The Rear Naked Choke, Featuring Joe & Ted

It’s time for Vegas.

The Rear Naked Choke will be there to give you all the special insight into the IFL season-opening event at The Orleans on Leap Day!  Listen live for shows on Wednesday, Feb. 27, Thursday, Feb. 28 and, of course, for the ringside live stream before the throwdown on Friday, Feb. 29.

As always, the guest list will be fluid.  Because of the time difference in Vegas, we’ll not be on our usual Eastern time schedule, but we’ll at least try to keep it close for the live participants.  If you have the chance to log on while the show is live, jump into the interactive chat room and enjoy an extra-special show experience.

You can always catch the shows at your convenience, because they’re available for listening or downloading 24/7.  There is an interative show player right here on the www.joeted.com site or you can go to the Talkshoe page.  Do not forget at add us to your myspace and give us top-friends love!

HISTORY LESSON 

The last time we went onsite, it was at Mohegan Sun in Conn. for the last IFL event.  This is how the guest lists from those shows panned out:

First night: We had Roy “Big Country” Nelson and Antoine Jaoude, who were two days from squaring off for the IFL heavyweight belt, in addition to Benji Radach, who was readying to fight Matt Horwich for the middleweight title.

Second day/night: For the first time, we streamed live from the weigh-in, showing our great versatility.  At the weigh-in, we sat down with Ken Shamrock, Ian “The Machine” Freeman, and Pat Miletich!  Not content with one show, we did another one later from the hotel, and had the IFL’s famed ring announcer, Tim Hughes, co-host with Joe & Ted and had an incredible sit-down with Shawn Tompkins and IFL co-founder Kurt Otto.  Yes, this guest list was all in the same day.  Not a misprint.

Fight night: Streaming live from ringside, Kurt Otto could not resist coming on again, this time with a different posture - to talk about the card and take Joe & Ted’s predictions (Joe finally beat Ted!).  Then Carlos Newton sat down before Randy Couture came in, made a huge crowd gather ’round, and made his second appearance on The RNC!

WHAT TO EXPECT

Expect Joe & Ted to be prepared to take on whomever is ready to sit down with them.  A lot is being worked on behind the scenes.  There is a new movie coming out called “Never Back Down, starring Sean Faris, who is expected to be around the event.  We’ll see if Sean will sit down.  What about Elisabeth Nuesser from FightChix?  Then there are the usual suspects - your favorites.  And we’ll always find some new wrinkle to make it exciting. 

JUMP ON THE TRAIN!

 <—pass it down—>

Ho-hum.  Another live ring-side show at an IFL event, another sick job by The RNC crew.  

First and foremost, congratulations to the IFL belt winners:

Featherweight: Wagnney Fabiano
Lightweight: Ryan Schultz
Welterweight: Jay Hieron
Middleweight: Matt Horwich
Light Heavyweight: Vladmir Matyushenko
Heavyweight: Roy “Big Country” Nelson

We got Randy again!  Randy Couture!  The Natural! 

Randy talked about the crap that he went through in the second half of 2007 and looked ahead to 2008, giving an explantion of all things Couture.  We’re not going to spoil the surprise — click the badge over there on the right and start listening to the show right now!

Joe & Ted welcomed Carlos Newton to the show once again.  Carlos kicked it off and talked about Wagnney, Canadian MMA and his new house, not to mention what he is looking forward to in the new year.  He’s going to start training all over the place, so get excited!

 IFL Commissioner Kurt Otto then sat in for some quality time.  Rather than focusing on the peripherals, Kurt talked about the fights and forced Joe & Ted into their predictions.  Hear the Commish relaxing and talking about MMA as a fan.  It’s quality stuff, and it will help you get to know Kurt a little bit better.

The ringside live show — a concept invented here — was the culmination of a four-shows-in-three-days bonanza.  Joe & Ted also broke new ground by going live from the weigh-in!

 Here is a recap of the three - yes, THREE - shows the guys did on Dec. 27-28:

The first night, Joe & Ted arrived on the scene and sat down with heavyweight combatants ”Big Country” and Antoine Jaoude.  Oh yeah, in the mean time, our pal Benji Radach stopped by, ahead of his 185-pound title match with Horwich.

On Friday afternoon, the guys went live from the weigh-in at Mohegan Sun and had (get this): Ken Shamrock, Ian Freeman and Pat Miletich!  Unbelievable! 

Ken gave the intel on his fight plans for 2008, and they are big plans!  Check out the show to find out what the MMA legend has planned for the coming months and hear him talk about his brother, Frank Shamrock.  Get the latest on Shamrock vs. Shamrock!

Ian recalled his days as a brawling doorman in the UK, and told the story about what made him switch from being just a boxer to essentially bringing MMA to its newest hotbed.  He also revealed which football (American word: “soccer”) team he supports (American words: “roots for”).   

 Pat’s appearance on the show was a long-awaited highlight for Joe & Ted, to whom he refers as ”Those Lawyer Guys From New York”.  Mr. Miletich wants to take the “Naked” out of Rear Naked Choke - hear why, and email us on TheRNC@joeted.com to tell us what you think (tell us you want to keep it).  We might even put up a poll, so vote to keep it in there (sorry, Pat!).  

On Friday night, Tim Hughes, the awesome IFL Ring Announcer, took on co-hosting duties for a huge show that featured Shawn Tompkins, who is Randy’s right-hand man at Xtreme Couture, and Commissioner Kurt.

Tim is such a polished pro, and Joe & Ted always are especially honored when he joins them.  He also knows a heck of a lot about MMA and the people involved in it.  Hear about what Tim is doing with HDNet Fights and get some background about his incredible history in the industry.  You’ll have immediate voice recognition, “THAT’S TIM HUGHES?!  I KNOW THAT GUY!”

Shawn joined us to talk about the Xtreme Couture guys: Chris Horodecki and Jay Hieron, and a little bit about Benji Radach.  His relationship with Chris is special and unique.   Shawn’s involvement in Xtreme Couture has been a huge key to its astounding rise to prominence, and Team Tompkins is not too shabby, either!

 These shows are must-listens for even the casual fan, not to mention the hard-core enthusiasts. 

 JUMP ON THE TRAIN!