Long Island MMA Fight Team | MMA on Long Island

The Long Island MMA Team is Growing Strong!!

At UFC Fight Night 83: Cowboy vs. Cowboy, Dennis “The Menace” Bermudez went up against Tatsuya “The Crusher” Kawajiri and got himself an impressive win with a unanimous decision.  Kawajiri grinded out the first round by pressuring Bermudez, trying to force him against the cage and to the ground where Kawajiri assumed he had the advantage.  In the second and third rounds Kawajiri learned the hard way that his strategy does not work against Dennis the Menace.  Bermudez put his explosive striking to work whenever there was space, and closed the gap to control and deliver some vicious ground and pound which lead to his victory.  This win marks another dominant performance from a fighter on the Long Island MMA team.

Bermudez has been training and fighting out of Long Island MMA located in Farmingdale NY, and it seems all of the fighters out of this gym have been victorious as of late!  Welterweight contender Ryan LaFlare closed out December of 2015 with an extremely impressive performance against Mike Pierce.  LaFlare’s whole career has been dominant as he is currently 12-1 and has won 5 out of his 6 UFC fights.  Each fight we can see just how his skills are improving, LaFlare’s earlier matches showed a lot of his wrestling background and more recently he has showcased his superior striking skills he developed under the training of Henri Hooft.  Another UFC fighter out of Long Island MMA is Lightweight contender Chris Wade.  Chris has won all 4 of his UFC matches and finished 2 out of 4 with first round submissions.  Wade’s most recent win was at UFC Fight Night: Dillashaw vs. Cruz against The Ultimate Fighter contender Mehdi Baghdad.  Chris dominated Baghdad for 4 and a half minutes before locking on a rear naked choke to finish, and this fight was scheduled on short notice!  Chris has been confident in his skills and has recently called out some of UFC’s top fighters like Sage Northcutt and Connor McGregor. Not only does Long Island MMA have top notch UFC fighters, but it is also a home for the Bellator Bantamweight Champion Marcus “Loro” Galvao.  Galvao has gone up against the best Bellator has to offer and is currently holding the title with a 4 fight win streak.  Galvao took this title from Joe Warren at Bellator 135 where Loro had Warren screaming from the pain of a serious kneebar. You can see that Long Island MMA has top notch trainers, each specializing in the many different arts that can make a complete fighter.  Not only is the instruction at Long Island MMA the best, but the facility in which they use is also the best and cleanest MMA facility on Long Island.  They use a 12,000 square foot facility which includes over 5,000 square feet of training mats, full MMA cage, bag section, weight and cardio equipment, locker rooms and showers, sauna, and even an in house Sports-Massage Therapist.  The team is constantly growing so don’t hesitate to call now and schedule your FREE private lesson with one of their professional instructors!

Wrestling Wednesday 10 FREE techniques | Long Island MMA

Wrestling Wednesday 10 FREE techniques

Many of you might disagree but coach Kyle Cerminara ends all his video with “Teaching you the most important martial art, wrestling”. It’s hard to argue that wrestling isn’t the most important martial art when you are looking at the results of the best organization in the world both past and present.

The UFC is littered with wrestlers who have become champions. Fighters like Jon Jones, Cain Velasquez, Dominick Cruz, Chris Weidman, Denniz Bermudez and many more UFC superstars got exposed to the sport with wrestling as there base.

Coach Kyle Cerminara is Long Island MMA’s head wrestling coach and coach to many UFC fighters including Ryan LaFlare, Dennis Bermudez, Chris Wade and the Bellator Bantamweight Champion Marcos “Loro” Galvao. Kyle also has many wrestling coaches in the Long Island area bring their team to Long Island MMA in Farmingdale to give their team extra edge.

In These videos coach Kyle shares some of his techniques that helped so many. Check them out here for FREE and make sure you subscribe to Long Island MMA for more techniques always FREE.

Coach Kyle just launched his website and if you are in the Farmingdale or Long Island area and are looking to make a splash In the UFC, or even just a high school wrestler trying to get a little bit of an edge you should check out http://www.cermwrestling.com.

