Captain Morgan Sickinger - MMA Highlights

MMA highlights of Captain Morgan Sickinger. Morgan Sickinger is a 145lb feathweight fighter and trains and fights out of The Dungeon in Peshtigo and Unified Martial Arts in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Music is "I'm Shipping Up to Boston" by Dropkick Murphy's.

Lenny "Smash" Nelson - MMA Highlights

MMA highlights of Lenny "Smash" Nelson. Lenny Nelson trains and fights out of Unified Martial Arts in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Music is Warren Haynes covering Lynyrd Skynyrd's "Simple Man."

Aaron Bridges vs. Mike Biddle - Combat Corner Tournament Vol. 2 - Submission Grappling - BJJ - HD

Aaron Bridges of Matamoros Jiu-Jitsu and Roufusport takes on Mike Biddle of Unified Martial Arts in a no-gi BJJ submission grappling match at the Combat Corner Grappling Championships on 02/07/2009 at Bayview High School in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

Check out http://www.jiujitsutees.com/ for more Jiu-Jitsu tee shirts and custom apparel for the Jiu-Jitsu fanatic.

Aaron “Tower” Toll of Unified Martial Arts set to make his pro debut

Aaron “Tower” Toll of Unified Martial Arts in Fond du Lac is set to make his pro debut at Gladiators – Fight Night at the Fair on Monday, August 4th. His opponent will be undefeated heavyweight fighter Isaac Krull of Roufusport. Toll has been involved with MMA and BJJ for less than a year but has had incredible success as an amateur fighter compiling an MMA of (3-0), fighting in as many organizations as he has fights.

Toll made his debut at Evolution Fighting Championships (EFC) in West Bend on May 2nd defeating Bill Schmidt of Team Akuma in 1:00 in the first round via TKO. Toll would fight again on May 24th defeating Danny Renteria of Sharkbite MMA with a TKO stoppage due to strikes at 2:59 in the first round. Most recently, Toll defeated Jon Bock at Titletown Combat Championships with a rear naked choke submission in only 49 seconds in the first round.

Toll was a division 3 state champion wrestler at Laconia High School in Rosendale, Wisconsin in 2007 at 285lbs, as well as a runner-up in 2006 at 275lbs. With limited BJJ experience Toll has found success in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu as well as submission grappling. In February of this year, Toll decisioned Matt Cantwell at the Shortyz Fights in a submission grappling match. In the same month at King Grappler in Madison, Wisconsin, Toll won the intermediate no-gi at 220 to 240lbs by defeating Roman Villalobos. In the expert no-gi 220-240lb weight class, Toll took second place to BJJ black belt, Eric Schafer. Toll made a name for himself within the grappling community by outpointing the very talented and more experienced, Travis Hanson of Fox Valley Grappling Club.

The bout with Isaac Krull at Gladiators – Fight Night at the Fair will be at heavyweight. Krull is as big as they come for heavyweight opponents and will present quite a challenge for anyone’s professional debut. Krull is coming off a TKO victory over Terry “The Whole F’in Show” Kleiman of Green Bay at Combat USA in January. It took Krull just over a minute to destroy the almost 400lb Kleiman. Krull has been sidelined since the bout and has not seen action in the cage in over six months. Krull has also fought for several organizations including Konquer the Kage, Combat USA, and Gladiators Fighting Series compiling a (3-0) MMA record according to various databases.

Q&A with Mike “The Greek Turtle” Ottesen

Mike “The Greek Turtle” Ottesen is slated to face Omar Choudhury at Gladiators 49 this Saturday. His opponent, Choudhury is on a two fight losing streak and recently lost his Gladiators Flyweight Title to Sam Thao at Gladiators 48 in a battle that received fight of the year honors at the Wisconsin Combat Sports 2007 Awards. I was able to catch up with “The Turtle” last weekend and learn a little bit about the fighter from Neshkoro despite the bad snowy weather and a little nip in the air.

Wisconsin Combat Sports: Wisconsin Combat Sports, I’m here with Mike “The Greek Turtle” Ottesen. Mike, first tell me a little about you background, where you’re from, what your style is, and where you train.

