The Rear Naked Choke, Featuring Joe & Ted

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The Miller Brothers, Dan and Jim, are fresh off wins in the past couple of weeks in their UFC bouts.

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 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.

JUMP ON THE TRAIN! <—pass it down—>

Dan Miller stunned the establishment Friday night at Mohegan Sun with his belt-winning kneebar of IFL middleweight champion Ryan McGivern.

On May 19, Dan and his brother, Jim, welcomed Joe, Ted and The Rear Naked Choke crew to AMA Fight Club in Whippany, NJ for an in-person show! To hear Dan’s initial appearance on the show, Dec. 3, 2007, click the second player below.

 

 Dan & Jim Miller, Comin' atcha LIVE from AMA Fight Club in Whippany, NJ!: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

 

 Dan Miller's first appearance on The RNC, Dec. 3, 2007: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

The 185-pound IFL championship belt Dan secured was sitting right there on the table the whole show, which featured a recap of the Mohegan Sun card from May 16, the history of the Miller brothers, the MMA scene, family squabbles, the IFL, contracts, and much more.

Don’t worry, we also made Dan talk AGAIN about “The Guillotine From Hell” from his first IFL fight!

It got ugly when Jim revealed the dirty tricks of wrestling and Ted busted out the Oil Can Boyd reference.

If you missed it live, you can download this or any show to your iTunes by clicking the iTunes widget on www.joeted.com, and there also is an RSS feed available among the ways to keep on top of The Choke.

We also are feverishly working to get the VIDEO archive of live shows available through our partners at IFL.TV - feel free to check out the video player and do not wait for word from us. IT’S OK!

THOUGHTS FROM MOHEGAN

We once again were treated in a top-notch manner by the IFL and its staff, especially Jerry Milani, Greg DeSanctis and Katie Eskin. Katie has been instrumental in getting the video livestream running on IFL.TV. As we work out the kinks, the product will continue to improve (and believe us, we’re working tirelessly on it).

As usual, Debbie Rizzo killed as producer. James “The Kitch” Kitcher did well remote producing and keeping up joeted.com from The Land of Urijah Faber. Marty Lang gave us a taste of his professional film making by manning the video.

The guest list from the three on-site Mohegan Sun event-related shows:

Bad Brad Blackburn (co-hosted in Ted’s spot 5/14), Joey Guel, Carlos Hernandez, Zac George, Ryan “The Lion” Schultz, Roy “Big Country” Nelson, John Franchi, Nick Calandrino, Mike Massenzio, Kurt Otto, Tim Hughes, Jay Larkin, Chael Sonnen and, last but not least, Mike Ciesnolevicz.

After the fights finished, the crew hung out at the casino. Ted and Marty chilled with Big Country, and Joe and Debbie caught up with them after a nice chat-up with the Team Quest guys, including Ryan The Lion, Chael, Aaron Stark and Matt Lindland, who eagerly exposed his right nipple.

Bad Brad, renowned MMA photographer Tracy Lee, and Kurt Otto caught up with the crew when Royce Gracie showed up!

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 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.

JUMP ON THE TRAIN! (again)

<—pass it down—>

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.

JUMP ON THE TRAIN! (again)

<—pass it down—>

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!

<—pass it down—>

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!

JUMP ON THE TRAIN!

<—pass it down—>

Bad Brad Blackburn gave The Rear Naked Choke and exclusive announcement - what a way to follow IFL heavyweight champ Roy Nelson - and there was controversy about Xtreme Couture and the IFL uncovered on Monday’s show on www.joeted.com.

Bad Brad revealed on the air to Joe & Ted and The RNC nation that he will be fighting again in the IFL, with his next match to be against Delson Heleno of Renzo Gracie Jiu Jitsu on April 4 at the Meadowlands in NJ.

Brad was his usual self, making easy conversation and keeping Joe & Ted in stitches with his endearing sarcasm. Because his announcement was breaking news, the guys did not reveal Blackburn was even coming on the show until they brought him on the air.

By the time the show was finishing, he was running out the door to practice his jiu jitsu!

Maybe he should train with “Big Country”, whose game has no weakness right now.

Coming off his dominating knockout of Fabiano Scherner in the IFL’s 2008 opener Feb. 29, Roy was in top form in his showdown with Joe & Ted.

