Paul will step into the boxing ring for the third time on Saturday night when he faces the former Bellator and ONE Championship champion. It’s a matchup that no one asked for but it’s a fight that has captivated fight fans and many people from around the world.

Will the 24-year-old internet personality be able to hang with the accomplished mixed martial artist and wrestler? Well, the odds are certainly in Paul’s favor.

Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren odds

• Jake Paul: -170
• Ben Askren: +145

How to bet on Paul vs. Askren

Askren is the betting underdog and that means a bet on Askren to win will pay a higher return than a successful bet on Paul to win.

Here’s an example:

• A successful $100 bet on Paul to win returns $158
• A successful $100 bet on Askren to win returns $245

Watch the fight live tonight starting at 9 pm ET only on Triller Fight Club/Fite TV.

The post Jake Paul vs. Ben Askren Odds: Bet online, special promos, props appeared first on The Body Lock.

The countries, which share a border in their place between Europe and Asia, are once again drawn into conflict over the historically controversial Nagorno-Karabakh region.

According to the BBC, Nagorno-Karabakh is “recognized as part of Azerbaijan, but it is controlled by ethnic Armenians.” The predicament has led to conflict before, as war broke out between the two countries in the late 1980s and early 1990s after the region voted to become a part of Armenia, which did not materialize.

“Since then, Nagorno-Karabakh has remained part of Azerbaijan, but is controlled by separatist ethnic Armenians backed by the Armenian government. Negotiations over decades, mediated by international powers, have never resulted in a peace treaty,” the BBC states.

The conflict was reignited in late September 2020.

“The latest outburst of hostilities began Sept. 27 and left hundreds – perhaps thousands – dead, marking the worst escalation of fighting since the war’s end,” reported the Associated Press (via USA Today).

Both countries have pointed the finger at the other for the renewed fighting, with both accusing “each other of breaching internationally brokered cease-fires,” according to reporting from the Wall Street Journal.

Outside countries, including the United States, Russia, and France, have all attempted to broker peace agreements to no avail, per the Journal, and the geopolitical effects of the struggle appear to be far-reaching.

Tofiq Musayev, 30, is a native of Azerbaijan.

In recent years, the newly-crowned RIZIN champion has emerged as one of the most promising athletes on the international scene. Undefeated since 2015, Musayev defeated two men – UFC and PFL veteran Johnny Case (27-7-1) and Bellator star Patricky “Pitbull” Freire (23-9) – in one night to capture the title after a tournament for the vacant belt.

Just days after the conflict began, MMA journalist Bruno Massami reported that Musayev had joined the ranks of the Azerbaijani army.

Rizin LW Champion, Tofiq Musayev will be joining the Azerbaijan Army to help his country against Armenia.

Conflict in that region are been getting intense since last Sunday. https://t.co/SzJKlNcR4b pic.twitter.com/p3KFOvcguH

— Bruno Massami (Бруно Массами) (@BrMassami) September 29, 2020

Ruslan Fendiyev, who owns the Orion Fight Club at which Musayev trains, confirmed the news in an Instagram post. A translated version of his caption states, “Today, Tofiq Musayev was drafted into the ranks of the armed forces to defend our homeland.”

Days later, Massami shared what appears to be an image of a fatigues-clad Musayev in an army camp from a news broadcast whose headline reads, translated, “Thousands of Azerbaijani soldiers enlisted.”

First image from Rizin LW Champion, Tofiq Musayev in Azerbaijan's army camp. pic.twitter.com/on1nnpFzdT

— Bruno Massami (Бруно Массами) (@BrMassami) October 2, 2020

Eduard Vartanyan, an Armenian-Russian 29-year-old, rose to prominence among MMA fans during his title-winning reign in the former ACB, which has since merged with World Fighting Championship Akhmat (WFCA) to become Absolute Championship Akhmat (ACA).

Fighting a who’s who of Russian elites including former ACA lightweight champion Ali Bagov (29-10), champion Abdul Aziz Abdulvakhabov (18-2), and longtime Bellator veteran Alexander Sarnavskiy (37-8), Vartanyan established a promising reputation as a striking talent.

Most recently, Vartanyan fought out his contract with ACA, closing out a three-fight winning streak since dropping his title to Abdulvakhabov. He has floated the idea of signing with the UFC, telling MMA Junkie, “I am a free agent now… I am eager to sign with UFC as it is my only goal now. … To fight in the UFC is my dream.”

In a four-minute video uploaded to his Instagram account, Vartanyan appears in fatigues. According to a translation of Vartanyan’s caption, the free agent fighter provided his perspective on the history of the conflict, as well as enlisted the aid of his followers to donate to charitable efforts in the region.

“It is the leadership of Azerbaijan that benefits from the war and further escalation of the conflict, because it distracts attention from internal problems,” Vartanyan wrote, adding, “The right of peoples to self-determination is one of the basic principles of international law, meaning the right of every people to independently decide the question of the form of its state existence, freely determine its political status without outside interference and carry out its economic and cultural development.”

Reports have not been confirmed regarding Vartanyan’s military status, as several online commentators have speculated that he may be serving in the armed forces, while others believe Vartanyan’s efforts in the region are exclusively humanitarian, pointing to his repeated requests for donations.

Vartanyan has been pictured in the company of Migran Arutyunyan (3-1), an Armenian Olympic silver medalist wrestler and a burgeoning MMA fighter. In an Instagram post, Arutyunyan appears in front of a decimated building while appealing to his followers for humanitarian aid.

Arutyunyan’s caption, written in several languages including English, reads, “Guys, I’m in Stepanakert. The city is constantly bombed, a large number of people have lost their roofs and need help. I am sure that together we can help those in need with the most necessary things! Those who want to leave their contribution, to make support, card number 4274 2700 1645 4035 recipient Mihran Edikovich A. We will help on the spot, control so that everything reaches the addressee. Peaceful sky for everyone!”

This is not the first time the conflict has made an impact on the world of mixed martial arts. In August, a UFC employee was reportedly fired after middleweight Edman Shahbazyn used an Artsakh – another name for the Nagorno-Karabakh region – flag in a statement for his Armenian heritage.

UFC President Dana White reportedly received a letter of protest from the Azerbaijani Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as press service head Leyla Abdullayeva stated, “The letter notes that illegal organization is nothing but the result of Armenia’s military aggression and unequivocal position of the United States on support to Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity has been brought to the attention of UFC leadership. According to the UFC rules, it has been noted that only the flags of internationally recognized states are allowed to be demonstrated, and taking appropriate disciplinary measures against Armenian fighter for attempts to politicize competition and not to repeat such cases in the future has been demanded.”

Shahbazyan’s coach Edmund Tavernyan, who also claims Armenian heritage, said of the flag, “I said that we are trying to show that we stand by our country, we represent Armenia, in this way we present our complaint about the recent tense situation in Tavush and that Artsakh is our country, Armenians live there. and we must defend our nation. The goal of our team in the United States is to represent the Armenians, the Armenian nation, our country in all major tournaments. Edman’s coming out of the octagon with the flag of Artsakh had exactly that mission.”

The Associated Press summarized the state of the conflict and ongoing negotiations between both countries and outside governments as the following:

“In the most recent attempt to defuse tensions, the foreign ministers of Armenia and Azerbaijan met Friday in Geneva for a day of talks brokered by Russia, the United States and France, co-chairs of the so-called Minsk Group of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe that tries to mediate the conflict.