Nate Diaz gets the golden ticket to fight Conor McGregor at UFC 196 | Long Island MMA

Nate Diaz gets the golden ticket to fight Conor McGregor at UFC 196

Yesterday news broke that Rafael Dos Anjos was out of the UFC 196 super-fight with Conor McGregor. There was no shortage of people who lined up to get the fight with Conor McGregor; amongst the list of the possible contenders was Long Island MMA’s Chris Wade. Unfortunately Chris Wade was not the winner of the Conor McGregor fight but instead just as Long Island MMA predicted Nate Diaz will step in for the injured Dos Anjos and challenge McGregor.

UFC president Dana White revealed late yesterday that Diaz would step in for RDA. Dana also revealed that not only will Diaz be fighting McGregor but he will be fighting him at 170lbs instead of 155lbs the weight he was going to fight RDA at.

According to the UFC’s president the fight was also offered to both former featherweight champion Jose Aldo and fan favorite Frankie Edgar who both turned it down.

Although Long Island MMA would prefer to have seen RDA vs McGregor we are excited to hear the verbal fight before the physical one on March 5^th! 

BREAKING NEWS: RDA out of UFC 196 with foot injury

Rafael dos Anjos out of UFC 196 with Conor McGregor.

The biggest MMA fight in history was set to for Saturday march 5^th in Las Vegas, Conor McGregor the UFC featherweight champion of the world was set to fight Rafael Dos Anjos the UFC’s lightweight champion. This fight was going to be the first time two current UFC champions faced off inside the octagon.

However there have been multiple reports today saying Rafael Dos Anjos is out due to a foot injury. The UFC has not made any official announcements about the fight but a broken foot will side line RDA. It is also unclear if McGregor will stay on the card, but Long Island MMA believes it is more than likely that Conor will fight on the card.

This is not the first time something like this has happened to Conor, on July 11^th 2015 Conor was set to face the Jose Aldo who held the 145lb belt, but Aldo was sidelined. The UFC offered Conor Chad Mendes an almost complete opposite stylistic match up and Conor took that fight without hesitation. So if we had to guess we would imagine Conor would fight someone at 155 on March 5^th the question is who?

Long Island MMA on UFC 197 | Long Island MMA

It has been confirmed!  On April 23rd 2016 we will see the highly anticipated rematch between Jon “Bones” Jones and Daniel Cormier, as well as a matchup between Demetrious Johnson and Henry Cejudo.  The UFC had hoped that 197 would be held at Madison Square Garden in New York City, being the organizations first event held in the state of New York.  The federal court has not yet ruled on Zuffa’s appeal on New York’s MMA ban, causing the preliminary injunction UFC was hoping for to be denied by a federal judge.  In light of all this the UFC has moved the event to Las Vegas. At UFC 197 Jon Jones will be looking to regain the Light-Heavyweight Championship that he never lost from Daniel Cormier.  DC is the last person Jones fought inside the Octagon before he was stripped of the title due to his hit-and-run incident in New Mexico.  At the time Jones was scheduled to fight Anthony “Rumble” Johnson, but was replaced by Daniel Cormier after his incident became public and UFC was forced to take action.  DC had defeated Johnson and successfully defended the title against Alexander Gustaffson, and he feels this time around he is ready for Jones and the fans will see different results than their previous bout.  Jones on the other hand is confident he will defeat DC again, regain his championship, and give Rumble Johnson the fight he deserved last year. The Co-main event we will see the UFC Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson against the Olympic gold medalist Henry Cejudo.  Mighty Mouse Johnson has been one of the most dominant champions the UFC has ever seen.  He is on a 9 fight win streak and has been the only Flyweight Champion the UFC ever had. Henry Cejudo on the other hand has had a very successful career himself, not only was he a 2008 Olympic Gold-Medalist, but he is currently 10-0 in his MMA career.  Demetrious has dominated all of his recent fights, making it seem as if no one is on his level.  Cejudo is in for the biggest fight of his life; let’s see if he is ready for the test. UFC 197 is building to be a card you don’t want to miss.  BJ Penn has announced his return to the UFC in the Featherweight division, and they are planning for this comeback to be at UFC 197.  His opponent is TBD at the moment, but it is exciting to hear that such a legendary fighter will be returning.  Let’s keep our fingers crosses for BJ to find a good opponent, and for Jon Jones to keep himself out of trouble!

Dos Anjos Vs McGregor | Long Island MMA

Will the UFC have their First Simultaneous, Multi-Division Belt Holder?

