NAAFS "War on the Shore 4"

On Saturday, July 24, 2010, the NAAFS held "the summers biggest bash" at The Cove in Geneva, Ohio. War on the Shore featured six Griffonrawl combatants.
George Murphy made his debut at 135lbs. Although he fell victim to a guillotine choke in the third round, George was able to gain a great deal of valuable experience and put on a great showing taking and giving heavy blows throughout the contest. We look forward to seeing George much, much sooner than later.
Nick Albrecht made his debut at 145lbs. Nick had an excellent debut, demonstrating solid skills on his feet and on the ground. He weathered several heavy blows, but was in complete control throughout the contest. When the dust settled, he was rewarded by the judges with a unanimous decision from the judges.
John Burbol had to deal with opponents changing up until the week before the fight. Once he entered the cage, those distractions were of little consequence as John improved to 4-2 with his second TKO in as many fights. This one came late in the first round, when John unleashed a wicked straight right that dropped his opponent and forced the referee to stop the contest.
Dan Farnworth made history by posting the fastest victory by triangle choke in NAAFS history. Beating the previous record (39 seconds) by 5 seconds, Dan improved to 3-1 with his 34 seconds in the cage.
'Wildman' Matt Hopkins utilized a solid game plan to defeat a very tough Ricky Foster by unanimous decision. Matt displayed a strong showing on his feet as well as on the ground. Matt had been absent from the fight scene for some time, but showed no ring rust as he made his return in his hometown.
George Comer continued his winning ways by improving to 7-0 with a unanimous decision victory in the main event of the evening. George showed continued improvement of his feet, as well as his solid ground game. George demonstrated that the phrase uttered by Muhammad Ali, "The fight is won or lost far away from witnesses - behind the lines, in the gym, and out there on the road, long before I dance under those lights" is true.

A big thanks goes out to all the teachers and training partners at Griffonrawl who made this a great night of fights.

For complete results visit http://naafs.biz/news/2010/07/27/war-on-the-shore-provides-thrills-and-excitement-under-the-night-sky/

NAAFS Radio Exclusive w/ Undeafeted GR Fighter "George Comer"

NAAFS Radio’s Nick Kubik recently caught up with 2009 National Amateur Lightweight Champion George Comer for an exclusive interview. Comer discusses the pressures of being undefeated, training with Jason Dent after Fight Nite in the Flats, competing in his own backyard, his thoughts on the Fight Nite in the Flats VI main event, headlining his first NAAFS event, competing against Al Pacosky, returning back to the Cove, his musical tastes, and much more. The complete interview is available online now by clicking on this link http://www.hitzthespot.com/podcast/podcast.php?category=NAAFS+Radio

Pro Fighting Fans "Jason Dent & Donny Walker Interviews"

Following two of the most exciting and action packed fights in the history of the Griffonrawl MMA Academy, Pro Fighting Fans (http://www.profighting-fans.com/) writer Luke Jernigan sat down with team captain Jason 'Dynamite' Dent. In a seperate interview, Curt Heinrichs spoke with boxing instructor Donny 'Eagle Eye' Walker. Both are exceptional interviews and well worth the read.

For Jason's interview visit www.profighting-fans.com/articles/jason-dent-interview_062010.html.

For Donny's interview visit www.profighting-fans.com/articles/donny-walker-interview_062310.html.

Intimidation Clothing "Jason Dynamite Dent"

Intimidation Clothing, a leader in MMA inspired clothing and apparel, has recently added a Jason "Dynamite" Dent t-shirt to its clothing line. Shirts are available by visiting http://www.intimidationclothing.com/ or by visiting GriffonRawl MMA Academy's pro-shop.

Extreme Fight Club "Downtown Beatdown 3"

Erie, Pennsylvania

Avalon Hotel Ballroom

On Saturday, June 12, 2010, Team GriffonRawl's Donny Walker took on Bombsquad MMA's (New York) Kenny Foster in a professional featherweight contest. Kenny entered the contest with a professional record of 7-1, with his only blemish coming at the hands of current World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) featherweight Mackens "Da Menace" Semerzier.

Matchmaker Jason Lawrence showed he was a veteran of the MMA community by pitting two men who came to leave it all in the cage. Donny was dropped in the first round following a wicked overhand left from Foster, but showed why he is one of the most exciting featherweights in the country, rallying to get the fight standing where he landed damaging blows of his own.

In the second round, Donny landed a brutal knee to the face of Foster that not only broke his nose but cut Foster that caused a large amount of blood to come pouring from his face. The fight was stopped momentarily as the cage-side doctor examined and then determined Foster was able to continue. Literally and figuratively, Donny smelled blood and went back to work landing elbows to Foster that added to the damage and caused new cuts. Throughout both rounds, both men kept pressing forward landing heavy blows to the excitement of the crowd. The one-minute break between rounds two and three had to be extended to clean up the puddles that formed seemingly everywhere.

