No Holds Barred: M-1 Hits A Home Run, Boxing Strikes Out, ADCC and Catch Wrestling On Deck
http://nhbnews.podomatic.com/entry/2011-07-11T03_00_36-07_00
On this audio edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman discusses the main lessons of the three main combat sports shows televised this weekend in the U.S.
The best of the three was the M-1 Challenge XXVI mixed martial arts card, which took place Friday, July 8, at The Hangar in Costa Mesa, California, and was telecast live on Showtime. In the main event, heavyweight M-1 contender Kenny "Deuce" Garner won by a second-round KO over Pat Bennett. In the co-main event of this card, which had five fights televised, Arthur Guseinov knocked out Tyson Jeffries with a picture-perfect spinning back fist in the first round of their middleweight fight.
The next best show was also on Showtime, but featured boxing. On Saturday, July 9, from Carson, California, Brandon Rios retained his WBA lightweight title with a third-round stoppage of Urbano Antillon in an all-out battle. Also, Carlos Molina upset Kermit Cintron, winning a clear-cut, 10-round unanimous decision in their junior middleweight bout.
The biggest disgrace occurred on the HBO-televised boxing card from Atlantic City, New Jersey, also on July 9. Junior middleweight Paul Williams was given a majority decision victory over Erislandy Lara in a fight which virtually no one except two of the judges thought Williams had won.
We thus discuss the significance of these three shows.
We also comment on some recent developments in grappling, including plans for the 2011 ADCC Submission Fighting World Championships, which take place September 24-25 in Nottingham, England, and the attempts to revive catch-as-catch-can wrestling as a real sport.
