Eddie Bravo

The dude is just a straight up stud!! Complete visionary...

this guy totally makes me wanna keep doing jiu jitsu!

Check it

My first Submission and UFC predictions

So I got my very first submission last night. May have only been 1 submission but it was sweet all the same. I was in top position in a guillotine choke. Luckily he didn't have his legs wrapped around me so I could stand up and ease the pressure. Managed to get my head out - take the full mount and then went from an arm triangle to a Kimora - those 3 light pats on the mat have never sounded sweeter. OK - I got submitted about 300 times after that but the fact still remains...there is a bit of progress there I think :)

Anyways, Couture vs Lesnar this weekend and I can't wait!! I'm totally routing for Randy...the dude is one of my Heroes and just a complete gentleman. He don't walk shit about people...give it large or bring on attitude...he is a true champ in every sense of the word. Integrity and Honour. Brock on the other hand...a complete beast and a total prat in my opinion. OK, so he beat Heath Herring and I respect the dude for that totally, but as I've said before, I'd respect him more if he was a bit more humble. I know that in the MMA World you need confidence, but there's a fine line between confidence and arrogance and Brock has opted for the latter. He was talking shit about Randy even before this fight was on the cards so I think I'll get satisfaction out of watching Randy beat him (if that turns out to be the case).

OK - Predictions for this weekend and the tournament are 2 fold. My first set will contain what I would like to happen, the second will contain what I think will happen.

What I would like to see:

Couture vs Lesnar : Couture wins
Noguiera vs Mir : Noguiera wins
Couture vs Noguiera : Couture wins

What I think I will see:

Couture vs Lesnar : Lesnar wins (I want Randy to win more than anything but I have a very bad feeling about this entire thing!!)
Noguira vs Mir : Noguira wins
Lesnar vs Noguiera : Lesnar wins

OK - so my prediction for this weekend, on the record...Couture wins by submission (RNC) in the fourth round (I know this is a contradiction...but I'm a big fan of Randy and so I intend to predict with bias).

I think Demian Maia will win by submission IF he can take Quarry to the ground without being caught by a hay maker. We'll see...but I'm gonna go for Maia coming out of this with a clean record.

Check out the fight card and extras at the official UFC 91 web site.

First Black President, pinging on Paul and a change of scenery.

Well, I am still in a state of shock after reading the news on the BBC web site to find that Barrack Obama has been elected as President of the USA. Now this suprise is not derived from my not knowing obviously but more the fact that this is not something I ever expected to see in my lifetime. Even when the Polls had him as front runner all the way up until yesterday I couldn't help but cast my mind (as I am doing now) to when Senator Bush stole (in that he took something that blatantly was not his) the presidency. Al Gore had more votes, but who cares?? We have innocent people to kill, business that does not concern us to involve ourselves in, an economy that needs fucking up and some weapons of mass destruction to find (like looking in your neighbours house for your keys!). Either way, I think it a good thing that this change has introduced itself to the people of the world and it's a sight to see knowing that if you had even suggested the idea of such a thing 60 years ago, you would have been linched, laughed at or
both.

Anyways, I've left the martial arts school I was going to. A few reasons but the most important being that I really wanna concentrate on Brazillian Jiu Jitsu. Lucky for me there's a place within walking distance! Like...5 minutes away!! Had my 1st class on Monday and it was great! You spend 10 minutes warming up and stretching, the remainder of the hour practicing drills and then the remainder of the time you spend on the mat trying to submit each other. Awesome! Got submitted around 50 times which I don't actually mind in one sense being as that won't be the case forever.

Anywho, being as I want or rather, need to work on my standup, I currently spend about an hour a week now doing some pad drills with my good friend Paul. Paul and I met when we worked at Interactive Solutions together, we got on like a house on fire and were always
ribbing each other. The amount of dead arms that guy used to give me (back in my skinny days) was a joke! Anyways, just before I start the timer, Paul reminded me of what I used to say after one of these dead arms..."one of these days I'm gonna be bigger, find you and then kick the shit out of you". This comment was usually followed by copious amounts of laughter in my direction and another dead arm. 6 years on...my how the tables have turned! I was using the MMA gloves so I could only do open handed strikes but it was so much fun. Them gangly arms helped me again. Think I need to get in all the hits I can now though, a few more weeks and it'll be "one of these days I'm gonna be bigger..."

Kick ass weekend!

So I get a phone call on Saturday morning from me dear old mum. "What you doing today??" ..."Errr...nothing..." "Great, I'm coming to see you". So, ended up spending the weekend with my mum (who had yet to see my flat). Was great as I don't get to see her all that much and while she's not altogether supportive/on board with my eventually wanting to do MMA - she still watched UFC 90 with me which was a total trip.

"BUT HE'S KNEEING HIM IN THE FACE!"

