Rey Diogo Seminar at Vianna Brothers

A Pan Am and Brazilian national champion, Rey Diogo is a black belt under Carlson Gracie. He’ll be teaching a seminar at Vianna Brothers BJJ on Saturday, March 8 from 11am to 1:30pm. Cost is $55 for non-members.

Black Dragon Karate Tournament at Combat-Do

Meet Bad Brad Hefton at the Black Dragon Karate Tournament at Combat-Do, presented by Lassiter Martial Arts.

Results: United Combat League ‘Havoc in Hammond’

Pro Card

Miguel Torres (Torres Martial Arts) def. Giovanni Moljo (Team Top Notch) – UD< 30-27 on all cards.
Joe Benoit (Gilbert Grappling) def. Jason Graves (Spider Gym MMA) - submission - RNC, 2:08 of rd. 1
Manny Vazquez (Patriot Grappling) def. Miguel Garza (Uflacker Academy) submission - armbar, 2:41 of rd. 1

UCL Middleweight Championship

Nick Garcia def. Josh Weddington (Team Undeground) submission – RNC, 2:10 of rd. 3, retains UCL Middleweight title.

Amateur Bouts

Joe Mahy (Gilbert Grappling) def. Michael Shofroth (Team Underground) submission – guillotine, :45 of rd. 1
Jim Peterson, Sr. (Top Level MMA) def. Glenn Evans, submission – standing guillotine, 1:59 of rd. 1
Matt Giancarlo (Gilbert Grappling) def. Michael Dombrowski – submission – keylock, 1:52 of rd. 1
Anthony Lanovic (Top Level MMA) def. Mike Young (Team Underground) via unanimous decision
Daniel McGing (Team Underground) def. Bryan Titus (4th Street Hooligans) – Tap due to strikes, 1:39 of rd. 1
Jacob Morales (Duneland Vale Tudo) def. Neko Durant (Team Underground) – Submission – D’Arce choke, 2:14 rd. 2
Dean Neely (Team Underground) def. Phillip Garreau (Elite Performance) – Split Decision

Shoaff and Tweedy Put on Best Fight in Hoosier Fight Club History

by Greg Harrison & Matt Lo Cascio

Evolution MMA’s Tom Shoaff and Austin Tweedy put on a fight for the ages Saturday night at HFC 19, with promoter Paul Vale calling it the best fight in Hoosier Fight Club history. The lightweight battle might have given new meaning to ‘main event.’

Tweedy was aggressive early and got a takedown, but Shoaff weathered the early storm and picked apart Tweedy with a series of kicks and devastating shots, knocking Tweedy against the cage. Tweedy appeared hurt by Shoaff’s explosive punches, but was able to survive the round.

The second round was a huge back and forth battle both standing and on the ground, a round that two judges gave to Tweedy and one gave to Shoaff.

Shoaff went off in the final round, displaying a relentless attack of speed and power. He started by cutting Tweedy’s nose open with devastating knees and continued to punish him throughout the round.  Tweedy showed a huge amount of heart, but Shoaff dominated. The final horn sounded with Tweedy appearing to have a broken nose and the cage canvas splattered with blood. Shoaff won via unanimous decision, 30-27, 29-28 and 29-28.

After the fight ended, Paul Vale made an announcement proclaiming it the best fight in the history of Hoosier Fight Club.

“It was an honor fighting Austin and receiving greatest fight in HFC history. I’ll remember last night for the rest of my life. I wouldn’t change a thing. We put on a beautiful show and I was able to walk away, barely, victorious,” Shoaff told Chicago’s MMA.

The card at the Porter County Expo Center featured a total of eight professional fights and five amateur bouts, including the first-ever women’s atomweight title fight.

Lightweights kicked off the professional portion of the card with James Mogollon facing John Dutton. Mogollon landed a flush right kick that floored Dutton in the first round, and he would make quick work after the knockdown getting submission by guillotine choke at 1:02 of the first round.

Gilbert Grappling fighter Justin Hughes made his pro debut against Michael Jordan in a bantamweight battle. Hughes managed to floor Jordan early with a strong overhand right. As Hughes went in for a finish, Jordan recovered and seemed to be active on the top position. Hughes looked to escape and got a reverse. Hughes tried to get busy on top but was caught in triangle choke by Jordan, forced to tap at the 4:08 mark of the opening round.

