February 24th, at the invitation of Jay Wadsworth, Jason Dent presented a 2 hour seminar on 'striking for MMA' at Kinetix Combat Sports in Jamestown, NY. Sam and Joe Callari, and George Comer made the two hour trip with Jason.
Twelve Kinetix students participated in the 2 hour class. At the conclusion of the teaching session, there was an hour of open sparring where the students had a chance to try out their newly acquired skills. The class was well received and Jay Wadsworth has asked Jason to return again in 2013 for another seminar.
With only a week's notice the attendance at the Relson Gracie seminar last Saturday was still impressive. Over a dozen hard core BJJ practitioners showed up to receive instruction from Master Gracie.
After the seminar both of GR's Steve Hetzel and Dan Vandevender were promoted to Purple Belt, and Jeff Starr was awarded a stripe on his Black Belt. Tony Reel tested for his Black Belt, and Relson felt he needed to review/work on his timing for some of the self defense techniques. At GR we support our students, and we do things the right way. Tony will complete his review, re-test in a few months and get the belt he's earned.
Former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight titleholder Frankie Edgar will downshift to 145 pounds to challenge Jose Aldo for his featherweight crown in the UFC 156 main event this Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
Sherdog.com touched base with a number of professional fighters and trainers to gauge their opinions on the UFC 156 “Aldo vs. Edgar” headliner:
Jason Dent: I believe Aldo will win this fight. He is just so accurate and deadly with his knees, elbows and low kicks. Frankie will have the wrestling advantage, but Aldo is a finisher. Aldo wins by TKO by or before the end of round four.
GR has had better showings at smokers, we went 1-1-3 this time around, but we do this for the fun and experience, and sometimes losing is the experience you get. Smokers are not sanctioned fights and don't count officially on anyones records. GR is always "Together in VICTORY & Together in DEFEAT"
Congratulations to Cody Lewis on the win, and Matt Vaccarellio in pulling out the draw. The three losses were only by decision and competitive.
We had an excellent turnout in support, and everyone fought with skilll and heart. We walked in proud, and walked out the same way, just knowing more about what needs to be done to improve.
Saturday night continued the resurgence of GriffonRawl at NAAFS events. Three of the four warriors GR sent into the cage came away with victories, the sole loss was a very tight Split Decision.
Jon-David Reeves, Samuel Callari, Tony DiSantis and Joe Callari made the trip to the Z-Plex in Streetsboro, Ohio to stand up for GR. Joe won by Unanimous Decision, Tony finished his opponent by Triangle Choke in the 3rd round, Sam took his win by TKO in the 1st round. Jon showed lots of heart and left it all in the cage, more experience will put him in the win column for sure.
GR Head Coach Jason Dent had lots to say about the fights: Sammy fought patiently and countered without hesitation. The pain he inflicted with his low kicks left his opponent open for some good old fashioned 1 – 2's! Tony Di won in a war and showed Tony has heart thats for sure. His opponent was game and had tons of heart as well. Joe's opponent had no answer for the low kicks Joe delivered and he showed some really good takedowns. Joe dominated his opponent and looked awesome. Jon-David Reeves did damage with his kicks but his opponent controlled where the fight was so the judges gave him the decision.
Coach Donny Walker made the trip cornered for all four fighters with Jason.
GR wants to thank Intimidation Clothing for their continued sponsorship of the GR Fight Team
GR Team Fighter Steve Hetzel and GR member Cody Lewis traveled to Hamilton, OH on Saturday, January 12 to compete in the American Grappling Challenge Tri-State Grappling Championships.
Steve finished 1st in nogi and 3rd in gi at 140 lbs while Cody took 4th in gi at 155 lbs. It 's great to see our guys stepping up to get out there to broaden their experience.
American Grappling Challenge is the new name for the Ohio Grappling Challenge. Click on the yellow link to visit their new site.