The talks concluded with the two sides agreeing they “will not deliberately target civilian populations or non-military objects in accordance with international humanitarian law,” but the agreement was quickly challenged by reports of shelling of civilian settlements.

Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev has said to end hostilities Armenian forces must withdraw from Nagorno-Karabakh. He repeatedly criticized the Minsk Group for not producing progress and insisted that Azerbaijan has the right to reclaim its territory by force since international mediators have failed.”

The post RIZIN champ Tofiq Musayev and ex-ACA titlist Eduard Vartanyan on opposite ends of Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict appeared first on The Body Lock.

iSMOS.1 will take place in Yokohama, Japan at the Pancrasism Yokohama gym.

The main ‘draw’ of this new promotion is that it will feature no judging. That’s right, fights in iSMOS will be fought under Unified MMA rules in three rounds of five minutes each and, if the bout does not see a finish within that fifteen minute window, it will be declared a draw.

The bout will be viewable online but will not have a live audience. For those who do not know, the venue is quite literally the gym that Kitaoka and many others train out of.

The man himself Satoru Kitaoka will be headlining the show against Sho Kogane.

At 40-years-old, RIZIN veteran Kitaoka is nearing the end of his career, but man what a career it has been. From holding the DEEP title and defending it four times to winning Grand-Prix and world titles in Sengoku, he has fought a who’s who of welterweight & lightweight fighters. This includes Carlos Condit, Takanori Gomi, Paul Daley, Tatsuya Kawajiri, Shinya Aoki, Will Brooks, and Jorge Masivdal.

Sho Kogane (17-3-1) is a winner of eight-straight and the current ZST lightweight champion, though he has also competed in DEEP and Pancrase. Not to discredit his schedule over the past decade, but Kitaoka is, without question, the biggest fight of his career – by a mile.

It doesn’t end there, iSMOS.1 will have another legend fighting in the co-main event.

Yuki Kondo (60-35-9) will turn 45-years-old on July 17, and then compete at the inaugural iSMOS show two weeks later. He is one of the most successful fighters in the long, storied history of Pancrase. Debuting with the organization in 1996 and fighting there consistently up until 2019, Kondo was a four-division champion within the organization, as well as a coveted Neo Blood Tournament winner. He carved enough of a name for himself within the combat sports world that he fought Tito Ortiz for the UFC lightweight heavyweight championship back in 2000.

It is remarkable to look back at Kondo’s list of opposition over the years. From Akihiro Gono, Renzo Gracie, and Ikuhisa Minowa to Josh Barnett, Semmy Schilt, Dan Henderson, Wanderlei Silva, and Igor Vovchanchyn, the man has fought them all. Across multiple weight classes.

What an opportunity this is for Kondo’s opponent next month, as Binta Mochi (6-7-3) has the chance to add one of MMA’s most legendary names to his resume. A hit-or-miss veteran of ZST, Mochi will truly need to put it all together to stand a chance against Kondo as he has lost to far less impressive competition in recent years.

The other two fights announced sees former Kai Asakura victim Yoichi Oi (2-1) face Ryo Yazawa (1-2) following a clash between former Kogane victim Tatsuya Tomozane (10-4) and Yuto Kimura (1-0) at lightweight. It is worth noting that Tomozane has won seven-straight and has looked very impressive in his recent outings.

The post Satoru Kitaoka and Yuki Kondo top inaugural iSMOS.1 show in July appeared first on The Body Lock.

With the UFC acting as the steward of MMA’s history, the predominant narrative conveniently distances itself from anything suggesting that the UFC and the UFC alone fostered the growth of MMA. The UFC’s narrative forgets fighters or personalities that at some point butted heads with the promotion. The history of MMA is, for all intents and purposes, what the UFC wants it to be.

This is the problem Jonathan Snowden, author of the new book Shamrock: The World’s Most Dangerous Man, is trying to remedy. This important book, a comprehensive look at the life and professional career of Ken Shamrock, is the first of its kind in the MMA space (I can’t speak for the professional wrestling space, and this book is just as much about wrestling as it is MMA). While there are certainly examples of phenomenal writing about MMA — Josh Gross’s Ali vs. Inoki and Kerry Howley’s Thrown come to mind — no other work has so exhaustively examined its subject to present such an honest look at an individual.

The “MMA” section at any Barnes & Noble is filled with fighter biographies and memoirs, but those are largely just exercises in brand management and promotion. The fighter tells his or her story, solely from his or her perspective, with whatever basis in reality that fighter so wishes. These are the network TV talk shows of sports writing: good, dependable fun with few surprises and not much to think about.

Snowden’s book, on the other hand, presents an unfettered look at the often ugly life of Shamrock. Snowden approaches his subject with the appreciation of a fan, telling his story with reverent honesty, yet never shying away from the seedier elements of Shamrock’s wildly entertaining life.

It’s difficult to say if this book (and therefore, Shamrock’s career) is more about MMA or professional wrestling, but therein lies an important reality that Snowden illuminates: MMA has been wed to professional wrestling since its inception. This is a historical truth that the UFC narrative overlooks. Many of the sport’s biggest early stars, including Shamrock, came directly from professional wrestling. The Japanese professional wrestling offshoot organization Pancrase utilized a ruleset that mimicked professional wrestling, but with genuine competition — the first structured iteration of modern MMA.

Shamrock fought at three Pancrase events before he ever stepped foot in the Octagon at UFC 1. By pulling back the curtain on Shamrock’s simultaneous involvement in professional wrestling, Pancrase, and no holds barred fighting, the reader is given an honest and complete view of the birth of the sport. Snowden’s reporting on the various behind-the-scenes relationships, business deals, betrayals, and promotional infighting and competition is meticulous, if even a bit distracting early on, as we’re introduced to countless wrestlers and promoters, all with their own unique motivations and cliques. For the MMA fan with only a casual knowledge of professional wrestling (like myself), it can feel like a mountain of information. But as Shamrock’s career advances and his life comes into focus, Snowden weaves together these otherwise disconnected elements to paint a full picture of Shamrock and, necessarily, the early days of MMA.

Some of the most fascinating parts of the book, beyond the more salacious details, involve backdoor business deals and matchmaking. More than just who Shamrock fought, we learn why he fought them. At times, Shamrock was motivated strictly by money, and at times by personal vendettas, but mostly we are led to an important conclusion: how and why fights come together is largely a matter of chance and a complex web of personal and financial circumstances that we rarely understand.

Unlike any other piece of work in the MMA space, the book delves into the good and bad of Shamrock’s personal life. Snowden collected uncensored statements from dozens of people that knew or know Shamrock on a personal level, from former training partners to wives to close friends. Interviews with Shamrock’s children, still nursing wounds from childhoods with The World’s Most Dangerous Man as a father, are particularly candid and sometimes heartwrenching. Through these interviews, we meet a Shamrock that struggled with drug abuse, financial catastrophe, failed marriages, and life as an absentee father. Behind his Captain America mystique and gladiatorial toughness, we meet a Shamrock that is, above all else, human.