In other fights:

• Dustin Pape scored a unanimous decision victory over Yousef Al-Ghoul.
• Booby Moffat survived an early slam from Terry House to win by D’Arce choke in round one.
• Gilbert Grappling’s Rob Caulfield won via unanimous decision over Erick Lozano.
• Matt Henry proved to be too fast for Zach Harvey, stunning him early then sinking in a fight-ending guillotine choke at 2:45 of the first round
• Veterans Kevin Nowaczyk and Shamar Bailey fought to the final horn, with Nowaczyk’s wrestling and cage control the difference in a unanimous decision win.

HFC 19 Quick Results
Tom Shoaff defeated Austin Tweedy by unanimous decision
Kevin Nowaczyk defeated Shamar Bailey by unanimous decision
Matt Henry defeated Zach Harvey – submission by guillotine choke at 2:45 of round 1
Rob Caulfield defeated Erick Lozano by unanimous decision
Bobby Moffatt defeated Terry House - submission by D’Arce choke at 3:25 of round 1
Michael Jordan defeated Justin Hughes – submission by guillotine choke 4:08 of round 1
James Mogollon defeated John Dutton – submission by guillotine choke at 1:02 of round 1
Dustin Pape defeated Yousef Al-Ghoul by unanimous decision

XFO 50 to Feature Fallon Fox, Danny Aguirre vs. Cory Galloway

by Matt Lo Cascio

The XFO will celebrate its 10-year anniversary in a big way — putting on their 50th pro show featuring a veritable who’s who of Chicago’s best MMA fighters.

The show will take place on Friday, March 21 at the UIC Pavillion, the first MMA show there since the WEC came to town in 2009.

Here are confirmed fighters/matchups as of now:

• Fallon Fox will fight in Chicago for the first time as a pro.
• Joey Diehl will drop to 115 lbs. and fight in the XFO’s first-ever men’s strawweight bout.
• MMA Stop/Uflacker Academy’s Danny Aguirre vs. Team Curran’s Cory Galloway
• Vince Romandine vs. Manny Vazquez
• Lawrence Dunning vs. Andrew Potapenko
• Matt “The Monster” Paul makes his pro debut against Lukasz Grabowski
• Anthony Goodwin vs. James Martin
• Midwest Training Center’s Rafal Skibinski will fight on the card, fresh off his dominating performance against Drew Reed at XFO 49. Skibinski recently opened Body TransforMMAtion Center in Oak Lawn with Andrew Krzeptowski, who will also fight at the event.
• As we previously reported, MTC’s Adam Maciejewski will continue his comeback at this event.
• Pearl Gonzalez, who had a remarkable amateur career here with Combat-Do, will fight for the first time in Chicago as a pro.
• Other fighters on the card include Oliver Vazquez, Ramy Daoud, Evolution MMA‘s Tom Shoaff and Maurice Greene.

Tickets will be on sale soon at Ticketmaster.com. More to come…

UCL’s Mike Davis on Miguel Torres, ‘Havoc in Hammond’

by Matt Lo Cascio

Mike Davis has wanted Miguel Torres to fight on one of his cards for many years. He finally got his man. The former WEC bantamweight champion will fight Giovanni Moljo on February 15 at the United Combat League show at the Hammond Civic Center.

That’s not necessarily news. But what you might not have known is that Davis was close to signing Torres years ago when he was trying to establish a bantamweight division for the short-lived Bodog Fight, a promotion that featured fighters such as Duneland Vale Tudo’s Keith Wisniewski, Chael Sonnen, Nick Thompson, Eddie Alvarez and many others.

“The WEC was recently purchased by the UFC and that they were also pursuing Miguel. It turned out to be somewhat of a bidding war and they were able to give him a larger contract than our budget allowed. In the end, Miguel made the right decision and although we didn’t do business together, we had always stayed in touch. Whenever I would run into Miguel, I would always mention to him that I wanted him back at Hammond. He would laugh, but he always had that look in his eye,” Davis told Chicago’s MMA.

One of the keys to sealing the deal was having the show at the Hammond Civic Center, where Torres fought the majority of his early fights with Total Fight Challenge and Ironheart Crown.

“The Hammond Civic Center is the crown jewel of the midwest MMA pioneer days, and the main reason it is so famous is because of all the blood and sweat Miguel gave while fighting in front of his hometown audience. As a promoter, I can not put into words the honor it is having Miguel on a card at the Civic Center.

“When Miguel and I sat down to discuss the event, we essentially had two options: we could either do an expensive ticket and have a good crowd in attendance, or we could have a ticket price that would guarantee that anyone who wanted to come see the event could afford to. It was an obvious choice. I am willing to bet that there isn’t a pro show that has been done in the Illinois/Indiana area with a ticket price as low as ours. On Feb 15, we are having a coming home party for Miguel and literally everyone is invited,” Davis said.

