Bellator – Five Rounds with Emma

Bellator MMA announces broadcast deal with the BBC

Bellator MMA announce new broadcast deal ahead of Bellator Paris on Saturday, October 10th, 2020.

LONDON – Bellator MMA have today announced a new broadcast deal that will see live MMA broadcast on the BBC for the very first time.

Eleven fights from Bellator’s upcoming Paris show, which takes place on Saturday 10^th October at the Accor Arena, will be available live on BBC iPlayer to viewers across the UK. In another first for Bellator, the Paris event will also make history by being the first major MMA event ever hosted in France.

Fights featuring on the BBC will include the highly anticipated welterweight bout between England’s Michael “Venom” Page (17-1), better known to fans as “MVP,” and the undefeated Scotsman Ross Houston (8-0,1 NC). MVP is one of the biggest names in MMA, known for his exciting fighting style and highlights reel of knockouts. Houston, a former MMA world champion, will be looking to make his mark on his Bellator debut.

David Green, Head of Bellator Europe, said; “We are thrilled that we will be bringing live action from our first ever show in France to fans across the UK on BBC iPlayer. The BBC is unparalleled in its reach with millions of people tuning in to its sports content every week. We therefore look forward to servicing our existing fans better than ever before as well as hoping to attracting new fans who will be able to tune in to this historic event. The card is stacked from top to bottom so those watching are in for a real treat come Saturday night.”

Scott Coker, President of Bellator MMA, said; “This is a really exciting broadcast deal for Bellator MMA as our presence in the European market goes from strength to strength. Having just put on three events in Milan and now heading to Paris to make history there, we are committed to providing fight fans across Europe with regular events, featuring the world’s best fighters, which are easily accessible to them via our first-class broadcast partners. We have signed more big names to our roster this week and are looking forward to an action packed 2021.”

The live broadcast starts on BBC iPlayer at 4.30pm BST on Saturday and will run through until 10pm BST.

A limited number of fans will be allowed in attendance at this history-making show. The event got the go ahead after the government granted permission for it to take place under the supervision of the French Boxing Federation. Bellator Paris will be the fourth event hosted by the promotion in Europe in the space of two weeks, following three shows held behind closed doors at Allianz Cloud in Milan, Italy.

Press release.

Exclusive: “I’m going to win the light heavyweight belt, and then I will move up and win the heavyweight belt” – Johnny Walker

Johnny Walker Credit:Fighters Only — Johnny Walker Credit: Fighters Only

Originally posted on 30th October 2019

The 14^th December 2013 is a date that will be forever ingrained in Johnny Walker’s brain. It was that day that Johnny had his first-ever professional mixed martial arts contest at the age of 22, in the heavyweight division. Having had no previous amateur fights, the fight only lasted :49 seconds in round one and Johnny won via TKO, something that he would be doing later throughout his career thus far.

Johnny fought another ten times at heavyweight in Brazil with a combined record of 8-3 before moving down to Light Heavyweight in March 2017, where he had another two fights before relocating to Aberdeen in Scotland in December 2017 for a year.

Johnny had grown up in Brazil all his life, until at the age of 25, he moved across the world to Aberdeen, for an exciting opportunity to help further his MMA career on a global scale.

It was, in fact, Johnny’s coach Leo Gosling who got a proposal/job offer from a businessman in Aberdeen, to go and teach classes in mixed martial arts. Leo stated he would only accept the invite if it included bringing Johnny over too. When Leo and Johnny arrived, they soon realised that it was all a big lie and that the gym owner was broke, which resulted in Leo and Johnny receiving no payment.

These were tough times for Leo and Johnny having travelled from Brazil to Scotland, and now, having no money to live on, their only option was to sleep on gym floors. However, both Leo and Johnny stayed positive and focused on the bigger picture, and Leo managed to get Johnny 3 fights in a month, which not only started to make a name for Johnny on the UK MMA scene (Johnny won the UCMMA light heavyweight title, Feb 2018) but also gave them the much-needed money to survive and progress in the MMA scene.

It wasn’t long after Johnny won his next three fights that he decided to try out for season 2 of ‘Dana White’s contender series in Brazil’ which was held on August 11^th, 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

This was Johnny’s chance to prove to Dana White that after all the hard work he had put in since 2013, he belonged in the world’s number one promotion. The ‘UFC’.

On Fight Night, Johnny was scheduled to meet Henrique da Silva and was looking forward to showcasing his skills. However, during his warm-up Johnny was physically sick and had a fever. He also got tired within three minutes of warming up, so he chose to stop and conserve his energy for the bout against Henrique.

Johnny went the whole three rounds with Henrique, in which he won every round on the scorecards. This was the only fight thus far that Johnny had left it in the hands of the judges. He won via unanimous decision. “It was a great experience even though I was sick, and I couldn’t make it my best performance,” Johnny said afterwards. “It was the first time that any of my fights have gone to the judges’ scorecards”.

That performance impressed Dana White so much that he rewarded Johnny with a UFC contract.

After that victory, Johnny moved to Southampton, England to train with his coach Leo Gosling, where he met female UK fighter and mum of two Bryony Tyrell. At the time, Bryony part-owned Exile MMA Central, Southampton, and later went on to train with Leo and Johnny in Thailand at Johnny’s gym called ‘Walker MMA’, while preparing for her Bellator debut on 22^nd June 2019. They formed a great bond with each other that still exists today.

Born Walker Johnny Barra Silva de Souza on March 30^th, 1992 in Tingua, Rio de Janeiro, Johnny, his brother Valter and his parents, relocated to Rio das Ostras when he was a teenager, where he lived until he was 25 years old.

Rio das Ostras was a cool place to grow up. The city used to be very safe back then. Johnny would frequently go play out in the street or visit the beach a lot. Unfortunately, as with many children today, some of the kids at school were mean, and for a while, Johnny got bullied for being so tall and skinny.