While interviews from those that know Shamrock create a 360-degree view of the man, much of the best storytelling comes from Shamrock himself in the form of extensive interviews that Snowden must have conducted over the course of several days. Often, Shamrock displays the guarded machismo and refusal to accept blame that may have turned fans off in the past. At other times, though, Shamrock is open and vulnerable, taking responsibility for a pivotal moment in the falling-out with his adopted brother Frank, or describing vivid memories of childhood trauma.

The book drags a bit in the final fourth, the unfortunate nature of a story about the life of an aging athlete. In general, though, Snowden re-tells Shamrock’s life just as he has lived it — at breakneck speed. The descriptions of the fights, while tending to agree with Shamrock’s perspective of them, are addicting and exciting to read, causing me several times to watch classic fights with fresh eyes. Lurid details and anecdotes from Shamrock’s life — ranging from wife-swapping stories to drug-induced benders, to parking lot fistfights — seem to pop up every few pages and make the book nearly impossible to put down.

Shamrock accomplishes a couple of important tasks. First, it (hopefully) opens the door for more books or biographies in the MMA space that offer an entirely unfiltered look at their subjects; it makes room for books that are more than just brand promotion. Second, by using Ken Shamrock’s life as a vehicle for storytelling, it offers a broad, free-from-UFC-influences look at the history and growth of the sport. The book is a must-read for any MMA fan looking for a deep understanding of a pioneer of the sport, and, therefore, a deeper understanding of the sport itself.

Shamrock: The World’s Most Dangerous Man is available on Amazon here.

Disclosure: The Body Lock received a copy of Shamrock: The World’s Most Dangerous Man from the author in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect our opinion or the content of our review.

The post ‘Shamrock’ details life of MMA pioneer, illuminates history of the sport appeared first on The Body Lock.

Reports show that on November 10, Lindsay collapsed during a run while accompanied by her 14-year-old sister, just hours before the official weigh-in of her second Muay Thai bout. She was rushed to Fiona Stanley Hospital in Murdoch, Western Australia, and admitted to intensive care, but there was little doctors could do to save her life. Four days later, she was pronounced dead due to a major organ failure.

Lindsay trained out of Kao Sok Muay Thai in Forrestdale, Western Australia. Owned by “Dangerous” Darren Curovic, Jess’ mother, Sharon Lindsay, told the coronial inquest that the gym promoted a “bullying culture” and said her daughter was told if she failed to make weight, it would “put shame” on the gym and its coaches.

“Jess was not prepared to tackle the fallout if she failed to make the weight … she was not prepared to take it on,” she told ABC News.

Counsel assisting the coroner, Mr. Brendyn Nelson, stated that in the week prior to her bout, Lindsay had started taken progressively extreme measures to make weight. The first of these was water loading; she consumed 7.5 liters of water on day one, decreasing this amount by half on each of the following days until none was consumed on the final day. Mr. Nelson stated that Lindsay used this method in conjunction with several other means of dropping weight including taking saunas and hot saltwater baths, running in a sauna suit and using laxatives.

As a result of these methods, she reported suffering from a variety of physical symptoms; these included headaches, tiredness, shivering, dizziness, cramping, and fuzziness of her hearing and eyesight. A friend of Lindsay’s told the coronial inquest that she received texts during the weeks prior in which Lindsay said she was “rugged up, in clothes and blankets and shivering.”

“She just wanted it to be done”

Sharon Lindsay told ABC News that when her daughter collapsed, she had no idea how serious it was.

“We were trying to get her awake, give her fluids. I had no idea. I thought she had just fainted,” she said.

Following her daughter’s collapse, Sharon immediately drove her to the gym, expecting the experienced trainers of Kao Sok Muay Thai to calmly deal with the situation. Instead, they had absolutely no idea and had to be asked numerous times before finally helping. Kao Sok Muay Thai states “KAO SOK MUAY THAI GYM TRAINERS form a VERY STRONG AND POTENT COACHING TEAM, they put their FIGHTERS through a very rigorous fight training routine to ensure that they are SUPER FIT, SUPER CONDITIONED, SKILLFUL AND READY FOR WAR!”

Sharon Lindsay also testified that her daughter had spoken several times about how difficult the weight cut had been, but refused to stop and kept persevering with whatever her trainers asked of her.

“She just wanted it to be done… Jess wanted it to stop but she wouldn’t stop until the weight was gone,” she said. “She had trained very hard to get to that point. She was still focussed to do the fight. She’d just had enough of this last preparation.”

While weight cutting is most traditionally associated with wrestling, it remains one of combat sports’ most widespread issues with weight loss-related injuries and deaths become more common in boxing and MMA as well as Muay Thai and kickboxing. In Perth, it is hoped that this tragedy will bring about major reform relating to safety in combat sports and this has been championed by Jessica’s mother.

“What I hope comes out of this inquest is that everyone can be united together to create significant and important change to make Muay Thai a safer sport,” she said. “Starting in Perth and hopefully going across the globe.”

The post Jessica Lindsay inquest confirms teenager’s death due to extreme weight cut prior to Muay Thai bout appeared first on The Body Lock.

Going from a regular person to one with one of the greatest responsibilities of them all is life-changing. Welcoming a child into the world is something that’s impossible to forget. Thus leading to several more unforgettable moments in the continually progressing stages of the parent’s life, and now most importantly, the child that has become the center of their universe.

In the modern-day sporting atmosphere and the ever-expanding world of technology, it’s easier than ever to hurl negativity into the direction of those who have put themselves out there more than others. But what’s often forgotten is that the person on the receiving end remains exactly that – a person. A person with a family that loves and raised them just like everyone else.

To get to that center stage, no matter what the athletic endeavor may be, the individual had to be molded in some form or another. Humans are creatures of habit and as they grow their surroundings are absorbed. A strong support system is absolutely priceless. Surely, in some cases, it’s the lack of support that ends up being strong enough motivation for many. Perhaps especially in the realm of hand to hand combat. However, no situation is created equally and there’s always an origin fueling the drive.

On March 9, 1985, in San Diego, California, a woman by the name of Suzette Howe would welcome her son, Dominick Cruz, into the world. Unbeknownst to her, she would go onto raise one of the greatest Mixed Martial Arts fighters that the world has ever seen.

Howe and her family that also included her mother and other son, Derek, lived in Tucson, Arizona for most of Cruz’s childhood. A marketing specialist of over 25 years, Howe owns her own company, Show U How 2, and is also a successful author with an MMA inspired book series. The first of which has been out for a year now is titled Broken Before Battle: Changing Lives Outside the Octagon. She currently finds herself working on the second installment of what will be a trilogy series. The next being Broken Before Battle: Raising Champions for Tomorrow.

Going in-depth into the lives of eight fighters and coaches in her books, Howe’s goal was to share the brighter side of the athletes who were once perceived as participants in human cockfighting. The focus is on what they’ve had to overcome and the impacts they have on their communities.

“When I was in third grade I knew I really wanted to write and I’d eventually write a book, there’s a lot of people that have a book in them,” Howe told The Body Lock, “I didn’t really know that it would be about the MMA perspective, but in advance of writing it, I had been in connection with all these guys and listening to their stories and just really felt honestly like that was something I was given to do. I just wanted to make sure the perspective was very different and unique from maybe the other things that have been covered out there and it definitely is.”

In writing about the humble beginnings that she’s experienced through the fighters she’s met along the way her and her son’s journey, Howe can relate in her own ways.

