Johny Hendricks: One Step Closer to the gold!

Posted on May 20, 2012 by Rich Finaldi
Johny Hendricks

Johny Hendricks after his decision win against Josh Koscheck at UFC on FOX 3 Diaz vs. Miller

 Johny Hendricks: One Step Closer to the gold!

Johny Hendricks got his 8th UFC win at UFC on FOX Diaz vs. Miller in East Rutherford, N.J. on May 5th over the tough UFC vet Josh Koscheck. While some people beg to differ with the outcome, I was at the fight, and I saw it afterward on TV, without a doubt Hendricks deserved the win. In the 3rd round when Koscheck was able to take Hendricks down and managed to get in a few knees, and punches in that did little to no damage, Johny Hendricks held on and weathered the storm, and that right there earned him the win. Josh Koscheck had gotten to the full mount position momentarily, then Hendricks regained half guard and ran out the clock out for the win. Johny Hendricks was in control most of the 1st two rounds executing some great left hand hooks, counters, and uppercuts also. Now the question remains, does Johny Hendricks get the title shot he so desires?, or does Dana White have just one more test for Hendricks before he gets to the top of the mountain.

 Johny Hendricks matches up well against any of the contenders

Well lets see how Johny Hendricks would match up against the best talent pool the UFC’s welterweight division has ever seen in its history. Lets say Dana wants Johny to fight the winner of Jake Ellenberger vs. Martin Kampmann. It really looks like its going to go in this direction being we still have to wait to see what Carlos Condit and Georges St. Pierre are going to do. Ellenberger poses a very good matchup for Hendricks being his base is wrestling like Johny, and he is proving every fight his striking is getting more and more dangerous. He is 6-1 in the UFC and the majority of his wins are by way of knock out. This matchup would be very close I think being Johny and Jake are practically the same height while Jake Ellenberger is just a year and change his junior. I think this fight would really tell where each of these fighters are going. Now If Martin Kampman wins and were to face Hendricks I think it would be a great stand up challenge for either fighter, while Johny Hendricks would have the advantage getting the fight to the ground, Martin Kampmann is a brown belt in Brazilian Jiu Jitsu under 2 time ADCC BJJ champ Robert Drydale. I really think Hendricks would matchup better against Kampmann then Ellenberger. Ellenberger poses that one punch knockout power.

By some chance if Nick Diaz is able to come back and fight after his NSAC hearing on May 21 in Las Vegas, he might throw a wrench into the whole mix. Johny Hendricks taking a Nick Diaz fight would automatically put Kampmann or Ellenberger on the back burner in the division. I really think Dana White is salivating at the prospect of this fight. I think this for a few reasons, one being you couldn’t get a better good guy bad guy scenario. The hype for this fight would be unreal. Hendricks proved against Koscheck he’s get one helluva chin, and he came out of that fight virtually unscathed. I really think that Johny Hendricks could go blow for blow with Nick Diaz. Now I think Hendricks, although knowing he could take Diaz down, would he want to? Nick Diaz’s Jiu Jitsu to me is actually a lot more scary then his striking game. One thing Hendricks would be great at that is what Carlos Condit mastered in his win against Diaz was not to fall into the Diaz-taunt head game with his very poise calm demeanor.

Johny Hendricks against the best!

If Carlos Condit can find a way to beat GSP and unify the belt at the end of this year, then a Hendricks vs. Condit title fight could ensue. This is a interesting match up of sorts. While Condit has a great Muay-Thai game, he does have one punch KO power as he proved when he left hooked the tough Brit Dan Hardy to the canvas. I think Johny’s best bet here would be to utilize his wrestling pedigree, take Condit down, and ground and pound him for the win. Now a Georges st. Pierre matchup versus Hendricks would really an intriguing match up as anybody who faces GSP poses a lot of questions. We all know Georges St. Pierre, possibly the best pound for pound fighter in the world is above average to great at everything. So how do trainers Steven Wright, and Marc Laimon approach this fight for their TEAM TAKE DOWN gem Hendricks? I honestly think Johny can KO St. Pierre the same way he did Fitch, “if” the precise opportunity is there. That’s a big “if”. Realistically I just think he needs to get even better at everything he’s very good at already. One thing I know is that Johny’s strength coach Adrian Ramirez is state of the art in getting Johny ready for his fights. Check out his you tube channel (GOHAMARAM) and see some great training footage on Johny’s preparation for his recent win against Josh Koscheck.

