Ravishing Red Schafer Grapples for Appleton Sweathogs

The 8-time Sexiest Man Alive award winner, Ravishing Red Schafer, does a grappling match at the WFC in front of hundreds of disgusting fans that should be happy to even be in his presence. He battles Bill Krieg from the Fox Valley Grappling Club. Bill is a very talented grappler and Pan-Am medalist in BJJ. 12 women passed out during this match from pleasure and were rushed to the hospital.

Randy Couture Seminar with the Fox Valley Grappling Club

UFC Heavyweight Champion Randy Couture was in Wisconsin this past weekend to help support the Menasha High School wrestling team and provide an MMA seminar. The Fox Valley Grappling Club’s Ken Popelka, who is also the coach of Menasha’s wrestling team, organized the seminar. Popelka, an accomplished and decorated wrestler himself, was teammates with Couture on the All-Army wrestling team from 1985 to 1988.

The seminar which was originally scheduled to take place on Saturday but was delayed a day, because Randy’s wife, Kim, was making her professional MMA debut on Friday in Las Vegas against Kim Rose and was injured. In the bout, Kim Couture suffered a broken jaw in two places, as well as a broken nose during the first exchange of the fight. Despite the injuries, she showed her warrior spirit and continued to fight for all three rounds before losing a unanimous decision. Doctors then had to wire her jaw shut, which Randy said would last for about five weeks or so. Because of the injuries, Randy Couture was forced to cancel the seminar on Saturday but promised to do it the following day. Despite the rescheduling the turnout looked pretty decent although I’m aware a number of participants were forced to miss it due to scheduling conflicts. All told there were more than 30 participants and many more in the bleachers to watch the seminar.

The seminar, which was oriented towards MMA, focused primarily on wrestling techniques that Randy himself uses in fights. He stated that there were less than 500 practitioners of freestyle and Greco wrestling in the United States and the techniques were very useful in MMA.

Couture began the seminar with pummeling drills, which led into duck-unders. Next up was slide-bys into double leg takedowns. He discussed the advantages of moves like slide-bys in MMA. The move he said was, “High percentage with low risk.” In other words, these types of moves did not leave a fighter susceptible to getting guillotined like single and double leg takedowns from folk-style wrestling often do. Couture discussed tie-ups and then transitioned into high crotch single leg takedowns from tie-ups. Couture then discussed cage tactics and how to use the fence to your advantage for takedowns and control. When the seminar was complete he opened up the floor for questions and demonstrated moves that participants asked about.

Randy Couture and Ken Popelka were very hands on and did a lot of one on one after the demonstrations. They also provided the participants a lot of time to practice the moves and get them down before moving onward in the seminar. The seminar lasted the full three hours and Randy went out of his way to talk to as many people as possible including the observers. After the seminar he signed autographs and took photos with every single person in a line that stretched across the entire gym. He even found time and granted Wisconsin Combat Sports an interview.

In the biggest interview of my MMA journalistic career, my recorder stopped part way into the interview so I will have to recapitulate what I discussed with the Champion. I asked Randy about his new book that coming out next month. He stated that his new book is called Becoming the Natural, and it is an autobiography about his life. It will be released on July 22 and it covers his life from birth through his decision to leave the UFC. I also talked to Randy about WAMMA (World Alliance of Mixed Martial Arts) and his participation in that organization. In a nutshell, he is part of an advisory committee that is trying to establish healthcare coverage for fighters. He also feels strongly for the need to establish an independent ranking system to determine the best fighters in the world. Lastly, we talked about the Affliction card. He said he is going to be there at ringside to watch the fights and thinks that the card is great. He is hoping Affliction is successful because he feels there is a need to have another major organization for fighters to fight in other than the UFC. Lastly, I asked for an update into his legal status and if he becomes a free man will he someday fight for Affliction? He stated that he hopes to be free and clear from the UFC in October if everything goes according to plan and that if he does fight again, HDNet Fights would be involved in some way because they have been helping him with his legal battle.

Wisconsin Combat Sports would like to thank Bill Krieg, Ken Popelka, and everyone from the Fox Valley Grappling Club for inviting us to the seminar. It isn’t often that we have a legendary fighter and wrestler the caliber of Randy Couture in Wisconsin to do seminars and help support local wrestling programs like Menasha’s. I would like to also like to thank Randy Couture on behalf of the Wisconsin combat sports community and everyone that attended the seminar.

Randy “The Natural” Couture Seminar in Menasha Next Month

Randy “The Natural” Couture will return to Wisconsin next month to host an MMA seminar at the Menasha Middle School. The seminar is a joint effort between the Fox Valley Grappling Club and the Menasha Wrestling Team.

Randy Couture was last in the Green Bay area in December of 2007 when the Green Bay Packers took on the Oakland Raiders. Captain America was brought in to give a pep talk to the team prior to the game starting. His pre-game pep talk must have inspired the players who then went on to defeat the Raiders (38-7).