In Tucson a part of her family of four, Howe was a single mother raising her sons in a trailer park earning roughly $10,000 a year. Times weren’t easy, but the family made it work as best as they could. Cruz shared with Sports Illustrated (SI) in 2016 that there were occasions where he would watch his mother cry alone in her bed when all he could do was hug her for comfort.

“I watched my mom, every single day when I was a kid, put others first,” said Cruz, “She was always trying to do the right thing. If she got food stamps, she never took advantage—she only bought what she needed. She taught me how to care, how to stay humble, and how to stay true. She never steered from that. She is still the most whole, happy person, and that has made me a stronger person.”

Cruz would come in contact with the sport of wrestling in seventh grade where he competed at 78-pounds. It would be here that the seed for something special was truly planted.

Attending high school in Tucson at Flowing Wells High School and continuing on with his amateur wrestling, it would, unfortunately, end here. An ankle injury put a halt to Cruz’s collegiate wrestling ambitions which led to him studying at a community college to try and become a firefighter. While working three jobs to pay for school, Cruz would also find his way into boxing and kickboxing. And, of course, this soon led to MMA.

“For myself, when I got started [with MMA], even I really wanted to do things for self-defense, and I got really involved and loved the heck out of training and all of that kind of thing,” Howe expressed, “So Dominick had been involved since he was out of high school. And going to his fights and everything is how we got involved, of course. Learning the ins and outs of it all. Then like I said, getting to know some of the other guys and the stories that they share, it’s international, the guys that I was having the privilege of being around. So it really was a unique perspective. Wilson Reis is from Brazil his [story is] very, super-powerful, very challenging. Brendan Loughnane is from the UK and he’s pretty hot right now with the PFL and everything, too. It’s been a really, really amazing journey. Kind of like a second mom.”

On January 29, 2005, Cruz would make his professional MMA debut at 155-pounds in a lightweight contest.

With his background in boxing, he would adapt elements from what he had learned and some of the fighters he watched growing up. In essence, due to his large size disadvantage, he felt forced to create his own unique defensive style to avoid being hit by what was for his first eight fights, the opposition of larger opponents.

Regardless, he still managed to defeat them all and actually end up going down as statistically one of the most defensively sound fighters there’s ever been. His seventh pro fight would arguably be a big turning point as it was there that he met the host of the event, his longtime head coach at Alliance MMA, Eric Del Fierro.

For Howe as well as any mother or parent, she had no idea what her son would grow up to be. Sure, everyone may have an idea, but predicting exactly what that may be is quite the task even for Nostradamus. But for it to end up being something as dangerous and demanding as a combat sport, it definitely requires some mental processing for all involved. In the end, she’s more than okay with it.

“He has a brother, so as siblings, they would fight, things like that. But no I did not imagine it,” Howe said of Cruz getting into pro fighting, “And that’s one of the things … I did a podcast with Cage Free Chicks recently and that was one of the things; you never know what your children are going to grow up to do. And that’s very true. That’s one of the reasons I also wanted to just kind of write about the experience but also shed some light with other parents because ‘little Johnny’ wants to get involved in a martial art or something, it doesn’t mean that he’s going to be beating people up. As a matter of fact, it should mean the opposite.

“If they learn the respect and the morals and how it gives a channel of focus. It’s incredible. Some of the guys in my first book had really severe challenges as kids. Seth [Baczynski] became a better person. Phil [Davis] says that education was really difficult for him, but he pressed through. It was really hard for Danny [Martinez] too because he had to learn how to fight and learn how to manage family because he had a young family. So all of that kind of thing is in there and it’s just been a really cool journey.

“When Dominick was doing wrestling, I didn’t really know anything about MMA and wrestling was wrestling,” she continued, “But getting out and then having him at a high school, get involved and start doing the lower-key fights if you will … It was like, ‘Oh my gosh, he’s really good.’ He’s disciplined in it. He came up with all his own style and everything and that’s why he was good. He wasn’t just doing what other people were doing. So as a really young kid, I mean, kids are gonna fight and play, this and that. He played soccer and baseball and then wrestled, so we didn’t know what he would grow up to be, but it’s been incredible.”

After his eight-fight start to his career in the lightweight division, Cruz would enjoy a three-fight stint at featherweight before finding his true home of bantamweight at 135-pounds.

As a member of the gone but not forgotten World Extreme Cagefighting (WEC) promotion, Cruz would keep on tactfully infuriating everyone who stood in his way. Utilizing his movement-based style to perfection and outwitting every opponent more than the next. “The Dominator” would claim the world title in just his fifth fight in the division.

Howe had done it. Although her son was always going to be a champion to her no matter what it was that he was doing, she could now officially say that she literally raised a champion. Ultimately, that was just the beginning of the legacy.

Cruz would establish himself as the greatest fighter his division had ever seen and an innovator with his unique style. Two title defenses in the WEC later, and he had also earned himself the inaugural UFC bantamweight title. He would defend the latter crown a total of three times across two separate reigns. Thus giving him seven wins in championship fights overall. A number higher than any other at 135-pounds.

“Being a fighter is one thing, you know?” said Howe, “Being a mom of a champion in the sense of like all these other kinds of sports that are out there and everything else, being an MMA fighter, it’s very different because there’s so many misnomers about the pay, the workouts, the intense training, they train all the time. I’ve trained but there’s no comparison. None. They’re doing two-a-days, their two hour trainings are hard, hard, hardcore. So most people have no clue about that either.

“But it’s been neat because just knowing I had always said when he was young that he was a leader, and I raised all my kids that way. I knew they would be leaders in their area of expertise, whatever that would be as they grew up. So just helping him stay in that mindset to always treat people well and really wanting to focus on the fact that you stay in your lane. You do the things that you know are good and right and true.

“With regard to fighting, some people would say, ‘Well, how on Earth? How is that good?’ It is an art. It’s a martial art,” she continued, “There’s so much respect and honor and all of that in there. And so, learning some of those things, too. I think people will understand it more fully, and the amount of give back. A lot of these guys are working with youth or training with youth or giving something back. Dominick has done a lot of that as well. And he just does it naturally, but then also officially so it’s from a champion perspective. I think he’s down to Earth. That’s one of the things we always wanted to make sure too was that he just stayed who he really is. He doesn’t let things get to his head.”

While “time” may always be the biggest thing remembered about Cruz in relation to his in-cage profession, his mother was worried about it beforehand.

“He’s worked hard to get where he’s at. Very, very hard,” Howe stated, “Stayed very focused, lost a lot of time and things like playtime, kid time. I talk about that in my book, like I just was concerned that he didn’t get to live the life of a kid very much because he was wrestling all the time when he was young. Moving into being an adult, you give up a lot to do that to become a champion, let alone keep it and stay as long as he did.”

Following Cruz’s shutout victory over future fellow all-time great in Demetrious Johnson at a 2011 UFC Fight Night, the bantamweight king’s will would be tested like never before – and it wouldn’t be at the discretion of another fighter.

Midway through coaching season 15 of The Ultimate Fighter opposite his rival Urijah Faber, Cruz would suffer a torn ACL. An injury that by itself is troublesome enough as is. Well, a second would follow making that two in the span of three years for the champion. The second coming after his body rejected the cadaver tendon that was used for the reconstructive surgery.

