Jessica Eye on the Eastside

Building on the trend of cross training and cooperation between GR and local gyms, Jason recently extended an invitation to prominent fighters to visit GR and share their experience and expertise.  The first to accept is 2X UFC/Top Women's Ranked Fighter Jessica “Evil” Eye.  Jessica remembers how hard it was for her at the beginning of her training, sometimes being the only woman in class.  Reaching out this way is her way of supporting the efforts of other women in the sport.

Last Tuesday, from around 8 until 10 pm,  Jessica worked with some of the female members of GR.  She took the time to spar multiple rounds with each woman.  By adjusting her style to match the expertise of each partner (boxing, Muay Thai, etc), she gave the best attention to each.  The sparring portion rant about an hour and fifteen minutes.  The final part was more general, basic attacks and their counters.

I messaged Jessica on Facebook to get her impression, “I had a great time training with the girls. I can tell that Jason and all the instructors are working hard on creating a skill filled wmma team . I am glad I was able to spend the day there “

Jason feels the day was very helpful and wants to have Jessica back again soon.

If you’d like to follow Jessica Eye on Facebook, the link to her page is HERE

Written by: Bob Donaghy

Judo This Had to Happen!

With the expansion of programs at GR, Jason made the decision to bring back Judo.  So, after a hiatus of several years, Judo is officially back at GR.  Longtime GriffonRawl friend, Mike Lachina, will relaunch the Judo program.

Jason and Mike Lachina

Starting Friday, August 1, and every Friday thereafter, Mike will hold class on the main mat from 6-7 pm.  Mike Lachina is a Black Belt in Kodokan Judo with more than a decade of experience in the sport.

The class will emphasize sweeps, trips, and throws and not much on the ground to not duplicate what is already covered in the BJJ and mma programs.  Participants should wear a gi to get the most out of it.  The training will be for competition as well as NoGi for the cage/mma guys.

This class is FREE to all MMA/BJJ/Ultimate Pkg members at the gym. There will be a standard class fee for anyone else.

Written by: Bob Donaghy

Good News for Bad Boys (and Girls)

Last March Jason signed a distributor deal with Bad Boy Clothing.  The first shipment arrived in April and almost at once Bad Boy became the lead seller in the pro shop.   Badboy shirts, shorts, and fight gear flew off the shelves at the front desk

 It’s really not too surprising, Bad Boy won Best Technical Clothing Brand in the 2010 and 2011 World MMA Awards, and Best Lifestyle Clothing Brand in 2012.  They’ve served the MMA community well and have been rewarded with a loyal following among the sport’s elite.

In the mid-90s Bad Boy began working with Rickson Gracie to put on Brazilian Jiu Jitsu seminars which evolved in to a full-fledged Vale Tudo team featuring Wallid Ismail, Renzo Gracie, and Fernando Yamasaki. The team expanded by supporting young fighters in tournaments Like Mark Kerr and Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira before they made it to Pride or the UFC.  Badboy became one of the first official sponsors of the UFC and their support of MMA athletes has continued to this day.


The next shipment arrives this week, and among the arrivals will be the latest designs for Fall 2014.

To visit the Badboy site, click HERE        
For Badboy on Facebook, click HERE    

Written by: Bob Donaghy

Wear Your Love for GR on Your Wrist

The new GriffonRawl Black and White wristbands are in, and for a limited time, they’re FREE.

For as long as they last, we’re handing out FREE GriffonRawl wristbands.  The next 200 students/members to walk through the doors get a FREE GR wristband our treat.

So stop in and get yours.  If no one steps up and and offers it to you, don’t be shy, ask.  If you’re number 201, they’re only a dollar.  What else can you get with a dollar that makes such a fashion statement!

When you hit the gym, hit us up!

Written by: Bob Donaghy

Krav Maga: Self Defense in the Summertime

Friday, July 11 - Sarah Fox brought her Fight Fit Krav Maga program back to GriffonRawl for the second time.  In spite of a spectacular Ohio Summer day, the seminar filled the mat in the main room, and the participants received 2 hours of quality instruction in basic self defense and Krav Maga technique.

Jason was very excited with the turnout and had this to say about the program, “We have teamed up with Sarah Fox of Fight Fit Krav Maga and will be bringing her out to GR quarterly...this was the 2nd seminar she has conducted for us this year. She will be back for another one possibly in October”.

