The Rear Naked Choke, Featuring Joe & Ted

Listen To The Show - Brad Blackburn and LC Davis as Guests

“Bad” Brad Blackburn announced his upcoming UFC fight exclusively on The Rear Naked Choke, Featuring Joe & Ted (www.JoeTed.com), and it’s going to be an intriguing matchup.

Bad Brad will be joining Joe & Ted in the co-host seat as the guys converge on South Florida for the EliteXC on CBS card, featuring Kimbo Slice vs. Ken Shamrock, Gina Carano vs. Kelly Kobald, Andrei Arlovski vs. Roy “Big Country” Nelson, and Benji Radach vs. Ninja Rua.

This coverage with Joe & Ted’s unique angle is something you get only from The Rear Naked Choke radio show!

Also on the show, featherweight LC Davis gave his first interview since landing a three-fight deal with Affliction.  LC is a friend of the show and a real up-and-comer in MMA.  He is one of the most exciting fighters out there.  He also talked about potential opponents with Joe & Ted.

Email us with suggestions, comments or thoughts at TheRNC@JoeTed.com.

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We had UFC and EliteXC covered on this show:

Listen Now!

Rory Markham talked about what Joe has termed the “Walkoff KO” in his UFC debut.

Bad Brad Blackburn came back for Part 2 to give the update on his surgery and the Vegas after-hours action where he actually hurt his face. It also was his UFC debut.

And The Kitch, a.k.a. James Kitcher, reported what you did not see on CBS in the Stockton, CA, EliteXC event.

BAG BAD BRAD

We’re starting “Bag Bad Brad” - which is a fancy name for “UFC Fighter Brad Blackburn’s Mailbag”. Email your questions to TheRNC@joeted.com and put “Bag Bad Brad” in the subject line. We’ll take the best of the best, just like MMA Live does with Kenny Florian and Inside MMA does with Bas Rutten, a.k.a. El Guapo.

FEEDBACK

We want your feedback and suggestions about the show, MMA, or pretty much anything else. We also want Ted to tell people how to listen to the show through your iPhone while you’re in your car or wherever you are. If you have done it or know how to do it, then tell us about your experience. Tell us how you listen to the show and what you love or despise about it. TheRNC@joeted.com. We’re pushing the emailing a lot now.

We also are trying to figure out why those using Internet Explorer load www.joeted.com and have it come up halfway down the page to one of the videos. Sorry about that.

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The Rear Naked Choke, Featuring Joe & Ted is the best MMA entertainment outside of the ring and the cage! Listen/watch here every Tuesday (for now) at 9:30 p.m. Eastern, 6:30 Pacific for the best of MMA!

Bring us your suggestions!

We’re often imitated, but never duplicated.

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Reese Andy, the opponent for Brandon Vera on the UFC’s July 19 card, and our old pal Mike Ciesnolevicz, who recently won two fights in as many nights, join The Rear Naked Choke, Featuring Joe & Ted for a Tuesday night special holiday edition.

 

 UFC fighter Reese Andy and old pal Mike Ciesnolevicz talk shop! [86:35m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Reese was impressive in his IFL fights and is coming off an elbow injury for his much-anticipated UFC fight against Vera at light heavyweight (205 pounds). It will be shown live July 19 on Spike TV and is scheduled as the fight before the headliner featuring Anderson Silva.

A standout collegiate wrestler, Reese has been comfortable giving up significant weight while fighting heavyweight. Vera has been giving up weight fighting as a heavyweight in the UFC and is the favorite in this match.

Mike C just pulled off the feat of winning a light-heavyweight fight one night and coming back the next night at heavyweight to pull off an old-school double.

Find out how he decided to even attempt doing it, and what Mike C has in store for his future. And there is sure to be some talk about Ben Rothwell and peanut butter!

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JUMP ON THE TRAIN! - GET SOME REAR NAKED LOVE and sign up for our “Rear Naked Choke Update” to get updates about live event shows, special subscriber content, breaking news, guest list updates and more. Sign up now!