There is no denying that Connor McGregor has been taking the UFC by storm.  His self-belief is like no other, always seemingly biting off more than he can chew, just to prove to everyone that he was right. From his bold statements to his bold outfits, he has been able to catch the eye of media and fight fans around the globe.  Love him or hate him, he has proven that he can back up all his talk with 18 out of his 19 professional wins being finishes, most of which with strikes.  Now that McGregor defeated Jose Aldo to become the new UFC Featherweight Champion, he is immediately taking shots at champions of other divisions.  McGregor has his next bout with the UFC Lightweight Champion, Rafael dos Anjos, scheduled for March 5th 2016 at UFC 196.  This is going to be a big fight for both of the individuals.  If McGregor wins he will be the first simultaneous, multi-division belt holder the UFC has ever had, and if Rafael dos Anjos can be the one to defeat Connor, his pay, popularity, and reputation should skyrocket. Dos Anjos is a true veteran of the UFC, coming up on his 8th year with the company, his first fight being at UFC 91 in November of 2008.  RDA has more wins under his belt than McGregor has fights.  Looking back on Rafael dos Anjos, you can see how his game evolved into him becoming the strong dominant fighter that he is today.  RDA has wins over many of the greatest in the stacked lightweight division, where everyone on the top 15 list has championship potential.  Rafael finished former lightweight champion Benson Henderson, and also finished Donald Cerrone who was on an 8 fight win streak.  RDA took a unanimous decision over the talented Nate Diaz, and dominated Anthony Pettis for 5 rounds to become the UFC Lightweight Champion.  He is definitely no push over, and has earned his place at the top of his division. Is Connor up for the test?  It seems as if 155 is a more comfortable weight class for the Featherweight champion, but he hasn’t fought at lightweight since 2012, and has never competed at that division in the UFC.  There is no question about Connor’s skills anymore, he talks a big game, and has backed it up, but his fight with Chad Mendez exploited some of McGregor’s weakness.  Can Rafael dos Anjos manhandle McGregor the way Mendez did, without getting knocked out?  We did see what he is capable of against an elite, flashy striker in his fight with Anthony Pettis.  McGregor, or “Mystic Mac” as he refers to himself, boasts of a first round finish over the Lightweight Champion, and has even called out the Welterweight Champion, Robbie Lawler, for his next fight!  Did Mcgregor reach his limit yet?  It’s hard to doubt a man that has not been proven wrong, tune in on March 5th to witness UFC history in the making!

What’s next for UFC Bantamweight Division??

On January 17th 2016, the UFC Bantamweight Championship Belt was returned to Dominick Cruz after his split-decision victory over TJ Dillashaw.  Cruz dominated with footwork and totally took Dillashaw out of his element, never letting him get comfortable.  TJ Dillashaw has been known for having amazing footwork, being very light on his toes.  It was quite the opposite this time, in his fight with Cruz he appeared flatfooted and sluggish, not able to land any of his shots.  Watching Dillashaw’s fight against Renan Barao, many people have compared Dillashaw’s style to that of
Dominick Cruz.  Cruz had a lot to say on that matter before their fight saying “When people make a comparison, they don’t know what they’re comparing.”  Cruz believes that he created the style that Dillashaw tries to mimic, so there is no way that Dillashaw would have a chance at beating him. Cruz was also questioned often about his potential “ring-rust” because he has only had one fight in the past 4 years.  When questioned after the fight Cruz responded with “There is no such thing as rust.  Rust does not exist unless you don’t train hard enough.”  This says a lot about the mental strength of the
champion.  After being out for so long with so many injuries, Cruz has the perseverance to come back, still be the most agile fighter in MMA, and win the championship belt that he never lost in the first place.  Who is next for the Champion?  Uriah Faber issued his own challenge to Cruz, but the more exciting match-up would be Uriah Faber vs. TJ Dillashaw.  Faber and Dillashaw have some bad blood since Dillashaw left team Alpha Male to train with Duane Ludwig.  Thanks to Connor Mcgregor’s antics on The Ultimate Figher, Dillashaw was labeled as a “snake in the grass” and pushed Uriah Faber to fight him. Barao just lost his last two title fights, so the only other potentials are Raphael Assuncao or Aljamain Sterling.  Only time will tell who’s next to step up to the plate, the bantamweight division will have to step up their game if they plan to dethrone the current Champion.