The next AGC event will be The All-Ohio Open on March 23rd in Canton, OH
We want to familiarize you with The Rock House, a small private gym in Painesville, OH. The Rock House is the official GriffonRawl weight/fitness/rehab gym. It is a 'key club': all members receive a key to the gym which they can use at any time, 24/7/365.
The gym includes 2800 square feet of free weights, a cardio area, and a general fitness activity area. It is “beginner friendly”, and all new members receive an orientation and a individualized training program and nutrition plan. Rock House does not use contracts, and offers a month to month membership. As a special consideration for GriffonRawl members, the gym will waive all sign-up fees. Just show them your GR card.
The gym is cleaned daily, and the equipment is well maintained. Broken equipment is replaced quickly. All weights are all rubber coated, which makes for a quiet atmosphere.
Donny and Jason have trained under the owner, Rocky, for years and the gym has sponsored them. Four GR fighters currently train there.. Donny Walker, Jason Dent, Thomas Salvator, and Dave Osborne. In addition, Thomas Salvator, who is also a licensed personal trainer, runs his training business out of The Rock House.
Sammy and; Joe Callari are two of the most consistent, and hardest working members / fighters at GriffonRawl. It's hard to think of the last time either missed a practice or failed to show up and support a gym event. They turn up routinely for open mat, and are always among the first to volunteer to fight on a card, or a smoker. They've also gone outside the academy and participated in grappling tournaments to gain more experience in the sport. On another positive note both are coming off of wins as well. With all that having been said it is my pleasure to announce that they have a new shirt being produced in next few weeks. Designed by NAAFS chief designer Troy Louis, the shirts will go on presale next week at the GriffonRawl pro shop.
It may be too late for Christmas, but right on time to support Sammy and Joe when they fight on the NAAFS card on January 26th. Get right with your training and right in style, wear a Callari Bros “Wanted” shirt to Streetsboro on the 26th.
T-shirt details - Front of the shirt is pictured to the left and on the back across the shoulders it will read "Callari Killerz" in brown that matches the front.
For anyone that has not made it to GR here is a little in house tour of our facility and some of our training. Special thanks to GmonE & Jon Connor for putting this video together for us.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship’s year-end events are typically anchored by a tremendous main event. That is certainly the case at UFC 155 on Saturday, as Junior dos Santos defends his heavyweight crown against Cain Velasquez at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas.
Dos Santos captured the championship with a first-round technical knockout against Velasquez at UFC on Fox 1 in November. Can the American Kickboxing Academy standout turn the tables and avenge the only defeat of his professional career?
Sherdog.com touched base with a number of professional fighters and trainers to gauge their opinions on the UFC 155 “Dos Santos vs. Velasquez 2” headliner
Jason Dent: JDS will win again. I’d say by TKO late in round three.
GR has had better showings at smokers, we went 1-1-3 this time around, but we do this for the fun and experience, and sometimes losing is the experience you get. Smokers are not sanctioned fights and don't count officially on anyones records. GR is always "Together in VICTORY & Together in DEFEAT"
.JPG)
The gym includes 2800 square feet of free weights, a cardio area, and a general fitness activity area. It is “beginner friendly”, and all new members receive an orientation and a individualized training program and nutrition plan. Rock House does not use contracts, and offers a month to month membership. As a special consideration for GriffonRawl members, the gym will waive all sign-up fees. Just show them your GR card.
.PNG)
Sammy and; Joe Callari are two of the most consistent, and hardest working members / fighters at GriffonRawl. It's hard to think of the last time either missed a practice or failed to show up and support a gym event. They turn up routinely for open mat, and are always among the first to volunteer to fight on a card, or a smoker. They've also gone outside the academy and participated in grappling tournaments to gain more experience in the sport. On another positive note both are coming off of wins as well. With all that having been said it is my pleasure to announce that they have a new shirt being produced in next few weeks. Designed by NAAFS chief designer Troy Louis, the shirts will go on presale next week at the GriffonRawl pro shop.