The Rear Naked Choke, Featuring Joe & Ted is the best MMA entertainment outside of the ring and the cage! Listen here every Monday at 9:30 p.m. Eastern, 6:30 Pacific for the best of MMA!

Bring us your suggestions!

We’re often imitated, but never duplicated.

JUMP ON THE TRAIN!

<—pass it down—>

 

 Rory Markham, Mark Miller & Bart(imus) Palaszewski join The RNC before their fights on the June 14 Adrenaline MMA card! [87:02m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Rory Markham, Mark Miller and Bart Palaszewski talked about their upcoming appearances in the Adrenaline MMA card at the Sears Center outside of Chicago on June 14 on the latest installment of The Rear Naked Choke, Featuring Joe & Ted.

Listen to the Show!

Bart kicked off things by singing the theme from The Wonder Pets cartoon. No joke. A talented artist inside the ring and cage, Bartimus also proved to be a top-flight crooner of childrens’ songs. Yes, he also talked about his upcoming fight with Adrenaline MMA and is looking to rebound off a three-fight losing streak.

This is a big step for Bart after 12 straight fights in the IFL. Bart, Mark and Rory all were thankful that the IFL gave them an opportunity to fight with Adrenaline MMA - that was before the news that the promotion has canceled the August 15 event.

Mark was not willing to venture out into singing the Wonder Pets song, but said Bart had recently introduced him to the popular cartoon. Rather than sing, Mark immediately declared his favorite Wonder Pet, but you’re going to have to check out the show to find out who it is. We cant give away everything right here, but we will at least tell you that the guys introduced him to The Backyardigans!

Rory gave his take on the news in MMA the past couple of weeks, with Gina Carano and Thiago Alves missing weight and then winning their respective fights, and Scott Smith getting stopped by Robbie Lawler’s errant finger-poke to the eye at the NJ EliteXC event.

A long-time teammate and friend of Matt Hughes and Lawler, Rory not only revealed the late change to his Adrenaline opponent, but also did The Choke Out in one of Ted’s best efforts yet on our favorite segment!

All three show guests have been on The RNC before and were nice enough to come back mere days before their fights. Everyone (not just Rory) was asked to “weigh in” about the recent missed weigh-ins (it’s always best to get the fighters’ take compared to the media’s outlook).

IFL CANCELS AUGUST 15 EVENT On Tuesday afternoon, the day after the latest installment of The RNC, the IFL announced the cancellation of its August 15 show at the Izod Center in New Jersey.

Unless an investor comes in to infuse money and/or buy the IFL, unless other promotions strike a deal to co-promote, things are bleak. Boss Jay Larkin made that very clear on a conference call with reporters.

There is another round of layoffs within the staff, allowing the company to operate for as long as possible in the hopes that some deal can be made to breathe life into the IFL.

Should it not come to fruition, the IFL likely will file for bankruptcy, thus marking the official end.

Of course, this news is particularly hard on The RNC crew, which has intricately worked with the tremendous IFL staff for quite some time. If it was not for the opportunity and cooperation afford us by the IFL, we would not even have a show to bring you.

With the help of key people in the IFL, most notably Jerry Milani, we were able to forge into MMA. Others who deserve special kudos are Greg DeSanctis, Katie Eskin, Josh Anderson, Joe Favorito, Shannon Knapp and Kurt Otto. Please count this as a sincere and heart-felt thanks.

It is a sad and difficult week for MMA. The IFL has been a serious promotion with many innovative ideas and creative people willing to put themselves on the line. Although not perfect, they succeeded (and may again down the road) in putting together consistently excellent and exciting fight cards, top-to-bottom. The focus always was on the quality of the fights and fighters.

Ask just about anyone who paid to go to an IFL show and they’ll respond that the fights were very entertaining and the matchups were of high quality.

Down the line, these are the aspects that will carry the day for a successful MMA promotion. But it’s apparently not enough right now. It remains to be seen which promotion will push the competition over the top to actually compete with the UFC and create a shift in the dynamic of MMA.

