UFC FIGHT NIGHT MAIA vs CONDIT LONG ISLAND MMA PREVIEW

     In recent news the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) has rescheduled a bout between Damian Maia and Carlos Condit from its original booking on UFC 202 to now headline the fast approaching UFC on Fox 21 which will take place on August 27th. While both men are well rounded mixed martial artists both are known for their specialties which for Maia is certainly his Jiu Jitsu while for Condit it would be his striking skills. This bout will likely come down to the man that is able to establish greater control of his opponent and as Maia has shown in his recent fights he is absolutely been able to do just that. However, although able to control well, as the fight ages into the later rounds Maia has shown that he is vulnerable to skilled strikers assuming they also possess skilled wrestling abilities. This was displayed in his bout against Long Island MMA’s Ryan LaFlare. As the rounds passed it began to sway more and more in LaFlare’s favor although in this instance Maia was still able to achieve victory.
          Under the circumstances that Carlos Condit is able to drag Damian Maia into deep water and consistently stand up or avoid the takedown all together this could be a dangerous match up for him. However, this begs the question of whether Condit possesses the Jiu Jitsu skill set to survive the early onslaught of grappling that Maia is undoubtedly going to bring to the octagon that night for the main event? Who will be able to enforce their will come August 27th? If Maia is able to win what does this mean for him and a possible title shot? If Condit wins where will he find himself in the rankings after breaking the prominent win streak of Maia? Sound off below with your feelings and opinions about this match up!

Long Island MMA predictions for UFC FIGHT NIGHT THU. JUL. 7 DOS ANJOS VS. ALVAREZ

     The next major event that the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) will be hosting is set to take place Thursday July 7th; a date which is fast approaching. UFC Fight Night will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada and is littered with several very interesting match ups, some of which us here at Long Island Mixed Martial Arts have already set our picks! The first match up that we have decided on is between John Makdessi and Mehdi Baghdad.

     These two fighters both possess exceptional striking and have the ability to deliver devastating power through their attacks. Makdessi possesses somewhat of a more exotic approach to his striking, incorporating several spinning attacks with both his hands and feet. Such unpredictable attacks make the possibility of catching Baghdad off guard slightly higher. Mehdi, however, is more of a traditional Muay Thai striker and is able to put together precise and disciplined combinations. Thus we may suppose that his striking may be somewhat more consistent than that of Makdessi. Using this reasoning as well as taking into account his significant reach advantage, we believe that Mehdi Baghdad will win this fight.

     The next fight that we have predicted is between Alberto Mina and Mike Pyle. It seems that Mike Pyle possesses significant superiority in both the fields of striking and wrestling. Where it seems that Mina’s striking is readable and inconsistent Pyle is able to put together combinations and create angles of attack. In the wrestling department, the inconsistency of Mina’s wrestling offense displayed against Yoshihiro Akiyama leads us to believe that he will be trapped on the feet with Pyle; a situation that he is ill equipped for. Therefore, we have chosen Mike Pyle to be the winner of this fight.

     Lastly, we have reviewed the match up for the main event which is a title fight in the lightweight division between the champion Rafael Dos Anjos and the challenger Eddie Alvarez! After some deliberation we believe that the champion will retain his title. Although Eddie Alvarez possesses brutal toughness and tenacity that has allowed him to devastate opponents in the past we feel that the composure and precision of Rafael Dos Anjos will carry the day. So there you have it, a few of our picks for the up and coming UFC Fight Night! Do you agree with our choices? If not, sound off in the comments and tell us your reasoning.

What Happened to UFC 200?

What Happened to UFC 200?