Bless :)
Oh yeah, apparently she doesn't rate Anderson Silva - HAHAHA!!

So yeah, that was a weird one but I gotta say, a cracking weekend all in all.
A total blast!

UFC 89 review

So, freaking crackin' time at UFC 89, and it was so much better than UFC 85. Also really nice to see some seriously excellent talent coming out of the UK! The seats were wicked and we were like 20 feet away from the cage. Almost every fight was the shiznit!

Terry Etim is a bad mama jamma and Dan Hardy is freaking awesome and ridiculously quick, I'm talking GSP quick!

Have to say that the Paul Taylor fight really pissed me off! Poor geezer was robbed and the judges were either totally retarded, watching another fight or they were American, regardless of which I think they need to rethink their judging system and base it on something other than pulling random figures from the air which most definitely looked to be the case in this fight.

The Bisping fight was class and even though Lebens face looked like he lost, everyone was holding their breath for the decision. Overall, Bisping was using his footwork to stay out of trouble and even though he was not aggressive in his attacks, moving backwards most of the time, I reckon he deserved the win. Leben, cheeky fucker he is decided to come at Bisping at the end of rounds 2 and 3 with his guard down bating our boy but he kept his cool and just tee'd off a few nice shots. I have to say though, the support for Bisping was amazing and with any luck I'll be able to watch the replay on Setanta when I get back. Is he ready for a shot at Anderson Silva? Shit no! But that's not to say he won't be eventually.

One thing I will say, with the quality of the fighters coming out of the UK, the next season of the Ultimate fighter which should be USA vs the UK is gonna be freaking awesome!

Anyways, off to Dublin in January for UFC 92 and it looks like we'll be going for VIP tickets so that we get to meet the fighters. Nice!

UFC 89 Countdown is up...

The countdown to UFC 89 is up, watched it in my lunch break. Very good indeed. Amazing some of the things these guys have been through.

Anyways, it's on the UFC web site and should eventually be on the official UFC 89 web site too.

The Couture vs Fedor question

Hmmm, when is this fight actually gonna happen? I watched Affliction : Banned last night and shortly after Fedor demolished Sylvia he was asked "who do you wanna fight?" and inbetween all the Russian everyone heard him say "Randy Couture", next thing y'know, Couture is in the ring and he be well up for it. From what I hear, they've been trying to get this setup for ages but it just ain't been worked out. Fedors management team can't strike a deal with the UFC, Randy (who now has things sorted with the UFC) won't be able to fight outside if the UFC (they're funny about that). I hope this happens soon and I think this would be a perfect scenario for UFC 100! Hmmm, we can only hope!

Talking of the UFC being funny about their fighters competing in other organisations (especially champions, look at what happened to BJ Penn). How comes Minitoro is fighting in the next Affliction event??!! If anyone can shed some light, please do!!

My new workout plan

Yeah, have come up with a new workout plan. I been thinking that if I wanna get my health and conditioning to where I want it to be I can't just be doing some weight training and MMA. My usual routine was MMA twice a week for about 3 hours altogether and then working chest, back and shoulders on 3 separate days. The new routine is freaking awesome!

Monday
Weight Training (3 body parts)
Bike Ride (4 miles, 2 totally uphill)
MMA Training (1 hour)
Sparring (1 hour)

Tuesday
Swimming
Conditioning (5 Exercises, 1 minute each, all full bollock, 60 second rest inbetween each set of 5)

Thursday
Weight Training (Remaining 3 body parts)
Bike Ride (4 miles, 2 totally uphill)
MMA Training

Friday
Swimming
Conditioning (Same scenario as Tuesday just different exercises)

Saturday
BJJ Training, Krav Maga Training or light exercise

If anyone wants to see the more detailed routine then just post a comment and I'll add the full thing in a new article. One thing I will say, you gotta build up to the routine, going full bollock on everything in my personal opinion slows down your progression. I'm not saying take it real easy, just give your body a chance to get used to everything and don't burn yourself out.

Thank you to Eddie Bravo and Matt Hamill

So, last night in training we were playing the "pinning" game. Quite fun and very good for anaerobic conditioning. Anyways, managed to use a move that I've seen used by Matt "The Hammer" Hamil. Was a single leg sweep and it worked like a treat. I also managed to use the lockdown which was REALLY effective. The dude couldn't do anything apart from struggle to get his leg free giving me a chance to do a sweep and reversal and get the pin.

Oh, on a side note, I've totally sprained my wrist now, my elbow is saw, my shoulder is screwed and the big toe on me right foot is knackered. Ahhh well, I WANT MORE!!!

Kimbo Slice, XXX Grot and Dylan Moran

OK 1st things 1st. Came across this video (forgive the pun - totally intended) and laughed my ass off. Very funny stuff!!!