UFC Fight Night: T.J. Dillashaw vs Dominick Cruz | Long Island MMA

UFC Fight Night: T.J. Dillashaw vs Dominick Cruz

UFC is heading to Boston, Massachusetts on January 17th 2016 with another exciting Fight Night card, airing exclusively on Fox Sports 1.  The headliner for this one is going to be an exciting battle for the UFC Bantamweight Championship.  T.J. Dillashaw will defend his title against former Bantamweight Champion Dominick Cruz, who had never actually lost the title in the first place!
Dominick Cruz was stripped of the Bantamweight Championship due to inactivity caused by repeated long-term injuries.  Upon his return, Cruz finished Takeya Mizugaki in an explosive knockout, 1:01 into the 1st round.  Cruz has defeated many great opponents and is actually the last person to defeat the Flyweight Champion Demetrious Johnson.  Dominick feels he is the rightful Champion of the division until someone can beat him inside the octagon, and Dillashaw believes he’s the man to do it!
T.J. Dillashaw’s most notable feat is when he took the title from the former champion, Renan Barao. Barao was on an undefeated win streak that lasted 9 years, at the time he was at the top of the Pound-for-Pound list.  Barao had the odds to win 20 to 1, but Dillashaw put on such an impressive and dominant performance that finished the former champion halfway through the 5th round.  Barao got his rematch a year later and Dillashaw put on an even better performance, this time finishing Barao in the 4th round.

There are some other matchups that evening that are very promising as well.  Eddie Alvarez vs. Anthony Pettis is bound to be an exciting war.  This is Pettis’s first fight since his loss to Lightweight Champion Rafael Dos Anjos, and Alverez will be riding off of his victory against Gilbert Melendez, both men trying to get there shot at the UFC Lightweight Championship.  Another match to pay attention to is Chris Wade vs. Mairbek Taisumov, both of these men are extremely explosive and have the potential to finish fights.  Chris Wade is a strong up-comer in the division fighting out of Long Island MMA in Farmingdale, New York.

The entire Fight Night Boston card is an exciting one, but make sure you really pay attention to the fights mentioned here, you will not be disappointed!

A Win for Long Island in UFC!

A Win for Long Island in UFC!

This past weekend at UFC 194 we witnessed the upsetting loss of the UFC Middleweight Champion,
Chris Weidman, to the former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion, Luke Rockhold.  Despite Chris’s
efforts to defend his title, Rockhold finished him with a 4th round TKO to become the new UFC Middleweight Champion.  This may have been an upsetting for many of Weidman’s hometown fans
from Long Island, NY, but luckily Chris wasn’t the only Long Island boy fighting this past weekend!
Ryan LaFlare, fighting out of his gym in Farmingdale, NY, took his 12th professional win against Mike Pierce on Friday at The Ultimate Fighter Finale.  LaFlare has won 5 of his 6 UFC fights, and intends on adding more to that list!  This fight against Mike Pierce was really important because LaFlare was coming off his first and only career loss, and he came back better than ever.  Ryan LaFlare dominated Mike Pierce for 3 rounds ending in a unanimous decision.  LaFlare had made some improvements in his striking game and out-struck Pierce with clean counters and devastating body kicks.  Pierce was forced to attempt his takedowns on LaFlare, but all his attempts failed as LaFlare was able to stuff them, create the space he needed, and continue dominating on the feet.  The excitement increased at the end of the 3rd when both fighters bit down on their mouth piece and finished with a barrage of punches until the bell rang.  Sometimes we lose, and sometimes we win.  It’s important to learn from the losses we encounter and

celebrate all the wins along the way!

2 things to avoid when in someone else's guard | Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Long Island MMA Black-belt Billy Hofacker teaches us 2 things to avoid when you are in someone else's guard.

Often times when new students start training Brazilian Jiu Jitsu at Long Island MMA we notice students will try some common things that seem like a good idea but might wind up hurting you in the long run.

These are the 2 things we often see at Long Island MMA from brand new Jiu Jitsu practitioners.

1. When new students find themselves inside someone's guard we often see them try to pry open their opponents legs by digging their elbows into the legs of their opponent. This can work against them because it is repetitively easy for the person playing guard to stuff the top persons hand in-between their legs to attack a triangle choke.

