Kit Cope seminar a HUGE SUCCESS !

Mentor, Ohio

This being only our second seminar in genaral at our Academy I think it went extremely well. After having to change the date from August 21st to September 11th you would have thought that we would have had a much smaller attendance. The attendance for this seminar was 28 people including Kit and his assistant Shawn. It's a good thing we changed the date for the seminar because we originally had 32 people signed up and we were pretty packed in there when we were shadow boxing. Everyone who attended the seminar got alot of training tips, techniques, and a great workout to boot.The seminar flew by even though it was 4hrs long and almost the entire group from the seminar went out to dinner following it to hang out and mingle a bit. Below you will see that I have included some of the pics that you saw us taking at the seminar and if you had your picture taken with Shawn Yarbough or Kit Cope then please e-mail requesting it and I would be happy to send it to you.Special thanks to Kit and Shawn for doing a fantastic job. Everybody learned alot of great stuff at the seminar and had lots of fun. Good luck to Shawn in his future fights and good luck to Kit who is sheduled to face Kenny Florian in the UFC on Spike TV in November. For more info or pics with Kit Cope please visit his official site at http://www.kitcope.com/Written by:Jason Dent

North League Extreme Kickboxing 4

Akron, Ohio

Originally on this show we were to have both Aaron "Juice" Veverka, and "Big" Ben Parks representing our team. Ben trained very hard and was in great shape leading up to his fight only to have not one but two guys cancel out on fighting him. So it ended up just being "Juice" from our team taking on Aaron Fisher out of the Tiger Pit from Toledo. Veverka and Fisher were the main event and had an all out war for 5rds of intense action. The fight had a little bit of everything but always seemed to end up in the clinch where both fighters stayed very active showing what a Thai fighter is supposed to do in the clinch. In end both fighter seemed like they could of fought a sixth round but the judges had already made thier decision. The decision was a split decision in the favor of Aaron Fisher who fought a smart fight and deserved the W.Do not be fooled by Veverka's record as he has only been put away once and that was his first fight ever. Since that first fight Veverka has had nothing but tough fights and close decison wars like every time. "Juice" keeps getting better and better every time and as soon as he starts putting together a good string of wins I really don't see any reason that he could'nt go Pro in the next two years.Written by:Jason Dent

International Combat Event 16

Cincinatti, Ohio

The 16th installment of ICE MMA may have been the best to date. Fight fans from across the region packed the Metropolis Nite club to witness a card which featured thirteen action packed bouts along with appearances from UFC and TUF stars Rich Franklin and Jorge Gurgel.Kicking off the night's action were two lightweights both making their MMA debuts. Josh Burton of the well respected GriffonRawl team of Cleveland took aim at ICE newcomer Thomas Hayden, who came in with primarily a wrestling background. Hayden was unable to capitalize on initial takedown as Burton showed fans that he came to fight while surviving an early Hayden flurry, however a second scramble left Burton with no choice but to give Hayden his back which would be a costly mistake. Hayden finished the fight at 1:49 of rd 1 via RNC. Hayden would go on to win the four man lightweight tourney that night. If you would like to view the results of this show it is recommended that you go to http://www.fcfighter.com/ click news and then search it out in thier fighter database.On a personal note Josh is a warrior and I am very proud of him stepping in thier I would have like to have seen him get alot more free rolling and sparring in before having competed but it was his only oportunity to compete before returning to college for the fall. Josh will be back and ready to do it again I am sure and next time he will be victorious.Written by:Jason Dent

Training in Vegas with Master Toddy, Kit Cope, and Ricardo Pires !