Roy gave a quick recap of his fight, then offered fans of The RNC a free T-shirt at his web site, www.bigcountry.tv.

But it is Roy’s insights into the business and political sides of MMA that set him apart. The discussion turned to the issue in the IFL in which Xtreme Couture abruptly switched its camp name to Team Tompkins due to the ongoing legal battle between Randy Couture and Zuffa, which operates the UFC.

Just two days before the IFL card was to take place, the Xtreme Couture camp entity asked the IFL to let it out of the naming commitment, which the promotion did, scrambling immediately in an obvious show of good faith. Within minutes of the request, the name Xtreme Couture was wiped clean of the www.IFL.tv site and all references were adjusted to read “Team Tompkins”.

Because Shawn Tompkins has fronted the core group of fighters associated with Xtreme Couture (the Anacondas), it was a logical and simple solution to make the name adjustment to Team Tompkins.

That should have been the end of the story.

What was not an issue at the time was that the fighters on the card representing Xtreme Couture/Team Tompkins were, with the exception of 145-pounder Dennis Davis, not regular training members in the Las Vegas-based establishment.

However, when Santino DeFranco and Lew Polley, members of American Top Team, were submission losers in the Feb. 29 card, it seemed to suddenly become a point of contention that the pair were not affiliated with Xtreme Couture, which contends it was forced by the IFL to have DeFranco and Polley fight under its banner.

Here is the camp’s statement, taken from the Xtreme Couture blog. Note the date of March 1, the day after the IFL card was contested:

Statement on Team Name Change from Xtreme Couture to Team Tompkins

March 1, 2008 ·

Yesterday our lawyers appeared in Judge Togliatti’s Las Vegas courtroom to address the previously continued preliminary injunction hearing. After many hours of argument, the judge agreed to fashion a remedy (without any admission or waiver or affect on any date and event other than the February 29th IFL event) based upon what Randy Couture had already advised the court he was doing and /or more than willing to do (and had already taken steps to do): (i) That he had not planned to attend the February 29th IFL event in Las Vegas; (ii) that, given the foregoing, he was not cornering at the IFL event on the 29th; and (iii) that the team name “Xtreme Couture” would not be used in the February 29th event (for the reasons discussed below). We don’t believe that anyone with full-knowledge of the facts could consider this a victory. In fact, it is a non-event.

However, the background story is a little more interesting. Simply put, the IFL was attempting to use the ”Xtreme Couture” name without properly representing the gym by using its own fighters.

On January 8 we submitted a list of seven (7) fighters to the IFL that would be available to fight in the IFL event from the Xtreme Couture gym. The fighters were: Dennis Davis 145lbs (16-8), Jay White Heavyweight (2-5), Phil Friedman Heavyweight (1-0), Eric Uresk 155lbs (2-3), Josh Haynes 185lbs (8-8), Johnny Hendricks 170lbs (3-0), and Karina Taylor 135lbs (0-1).

The IFL informed us that Dennis Davis would be booked to fight a prelim bout against Ian Loveland and that none of our other fighters would be utilized. According to the IFL none of our fighters were a proper matchup for Mario Sperry’s team of Brazilian fighters. The IFL intended to field a team of Benji Radach (who due to injury was replaced by Josh Haynes), Santino DeFranco and Lew Polley. Radach had been a member of Shawn Tompkins’ Anacondas team, while DeFranco and Polley are from American Top Team.

Lew Polley and Santino DeFranco are tremendous athletes and excellent fighters. However, they are members of American Top Team not Xtreme Couture. American Top Team is a great squad and by all means seem to be deserving of having their own team in the IFL. We have 35 athletes that train in our Las Vegas gym and proudly wear the Xtreme Couture patch on their shorts during fights. Yet the IFL decided to field a team called “Xtreme Couture” without putting any Xtreme Couture athletes on the team. The Patriots didn’t show up in the Super Bowl with a bunch of players from the Packers. Why would the Xtreme Couture name be put on the line and not be represented by Xtreme Couture fighters.

It is because of this that the team name was changed to ”Team Tompkins”.

The IFL may have been misguided in putting fighters under another camp’s banner, but this did not seem to be an issue until all of a sudden DeFranco and Polley were victims of first-round submissions.