Let’s face it: Right now, the UFC still does not have real competition because it is able to dictate. That will be the thing that has to change before the MMA market really opens up. WHAT’S NEXT? The RNC will forge ahead. We recently made the adjustment to broaden our horizons in our MMA coverage, bringing our unique approach with us. While we hope things change and the IFL rebounds to become the next Apple, we’ll keep getting bigger and better.

And we’re always looking for your input. TELL US WHO YOU WOULD LIKE TO SEE ON THE SHOW! As you read this, Producer Debbie is working on the next show. No one is confirmed yet, but let’s just say that we’re looking a lot more at the athletes in Women’s MMA! FULL MOUNT - STAY ON TOP JUMP ON THE TRAIN! - GET SOME REAR NAKED LOVE and sign up for our Rear Naked Choke Update to get alerts about live-event shows, special subscriber content, breaking news, guest-list updates and more. Sign up now! The Rear Naked Choke, Featuring Joe & Ted is the best MMA entertainment outside of the ring and the cage! Watch/listen here every Monday at 9:30 p.m. ET, 6:30 PT for the best of MMA!

We’re often imitated, but never duplicated.

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LISTEN HERE!

 

 Matt Horwich & Brad Imes kick off IFL Fight Week!: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Matt “Suave” Horwich and Brad “The Hillbilly Heartthrob” Imes kick off IFL Fight Week, joining Joe & Ted tonight as the get ready for their IFL fights on the Mohegan Sun card Friday, May 16.

Matt will battle an old friend, Joey “Coyote” Guel, at middleweight, while Brad was a late replacement for Branden Lee Hinkle and gets a heavyweight title shot against Roy “Big Country” Nelson.

This was our last studio show before the in-person throwdowns in Connecticut.

Matt is making his first appearance back in the ring (and on The RNC) since losing his IFL middleweight title Feb. 29 to Ryan McGivern in Las Vegas. That means it’s also his first go-round at both since becoming a married man - he tied the knot the day after his defeat.

Hillbilly Heartthrob Brad pushed his MMA to the next level when he was a finalist in the UFC’s Ultimate Fighter 2 in 2005, dropping a split decision to Rashad Evans. Although he stuggled in going 0-3 in the UFC, Brad has rebounded nicely and has been winning consistently. He trains at Miletich Fighting Systems with the likes of Ben Rothwell and Tim Sylvia.

The Rear Naked Choke, Featuring Joe & Ted is the best MMA entertainment outside of the ring and the cage! Listen here every Monday at 9:30 p.m. Eastern, 6:30 Pacific for the best of the IFL and MMA!

HUGE

JUMP ON THE TRAIN! - GET SOME REAR NAKED LOVE and sign up for our “Rear Naked Choke Update” to get updates about live event shows, special subscriber content, breaking news, guest list updates and more. Sign up now!

The Rear Naked Choke, Featuring Joe & Ted is the best MMA entertainment outside of the ring and the cage! Listen here every Monday at 9:30 p.m. Eastern, 6:30 Pacific for the best of the IFL and MMA! We’re often imitated, but never duplicated.

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Listen to the Show!

 

 Ryan "The Lion Schultz" is King of the IFL Jungle - but can he handle the RNC? [60:04m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Ryan “The Lion” Schultz joined Joe & Ted to talk a little bit about his upcoming IFL lightweight title defense against Deividas Taurosevicius on May 16 at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut and a lot about “Jet Guy”.

Ryan says he is going to remain King of the Jungle. He also talked about how he actually went snowboarding with his brother during the training period, attacking the mountain with reckless abandon.

Ryan has plans for after the fight, and they might include hanging out with Joe & Ted, but then a family fishing trip somewhere (listen to find out) might be in store, as well.

Then there was more ripping on Jets fans.

Additionally, the guys talked about Ian “The Barn Owl’ Loveland cutting off his permed mullet (a story that originally was broken on The RNC by Zac George).

