Fists Against Hunger

Akron, Ohio

Several of Ohio's brightest young fighters put their skills to the test as part of last weekends "Fists Against Hunger 2005" show which took place at the JS Night Convention Center in the heart of Akron, OH. Once again Ohio was well represented as several of the state and regions top MMA and K-1 prospects took to the ring to lay it on the line for a good cause.Cuyahoga Falls Ryan "The Lion" Madigan was impressive once again while scoring two separate knock downs of Chris Overbey on his way to a second round win. Madigan now 7-2 (4 KO's) is the current IKF East Coast Super Middleweight Champion, and is scheduled to take on Pennsylvania's Randy Pogue as part of April 23rd's Beast of the East promotion in Pittsburgh, PA. The card will also feature a main event of Kit Cope vs Mohammed Lamin Keita but the Madigan vs Pogue fight may be the most anticipated of the night . Pogue is one of the nations top ranked fighters at 170 lbs and will be one of Madigan's toughest tests to date. However on a recent live PKW interview, Madigan told listeners that he feels ready for the challenge and added " I want to step up and fight the top fighters in my weight class and Pogue is a top contender". After spending time recently in the training camp of former Muay Thai and K-1 champion Duke Roufus, Madigan has the confidence and ability to make a run at the top of the 170 lb mountain. "K-1 is a goal of mine and each fight gets me closer. . I am hoping they will eventually bring back the 170 lb weight class and I can get to where I want to be" replied Madigan.Cincinnati's Josh Souder chalked up another decisive win over Paul Sharp via rear naked choke in the opening round of the contest. Souder is becoming known for his strong ground game and it should come as no surprise considering he has the benefit of training with Team Gorge Gurgel and UFC star Rich Franklin. Team Gurgel was well represented in going a combined 4-0 on the night. Wins were posted by Souder, Braden Workman, Dan Swift and Dustin Hazlett who stepped in on just a few hours notice for Scott Sheely who was out with strep throat. Hazlett went on to win by armbar against the hometown favorite Kerry McKinney of Akron, Ohio.Pennsylvania's Jason "Steeltown" Taylor made his pro debut after a highly touted amateur career in which he posted an 18-2 combined record in 2004 alone. Taylor took out North Carolina's Robert Bradley, who was also making his pro debut, by armbar in a very fast paced match up. Bradley was the early aggressor and took it to Taylor in the early moments of the fight but Taylor showed the experience of a veteran and waited for Bradley to make a mistake which he would eventually end up capitalizing on. Taylor will be back in action as part of the next Extreme Kickboxing card in Atlanta when he goes after his second straight win as a pro against Georgia's Harris Norwood on April 10th. Look for both of these talented young fighter to have successful careers in the MMA.On the second day of the two day martial arts expo, The Fists Against Hunger foundation provided martial artists from across the region the opportunity to compete in various divisions. The San Shou divisions were very competitive for the second straight year as Terrence Taylor came back to defend his title and establish himself as one of the areas best amateurs. Also included were sport karate, submission grappling and various styles of Kung Fu divisions which is the preferred style of event promoter Khalid Abdusalaam. Preparations are already being made for "Fists Against Hunger 3" .......stay logged on to the Internet Voice of the Fight Fan for the latest breaking event info.Written by:Greg KalikasComplete 2005 Fists Against Hunger ResultsSolemon over John Hayes - TKO rd 1Jason Taylor over Robert Bradley - armbar 1:58 rd 1Braden Workman over Chris Larkin - choke 4:28 rd 1Dan Swift over Jason Halderman - ref stoppage 3:11 rd 2Ryan Madigan over Chris Overbey - TKO 0:48 rd 2Josh Souder over Paul Sharp - rnc 3:02 rd 1JP Pocock over Albert Rosales - guillotine 0:36 rd 1Dustin Hazlett over Kerry McKinney - tapout 1:28 rd 1Chris Heinztman over Mark Miller - ref stoppage 1:26 rd 1

Chris Brennan Muay Thai & MMA 2-Day Seminar

Mentor, Ohio

After a few date changes and a great deal of planning the much-anticipated Chris Brennan seminar finally came to play at the GriffonRawl Academy. Brennan comes to the table with an impressive and very extensive background. He is a BJJ blackbelt under John Delao and the owner/instructor of the Next Generation Fight Team in Lake Forest, CA. Brennan is also a seasoned veteran in the world of MMA, having competed in the UFC, Pride, and being the former KOTC World Middleweight Champion. He was also recently invited to the 2005 Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling World Championships set to be held in Long Beach, CA later this year. Here is a brief break down of what we did at the two day semiar.Saturday – The first day of the seminar started off with warm ups, cutting off the ring/cage, striking and shooting from the clinch. Soon enough everyone found themselves on the mat working submissions from the top mount and side control for the remainder of the day.Sunday - The second day of the seminar got started with some basic warm ups and shadow boxing to get everyone’s bodies moving again from day 1 of being twisted into pretzels. Once again it did not take long before we were on the mat again only this time the vast majority of the submissions that were being taught were form the guard. We also were treated to some different ways that Chris likes to pass the guard. Sunday afternoon closed with Q&A. Chris was open to any questions about technique, wins, loses, and nutrition. Following the Q&A Chris rolled with each participant. He often gave the students their choice of position and showed the practical use for many of the moves he taught over the weekend. There was even some time for some showing off as he displayed some slick moves on the mat.The seminar was a great success. We video taped 5 hours of the weekend and we are currently editing the DVD’s. Each seminar participant will receive a copy. We like to thank Chris Brennan for his time, talent, and patience and we’d like to thank everyone who attended and supported the gym. We hope to have future seminars with other MMA athletes. If there is anyone in particular you’d like to see please let us know. Brennan may return this fall for another weekend event. Hope those of you who attended can attend and those who missed will have another chance to further their game. Those of you who missed the seminar please check out http://www.chrisbrennan.com/ he has posted many MMA work out ideas, condition hints, and nutrition advice.Written by:Rich Catalano

