Some of the hottest items right now are from the Sprawl and Jaco brands and along with that we have also added a couple pair of MMA shorts to our MMA Shorts section.  Both these shorts are great looking shorts but are also fully functional in the ring or octagon whether you are in a tournament, event, or match.

The Sprawl/Century MMA shorts are some of the most unique shorts out on the market right now.  Both Sprawl and Century MMA put their teams together and worked on coming up with the best MMA short they could create without any limits and this is their creation.  You can check out more here: Sprawl MMA Fight Shorts.

Over at Jeff Joslin’s blog he wrote a terrific on a mount grappling drill.  Most of us have experienced the basic grappling drill where you start off in a mounting position on top of your training partner.  You then have a specific amount of time and the fighter on the bottom works to free themselves and the one on mount works to keep the mount position.  When the time period is over the one who stayed in their starting position the most will win the drill.  This is a pretty basic drill in any wrestling practice that yields a great deal of learning and understanding on the part of the wrestler’s in the drill.

However, there are ways that you can shake this MMA Training drill up and make it more challenging and this is the part of the post that got my attention.  Jeff points out 4 different variation that you can do to spice things up when the original drill gets boring.  A couple of them are: Have the person on mount apply a submission hold as opposed to staying mounted.  The second variation is allowing the person on bottom to score when they get to 1/2 guard rather then to a full escape.  Third, is to switch and change the amount of time of the drills duration.  Fourth and last is to allow for a point system.   You can see the full article to see an example Jeff gives.

The heavyweights in any combat sport have always held the highest level of interest and prestige.  Perhaps it is the idea that the heavyweights are the biggest and strongest men competing, the kind you love to watch but would hate to face in real life.  The UFC heavyweight division has been the most hyped but the least skilled division in the company.  When Randy Couture came out of retirement to face the champion Tim Sylvia in 2008, the division was anemic.

Even now, according to the UFC website, there are 28 fighters in the heavyweight division as compared to 33 light heavyweights, 46 middleweights, 58 welterweights, 53 lightweights, 45 flyweights, and 41 bantamweights.    Of the 28 heavyweights, very few have the skills to be popular with fans, much less compete for the championship.

Sometimes fans are forced to deal with dry years in regards to mixed martial arts events; let’s face it, not every card assembled is going to produce monumental fireworks. That, is a simple stigma fixed to a sport that is perhaps more unpredictable than any other form of professional competition. When it comes to MMA, you just never know what might happen

Fortunately for loyal fans, 2011 was a stellar year that produced a handful of unbelievably gratifying events. While I could probably list a solid 10 events that exceeded expectations, but I’ll minimize my banter and highlight a select handful that stood head and shoulders above all other cards.

He may very well go down as one of the best submission artists in UFC history with numerous highlight reel finishes.  I am talking about former heavyweight champion Frank Mir.  Over the past few years we have had the pleasure of seeing Frank Mir at the top of the mountain and down to the point of obscurity.  Many wrote him off after his fatal motorcycle accident.  However, like a true warrior, Mir overcame the odds and losses exploding back onto the MMA scene.

At UFC 81, a resurging Mir shocked the world when he submitted Brock Lesnar.  This led to his coaching role on the 8^th season of The Ultimate Fighter.  Mir was pitted against fellow heavyweight and Interim Title Holder Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira.  Mir showed his first stage of evolution in their match up at UFC 92 when he defeated Nogueira by TKO. This was the first time Nogueira was ever defeated in that fashion.

Written By: Marvin Blue

As we enter the day after UFC 140 many criticisms were laid to rest. One that seems to stick with all fight fans was the chin of UFC Light Heavyweight Jon Jones. Jones rise to the top has been meteoric to say the least. However, it has not been without controversy. Jones replaced former teammate and close friend Rashad Evans in the fight that earned Jones the UFC title.