Listen/chat live or grab the download anytime at www.joeted.com. Email us at TheRNC@joeted.com and don’t forget to check us out on mySpace at www.myspace.com/RNCjoeted.

COUPLA THINGS

-Last week we found out Joey “Coyote” Guel (pronounced GALE) will be fighting Matt “Suave” Horwich at Mohegan Sun on the IFL’s next card. You heard it here first!

We’ll introduce you to Joey (12-5) and his coach, Carlos Hernandez, in the coming weeks on The Rear Naked Choke!

Joey and Carlos were in the corner for Bad Brad Blackburn’s amazing comeback knockout of Delson Heleno!

-The IFL also filled out the remainder of the Mohegan Sun card, including Nick Calandrino, who hails from Joe’s home town of Emerson, NJ. Nick will be fighting John Howard in a welterweight bout.

-At the end of last week’s show with Matt Lindland, Joe & Ted finally got enlightened and named the heretofore unnamed segment. That segment where Ted asks the listener a bunch of this-or-that questions has been christened THE CHOKEOUT - listen to who officially takes it on for the first time!

The Rear Naked Choke, Featuring Joe & Ted is the best MMA entertainment outside of the ring and the cage!

Listen here every Monday at 9:30 p.m. Eastern, 6:30 Pacific for the best of the IFL and MMA!

JUMP ON THE TRAIN!

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Listen to the Show

 

 Bad Brad With a Bang! [103:51m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

With Joe & Ted & The RNC crew looking on at ringside the Meadowlands April 4, Bad Brad Blackburn came through with a bang.

Bad Brad was in trouble after losing the first two rounds to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu master Delson Heleno and he needed a knockout in the third round to win.

He got it.

RESULTS:

Jay Hieron defends welterweight belt over Mark Miller, TKO 2:10 Round 1

Wagnney Fabiano defends featherweight belt over Shad Lierley, KO :30 Round 1

Vladimir Matyushenko defends light heavyweight belt over Jamal Patterson, TKO 3:20 Round 2

Brad Blackburn defeats Delson Heleno via KO at 1:50 Round 3.

Alex Schoenauer defeats Brendan Barrett at light heavyweight via split decision

LC Davis defeats Rafael Dias at featherweight via knockout (leg kick) at 3:56 Round 3

Chris Horodecki defeats Nate Lamotte at lightweight via unanimous decision.

Jim Miller defeats Bart Palaszewski at lightweight via unanimous decision.

Emyr Bussade defeats Jesse Lennox via tapout due to submission on kneebar at 1:25 Round 2.

Carmelo Marrero vs. Mike Ciesnolevicz ruled no contest due to accidental headbbut cut on Marrero at 1:37 Round 1.

What you might not know is that The Rear Naked Choke video squad was behind the scenes with Bad Brad from the time he got off the plane! To watch the inside story behind one of the greatest in-fight comebacks in IFL history, keep track of www.joeted.com and listen to The RNC.

Prior to settling in for the fights, Joe & Ted had Ring Girls and Big(gest) Losers. Oh yeah, and fighters, too!

Ring Girl Lauren Urso, who was one of the winners of the IFL/NY Post Ring Girl contest, was the first guest and got things (and Ted) heated up in a hurry.

The massive Conan Silveira from American Top Team talked about coming from Brazil to Miami and gave some good intel on his fighters.

Jim Germanakos from The Biggest Loser stepped in. Jim is a big MMA fan and knows a thing or two about dropping weight and getting into shape. His brother, Bill, won the title after 17 weeks on the ranch. Jim stayed for six weeks and Bill for the entire 17.

Then it got to the fighters, with Deividas Taurosevicius and Mike Massenzio, both of whom will be fighting on the IFL’s May 16 card at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut.

Deividas’ wrist injury kept him from fighting in the Meadowlands but he has been cleared to battle for the lightweight title against Ryan “The Lion” Schultz. Deividas is from Lithuania and recounted his professional athletic start as a rugby player.