At 15 years old, Johnny took up one of his first loves, dancing, RIP rop, and Lamaerobica, (which is a Brazilian style of dance), — gradually moving onto lifting weights. Then he moved onto Muay Thai, which he fell in love with after his first lesson.

After leaving school, Johnny started studying Chemistry Engineering but decided that he wanted to follow his dream of becoming a world champion mixed martial arts athlete. After being introduced to Leo Gosling at Leo’s gym, Johnny was offered a scholarship to train in Brazilian Jiujitsu, and Leo invited Johnny to train in MMA as well.

With the mentorship of Leo fully formed, and an incredible bond, even when Leo went to London for a year, Johnny trained at Team Evolucao in the South of Brazil. They then reunited to carry on with their close coach/manager bond that they established.

Starting his MMA career off in the heavyweight division, Johnny knew that weight class was not for him. So, he dropped down to light heavyweight, where the 6ft 5 Brazilian has found great success in the 205lb weight class.

Since being signed to the UFC in 2018, Johnny has had three fights with all of them ending with a first-round win, and a total combined time of 2 minutes 48 seconds in the octagon, gaining three “fight of the night” bonuses while in the process. “Starting my career in the heavyweight division and now in the light heavyweight division, I’m going to win the light heavyweight belt. Then, I will move up and win the heavyweight belt” stated Johnny while we were on the subject on whether he will make a return to the heavyweight division.

If you’re familiar with Johnny Walker, then you will know that after every win in the octagon, Johnny, celebrates by doing a version of what he calls ‘the worm’. However, the last time Johnny did his celebratory ‘worm’, he dislocated his shoulder just before having his post-fight interview with Joe Rogan. He then had to have surgery, and this kept him out of competitive action for four months while his shoulder was healing.

“My shoulder is 100% recovered now. I had surgery and have been rehabbing it, and I’m good to go. I will have to look for a new celebration to do when I win as my mum won’t let me do ‘The Worm’ anymore lol,” Johnny says laughing.

Having had six months out of the octagon to rehab his shoulder injury, it has given Johnny plenty of time to spend time with his two dog’s – Pitbull’s named ‘Yoga’, who is the female, and ‘Tanus’, the male. This has given them plenty of time to go down to the beach to chill as well as playing video games. Which at the moment is ‘Call of Duty 4’ online. “I haven’t had time to play the new Call of Duty Modern Warfare yet!”. As well as visiting other gyms to get some more experience, as you can never have enough skills, Johnny has recently come back from spending three weeks at SBG Ireland.

Johnny (17-3), ranked #11 will be facing Corey Anderson (12-4), ranked #7, (according to UFC rankings) on Saturday, November 2^nd at Madison Square Garden in New York, NY, at UFC 244.

Looking at these two athletes on paper the only similarities (which are small) is that Johnny is 6ft 5 inches and has an 82-inch reach, whereas Anderson is 6ft 3 inches and has a 79-inch reach.

Anderson is on a three-fight winning streak, all coming by way of decision. In fact, all his fights bar 4 have come by leaving it in the hands of the judges. On the other hand, Johnny is on a nine-fight winning streak, with only one of those wins coming by way of decision back in 2016. That is the only one so far on his overall career record. The rest of his wins have come by way of T/KO and two submissions, with all of those T/KO’s happened in the first round one and one coming in the second round.

With a win over Corey Anderson on Saturday, November 2^nd, it should put him in the top #6 of the light heavyweight division. The question everyone will be asking is, who is next for him? Will he be in title contention to fight the current champion Jon Jones?, Or will it be someone in the top 5? “I’m not bothered by who my next opponent is, I want to fight as soon as possible, within three weeks would be ideal, in Washington, DC, on 7^th December. If not then, then UFC 245 in Vegas on 14^th December.”

UFC 244 takes place on Saturday, November 2^nd, live from Madison Square Garden, New York, NY.

The rise of the ‘Killa Bee’ 2.0 – Bryony Tyrell

Bryony Tyrell - BELLATOR weigh-in - Credit: Bellator — Bryony Tyrell – Bellator weigh-In Credit: Bellator

First released 21st June 2019

On Saturday, June 22^nd, 2019, Bellator MMA will be making their return to the SSE Arena in London.

Making her debut for the promotion will be U.K’s Bryony Tyrell, and if you had told her six years ago that she would be on one of the world’s largest MMA promotions and competing in front of her home crowd, I’m pretty sure she’d be laughing at just the thought.

Born and raised in Sevenoaks, Kent, Bryony has always enjoyed the thrill and excitement of extreme sports; from BASE jumping, Bungee jumping, and sky diving, to testing herself in mixed martial arts.

Holding a Masters Degree in nursing and a Degree in Molecular Cell Biology, the critical care nurse now based in Southampton has always had a passion for martial arts.

Starting in Kickboxing and Kung Fu 19 years ago, Bryony quickly fell in love with all aspects of martial arts so much, that, she added in Krav Maga, Japanese jiu-jitsu and Muay Thai before finally concentrating on Wrestling and Brazilian Jiujitsu, forming the mixed martial arts career she has today. “Martial arts are my passion in life. I love the contrast that they can be beautiful and deadly at the same time” Bryony said. “Anyone that practices a martial art to a high level knows that it involves incredible dedication and discipline, and also pushes your body and mind to the limits of endurance.”

Originally part of U.K MMA pioneer (and ex UFC athlete) Rosi Sexton’s mentoring scheme, Bryony went about taking Rosi’s advice on training, nutrition, competing and training with Rosi. “I was very privileged to be on a mentorship scheme with Rosi. I gained invaluable advice at the beginning of my amateur career” said Bryony.

The 18th of May 2013 is a day that Bryony will forever have as a fond memory. It was when she made her amateur debut and found out exactly what she is capable of in the cage. “I think the only way to truly know how good you are at fighting is to compete. Being locked in a cage with another trained fighter who can use pretty much any style or technique against you is the ultimate test”, Bryony said when recalling the first time she stepped into the cage.