No matter who Dana White & Co. match Johny Hendricks up with I really think he has a great shot against any of these stellar contenders. I think Hendricks is the UFC’s wild card in this division. I saw Johny after his fight with Koscheck, and also was speaking with his coaches on how I think Johny hasn’t come close to reaching his full potential, but one thing I know is that Johny Hendricks: One Step Closer to the gold!

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Our Brotherhood, that is Mixed Martial Arts

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Rich Finaldi
Mixed Martial Arts

Paul "Opie" Fahey, Kru Jonesly Theus, Legendary Master Renzo Gracie, and the father of Mixed Martial Arts the great Bruce Lee.

Our Brotherhood, that is Mixed Martial Arts

Rich Finaldi here once again for Combat Athlete MMA mixed martial arts in two plus years has changed my life in ways I can see already, and in ways that I don’t see now but will one day. Besides the great Gracie Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and Muay Thai I learn at my great legitimate MMA school  Combat Athlete MMA there are so many ways I am growing mentally, emotional, and spiritually. I say “legitimate” mixed martial arts school because we have a Serra Brazilian Jiu Jitsu black belt in Paul “Opie” Fahey where we are the only school in the state of New Jersey that has a BJJ black belt by a former UFC champion (Matt “The Terror” Serra). We have a excellent Muay Thai Kru certified teacher in Jonesly Theus who has a 7-1 New York state semi-pro record, and has trained and learned from the absolute best in world, but the most important lessons I learn from them are not only the sweeps, submissions, transitions, kicks, and strikes. They are life lessons that work together with our great martial arts that are very applicable to life itself.

 Mixed Martial Arts Mantras!

Kru Jonesly Theus always has a few choice wisdoms or “mantras” while we are taking class at Combat Athlete MMA. The latest is on a huge banner we have up in the school, “Train like a team, fight like a family”. Yes he came up with that saying. It basically means train hard in competition against each other in class, and fight not to hurt each other while we are competing hard like “family”. Another one Jonesly has is “Fake it til you make it!” In other words when you learn something new flow with it as best as you can even if the technique maybe bad, but eventually you will “make it” when you get it right! You should not think, but do it, already knowing the knowledge is there from being taught it. Sensei Paul “Opie” Fahey also share his pearls of wisdom with us too. His methodical ways of teaching BJJ is amazing. Sometimes I don’t see the method to his madness, but then I get the “Oh Ok!” moments shortly after. He teaches Jiu Jitsu from such a foundational perspective for us white belts, and emphasizes the technique religiously because he knows as we get better and better we are building off of all the foundational principals that he teaches us. He’s always saying “relax” and “work the “technique”. He is always challenging us to reach higher levels of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Another one of our brothers that binds the Combat Athlete, Serra connection is, none other then Master Renzo Gracie. I have met him and trained at his prestigious flagship school Renzo Gracie Academy in New York, N.Y. For those of you that don’t know Matt Serra is a Renzo Gracie black belt. Renzo is one of the most classiest, humble, respectful, smart and funniest individuals you could ever meet! In his DVD that documents his life (Renzo Gracie Legacy) he says, “Theres more wisdom on these mats then a Ivy league school!” Speaking about his school in Manhattan. Renzo embraces and relates life itself to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, and MMA. I could go on and on with many people but, the person that comes to mind and the master who many model there lives, and careers after is none other then the late great Bruce Lee. I mean when this man said be “Shapeless like water” I was like what!!??? Only when I really understood the progression of my training and my psyche in that is when you try to conform or shape yourself to a  technique you miss the whole lesson of mastering that technique. Learn technique and strive to perfect it but, don’t try to know or learn something you already know. Let it flow, coming back to the words of Kru Jonesly Theus, “fake it till you make it”.  What made Bruce Lee so unique for all generations of martial artists is that he never saw any martial art being confined or limited to a style, technique, or a set way of doing it to succeed. He once said his acclaimed style of Jeet kune do would never be the same year to year. The uniqueness of it would be that it would evolve, morph and change its face to become better and better never to shaped but, shapeless. This was it in a nutshell as Bruce said, “Learn the principle, abide by the principle, and dissolve the principle. In short, enter a mold without being caged in it. Obey the principle without being bound by it. LEARN, MASTER AND ACHIEVE!!!”

