Combat Do’s Rivera Jr. Faces MSU Wrestler Troy Lamson in Praetorian 2.5 Main Event

by Matt Lo Cascio

Praetorian 2.5 goes down Saturday night at the Best Western in Schaumburg, the first MMA event ever held in the city. The main event looks to be electric, as Combat Do’s multi-titled welterweight Angelo Rivera Jr. takes on Michigan’s undefeated Troy Lamson.

Lamson is 15-0 as an amateur MMA fighter, holds six titles and also wrestles collegiately for Michigan State. A state champion wrestler in high school, Lamson compiled a remarkable 62-2 record during his senior year. He’s also fresh off a trip down to Florida to train with Blackzilians.

While Rivera Jr. has fought all comers and rolled through Chicago’s best ammy fighters, the case could be made that Lamson is his toughest test yet. Unless you’re asking Rivera Jr.

“I feel he’s just another fighter and I train just as hard to fight him as I do everyone else. I haven’t fought him so I can’t say he’s my toughest test yet. Maybe on paper he looks tough, but these days — no offense to him — a lot of fighters get taken care of by their gym or managers in which they never actually fight top guys because they would rather pad their stats and keep their fighter undefeated. Once they turn pro as a 10-0 amateur fighter they get crushed in the pros because they were never tested,” Rivera Jr. said.

Rivera Jr. also shrugged off Lamson training with the Blackzilians, despite a roster stacked with big names and former MMA champions.

“As far as him training with the Blackzilians, it means nothing, especially if you’ve been watching the UFC lately. They really haven’t done anything impressive. You can train with whoever, wherever, but once the cage doors are closed that’s when everything you learned gets put to the test or goes out the door.”

Ask Lamson though, and it sounds like he wouldn’t trade the experience for anything in the world.

“It was top level training that really forced me to up my game. Among the mix of Brazilian and American fighters, were the Villefort brothers and other UFC fighters like Abel Trujillo and Jorge Santiago,” Lamson said.

Rivera Jr. loves representing Chicago, and he didn’t have to leave the city to line up his own lineup of renowned training partners.

“I train at the top three MMA schools: Combat Do, New Breed Academy, and Uflacker Academy. I have been working personally with Christian Uflacker to prepare for this fight.”

Uflacker, a black belt under Carlos Gracie Jr., is undefeated as a pro MMA fighter, but best known in Chicago as for his BJJ academy. He’s well-respected throughout the BJJ community, as none other than 7-time BJJ world champion Rodrigo “Comprido” Medeiros will attest.

“Christian is a very good fighter with great technique. We have trained together and I’ve helped him to prepare for a few fights. He is also a great teacher and good friend. It’s very good for the BJJ community to have people like him teaching the sport,” Comprido said.

Lamson has done some homework on Rivera Jr., and has a clear plan of attack for the bout.

“I have somewhat of a background on Angelo and I’m ready for anything. I plan to come into the fight, impose my will on him and push the action,” Lamson said.

Although he is coming down from Michigan for the fight, Lamson said this is not a fly-by fight. While his NCAA wrestling schedule takes precedence over his amateur MMA career, he said he would defend the title if he wins on Saturday night. “I have been having major trouble finding fights in Michigan.”

For tickets and the full event card for Praetorian 2.5, visit Praetorianmma.com.

Caio Terra and Comprido BJJ Seminar

BJJ legends Caio Terra and Rodrigo “Comprido” Medeiros will be teaching a seminar at Randori Jiu Jitsu in Mokena on Saturday, December 1st. Details on registration are on the pic below.

Erik Paulson’s CSW Midwest: Oct. 12-14

Erik Paulson returns to the Chicago area this weekend for the second annual CSW Midwest Camp.

Sifu Marcus Charles is bringing Paulson back to Hackney’s Combat in Roselle, along with an impressive roster of teachers for the three-day event.

Scheduled to teach at the event with Paulson and Charles are Keith Hackney, Greg Nelson, Rick Faye, Rodrigo “Comprido” Medeiros and Nicolas Saignac.

Details on registration, payment and location are on the poster below.

Comprido and Andre Galvao BJJ Seminar

Rodrigo “Comprido” Medeiros will celebrate the grand opening of Comprido BJJ by leading a seminar along with Andre Galvao.

Galvao is a welterweight with Strikeforce, and has won gold at the Pan American, World and Abu Dhabi championships.

The gym is located at Stratford Square mall in Bloomingdale.

Mike Russow UFC on Fox Post-Fight Interview

Chicago’s Mike Russow spoke to Chicago’s MMA after his victory over John Olav Einemo at the United Center on Fox. He talks about the fight, training with Comprido and who he’d like to fight next.

Mike Russow: UFC Fighter, Chicago Cop

It will be a battle of two former PRIDE fighters when Chicago’s Mike Russow takes on Norway’s Jon Olav Einemo Saturday night at the United Center for the UFC on FOX event.