Finally set to come back for a fight with the interim champion Renan Barao, Cruz would then suffer yet another injury. This time it was a groin tear. As a result, the UFC was forced to strip the undisputed champion of his title due to inactivity. The trophy that he had worked so hard for was lost without him actually losing it inside the Octagon walls.

Many in the community placed their blame on the results of his injuries on his style which relies heavily on footwork and lateral mobility. Revealing an unbreakable mindset and desire to persevere, the boy from Tucson wasn’t going to let things end this way.

Cruz returned three years after his three ligament tears for his first three-round non-title bout in five years and six outings. Welcoming him back was the top 5 ranked veteran, Japan’s Takeya Mizugaki.

Over the years of his reign, Miss Howe’s baby boy would become a critique magnet for his seeming inability to finish fights. So when he returned from a staggering three-year layoff that included a miraculous recovery from often career-deterring injuries, no one expected what ended up unfolding inside the MGM Grand on that 2014 September 27 night.

In just 61 seconds, “The Dominator” reminded everyone why that was his nickname. A left straight into a blast double-leg takedown put Mizugaki on his back and shortly after, Cruz was using his fists like hammers on his opponent’s skull. He was back in a flash … then gone again just like that.

Confirmed to get a crack at the title he never lost in competition, Cruz would wind up suffering another ACL tear in the months after his fight. This time to the opposite knee.

As a parent, knowing your child is in pain or hurt is one of the worst thoughts and feelings imaginable. In a general sense, kids are going to hurt themselves every now and then. Whether it be falling down or just playing around, bumps and bruises are to be expected – but, of course, they’re preferably avoided if possible.

In the case of Suzette Howe and her son, she’s gone through an experience that few mothers ever have. Major injuries that affected the individuals’ way of life. Occurrences that literally put the world on hold.

Between having such a uniquely unfortunate injury-riddled history or even watching him fight in the first place, the toughest part for Howe as a mother of a championship-caliber MMA fighter has been the overall difference. Even though fighters are still just people like everyone else, their lifestyles are one of a kind.

“Seeing the discipline that he had at a young age with regards to wrestling and the grit that is required there, I knew something bigger was coming because he loved it so much,” she started, “I remember having difficult conversations with his coaches because he had to keep on such a low weight. That was one of the most difficult times when he was young. Now then you take that and put that a little bit further with regard to MMA, now you’re doing that professionally. So you still have the weight thing. It’s not as aggressive because he had to stay at that all the time when he was in wrestling, but it was watching all the eating challenges. Not being able to enjoy Thanksgiving dinner. Stuff like that when he was young then when you get older, he’s in MMA. Now he also is having to travel quite a bit. And again, the sacrifices are big. Relationships, downtime, vacations, things that a lot of families take for granted.

“I have a lot of friends that they all meet and go skiing, or they all meet and go do this and that. Well, that’s not something that becomes an easy thing for us at all. So that’s been a little bit more difficult, but really, when he was young, and he loved it so much, how can I not support him? It’s what he chose to do. It was legal, it was moral and it’s ethical. So hey, it may not always look that way to certain people. That was one of the reasons I wanted to write too because I wanted people to realize, ‘No, there are rules even though it may not look like it.’ And that is hard watching your son get hurt. But I also don’t really necessarily look at him as my little baby boy. I look at him as a professional man that has chosen this as his career, and I’m his backup and full support. So I pray. Honestly, that is part of who I am. That’s part of my role in what we are as a family – who we are. And that is one of the things that I believe has gotten us through as well.”

When the going gets tough, doubt inevitably creeps in for us all. And in situations like the ones that Cruz was faced with, how can he be blamed? Therefore it reveals the importance of a support system. Because even if you might not be able to believe in yourself in those darkest of times, and all hope may seem lost, there’s always someone still there. For Cruz, it was his mother.

“Losing everything brings the true people into your life and gets rid of everyone else,” Cruz explained in his 2016 SI interview, “People seem to fall off, and the people who love you and care about you make you stronger in your weakest times. My mom made me stronger at my weakest point.

“When I had no belt, everybody left. I was sad and depressed, and she showed me that I needed to love myself. I don’t need a belt to be happy. I didn’t need to be the best in the world to be happy, and I don’t need fighting to be happy. I define my happiness any way I want, that’s my decision—and my mother was a shining example of that.”

To rebound from his self-proclaimed rock bottom, Cruz did the unimaginable once again – but this time to a greater extent.

After missing out on the entirety of 2015 as he healed up, he would return and be granted with his expected title shot against the now champion, TJ Dillashaw.

Dillashaw at the time was a key piece of Team Alpha Male. The gym that so happened to be the rival of Cruz’s as it was helmed by the aforementioned Faber. If the comeback story alone wasn’t enough, there was extra fuel added to this dramatic fire.

Kicking off the first UFC event of 2016, Cruz headlined as the challenger to Dillashaw in Boston, Massachusetts. And what the TD Garden would be treated to was a masterclass of technique between two of the division’s best ever.

Even though Cruz had made it back to the Octagon and was competing at the highest level as he always had and his family always knew he could, he would continue to battle through adversity. Hindered but hidden, a case of plantar fascitis in one of Cruz’s feet had made itself present prior to fight night and as the fight went on, it only worsened.

It wouldn’t stop the former champion though as he battled valiantly and got his hand raised to once again become the bantamweight champion of the world. The belt he had never lost was back around his waist.

2016 would be a hallmark year in terms of activity for Cruz as he became one of the lone 11 fighters in the UFC’s 83 champion history to have fought in three title fights in a single year (including interim titles and excluding the Superfight title).

Arguably crafting an even greater legacy for what he had to overcome, Cruz has produced many incredible moments in his career at this point. So how do you pick just one that stands out the most? For Howe, there is obviously a lot to be proud of. But the reclaiming of the title after four major injuries is admittedly tough to top.

“The Mizugaki one was really amazing but TJ was too for two different reasons,” the author recalled, “[Against] Mizugaki, he came back and he only had to fight three rounds which was really sweet. But he came back with such a vengeance and almost shocked himself. If you view the replay you look at that, he’s walking around, going – from my perspective, ‘Oh, my gosh, look what I just did. Did I? Whoa,’ But it was also that he was so confident. And he knew that he knew that he could do that. He had so many people just talking trash about him not being able to do that. Then he turned around with regard to TJ and did the same thing. Only bigger because of his championship.

“A lot of people don’t know what that takes to go from zero to champion again, because of the workout but also you go from a three to a five-round [fight]. There’s a significant difference and a lot of people, the general public doesn’t get it, they don’t understand it. But the intricacies of what he had to put his body through to get there. Incredible. So then having that year, that 2016 year was grueling because he had three championship fights. Who does three championship fights in one year?”

Since the end of 2016 when he suffered his first and only career loss at bantamweight, losing his title, Cruz hasn’t fought. Instead, he’s been further progressing in his analyst and commentary roles that he first got into during his time off after the initial ACL surgery in early 2012.

Of course, this was never the plan as the injury bug continued to rear its head as the now 34-year old broke his arm in late 2017. Thus leading to a cancelation of his scheduled bout with Jimmie Rivera. Roughly a year later, another return would be halted when a ligament in his shoulder was torn ahead of his matchup with John Lineker. An injury that Cruz described as “the ACL of his shoulder.”

