On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again speaks with the ex-pugilist, lifelong martial artist, former UFC and Battlecade Extreme Fighting matchmaker, TV commentator, and our senior correspondent, John Perretti (http://twitter.com/ACJohn Perretti). A "martist" is a term coined by John Perretti, meaning someone who has "the duality of the spirit of the martial and the aesthetic, a split if you will in interests within one human being. The artist preceded the pugilist and they have had a symbiotic relationship ever since." John's new blog is also called "'The Martist' with John Perretti" (http://johnperretti.com). We spoke with John Perretti by phone Tuesday about his blog, aesthetics and martial arts, the current states of MMA and grappling, and more. Although he is a pioneer in MMA and created the basics of the modern structure of the sport, he is no longer enthusiastic about present-day MMA. "I don't want to focus on this car accident that this sport has become, because I don't feel that it's worth my time any longer," he said in this interview. "I donated incredible time and energy and resources and personal money to make this thing happen, and it for me is something that I don't enjoy watching." John also was the producer of the 1997 all-grappling pay-per-view show, "The Contenders". While that show was a financial failure, he still maintains his love of grappling: "I am a giant proponent of grappling. Meeting Gene LeBell changed my whole life. I'm one of his four original black belts. And that's why I started 'The Contenders' and that's why I took striking out of the martial arts and created straight grappling." We also discussed fixed fights and purposeful mismatches, the need for the Muhammad Ali Boxing Reform Act to be extended to MMA fighters, why he is writing his autobiography, aesthetics and martial arts, his current coaching of weightlifting, the issues of head trauma and CTE in combat and contact sports, and much more.
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No Holds Barred: Joel Resnick on Feb. 2 RUFF Super Fights to Crown China's First National MMA Champions On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with Joel Resnick, the founder and CEO of RUFF (Ranik Ultimate Fighting Federation). Based in China, RUFF will be holding its most important show on Saturday, February 2, where five super fights will be held in five different weight classes to crown, for the first time, Chinese national MMA champions. Each of the winners will earn RMB 1,000,000 (approximately US$160,000). This card will take place at the Inner Mongolia Indoor Stadium in Hohhot, Inner Mongolia, China, and be televised live throughout China on Inner Mongolia Satellite Channel as well as regionally on the Shandong Sports Channel and the Xinjiang Sports Channel. There will be several online and mobile streams available in China, as well as a free, live stream available to the world on PPTV, scheduled to start at 2:30 PM China Standard Time (CST - UTC/GMT +8 hours). RUFF will be providing more information on the telecasts and webcasts, athttp://www.ruffchina.com. We spoke with Joel Resnick by Skype Tuesday (Monday in New York) to preview this important card and discuss the progress of RUFF as an organization. "Really we've done everything we said we were going to do from the very beginning," he said in this interview. "We work on facts over here. Fact one: We're the only ones that have a permit for professional MMA in China. That's just the way it is. And our permit just got extended through 2014. "Fact two: We're giving out the first China national MMA belts sanctioned by the government. "Fact three: We're giving out 1,000,000 RMB to each of the five winners. "Fact four: We're on satellite TV live. No combat sport has ever been on satellite TV live in China." He also listed some of the very impressive statistics for total TV viewership of RUFF events in China. RUFF 5 got just over seven million viewers, RUFF 6 got around six million viewers, with the numbers for RUFF 7 due shortly. He added, the "Super Fight, really, we're hoping for ten million viewers. It's the first time ever it will be aired live nationally." RUFF has also had a reality show with millions of viewers to familiarize people with the mostly young group of fighters who compete in this organization. We also discussed the fights on this championship card, why there was a late replacement this week for one of the fighters, how the fighters chosen to compete on this card were selected both for their fight records as well as how they will represent their country, the futureof RUFF, and much more.
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No Holds Barred: John Potenza and Joel Bane of Snake Pit U.S.A. Catch Wrestling Association On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with coaches John Potenza and Joel Bane of the Snake Pit U.S.A. Catch Wrestling Association. Catch wrestling, which was one of the most popular sports in the world in the early twentieth century, is making a comeback in many places around the world. The development of the Snake Pit U.S.A. Catch Wrestling Association is an important step in that process. We spoke with coaches John Potenza and Joel Bane by phone Thursday about these developments and the plans of the organization. Coach Potenza very forcefully explained the main goals of the Snake Pit U.S.A. Catch Wrestling Association. "We just want to unite as many catch wrestlers as we can and build one strong family," he said in this interview. "I think a big problem in the past with attempts of bringing catch back was too many people wanted to be the lead guy, and, 'Look at me, I'm the top catch wrestler.' But they lose sight of the real task, and the real task is to get us all united together, so there is no internal bickering, and who's who and what's what. We need to get all the catch wrestlers together, unite them all as one, and then bring it back into the spotlight where it belongs." Once the people in catch wrestling are united and more people become aware of this style, he said, "There's no telling where it can go. It very well could be equal to or surpass anything else out there." All this, of course, is still in the beginning stages, as many people are still not familiar with what catch wrestling is and how it differs from other styles such as folkstyle or freestyle wrestling, no-gi grappling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, sambo, etc. To further this process, the Snake Pit U.S.A. Catch Wrestling Association will be at the MMA World Expo in New York February 16-17. On Sunday, February 17, from 10:30 AM to 11 AM, they will have a demonstration of what catch wrestling is, what the rules are, and more. Right after that, from 11 AM to 12 noon, there will be a few actual catch wrestling matches. In these matches, which are two out of three falls, the wrestlers can win by pin or submission. The Snake Pit U.S.A. Catch Wrestling Association will also have a booth at the Expo both days so people can talk with them. "It's a very big first step for catch wrestling right now," noted Coach Potenza about their participation at the MMA World Expo. In addition, we discussed how the term "No Holds Barred" is actually an old catch wrestling term, the Association's curriculum and certification of individuals and gyms in catch wrestling, working with people who have come from other styles and disciplines of grappling and combat sports, their impressive board of directors which includes head coach Billy Robinson, Erik Paulson, Jake Shannon, Greg Nelson,and others, and much more.