There is so much build up for UFC 200; everyone was excited to see what the UFC had in store for us. UFC 100 is still the organizations highest selling event so one would imagine that UFC 200 would be pushing to top that record.  For some reason though, Conor McGregor vs. Nate Diaz 2 is the headlining fight for what could potentially be UFC’s biggest event to date.  But wait, didn’t that fight just happen? I’m pretty sure McGregor went up two weight classes to fight Diaz, who didn’t have a full camp, and got embarrassed when he lost the fight via rear-naked choke.  Now I wouldn’t mind seeing Diaz beat up on McGregor again, but I didn’t expect to see it so soon and if I’m not mistaken, doesn’t McGregor have a title he’s supposed to defend?   Speaking of the Featherweight championship, the UFC scheduled another fight for UFC 200, Jose Aldo vs. Frankie Edgar for the Interim Featherweight Championship belt. It’s pretty interesting that there is a fight for an interim title when the Champion of that division is not only healthy and active, but is fighting on the same card. I’m really not mad at McGregor, I’m sure he’s doing what he feels is best for him.  I have grown to appreciate both the skills he has shown inside the octagon, and his comedy act outside the octagon.  I still can’t help but to feel insulted by the UFC for putting McGregor on a pedestal, above all other fans and fighters. I was excited the first time he was scheduled to fight Nate because he had just won the title and I wanted to see if he could go beyond that.  After the loss though he should go back and defend the title, it doesn’t seem right for him to just stall a division while he gets to hand pick who he fights next. It raises the question that maybe McGregor just doesn’t want to fight Frankie Edgar?  I’ve never heard Conor go off on one of his rants about Edgar before, and McGregor has something to say about everyone.  Maybe McGregor is hoping Jose Aldo takes out Frankie because Conor feels safer fighting Aldo again.  To me it seems like Edgar has a good chance at beating McGregor, if I was Conor I might try to dodge him too.I’ll only forgive the UFC for this if they make the Madison Square Garden event the greatest card in history.  There is so many great fighters from all over NY and Long Island.  I know that all the guys fighting out of Long Island MMA in Farmingdale want a piece of that card.  If we could get a card filled with the likes of Jon Jones, Chris Weidman, Ryan LaFlare, Dennis Bermudez, and Chris Wade the fans in NY would go crazy!


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UFC’S BEST STRIKING COACH COMES TO LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK!

UFC’S BEST STRIKING COACH COMES TO LONG ISLAND, NEW YORK!

Renown striking coach, Henri Hooft, had made his way back to Long Island this past weekend for a kickboxing seminar at “Long Island MMA and Fitness Center” in Farmingdale, NY.  Hooft has trained some top fighters such as Anthony Johnson, Rashad Evans, Eddie Alverez, Vitor Belfort, Tyrone Spong, and Long Island’s own, Ryan Laflare.  It is never wise to miss an opportunity to train under such a knowledgeable coach.  With a style that blends the disciplines of Muay Thai and Dutch Kickboxing, there is no better way to take your striking game to the next level.

Henri Hooft left the soccer fields as a child to start karate lessons, and soon found his way into kickboxing.  After years of kickboxing he had moved to Thailand while still competing in the Netherlands.  The cross training helped attribute him to be such a well-rounded trainer with the ability to blend styles as needed.  Hooft holds 89 Kickboxing matches in his professional career, and has earned World and European titles.  He currently works as the head striking coach of Blackzillians fight team in Boca Raton, Florida.  We are lucky that we are able to host a Henri Hooft seminar, here at Long Island MMA in Farmingdale, once a year.  I know many people are looking forward to his next visit to New York

The turn out on this seminar was excellent.  There were enough people for everyone to work with many different partners of different skills and sizes, and Henri had made a point to give each person enough attention to help them advance their own game.  After almost two hours of cleaning up our fundamentals everyone had the opportunity to join in some sparring sessions at the end.  Asking around the gym afterwards all you could hear was positive reviews!  “It was a great experience and I will definitely be coming to the next one” says Long Island MMA’s Mike Morris.  “It was really awesome to work with such a renowned trainer who has worked with so many great fighters, some of the tips he gave me are going to have a big impact on my technique” said Keiran Kirk, member of Chris Weidman and Ray Longo’s Power MMA in Garden City, New York.   It’s good to see practitioners from all over Long Island to gather for such an event, everyone is looking forward to the next time Henri Hooft can make his way here!

Marine subdues gunman using Jiu Jitsu | Long Island MMA

Original Article

For some time the martial arts community has scrutinized the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for being an art that is “street ineffective”. However, there have been several instances to date which have proven otherwise, these instances range from sexual assault cases to robberies etc. This is something that the martial artists at Long Island MMA believe in whole heartedly. In recent events possibly the most eye opening instance of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu’s effectiveness on the street took place on a train traveling from Amsterdam to Paris. During that trip, as the train was passing through Belgium an armed terrorist began to attack passengers. He was heavily armed with firearms such as an AK-47 assault rifle for which he also carried nine magazines of ammunition (that alone should be indicative of the type of evil that he had planned) a 9mm handgun as well as a box cutter to use as a melee weapon.