Officially now having been out for longer than when he was from 2011 to 2014, it’s nothing new for Cruz. He and his mother believe in him fully. He’s wanting to be ready, continues training, and is doing everything he can – but doing it smartly. If anyone has proven that they can come back better than they were when they left, it’s the kid from Flowing Wells High School.

“That’s Dominick. He never gives up, he never stops,” Howe said of her son, “He does do what is recommended by medical because he’s highly involved every day in that, which you can see on his social media. But he takes that very, very seriously because of the injuries he has had. He doesn’t want to ever do anything early or anything like that. So he’s learned that his body just is different than some of the other fighters and that’s what he had to overcome.

“[Regarding work outside of fighting,] it has been really cool because I could see it way early on in his career, but he couldn’t see it really until he had issues where he was almost forced into it. He had to do something and keeping his head in the game and commentating, he can now speak to people and organizations and all of that from a very different perspective that he never would have. As a young kid, he wouldn’t even get in front of a class. Well, this is something he knows. He lives it, he breathes it, he knows it well. And I’m super, super proud of him. But also he has recreated himself. And that’s brilliant.”

Parents shape their children into who they become. It takes a champion to make a champion. Without the strong support system that he’s had every step of the way, would we have ever seen Dominick Cruz reach his full potential? The answer feels pretty obvious at this point and he would surely agree.

Broken prior or not, we all face battles in life that are better fought with a loved one by our side.

Broken Before Battle: Changing Lives Outside the Octagon can be purchased on Amazon at the link: here.

The post Raising an MMA Champion: Suzette Howe and her son Dominick Cruz appeared first on The Body Lock.

The 48-year old Melbourne, Australia native is most famously known for his role as a radio host on The Jason Ellis Show as well as a former professional skateboarder. However, he’s truly a modern-day renaissance man. Although, he may surely make the argument that he lacks the proper talent required to be classified as such.

Ellis began his adulthood with the aspiration of becoming a pro skateboarder which was a status that he quickly achieved. As would be the case for his life and goals that followed, he’s been able to do anything he sets his mind to. That has, however, been to varying degrees of success as alluded to in the opening paragraph.

From singing in his hilariously named band Taintstick to some small acting roles like in Paul Blart: Mall Cop, the man of many nicknames is always up for getting himself into some kind of new activity. And he has a very simple reason as to why.

“Because I’m gonna die,” Ellis told The Body Lock, “I don’t want to not try … I mean, I don’t know, if something just sounds absolutely horrific and doesn’t seem like I’m gonna get anything out of it then I don’t think I need to try that. But pretty much everything else is on the list. I want to do stuff, I want to know. I feel like until you do it, you don’t really know. Especially when you’re a guy that doesn’t read a lot of books. I gotta get in there. Let me see what’s up with it. Because sometimes I might think something sucks until I do it.

“I just try to experience life, man. I’m really trying to get in there. My little brother passed away when he was 24 and I’ve just felt like since then I’ve seen all the things that he wanted to do. He would have loved to have come to America and seen the things that I’ve seen. So I just always say yes to stuff and do things. Why not?”

The answer to the “why” is essentially that final two-word question. Life is made up of experiences and the more one has, the more life they have. As a sponge soaks up water, “Shark Heart” absorbs various actualities. Sometimes that process isn’t the most physically pleasant either.

Apathetically anticipating his next knee surgery due to the recovery time that will lead to being temporarily fat and lazy thanks to good ole father time, his words, not mine, most of Ellis’ endeavors have involved putting his body and mind up against the extreme. For example, going toe to toe with a one-armed former UFC heavyweight interim champion Shane Carwin. And whether it’s one arm or no arms at all, that’s a horrifying task to try and overcome – fighter or not.

The boxing match with Carwin took place in 2016 and saw Ellis inevitably knocked out by the Coloradoan brute. But from the concept’s birth, the Aussie saw the entertainment factor in it all which was more than enough. He never stood a chance – whether it was play fighting or not. And don’t get it twisted, Ellis expected a play fight with the man who he considers a friend. Unfortunately for him, Carwin looked to turn the clock back to 2010 when he was leaving the likes of Frank Mir and Gabriel Gonzaga wide-eyed on the UFC canvas.

Regardless, Ellis had no regrets. Well, in the build-up that is.

In terms of the relationship he had with the combat sports world, it dates further back as in 2009, around the time Carwin happened to be on top, Ellis decided it was time to really test himself. So that meant getting himself ready for the toughest sport he could possibly attempt.

Ellis’ professional MMA debut was a lot like former pro wrestling star Phil “CM Punk” Brooks’ which came a matter of years later. They were both celebrities from another athletic world entering in right out the gate with zero amateur experience. The biggest difference is that Ellis would not jump right into the major leagues and end up coming out embarrassed.

A second-round guillotine choke was what got his hand raised and it wouldn’t be until eight years later where he stepped foot back inside a cage to compete.

“It was a little bit of an accident, the first one,” Ellis reflected, “I was training and I had befriended the pros at Team Quest and so I got a little bit by the bug and a few people were like ‘You should have a fight’ and I was like, ‘I should, huh?’ Looking back on it, I don’t think it was the greatest idea. I did not have that much knowledge of the game. But I just wanted the test. It just sounded so terrifying to me and I was retiring from being a pro skateboarder.

“That seemed like such a challenge that it was to kind of fill the gap of not being the skateboarder guy that I thought I was my whole life. So I mean, I was very fortunate I had Ryan Parsons, [Muhammad] ‘King Mo’ Lawal, and Jason ‘Mayhem’ Miller in my corner. I was the most spoiled person. No amateur fights, just one pro fight like it was … It was, you know, I think I was in shock for pretty much the first round. And then I was able to pull that win out but it was just one of those … It was almost like a Make-A-Wish thing.” he laughed.

Among the titles that Ellis claims to his name is also “author.” His third book released on Dec. 10 and is called Still Awesome: The Trials and Tribulations of an Egotistical Maniac.

To kick things off, the readings start with the details of his experience during and after his first fight. What sucked the most for the Hollywood resident was the weight cut he was forced to endure. Or as he referred to it; the starvation. That was the biggest difference between his two bouts.

“That was the first time I ever cut weight and I was with a boxing trainer and he was like, ‘You’re not cutting weight, you’re dieting. You don’t have a wrestling background, if you cut weight, you’ll be destroyed the next day,'” he shared, “So I agreed to it and it was a really hardcore, not like Dolce Diet, it was … I was starving, man. Because I made weight the next time almost 10 years later and it was so easy. I’m like, ‘Fuck, man. Why didn’t I do it like this?'”

For Ellis, having gone through MMA in the two fights that he has had, it unsurprisingly gave him all-new respect for the athletes that compete within its walls. In trying it himself, he never looked to cut any corners – no matter how hard he may have unintentionally had others try to help him out more than your average rookie.

“I thought this [second] time I feel like I have enough knowledge to at least know how I won or how I lost and it was time,” he expressed, “I didn’t know how far this was gonna go. I actually thought when I signed to King of the Cage I kind of planned on having maybe three or four fights.