Check out www.diesel.com/xxx/

Also, looks like Kimbo Slice has suffered his 1st defeat to Seth Petruzelli. I gotta say, the entire thing looks like a slip from Kimbo which was then capitalised on by Petruzelli, still counts as a win but if you replayed that 20 times I think Kimbo wins 95% of the time.

Oh, Dylan Moran was not good. I'd say get teh DVD but you won't be impressed, his 1st 2 DVD's were great and I think he's a good comedian but unfortunatley he's lacking in consistency and seems to have lost a great deal of spark. Joe Rogan keeps the Number 1 spot as my favourite stand up, shortly followed by Dave Chappelle and now Jamie Foxx moves up from 4 to 3 knocking Moran right outta the top 3.

Sorry Dylan, you've lost your sting mate :(

Martial Arts competition videos

So, been meaning to post these for ages! Having started off with a cold, then moving onto a sore throat, followed by a chest infection. Just as I'm getting over my cold I get diarrhea! I'm currently "coming out the other side" with the diarrhea now but for some reason, I can not seem to keep food down. Throwing up any time I have anything other than water, but the chest is feeling a load better :

Anyways, I'm digressing a touch.
Here is a little linky to the videos. That's over a gigs worth uploaded in 1 foul swoop...my connection is going like the clappers ere and I reckon these will all have uploaded by tomorrow morning. Between now and then there is at least 1 vid on there for viewing pleasure and both my wins and losses will be on there also.

Enjoy!

Life update...

OK, been busy as a bastard of late which is the reason for lack of updates. Things have been moving along in my life though. Had a Taekwondo Tournament - won 2 matches, lost 2 matches ended up 3rd. The wins don't feel as sweet though as it was against one of my team mates and I never actually got to fight anyone from another club. That said, fair play to Everton (aka Stick Man) which is now my new arch nemesis and the only one I train with who is faster than me. Weird as I love it and hate it all at the same time. Hate it cos I just hate loosing in anything where I feel I can do better, but good in the fact that I have gauge and a new push to gets better now. Must have watched my fight vids like 50 times and I know where I'm going wrong and the things I need to work on so these WILL BE IMPROVED (Yeah, decided to score a cute itsy bitsy camcorder - it's well 'ard!!)

What else, got me a Power ball, they're freaking awesome for working out your arms. Forearms, wrist strength, grip strength etc. Got it to help with my BJJ/Grappling/Sambo training which starts on Saturday. Gonna be doing some 1 on 1 sessions with a bad ass homie down in Birmingham every couple of weeks for the foreseeable future. He's an excellent teacher who knows his stuff inside out and from the side so REALLY looking forward to working with the dude.

Also going to be doing Yoga, was thinking of starting tomorrow but I don't get back in time and I'm still recovering from this freaking chest infection (was null and void ALL last week not to mention that I had 2 days already booked off which were spent sleeping!!!). But one thing I realised above all things...If I'm fighting a hobbit, I'll be able to kick that dude in the head - MAYBE! At the moment, my leg flexibility is shat and I'm fed up of having it like that so I'm hoping Yoga will help change that.

Ooohhh, been finding new music of late - lots of Hip Hop (some of it French). Top 10 Tracks on my iPod that I totally recommend (this changes daily)

1. The Look of Love - Slum Village
2. Keep it on - This beat - Slum Village
3. Around the Clock - DJ Honda feat. Problemz
4. Trouble in the water - DJ Honda feat. Problemz
5. Hell Naw! - Slum Village
6. Multiply - Slum Village
7. Self Assessment - Black Grass
8. Just like a bird without a feather - Samuel Jackson (Black Snake Moan OST)
9. Samurai - Shurik'n
10. Oncle Shu - Shurik'n

Anyways, this weekend should be fun, Grappling type training on Saturday, seeing Dylan Moran on Sunday (Never seen a stand up live before). Then 2 weeks after that, UFC 89!! Anyways, will try and do a few more updates - peace and love.

Chuck knocked out!

OK, I totally was not expecting that!! Stayed up til 3am Sunday morning waiting for UFC 88 all to see Rashad Evans get an ass whipping and what happens? Chuck Liddell gets knocked out cold with an overhand right (Imagine that?? Knocked out with your own signature hit). I was in shock and I think the crowd was too - no real cheering or booing just a sense of disbelief! Hat off to Rashad Evans though - can't wait til he gets to Machida though - my money would be on Lyoto for sure! :)

HOLY SHIT!!

YES!!! YES YES YES YES YES!!!

http://uk.ufc.com/index.cfm?fa=news.detail&gid=14275

Super Timmy Punch!