Special thanks to Mike Wrobel of Shoot It MMA for permission to use his pictures in this article.

Fight Fit Krav Maga site is HERE

As before this seminar was sponsored by Action Automotive

Written by: Bob Donaghy

PROS PICK: WEIDMAN VS. MACHIDA

Every UFC PPV Sherdog runs Pros Pick, an article in which pro fighters are polled for their opinion on the outcome of the upcoming PPV's main event.  Jason Dent is a frequent contributor to these polls.

From Sherdog.com:

Even after two victories over the incomparable Anderson Silva, doubters remain.

Chris Weidman will put his unbeaten record and the Ultimate Fighting Championship middleweight title on the line against former 205-pound champion Lyoto Machida in the UFC 175 main event on Saturday at the Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.

A Serra-Longo Fight Team representative, Weidman will enter the cage on the strength of back-to-back wins over Silva -- a man many have hailed as the greatest mixed martial artist of all-time. The 30-year-old last fought at UFC 168 in December, when he checked a low kick from Silva, breaking the Brazilian’s leg and resulting in a gruesome technical knockout.

Machida, meanwhile, has delivered victories over Mark Munoz and Gegard Mousasi since downshifting to 185 pounds. “The Dragon” has won five of his last seven fights, losing only to four-time NCAA All-American Phil Davis and reigning light heavyweight champion Jon Jones.

Sherdog.com touched base with a number of professional fighters and trainers to gauge their opinions on the UFC 175 headliner:

Jason Dent: I think Machida will win by TKO somewhere between the third and fifth round. Machida knows what it takes to be a champion and has excellent takedown defense.

The rest of the article is HERE

Adapted by: Bob Donaghy

CFC 3 Concluded - Comer Cruises

Saturday night Coveted Fighting Championships launched in Ohio.  The Mentor Civic Ice Arena, a cavernous and modern facility filled with raucous fight fans.  Attendance did not quite make capacity, but it came close.  CFC 3 was well organized, well paced, and considering the plague of last minute drop outs and no shows by fighters, it was very successful.  Jake Digman and Kyle Rozewski did their usual fine jobs handling announcing, pacing and post fight interviews.  We understand from CFC owner Dave Sweeney we can expect to see more Coveted Fighting Championships events in Ohio soon.

Since GriffonRawl is based in Mentor Dave Sweeney approached Jason Dent early about GR fighters forming the backbone of the card.  At one point we had five fighters booked.  Over about two weeks, opponents, who had signed contracts, withdrew.  Bryon McCroskey, Cody Lewis, and Nikolai Gionti, all had and lost opponents before the weekend.  On fight day we had two men standing, Logan Urban and George Comer.  Logan’s opponent showed up for weigh in on Saturday morning, and missed by 5 pounds.  He was given 5 hours to make weight and left. He did not return.  This this was supposed to be Logan’s MMA debut.  So even with a successful event, it was a mixed night for GriffonRawl.

George’s opponent, Joe Lile,  (10-1 overall) is highly ranked and very experienced  He made weight, and showed up as a professional does.  GR wants to thank Joe Lile for being a warrior.  It was clear from early research that Joe Lile was the probably most balanced opponent George had ever faced.  Jason and George took time, did the research, developed a plan, and trained to it. While the result looked like many of George’s other fights, the Devil is in the details.  Lile is a dominant finisher, with only one decision in 11 fights.  Give him an opening, and you’re done for the evening.  He is also 6 inches taller and has a 5 inch reach advantage.  The fight plan was solid, and George executed it perfectly.  George admitted to being nervous in front of a hometown crowd.  How could you not be with several hundred people wearing shirts with your nickname on them, chanting ‘Bonesaw’, and carrying carnival cutouts of your face on sticks?  But the nerves went when the bell rang, and George did what George does.

When you see George around the Academy, be sure to congratulate him on another dominant win.  

GriffonRawl wants to thank The Happy Moose for their long support of George Comer and GriffonRawl, and particularly wants to thank Intimidation Clothing for introducing the new Bonesaw t-shirt at the event. From the number of people wearing the shirts, it was a good idea.