Mixed Martial Arts one of the best way to express the personality and soul

It’s a funny thing sometimes you can’t hide no matter how good of an actor you are, with mixed martial arts its proves certain all the time. For instance with Brazilian Jiu Jitsu the goal is to three things pretty much, relax, focus, and execute, those three things will expose a lot about a person on the mat. I know personally because in the beginning and at times now training BJJ I can do none of the three. It’s completely 100% mental. You need to clear your head of the day, and the stresses their in. See you can’t have your mind running to and fro with the things that bother, consume, and control us. When you get on that mat you need to let go and flow with the martial art. If you speed up too much to match your opponents speed, your bound to fail. You can sense a persons level of defensiveness, self control, and poise on the mat. As you analyze your own game you can see also the things that you need to let go of. Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in my own opinion is the most cerebral of the martial arts. The Muay-Thai striking art is one that is not for the faint of heart, knowing that every class will challenge your fears, especially when you get to the point where you are sparring at the end of class, or drilling the clinch where knees are hitting your ribs. See as tough as I thought I was playing football all those years, I still had a team around me that I could hide from those fears. Nothing like a combat sports that will exploit your fears, and insecurities about yourself, but like everything else you get used to it after awhile. another thing that mixed martial arts bring out of you is a “fight or flight” response. Your either going to fight back or cover up for shelter. The more I spar, or roll with someone on the mat, I realize my opponent is really myself. It’s the same in class as it is in life, we fight ourselves continually, learning more and more to “let go” of all fears one by one. I closing what I am learning from training mixed martial arts the most is to let go of all fears a little at a time to reach a higher purpose in life.

Mixed Martial Arts
Mixed Martial Arts
Mixed Martial Arts
Mixed Martial Arts
Mixed Martial Arts

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Jon Jones defends his belt against Rashad Evans in ho hum fashion.

Posted on April 24, 2012 by Rich Finaldi
Jon Jones

Jon Jones and Rashad Evans gave us a show less then expected but all in all the champ was able to keep his belt at UFC 145

 Jon Jones vs. Rashad Evans dancing the dance , but not taking the chance.

Rich Finaldi here once again for Combat Athlete MMA  Jon Jones in UFC 145 in Atlanta GA closed out the climatic chapter with himself the champion and Rashad Evans. More times then not when the build up for a fight is just blown into the stratosphere like this one was, sometimes it doesn’t deliver the punch the way the hype did. That’s exactly the way this fight turned out. Other then a few punches, and elbows that landed here and there, there was a lot of dancing around and sizing each other up most of the fight.

 Jon Jones took awhile but found his rhythm

Round one was probably in my mind the best round where both fighters fought each other evenly. Rashad Evans had a nice counter head kick off a Jon Jones attack. Jon Jones had a few good combos, but Rashad mostly avoided Jone’s bag of tricks. Round two Jon Jones plays the hand game with Rashad Evans which ended up in collapsing elbows off of Evan’s head. A very ingenious way to approach an attack. This was the turning point of the fight because once those effective elbows landed on Rashad’s head he went into defensive mode against Jon Jones. At that point Jon Jones was dictating the pace of the fight to his style. Rashad became more hesitant for rounds three and four. As both fighters entered the fifth and final round you would have thought that the fireworks would have really started, but it didn’t. It seemed Jones like Evans was hesitant himself to go in for the kill. I really think these guys were really close friends at one time, like brothers dare I say. You could actually see the respect they had for each other during the fight, and the post fight presser they were very amicable towards one another.