Mike Ottesen: I come from Neshkoro and I came to Brandon to train with my trainer Mike Biddle to get ready for this fight. I’m training at Unified Martial Arts (Fond du Lac) right now. I wrestled in high school and that is how I got started.

WCS: You’re going against Omar (Choudhury) next week, I’m familiar with Omar, I’m pretty sure you’re familiar with his style. He’s a Jiu-Jitsu fighter, what is the gameplan going into the fight?

MO: I’m looking to try and keep it standing. My instincts from every fight so far have been to take it to the ground, but I want to try and keep this one standing and see if I have an advantage with my hands.

WCS: Where did you train at previous to Unified Martial Arts? You said your from Neshkoro, I assume that is a very small town, do you have a gym that you train at up there? Do you run your own gym?

MO: While in Neshkoro, I went to Wautoma to train. It’s called Reality Martial Arts, fighters like Greg Klemp and Mike Lambrecht come from up there.

WCS: Tell me a little bit of your previous fighting experience. What is your record and what shows have you fought on?

MO: I’ve fought for KTK twice, I have fought for Gladiators once previously against Gary Schaumberg, and I have fought for Madtown Throwdown once against Soko.

WCS: So is Gladiators a show you’re looking to stay in for the future or are you willing to fight for any of the organizations in Wisconsin?

MO: I like Gladiators, primarily because it’s in a cage, but until other shows start using cages, I’ll probably stick with Gladiators.

WCS: Is this a temporary move or after the fight is over are you going to stay at Unified Martial Arts and train there on a regular basis and move to Fond du Lac?

MO: I’d like to move to Fond du Lac but as of now I am going to go back to Neshkoro, take some time off and go back to Unified and start training again hopefully.

WCS: The fight on Saturday is at 125lbs or the Flyweight Class, is that your primary weight class of are you also willing to fight at 135?

MO: I’ve fought up to 145lbs, but I’d like to stick to 125 because it’s closer to my natural weight.

WCS: Now the 125lb division in Wisconsin, it’s a small division, I only really know of about four of you guys, is there anybody you want to fight after the Omar fight, regardless of a win or a loss?

MO: Not really, I’m one of those guys if you put me up against someone I’m going to take the fight as long as it’s at the right time and I have time to train, I’ll fight anybody at 125.

I just thought of two guys I would like to fight again at 125 regardless of a win or a loss, they would be Josh Hurst and Mike Young.

WCS: A couple of random questions. What fighter do you look up to either local or in the big leagues?

MO: Watching Mike Lambrecht’s first fight was got me into this, so that is where I picked the sport up from. He’s a local fighter from Wautoma and he fights at 155.

WCS: Someone left a comment on one of your vids I believe that says you don't tap. Is that true?

MO: I tapped in my very first match to a choke, since then I haven't tapped to another choke. I seem to pass out.

WCS: How far are you looking to go in the sport?

MO: As far as I can go. Right now I just want to do the local shows. I’m still young so I have time to get up there.

WCS: Sponsors, do you have anyone you’d like to thank?

MO: Custom Ink Tattoos in Ripon and Coliseum out in Fond du Lac and In Your Face Tattooz in Fond du Lac. The other sponser I have is Self Incision, they're a band based outta West Bend.

WCS: Anyone you’d like to thank at all?

MO: Mike (Biddle) and his family for letting me stay with them to train. Jason Burroughs for helping me train and all the guys from Unified for getting me ready for the fight. Lastly I want to thank Mike Vaughn for helping me along with the kickboxing.

Fighter Interview: Brad Resop of Unified Martial Arts in Fond du Lac, WI

In part three of this three part interview series I introduce you to another middleweight fighter from Fond du Lac, WI. 29 year old, Brad “Pitbull” Resop sports a (1-0) MMA record and his next fight is an amateur fight on December 22 at the Combat USA show in Menasha. He faces off against newcomer and a former training partner in Andy Kandal. Kandal now fights out of West Bend, Wisconsin. In this interview, Resop talks about his opponent and how he became interested in fighting in mixed martial arts.