Las Vegas, Nevada

When you think about 48 hours in Las Vega$ you think of all of Sin City’s endless attractions. Well our 48 hours were filled with training and training and MORE training.Our training adventure began as soon as we got off the plane in the 110-degree heat of Las Vega$. We began a two hour training session with Kit Cope (http://www.kitcope.com/) Kit is a product of Master Toddy’s and also has his own gym located in Las Vega$. Kit is a four time World Kickboxing Champion, a Thai bare knuckle Champion and an MMA fighter. We worked on a number of blocks, kicks, and punching combos. We also worked on some cool Thai takedowns and off balancing maneuvers. Kit is coming to the GriffonRawl Academy Sunday August 21st for a 4-hour seminar.That evening we ventured over to Master Toddy’s Gym for a private lesson (http://www.mastertoddy.com/) Master Toddy’s has to be one of the nicest Thai gyms in the country. Our private lesson was with Master Luck Chang. We worked on punches, kicks, the Cobra, and blocking. The instructors at Toddy’s are some of the worlds finest; to have them hold pads for you is an incredible experience. The next day we returned to Master Toddy’s for a 7am group Kickboxing class.Wednesday afternoon was also action packed as we started out early meeting Diego Sanchez of TUF at the UFC training Center. We had a private lesson arranged with Diego but it had to be cancelled since they were filming interviews for the next Ultmate Fighter series in the building we were at and we could not get in. Diego then invited us to come out and train with him at his academy in New Mexico. We plan to take him up on his offer sooner or later.Later that day we went to Las Vega$ Combat Club. The instructors, Ricardo Pires and Sergio Pehna are true Brazilian warriors. LVCC was an awesome experience! We got to take a private in a cage, and then attended their group classes on the mats. We got to free roll with some of Las Vegas’ finest. We practiced some great techniques: failed arm bar attempts into a triangle, and much-much-more. Frank Mir was also getting back into shape at LVCC and we got to talk with him and watch him do some sparring and grappling drills. The four hours at LVCC were truly an education, and well spent.Our 48 hours in Vega$ were certainly action packed. Written by:Rich Catalano

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

Extreme Combat Challenge "The Real Deal"

Muncie, Indiana

This was definitly not one of our better shows and with that being said this write up will be short and to the point. There were three of us on this trip this time around Mike, Albert, and myself. I ended up with the a terrible cold that felt like the flue about half way into our trip and I am sure I was not to much fun to be around for the other guys. Mike and Albert both competed and both got stopped in the first round of there fights. In this sport even the smallest of mistakes can really cost you. Like I always say this is not a very forgiving sport. Albert got caught in a choke and Mike tapped out from strikes. Both Mike and Albert have an extreme amount of talent but this just ended up not being our weekend. Till the next time.Written by:Jason DentFull fight results as posted on FCFighters fight finder database.1 Dan Lohman Def Mike Russo TKO 2:45 1 2 Zach Kidd Def Sam Becktell TKO 0:00 4 3 Frank Young Def Dustin Garner Submission (Rear Naked Choke) 0:00 1 4 Stony Hayhurst Def Brad Cottrell Submission (Choke) 0:00 1 5 Frank Young Def Stony Hayhurst Submission (Guillotine Choke) 0:00 1 6 Matt Robert Williams Def Chris Bryant TKO 1:28 1 7 Kyle Kramer Def Dustin Kidd TKO 1:48 1 8 Matt Jaggers Def Kevin Thompson TKO 0:32 1 9 Geno Rodderick Def Norm Waters Decision (Unanimous decision) 0:00 3 10 Geno Rodderick Def Jason Zehman TKO 0:00 1 11 Jerome Beal Def Jason Maxwell TKO 1:57 2 12 Cedrick James Def David Kennedy Submission (Choke) 0:00 2 13 Gary Cramer Def Matt Cleary TKO 0:00 3 14 Dustin Cox Def Jomo Bailey Decision (Unanimous Decision) 0:00 3 15 Joe Voisin Def Albert Rosales Submission (Choke) 2:04 1 16 Billy Kidd Def Davey Gibson Submission (Choke) 2:17 1 17 Randy Williams Def Curt Beck Submission (Arm Bar) 2:56 1 18 Wade Hamilton Def Brandon Quigley TKO 2:32 1 19 Josh Martin Def Shawn McCully TKO 0:37 1