“Then they gave me guys’ tape. Once again, frickin royal treatment like they’re giving me tape on guys like, ‘What about these two guys?’ and I’m like, ‘These two guys can’t fight.’ He’s like, ‘I know it’ll be a highlight reel!’ I’m not here to do that. I just want my coach to go; ‘If you win this that’s a real achievement to you.’ Then that’s a good fight for me. It’s like this is a really tough fight. So I picked the guy where my coach said ‘if you fucking win this, dude, you should be proud of yourself.’ And then it went horribly wrong and I still managed to win and because I think it went so bad and I managed to still keep going then the need to do it again really died off because I just wanted to know if I could handle it, you know? If I got in real trouble would I shell up or will I keep trying? I don’t need to be tested any more than I got tested that night. That was pretty close to being knocked out.”

At this point in his life, the whole idea of fighting in MMA again is likely behind him unless something he can’t say no to pops up. Whether that’s just enough self-belief in being able to beat an opponent or if it would be a guaranteed entertainment session. Because the negative to being involved with as much as he is overall, it doesn’t just impact him but everything orbiting the world of Ellis.

He’s still down for throwing hands in the ring though. At his most recent Ellismania event, Ellismania 19, he even scored a nice TKO victory.

Like for a lot of fighters, fighting is their way of life, of course, but it also can act as an outlet – a form of therapy. Because generally, it takes a lot to be a fighter and many, to put it bluntly, have seen their fair shares of shit.

Every day, Jason Ellis gets in front of a microphone and speaks, that’s what he does. And having done it for as long as he has, it’s allowed those who listen to really get to know him as well as him to himself. Thus leading to the creation of several books now.

In 2016, the Aussie revealed himself to be bisexual. Something that was seemingly one of the few secrets he had left to have shared as a public figure.

“The first book is about my childhood and my life and then the second one was just the book [people] – because we had a New York Times bestseller – they just wanted us to make another book,” Ellis detailed. “And so we made a joke book on how to be awesome, which is, it was really … like, how to shave your back and neck hair, and shit. It’s pretty stupid. But since then, I got a divorce and I met somebody else and sort of came out when it came to my sexuality. There was a lot more that I didn’t know about myself that I was into.

“I’ve really hidden it my whole life because I wasn’t sure what it was and I was definitely pretty sure that I didn’t think anyone else wanted to know about that. And then my wife was okay with it and her friends knew about it. I was like, man, why am I hiding being bi? Like, what’s the big … what is that? It’s bad to be gay or half gay or quarter gay, I don’t … what? And then sometimes it would bother me to think that I’m hiding it because I talk all this shit on the radio. Like, I’m not scared to talk about everything that happens in my life. But you know that there’s this one thing that you’re you’re hiding. So I just thought ‘die by the sword.’ Fuck it. I’m just gonna tell people.”

Out of all the difficult things Ellis has done, perhaps for many others if they were in his position, the most difficult would have been coming out publicly. Yet he attacked it head-on as he does with everything else. And hopefully, no injuries are involved with any of those stories … but we’ll just have to read the new book to find out.

In the end, it comes down to helping oneself while being able to help others if possible.

“I went on the [Howard] Stern show and talked about it and then that felt good,” he recollected, “And then people messaged me that were in my position that were hiding, and said what a big deal it was to them that I talked about it. So then it was just on after that. I just thought I don’t really care about what anybody else thinks now. I only want to help these people that think that they’re so bad for doing some of the things that, you know, it’s just who you are.

“I’m a big supporter of the gay and lesbian community and the bi and pansexual, whatever you want to label everybody. I just feel like if you are that, if it’s consensual adults, I fail to see the problem here and I feel like anybody that is the same as me should not hide it. So I do kind of rub it in everybody’s faces and that – my friend who helped me co-write the book, Michael Tully, he was like, ‘What you’re doing, the stories, the life that you live, I don’t think a lot of people know that even happens.’ Because I didn’t know. And I was the guy that in the first book, I’ve been very fortunate in things with my pants off. Lots of girls, all kinds of everybody’s naked parties. The guys, they do some crazy stuff and I felt like it’d be fun for other people to know that and it also might help some people.

“So this one is it’s ‘Still Awesome,’ it’s a bit sarcastic in the first place, but this one can be debatable for sure. But that’s my life. I’m not hidin’ it.”

As time goes on, the ink collector isn’t getting any younger and he feels that, physically. So while he still plans to box every now and again, the next thing on his list looks to be stand up comedy. Which, shouldn’t be all too hard for a professional talker to get into – punchy or not.

Jason Ellis has become a jack of all trades, living fearfully in the moments of whatever wild idea he comes up with next. But at the same time, being so fearless when it comes to getting there.

As he keeps crawling out onto the other side, it’s just another experience gained and another story to add to a long winding tale.

Jason’s new book can be purchased at JasonEllisBook.com.

The post Fearfully fearless, Jason Ellis remains ‘Still Awesome’ appeared first on The Body Lock.

So imagine my surprise when a recent nerd expedition unearthed Teppu.

Little gold, no glory

The gym which Teppu joins is full of women holding down jobs while seeing how far they can go in MMA. While they are all comrades in arms, there’s a gray undertone when they speak about their career prospects. The only “glorified” WMMA fighter is a prodigy; a daughter of an undefeated Brazilian champion who doesn’t attend the protagonist’s gym. And even she can barely even attract people to an MMA club at her school!

But the women are never the objects of pity. Despite the harsh reality of WMMA, they are all proud fighters. Their objective is never validation, but to best themselves and their competition. If it seems like I’m being vague, its because so much Teppu revolves around its “protagonist.”

Hero/Villain

Naturally talented, pretty and intelligent yet arrogant and condescending, Natsuo Ishida is a piece of work. Because she excelled so far past her peers with no effort, Natsuo quickly found herself alienated. She acts like she’s better because she is better. She quits school clubs because there’s little challenge and humbles anyone who tries to knock her down a peg.

But in a twist, Natsuo is not the villain of Teppu; she’s the protagonist. And the “antagonist” is a kind, humble girl who works incredibly hard. Her worst offense is fighting Natsuo on even footing without having natural talent. This makes Teppu less about “grind from the bottom” and more “What if Jon Jones was a high school girl.”

And it’s awesome.

As we delve into her backstory, it becomes clear that Natsuo is damaged. That behind a facade of perfection is an inferiority complex and an abusive situation with her brother. She hates her rival because fighting her on even footing means that she was wrong about her life. Heavy stuff for a teenage girl to handle. And so while we don’t cheer for Natsuo to win, we do cheer for her to grow. Teppu is the story of a mean person with the world in the palm of her hand trying to heal her wounds

Ending too soon

The biggest tragedy with Teppu is that the author, Moare Oota, cut it short due to serious health issues. Oota clearly intended for a longer series, giving Natsuo a true redemption arc and addressing some of her demons. Instead, Teppu ends after Natsuo and her rival’s second fight.

I do respect the decision, considering the circumstances. Instead of condensing an entire story’s worth of growth into a few paltry chapters, he decided to take what little growth Natsuo had achieved and leave on a hopeful note.

For those of you who love WMMA but can’t find enough related material, give Teppu a read. It’s not the MMA manual that All-Rounder Meguru is, but a far more fascinating character study. Again, assuming you’re willing to read right to left…

The post Teppu is the manga WMMA deserves appeared first on The Body Lock.

