Big losses and long stretches of inactivity can do strange things to fighters. Some of them will develop a new shtick, or use an old one to set off the media drama that will win them another fight and possibly a bigger paycheck. But the strangest thing it can do to a fighter is to […]

At last, Jose Aldo and Conor McGregor are going to fight. The trash-talk, wordplay, and toughguy-drama (mostly fueled by McGregor) is settling down, and this is the quiet before the storm that will go down tonight at UFC 194. Unless one of these guys plays an unexpected takedown game, we’re going to see a brutal […]

Last Saturday, I coached my teammate Rubin Pushpangathan at The Good Fight’s Winter BJJ Open submissions-only tournament. He took 2nd place in white belt gi – a division I love to watch due to its elimination of avant-garde leg-lock games that are typically used to stall. Anyway, with two submission wins, a grueling back-and-forth in […]

Well, I’m glad I’m not a betting man, because I would have lost a lot of money last Saturday at UFC 193. I would have put all my money on Ronda Rousey beating Holly Holm via superior clinch work, takedowns, and ground control. Holm certainly prepared well, as she negated almost all of that. But […]

If Holly Holm was fighting anyone less than Rhonda Rousey on UFC 193 this Saturday, then the UFC hype-train would have some top-grade coal to burn. I’m not saying that Holm can’t win; her MMA record stands at 9-0, and that’s nothing to scoff at. Some argue that Holm has been fed nothing but tomato […]

One drawback to martial arts in general is that you simply can’t train all day. So when you’re resting or injured, it’s good to have other ways to fulfill your nature as a fighter, but without choking or punching actual people. This is where good videogames come into play. I’ve been a fan of Capcom’s […]

Tonight, we had a great Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu 101 class in which we drilled some self-defense headlock escapes based on your opponent’s positioning. Remember that it’s essential to have backup escapes; after all, there’s no one escape that’ll enable you to escape everything! Always obey the philosophy of “Right time, right technique, right opponent.” We also […]

Fighters and politicians are so different that I probably use different brain cells just to think about either of them. However, their one commonality is that they’re both often masterful excuse-makers. Sure, plenty of them aren’t (Randy Couture, Matt Hughes, etc.). However, plenty of them are, and I’ll admit that if I sacrificed all of […]

There’s no shortage of internet videos detailing the effectiveness of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. There’s also no shortage of internet trolls (i.e. pranksters and agitators) who make excuses for punks who get choked out and twisted into pretzel-shapes. Sometimes these trolls are simply in it for the lulz (for their own amusement), but many others actually believe […]

This story is exactly why I believe that every man, woman, and child should train martial arts. Ask yourself this question, would you be able to defend yourself in a home invasion if 4 men broke into your house? What if they were armed and you weren’t? What if not only did you have to […]