The IFL has been doing the same thing since its inception and no one made an issue of it.

For instance, Jake Ellenberger, who had an impressive win over Pat Healy on the Feb. 29 card, is a member of Matt Lindland’s Team Quest. But Ellenberger fought in the IFL Team Finals in September for Pat Miletich’s Silverbacks when Rory Markham was injured.

Miletich had another Team Quest fighter, Gerald Harris (a member of the cast of The Ultimate Fighter 7, incidentally), join his Silverbacks for the team semifinals against Tompkins’ Anacondas, and he was knocked out by Radach.

Radach originally was supposed to fight under the Xtreme Couture banner for the card in question Feb. 29, but because he broke bones in his neck during training was replaced by Josh Haynes. Although Radach has trained in Florida with American Top Team for years, no one seemed to have a problem with the star being associated with the Anacondas, Xtreme Couture or Team Tompkins.

While valid, the timing of the Xtreme Couture statement seems curious at best, sour grapes at worst. There had been plenty of time for them to step in and either ask for the name association to be removed or demand the IFL utilize true members of the camp for all events in which it was participating.

It was a subpar move by an otherwise top-flight outfit with some of the most respected people in the business.

On The Rear Naked Choke, both Nelson and Blackburn assessed the situation and added special insight. Give it a listen and comment through the site or via email at TheRNC@joeted.com.

Also, do not forget to visit Fightchix. When you make your order, drop them a line on info@fightchix.com and mention The Rear Naked Choke to get 15% off!

JUMP ON THE TRAIN!

<—pass it down—>

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!

<—pass it down—>

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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Ryan “The Lion” Schultz and Jay Hieron joined Joe & Ted on The Rear Naked Choke fresh off their title-winning performances at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut. They talked about their championship fights. A little. But you can get that almost anywhere, or even from just watching the fights.

What you cannot get anywhere else is what they gave Joe & Ted.

Does Ryan (pictured above in red trunks, fighting Chris Horodecki for the title) really try to look like a lion? Has he ever had a couple too many beers before a van ride to the airport with Joe & Ted? Where is North Platte, Nebraska, and who is the toughest guy from that small town?

Listen and find out. Get some laughs while doing it, and get to know the first lightweight champion in the history of the IFL right here on www.joeted.com!

What about Jay (pictured above, getting his IFL welterweight champion’s belt) ? Find out what it will take for Jay to agree to co-host the show, and with whom he will co-host. Find out his real name, and why he changed it. Live through the gut-wrenching decision he had to make in his personal life just weeks before the welterweight title fight victory over Delson Heleno, and listen as he lifts spirits and describes the origination of the greatest catch phrase in MMA!

There also was breaking news on The RNC about the first title defenses of Ryan The Lion and Jay. Find out who they’ll fight, when they’ll fight them and where it will take place. And listen up to get their assessment of their opponents!

UP NEXT

Coming up Monday, January 14, it’s new heavyweight champion Roy “Big Country” Nelson and middleweight title contender Tim Kennedy.

The live stream is 9:30 Eastern, 8:30 Central, 7:30 Mountain, 6:30 Pacific, and 2:30 GMT Tuesday.

Big Country knocked out Antoine Jaoude on Dec. 29 at Mohegan Sun in Connecticut to take the heavyweight belt. Roy was the first guest after the show was re-Christened as The Rear Naked Choke, and he also joined Joe & Ted in person on the show a couple of nights before his title fight. He will take on Fabiano Scherner, fighting in front of the hometown fans in Las Vegas on Feb. 29.

Tim also fought at Mohegan Sun and pounded out a quick win over local favorite Elias Rivera. He will battle Matt Horwich with the middleweight belt at stake on the Leap Day Vegas card. This will mark Tim’s second appearance on The Rear Naked Choke.

Did we mention Tim is an American hero who is an Army Ranger but somehow does double-duty as an MMA ass-kicker? Visit our mySpace page or go to www.joeted.com to listen to the show. We encourage live participation, and you can catch the live stream while interacting with other listeners and fans, so check it out.If you’re going to be on the road (or at the mall, or at dinner), you can listen by phone. Or you can download any show at any time.

Drop us a note on mySpace or through email at TheRNC@joeted.com!

JUMP ON THE TRAIN!

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