     Two of the three heroes that took down the assailant that day were military men; Spencer Stone of the US Air Force, Alek Skarlatos of the Army National Guard and Anthony Sadler whom is a college student. Spencer Stone is stationed with the Air Force in Portugal where he trains Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at the Gracie Lisbon branch. He was the first of the three to reach the assailant and was able to grapple his way into a tight rear naked choke.  As his friends disarmed the twenty six year old El-Khazanni of his firearms he began to attack stone with his box cutter and was able to sever his thumb as well as cause lacerations on his neck, Stone briefly lost the choke but was able to re-apply it and eventually choke the terrorist unconscious. As the attack unfolded several other passengers came to their aid in subduing the man by bludgeoning him with his own weapons.

     There are several things to take note of when analyzing what happened on this train. While Spencer Stone’s Jiu Jitsu training undoubtedly played a huge role in bringing down the attacker it may be more than just the techniques that did him in. As is stated quite well by Rener Gracie in his “Gracie Breakdown” of the incident “in Spencer’s case it was to their advantage especially when he said I am going to rush this guy, he has an AK-47 but that’s only good if we stay back, if we rush him it has no value and they were right”. The advantage that he is referencing is to the lack of space in the train car. However, to Spencer and all others that train Brazilian Jiu Jitsu the lack of space that other passengers on the train were intimidated by is a welcome opportunity to put to use that which he as well as other Jiu Jitsu fighters are trained to do.

     Another point that is made in this Gracie Breakdown is that it is also fair to note that Jiu Jitsu as well as other combat sports fosters a mentality of “going down fighting”. Every day on the mat as they are placed in dangerous and uncomfortable positions martial artists believe that there is always a way to achieve victory. Even coming back from the deepest depths in a losing battle, that battle may yet be won. And it is this “I will not bow down” mentality that possibly saved all of those lives that day. The fact that Spencer Stone and others that day refused to accept their fate, they fought back. The natural and unwavering instinct to fight back is something that is ingrained in a martial artist through their hard training, and in this case Spencer Stones instinct may be attributed to the art of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu.

Single Leg Defense | Long Island MMA

Coach Kyle Cerminara teaches us how to defend when the person attacks the single leg.
Get to know Kyle by listening him on this podcast Kyle's Podcast

Long Island MMA teaches us how to do an armbar from the mount | BJJ Technique

   
 This technique is taught by Long Island MMA’s own Brent Appiarius; a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. The arm lock from the mounted position is extremely efficient being that it allows the offensive man to maintain his position on top. Unlike other arm locks which require you to fall to your back, this variation lessens the chances of being reversed and ending up in the bottom position. Brent emphasizes that pulling up on your opponents head when in S-mount will nullify their ability to bridge you out of position. We hope that you are all able to make good use of this arm lock; stay tuned for more great techniques from Long Island MMA!

The Reebok deal...

     It seems as if from the second the UFC/Reebok sponsorship deal was set in motion it was a surrounded by controversy. Everyone had been asking the question as to whether the deal would actually be a legitimate benefit to the fighters as it had been promised. Well, the official pay scale for the deal has been released and many UFC fighters as well as members of the MMA community are not at all impressed or happy with its turn out. Just to shed some light on exactly why this is upsetting everyone so much here is an example of the lowest tier in the pay scale: Fighters that have five or less fights in the UFC will only be being paid $2,500 per fight.

     For professional athletes this number is absolutely absurd! To be paying fighters that little money based on their time in the organization rather than performance or a series of other more logical factors is cruel and unjust. Many that were affected by the release of this information took to social media to express their concern and disapproval of the new pay scale. UFC middleweight Roger Navarez took to twitter in a message that states “Wow 2500$ for my next fight for reebok sponsorship. ....i mad twice that off 1 sponsor my last fight!!!! Sucks!” For a fighter to have made twice that amount from only one of their sponsors and now be dropped down to such a low pay grade is wrong and as Navarez also states, this is going to be extremely hard on a lot of fighters.