The seminar will be conducted on Saturday, June 21 at the Menasha Middle School from 12-3pm and will be followed by an open mat from 3-4pm. The cost is $100 to participate and $40 to watch. An undisclosed percentage of the proceeds will go to benefit the Menasha High School Wrestling Team. For more information or details on signing up please visit the following link: www.foxvalleygrapplingclub.com/couture.

Randy “The Natural” Couture to appear at Titletown Combat Championships 4 in June

According to an e-mail from Steve Gonzalez of Titletown Combat Championships, Randy “The Natural” Couture will be making an appearance at TCC 4 in conjunction with an MMA seminar scheduled to take place at Fox Valley Grappling Club in Appleton, Wisconsin that same day. The Titletown show is scheduled to take place at the Brown County Arena in Green Bay, Wisconsin on June 21, 2008.

Randy Couture was last in the Green Bay area in December of 2007 when the Green Bay Packers took on the Oakland Raiders. Captain America was brought in to give a pep talk to the team prior to the game starting. His pre-game pep talk must have inspired the players who then went on to defeat the Raiders (38-7).

No word yet on who will be fighting or headlining the event but Gonzalez states he is putting together some solid fights for the show. Titletown Combat Championships will be having its third show this Friday in Kimberly, Wisconsin with Milwaukee’s own Jon “White Trash” Friedland headlining the card. Check back tomorrow for the full fight card.

More details on the Randy “The Natural” Couture seminar such as time, price, and availability to come after we get the scoop from FVGC coach, trainer, and instructor Bill Krieg.

Submission Grappling Match - Travis Hanson vs. Scott Huston

I thought I would try to break up some of the MMA monotony by posting an article about submission grappling. The Gladiators 48 card in December featured its first ever submission grappling bout. The Eric Schafer vs. Jesse Veium match pitted two of the state’s top 205lb MMA fighters and grapplers against each other. The Gladiators 49 show in February is going to feature two more submission grappling matches on the bout card. One of the matches is going to feature Travis Hanson of Team Vaghi/Fox Valley Grappling Club vs. Scott Huston of Henry Matamoros Jiu-Jitsu. Here’s a preview of the competitors:

Travis Hanson

Travis Hanson of Neenah, Wisconsin sports a (26-12) grappling record in tournament matches. Despite being a white belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, Hansen competes in blue and purple belt divisions at grappling tournaments. Bill Krieg of Fox Valley Grappling told me that Hanson hasn’t gotten a lot of face time with their black belt in the past year or so and therefore remains at white belt when he really should be a blue belt.
At the King Grappler tournament in Madison last fall, Hanson took second place to Milwaukee’s Eric Schafer in an Absolute tournament of ten competitors. In that same tournament he also placed third in the purple/brown belt heavyweight division, tapping purple belt Bruce Hoyer of Nexgen in the process. At the Arnold’s in Columbus, Ohio last March, Hanson took second place in the blue belt division and third in the advanced no-gi division. Hanson is an electrician by day and trains about 3 to 4 nights a week. He has been a member of Fox Valley Grappling Club for a couple of years and plans to compete again at the Arnold’s this year. This match should be a good warm-up for the tournament in Ohio.

Scott Huston

Scott Huston began grappling in 2002 while stationed in San Diego, California. For two and a half years Huston trained under Master Odie Neto. He returned to Milwaukee after his military service with the Marines and continued BJJ under the watchful eye of Henry Matamoros in 2005. He has compiled a grappling record of roughly (28-3) in tournaments and is a purple belt in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
Huston is a 3-time NAGA Champion, a 2-time Milwaukee Challenge Champion, and a Corral Combat Classic (C3) Champion. He has also won several other large tournaments. Here’s a quote from Huston regarding his influences: “My biggest grappling influences are my first two BJJ instructors, and all of my brothers that I train with day in and day out. Aside from them, my biggest BJJ influences are Marcello Garcia, Ronaldo "Jacare" Dos Santos and Leo Viera.”

Matchup

Both grapplers have over 30 tournament bouts so the experience level is roughly the same. On paper it may appear that Huston has an advantage in rank and tournament championships. He is however, going to have to deal with a size disadvantage. Travis Hanson weighs roughly 225 pounds and Scott Huston weighs roughly 205 pounds. That size advantage may be the equalizer Hanson needs. It also makes this match up extremely interesting. How is Hanson going to deal with the experience advantage Huston holds? On the other hand, how will Huston deal with the size advantage of Hanson?

Jordan Denny vs. Jose Rodriguez rematch slated for Gladiators 49 UPDATED

Amateur fighters’ Jordan Denny and Jose Rodriguez recently fought each other at Combat USA: Seasons Beatings on December 22, 2007 and look to do battle again at Gladiators 49 on February 16. Jose “The Crazy Rican” Rodriguez took the fight on short notice and came up short on the judges cards (29-28). All three judges scored the bout a unanimous decision in favor of Jordan Denny of Team Vaghi/Fox Valley Grappling Club located in Appleton, Wisconsin.