On his opponent Andy Kandal:

“It’s his first fight. He trained here with us for a little while. He thinks he’s more of kickboxer with a little Greco-Roman wrestling. That’s all I really know about him. I heard he has a pretty weak heart. He likes to give up if you get him on his back. That’s going to be the gameplan, is to get him down.”

Background:

“I got into the sport through my teammate Scott Beck. I watched him fight and thought it didn’t look hard at first, so I thought, “I’ll give it shot”. When you watch it on TV it looks easy and everyone thinks, “Hey, I can do that.” I started training down here and learned it wasn’t as easy as I thought it was. I began to love the challenge and I was learning something new everyday. My wrestling background has kept me in it and it’s fun. I’m also not getting any younger so I thought I should do something.”

On his style:

“I grew up wrestling my whole life. I also like Jiu-Jitsu. I like to think that I have heavy hands. I like to put guys on the ground and ground and pound.”

On organizations:

“I’d like to fight for Throwdown FS, I like the Vale Tudo rules. I went to my first Gladiators show on December 1st in Milwaukee. They put on a really good show. I haven’t had a cage fight yet, so I’d like to get in there. Madtown puts on really good shows, but I’ll fight for whoever pays me.”

Favorite fighters:

“My favorite fighter is Vitor Belfort. He’s a Jiu-Jitsu fighter, but his hands are so good. I have tried to adapt his style. You always have to worry about him taking you down, but he can easily end it on the feet just as fast. I also have to root for the local boys, so I’d say Eric Schafer. In a small town like this, Eric’s putting this town on the map. There are so many guys out there, I try to steal a little bit from everyone’s arsenal.”

On Gladiators 48 – Season’s Beatings:

“I’d give Fight of the Night to Sam (Thao) vs. Omar (Chowdury). Sam walked in there and he didn’t have his gloves taped and was wearing jogging shorts, I thought, “This kid’s going to get murdered.” That was a great fight. It was back and forth and I thought Omar’s Jiu-Jitsu had it, but Sam really took it to him. Just a great fight.”

Brad Resop would like to thank:

“Unified Martial Arts for training me and making me the best fighter I can be.”


Expect more interviews and profiles from fighters in the Combat USA show this week. An interview with Neutral Grounds fighter, Reed Ehmke should be posted in the next day or two. Please support the local MMA scene and it’s athletes by going to the shows. Wisconsin Combat Sports will be there next Saturday covering the action. We hope to see you there.

This article was originally posted on http://www.wicombatsports.com/ on 12-19-2007.

Fighter Interview: Scott Beck of Unified Martial Arts in Fond du Lac, WI

In part two of a three part interview series with fighters from Unified Martial Arts in Fond du Lac, I introduce you to Scott Beck. Scott is another fighter that will be fighting on the Combat USA show this Saturday entitled Season’s Beatings. Beck is 28 years old and sports an MMA record of (3-3). He faces off against James Vanderwellen of Third Heaven in Beaver Dam. The two recently did battle last September with Vanderwellen getting the win. Beck will be looking for redemption in this rematch to even the score. In my interview Scott talks about his past, the present, and his future in mixed martial arts.

On Style:

“I started out at Third Heaven in Beaver Dam. I have a good BJJ background. I have a pretty decent Muay Thai background, and I work a little boxing. I used wrestle also.
I’m better at submissions, but in this upcoming fight I’m looking to stand up. I feel comfortable on the ground, but I feel I have a huge advantage in the stand up department.”

Sports background:

“In high school I did wrestle, I wrestled for 4 years. I never took it anywhere after that, I wish I would have. I’ve been a fan of the UFC since it originated in the early nineties. I’ve been an athlete my whole life and I thought, I’m getting older here. I better do something now. About a year and a half ago I got into this, I wish I would have started sooner, but I’ve come a long way since I started.”

Favorite fighters:

“Randy Couture, he’s the pinnacle of the sport and he stood up for the fighters. He’s making a point and making a stand. This isn’t a small business anymore, you put your time and effort in, and you deserve to get compensated for it. Another fighter I look up to because he’s from my hometown is Mr. Eric “Ravishing Red” Schafer. I met him a quite a few times, he’s a great guy. He’s another great ambassador of the sport. He also arm barred me about 30 times in three minutes one time.”