Not only content with competing in amateur MMA bouts, but Bryony also tested her skills by competing in white-collar boxing bouts, Muay Thai bouts, and grappling matches to gain invaluable experience before turning pro in November 2015.

Holding a current professional record of 4 wins 3 losses and 1 draw, with all 3 of those losses coming from title fights with two of those athletes currently competing in the UFC and Bellator, Bryony is no stranger to adversity in the MMA industry.

Having started in her MMA career aged 33, Bryony was considered by some promotions and coaches to be ‘too old’ to be competing in the sport. Once Bryony turned pro at the age of 35 and started to win, it was only then that she began to believe in herself more and knew that ‘age was just a number’. At least, to her anyway, and she set about proving just that.

Having gone 4-3-1 in her pro career, taking short notice fights and a title fight in a weight class above her usual weight division, Bryony felt that her current gym, Exile, had let her down. “I felt like the industry had written me off for being too old, and some of the coaches at my gym had said I was too old and slow after I lost the Cage Warriors title fight against Molly McCann. When they wrote me off because of that loss, I didn’t think that was fair. It was quite demoralizing for me. The whole experience was quite demoralizing, and I just stopped the enjoyment of the sport.

On top of that, Cage Warriors wouldn’t give me a fight at strawweight, and I felt I was not valued as a fighter, and not being given significant opportunities. It just wasn’t worth the sacrifice anymore. So, I decided to retire in July 2018.”

Since retiring from competitive MMA, Bryony thought that she’d feel better because of the less stress involved and would have more time to spend with her husband and two children. However, she felt like there was a massive hole in her life and felt very down, having nothing to work towards with the Adrenalin rush that she always knew she had. “Having just a normal life is not good enough for me. I know it is quite a selfish attitude to have especially the fact that I have got young children and an amazing husband and a stressful job. I need that buzz to make me happy.”

Looking to replace that ‘buzz’ Bryony decided she would concentrate on achieving the top levels in grappling. After taking home silver at the IBJFF and silver at the UK ADCC, she didn’t have the same drive for grappling as she did in MMA, stating that “I didn’t put 100% in because I just didn’t have that kind of fear factor that someone is going to smash your face in if you don’t train properly, and it wasn’t dangerous for me.”

On May 30^th, 2019 it was officially announced that Bryony had come out of retirement and will be competing on the Bellator London card on June 22^nd at the SSE Arena, where she will face the current kickboxing champion Denise Kielholtz in a flyweight MMA bout. A fight that has been over a year in the making, as Bryony initially accepted a short notice (1 week) fight against Denise back in February 2018 but had to withdraw due to being medically suspended after her fight with Molly McCann. It was suggested to Bryony that Denise wasn’t matched up for the London card and did she fancy another fight. It was at that point that Bryony messaged her managers, who then contacted Bellator, and they came back with a yes straight away.

With ten weeks to prepare for the bout, Bryony went to Cross Face gym in Watford, training with head coach Dave Lee and Charlie Leary who is also on the London card. For the final two weeks of her training camp, Bryony flew out to Thailand to train at UFC athlete Johnny Walker and Leo Gosling’s new gym Chokchai Muay Thai. “While Johnny and Leo were here in Southampton, I trained with them, so it made sense for me to go out and spend two weeks over at there new gym in Thailand. They have a few UFC athletes training there, and Jorge Kanella who is also on the London card. Being surrounded by world-class coaches and fighters, this fight camp has been on a different level to any other I’ve had. They treat me as an equal, and I’m keeping up with these guys who are top-level pro fighters, so it’s been a massive confidence boost to come back to fighting after people had written you off. I’ve got some amazing people around me that believe in me, and I know I can win this fight.”

With the advantage of having 16 MMA fights compared to Denise’s 4 MMA fights, and factoring in that Denise is Bellator’s kickboxing champion and has had numerous kickboxing bouts, Bryony realises that Denise is a superb striker, having watched a lot of her fights just purely to learn from her and improve her own striking. She is also a classy athlete and represents the sport incredibly well.

Feeling that this is a good match-up and an opportunity Bryony had been asking for throughout her MMA career, she now thinks that having dedicated her life to MMA and competing for the last five years, come June 22^nd it will have paid off.

With the fact that Denise is a world champion kick-boxer, Bryony knows that it is unrealistic to think she could beat a multiple world champion striker on her feet, and therefore feels Denise will probably think that Bryony will want to get her to the ground as that is where she tends to do best. “She will be physically stronger than me and be powerful so it will be down to see who can implement their fight game, as always in MMA.

“It’s going to be a fair fight as we both have had a good preparation for this bout. I think I am probably going in there as the underdog and that’s fine with me as that’s normal, but the nice thing for me is she may well be a top striker in Bellator and the promotion, but we are fighting in London in front of my home crowd, which is nice for me because it’s rare that I get to fight in front of a home crowd. It is going to be amazing to have support there, and I’m also fighting on the same card as good friends of mine, Kate Jackson, Charlie Leary and Jorge Kanella, and Johnny and Leo are also going to be there. It is going to be amazing.”

Aiming for a submission win, Bryony has one last thing to say. “Last year my fire went out, this year it’s back with a vengeance! I am incredibly honoured and grateful for this opportunity on the world stage against such an impressive opponent. I got written off as a fighter. This year, I’m training alongside Bellator and UFC athletes treated as equal. Don’t let anyone crush your dreams if you surround yourself with the right people you will succeed!”

Bellator 199 – Full Results and pictures

The SAP Center in San Jose, California was host to Bellator 199 last night for the quarter-final of the Bellator Grand Prix, headlined by Ryan Bader who faced Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal.

