Comer Wins at Caged Vengeance 13

George Comer extended his winning streak impressively last night at NAAFS Caged Vengenance 13 by submitting BJJ ace Stephen Singleton with a head - arm choke in the second round of their three round fight.

Comer and Singleton came into the fight with nearly identical records (Comer 10-1, Singleton 9-1), though Singleton had been far  more active over the last 12 months, with 4 of his 7 consecutive wins coming in 2012.  Six of those wins were by submission in the first round of the fight.  Singleton also boasted a significant height and reach advantage, which figured prominently in Jason Dent's fight strategy.

GR Boxing Coach Donny
Walker wrapping Comer's hands

Comer got the takedown early in the first round, and dominated the round in top position with Singleton attacking from his back.  The second round was the same story with Comer getting the takedown and establishing control early.  From there it was a back and forth submission battle with Comer nearly caught in a deep triangle thrown up from the bottom by Singleton. In the end though Comer's dominant positioning allowed him to snag an arm and lock in the choke.  Comer's pro record is now 2-1, with a perfect record of finishes.

This win marks the end of Comer's exclusive contract with NAAFS, and the beginning of his time as a free agent.  His manager and head coach, Jason Dent says "We intend to keep George busier this year.  He's ready to fight away from his home turf."

The GR Team showing how to support a fighter

George was sponsored for this fight by Intimidation Clothing, Action Automotive, and the Happy Moose Bar & Grill

Written by: Bob Donaghy

Furious Guerrieri Earns His Blue Belt

We'd like to take a moment to congratulate GR member Furious Guerrieri on his promotion to Blue Belt

At the start of evening BJJ class on 3/27/2013, head instructor Jeff Starr pulled Furious Guerrieri to the front of the class and promoted him citing his dedication to training and rapid progress in the sport.

The promotion to blue belt is an unforgettable milestone, it vindicates the amount of time you’ve put into training and provides an outward indicator of your proficiency.  Be sure to congratulate Furious when you see him at the Academy.

Written by: Bob Donaghy

Dan Wojcik Earns His Blue Belt

At the start of Wednesday night BJJ class GR Head Instructor Jeff Starr had the pleasure of promoting another GR member.

In recognition of his skills, dedication to training, successfully completion of all the requirements and regular attendance, Dan Wojcik was advanced to Blue Belt.  Next time you see Dan around the Academy, be sure to congratulate him on his achievement.

Written By: Bob Donaghy

GR Picks up Gold at American Grappling Challenge

GriffonRawl sent six members to the AGC in Medina.  And it was a very tough competition: Strongstyle, Evolve, Instigator, all sent teams.  All together 38 gyms/teams were represented.  Everyone from our team found things to take back to GriffonRawl and work on.

This is how we did:
Cody Lewis - Featherweight Blue Belt Intermediate GI 1st place gold and Featherweight Intermediate No-Gi 1st place gold

Jeff Offack - First place in featherweight white belt.

Kevin McCallion  - 2nd place in Lightweight Intermediate Blue Belt & 3rd place in No-Gi intermediate blue belt

Joe Callari - placed 3rd in No-Gi Intermediate middle weight, but did not place in Intermediate Blue Belt Gi at middleweight

Steve Hetzel - did not place in Gi or No-Gi (purple belt & no Gi advance...featherweight)

Sammy Callari welterweight intermediate blue belt and intermediate No-Gi...but lost matches do to points. Both guys he lost to went on to win the division.

Thanks again to everyone who stepped up and competed, and to everyone who made the trip to support the team.  The next AGC is in August.

Written by: Bob Donaghy

Pros Pick: St. Pierre vs. Diaz

From Sherdog.com

For nearly five years, the Ultimate Fighting Championship’s welterweight division has remained under the rule of one man: Georges St. Pierre.

St. Pierre will defend his 170-pound title against former Strikeforce champion Nick Diaz in the UFC 158 main event on Saturday at the Bell Centre in Montreal. The 31-year-old St. Pierre has won his last 10 fights, establishing himself as one of the top pound-for-pound fighters in the sport. Diaz, 29, has posted 11 victories in his past 12 appearances.