Jose Rodriguez fights on Team Fighting Irish, which fights out of the new Waukesha MMA gym headed by Reese “Old Man” Shaner. Rodriguez sports a (2-2) record as an amateur with two first round victories via rear naked choke against Casey Liederbach and Robert Mondloch. His other loss came at the hands of Mark Severtson at Gladiators 47 in October of 2007, who pulled out the win via unanimous decision.

The bout was a classic matchup of grappler vs. striker.

Round 1

Early in the first round Rodriguez took the back of Denny. Unable to get the rear naked choke, Rodriguez pulled a nice transition to armbar underneath the ropes. Somehow he ended up falling off the canvas and onto the floor, hitting his head. Denny claimed in his post fight interview that Rodriguez never let go of the armbar even after hitting the floor. The fight resumed again on the feet with Denny landing a right high kick followed by some taunting and a spinning backfist that missed its mark. Denny proceeded to take Rodriguez down but Rodriguez instantly wrapped up a triangle choke followed by an armbar attempt. Denny managed to escape, unleash some ground and pound, but was quickly stuck in another arm bar. With another escape he landed some big knees to finish out the round.

Round 2

Early in the second round Denny stalked Rodriguez around the ring, and maintained ring control. Rodriguez threw a left body kick, which might have been the only strike he landed throughout the entire fight. Denny threw the flying knee as Rodriguez dove in for a takedown that missed. Rodriguez capitalized on a second attempt, but was quickly stood up by referee Al Wickerson for not ground striking or attempting a submission. Denny would lands some knees and get another takedown taking it into Rodriguez’s world again. Realizing his mistake, Denny stands back up and lands some decent striking. Rodriguez manages to toss Denny to the canvas, latch onto an Americana before transitioning into an armbar. It appears that Denny was saved by the bell; but it might have been to little, to late, for Rodriguez.

Round 3

The fight in my eyes is a round apiece going into the third with Rodriguez winning the first round and Denny winning the second. Rodriguez looks tired early in the third and his takedowns are not what they were earlier. Denny catches Rodriguez with a big right hook that sends Rodriguez falling into the ropes. Instead of stopping the fight, the referee allows Rodriguez to get back up. Denny makes the mistake of taking Rodriguez down, who quickly reverses Denny and takes his back. Denny is able to defend the rear naked choke attempts before ultimately escaping and raining down blows until the bell rings.

Denny improves his amateur record to (1-0) with a win over Jose Rodriguez. Had this fight had taken place in a cage I don’t think it would have gone the distance and either fighter could have taken it; Rodriguez by submission or Denny by TKO/KO. Their first bout was listed as a featherweight matchup of 145lbs, while the future matchup is slated to be a bantamweight matchup of 135lbs.

I’m not sure why Jordan Denny is taking this fight again in that he has nothing to gain from it other than experience. It is now up to Jose Rodriguez to prove the doubters wrong and show that his loss was a fluke, due to short notice, lack of preparation. My prediction is that, in a cage, there is no way this fight is going to go the distance. I assume Jose Rodriguez is going to work more on his ground striking and Jordan Denny will be cognizant about takedowns and keep the fight out of Rodriguez’s world of grappling and submissions. Good luck to both of you, I hope we get another fight of the night.

UPDATE: I talked to the promoter this afternoon after hearing from Jordan Denny. He confirmed there was a mix up on his list and this fight is not happening at Gladiators 49. Jose Rodriguez is more than likely going to fight on the card but against a different opponent. I'm sure these two will fight again but it will be somewhere down the road. Sorry for any confusion.

This article was originally posted on http://www.wicombatsports.com/ on 01-04-08

Anthony Pettis vs. Morrison Lamb off the Combat USA Card

The Combat USA show tonight suffered a major blow to the professional portion of the card. It was learned from a source close to Wisconsin Combat Sports that Morrison Lamb has been forced to withdraw from the card for undisclosed reasons.

Anthony Pettis who is (3-0) as an amateur recently made his professional debut at the Gladiators Fighting Series show on December 1, 2007. He showed remarkable standup and submission skills finishing his opponent Mike Skinner via guillotine choke in only 36 seconds of round one.

The (1-0) Pettis took the fight on short notice against Morrison Lamb recently. His Roufusport camp has shown a desire to test the young up and comer by letting him fight a tough journeyman fighter in Morrison Lamb.

Morrison Lamb of Fox Valley Grappling Club in Appleton sports a (2-6) professional record but has fought notable local fighters Sherron Leggett and Stephen Ledbetter. Both Leggett and Ledbetter have recently fought in the highly acclaimed WEC.

Wisconsin Combat Sports will keep you posted with up to date information about fights in our area. When more information on Lamb’s withdrawal is uncovered we will report it to you.

This article was originally posted on http://www.wicombatsports.com/ on 12-22-2007.