 Jon Jones and Rashad Evans fireworks round 5 , don’t think so.

The last round was dead to the last minute until Jon Jones pulls guard and Evans gets in some last moment ground and pound before the fight ended. Once again no one can solve the riddle of getting inside of Jon Jone’s huge wing span and reach,once some one does they might solve him. Jone’s next title defense has been set for a date not yet determined against Dan Henderson. Dan “Hendo” Henderson is the man if any that can take the belt away from Jon Jones, not only does he have maybe the best power punch in the division, but as we all know the best chin in maybe all of MMA. Hendo will without a doubt press Jon Jones to the limit in their upcoming fight.

Jon Jones
Jon Jones
Jon Jones
Jon Jones

 

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Gennaro Fusella wins at NAGA World Championship NJ for Combat Athlete MMA!

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Rich Finaldi

NAGA
Gennaro Fusella wins at NAGA last weekend in NJ in the GI and the NO-GI categories for Combat Athlete MMA

Yet another Combat Athlete MMA student wins at NAGA!

Rich Finaldi here once again for Combat Athlete MMA NAGA has seen yet another first place victory from our school Combat Athlete MMA . Gennaro Fusella a white belt has won 1st place in the GI and NO-GI competitions at the NAGA World Championships in Morristown, N.J. this past Saturday April 14 . The very unique thing that our school is producing is that 1st time BJJ tourney participants that are at the white belt level are winning the GI and NO-GI categories, the last person to do it was Jon Bloom in 2011 at the NAGA World Championsips who took 1st in the NO-GI and 3rd in the GI  competitions. Jon I am proud to say is a blue belt now under Sensei Paul “Opie” Fahey.

Gennaro Fusella at  NAGA!

I have been training with Gennaro for about a year now. He has a very good wrestling pedigree, and he’s now making the transition into MMA, he’s an animal on the mats with a killer instinct for BJJ. Winning his 1st ever BJJ tournament in the GI and NO-GI categories is a great way to start! Gennaro is at a 200+ weight and strong like a bull. He is really adopting his technique and experience in becoming a solid Brazilian Jiu Jitsu practitioner.  At the NAGA World Championships his first match was won by getting the double leg take down to side control, he transitioned to mount where he used superior positioning and constant submission attacks to force his opponent to go belly down enabling Gennero to lock in the rear naked choke. Gennaro’s second match was the finals match and is was very exciting. He was facing the explosive and talented Malachi Boykin from Ground Control BJJ in Maryland.  In the match Gennaro secured a knee tap take down into his opponents guard from there the was a scramble where Gennaro was trying to pass and his opponent was turtling to defend. They both end up standing and Gennaro eventually secured the double leg take down that led to him passing his oppnents guard to end up in side control,  Gennaro  then popped up to knee on belly to show that he had solid control. There were many attempts to escape by Gennaro’s opponent but he eventually secured the mount position. There was more back and forth scrambling that actually resulted in Gennaro’s opponent attaining some points but Gennaro won with a very good point spread. The score was around 10 to 2. Gennaro won the NAGA heavy weight No Gi World Championship (beginner division)

Fusella wins NAGA GI also!

In the GI event Gennaro secured a take down in to the his opponents guard from there there was a scramble for position that eventually ended with them standing up again. Then Gennaro hit a beautiful hip throw (Sensei Paul and Gennaro were planning on hitting that before the match). This led to Gennaro having side control then eventually he was able to secure the mount. His opponent eventually escaped into scramble but the time ended with Gennaro in his opponents guard with a score of 8 to 0.  Gennaro wins the match.

For the final match Gennaro’s opponent was smart to pull guard (Sensei Paul had told Gennero that his opponent would do this before the match started, so the plan was to not let his opponent close his guard and then pass) but Gennaro did not allow his opponent close his guard and was able to pass to side control. Being a skilled BJJ guy, Gennaro’s opponent was able to recover to the closed guard. Gennaro made a couple of attempts to pass guard and was able to pass to side control again. Gennaro then secured the mount position and the match ended with Fusella searching for a submission. Gennaro won the finals and the score was 10 to 0. He also won the GI division without getting a point scored on him and he is the NAGA Heavy weight Gi World Champion (white belt division )! To say the least Gennaro Fusella has a gotten off to a great head start in the world of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu. Below is a video clip of Gennaro getting that hip throw in the GI competition! The sound is not working correctly on this video

NAGA

NAGA

NAGA

NAGA

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Johny Hendricks vs. Josh Koscheck personalities in contrast

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Rich Finaldi
Johny Hendricks
Johny Hendricks versus Josh Koscheck May 5th UFC on FOX.