Early in round 3 Donny was attacking from his guard and opened up Foster again, but this time the referee determined there was simply too much blood loss from Foster to allow the contest to continue, thereby giving Donny a TKO victory and his fifth consecutive win.

In the post fight interview, Donny thanked his team and his wife for their support and then made his pitch to the WEC, asking to be called up to the world's leading promotion for featherweights. Having put on tremendous, exciting fights with WEC veterans Cub Swanson and Jeff Curran, coupled with his victory over an extremely tough Kenny Foster, Donny has taken yet another step towards goal---the WEC.

Donny's next scheduled fight is August 28, 2010. He is set to face Mike Nesto for the NAAFS pro-series featherweight title.

Griffonrawl MMA Academy "Face Lift"

The Griffonrawl MMA Academy has received a "face lift" in two ways.

First, the physical side. Team captain and owner Jason Dent continues to put money back into the business in order to continually improve the academy. His latest venture was to have the windows stensiled with the new logo and cage images. His never-dying love for his academy has made Griffonrawl into the area's leading martial arts studio.

Next the technical side. Traditionally, the only "e-news" was fight results. Moving forward, promotions inside the academy, "smoker" results, grappling tournaments, seminars, and updates to the website or the academy itself will be in the e-news section of http://www.ohio-mma.com/.

Our hope is to keep visitors to the website more up-to-date on the academy and not to simply report the results of MMA competitions.

Belt Promotion "John Strmac"

After many years of study under his main instructor Jeff Starr, John Strmac was promoted to purple belt on May 23, 2010 in the Relson Gracie Jiu-Jitsu Academy. John has participated in tournaments in Ohio and Pennsylvania and has attended seminars held by such names as Relson Gracie, Robin Geisler, Saulo and Xande Ribeiro, Romero "Jacare" Calvacant, Jeff Monson, "Zee," and Chris Brennan.

NAAFS "Fight Night in the Flats VI"

Cleveland, Ohio

Nautica Pavilion

On Saturday June 5, 2010 three of GriffonRawl's veterans were set for action in the regions biggest event--Fight Night in the Flats VI.

Bryon McCroskey had his hands full with NAAFS veteran, Joey Holt. Both men fought well, hit hard, and looked to be in tremendous shape for the bout. In the end, Holt was awarded a split decision victory, and in a fight that close it could have gone either way. Both men showed why they are on the cusp of turning professional.

Reggie Parks fell short against Bill Morosetti, who chained submission attempts together in a most impressive fashion. Reggie was able to counter and defend the submission attempts in the first round but an arm bar by Morosetti was locked in during round 2 that forced Reggie to tap at the 1:56 mark.

Jason Dent moved up a weight class and Chris Lozano moved down a weight class, thereby pitting the NAAFS Lightweight Champion against the NAAFS Middleweight Champion in 5-round "superfight" championship bout. Lozano came out strong and threw a head kick that, when blocked by Dent, snapped Jason's left forearm in half. Ever the warrior, Jason kept fighting and between rounds one and two told his corner he wasn't going down without a fight, even though he could feel the bones in his arm moving left and right, and was unable to throw anything with his left hand. The two continued to bludgeon one another, but at the end of the forth round, Dr. Jerome Williams called a stop to the contest due to a large cut on Jason's forehead. Jason and Chris embraced, put their feud aside and took the opportunity in the post fight interview to complement one another on each other's toughness and skill.

Although the team came up short on paper, it was an epic night for GriffonRawl. All three men showed why they are true warriors, but more importantly truly classy men.

For full results visit www.naafs.tv

RFO: "Big Guns 5"

On Saturday, May 22, 2010, John Strmac was the lone GriffonRawl member on the Revelation Fight Organization's "Big Guns 5" in Mansfield, Ohio.

Pitted against Greg Petty for the RFO amateur bantamweight title, John overcame a slow start and big bombs from Petty and rallied in rounds two and three to win a unanimous decision victory. Greg was intense, athletic and came strong throwing heavy shots throughout their three round bout. John was able to weather the onslaught and followed excellent, intelligent instruction from Jason Dent to improve to 8-2.

NAAFS "Caged Fury 11"

On Saturday, April 24, 2010 Team GriffonRawl sent John Burbol and Landon Khakdoust into action at Potters Fieldhouse in East Liverpool, Ohio.

John Burbol (185lbs) had to knock 18 months of rust off in his bout against Dustin Moniger of Team Bloody Buddy. Going into the third round, John was either even or down on the judges scorecards. Landing a heavy shot on his feet, John followed Dustin to the ground, where John was able to trap Dustin's right arm and strike at will causing the referee to call a stop to the contest. John was declared victorious via TKO at :59 of the third round.

Landon Khakdoust (170lbs) was doing well in the first round until he caught in the mount position up against the fence. The experienced Hoppel was able to take advantage of the position and Landon was unable to escape causing the contest to be stopped at 2:35 of the first round. Landon continues to only fight the toughest competitors and no doubt will be better in the long run.

For full results visit http://www.naafs.tv/