Dos Anjos out of UFC 196 Chris Wade asks for fight! | Long Island MMA

With Rafael Dos Anjos out of UFC 196 fight Long Island MMA’s Chris Wade throws his name into the hat to Fight Conor McGregor.

Today it was reported by many news sources that Rafael Dos Anjos is out of the fight with Conor McGregor. RDA suffered a foot injury that will most likely sideline him from the March 5^th super fight against fan favorite and UFC featherweight champion Conor McGregor.

With only 11 days until UFC 196 the list of prospects to fight Conor are slim, Twitter is clamoring for Donald Cerrone or Nate Diaz to take the fight since both opponents are down for a scrap any time. 

Well there might be another man who is more than willing to fight the “Notorious” one, Long Island MMA’s Chris Wade announced today on Twitter that he was more than willing to head down to Las Vegas on March 5^th and try to take out the sport’s biggest draw.  

Out of all the options available Donald Cerrone, Nate Diaz or Wade, Long Island MMA believes that Chris has the best chance to beat the 145lb champion because of his strong wrestling and grappling ability. We suspect the UFC will pick Diaz because of the trash talking aspect but we can dream can’t we?

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!

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!

6 Key Factors in Finding a Legitimate MMA Gym | Long Island Mixed Martial Arts

With the rapid increase in MMA’s popularity it is extremely important to be sure that when seeking instruction you are able to find a legitimate and well equipped facility. For someone who is new to Mixed Martial Arts training it may be difficult to tell just who is really worth training with, especially when certain academies may be quite expensive.

6 Key Factors in Finding a Legitimate MMA Gym

1) Experience: Above all things, finding a gym that has experienced and accomplished coaching staff should be a top priority. Before signing up to train always be sure to do some research as to who will be training you! Ex: state/national champion Wrestling, Jiu Jitsu Black Belt, Professional MMA fighters, etc.

2) Diversity: MMA is based on diversity. Not only is it important to find an experienced coach but to find coaches that are specialists and work together to train you. Ex: Wrestling/Muay Thai/ Brazilian Jiu Jitsu/Strength Training. Learning from coaches that specialize in certain areas will help you become able to compile ideas and have a well-rounded experience.

3) Proper Equipment: When training in MMA it is important that your gym be able to supply the proper equipment. This is key for effective and especially safe training. For example: there is a specific reason why MMA predominantly uses the cage as opposed to a ring; it is a safety issue! If you or your training partner were to roll too close to the edge of a ring you run the risk of injury where as a cage would keep both of you from falling. This is besides the fact that the cage looks extremely cool.

4) A Strong Team of Competitors: Even if your goal isn’t to become a fighter and compete, it is important that your gym has a strong team. This proves that the techniques you are being taught have been tested and are effective. This also ensures that there is a system of growth. Every fight your team mates have there will be something new to learn based on legitimate combat, those corrections and adjustments to training by your team will benefit you even if you would rather not step into the cage yourself.

5) Social Environment: What are your teammates like? You want to surround yourself by positive individuals that are focused on becoming better martial artists and better people. Having a positive environment to train in builds a sense of camaraderie and helps to make coming to training something that you will look forward to doing!

6) Cleanliness: Last but certainly not least is cleanliness. Mixed Martial Arts is a sport that involves getting up close with your training partners. Having this type of close contact on a regular basis makes it extremely important that your facility is clean. Are the mats cleaned regularly and are they cleaned properly? Are there showers on site? Keep this in mind when searching for a place to train, even though you are working out your health could be at risk if the facility is not kept in proper order.

Honorable Mentions

- Great music being played during training

- Children’s programs

- Sauna (Cutting weight? No problem!)

- Open Mat Times (Why let class times restrict you? Train when you want to!)
-Enough bags for everyone.