Goals:

“I want to take this as far as it will go. I don’t have the choice to fight amateur anymore; I have to stay pro. I want to make sure that I get the best training possible. I just bought a membership to Duke’s and after this fight I am going to start going there to train. Some of the best guys in the state and Midwest train at Duke’s. Actually, some of the best fighters in the world train at Duke’s. He’s a four-time world champion kickboxer. Eric Schafer, he’s almost a black belt in Jiu-Jitsu. That’s where I want to be, I need to get beat up by those guys and learn from them. I want to fight at 170lbs, but I have fought at 185lbs, which is basically my walking weight. My next on February 16 against Shawn Wilkerson at Gladiators in Milwaukee will be at 185lbs.”

On his opponent:

“James Vanderwielen, I fought him also September 1st for Title Town Combat. So there is no confusion. My corner went to his corner and said, “We’re not going to touch gloves.” That was the plan, but I decided to touch gloves anyway and got caught with a punch. It kind of took me out of my game. We ended up going to the ground, which is what I wanted to avoid doing. I ended taking him down, which surprised a lot of people. I got caught and got mounted and he won the fight. I was asked to take this rematch, I wasn’t looking for it, but I wasn’t going to back down either. Jim’s a great guy and I respect him. It’ll be a good fight.”

Prediction:

“I’m going to win, I feel I should have won the first fight. I’m looking for the first round knockout.”

Beck will also be fighting another rematch on February 16th in the Gladiators show versus Shawn Wilkerson. This is a rematch he’s been looking for since their last bout. Here’s his take on redemption:

“I fought Shawn Wilkerson on May 12 in Illinois. I’m not going to make any excuses whatsoever; I got caught in a guillotine choke. I don’t like the Illinois rules, if I have my choice I will not fight in Illinois until they allow elbows. I believe that if the elbows were allowed I would have won that fight. I’ve been looking to get him, since the fight. I’ve gone through Pat O’Malley and Ron Faircloth. He avoided both of their phone calls and finally Duke got him for me, so I appreciate that.”

Beck would like to thank:

“Everyone who’s helped me train the last couple of months. I want to thank Adam Sandaval. I trained at the Haus of Combat. He’s been great. I want to thank Mike Biddle for training with me two, sometimes three times a day. Brad Resop has helped in my standup by punching me in the face a little bit.



Expect more interviews and profiles from fighters in the Combat USA show this week. An interview with Unified Martial Arts fighter Brad Resop should be posted in the next day or two. Please support the local MMA scene and it’s athletes by going to the shows. Wisconsin Combat Sports will be there next Saturday covering the action. I hope to see you there.

This article originally was posted on http://www.wicombatsports.com/ on 12-17-2007.

Fighter Interview: Mike Biddle of Unified Martial Arts in Fond du Lac, WI

I braved below zero temperatures a weekend ago to go train with and interview a few members of Unified Martial Arts in Fond du Lac, Wisconsin. Their gym, which is located in old warehouse had a broken heater and was being supplemented with a kerosene heater. Needless to say, there is a certain level of determination and being hard core that goes with training in that kind of environment. Three of their members are fighting in the Combat USA show in Menasha on December 22, 2007. Here is my interview and profile with Mike Biddle.

Mike Biddle

Mike Biddle is 27 years old and is co-owner of Unified Martial Arts gym in Fond du Lac, WI. He is the head instructor for kickboxing and MMA, while co-owner Jason Burroughs is the head Jiu-Jitsu instructor. He is recovering from a broken finger that was sustained while training with Gary Schaumberg, Gladiators new 145lb Featherweight Champion. He’s had some ups and downs in getting his fight MMA fight. Here’s his take:

“I’ve been trying to get a fight since September. I was supposed to fight September 29, but I got a Staph Infection. I had to pull out of that one. Then November 11, I was supposed to fight in Wisconsin Dells and that show got cancelled. Now this fight on December 22, my opponent was to be Pat McHugh. He broke his arm in training I was told, so he cannot fight. Adam Sandaval who is the promoter for Combat USA has been looking for a fight for me. I’m hoping he is able to get me one. I have been trying to get a fight now for three months so it is frustrating.”

