Renzo Gracie Invitational 2010

Sudbury BJJ`s competition team is in New York City this weekend for the Renzo Gracie Invitational. Above is some of the group in Times Square last night. Hope the competion is going well! I`m looking forward to hearing about the result.

With that, I`ll leave you with a video from 1997. It`s Renzo rolling with Mauricio Gomes (Roger Gracie`s father) in Japan.

Anderson Silva & Steven Seagal?

The interwebs can be a weird place sometimes. For instance, today, I found this clip of Anderson Silva training with Steven Seagal for his upcoming fight with Chael Sonnen. I`m pretty sure this is just one of those opportunities to train with someone different, as a novelty more than anything else. I can`t imagine Silva using any of these techniques in the octagon. Then again, we are talking about Anderson Silva. After his bizarre match in Abu Dhabi at UFC 112, I wouldn`t count anything out.

Mark Holst UFC debut!

Last night was the finale for the Ultimate Fighter 11 at the Pearl at the Palms in Las Vegas. The night marked the UFC debut for Kru Mark Holst from the Ottawa Academy of Martial Arts...a club we`re proudly affiliated with at Sudbury BJJ and Muay Thai Academy.

Mark faught an experienced John Gunderson, a wrestler training under Canadian Shawn Thompkins at the Tapout gym in Vegas. I haven`t had a chance to watch the fight seeing as the prelims were not aired on Spike TV due to time restrictions. I did however read the full play by play at MMAJunkie.com which explains that Mark lost the decision due to Gunderson`s wrestling pedegree which he was able to use to control where the fight took place.

Either way, we`re all very proud of Mark. He represented himself and Team Renzo Gracie Ottawa very well. The next fight will have a different outcome no doubt!

Here are some pictures courtesy of ufc.com.

Brock Lesnar

I seem to be the only person I know who`s a big fan of this guy. He`s a beast and in my eyes, the ultimate heavyweight. On July 3rd at UFC 116, he`ll be fighting Shane Carwin, the man who is the closest to him in terms of size, strength and wrestling background. It will be a clash of the titans. I can`t wait!

Here`s a video of Brock training with Captain America at his Death Clutch gym in Minnesota.

Random musings

The Renzo Gracie Invitational in NYC is a little over a week away. I had hoped to make it to the event, but the life of a married 33 year old father of two with a career doesn't always make it easy to pack up and leave for a long weekend. With that, I'll be watching the fall calendar for another event. (hopefully another Renzo Gracie invitational)...I'm feeling ready to make my competition debut. Now I just need to stars to align so I can do it.

In other news, I've been looking forward to the Matt Hamill biopic that's due to come out soon. For those who don't recognize the name, Matt is a UFC fighter who happens to be deaf. From what I've learned over the years, his story is pretty inspirational. Hamill is a class act, I can't wait for this to make it to theatres. Here's a quick preview clip...enjoy!

HAMILL - Official Teaser from Hamill the Movie on Vimeo.

UFC 115 review

Dear Chuck,

You`ve done everything you need to do. You looked great coming into the fight, but haven`t changed your game in years. You`ve been dropping your hands to throw bombs for too long, the best fighters in the world have learned to counter your strikes. You`re a legend and helped build the UFC and MMA to what it is today. It`s time to hang it up. Here`s a picture of Chuck doing his impression of the Rashad Evans "Stanky Leg".



All in all, I wasn`t super hyped for last night`s card, but as the night wore on, I kept repeating "this has been a great night of fights!" Rory McDonald looked awesome vs Carlos Condit, but round 3 showed us why Condit was the WEC`s last welterweight champion. Everyone talks about how GSP has cleaned out his division. While this is true enough, I`d love to see Carlos get a title shot. That would be a good fight. (GSP still takes it, but would be entertaining)

Another great fight was the co-main event between Mirko CroCop & Pat Barry. Just watch the pre-fight presser which will explain the respect these guys have for one another. (it`ll explain the smiles and hugs during the fight) Mirko looked awesome despite getting rocked twice in the first round. I sure hope Pat Barry rebounds from this loss. He`s a class act and an incredible striker. I`d love to see him fight Gilbert Yvel...both guys coming off losses last night.