The suit, filed in the Court of Queen’s Bench in Alberta, comes nearly two years to the day after Hague’s untimely death as a result of injuries sustained during his final professional boxing match. In the lawsuit, the Hague family alleges that the city’s, its commissions’, and its employees’ gross negligence “caused, or alternatively, contributed to the wrongful death of Tim Hague and caused the Plaintiffs to suffer loss and damage.”

In June of 2017, Hague competed in his fourth professional boxing bout following a decade-long, 34-fight MMA career. In an event promoted by K.O. Boxing, a Candian promotion named as a defendant in the Hague’s lawsuit, Hague drew WBU heavyweight champion Adam Braidwood, a Canadian heavyweight who had won six of his seven professional wins by knockout.

Entering the fight, many pundits speculated that Hague’s chances were slim: the former MMA fighter, who has gone 1-2 in his first two boxing bouts and losing two straight, including a knockout loss in his most recent fight, seemed ill-equipped to take on the then 7-1 former Canadian Football League defensive end-turned boxing prospect.

An additional cause for concern was Hague’s recent MMA history. In his last five professional MMA bouts, Hague lost four, all of which came by way of decisive, often early, knockout defeats. In fact, prior to the Braidwood fight, Hague’s two most recent combat sports appearances were a thirty-second head kick knockout loss in MMA and a first-round knockout loss in boxing.

Despite Hague’s recent struggles, the fight proceeded.

In the fight, Braidwood was the clear favorite, methodically hammering Hague with precise, heavy shots. Over the course of the first round, Braidwood knocked Hague down three – arguably four – times. In the second round, Braidwood stunned Hague early, forcing the Canadian to put his hands on the mat.

After being deemed fit to continue, Hague kept fighting on in the second. Finally, Braidwood stopped Hague with a brutal, thudding left hook that sent the UFC veteran to the canvas. Two days later, Hague was pronounced dead in a hospital room surrounded by his family.

The lawsuit revealed that Hague was diagnosed with chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), a disease believed to be caused by repeated trauma to the head. According to Erik Magraken of Combat Sports Law, Hague is the first UFC fighter to be diagnosed with the disease.

The Hague family contends that several factors in which the defendants are alleged to have played a role contributed to Hague’s death, including “Circumstances Leading Up to the Event”, “The Braidwood Fight”, “Breach of Fiduciary Duty”, and “Negligent Hiring and Retention of Pat Reid”.

The lawsuit alleges that the ESCS failed to abide by policies intended to protect the athletes on at least nine, specific occasions in which Tim Hague fought in a professional combat sports event. The plaintiffs argue that the commission allowed Hague to compete “when the knew or ought to have known that he should have been suspended.”

Hague’s family claims that the commission failed “to ensure that Tim Hague had received the appropriate medical clearance, prior to his participation in combative sports events; and, [failed] to levy the appropriate suspension to Tim Hague as per the Policies.”

In this section, the lawsuit specifically singles out Pat Reid, the former Executive Director of the ECSC. The lawsuit claims that Reid failed to forward the results of MMA events Unified MMA 25 and Unified MMA 26, both of which Hague fought and lost by knockout on.

According to investigate journalist Mike Russell, who has been covering alleged misdeeds and negligence in the ECSC for years, Reid may have ignored up to “six mandatory medical suspensions” he was required to assign to Hague, allowing Hague to fight when he otherwise would not have been able to.

The lawsuit targets Reid extensively, and Aitken, the Edmonton city employee who hired Reid. The complaint argues that “the City and Aitken were negligent, or grossly negligent, in their selection and hiring of Reid fill the position of Executive Director of the ECSC” when they “knew or ought to have known that Reid was not qualified.”

Among the allegations against Reid and the ECSC are the aforementioned instances of ignoring medical suspensions, allowing fighters to compete while medically unfit, and allowing fighters to compete while medically suspended in another jurisdiction, but also “intoxication at combative sporting events” while on the job and “allowing fighters to potentially tamper with their fighting gloves.”

The lawsuit alleges that this constitutes gross negligence, and in the case of Reid, “a wanton or reckless disregard for the life and safety of Tim Hague.”

Hague’s family contends that Hague’s death was “caused or contributed to by the negligence, or alternatively, the gross negligence of the Defendant, Koivisto.”

Koivisto, the referee overseeing Hague’s fight with Braidwood, is alleged to have failed to “exercise the various duties and responsibilities as referee” and “the standard of care required in his position”. Koivisto is also said to have failed to “stop the fight when he knew or ought to have known that Tim Hague no longer was in a position to adequately defend himself.”

The lawsuit claims, in addition, that “the Defendants [failed] to follow appropriate knockout protocols… and if such protocols were followed, the damage sustained by Tim Hague would have been lessened and his life would have been saved.”

Hague’s family is seeking $4,268,000 for a variety of alleged damages, which are outlined in the full complaint. The complaint, in its entirety, is available here (courtesy of Russell).

Magraken, a combat sports law expert, also broke down the specifics of the case, which you can read here.

The post Family of UFC veteran Tim Hague sue Edmonton, commission for roles in Hague’s 2017 death appeared first on The Body Lock.

Fans at the Mississippi Coast Coliseum in Biloxi, Mississippi, received a more than adequate dose of sheer, pure violence as Lobov and Knight stood toe-to-toe for every moment of the five two-minute rounds.

Both fighters were slipping over in the first round, making it slightly more difficult to determine what was considered a knockdown. But that didn’t matter, as the two former UFC fighters continued to rise to their feet and exchange heavy hands.

https://twitter.com/VonPreux/status/1114733121193283584

For the majority of the fight, Lobov was the cleaner and more technical of the two fighters. Whereas Knight was throwing wild, looping hooks, Lobov was punishing him with shorter, crisper strikes that resulted in more damage.

At the end of five rounds, the judges declared Artem Lobov as the winner with scores of 48-47, 48-47 and 48-46.

Bare Knuckle FC President David Feldman announced that Lobov will now face Paulie Malignaggi on June 22.

John L. Sullivan has come back to life and died of laughter. #BKFC5 pic.twitter.com/o0mGUGG5kl

— Kyle Johnson (@VonPreux) April 7, 2019

Up yours, Marquess of Queensberry! #BKFC5 pic.twitter.com/EkP6vCY41P

— Kyle Johnson (@VonPreux) April 7, 2019

Bare Knuckle FC 5 Results

• Artem Lobov def. Jason Knight via unanimous decision (48-47, 48-47, 48-46)
• Chris Leben def. Justin Baesman via KO – R1, 0:25
• Christine Ferea def. Britain Hart via TKO (doctor’s stoppage) — R2, 1:09
• Chase Sherman vs. Sam Shewmaker ends in a split draw (50-45, 47-48, 48-48)
• Reggie Barnett def. Rusty Crowder via unanimous decision (50-44, 50-44, 50-44)
• Isaac Vallie-Flagg def. Randy Hederick via TKO — R3, 1:22
• Johnny Bedford def. Abdiel Velasquez via KO —R4, 0:15
• Harris Stephenson def. Khalib Harris via split decision (50-47, 47-48, 49-46)
• Sheena Starr def. Ivana Coleman via KO —R2, 0:37
• Bobo O’Bannon def. Troy Beets via TKO — R4

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