Pablo Popovitch No-Gi BJJ Seminar

Macedonia, Ohio

Jason and Rich had the pleasure of a private lesson and seminar with Pablo Popovitch. Pablo is a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu instructor and competitor. He trains out of Ft. Lauderdale, Florida at American Top Team. Chris Chard (www.ohiobjjc.com/) operates a BJJ school in Macedonia and brought Pablo in for the weekend.Pablo recently placed number 2 in his division at the ADCC in Long Beach, California. The ADCC (www.adcombat.com/) is by invitation only. The worlds best submission grapplers meet in the annual event to show off their skills and roll with the masters in the sport. Pablo was ranked #7 before the competition, but finished just behind Marcelo Garcia who won the ADCC in 2004. Garcia was ranked number 1 going into the event so Pablo had an impressive showing for his first year competing with the best of the best. The first hour lesson was spent working anything we asked. Pablo showed great insight and skill. He has not competed in MMA but still showed us a great many ways to escape from the mount in an MMA event or submission-grappling match. The key to learning BJJ is repeating the moves you learn over and over. You can never over “drill” any move or technique.The two-hour no-gi seminar covered some great techniques. We spent some time on getting up from the bottom, butterfly guard, and multiple submissions. The highlight of the seminar was a triple submission attempt. Going from a triangle, to an arm bar, to a knee bar. The speed and agility involved in the move is completely amazing. The two-hour seminar went very quickly. We came away with some great ideas that will be presented in class, and most of all even more motivation than one can imagine from a world-class instructor and competitor. Thanks to Chris Chard and Pablo Popovitch.Written by:Rich Catalano

North League Extreme Kickboxing 3

Akron, Ohio

Extreme Kickboxing made its return to the Posh Night Club with it’s biggest Ohio show to date. Once again EKB featured a six fight card which included the return of six previous EKB winners. Event co-promoter and currently the IKF’s #1 ranked super middleweight, Ryan Madigan told PKW that continuity was important in making the events a success in Northeast Ohio. “We are trying to build a strong following for some of the up and coming local fighters” stated Madigan, “There are many great fighters in our region and we are doing our best to provide them with a stage to show off their abilities and hopefully gain some exposure”. Extreme Kickboxing is looking at possibly adding a few shows in the Cleveland area but nothing has yet been confirmed. The EKB shows at the Posh Nite Club in down town Akron have grown in attendance with each passing event and Northeast Ohio fans have proved that they will turn out in bunches to watch quality fights. A semi-regular event in Cleveland can only help the sport continue to thrive in Ohio which his currently one of the most proactive states when it comes to pro and amateur combative sports. No dates have been set for the next Extreme Kickboxing event but an announcement is expected soon. Fight Card:In the nights opening bout it was Cleveland’s Taiwon Howard via split decision over a very game “Bad” Josh Barden. Howard uses his legs to hold off a series of Barden attacks in a very fast paced fight. Howard now improves to 2-0 in EKB competition and is expected to be part of then next Akron card.In a lightweight match-up, “The Kid” Lee Kreisher had another impressive showing while improving his EKB record to 2-0. Kreisher took on a determined Dana Linn from Tracy’s Karate in Independence, Oh who was making his EKB debut. Kreisher used his superior conditioning and hard hitting attack to wear down Linn and proved that he could take a shot if needed. “The Kid’ from New Philadelphia, OH has not let either of his EKB opponents go the distance yet as Linn could not answer the bell four round five. In a heavyweight showdown featuring two first time fighters, it was Griffonrawl’s (Mentor, OH) “Big Ben” Parks over Project Pain’s (Akron, OH) Eddy Lytle. Both fighters came out swinging and exchanged heavy blows in the early stages of the fight, but it was the low kicks of Parks that opened up the upstairs and earned him his first career win. Parks by TKO rd 2. Nationally ranked Keli Cofer displayed her skill in an exhibition bout with future ladies star Stacy Rogers. The fight went three exciting rounds and ended in a draw but fans got a chance to watch two of the sports best females in full contact action.In the nights co-main event, Dominic “Dredz” Qurazzo had no problems with West Virginia’s Adam Sepulveda earning a TKO win in the second round. Sepulveda, a part-time MMA fighter had no answers for the chopping low kick’s of Qurazzo who went to work on the big man early in the fight. Three shots to the left thigh was all it took for the flamboyant Qurazzo to close the book in round two and win by decisive fashion. Qurazzo is quickly becoming a crowd favorite and is another of Ohio’s up and coming young heavyweights.Torence “The Tyrant” Taylor has been cleaning up the competition over the past six months including a prior win at the Posh earlier this year. However his opponent Michael Slaton of Akron’s Project Pain team was not going to make things easy. The two warriors put their friendship aside and went to war in one of the nights best and most hard hitting fights. Taylor established early control with his power shots and ability to dodge and counter on most of Slaton’s attacks but the veteran nicknamed “The Hands of Stone” would not go quietly. It took four rounds of grueling kickboxing to settle the outcome of this one but in the end it was “The Tyrant” improving his EKB record to 2-0 and making a statement to future opponents. Look for Taylor to be a part of September 17th’s Fight Festival 2005 slated for the Scene Pavilion in Cleveland. More news on future EKB events will be available on “The Internet Voice of the Fight fan”, PKW.Found onhttp://www.prokarateweekly.com/

Team GriffonRawl takes a Roadtrip to UFC 53 !

Atlantic City, New Jersy

Kind of a cross between Real world and Road RulesA number of the GriffonRawl members (Mike, Donny, Rich, Ben, Breanne, Cheyenne, and of course me) ventured to Atlantic City for UFC 53. The adventure began Friday afternoon with a LONG drive to Atlantic City. Seven people loaded up in Eddie’s Escalade for what promised to be an interesting weekend. The 8 hour drive was a bit hectic. Some rain, some traffic, a bit cramped but sure enough everyone arrived into AC at about 9pm Friday night. Friday night was an adventure at the beach. Sometime between 3-5am everyone decided to hit the shore. So off we went into the dark Atlantic. Needless to say the wake up Saturday morning was not too swift. Finally everyone got ready and we drove out to Dave Varlaros Muay Thai Gym about 40 minutes from the shore. After a two hour work out back to the board walk area to get ready for the fights. That night we headed out to the Board Walk for some gaming and the fights. To a sold out Board Walk Hall we saw some awesome fights, met some UFC vets and of course took a few pictures. Results of the show are listed below.Nick Diaz def. Koji Oishi via TKO (punches) in Round 1. David Loiseau def. Charles McCarthy via TKO (back-kick/punches) in Round 2. Nate Quarry def. Shonie Carter via TKO (punches) in Round 1. Paul Buentello def. Kevin Jordan via Submission (neck crank) in Round 1. Forrest Griffin def. Bill Mahood via Submission (rear naked choke) in Round 1. Rich Franklin def. Evan Tanner via TKO (stoppage) in Round 4 to become UFC Middleweight champion. Karo Parisyan def. Matt Serra via Unanimous Decision (30-27, 30-27, 29-28) after 3 rounds. Andrei Arlovski def. Justin Eilers via TKO (injury stoppage) in Round 1.Sunday morning we loaded but again and hit the road back to Cleveland. Made it back in lightening fast time and arrived home by 4 o’clock Sunday. Thanks to Eddie for driving and letting us crash at his home, Dave for letting us work out and teaching us some new moves, and Mike for running the gym while we could enjoy the UFC and AC.Written by:Rich Catalano