Had some friends from the club over to watch the event last night. Noel (my 6 year old) wanted to stay up because Steve was coming over. It was like his BJJ instructor is some type of superhero to him now. haha! (a superhero like Paul Reubens character from Mystery Men) I kid...I kid. :)

Can`t wait to get back on the mat this week. Jiu Jitsu for life!

time for a new look

So I`ve been keeping up with this blog since the winter. I figured it was time to change the look up a bit. Hope you like it!

I just got back from the club. Big Tom Cooney ran a good class where we worked on escaping the backpack. (after giving up your back to your opponent) It`s not the easiest position to get out of, but knowing what you need to do will help and the more we train, the easier it will eventually become. It`s all about muscle memory...drill drill drill!

In other news, as previously reported, Mark "Boots" Holst from our parent club, the Ottawa Academy of Martial Arts is fighting John Gunderson at the Ultimate Fighter 11 Finale at the Palms in Las Vegas next weekend. (the 19th) He`ll be making his debut in the big show and we couldn`t be more excited for him. MMAGearPimp.Com, owned by my friend Chris Casola (owner of the Fight Company here in Sudbury) is sponsoring Mark for the fight. Tonight, our very own Jenn Ricker slaved over the sewing machine adding mmagearpimp and Team Renzo Gracie Ottawa patches to the shorts Mark will be wearing in the world famous Octagon. She made up two sets, one white with red trim and the second is burgundy with black trim. They both look good. We`ll see which pair Mark decides to wear on the big night! It`ll be a great night!



This Saturday is UFC 115. The main event match up between Chuck Liddell and Rich Franklin would have been epic had it happened a few years back when both were at the top of the heap in their respective divisions. With that, I still think this has the potential to be a great fight. Chuck looks like he`s in great shape. Has he evolved in training since his last fight at UFC 97? I`m sitting here watching the countdown show on Spike TV. I`m watching clips saying Chuck is looking to make a run at the title with his return, but I can`t help but think father time has caught up with him. The co-main event looks awesome! Pat Barry vs Mirko CroCop has the potential to be a standup war. Pat Barry looked awesome against Antoni Hardonk in his last fight, but Mirko is a big step up in competition. I like both guys...this is the fight to watch!

See you on the mat!

The Striking Truth

I can`t wait to see this documentary...it`s going to be awesome!

The Striking Truth Trailer from Bobby Razak on Vimeo.

saturdays are always the best days

Seeing as I hadn`t had any opportunity to train this week, I was really looking forward to getting on the mat this morning and breaking in my new gi. (I`ll do a review of the different gi`s I own sometime down the line, stay tuned for that.)

I started off the day helping out with the little ninja`s class. Noel and Ben have a blast everytime they go. We worked on breaking grips, mount escapes and passing the guard. It was nice to see a few of the "rookies" from the class start to have more fun. For this age group, we`re looking to introduce them to the sport, but more importantly, we want the kids to have fun while learning some valuable life skills like respect, discipline and the ability to listen and learn.

1230pm rolled around pretty quick and it was time for the big boys to train. I felt like garbage today, but I suppose everyone has an off day. It didn`t help that I`d been off the mat for nearly a week and I was drilling escapes with Kevin Kroft. We`re the same weight, but he`s got very little body fat and is strong like bull. I on the other hand, well...I`ve still got some work to do in that respect. (which is putting it lightly)

This afternoon, Kru Mel Bellissimo from Lanna Muay Thai in Toronto was up for a 3 hour seminar with the Muay Thai students. This was Roxanne`s first seminar since joining the conditioning program earlier this year. I don`t think she`s ever trained for 3 straight hours. I`m sure I`ll hear all about it tonight! haha!

Hopefully someone will take some pictures so I can post them up here for everyone to see. Kru Mel is a good guy, I`ve met him a few times in Ottawa when attending Wreck MMA. You can check out his webpage at

http://www.lannamuaythai.ca/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3:kru-mel-bellissimo&catid=15:kru-mel-bellissimo&Itemid=21

Stay tuned, stay healthy and hope to see you on the mat!