Biddle recently took first place in the King Grappler tournament in Madison in October winning the 160-170lb intermediate division. I asked him how he became interested in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.

“I was working at Quad Graphics and was introduced to Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu by a guy named Z. Porski, a BJJ blue belt from Poland. When he moved back to Poland I started looking for a gym to train. It seemed like Fox Valley was the only place to go at the time and then I heard about Will at the Welcome Mat. Will Ernsberger, had previously trained with Henry Matamoros and Red Schafer, before that group split up. I hooked up with the Welcome Mat and have been hooked ever since. We moved to the old Goodrich high school balcony in Fond du Lac for just over a year. We couldn’t get an agreement with the athletic department, so we decided to start our own school, Unified Martial Arts.

On his style:

“It doesn’t matter where the fight goes, I can win the fight standing or on the ground. I’m not afraid to be on my back in an MMA fight. I think I have a decent ground game. I’ve been working on my stand up for the last year. I went down to Duke’s for a little while. I’ve also been training with Mike Vaughn, doing everything I can to get my standup going. I think my standup is surpassing my ground game now, which is great.”

“Ideally, I would not shoot in. I would stay standing. If I get hit with some shots and feel like he’s better than I am, then I would definitely try to shoot. I’m aggressive and I want to come out throwing punches and kicks right away. If he wants to take me down then he can do that, I work my sprawl hard. I train my ass off no matter where the fight goes.”

Sponsors:

“In Your Face Tattoos in Fond du Lac, which is owned by my friend Gavin Bowe. I’m also sponsored by the Coliseum Bar & Grill in Fond Du Lac. Lastly, by Hopper’s Screen Printing in North Fond Du Lac.”

On Gladiators 48:

“I was most impressed with Sam (Thao). Omar (Chowdury) did everything in his power to try and defend, but no one was going to stop Sam that night. He was determined and he imposed his will. Also my friend Gary Schaumberg, who we all know has been the man. Now he has the belt and I’m really proud of him for that.”

MMA Story:

“The first time I go to Duke’s to spar, I have to spar with Dan LaSavage right off the bat. I’m like OK, cool, I’ll do this. We start out, he hits me a couple times, and I’m like holy shit, this guy is really punching me in the face. He was hitting me and I was so freaked out that I couldn’t handle it. I just kept flinching so bad from him hitting me. I’m thinking, “Oh my god this guy is killing me and Cushman jumps in and starts telling him what to do. I’m getting kicked left and right. Cushman yells, “Head kick, Head kick.” Then bang – I got kicked right in the face. I ended up having a concussion from that. I didn’t have my hands up because I was stupid. My eye socket was all swollen, it was horrible, just bad. The lesson, keep your hands up and if your not on someone’s level, you probably shouldn’t spar with them.”

Danny Boy Downes

Since I interviewed Mike Biddle on Saturday, December 8th, I have learned that Combat USA has found an opponent to fill in for the injured Pat McHugh. Mike Biddle will now face Roufus Sport fighter Danny Boy Downes on December 22 in Menasha.

Downes has an amateur MMA record of (2-0) and has finished both of his opponents in the first round. In August, at a Gladiators show, Downes beat Jared Polden at 1:09 via TKO and most recently he fought and beat John Lovejoy at Gladiators 47 in October, via TKO at 1:00. It should be a tough test for the (0-0) Mike Biddle.

Expect more interviews and profiles from fighters in the Combat USA show this week. I’d like to thank Mike Biddle for inviting me up to Fond du Lac to train and interview the guys. Interviews with Unified Martial Arts fighters Scott Beck and Brad Resop should be posted in the next few days. Please support the local MMA scene and it’s athletes by going to the shows. Wisconsin Combat Sports will be there next Saturday covering the action. I hope to see you there.

This interview was originally posted on http://www.wicombatsports.com/ on 12-16-2007