     While this deal was undoubtedly designed to innovate and progress the way the
UFC operates it may end up back firing severely. It would not be a surprise to see many UFC fighters leaving the organization in favor of others such as World Series of Fighting or Bellator MMA as we have seen recently when UFC light heavyweight Phil “Mr. Wonderful” Davis left the UFC in favor of their competitor, Bellator MMA. The UFC must proceed with caution considering their present circumstances; and hopefully there will be more developments in the future that somehow make this situation better for all of the hard working athletes in the UFC that deserve proper compensation for their effort

“The Fight of the Century” | Long Island MMA

     “The Fight of the Century”, or so it was labeled as the combat sports world crept closer and closer to the long awaited bout between Floyd Mayweather Jr. and Manny Pacquiao. A fight that took an approximate five to seven years to come to fruition; and it did not seem to be quite what most fans were expecting to see. But one must ask, what exactly did fans expect? Did they expect a slug fest, or a story book comeback, perhaps a flash knockout? Realistically the fight went the way that it probably should have gone according to the fighters styles.

     Floyd Mayweather is an expert defensive/counter striker while Manny Pacquiao is an extremely aggressive fighter that throws a massive volume of strikes. When the two were put together, Pacquiao attempted to fight his fight by initiating several exchanges using combinations however most of those exchanges were stifled by a well thought out game plan. If Pacquiao was to initiate the exchange all Floyd had to do was simply maintain his stance and clinch with him stifling his offense. There were certain instances in which Manny was able to unleash large combinations on Mayweather as he had his back to the ropes but they were few and not damaging enough to turn the tide of the battle.

     The fight was a strategic victory for Mayweather by his use of the clinch as well as cutting angles and countering with single accurate strikes on the aggressive Pacquiao. Now there have been certain extenuating circumstances that have surfaced since their fight has taken place involving a shoulder injury that Manny entered the fight with that may be a possible explanation for his lack of volume in his offense. . Due to the length of time it took to make the fight a reality it is possible fans had built up an unrealistic set of expectations for the bout. Had he been healthy the fight may have been different; perhaps he would have been able to maintain significant offensive volume and avoid the clinch but unless we are blessed with a rematch and a healthy Manny Pacquiao the result we received should have come as no surprise. Expert strategy wins fights and Floyd Mayweather seemed to have absolutely implemented an expert strategy.

Connor McGregor Vs Jose Aldo as told by Long Island MMA

     Throughout the history of the UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) there have been quite the number of intense rivalries some of which include legends such as Rashad Evans and Rampage Jackson, Tito Ortiz and Chuck Lidell, and now possibly towering above all is Connor McGregor and Jose Aldo. The UFC has put an incredible amount of effort and time into propagating this intense rivalry with an international media tour which spanned five different nations and eight different cities across the world. It is safe to say that this is one fight that the entire world may stop to watch! The charismatic McGregor has certainly done his part in drawing attention to the event; especially in his home country of Ireland where he snatched up the belt of Jose Aldo from right in front of him, holding it above his head as if already victorious.

     Stylistically this fight should hold up to the hype as well, the brutally violent muay thai machine that is Jose Aldo vs. the sniper accurate technician in Connor McGregor. We have seen such ferocious finishes from the champion by way of twenty punch combinations and flying knees and from the challenger we have seen sniper accurate counter striking and deception through the use of his Irish “Up-Down” boxing; which he has cleverly combined with his exotic Tae-Kwon-Do style kicking. However, one criticism that some have for the challenger Connor McGregor is that they believe he has not yet been truly tested by a high level wrestler whereas Jose Aldo has been several times. Although It may be detrimental to the flashy brutal striking war that all fans are praying for it wouldn’t be too far out of the strategic domain of Aldo to take the fight to the ground and utilize his high level Jiu Jitsu to carry the day. Reports have surfaced that in training with some of Eddie Bravo’s high level competitors McGregor performed superbly, however, as many believe, it must be proven in the octagon.