Massenzio, who will be making his IFL debut at Mohegan Sun, capped it off by talking about his amazing New Jersey high school wrestling career and his current role as a high school coach and MMA fighter. He was 142-13 in high school and is now 10-1 in MMA!

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Shad Lierley’s toe is fine. Fine enough to allow him to fight for the IFL featherweight belt.

Matt Horwich has the IFL’s middleweight belt and cauliflower ear.

Mario Sperry is the “Zen Machine”.

The three were guests of Joe & Ted on the Rear Naked Choke over the past couple of weeks. Shad and Matt were on the week after Mario.

Shad will battle Wagnney Fabiano on April 4 in the Meadowlands for the featherweight title. Matt puts his middleweight title in the line Feb. 29 at the Orelans in Las Vegas against Tim Kennedy. That same night, Mario’s camp will make its IFL debut against Xtreme Couture, mentored by Shawn Tompkins.

Shad is coming off a now-famous broken toe - the toe broke through the skin. He talked about the injury and how his buddy (and ours), Bad Brad Blackburn, was nowehre to be found when the blood was spewing all over the place. OK, so we might be embellishing a bit, but we did push Shad to bring Bad Brad back east to corner him for the title fight.

Shad also talked about the famed fight of the year of 2007 with Chris Horodecki and said he still would love a rematch, even at 155 pounds, so our thoughts that Shad’s move to featherweight would shelve such a potential rematch might be premature, and hope springs eternal!

Just before we left Shad, he threw the phone over to Reese Andy. Reese’s gym houses just about all of the former Seattle TigerSharks. Get an update on what Reese is doing to get Shad ready!

Matt then came on and Ted hit him right away (not literally). He wanted to know what Matt thought of himself against Anderson Silva. Matt broke it down in his own way after he adjusted the phone (and sent Joe into hysterical laughter) so he could hear the guys. He said in his first appearance on The RNC that his goal was to eventually be at the level to fight Silva. Politics and contracts between promotions will prevent that, though.

The spiritual Horwich, who was reached at Matt Lindland’s Team Quest, recently was a star at the Portland TrailBlazers game, along with teammate Ryan “The Lion” Schultz. While he did not get into too much detail about that, Matt did talk about his hair styles, gave his thoughts on some secrets as to why he has never been knocked out despite taking some massive blows, and his social networking. We asked him to add us on mySpace and make us a top friend, and he did it! THANKS MATT!!!

note: The same offer remains open to all. We’re at www.myspace.com/rncjoeted and we love being in your top friends! It helps the show grow!

Mario sized up his camp entry. The Zen Machine talked about how he got to the IFL. He gave his thoughts about the system, and the MMA world in general.

Mario has been traveling constantly in the months since arriving in the USA from Brazil. It was exceptionally nice of him to take the time to join Joe & Ted. Mario was so concerned that the battery on his cell phone was going to run out during the interview that he made them call him back on a different line! That’s class, ladies and gentlemen!

SWITCHING GEARS

If you have not seen the show “Fight Science” on the National Geographic channel, then stop what you’re doing and make a point to set the DVR for it RIGHT NOW.

Bas Rutten, Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz and Dean Lister are run through a series of experimental scientific tests, and the results stunned the compilers of empirical data.

The only down side was that if you knew nothing about MMA organizations, you would think the UFC was the only one in existence. This was an observation made by Ted and confirmed by Joe.

We have seen in the past that the UFC is not above leveraging their footage and general access to mainstream and other media under the conditions that the written or televised piece keep exclusive mention to their promotion. No one from The RNC has checked into confirming that was the case for this episode of “Fight Science” because we really do not care that much, other than to just levy our positive and negative criticism of the show.

Speaking of Bas Rutten, a hearty RNC congratulations goes out to “El Guapo” for being named the VP for fighter relations at the IFL (from “Fight Science” you can see he’s still in fighting shape!). Fear not, he’ll still be bringing his top-notch analysis to the IFL’s telecasts. Now Bas gets to use those endless connections to help bring talent into the IFL and help create sensible and exciting fighter and camp matchups.