Digging your elbows in someones legs is also just plain bad technique. Digging your elbows on the inside of your opponents thighs will never get an experienced player to open their guard you must you a specific guard break to open the guard.

2. Trying to choke someone from inside the guard.

We see this a lot, sometimes not exactly as depicted in the video but sometimes by a forearm across the neck. This is also an easy way for the bottom person to set up a submission but a lot of times we see the bottom person push the top guys arm aside, making it easy for the bottom guy to get the back-take.

These are just somethings we see at long island MMA. Let us know if you guys can think of anything else you shouldn't do inside the guard.

UFC Gym Long Island

The UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) is widely regarded as being the number one organization for Mixed Martial Arts in the entire world. Being that this is the case, it is bouts hosted by the Ultimate Fighting Championship that are most sought after for viewing because of their reputation for being of the highest caliber. Now if the UFC brand name is associated with the highest caliber of Mixed Martial Arts that there is to offer wouldn’t you be excited to hear that you can train at a UFC Gym? Of course your expectation may be that because of their reputation for being the best you will be receiving the absolute best form of Mixed Martial Arts training. Sadly this is just not the case, and new students who believe that they are receiving quality training are caught looking through the shroud of a huge name brand.

     It has been the case on more than one occasion that coaches have been found to have illegitimate credentials and coming from such a trusted name this is simply a disservice to the MMA community as a whole. The spread of Mixed Martial Arts culture should viewed with an utmost sense of seriousness and responsibility, not an effective way to make extra money. Having new students presented with possible misinformation not only has a direct effect on their ability to understand and apply the concepts taught to them, but it also indirectly effects the entire MMA community by allowing the spread of this illegitimacy to the less informed.

     When seeking out a place to begin training in Mixed Martial Arts it is usually best to seek out privately owned gyms. Like any other investment it is important to do your due diligence before investing in a facility however, you will be far better off in finding a true Mixed Martial Arts academy if you seek the best Mixed Martial Arts training rather than settling for a brand name that is nothing more than your average fitness gym masquerading as a loosely qualified MMA school. The best coaches are more often than not found at private academies such as Long Island Mixed Martial Arts and Fitness Center. The coaching staff at this gym consists of the absolutely highest qualified active MMA fighters such as the gym’s owner Ryan LaFlare (UFC Welterweight Contender) as well as Dennis Bermudez (UFC Featherweight Contender), Chris Wade (UFC Lightweight Contender) and Marcos Galvao (Bellator Bantamweight Champion).

     Long Island MMA is one of many qualified private MMA training facilities in the world that are true to what Mixed Martial Arts is and what its culture represents. Therefore in looking for a place to be introduced to MMA, seek out instruction from the real athletes, from the fighters themselves rather than a flashy brand. The UFC can stick to what it does best, hosting fights. But once again, in seeking instruction look to the fighters themselves. 

Congrats to UFC’s New Women’s Bantamweight Champion, Holly Holm! | Long Island MMA

Congrats to UFC’s New Women’s Bantamweight Champion, Holly Holm!

Holly Holm defeated Ronda Rousey at UFC 193, ending Rousey’s reign as the undefeated, undisputed champion of the women’s Bantamweight division.  After dominating Rousey throughout the entire fight, Holm finished her with a devastating head kick 59 seconds into the second round.  Holm executed her game plan perfectly; all the experts said that Holm needed to keep her distance and pick apart Rousey on her feet.  Dennis “The Menace” Bermudez, who fights out of Long Island MMA in Farmingdale NY, had commented that “The game plan that Holly stuck to is the only game plan I thought would ever work.” Rousey is known for being very aggressive, this is the reason she has won her fights in such a dominant and devastating fashion.  This is also a big reason why Holly’s game plan worked so well, Ronda needed to be patient and not let Holm pick her apart on her entries, but the more Holly landed the more frustrated and desperate Rousey seemed to become, ultimately ending in the head kick knockout. Having a new undefeated champion adds a lot of excitement to the Women’s Bantamweight division.We don’t know for sure what’s next for Ronda Rousey or Holly Holm, but we know that Holm’s career just took a big leap, and we could imagine Rousey will be getting a rematch sometime in the near future.