Browne (8-1)	Corey Dulaney (5-1)	Sub (arm triangle)	1	1:35
Dave Vandevelde (1-2)*	Chris Tucker (0-1)	Sub (RNC)	1	4:10
Antonio Castillo Jr. (7-4)*	Brett Ewing (4-4)	TKO	2	0:58
Elias Theodorou (8-0)*	Travis Clark (7-2)	TKO	2	5:00
Josh Stansbury (5-2)*	John Hawk (8-5)	Unan Dec	3

Written by: Bob Donaghy

World Kickboxing Seminar with Grandmaster Bob Chaney

GR's Jason Dent and Russ Herbert attended the Muay Thai seminar at Ryan Madigan's World Kickboxing Academy down in Stow, Ohio on Saturday August 17th.  GR Instructors are always attending Seminars & Camps to get fresh ideas/insight from some of the worlds best to continually better our gym.

The seminar featured instruction by Grandmaster Bob Chaney and ran for 3 hours. Over 20 students were given personal instruction by one of the greatest living Masters of the art. WKA runs seminars throughout the year, and they're worth attending.

Russ Herbert, Grandmaster Bob Chaney, Jason Dent, Ryan Madigan

Written by:  Bob Donaghy

GriffonRawl Represented at American Grappling Challenge

Three GR members: Ahmad Douglas, Jeff Offak and Rob Rizer competed at the American Grappling Challenge last Saturday (August 10) in Copley, OH.   The event, the second in 2013, pulled over 175 competitors onto the mats

Ahmad Douglas placed 3rd no gi in intermediate. Rob Rizer took second place in both gi and no-gi divisions, and JJ Offak took 3rd in no-gi.  Everybody had a great time, showed class, and work ethic.  They competed well and made the gym proud.  Be sure to congratulate them when you see them in class.  Competing in grappling events outside the gym is a great way to get experience and broaden your training horizon. Having a date to train for is a great way to improve your focus in the gym.

The next scheduled AGC event is in Cincinnati, OH on September 7th

The AGC website is HERE 

Written by: Bob Donaghy

Kru Veverka Returns from Thai Camp

Juice is back from camp, yes, camp.  But this isn't your typical Summer camp experience, it's the Pacific Northwest Muay Thai immersion camp .  His annual trip to the wilds outside Portland, OR where, he and several hundred other dedicated Muay Thai practitioners, spend 5 days in tents, rising before dawn for 3 miles runs and marathon training sessions.  And this fun isn't for those who just want to show up, it's invitation only.  At the end of last year's camp, Juice was elevated to Associate rank, meaning this year he was invited to teach some of the sessions.  Classes were all taught by the highest professionals, including but not limited to : Grandmaster Surachai Sirisute(Founder), Ajarn Bryan Dobler, Ajarn Bryan Popejoy, Ajarn Rex, Ajarn Kim, Ajarn Greg Nelson, Khun Khru Scott Elliott, Khun Khru Sam Adams, Khun Khru Natalie Roy Brown, Khun Khru Scott Anderson.

 The camp is usually the last week of July and this was Juice's 8th visit.  This year, for the first time, GR helped with Juice's expenses by sponsoring part of the trip.  Improving Juice's skills helps everyone in GR.  While the event is invitation only, he's allowed to bring guests.  Long time GR member Russ Herbert was Juice's guest this year, last year it was George Comer.  The camp will be in Portland again next year, anyone thinking about upping their game in Mauy Thai should think hard about attending.

Juice describes a typical day at the camp: You start with a 1 to 3 mile run in the morning followed by stance drills, then an hour for breakfast. Then it is time for extreme drills and/or station training, then an hour for lunch. We received boxing training that took up between 1 to 2 hours a day immediately followed by station training. Stations are as follows: Heavy bags, Shadow Boxing, Thai Pads, Timing sparring and Plum (clinching). Often some of the stations were doubled or tripled.  Thai Pads were at least doubled daily, other times tripled. Every station was a minimum of four rounds at 3 minutes a piece. Other days it was 8 rounds per station. You can see where this gets a bit tiring after a while. After that we often did 3 on 1 drills followed by 8 count body builders. We did 140 8 count body builders alone at the end of the day after our workouts.