Additionally, Kurt Otto will be able to focus more on the ring-related aspects. As the new head of the business side, Jay Larkin, said last week, the team concept changing to the camp vs. camp setup means we’re not so much talking about a league except in official name. Without a league, there is no sense of having a commissioner. The good thing is, you’ll still be able to hear Kurt, Bas and everyone involved in the IFL inside and and outside of the ring right here on The Rear Naked Choke!

More big news this week was the announcement that the April 4 card will include a total of three title matches:

Featherweight (145 pounds): Wagnney Fabiano defends vs. Shad Lierley

Welterweight (170 pounds): Jay Hieron defends vs. Mark Miller

Light Heavyweight (205 pounds): Vladimir “The Janitor” Matyushenko defends vs. Jamal Patterson

We already have had on Jay (”Nice playa, nice!”), and we’ll eventually have on everyone on that list. We’ll also keep focusing on the Feb. 29 card and will continue to have guests from that lineup!

JUMP ON THE TRAIN!

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But first, check out the IFL’s sharp new logo. Sah-weet!!!

Now, back to the show…

Joe & Ted can be hard to keep up with, even for an Army Ranger. Tim Kennedy joined Joe & Ted for zombie talk in preparation for his Feb. 29 middleweight IFL title fight with Matt Horwich. It is the third straight iron fist the enigmatic Horwich will face, coming off Grand Prix wins over Brian Foster and Benji Radach to take the belt.

(Tim Kennedy, after beating Elias Rivera Dec. 29)

Joe & Ted prepared Tim for the awkward style of Horwich by making him as uncomfortable as possible. Part of it was talking about The Spinning Back Claw, which must be seen to be appreciated. Kennedy rewarded the guys with an invitation to his potential victory party in Las Vegas (provided Joe buys the hamburgers). Las Vegas is the hometown of Roy “Big Country” Nelson, who is a man of firsts (and fists).

Roy is the first heavyweight champion in the history of the IFL (see how he did it). He was the first guest in the history of The Rear Naked Choke (well, the first one we had after the name change). Depending on the order of the fight card, he might be the first fighter to successfully defend a belt.Listen to Tim and Roy, and check the rest of the archives for the coolest show in MMA. Joe & Ted run it fast and loose.

COUPLA THINGS:

Shad Lierley is going to fight for the featherweight title on the April 4 Meadowlands (New Jersey) card against Wagnney Fabiano. If form holds true, you’ll be able to hear both Shad and Wagnney size up their fight on The Rear Naked Choke. Xtreme Couture is now part of the IFL. Our pal for whom the company is named, Randy Couture, is in a dispute with the UFC and its owners, with the IFL involvement possibly being an issue in a suit that apparently was filed last week.

The competing IFL team is from the Xtreme Couture camp, which is where the fighters train. The IFL is not using his full name or likeness in any advertising in any way (outside of the Xtreme Couture camp branding).

Many of those fighters are IFL athletes with existing contracts. Shawn Tompkins, the former coach of the Anacondas, is the mentor. Randy Couture is a trainer, but he is not a signed IFL coach like Pat Miletich, Renzo Gracie or Matt Lindland (who always has to remind Matt Horwich to bring his cup).

Shawn is one of Randy’s top guys and a business partner of his. We have enjoyed having Randy, Shawn and Xtreme Couture athletes like Jay Hieron (nicePLAYAnice) and Chris Horodecki on The RNC in the past and look forward to having them and their colleagues on in the future, as their involvement with the IFL continues to build.

(Shawn Tompkins in between Joe & Ted)

Finally, we’re not doing a show on Martin Luther King Day, but we’ll instead do it Tuesday, at the usual time. Check it out at 9:30 pm Eastern, 8:30 Central, 7:30 Mountain, 6:30 Pacific, or 2:30 GMT (Wednesday on the other side of the Atlantic frickin’ Ocean). You can listen to the show while watching Australian Open tennis with the volume down!

JUMP ON THE TRAIN!

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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!