Beasts of the East Championships

Belle Vernon, Pennysylvania

Kickboxing made a successful return to the Pittsburg area as Fenian Promotions unleashed The Beast of the East Championships this past weekend. Headlining the card was 4 time World Champion and co-star of MTV's True Life, Kit Cope who took on Pittsburg native and local favorite Lamiin Mohamed Keita. Keita was no match for the 2004 Thai Bare Knuckle Champion and was put away with a vicious Cope flurry halfway thru the third round. In a recent interview heard live on PKW, Cope told listeners that he has his sights set on a return to MMA and even spoke openly about the possibility of being part of season 2 of The Ultimate Fighter. Cope's full length interview is currently available at http://www.prokarateweekly.com/. Cope discusses his thoughts on the first season of T.U.F and his possible return to MTV.In one of the nights featured bouts, Akron Ohio's Ryan "The Lion" Madigan (8-2) defeated Philadelphia's Randy Pogue (18-4) via split decision in what was one of the cards most anticipated match-ups. Both fighters came in with something to prove and its been no secret they the two were not the best of friends. As the fight unfolded, it was Madigan who seemed to be the aggressor and took the fight to the more experienced Pogue. After five exciting rounds of kickboxing, it was Madigan who walked away with the win and now has set his sights on K-1 and a shot at the ISKA or IKF World Titles. "Randy is a great fighter and I was grateful for the opportunity to fight a champion of his caliber but now its my time to shine. I've been wanting a fight with Brian (Schwartz) since the day I turned pro and I feel I have earned the opportunity. I am hopeful he will give me the chance to prove that I am the best fighter in my weight class and I will do whatever it takes to make it to the top of the division." Madigan told PKW during a post fight interview Saturday night. Schwartz is the recurrent ISKA Super Middleweight title holder and has three wins in three K-1 appearances. In a battle of heavyweight hopefuls, it was Alex "The Lumberjack" Beck taking out Sherman Pendergaurst and handing him his first career defeat. Beck, who was coming in with an impressiveTKO victory over the highly touted Neil Rowe, was in control of this one from the opening bell. Beck is known for his vicious low kicks however was unable to utilize his most affective weapon under PA state rules and was forced to show his versatility. Beck went on to win a unanimous decision and now is looking towards his next fight in June. The Lumberjack will be part of the "Return to Coliseum" card which will be held in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on June 3rd and will feature the return of World Champion Duke Roufus. This should be great exposure for Beck who is considered one of the top heavyweight prospects in the country and is another fighter looking to make his way to K-1. The Beast of the East also featured two pro boxing match ups which showcased a few of the up and coming stars of the squared circle. Delaney Howard took out Jeff Coyle by impressive fashion and improved his professional record to 5-2 while Mario Acosta defeated Dan Swift in another exciting and fast paced match-up. Congratulations to Fenian Promotions on a successful debut!Found on http://www.prokarateweekly.com/Complete Beast of the East ResultsKit Cope over Lamiin Mohamed Keita - KO 1:20 rd 3 Ryan Madigan over Randy Pogue - Split Dec Alex Beck over Sherman Pendergaurst - Unanimous Dec Mario Acosta over Dan Swift - Unanimous Dec Delaney Howard over Jeff Coyle - KO 2:06 rd 4 Marcus Antebi over Mark Deluca - Majority Dec Rob Wells over Dennis Costa - Unanimous DecKim Duran vs Jen Vaughn - Exhibition DrawTorrence Taylor vs Dave Endlich - Exhibition Draw

North League Extreme Kickboxing 2

Akron, Ohio

Extreme Kickboxing North Leagues second show took place for a second time at the Posh Nite Club. In this show we had three GriffonRawl fighters get to demonstrate thier skills. However on this show all of our guys only appeared in exhibition bouts. In the first bout of the evening GriffonRawl's own Dominic Qurazzo and JJ Juza put on a war and you could hardly tell that they were friends and training partners. Dominic was originally scheduled to fight but was unable to get an opponent in time so JJ stepped up and used the opportunity to get some ring experience. Moving on to the second bout that one of our students competed in was bout four when GriffonRawl's own Breanne Vickers steped up to fight Britney Trosh on only 24 hours notice. Britney's opponent bailed out of the bout and promoter Ryan Madigan needed a girl to fill the spot since they had been promoting a female bout to take place. Breanne gave up 8 fights experience to Trosh and Trosh weighing in around 125lbs gave up substantial amount of weight. Due to the weight difference the Ohio Athletic Commission ruled this to be an exibition bout even though Vickers and Trosh both threw down. The match was exciting and a good experience for Breanne who had never fought before. Breanne held her own and was never in any trouble and landed many great combos of her own. Don't be surprised to see Breanne back in there before to long as she told me she enjoyed herself very much.Written by:Jason DentOffical Results BelowDominic Qurazzo vs JJ Juza - Draw (Exhibition)Torrence Taylor over Scott McClain – Unanimous DecisionLee Crisher over Carlos DeGuzman – Unanimous DecisionBreanne Vickers vs Britney Trosh – Draw (Exhibition)Josh Barden over Mike Platt – TKO 1:45 rd1Taiwon Howard over Allan Eggburt – KO 2:00 rd5