Russow is 14-1 as a pro fighter, suffering his only loss back in 2007 from a Sergei Kharitonov armbar at PRIDE 33. He has won all three of his UFC fights, including one of the all-time comebacks in UFC history when he knocked out Todd Duffee at UFC 114.

Chicago fight fans remember Russow crushing opponents in local promotions like Adrenaline, XFO and the Combat-Do Fighting Challenge. He’s also well-known around the area for his work as a Chicago police officer. ESPN did a nice feature on Russow, also interviewing Comprido, his Jiu-Jitsu coach.

“This is the biggest fight of my career, without a doubt,” Russow told ESPN. “I’m pumped I finally get to do it in front of my hometown on national television. I’m in the best shape of my life, and I’m ready.”

The matchup with Einemo definitely favors Russow. Russow has power in his hands, an excellent chin and a much better ground game than Einemo. All signs point to Russow getting his hand raised on Saturday night, something that is sure to make the United Center roar.

You can watch Russow’s fight, as well as the rest of the preliminary bouts on Fuel TV.

Comprido: We’ll See Brock Lesnar at Full Potential

Rodrigo “Comprido” Medeiros is the world-renowned BJJ champion and leader of Team Brasa. He is also known for being the BJJ coach of UFC heavyweight Brock Lesnar. He recently spoke with Gracie Mag about Lesnar’s UFC 141 matchup with Alistair Overeem.

“Brock is in great shape. Undergoing surgery was the best decision he could have made. I believe we’ll be seeing Brock at full potential for the first time,” Comprido told reporter Nalty Junior.

“I’m truly excited about this fight. They’re two giants, two monsters on a collision course—I don’t think I’ve ever seen two guys as big and skillful as they are. If Alistair isn’t 100%, he’d best not show up, because Brock is super well prepared; I guarantee it,” added Comprido.

Lesnar will be making his first appearance in the Octagon since October of 2010, when he lost the belt to Cain Velasquez. Lesnar says that there isn’t a fighter he can’t take down in the UFC, and he’ll need to do that against Overeem. We’ve seen Lesnar utilize Comprido’s BJJ techniques before, especially in his comeback win against Shane Carwin at UFC 116. Will Lesnar break out another slick submission on Friday night? We’ll see.

UFC 141 Video Preview

“You don’t have to be from Stockton to be tough.” – Donald Cerrone

UFC 141 on December 30th features the return of Brock Lesnar, the UFC debut of Alistair Overeem, and a throwdown between Donald Cerrone and Nick Diaz.

Joe Rogan praises Brock Lesnar’s improving BJJ, which is accomplished through the tutelage of Comprido, Lesnar’s primary BJJ coach. Comprido commented on Facebook that Lesnar is in great shape for the Overeem fight, and he will be in his corner for the bout.

Here’s the extended UFC 141 preview video.

Chicago Well-Repped at XFC 15

XFC 15 will take place on December 2nd in sunny Florida, but the event will feature some of Chicago’s finest fighters.

The ageless wonder that is Shonie Carter will be back in the cage taking on Ryan Thomas. Carter got back in the win column with a unanimous decision win over Landon Showalter at Rumble on the Ridge XX in October, and he’ll hop right back into battle with just six weeks in between fights.

Thomas is a tough draw for Carter. He is a UFC vet that recently fought Jonatas Novaes in the seminfinal round of the Combat USA Illinois state tourney. Thomas has faced Novaes, Judo Jim Wallhead, Ben Saunders, Matt Brown and Ben Askren — twice. This will be Thomas’ first fight since his loss to Novaes.

Novaes will also fight on the card. A member of Team Brasa and a BJJ instructor under Comprido at FLO MMA in Palatine, Novaes’ star is on the rise. He has won four straight fights, including the Illinois state championship at 170 lbs, when he broke WEC vet Sherron “Rob Roy” Legget’s arm to take the title.

Novaes will fight Eric Reynolds, who fights out of American Top Team. Reynolds has fought in Bellator and has faced tough opponents like Jorge Masvidal and Eddie Alvarez. This will be Reynolds’ first fight in almost a year.

Felice “L’il Bulldog” Herrig will be back in action looking for her third straight win. We last saw Herrig at the Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates notching a unanimous decision win over Nicdali Rivera-Calanoc at XFO 39. Fans were treated to a great fight between the two, and Rivera-Calanoc’s “YES!!” walk-in was awesome.

Herrig will face Carla Esparza, who has fought some of the well-known names in women’s MMA. Esparza has fought Jessica Aguilar and Megumi Fujii in Bellator, and has a win over Karina Hallaran.

You can watch XFC 15: Tribute on HDNet.

Comprido: Eddie Bravo is an Idiot

Our friends at MMA Nuts interviewed FLO MMA/Team Brasa’s Rodrigo “Comprido” Medeiros, who had some harsh words for 10th Planet’s Eddie Bravo.

Comprido has always taken a strong anti-drug stance, and he continues to do that here, criticizing Eddie Bravo for promoting the use of marijuana as a performance enhancer for Jiu Jitsu.

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