Pros Pick Henderson v Pettis

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

One formidable obstacle stands between Benson Henderson and his becoming the first man to ever successfully defend the Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight crown four times.

Henderson will put his 155-pound title on the line against Anthony Pettis, the last man to defeat him, in the UFC 164 main event on Saturday at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee. Pettis outpointed Henderson under the World Extreme Cagefighting banner in December 2010, springing off the cage for his unforgettable “Showtime” kick and sealing a unanimous decision in the decisive fifth round.

Sherdog.com touched base with a number of professional fighters and trainers to gauge their opinions on the UFC 164 headliner:

Jason Dent: I always pick a winner, but I’m torn on this one, honestly. I like Pettis’ style more, but with the injuries and the distractions he had cutting weight to fight Jose Aldo, I’m afraid it may affect his performance. Henderson has been getting better with each fight and has gone five hard rounds a couple times now already. If there is a finish in this fight, it will be for Pettis, and if it goes the distance, it will be in favor of Henderson.

For the rest of the story on Sherdog, click HERE

Adapted by: Bob Donaghy

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