Bonesaw shirts are available HERE

George Comer vs Joe Lile full fight in HD

Quick Results from CFC 3

Main Event

- Chris Curtis Defeated Tiawan Howard Rd.2 Via submission (Catchweight 180)

Co-Main Event

- George Comer defeated Joe Lile, Jr. via decision (lightweight)

AMATEUR CARD

- Tony DiPiero defeated Michael Schimek via decision (185 Middleweight)

- Easton Johnson defeated  George Murphy via TKO ref stoppage Round 2 (145 Featherweight)
- Todd Liberati defeated Andrew Morrow  via decision (165 catchweight)
- Cristian Carreras defeated Joey Anderson via KO round 2 (Hvy)
- Anthony Scalina defeated Harrison Watkins via decision (160 lb catchweight)

Many thanks to Mike Wrobel for permission to use his photographs of the event.  Please visit this talented photographers site: Shoot It MMA

Written by: Bob Donaghy

Pereira Seminar a Success!

Successful seminars keep rolling out at GriffonRawl.  The latest was the Jorge Pereira BJJ seminar on Saturday, June 6.  It's rare to have someone the level of Jorge Pereira deliver a seminar, and we have Tony Reel to thank for it.  Tony trained under Master Pereira while on vacation in Miami.  Inspired by the training he spoke to Jason Dent about bringing him to GR. It was a 30 second decision.

The seminar had the good (bad?) luck of falling on one of the best days this summer.  You might expect a poor turnout with so few fine beach days available here, but in spite of the amazing weather 14 students showed for two hours of gi training and 11 for the following two hours of no gi.

The first session started at 11:30.  The size of the group allowed for plenty of personal attention and close observation of the techniques covered.  Because the group included 3 black belts, 3 brown and 2 purple, much of the training was on advanced technique.

The 2 pm session, for no gi, concentrated on the application of BJJ to

mixed martial arts fighting.  A few gi only students left, to be replaced by members of the GR fight team.  Each session ended with a round of applause for Master Pereira.

GR wants to thank Tony Reel for suggesting the seminar to Jason, and Reel's Auto Sales for sponsoring the event.  The turnout was great, and the reaction of the students so positive it’s certain we will have Master Pereira up again soon.

The seminar was also sponsored by Intimidation Clothing and Defense Soap




Written by: Bob Donaghy

Ahmad Douglas at NAAFS FNF 10

Ahmad Douglas narrowly lost a tight split decision last night at Fight Night in the Flats 10.  GR’s sole representative on the card put on a great display of skill and heart but in the end the judges saw fit to award the win to the very tough Tobiaus Taylor.  Ahmad’s record goes to 3 dominating finish wins and 1 split decision loss.

Jason Dent and George Comer cornered Ahmad, and they were unanimous in praising his effort.  Both said the opening round was a tight call with both fighters testing and  trying to establish dominance, and that Ahmad used his wrestling in the second to clearly dominate the action.  Jason warned Ahmad that he thought Tobiaus was desperate, and would come out hard in the third.  Jason was right, Tobiaus charged out and really pushed the action.  He was able to get Ahmad to the ground and use some very accurate strikes to open him up.  That was enough to tilt the decision in his favor.

Ahmad has been a favorite to win NAAFS National Amateur Title because of his dominating record.  He remains in the mix because the tournament format is double elimination.  He will use the lessons from this fight and come back stronger.  Be sure to congratulate Ahmad on a terrific fight.

Written by: Bob Donaghy

Intimidation "Bonesaw" Signature Shirts

Be careful what you say, not just what you do.  Be even more careful making a joke, because a joke can dog your steps for years.  Sometimes a joke become famous on its own, and winds up on a shirt. That’s what happened to George “Bonesaw” Comer.  It isn’t widely known how George came by that awesome nickname… credit the fact that George is a movie geek, credit  Spiderman the movie, and most of all credit pro wrestler “Macho Man” Randy Savage whose scenery chewing performance as Bonesaw McGraw inspired George to adopt the ‘silliest nickname I could think of” for his first fight.  George’s grinding style of fighting suited the name, and it stuck.

But it’s a good nickname for a fighter, and it makes for some awesome artwork.  Intimidation Clothing, a long time sponsor of GR and George Comer, decided to honor George’s intimidating accomplishments in the cage with an equally intimidating shirt.

The shirt will be introduced to the public at George’s next fight, on June 21st in Mentor, OH.  Click HERE for event details.  But you really should beat the fashion curve and wear the shirt to the fights that night, Intimidation Clothing has it for sale on their website now.  Click HERE to see Bonesaw’s new shirt.

Written by: Bob Donaghy