Bellator 199 main card results:

Ryan Bader defeated Muhammed ‘King Mo’ Lawal via KO (punch): 15 Round 1

Jon Fitch defeated Paul Daley via unanimous decision (29-27, 29-26, 29-26)

Aaron Pico defeated Lee Morrison via TKO (body punch) 1:10 Round 1

Cheick Kongo defeated Javy Ayala via KO (punches) 2:29 Round 1

Adam Piccolotti defeated Carrington Banks via submission (rear-naked choke) 4:41 Round 3

A44I4552

Preliminary card results:

Hyder Amil defeated Elias Anderson via TKO 3:01 Round 2

Ignacio Ortiz defeated Matt Aragoni via TKO 2:57 Round 3

Mark Climaco defeated Daniel Oseguera via TKO 2:21 Round 1

J.J. Okanovich defeated Hugo Lujan via unanimous decision

Tom Ponce de Leon defeated Dominic Sumner via TKO 2:48 Round 2

Nohelin Hernandez defeated Josh San Diego via unanimous decision

Josh Paiva defeated Adam Antolin via KO: 32 Round 1

Cass Bell defeated Khai Wu via submission (guillotine choke) 3:27 Round 2

Jordan Williams defeated Brandon Hester via TKO (punches) 1:11 Round 2

Amber Leibrock defeated Janay Harding via unanimous decision (30-27, 30-26, 30-26)

James Terry defeated Danasabe Mohammed via unanimous decision (30-26, 30-26, 30-26)

Gaston Bolanos defeated Malcom Hill via TKO (leg kicks) 2:54 Round 1

Justin Tenedora defeated David Rivera via submission (triangle-choke) 4:27 Round 1

Deron Winn defeated Ahmed White via knockout (punches) 2:32 Round 1

All images courtesy of Bellator MMA

Bellator 154 Full Results

Bellator 154 took place Saturday, May 14th in San Jose, CA and was headlined a light heavyweight fight between Phil Davis and Muhammed Lawal.

Here are the full results:

Main Card

Phil Davis Def. Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 30-27, 30-27)
Saad Awad Def. Evangelista Santos via TKO 4:31 Round 1
Adam Piccolotti Def. Ray Wood via Submission (RNC) 3:17 Round 1
Andre Fialho Def. Rick Reger via KO (punch) 2:11 Round 1
Josh San Diego Def. Jeremiah Labiano via Unanimous Decision (29-28,29-28,29-28)

Preliminary Card

Mark Dickman Def. Thomas Diagne via TKO (strikes) 3:05 Round 3
Jaimelene Nievara Def. Stephanie Frausto via TKO (strikes) 2:43 Round 3
Joshua Hardwick Def. Jorge Acosta via Submission (Guillotine choke) 1:21 Round 1
Sam Spengler Def. Doyle Childs via Unanimous Decision (29-28, 29-28, 30-27)

MCGEARY SET TO MAKE MMA HISTORY AT BELLATOR 134: BRITISH INVASION

Liam McGeary is set to become the first Brit ever to claim a major MMA world championship as he challenges Emanuel Newton for the Bellator light heavyweight world title in Conneticut, USA, this month on February 27th at Bellator 134: McGeary vs Newton will go down at the Mohegan Sun arena in Coneticut topping a bill stacked with British fighters, aptly named ‘British invasion’.

British banger McGeary, originally from Andover, started his martial arts career in the channel island of Jersey and now fights out of Renzo Gracie’s MMA academy in New York. Should he win, he will be the first British fighter to claim a major world title in the sport in what would be only his tenth professional fight.

Undefeated at 9-0 (6-0 Bellator) with all of his Bellator wins coming inside the first round, he is widely touted as the man to take the strap from the significantly more experienced Newton (25-7-1) who holds notable wins over ‘King Mo’ Lawal, Attila Veigh and Joey Beltran.

McGeary is yet to see the second round since signing with Bellator, boasting two submissions and four knockouts, with the average time it takes him to dispatch his opponents coming in at under 2 minutes.

He blew through Bellator’s Light Heavyweight tournament and earned himself a shot at the gold by defeating American Top Team product Kelly ‘Crossface’ Anundson in the final via spectacular inverted triangle, a move which earned him Inside MMA’s ‘Submission of the Year’ award.

Last month all the British fighters on the card, which McGeary is headlining, converged at the Channel 5 television studios in London to promote the event and answer questions from the national MMA press….

“I really don’t know how he’s going to back that one up” said McGeary when told that Newton dismissed him as a worthy challenger and stated that he refuses to be beaten by a Brit. “I am going to beat him up everywhere, I won’t let any chances slip and the belt is coming back to Britain – I just can’t wait (until February 27th) to stop having the fight in my head and have it for real!”.

When asked about the ‘British Invasion’ event and fighting alongside his countrymen Paul Daley, Linton Vassell, Michael Page and James Thompson, McGeary stated – “It’s an honour to represent my country alongside these guys – On February 27th we are gonna show these yanks just what us Brits can do!”

‘British Invasion’ goes down at the Mohegan Sun arena in Uncasville, CT, USA, February 27th and the world’s MMA press will be on hand to see if McGeary can overthrow Newton in his backyard and bring the belt back to British shores.

[Press Release]

Bellator’s British Invasion – New Additions; King Mo, Cheick Kongo and Andre Santos

Bellator’s British Invasion has seen a new opponent for newly signed British fighter Paul ‘Semtex’ Daley (35-13), as Welterweight Champion Douglas Lima has been forced out of his bout due to injury.

Daley took to his facebook account earlier stating this:

Paul Daley FB Statement

Nervous, Scared??…..I understand, preparing to fight me…. I would be. It’s ok…. guess you get to have a few more photo shoots with the belt…. My focus has shifted, same date, new opponent…. British Invasion at Bellator 134

The new opponent is Andre “Chatuba” Santos (37-9) . A veteran of the sport in his own right, the Rio De Janeiro fighter has two more wins than Daley in four fewer fights. Santos defeated James Terry at Bellator 129, in what was his first fight on American soil. He now has his sights set on Daley, with hopes to win his seventh straight fight.

Also injury has forced the delay of a heavily anticipated matchup between Bobby Lashley (12-2) and James Thompson (20-14) but Bellator MMA officials have announced a blockbuster fight to replace it in Muhammed “King Mo” Lawal (14-4) vs. Cheick Kongo (22-9-2).

