The Rear Naked Choke, Featuring Joe & Ted

November has been the best month ever for The Rear Naked Choke!

Thanks to you, the fans, we’ve already set a new single-month high for traffic just halfway though November. Here’s a quick chronological recap of how we got here this month:

The first show of the month was on the first day of the month, when Joe hosted solo from the IFL hotel and had on Matt Horwich and Antoine Jaoude, both of whom were getting set to fight two days later, and came out winners to advance to battle for the respective IFL middleweight and heavyweight belts.

The next night, Bad Brad Blackburn sat in for Ted next to Joe. They had unbeaten (but injured) stud Reese Andy in first (Reese did Ted’s part of the opening intro). Carlos Newton stepped in and made a bold prediction about the John Gunderson-WaggneyFabiano match, and then Horwich grabbed the floor for a minute to explain why he was overweight at the weigh-in a few hours earlier. Bad Brad wasn’t buying his excuse.

Gunderson then joined the show and was none too pleased by Newton’s remarks when Joe & Bad Brad passed them along. Shortly after Guns sat down, Jay Hieron joined the fray, and could not get over the fact that Bad Brad was co-hosting.

Ted made it into the mix for the Saturday show from ringside at the Sears Centre outside Chicago. This amazing show was kicked off by the unmistakable voice of IFL ring announcer Tim Hughes, and kept rolling with IFL CEO and co-founder Gareb Shamus.

It kicked into another gear when the electric Renzo Gracie joined Joe & Ted and then went over the top when, to everyone’s shock, Randy Couture sat down for a few minutes at ringside! On hand to corner Hieron, this was either the first or one of the first exclusive interviews Couture had given since he recent departure from the UFC!

Marco Ruas, the King of the Streets, gave the guys some time, and then one of the First Ladies of MMA, Shannon Knapp, sat down. Newton also joined the show for a second straight day.

After a travel day, Joe & Ted were back at it again Monday, Nov. 5. Fresh off his quick knockout win, middleweight Benji Radach stepped aside from a family function to give his thoughts about beating Brent Beauparlant, and looking ahead to his belt showdown with the enigmatic Horwich.

Once again, thanks Benji, and here is an official “Happy Birthday” to your bro from The RNC!

As if things could not get better, on the Nov. 12 show, news was just hours from becoming official that Shad Lierly would be fighting Chris Horodecki for the IFL lightweight belt Dec. 29 at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. All over the rumor, Joe & Ted were the first to get Lierly to talk about the rematch of what most MMA fans considered the fight of the year.

The witty Tim Kennedy, who will be on the preliminary bout card that night against Elias Rivera, gave the guys some time.

Elisabeth Nuesser, the founder of the awesome and smoking-hot FightChix clothing line, lit it up at the end! Ted has Elisabeth pegged as a sultry celebrity lookalike - find out whom!

Thanks for listening, and keep checking back for improvements to the site. You can use the links to comment or give suggestions. And do not forget to get your FightChix stuff. Mention The Rear Naked Choke in your email to info@fightchix.com and receive some discount or freebie mini-gift luv from the Fight Chic herself!

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Listen to the Show!

Listen! Randy Couture sits down with Joe & Ted at the IFL GP Semifinals

To cap off the three-show extravaganza from the IFL World Grand Prix semifinals outside of Chicago, Randy Couture sat down with Joe & Ted for the Rear Naked Choke.

Here to corner Xtreme Couture member Jay Hieron of the LA Anacondas, Couture talked about his fighter, the team concept of the IFL and his muddled future as a fighter. The heavyweight champion then helped mentor Hieron to a unanimous decision victory over Donnie Liles, setting up Couture for another IFL appearance at the World Grand Prix finals Dec. 29 at Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn.

Couture’s presence did not overshadow the Rear Naked Choke debut of NY Pitbulls coach Renzo Gracie. Renzo was his usual jovial self, talking about philosophy, the world of MMA and just about everything else. He gave his assessment of some of the fights, as Joe & Ted gave their predictions throughout the show.

For the second straight day, Carlos Newton sat in, although this time Ted was there to witness it. He admitted he was a Toronto Maple Leafs fan, although did not seem passionate about it. Oh yeah, and he talked about the fights, too!

Tim Hughes, the IFL’s ring announcer, helped kick off the show, and Joe & Ted then got to have Gareb Shamus, one of the league’s co-founders, on for the first time. Later, SoCal Condors coach Marco Ruas gave the guys some time, and IFL fighter liaison Shannon Knapp sat in. She was the league’s first-ever employee.

Bad Brad Blackburn co-hosted the Friday show with Ted not having arrived. John Gunderson respond to Newton’s prediction earlier in the show of a Waggney Fabiano victory. Gunderson was not pleased (as you can hear at the show’s opening).

Reese Andy led it off (he did Ted’s part in the intro), and Hieron joined in while Gunderson was around.

On the Thursday show, Joe welcomed the very unique Matt Horwich. The only way to describe Matt is, well, there is no way to describe him. You just have to listen.

Later, Antoine Jaoude taught Joe the correct way to pronounce his name. The least interesting thing about Jaoude is that he is a top-rated heavyweight MMA fighter. Born in Brazil, he met Ruas and did Vale Tudo from the age of 15. Later living in war-torn Lebanon, he learned many hard lessons that helped make him an Olympic wrestler. He still aspires to bring Brazil its first Olympic wrestling medal.

Oh, and did we mention he speaks five languages?

Thanks for listening, and keep coming back to www.joeted.com to hear the best of the IFL and MMA!!!

Listen to the Show

Listen! Randy Couture sits down with Joe & Ted at the IFL GP Semifinals

The Rear Naked Choke tonight will feature guest host “Bad” Brad Blackburn of the Seattle Tiger Sharks!

The power players of the International Fight League (IFL) are flooding Chicago, and the Choke is on hand to give you something a little extra, something a little bit different. We’re sitting down with the interesting people that make MMA fun.

On Thursday, Joe chewed it up with middleweight Matt Horwich of the Portland Wolfpack and heavyweight Antoine Jaoude of the SoCal Condors.

Horwich did his stint with his bible in hand and his feet up on a chair. He is very relaxed and pleasant outside of the ring. His dedication to MMA, self improvement and scripture is off the charts. If you’re a fan of Christian athletes, this is a must-listen segment. If not, then you ought to tune in to hear about the life of an interesting guy.

Where Horwich is unique in an eccentric way, Jaoude (you can learn how to pronounce it by listening!) is someone you would be proud to meet anywhere. He speaks five languages, grew up in Brazil and civil-war-torn Lebanon, has been to the Olympics as a wrestler (and aspires to go back), is working toward a law degree, and generally wants to change the world.

Jaoude seems capable of doing it. Engaging and intelligent, it’s almost hard to believe he is an elite-level athlete - in TWO sports! Despite his apologies, his English is very good, and because of the pace of his speech and his well-constructed thoughts, he is easy to understand.

Keep coming back to www.joeted.com for updates and new material. You never know who is going to grab a mic during the show! And do not forget to listen for the two-hour extravaganza on Saturday, Nov. 3 at 6:30 pm ET, as we go ringside right up until the throwdown at the IFL World Grand Prix semifinals!!!

PS - Joe just saw Chris Horodecki. The Polish Hammer says he’s ready, and he looks it!

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