Sherdog.com touched base with a number of professional fighters and trainers to gauge their opinions on the UFC 158 co-headliner:

Jason Dent: St. Pierre is too smart, to talented, too fast, too strong, too experienced and I believe it will be his night. I’m a fan of Diaz inside the cage when it comes to his skills, but I’m a fan of St. Pierre in and out of the cage, as he represents our sport the way it should be represented.

For the rest of the article, click HERE

Adapted by: Bob Donaghy

GR Takes Over Atlas Cinemas

Just a quick note to thank everyone for coming out for the premier of the GriffonRawl Music Video. About 150 members and their families braved a very cold day in Mentor to celebrate with us, and we're very thankful. We had the video produced to celebrate and showcase the Academy's achievements, friends and supporters since our founding in 1997 and the day turned out just we hoped.  The GR crowd filled one of the Atlas Cinemas largest theaters, and the majority of the crowd stayed after the video to watch fight classic Rocky 4.

It was good to have a chance to publicly thank everyone involved in the production of the video for their support of GriffonRawl: Greg Kalikas, Founder & CEO of NAAFS, Rocky Nelson, Owner of The Rock House and GmonE, aka: Gregory Baughman, Record Exec/Hip Hop Artist and the voice of the video were all called out and thanked for their support.

For those of you who can't get enough of it, the video is now loaded on the GriffonRawl YouTube channel

Written by: Bob Donaghy

Jason Dent Striking Seminar in Jamestown, NY

February 24th, at the invitation of Jay Wadsworth, Jason Dent presented a 2 hour seminar on 'striking for MMA' at  Kinetix Combat Sports in Jamestown, NY.   Sam and Joe Callari, and George Comer made the two hour trip with Jason.

Twelve Kinetix students participated in the  2 hour class.  At the conclusion of the teaching session, there was an hour of open sparring  where the students had a chance to try out their newly acquired skills.  The class was well received and Jay Wadsworth has asked Jason to return again in 2013 for another seminar.

Written by: Bob Donaghy

Gracie Seminar and More Belt Promotions!

With only a week's notice the attendance at the Relson Gracie seminar last Saturday was still impressive.  Over a dozen hard core BJJ practitioners showed up to receive instruction from Master Gracie.

After the seminar both of GR's Steve Hetzel and Dan Vandevender were promoted to Purple Belt, and Jeff Starr was awarded a stripe on his Black Belt. Tony Reel tested for his Black Belt, and Relson felt he needed to review/work on his timing for some of the self defense techniques.  At GR we support our students, and we do things the right way.  Tony will complete his review, re-test in a few months and get the belt he's earned.

Written by: Bob Donaghy

Pros Pick – Aldo v Edgar

Former Ultimate Fighting Championship lightweight titleholder Frankie Edgar will downshift to 145 pounds to challenge Jose Aldo for his featherweight crown in the UFC 156 main event this Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

Sherdog.com touched base with a number of professional fighters and trainers to gauge their opinions on the UFC 156 “Aldo vs. Edgar” headliner:

Jason Dent: I believe Aldo will win this fight. He is just so accurate and deadly with his knees, elbows and low kicks. Frankie will have the wrestling advantage, but Aldo is a finisher. Aldo wins by TKO by or before the end of round four.

Read the rest of the article on Sherdog HERE

Edited by Bob Donaghy

Evolve Smoker Results

GR has had better showings at smokers, we went 1-1-3 this time around, but we do this for the fun and experience, and sometimes losing is the experience you get. Smokers are not sanctioned fights and don't count officially on anyones records. GR is always "Together in VICTORY & Together in DEFEAT"

Congratulations to Cody Lewis on the win, and Matt Vaccarellio in pulling out the draw. The three losses were only by decision and competitive.

We had an excellent turnout in support, and everyone fought with skilll and heart.  We walked in proud, and walked out the same way, just knowing more about what needs to be done to improve.

Written by: Bob Donaghy