Bellator: British Invasion, which takes place on Friday, February 27, at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn. Main card airs live on Spike TV, while preliminary bouts stream on Spike.com.

Revisiting Season One.. Episode Ten.. Mark ‘The Hand Of’ Godbeer

It will be one year ago to the day on October 5th that Mark Godbeer was due to make his Bellator debut against Ron Sparks, but a Career threatening injury kept his debut waiting. I spoke to Mark about his injury, training and his Debut Bellator Main Event fight against Cheick Kongo one year on.

Keeping myself involved in MMA kept me going.

EB. You have not always been a heavyweight fighter have you?

MG. Early on in my amateur career I was a heavyweight fighter. I also had a few catch weight fights then I started cutting and cutting and dropped down to light heavy then went back up to heavyweight.

EB. We saw your first Pro fight at Heavyweight for the promotion BAMMA 9 back in March 2012, when you fought Catlin Zmarandescu, where you picked up a win in the first round due to TKO (corner stoppage). How was it for you stepping up in weight and gaining the all-important win in the new weight division?

MG. It was great. After coming of a loss at my previous weight division of Light Heavyweight to Anthony Taylor, I felt that I was really cautious in that fight but I kept my cool, picked my shots and got the job done, so to get the Win was great it all paid off.

EB. Was it your intention to move up to Heavyweight for a few fights before Bellator came knocking, or was it a choice made with you and your coach to move up a weight division way before thinking anything big was coming your way?

MG. After my last weight cut at light heavyweight I felt I was skinny as a rake, you see the likes of Max Nunes, they are big and they have a lot of muscle; I also being of a certain age was finding it a bit harder to cut those last few pounds so I had decided it was time to go back to my old days to Heavyweight. I talked it over with my manager and he agreed, but I am still today walking around at 240-242llb.

EB. You train out of Trojan Free Fighters in Cheltenham which is home to a lot of great UK & European talent and it is safe to say it is firmly putting their name on the Map. What helps make Trojan Free Fighters one of the best contended gyms to be a part of today in producing top athletes such as yourself?

MG. Trainers without a doubt Paul Sutherland is one of the best coaches the UK have to offer. Team bonding, there are no egos in the gym, everyone pushes each other and all so competitive, everyone helps one another, were like a family unit.

EB. How did your fighting nickname ‘The Hand of’ come about?

MG. It’s ‘The Hand’ I just tied the rest of it into my name, but after my first professional fight against Sam Hooker a couple of my friends started to call to me ‘The Hand’ after seeing the fight that I landed a couple of monstrous right hands and it’s been that ever since.

EB. You were due to make your Bellator Debut back on October 5th 2012 against Ron Sparks, but due to a career threatening Neck and Back Injury you had to withdraw, how did this injury occur?

MG. I was driving home from wrestling training when I had real bad pains in my neck. I then lost complete feeling in my hand and was rushed in for an emergency MRI, then rushed in for an emergency operation. I cannot pin point how as such it occurred, just accumulation of training which did result in a crack in my vertebrae and herniating the disc.

EB. Going from an all-time Career high, being signed to one of the best organisations in the world Bellator, then to have to deal with something that could off quite easily been the end of everything you had worked so hard for, how was it in those months after your injury for you?

MG. Horrible, worst time of my life, I was depressed. I became reliant on painkillers for a brief time it was a real horrible part of my life. I could not do nothing for six months, for five of those months I was in a neck brace. Going from training every day to doing nothing it really got to me as everything I liked doing before I was unable to do, to make matters worse when I had my operation that went wrong so I had to end up having another one!

EB. What kept you going through the darkest days to motivate you, to give you strength and determination, when at some points you could off quite easily given up?

MG. After the initial six months I just couldn’t sit around and do nothing anymore so I started teaching at one of the local clubs, although I could not join in, I was still part of the MMA community, it then progressed from there. I decided to put all my effort and energy into opening my own club in my home town of Brigwater, Sommerset, keeping myself involved in MMA kept me going.

EB. It was announced on Sunday September 9th that you are making your long awaited Debut for Bellator on 4th October against ex UFC Heavyweight fighter Cheick Kongo, not a bad start to Bellator 102, what do you think? (I’m smiling)

MG. It’s a great fight, great main event, and exposure but Bellator know what they are doing. A lot of people have already wrote me off, he is just another man, forget about his UFC career, forget who he has fought, look at him as a fighter, I know I can truly beat him.

EB. Does it usually bother you, who your opponent is when it’s been decided on a fight for you (obviously you agree to the fight as well as your coaches and management team), or is it just a case of getting on with the job in front of you?

MG. I’m at the level now where we don’t turn down fights, we are there to be tested and that’s the good thing with Paul Sutherland we’re professional fighters and if the fight is there we will fight who is put in front of us.

EB. Being out for 18months, does that bother you mentally? Will there be any ‘cage rust’ so say when you step into the cage to face Cheick Kongo? Or will Head Coach, Paul Sutherland will have made sure you have been prepared for this fight 100%, facing the famous ‘Meat Day’ sessions full on every Sunday to make sure you are prepared?

MG. Without a doubt I am ready for this fight, I don’t believe in the term ‘Ring Rust’, the nerves are different on fight day which are good nerves. If I have prepared for every situation in the gym and had the right training for this fight (for which I have), then I am not going to be shocked. I’ve been in with some big guys over my fight career so far and I know what to expect.

EB. You bring an astonishing record of 8-1 into the cage and not only that but you have also never seen the third round in any of your 9 professional fights with 6 of them coming via TKO/KO which again is also impressive. How are you going about preparing for what I imagine is your biggest challenge to date as in Cheick Kongo?

MG. It is going to be the biggest fight of my life, but I cannot look at this fight as it’s ‘Cheick Kongo’ I am looking at it as he is another man who has hole’s in his game and I will exploit them, also being prepared for his strong points, as there will be times when he will be stronger, but also times when I will be stronger.