For more on the camp, the site is HERE

Written by: Bob Donaghy

Pros Pick Aldo v Jung

Every UFC PPV Sherdog runs an article which asks a number of pro fighters to give their prediction on the main event.  Jason Dent is a frequent contributor to the series.

From Sherdog.com
Since Nov. 26, 2005, 15 men have tried and failed to beat Jose Aldo. Now comes Chan Sung Jung’s turn.

Aldo will defend the Ultimate Fighting Championship featherweight crown against “The Korean Zombie” in the UFC 163 main event on Saturday at the HSBC Arena in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The 26-year-old Brazilian has finished eight opponents by knockout or technical knockout during his 15-fight winning streak, including Team Alpha Male’s Chad Mendes, “The Ultimate Fighter” Season 5 finalist Manny Gamburyan, former World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champion Mike Thomas Brown and Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts mainstay Cub Swanson.

Sherdog.com touched base with a number of professional fighters and trainers to gauge their opinions on the UFC 163 headliner:

Jason Dent: Aldo wins any way it ends up. I believe he will finish “The Korean Zombie,” but if it goes the distance, I still think Aldo has this one.

For the rest of the story on Sherdog, click HERE

Adapted by: Bob Donaghy

World Kickboxing Academy Smoker Results

Five GriffonRawl members made it to Stow for the World Kickboxing Academy’s first Smoker.  We came away 3-2.  Joe Callari, Ahmad Douglas and Logan Urban all won, Rex Briggs and Nice Pruter came away on the losing end of their fights.  All the fighters were warriors and fought well. 

While WKA is new facility the smoker was well run and very well attended.  GriffonRawl members, friends and supporters easily outnumbered all other groups at the event.  Thanks to everyone who came.  It's a great way to support  the Academy and your fellow members.

Smokers are for fun and experience.  The results are not recorded, not part of the fighter’s record and Smoker do not affect in any way consideration for the  Fight Team.  The experience is important and practice outside the familiar surroundings of the academy prepares the fighter for the world of professional competition.  Smoker fights are a pro fighter tool available to every member of the academy.

Written by: Bob Donaghy

Pros Pick: Silva vs. Weidman

From Sherdog.com

Chris Weidman had not yet appeared in a professional mixed martial arts match when Anderson Silva captured the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight crown on Oct. 14, 2006. Nevertheless, their paths will cross in the UFC 162 main event this Saturday at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas -- Silva the venerable champion, Weidman the hungry challenger.

Sherdog.com touched base with a number of professional fighters and trainers to gauge their opinions on the UFC 162 headliner:

Jason Dent: Can’t pick against Anderson; I don’t believe I ever have. Win or lose, he is a living legend at this point. I believe Anderson will win by TKO because if it stays on the ground, I’m not sure Anderson can catch Weidman.

To read the other picks, click HERE

Adapted by Bob Donaghy

Walker Denied in Pittsburgh

A disappointing Doctor Stoppage loss marred Donny Walker’s return to the cage in the main event at Pinnacle Fighting Championships.

With his technical boxing, and hard won takedown defense Donny Walker was able to keep Mark Cherico at bay for much of the first round.  But Cherico’s dogged attack broke Walker’s defense and the fight went to the ground.  From there Cherico was pressuring with submissions and elbows, working his standard game to get Donny to give his back.  A solid elbow opened a gash in Walker’s face.  Round 1 ended 10-9 Cherico. 

Round two saw a more aggressive Walker use his boxing to force Cherico to the cage and scored a double leg takedown of his own.  In the scramble the cut on Walker’s face was re-opened and the referee stopped the fight to examine the cut.  The fight doctor intervened and despite the pleas of the crowd to let the fight continue decided the cut met the criteria to end the fight.  Under Unified Rules when a fight is stopped for medical reasons, the fight is awarded to the fighter ahead on points at the time of the stoppage.  The 10-9 score from the first round secured Cherico the win.