 Johny Hendricks  and  Josh Koscheck good guy vs. bad guy in it’s truest form!

Rich Finaldi here once again for Combat Athlete MMA Johny Hendricks will be facing Josh Koscheck in my home state of New Jersey on May 5th 2012 at the Izod Center when they will be the co-main event to the headliner, Nate Diaz vs. Jim Miller the UFC on FOX 3. Here we go Johny Hendricks the ultimate “good guy” versus Josh Koscheck the ultimate “bad guy”. I liken them both to Neo and Agent Smith from the Matrix movies. Neo being good, Agent Smith being bad, but both are very alike in nature. Johny Hendricks and Josh Koscheck both have great wrestling pedigree ,both have great stand up striking ability, and one punch knock out power. Johny Hendricks is coming off a stunning 12 second KO of then number two ranked welterweight Jon Fitch. Johny’s overall record is 12-1 overall with 7 of those wins in the UFC, and 7 of the overall total by way of knockout. Johny is one of these most humble, and classiest guys in the UFC and all of MMA. He does not gloat in his wins, and fully accepts his losses as a learning experience.

How Josh Koscheck differs from Johny Hendricks

Josh Koschek on the other hand likes to amp up the hype with his brashness, and not holding back at all his thoughts on his opponents.  Josh is a great fighter with a 17-5 overall MMA record, 15 of those wins came in the UFC. Josh had a sub par performance against Mike Pierce who Johny Hendricks handled easily. Prior to that Kos made short work of a past prime Matt Hughes. Both of these fighters have a lot to lose and a lot to gain from winning. A win by Johny Hendricks puts him right in the hunt for a title shot against Carlos Condit or Georges St. Pierre, a loss will cause Hendricks to lose the precious ground he’s gained in the division. On the other hand a win for Koscheck will get him right back on track to where he was before fighting GSP, a loss would blot Josh’s name out of the upper tier of the UFC’s welterweight division I would think.

What has Johny Hendricks and Josh Koscheck said regarding their upcoming clash.

Well for starters what compliments has Mr. Koscheck paid towards Johny Hendricks. “The fight didn’t last very long, so I really couldn’t judge how good he is,” Koscheck said at a recent UFC press conference. “I watched the fight and it looked like he threw a lucky punch. He had his eyes closed and it landed.”
Johny responded by saying, “If you really watch it — watch where my eyes are and watch where that punch lands — it couldn’t be any better than that.”  “My eyes were watching the punch. He tried to throw a jab to stop it, but my left hand is a little bit more powerful than a jab. So I would take that any day.”
Josh has also said on twitter, “Now May 5 is coming! Mr lucky punch, Johny was a fat lil boy yesterday in NYC. Better get training kid! Bc I am in shape& it’s not round!

Josh Koscheck does has a method to his madness I believe. All his mockeries and banter are to get into his opponents head.  Johny Hendricks is having none of it. I spoke to Mr. Hendricks on this matter and he laid it on me straight and to the point in his ever polite and respectful way, “If someone needs to use words in approaching their opponents before a fight its because they lack faith in their own abilities to win the fight on fighting alone, an insecurity”. He went on to say, “We are all in this together as fighters we get paid to beat each other up and that’s it”. I take it that he means any trash talk does not help a fighter to win the fight, pretty much common sense to me. One thing I know for sure is that as different as these two fighters are in their approach Johny Hendricks versus Josh Koscheck should be an old fashioned brawl in my Jersey backyard!

Johny Hendricks
Johny Hendricks
Johny Hendricks
Johny Hendricks
Johny Hendricks

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