EB. Although a lot of people would only be looking at your opponent’s name and career record which is 18-8-2 and then looking at your name and career record 8-1, they probably won’t be looking at the bigger picture, which is when you actually break down Cheick Kongo’s win’s, his KO win is 10 and submission is 3, put that together with yours, KO wins 6, submission 2, I call this a very even fight, what can Bellator fans expect to see on October 4th?

MG. It will be an entertaining fight, we have very similar styles, take away his name, who he has fought, look at our styles and how we have fought, we are similar. The fans will get an entertaining fight.

EB. Anyone you would like to thank?

MG. Pound Out, Sci Max, Rolling Big Power, Lexani, Club Rio Brigwater, Smuggling Dudds, Paul Sutherland, all my team mates, coaches, Trojan free fighters.

5 Quick FUN Questions

EB. If you could change 1 rule in MMA what would it be?

When they purposely put their hand down to stop a knee coming

EB. Favourite International Fighter?

Dan Henderson

EB. Favourtie Food?

Anything – I’m a heavyweight now!

EB. What song do you usually sing in the shower?

A bit of Neil Diamond

Mark is fighting live in the Bellator 102 series on Friday October 4th visit http://www.spike.com for more information.

Photo courtesy of Huw Fairclough (c) Short & Round

Bellator signs Trojan Free Fighter Stuart Austin

Bellator have added a new UK heavyweight to their growing roster of talented fighters.

CEO Bjorn Rebney tweeted:

Fighting out of the well known Trojan Free Fighters in Cheltenham, Stuart Austin (7-0) , known for his ‘He-Man’ style in appearance; the undefeated heavyweight had his busiest year to date fighting three times, including defending his Heavyweight Title Belt at Pain Pit Fight Night 7 – Collision in Wales and just coming off a . 40 second KO win against Lewis Tynan at Ultimate Impact 10 on November 16th.

Austin has finished six out of his seven opponents with only one going to a decision, which was his second pro fight back in 2011; his first pro fight lasted 1 min.12 sec back in 2010 winning via TKO.

Being signed to Bellator is certaintly what Austin deserves, and the big step up in competition he will be facing is clearly one he and his team, along with Head Coach Paul Sutherland are fully committed to taking; after all Austin now gets to join the ranks of fellow team mate Mark Godbeer in the Bellator MMA heavyweight ranks.

No official date or opponent has been confirmed as of yet, but it is expected that the debut will be in the spring for his first outing and NOT part of the tournament format to begin with.

Photo Credit: Huw Fairclough (Short&Round)

June 3rd 2013 ‘Words from The War Machine’

In the early hours of June 3rd I got a message back of Jonathan Koppenhaver aka War Machine, who I had been previously speaking too, on and off since his release from Jail; although it had never crossed my mind to do an Interview with him, I did one day just randomly ask that question, me being me, having no game plan, nothing at all wrote down, I did know on what angle I wanted to do the interview, I don’t think War Machine got my concept on where I was coming from though, I personally was pleased with it, it did however, turn out to be written in a blog/style format with some Q&A, if you didn’t catch it, I made sure it was published a few days his Bellator fight with Blas Avena and you can read it here:

In the early hours of June 3rd I finally managed to get a Skype Interview, well more of a chat with War Machine aka Jonathan Koppenhaver, who is making his return to the octagon on June 19th against Blas Avena after being re-signed to Bellator, and if you know anything about War Machine then you will know that this wasn’t going to be any ordinary conversation. He is one of the very few, I feel brutally honest people out there, who says how it is and doesn’t believe in sugar-coating anything. You either like this guy or you don’t it’s as simple as that, but then again I too believe in saying it how it is, to me this was a match made in heaven.

Ok so I’ve done a little bit of research on War Machine purely for my own reasons, if you catch my drift, after all you’ve got to get know the person you’re about to talk to – right? And this is one person whose public perception I feel really needs changing for the better, but that’s just my opinion.

On December 7, 2011 it was announced that War Machine was re-signed to an exclusive deal with Bellator Fighting Championships and would be competing in their Season 6 Welterweight Tournament. War Machine was expected to fight Karl Amoussou in the opening round of the welterweight tournament at Bellator 63. However, War Machine was sentenced to a year in prison for the prior assault in Las Vegas, Nevada from December 2009 and was forced out of the bout and the tournament. It was a little after this I personally became interested in War Machine, when I found an online blog called “War Machine’s Prison Diaries” which detailed everyday he spent in prison for the 2nd time. He also documented his first time which is also available to read online. To me there was something about him that I could relate too on so many different levels (and before anyone thinks it – No I’ve not been in prison), so that’s where my research on War Machine began.

War Machine was set to make his Bellator Debut on January 17, 2013 against UK’s Paul Daley, in a fight which was put to the fans vote which would open up the first of the Welterweight Tournament. War Machine however he tore his ACL which forced him out of the fight. After all he had previously been through, this was a big blow to him and thought karma once again had dealt him a bad hand.

Fast forward 5 months to current day and…..

War Machine (12-4) will face Blas Avena (8-6) at Bellator 96 on June 19, 2013.

I’ve just logged into Skype for the first time yep, I’ve not actually done this before, so it’s going to be very random because that is me all over, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Besides in the initial “Hey” the first thing War Machine asks me is “Where is the Nandos at”? Yep, when he came over here to fight on BAMMA 3 against Zach Light back in May 2010 he couldn’t get enough of Nandos.

You’re finally getting your debut fight for Bellator on June 19th, which is great as UK fans who can also finally get to watch Bellator for the first time on TV (Channel VIVA), what are your thoughts on Blas Avena?

My only thought is that I’m gonna smash him. I got better stand up, better wrestling, I’m stronger, tougher, all he has is a Black Belt in Jiu Jitsu. What’s he gonna do lie on his back and submit me? Like fat chance, you know it’s not gonna happen. He’s tough, but he’s not tougher than me. He’s not got enough tools to beat me, I’m gonna smash him.