So - in training last night we were doing this thing called "Stop Point" (atleast I think that's what it's called). The whole idea is, you square off, the ref says go and whoever gets the hit in first gets a point, everything is stopped and you start again. The entire point of this is to build up attack speed to ensure you're the first one in and we usually work to a "first to 5 points" system. Being as I ain't exactly got fat wedges of muscle weighing me down I'm able to bring speed pretty easily and I've not had a great deal of luck executing the Super Man punch during sparring being as my opponent usually see's it coming a mile off. A friend of mine suggested that I set it up with a Jab (cheers chunky) so I've been practising this little manouver infront of the mirror. Anyways - yesterday...saw an opening, threw the jab and then went in with a superman punch and totally nailed it. Unfortunatley - I ended up hitting my sparring partner square in the eye (Sorry Cuan) and the point didn't count - BUT the fact still remains that I executed that bad boy to a Tee.

I was apologetic as anything being as it's never my intention to hurt sparring partners but I was chuffed as a basta*d when I actually realised I executed it. HAPPY DAYS!!

UFC 89 HERE I COME :)

So my tickets have come through!! :) HAPPY HAPPY DAYS!

I'm in section G which means I get to see Leben feel the pain close up!! YAY! Can't wait :)

Matt Hughes - The Book Review

So finished the Matt Hughes book. Not gonna spend too much time on a review being as there's already a good few hours I've spent reading this tripe that I know I can never get back. Seems I'm reading things in a particular order without even realising it. Chuck Liddells book is freaking awesome, Tito's book is very good and Matt Hughes book comes a few country miles behind theirs. He tells you about all these things that have happened in his life which is fine but rarely do you get to see the point or conclusion to any of these stories. In one section he's saying how he just didn't take to Tim Sylvia (there was no reason for it) and in another section goes on to explain where Tim confronts him about it in the nicest way possible and he acts like a total dick. In yet another section it would appear him and Tim are cool and in between all of this - no explanation as to why he didn't like him (although I'm guessing it's just because Matt is perfect and everyone else is beneath the great king) and no explanation as to what made him change his mind.

I think the bit that got me was where him and Jens Pulver are bitching about newbies training in the gym. No offence but no one knows anything until someone teaches them - therefore at one point Matt knew nothing about MMA until he was taught.

All in all, I get the impression that he thinks he's Stephen King or some other great writer. On TV (The Ultimate Fighter) he comes across as a bit of a prat and the book does nothing but confirm this. He reminds me of that guy in School - the big dude that no one actually liked and was a complete dick to everyone! Most people tend to grow out of that sort of behaviour - Matt Hughes has yet to.

There is something that I agree with in this book though - Every couple of chapters or so he keeps saying "There's a lot you can do in 5 minutes" and he ain't wrong. It only took me that long to take it back to the shop and get my refund!

Worth the read if you want to see what kind of guy he is...although I'd wait til you can get it at the library. No point wasting your hard earned coin to help add air to an already dangerously inflated ego.

Dissapointing - yes
Suprising - not really

UFC 87 : Review

I actually stayed up to watch this and finding ways to kill time til 3am when you're high and there's nothing on Telly is not easy!! I managed it though and totally worth it! With the exception of the 2nd round stoppage predicted in the last post, everyone who I thought would win...won. Have to say, easily one of the best UFC events I've seen in years - Demian Maia vs Jason McDonald was an excellent Jui Jitsu showcase. Jason M is not an easy dude to tap!!

The Ken Flo vs Huerta fight was good - I was routing for Heurta but Kenny had some seriously tight skill.

Brock Lesnar is a freaking beast! Congrats on the dude winning the fight but I found him to be a touch disrespectful once the fight was won. Pointing at the opponent and laughing...what a complete twat! Yeah I can see you now you big headed mother fucker!

The GSP Fitch fight should easily have got fight of the night. Jon Fitch is a freaking machine. The dude can take serious punishment and just keep on going. That guy has nothing to be ashamed of in loosing, he put up a hell of a fight!

UFC 87 - Predictions

Yeah, not been doing my predicitions of late so decided to start them back up again. As usual I'll be predicting the 3 main fights: -

Brock Lesnar vs Heath Herring
Brock Lesnar will win by 2nd round TKO

Kenny Florian vs Roger Huerta
Kenny Florian will win by Judges decision

George St Pierre vs John Fitch
George St. Pierre will win by Judges decision

So, for those of you living in the UK - Setanta Sports, Saturday night - 3am. I for one will be staying my ass awake to watch it. Let's see if my predictions are correct :)

UFC BABY!!

I am now the proud owner of tickets to UFC 89 - Bisping vs Leben. Managed to get tickets closer to the Octagon this time for the same price as I got the last tickets. Also...no more driving for hours - it's in Birmingham which is where all my homies are at, so I'm chuffed as a button!!

From Mike Bisping...

"Thanks Tim, much appreciated. Thanks for the support. It means alot. Hope
you enjoy the fights in Birmingham.
Be lucky

Mike"

Prediction : Bisping wins by 2nd round knock out.