Lance Edwards

Its legacy this weekend, but i wanted to take the opportunity to wish my pal Neil Gardener good luck in the championships in Abu Dhabi

I recently took the opportunity to interview brent medley for Shark Fights. Shark Fights is a Texas based promotion that has gone from the regional to national stage. i had heard rumors that they are going to do big things next year, so took the opportunity to interview the CEO Brent Medley. one thing i wanted to do was get a few pointers for fighters tying to get into bigger shows… hope you guys enjoy

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The aim of nearly every fighter is to eventually get to the hallowed land of the UFC, but what do you need to do to get there..?

For fun i looked at upcoming UFC cards to see if there are some patterns, obviously i didnt look too hard, but there were a few interesting points..having a background in research i couldnt help but do a little number crunching though

- About 1/4 of fighters are TUF alumini

- Most fighters have 2-3 win streak before starting with the ufc, foreign fighters tend to have longer streaks

- On overseas cards there tend to be some local competitors (the recent uk card had more than a few)

- US fighters tended to have fought for a variety of organisations, mainly in the midwest, northeast and california (there were no fighters who had fought in texas for four fights leading to joining the UFC)

-Fighters tended to only have a maximum of 10% losses on their record before joining the ufc

-Recent losses to current UFC fighters tended to be viewed less harshly on records it appeared

-The best org to have fought in before going to the UFC was strikeforce (i looked at the 4 fights leading up to signing)

-The best Brazilian org to fight for before joining the UFC was Jungle fights, and the best UK org Cage warriors

-One of the most frequent North American orgs to have fought in before signing to the UFC was King of the cage, as well as canadian org TKO

-40 fighters had fought in well over 60 different orgs leading up to joining the UFC, suggesting that fighters are not being chosen from a couple of specific orgs

-Lesnar and Velasquez had two of the smallest records before joining, Lesnar had his wwe experience, Velasquez his AKA connection Im assuming

-Fighters who have been in the UFC longer tended to need smaller records to get in, obviously due to a larger potential talent pool

-TUF competitiors tended to have far less fights than fighters who went straight to the UFC

Obviously this isnt the be all and end all, its from a limited sample and just for fun

cheers

Another vid by my mate Stan, this time the basic cross

Stan “diamond’ prescott, former undefeated boxing and muay thai pro…

Lol, great to see JC Skarbowsky on TUF, what was even funnier were the comments people were writing online to the previews, that the fighters were going to knock him about, etc etc. Skarbowsky is a bonafide legend, he won th King’s Cup in bangkok twice, which is the most prestigious event, he was ranked no.1 at rajadamnern stadium in Bangkok in 2003 and 2006. Lumpinee and Rajadamnern Stadium are the two top stadiums for Muay Thai. His pro record I believe is 75-20-2, and he has 50 KO’s on his record.

He has a fairly unorthodox milling punching style where he just throws bombs. After retiring in 2006, Skarbowsky opened a gym in Paris and some of his fighters are doing very well. Nice that the TUF viewers got a view of a legend outside the UFC.

Jean-Charles Skarbowski Muay Thai Highlight
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Just a quick video of my friend Neil training quads, Neils a great guy and 5x Mr. Australia, if you’re ever in Melbourne drop by his gym

Like him or hate him, Tyson had talent in his prime, and lost his potential.. I wasnt too dazzled by the clip they had of him speaking on TUF interesting but not as deep as GSPs comment about learning alot suggested… thing is Tyson said far more than the clip that what was shown

Tyson on TUF

Erich Krauss nowadays is involved in a lot of the MMA publications on the market. One of the first he did with Jens Pulver back in 2003. Despite knowing about this book for a long time, it was only recently I picked it up and decided to read it.

Little Evil: One Ultimate Fighter’s Rise to the Top is not a massive publication. Pulver presents himself with an honesty and humility that many of today’s fighters would be lucky to have. A large part of the book focusses on Pulvers childhood. Most people that know of Pulver’s career know him as an emotional fighter, and the book portrays a level of reality few MMA publications touch. Pulver’s childhood was not an easy one, his father was physically and emotionally abusive and at times his account is difficult to read. Starting in his childhood, the book relates his life, his mother getting him involved in wrestling, and a relatively short account of his MMA career up until his successful defense of his title against BJ Penn.

Despite the bleak harsh reality of his childhood, standing out are the good figures in his life and the impact that wrestling had on him. It is a story of overcoming obstacles, of facing fears and of commitment and hard work. Finishing the book I have a new respect for Pulver and a new liking for one of the first fighters from the lighter weight classes to meet acclaim. This book isn’t going to teach you a million techniques but it is a true insight to the man they call ‘Lil Evil’.

So if anyone read my post in this blog before, what lessons can we learn? Why do the young fighters have it better?

• The internet is a great resource for finding what’s going on nationally and on the local scene. Local sites like TCN cover local MMA.
• MMA is recognised as a genuine sport, not just a bunch of ‘human cockfighters’
• MMA events are televised and many public places show the UFC
• Conditioning programs are greatly improved and more sport specific, greater knowledge is available as standard
• There are far more schools with experienced staff
• A core of arts has been found to be effective and its possible to learn adapted forms for MMA
• Schools teach all aspects of MMA
• You do not have to adapt arts to MMA yourself, coaches have this knowledge
• Boxing trainers are far more willing to teach MMA fighters
• There are far more coaches trained in these arts
• Many schools have different coaches with expertise in the different aspects teaching
• There are far more high grade BJJ teachers around, you don’t have to rely on video tapes and seminars, blue belt is no longer a high grade
• In Houston there are even dan grade BJJ teachers such as Draculino, Anderson Leal and Ted Stickel.
• There is far more knowledge out there of techniques and its possible to get good instruction in a wide range of moves
• Training partners are far more experienced, and can give help while actually having knowledge
• Safety equipment is far better and its use, there are MMA sparring gloves and you are not expected to spar bare knuckle
• Schools are smarter in how they train new students, people are not expected to spar heavy with experienced students on the first day
• The rules are much safer in MMA
• Promotions are run far better, and are far safer
• In Houston early promotions relied on open hand strikes, punching is now allowed
• Promotions tend to be match made far more professionally
• There are weight classes, and lighter fighters are not all banded together in a heavier weight class
• Pay from professional fights is far better
• You can fight amateur without it affecting your record
• Fighters are given more time to prepare for fights, and there is less pressure to fight at short notice
• Schools are more willing to take time to teach students who do not want to compete
• Instructional dvds are far better and easier to follow

These aren’t all the improvements, but the ones that spring to mind. I know I focussed on my early experiences in the UK, but from talking to guys around on the scene in Houston such as Jeff Messina and Lee King some of these things are very relevant. If you got this far, I hope you enjoyed it, leave me a comment please so I know to write further articles in future

Regards, good training, enjoy the fights..