Although it will be the first time they work together on a fight card, Davis is almost certain it will not be the last.

“Both Miguel and I believe that this event is going to be special, if the event turns out the way he and I believe it will, I couldn’t imagine us working on another one in the near future.”

Although Torres is under contract with World Series of Fighting and is still featured on the WSOF website, he has no fights scheduled with them.

Davis isn’t sure how many events United Combat League will have in 2014, but he is sure that they will be back in Hammond, as well as 115 Bourbon Street.

“This event, outside of having Torres vs. Moljo, is kind of a coming out party for us as an organization. I do not have an exact number of events that I will be putting on, but I will say that I plan on being at the Hammond Civic Center at least four times this year. My event after this is going to be at 115 Bourbon Street on March 28, and our events will also feature some Saturday dates. I am looking at an event date in May for our next pro card in Hammond.”

Davis’ phone was working overtime after he announced the card and event, with a slew of fighters asking for a matchup to get on the card. He even received some calls from some of the sport’s luminaries.

“After I announced the card, I got a phone call from someone that I consider a lifelong friend, Wes Sims. He congratulated me on the announcement and said that he and Mark Coleman will be in attendance in order to help support the event. I have always been a fan of the Hammer House gym and for them to come out means a lot to me.”

Sims is a veteran of the UFC and a contestant on season 10 of “The Ultimate Fighter.” Coleman is the UFC Hall of Famer that is widely credited for paving the way for wrestlers to fight in the UFC, as well as being known as the “Godfather of Ground and Pound.”

The “Havoc in Hammond” show will also feature amateur fights, including a middleweight title fight between UCL champion Nick Garcia and hometown hero Josh Weddington. The two fought last July at 115 Bourbon Street, a fight that Davis says had the fans on their feet and screaming.

Gilbert Grapplng’s Matt Giancarlo will make his way back to the cage after a two-year layoff. He’ll fight Michael Dombrowski.

In other pro action, Gilbert Grappling’s Joe Benoit makes his return after more than three years away from the sport. He’ll take on Jason Graves, an exciting fighter that has fought in both Bellator and the XFO.

“Please come out and be a part of history on February 15, I promise that it will be an awesome experience for everyone,” Davis said. “But I suggest people get to this event early — it is going to be packed.”

For tickets and more information, visit the United Combat League website.

UFC in Chicago: Ben Henderson vs. Josh Thomson Preview [Video]

The UFC is coming back to Chicago and the United Center on January 25, with former UFC lightweight champion Ben Henderson pitted against former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson in the main event.

When I think about fighters that truly push the pace, Josh Thomson immediately comes to mind. He is one of the most exciting fighters to watch, yet one of the most underrated and under-appreciated of his era. He’ll bring out the best in Henderson, and make the former champ fight at the frenetic pace he sets.

Here’s a quick video preview of the event, and we’ll have much more on the card soon.

Big John McCarthy Seminar at Patriot Boxing

Big John McCarthy will be conducting a referee training class at Patriot Boxing in Downers Grove on January 26, the day after the UFC on Fox 10 takes place at the United Center.

The class is hosted by MMAC and will run from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. All participants will receive ABC approved certificate of completion.

The class will cover:

- Unified Rules
- Referee Mechanics and Positioning
- Situational Coaching
- Hands On Experience

Registration fees are $250 before January 15, and $300 after that. To register or for more information call Brian Puccillo @ 630-973-7606 or email mmaconsulting@hotmail.com.

Patriot Boxing is located at 2425 Curtiss St., Downers Grove, IL 60126

Rick Faye Seminar at Comprido BJJ

Southside Kali’s Sifu Marcus Charles, the longtime JKD/Kali instructor who has trained under Tom Cruse, Paul Vunak and Erik Paulson, is bringing back one of his other instructors for another seminar — Jeet Kune Do and Filipino Martial Arts expert Rick Faye.

Faye will be at Comprido BJJ for a two-day seminar on February 22 & 23. The teaching on February 22 will focus on JKD concepts. February 23 will cover Panantukan, a Filipino Kali style of boxing.

Faye coached Greg Nelson and Erik Paulson early in their careers, and he is one of Guro Dan Inosanto’s most accomplished students.

Registration information is on the poster below.

One FC: Top 5 Knockouts of 2013 [Video]

Check out One FC’s top five knockouts of 2013, including the double-whammy to Phil Baroni, who was knocked out after breaking his ankle.

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