Would you say you have any “Cage Rust” going into this fight, having not fought, since beating Roger Huerta on 26th November 2011?

No, I fight in the gym everyday so my “cage rust” has already gone. I had Cage Rust when I first came out of Jail and first went to practice, but I’ve been training every day and fighting my team mates, now I’m back to normal.

How is your knee holding up after tearing your ACL?

I had a partial tear in my ACL, I didn’t get surgery and I just let it heal up and rested up. It’ s like 90%, feels pretty good, once in a while it bugs me nothing crazy, its good, I’m good.

I read on your Twitter that you don’t get your Medical bills paid by Bellator or anyone; surely if you fight for an organisation they should pay your Medical bills?

Bellator only have insurance when you get hurt in the cage during an actual contracted fight. I got hurt when I was training for my fight, I don’t have my own insurance.

I briefly touch on the subject of me wanting to know more about him and his past, that makes him the person he is today. However, I am also a bit reluctant to do so but I say it to him straight in my own words of course – (well it is me we’re talking about and I don’t do a soft approach), “ I don’t want to piss you off or get a pissed off you but I’m intrigued by you, your “Prison Diaries” and that side to you.” War Machine replies, “I won’t Piss him off or get him pissed off.” Hhmm that’s great I’m thinking I will return to that subject further down the line I think.

“You have to do something really dumb to get me real mad”

Ok so as soon as I mention “Love Life looking up” I get a cheeky laugh with a cheeky grin. I ask is it “Christy” (as in Christy Mack) to which he confirms it is. If you guys don’t know who Christy Mack is then I suggest you may just want to google her! Tip! Just make sure your other half is nowhere to be seen and clear the cache/search engine of your internet browser after doing so. He also states Christy as his Girlfriend; if anyone knows War Machine he doesn’t have Girlfriends and certainly doesn’t publically announce them. This makes this information big news in War Machine’s life. If you have read his “prison diaries” you will know exactly where I am coming from. With the break up in his marriage, how hard it was for him to deal with it, and saying he “was never going have another Girlfriend,” I for one am glad to see that War Machine is starting to believe again in that side of things.

“Shit happens it’s like you get drunk and you get a hangover and say you’re not ever gonna get drunk again and you drink again”

War Machine on Christy Mack

“She’s cool, she’s really smart, that’s the best part about her. Christy is one of the smartest girls I have ever met seriously, if not, the most, smartest. Most porn girls are stupid.”

Then I ask a dumb question for which I really knew the answer deep down, but you know when you just get lost in the conversation and it all goes out the window, yep I had that moment and anyone that really knows me, knows this is truly the real me. Thankfully however it still flowed really well for me.

What came first, the fighting or making the porn movies?

The Fighting (yeah it was obvious, but you can see why I got carried away in our conversation)!

How did you end up in the porn industry?

After I started fighting, I then got famous, so these porn girls wanted to f**k me, and they said you should do porn, so one day I said f**k it and I did it.

Did you make good money from it?

Yeah, when I was doing it

At this point as we’re casually talking and it’s not like an interview whatsoever. I say “Ok most of this is what has intrigued me so far by the way, but I know the UK fans will be so I won’t put all of this in the interview.” War Machine replies, “I don’t care because what interests you will interest other people.” Finally someone who gets it! Music to my ears! Just to let you all know, I haven’t held a single thing back that me and War Machine have talked about.

War Machine views on the Paul Daley situation, his visa issue and Bellator.

“He’s lucky he only got his visa suspended. I got put in Jail for a year for a bloody lip. He’s lucky he’s English; I would have paid $100,000 for a visa problem. Hell yeah Bellator will keep him on, we’re fighter’s, this is what we do. Who cares if we get in one little street fight”.

Did you learn anything in going to Jail?

No it didn’t teach me shit.

It didn’t rehabilitate you whatsoever?

No it’s just got me angrier, pissed off and worse. Jails a big waste of time and space of life but I don’t wanna go back there. Now I’m just like a Hermit, I don’t go out, I don’t do stuff, I don’t wanna risk getting into trouble, but I’m still the same guy, f**k them. I didn’t do anything wrong in the first place. I don’t think it should be against the law to fight, I mean it’s like a natural fun thing.

So are you saying the system does not work?

No it’s stupid

When I first started reading War Machine’s Prison Diaries I remember him saying in the very early days, that it’s not the actual person who is doing the so-called “Time” in prison that it affects. It’s the people who are left behind. Now we all know of someone who has been in prison, but it’s not until it’s a close family member/friend that you can personally relate to what War Machine has stated and I would say not a truer word has been said.

War Machine says I’m a sucky interviewer, that maybe true, but only because I had no set question’s laid out, but that’s just my style. I’d rather have a “conversation” based interview over a Q&A interview any day but again that’s just me.

How has it been adjusting since coming out of prison?

The first couple of days sucked real bad, slowly you get used to it, but it’s hard. You go to jail, you lose your car, you lose your credit, your money, you lose everything you have. You got to come out and start all over again. It’s tough but what can you do? You got to keep going forward.

Your probation deal sounds pretty harsh from your twitter feeds, how does that work?

They don’t come to my house that much, (part of War Machine’s probation is random house checks) but when they do come its annoying as hell.

How often do you see your probation worker?

Once a month

That’s not too bad really, have you changed to a male one yet?

Yeah he’s way better than the female, she was a f**king c**t!

Ok I have to clear this up now; do you actually have an issue with females in authority?

(War Machine said nothing I asked was going to piss him off, unless it was really dumb and I personally did not class this as dumb, it was a fair question)

I have a problem with anyone in authority; no one should be in authority. No one should be the boss of me. I don’t respect any authority; it takes more than just your title or position for me to respect you. There has to be a reason for me to respect you. I’m not going to respect you just because you’re wearing a badge or you happen to be in this spot in office. I couldn’t give a f**k. I respect you for reasons I respect you for, you know, I don’t care if it’s a girl or a guy I’m not going to respect you just because you got a badge on. That does not mean shit to me, I have a problem with all authority.

