Callari and Douglas Deliver Wins at Combat Challange 26

GriffonRawl went 2 for 2 tonight at NAAFS opening event for 2014.  The 26th edition of the Combat Challenge series unfolded Saturday night at Chapparell’s Community Center in Akron, OH.  A full crowd watched 36 amateur fighters put it all on the line.  GR was ably represented by Ahmad Douglas and Joe Callari.  George Comer and Miguel Defina did the cornering honors for the GR Team.

Joe Callari was up first and finished his opponent in the first round by Guillotine Choke, bringing his record to 7-6.  It’s worth noting that Joe came to GR with a 2-4 record, and with hard work and dedication has been 5-2 during his time with the team.

Ahmad Douglas was up next and his fight went longer. This is the first time Ahmad's opponent has lasted until the third round.   About half way through the final round Ahmad took his opponent’s back and locked in a tight Rear Naked Choke for the win.  Ahmad keeps his perfect record at 3-0, all finishes.

Be sure to congratulate these two GR Warriors when you see the at the Academy.

Both GR fighters were sponsored by

Pictures courtesy  of Ryan Heckert of Hexlinc Photos

Written 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

GR goes 2-1 at NAAFS Caged Combat 24

Three GR warriors made the trip to Akron on April 27th for NAAFS Caged Combat 24.

Congrats to GR Team Fighter Joe Callari on bring in yet another big win with his decision over Jonathan Flores

Also a BIG CONGRATS to Josh Belle on making our OFFICIAL FIGHT TEAM! Josh not only won but got the W in style as he finished his opponent via triangle choke in round 1.

Cody Lewis  may have lost the decision but his is a true warrior and fought from start to finish. Cody almost finished his opponent a half dozen times via armbar. It was a great night of action and learning for our ammy's. Thanks for the support of all those that made it down.

Everyone went in healthy and came out healthy. We picked up two W's as well. Pretty solid night for GR! We have an AWESOME TEAM of fighters, members, trainers, and fans.

Written by: Bob Donaghy

Hard Work Pays Off for the Callari Brothers

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.

Written by: Bob Donaghy

Ramacciato and Callari Win Big at NAAFS

A great night for GR last night. We went 3-0 all together for the night. Well 2-0 actually but Jay Wadsworth did a little training with us and we cornered him so we’re going to enjoy that win with him. Congrats to Dan Ramacciato & Joe Callari on solid performances. 

Joe and Dan finished their opponents in the first round, Joe by Standing Guillotine in 55 seconds and Dan by Rear Naked Choke.  Joe said that Jason had reviewed that exact guillotine just last week in class, and that if it hadn’t been that fresh in his mind, he probably wouldn’t have gone for it.

Dan saw a little more action.  Dan took his opponent down quickly directly into side control, then moved to crucifix. His opponent gave up his back, and Dan finished him with the RNC.  GR's Dan Ramacciato post victory shot. Coach Walker & Dent are very pleased

Jay Wadsworth makes a successful return to the Pro ranks in the NAAFS and both coach Walker & Dent were more than happy to be there to see Jay on to VICTORY!

Thanks to all those that came out to support our boys! Lets keep this momentum and keep moving forward everyone.

Written by: Bob Donaghy