Extreme Fighting Challenge 11

Columbus, Ohio

Bo Kimly’s Extreme Fighting Challenge 11 pulled out all stops when it came to filling the bill for one of the fastest growing MMA promotions in the region. Of course featuring a main event with the NY Bad Ass Phil Baroni was sure to draw a crowd of MMA loyalists, however this particular weekend gave many of the stars of MMA a chance to attend while in Columbus for the Arnold Fitness Classic Weekend. Mark Coleman, Wes Sims, and Shonie Carter were all in attendance as well as boxing legends Hector Macho Camacho and Vinny Pazienza who was also in Baronis corner for the main event. For the second straight show it was standing room only at Promo West Pavilion which is located in the heart of downtown Columbus, Oh. The set up is unique but very fitting for an event which draws such an enthusiastic fan base and doesn't have a bad seat in the house. The card featured a total of sixteen fights, three of which were for EFC titles. Cleveland’s Jason Dent defended his lightweight belt with an exciting performance over EFC veteran and #1 contender Primo Luciano. The bad news for Dent was a broken hand which needed surgery and will keep him out of competition for the next 3 months. Todd Seyler took out Travis Burnett in a very evenly contested and fast paced match-up to win the EFC light heavyweight title. In a battle of Canada, it was Joseph Geris over Grant Manske by first round submission earning him the title of EFC heavyweight champion. In the main event, it was the hometown hero and heavy underdog Chris “Cranial Damage” Cruit taking on the motivated Phil Baroni. It’s no secret that Baroni has been scuffling in recent fights and could not afford a loss to a fighter with a sub five hundred record. Baroni looked confident even during his walk to the ring (he sported his all silver NY Yankees robe) and you could sense the crowd was anxious to see the NY bad Ass in action. It didn’t take long for Baroni to gain control of Cruit who looked like he wanted no part of Baroni on his feet, and rightly so as Cruit has a mostly wrestling background. Even on the ground, Baroni had his way landing blow after blow to all parts of Cruits body. At one point, midway through the first round, Cruits corner actually threw in the towel, but after a short meeting by EFC officials and chorus of heavy boos from the crowd, it was determined to be a mistake by an outside party and the fight was allowed to continue. Cruit ended up surviving the first round but found himself in a similar situation quickly in the second. To nearly everyone's surprise Baroni finished Cruit with a submission (kimura) at 1:02 of the second round, but several things were made evident from this fight. 1.Baroni has been working on his ground game 2.Baroni has been working on his stamina 3. Chris Cruit can take a lot of punishment and has a very fitting nickname.After the fight Baroni addressed the crowd and thanked his fans who haven’t counted him out. He considers this fight a fresh start and stated that in his eyes he is now 1-0. He told PKW that he is currently working with Mark Coleman in hopes of possibly getting a fight in Japan with PRIDE FC. Baroni will be fighting Ohio’s Trevor Garrett on March 18th and plans to stay very active over the next few months. PKW’s exclusive Phil Baroni post fight audio interview is now available in our “Fighters View” section.EFC 12 is tentatively set for this coming May in Columbus. Congratulations to Bo Kimly and the entire EFC crew for a great night of MMA action. You can visit http://www.extremefightingchallenge.net/ for future EFC events and info. Written by:Greg KalikasExtreme Fighting Challenge 11 Complete ResultsMichael Lutz over Charles Lopresti – 2:50 1st Rd KO Joshua Wright over Scott DiSorno – 3:01 1st Rd Submission (rnc)Richy Karst over Van Daranikone – 2:37 1st Rd TKO (strikes)Scott Wolford over Phill Parker – 2:06 1st Rd Submission (rnc)Derek Collins over Dan Wallon – 2:17 1st Rd Submission (armbar)Jimmy Rommel over Rich Bivens – 1:06 1st Rd Submission (neck )Matthew Brown over Gary Young - 3:47 1st Rd Submission (choke)Joseph Ezella over Nick Baez - 1:40 3rd Rd Submission (choke)Damon Shuter over Tim Sample – 1:321st Rd Submission (armbar)Aron Crowell over Jesse Deweese – 2:37 2nd Rd TKO (strikes)Albert Rosales over Zach Hummel – 1:35 1st Rd Submission (rnc)Tobin Thomas over Cole Furbee – 0:56 1st Rd Submission (choke)Jason Dent over Primo Luciano – 2:52 1st Rd TKO (strikes)Todd Seylor over Travis Burnett 1st Rd – 1:25 Submission (strikes)Joseph Geris over Grant Manske - 1st Rd Submission (choke)Phil Baroni over Chris Cruit 2nd Rd - 1:02 Submission (kimura)