Next up was the possible injury that postponed the fight between the former teammates and the accusations from Rashad Evans that Jones was ‘swagger jacking’ and ducking out of the fight with him. However under all that controversy, Jones has kept a cool head and remained focused on being the best. Lately, Jones has had to fight the criticism that he didn’t have a chin.  He was never really tested against Rampage Jackson and in all his fights his opponents have not been able to get anything going against his unorthodox style. Then came UFC 140 and the chance for Jones to fight one of the most unorthodox fighters in the UFC, former champion Lyoto Machida.

Hominick vs. Jung

Not much to write about there…wow. The Korean Zombie reigns supreme. Hominick left the foot in the bucket as they say. Tied for the quickest KO in UFC history!

Result: Jung wins by KO

Antonio Rogerio Nogueira vs. Tito Ortiz

Round 1—Both guys look very steady coming in.  Great kick for Tito start followed up by a nice uppercut.  Nice dirty boxing by Tito trying to wear him down.  Little Nog lands a left hook followed by a barrage of punches about 3:30 in.  Knee by Little Nog crumbles Tito.  Ortiz is able to pull guard and defend intelligently for a bit.  Devastating  assortment of  fists and elbows by Minotauro, namely to Ortiz’ ribs force a stoppage from Yves Lavigne in Round 1. 

by Dennis Fratella

Mark Hominick vs. Chan Sung Jung

Coming off a fight where an alien life form became embedded in his forehead going against Jose Aldo, Hominick’s endurance can’t be questioned. Hominick is a former kickboxing champion, and compiled a 21-0 record. Aside from the loss to Aldo, he had won his last 4 fights with 2 TKO’s and a submission, the other going to the judges in winning a split decision.
Chan Sung Jung is also a kickboxer who recorded a 15-6 record, who now has taken his talents into the Octagon, and is 11-4 so far, with 7 of the wins coming by submission. Aside from the “twister” move that he used to beat his last opponent (which it’s also worth noting that this move is so sick, it was the Submission of the Year for UFC 2011 season), he has lost 3 out of his last 4 fights. He has a great chin, and can definitely stand in harms’ way without being fazed by it.
Hominick has kickboxing in his back pocket. It’s usually his bread and butter. He’s one of the best pound for pound strikers in the UFC. Jung also is virtually of the same pedigree. It will be interesting to see who takes the first sidestep away from their gameplan and goes for the takedown. I think the majority of this fight, if not all of it, will be fought on it’s feet. That being said, Hominick’s no stranger when it comes to submissions either having 7 of them. Plus he’s got his entire country in his corner as well. If you don’t think that’s a big deal, look at what happened in Brazil this summer at UFC 137. I think Jung will break format when he tries to get the game on the ground, which might be out of frustration because he’s being out kickboxed.

Prediction-Hominick by KO in Round 2

With a face that even some who’s illiterate could read, it’s not hard to tell that Erik Koch enjoys his job. What does he do you may ask? Well, in addition to watching the Food Channel non-stop, Tweeting about the Food Channel, and wanting to eat the food he sees while he’s watching the Food Channel, the guy is a UFC fighter. And a pretty damn good one to boot.

Currently Koch is a top contender in the featherweight division (145 lbs), and in between all the food watching, has compiled a solid 13-1 mark, including a KO of the Night in his UFC debut. I sat down with Erik recently to discuss training, his roots, the journey he’s on, and where he’s going.

By Jillian Bullock

When people look at MMA champions Georges St. Pierre, Jon Jones or Anderson Silva, many MMA fans, commentators and reporters believe they are pound-for-pound the greatest mixed martial arts fighters in their division. Many also believe that since they are superbly dominant as fighters and they have the ability to go through each opponent who stands before them that there are no other MMA fighters who can actually beat these amazingly talented warriors during a bout.

The 29 year-old Welterweight champion, St. Pierre, 22-2, hasn’t lost a match since 2007. To understand how impressive St. Pierre is as a fighter, it should be noted that he has not lost a round, not one round, in over three years. What St. Pierre has going for him other than his unrelenting MMA cardio conditioning, which includes gymnastics in his regimen, but his striking game is superior. He is also considered one of the most disciplined athletes in the world, which helps St. Pierre stay focused even when his opponents trash talk him. He doesn’t give in to the mind games.