Images courtesy of Mike Wrobel at ShootItMMA.com

Written by Bob Donaghy

GriffonRawl Fight Team Grows by Two

 

Two of GR's most dedicated members, Cody Lewis and Alex Frenk, fought their way onto the Fight Team at Roctagon 27 on June 15th.  Both took on talented opponents and came away with dominating wins.

Cody won by armbar over Dib Haddah in the third round, and Alex KO'd Ben Horton just 45 seconds into the first.  Alex showed amazing maturity in his MMA debut fighting off a guillotine and capitalizing to get the KO so quickly.  Cody took his time, and in the 3rd round worked his ground game perfectly from his back to get the armbar at 1:34.  Training pays off.  Congratulations to both of them.

Alex Frenk stays busy at GR.  He volunteers with the jr MMA program (his son is in the program).   He's also entered (and won) Muay Thai events.

Cody Lewis is 1-0 on smoker fights and is one of the most active GR fighters on the grappling tournament circuit. Cody has two MMA bouts under his belt (a couple of disappointing squeaker decisions), but with this win he gets his first finish and made the team.  Hard work and dedication pay off

Be sure to congratulate Cody and Alex when you see them in class

Written by: Bob Donaghy

Comer Crushed Camozzi at FNF 9, GR goes 1-1-?

Fight Night in the Flats 9 got off to a rocky start for GriffonRawl.  Jason Dent's opponent missed the weigh-in, and never did turn up.  Sammy Callari got tagged early and ended up on the wrong side of a TKO.  It fell to 'Bonesaw' George Comer to put the evening back in positive territory, and he delivered a dominating performance and another Unanimous Decision victory.

Taking the events in the order they occurred:

Andrew Osborne (9-5 overall) is a veteran fighter with a grinding standup game.  All but two of his wins are decisions in standup wars, the other two are KO's.   He is not afraid of a long fight.    Which makes it all the more puzzling that he did not show up for the weigh-in.  Jason was very disappointed (read angry) that the fight camp might be wasted.  Never taking things lying down, when Jason learned that there was a possibility that Osborne would no show he was on the phone to other promotions looking to book himself a fight as soon as possible.

Izzy William (5-1) is currently ranked 3rd among NAAFS Amateur Lightweights.  All of his wins are by KO or TKO, and 4 of those are in the first round.  William came out fast and swinging wide, and Sammy countered well backing him up with straight counter rights.  But one of the wild swings got through.  Sammy is a warrior, but he was tagged hard and couldn't recover before the referee stopped the bout.  It's possible that Sammy could have recovered, but amateur rules dictate if there is to be an error, it will be on the side of an early stoppage.  Sammy's will come back from this and put another W on his resume soon.

On paper George Comer was in the most danger of the three GriffonRawl fighters.  His opponent was Brian Camozzi (younger brother of UFC Middleweight Chris Camozzi).  Camozzi fights out of Factory X in Denver, which boasts 3 alternates for the US Olympic Wrestling team on the training rotation.  Camozzi brought a 5-0 record to the fight, also, a half dozen kickboxing trophies, a Blue Belt in BJJ and at 6'2” and 76”, a significant height and reach advantage. 

But fights aren't won on paper, and George stuck to Jason's plan: nullify Camozzi's  reach and striking by taking him to the ground as fast as possible and keep him there.  Use elbows to open him up, stay busy and look to finish with a submission.  Camozzi did display excellent takedown defense, but crumbled against Comer's dogged persistence and insane conditioning.

A unofficial breakdown of the fight has it 2 minutes of standup, 11 minutes with Comer in control, and 2 minutes of Camozzi in control.  The judges saw it the same way with a Unanimous Decision for Comer (30-27, 29-28, 30-27).  Way to go Bonesaw.

Images courtesy of Mike Wrobel at ShootItMMA.com 

Written by: Bob Donaghy