Respect is basically earned?

Yeah I’m not gonna give it just because!

So what is next after Blas Avena?

The Bellator tournament in September, for which I will win; I’ll win $100k. Fight the champion that fluffy head little bitch Ben Askren, I’m going beat his ass.

I asked about the fight deal Bellator made with War Machine, as I always believed Fighters were contracted to a certain amount of fights i.e a 3 or 5 fight deal. Then the contract to be renewed or not as in some cases, but this is not the case. This is how War Machine described it too me.

“If I won the tournament, the belt and became Bellator Champ, well UFC gonna try to sign me, but Bellator has the last say. I can only leave if the UFC are offering more money than Bellator, so Bellator gets the last say. So if Bellator matches that I can’t leave, Bellator always have the last say”

Would you, if Dana came back to you, go back to the UFC?

I don’t really give a shit, I don’t. NO; period! I’ve already been there, I’ve seen all these guys go there that suck, it isn’t that special anymore. I just wanna fight and make money; do you know what I mean? I’m happy with Bellator because they don’t whine and cry when I say something. The UFC are like NAZIS, you say one thing and they suspend you or fire you, I like Bellator because I can say what I wanna say, Bellator lets me be me still.

With your current probation situation would it stop you being able to come to the UK?

I would need to go to the court to ask permission. I love the UK, I love fighting there, I love how they say C**t and F**k off. If I go there, I hope the Queen grants me a full pardon so I can stay there forever, America sucks.

Since Paul Daley has visa issues and the fans voted for you both to fight in the last Bellator Welterweight Tournament; of which you had to pull out due an ACL tear, would you be up for fighting Paul Daley in the UK?

I would love to go to the UK and fight Paul Daley. That’s a tough fight, I like Paul Daley, he’s kinda like me but he’s black. I like him, but I like to beat him up too. I’d love to go to England, eat some Nandos, I love England I’d have so much fun there.

It appears my interview/chat has gone full circle. War Machine started with Nandos and we appeared to have ended randomly with Nandos and no I’ve not even changed the opening and ending questions around, it has just played out that way. For someone who hadn’t planned a single part of this interview/chat and even got called a sucky interviewer, I personally don’t think I’ve done too bad but hey that’s just my opinion.

Since doing this Interview/Chat with War Machine he had taken to his Twitter account on June 6th by quoting the following: (there is relevance why I’ve added it in here).

“Here’s a big F**k YOU to all you cheap a** MMA sponsors out there, kill yourselves, we bust our asses in that cage for PENNIES, f**k you. You f**king clothing companies, promoters & managers get rich off of OUR pain and suffering ya’ll and have the nerve to nickel & dime us? In 2008 Sprawl paid me like $1200 (maybe more, I forget) to wear their shorts on a NON-televised fight, now they offer $500? JOKE! All of you dumb f— fighters need to start telling these companies to F**k OFF! Don’t accept their low ball offers, make them pay us fair!”

“I’ll wear a BLANK shirt, a BLANK hat and BLANK shorts-no they won’t be blank, they’ll say, “MMA SPONSORS ARE CHEAP F**S” on them all! EVERYONE in MMA is making money EXCEPT the f**-ing fighters! I bet Arianny Celeste makes more f**king money holding up a f**king ring card! And ALL of you MMA fighters who are seeing my f**king posts and AREN’T RT’ing them have no f**king balls! You know I speak the truth”

“I’d rather sit here and promote the few good companies for FREE, than to promote a company who wants to pay me PENNIES to wear their shit”

Just after these tweets (with some others in between) War Machine announced Bellator will be televised on UK TV on channel VIVA, you would think that sponsor’s would be lining up at this HUGE opportunity?

June 7th War Machine Tweets

“See what happens when you have BALLS and stand your ground!!! REAL sponsor in the works, an MMA company trying to do shit RIGHT! Stand by.”.

“All you COWARD ass “fighters” out there need to take notes from DADDY and grow a pair of balls so that you can get the $ you deserve too”.

“I want to send a big THANK YOU to my new sponsor @TheSaintApparel , I look forward to working with you guys, thanks for backing me up!”

It took one whole day for War Machine to get a Sponsorship deal, and not just any sponsorship deal with just any company; you may not have heard of The Saint Apparel, but be prepared to in a BIG way; as always I do my homework (much to contrary belief) so I checked them out.

This is their “about them page”

Stay Humble.

Saint Apparel Canada

Saint Apparel is a Canadian made brand for the people who are motivated by success. We represent the core behind what drives people to do well; to prevail over hardship and overcome difficulty.

We come from humble beginnings. We have been considered underdogs. We fight for success and will not stop until we reach our destination.

Everyone fights for something. What do you fight for?

I contacted The Saint Apparel originally to ask permission to use their photograph of War Machine to go with my Interview (for which I had seen an associate of The Saint Apparel, tweet to Jon) whilst we corresponded over e-mail I asked for a Statement as to why they chose to sponsor War Machine, this is what they had to say:

“We chose War Machine because he has always been known as an honest guy.

The word “Humble” may not be the first thing that comes to mind in relation to him, but I think he is incredibly humble deep down in his heart.

There always seems to be something going on with War as well. People love to watch him and listen to what he has to say.

He is an incredibly underrated fighter, and we think he could be a force to be reckoned with in the near future.

On top of all of these things, I personally used to idolize this guy when I was in high school.

He speaks his mind, he can fight, and the girls love him!”

Josh Rose

Owner and Founder

The Saint Apparel

War Machine trains out of Und1sputed Gym in San Diego, you can follow him on Twitter (if you don’t already I don’t know where you have been) @WarMachine170, for his new sponsor head over tohttp://www.thesaintapparel.com @TheSaintApparel and for nutrition his other sponsor http://www.gardenoflife.com, @gardenofliferaw

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this:

Share this: