Turi Altavilla, Jay Tan and I are putting on our inaugural amateur MMA show on April 17th at the Avalon in Hollywood. Tickets are on sale NOW! If you are in SoCal — come join us!
The University of MMApresents our first event of 2011. “The U” showcases the top aspiring amateur MMA fighters in California. Our next event, scheduled for Sunday, April 17th at Avalon Hollywood, features fighters from all throughout Southern California, including:
10th Planet Jiu Jitsu
Adrenaline MMA
Bond Squad
Destiny MMA
Dynamix Martial Arts
Krav Maga Worldwide
Legends MMA
PKG
Team Quest
West Coast Jiu Jitsu
Class is in session on April 17th, as the University of MMA opens its doors in Hollywood. Be there and don’t miss out – It starts here!
I spent this past weekend in Las Vegas for the UFC, at the Mandalay Bay. I flew out on Thursday night, flew back on Sunday morning, and spent some amazing quality time with a number of great friends in between.
If you have ever been to the fights at either the MGM or the Mandalay, you know the walk out of the arena, back into the casino, is a big pain. A huge amount of people are trying to get through a small space and you are crammed together and bored. As my friend, Tait, and I were inching our way out of the lobby I noticed the Marine Corps booth. I had passed by it a couple times earlier tin the weekend and kept thinking I needed to stop. No, I don’t want to become a Marine, but I did want to do their pull up challenge.
I poked Tait as we watched some poor fellow attempt something that did not in the least bit resemble pull ups. “I need to go over there and do that,” I said. “Will you take pictures?” Of course, Tait was all over it.
I darted over to the table, quickly filled out a “waiver” and went up to the pull up bar. The Marine in charge started explaining to me about doing a flexed arm hang instead of pull ups. I looked at him and said, “Can I kip?” and he said, “Oh, you want to do pullups?” I said yes and he told me to go right ahead. He and another Marine held onto the rack, I flipped off my heels, hopped up on the bar and started doing pull ups. I made it to twelve when the Marine noticed the bolt was coming out of the right arm of the rack. They tried to push it back in with me on it, but it wasn’t working, so I hopped off.
The Marine shook my hand and told me I was awesome. I said I could take any prize I wanted off their table.
Those of you who read this blog entry back in June, know that I recently realized just how much I missed being around the sport of MMA. It was a big part of my life for a number of years…and then I took a break for a few years. I got obsessed with CrossFit, got a little tired of traveling, and just needed a break.
Well, I didn’t even know it, but I REALLY missed it.
So now, I’m back! I’ve been catching up with old friends and hitting some of the events again. Recently, due to the world being a small place and a student of mine working for K-Swiss, I wound up at a K-Swiss launch party in Venice where Urijah Faber was present. (If you haven’t seen the Kenny Powers/Urijah Tubes commercials, you MUST!).
This past week I ventured out to Vegas for the second time this year and to my first MMA show since Pride was last in Vegas. Yes, that’s right, my last MMA show was the now defunct Pride! This time I was at the WEC 50 show, though. I used to go to every WEC show when they were still up in Lemoore, CA. This was my first time at one of their events since they were purchased by Zuffa and moved to Vegas. It was great to run into so many old friends and be at a live event again. It really is one of my favorite places to be. (And who wouldn’t be pleased at being seated next to Jake Shields??)
More MMA announcements on the horizon – really exciting stuff coming up for me soon!
This is a recent interview with UFC Middleweight contender, Chael Sonnen. The first four minutes is a really interesting conversation for anyone who considers themselves competitive. Part of it reminded me of my own personal CrossFit struggle — the idea of consistently being accepting of being completely uncomfortable.
Those of you who read 
This past week I ventured out to Vegas for the second time this year and to my first MMA show since Pride was last in Vegas. Yes, that’s right, my last MMA show was the now defunct Pride! This time I was at the WEC 50 show, though. I used to go to every WEC show when they were still up in Lemoore, CA. This was my first time at one of their events since they were purchased by Zuffa and moved to Vegas. It was great to run into so many old friends and be at a live event again. It really is one of my favorite places to be. (And who wouldn’t be pleased at being seated next to Jake Shields??)