     The rollercoaster of hype and drama surrounding this bout will come to a hopefully thunderous conclusion on Sat. July 11^th at UFC 189! Besides the obvious, this card is stacked with several very promising fights including the match up of Jeremy “Lil Heathen” Stevens and Long Island MMA’s own Dennis “The Menace” Bermudez! The 11^th of July will without a doubt be a night to remember in the world of mixed martial arts, especially with the looming possibility of the champion Jose Aldo being dethroned. Should this come to pass we may be ushering in the age of the fighting Irishman; The Notorious One, Connor McGregor

Dennis Bermudez VS Jeremy Stephens | Long Island MMA

UFC 189 is set for July 11 at MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas and it is already being predicted as a “summer blockbuster”. What better fighter to have on such a blockbuster than Dennis “The Menace” Bermudez. Fighting out of Long Island Mixed Martial Arts, the tenacious Bermudez is coming off of a loss to Ricardo Lamas. However, he fully intends to bounce right back into the win column with an impressive victory over his next opponent, Jeremy “Lil Heathen” Stephens. Stephens is a true veteran of the sport with 34 total professional contests with 23 of them being victories. He is aggressive and certainly packs a punch; if the fans are to expect a blockbuster then this fight is one that they should certainly be looking forward to.

   
“Lil Heathen” is coming off of two consecutive unanimous decision losses so it is likely that he will return to the cage with purpose. Both fighters possess extremely dangerous striking and explosiveness. As far as overall style is concerned these men are very similar which certainly bodes for a war! However, Dennis Bermudez likely possesses the advantage in the wrestling department so it should be interesting to see which direction the fight will take. Will “The Menace” chose to initiate the takedown, or will they choose to slug it out? That is a question that is absolutely worth getting an answer for by watching UFC 189 on July 11. 

The Steroid Problem

by Joe Ninomiya

 
  Performance Enhancing Drugs or (PED’s) have certainly become a hot topic in regards to professional Mixed Martial Arts and some of the sports’ top athletes. From Wanderlei Silva to Anderson Silva, fighters have been being called out on their use of PED’s. Some of the most recent of these offenses would be the following two fighters. Anderson “The Spider” Silva, who is renowned as the world’s greatest fighter failed his drug test for his return fight to the octagon against Nick Diaz. He tested positive for drostanolone and androstane which are anabolic steroid metabolites. However, he was tested again after his fight had occurred and then tested negative for those same metabolites. The controversy over the results of these tests still looms. If in fact Anderson Silva had taken these steroids, one viable explanation as to why would be the rehabilitation of his broken leg which he suffered in his second bout against the current middle weight champion Chris Weidman. After such a horrific injury some may feel some sympathy towards the desire for a speedy and effective recovery. This is all hypothetical of course; whether Silva actually took these substances the general public may never know for sure.

    
     The second of these most recent offenses would be Silva’s opponent Nick Diaz. He would seem to be in quite a different situation than Silva in regards to an explanation for his failed test seeing as he had tested positive for marijuana metabolites. According to www.mmafighting.com Nick Diaz was not issued any random pre-fight tests, therefore one must conclude that he knew exactly what he was doing and some may say true to the Diaz nature simply didn’t care. While the argument against marijuana in sports could be considered different than that against anabolic steroids the fact remains that it is a banned substance and Diaz had tested positive for it. It shall be quite interesting to see how the situation is handled with both fighters, particularly with Nick Diaz; considering the penalties that certain fighters such as Matt Riddle have faced in the past. Matt Riddle was released from the UFC after failing his UFC 149 post-fight drug test for marijuana metabolites. Will Nick Diaz meet a similar fate?

    

      Of course in regards to any sports related PED testing one may ask several questions from several points of view such as the ethics of the issue or the general public opinion. But what do fighters think of their peers’ involvement in these failed PED tests? Even Anderson Silva had mentioned in the past a possible lifetime ban would be a sufficient punishment for offenders. Some may say this is extremely harsh. A recent quote from UFC fighter Josh Burkman suggests a seemingly accepting stance. He states "I've seen PED's used by athletes in all sports at all levels. This is not an MMA issue. It seems to be part of sports. All sports. Lance Armstrong, A-Rod, baseball, football, basketball, speed skating ... Anyone who overlooks this is naive. That doesn't mean all athletes use them, I'm just not surprised when guys do." With PED usage apparently a prevalent issue in all sports what is there to be done about the issue overall, if there is any concrete solution? Or shall athletes simply accept that this is part of professional sports? An issue with so many questions may only beg time to supply us with the answers.