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Tim Kennedy told Joe & Ted on The Rear Naked Choke on Jan. 13 that the Army is going to let him pursue his mixed martial arts career, the first time such a landmark agreement has been carried through.

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 John Gunderson and Mark Miller on The RNC! [68:54m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We’re Marching through March – the best month in the history of The Rear Naked Choke.

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING AND SPREADING THE WORD! PLEASE KEEP IT UP!

Last week, big-time RNC fan and IFL lightweight John Gunderson joined the guys and discussed his injury status and the impending surgery on his knee that will keep him sidelined for at least a half-year.

Guns is now forced to cater full-time to soccer moms at LA Boxing. Hear him explain why, and hear how he almost escaped Ryan Schulz’s guillotine choke using a gurgling trick he learned from Bas Rutten, along with what he thinks about the whole Couture/Fedor controversy.Besides being Ted’s new passion, do you know what Geo Caching is? Ted fills us in about this growing niche activity in the first of two middle segments.

In the second segment, we are reminded how much Ted hates Riz’s music and ponders how they ever, ever became friends. Kitch wonders the same thing all the time. Riz is nothing if not persuasive. After calling out Kitch on the air about not knowing who Peter Murphy & Bauhaus are while they were battling the Doodlebops in Vegas, Kitch actually went out onto iTunes and bought the latest Bauhaus album, entitled “Go Away White”. He reports, “I actually like it, despite myself.”

Of course, big-time fan that he is, Joe did not even know about the album. Pfft. One up for The Kitch.

Other topics include Joe’s obsession with Strat-O-Matic baseball and how he managed to win a big ass trophy that his wife HATES.

Finally, producer Debbie, fed up with Joe talking about Strat, got Mark Miller on the line. Mark talked about the solid base of fighters at Midwest Combat, his stunning knockout of Josh Neer and his total indifference to ring girls. Find out why a machine gunner works at a gym, too.

Plus – Ted introduced a new segment with Mark. We need your help naming it!!! Drop us a line at TheRNC@joeted.com or shoot us a myspace.

Also, get your ass out to the theater and see our buddy Sean Faris’ movie, Never Back Down. And then come back and listen to his last appearance on The RNC!

JUMP ON THE TRAIN!

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NOTE: Kitch orginally wrote this post and Riz edited it.

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—>

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!

<–pass it down–>

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!

Our mySpace page is coming, too. Keep on the lookout for more info!

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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!!!

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

In our next show on October 22nd, we’ll look at the upcoming IFL World Grand Prix Semifinals! Here’s the fight card we’ll be discussing:

IFL World Grand Prix Semi-Finals
Saturday, Nov. 3
Sears Centre in Hoffman Estates, Ill.

Lightweight
Wagnney Fabiano vs. John Gunderson
Chris Horodecki vs. Bart Palaszewski

Welterweight
Delson Heleno vs. Brad Blackburn
Pat Healy vs. Jay Hieron

Middleweight
Benji Radach vs. Brent Beauparlant
Matt Horwich vs. Brian Foster

Light Heavyweight
Vladimir Matyushenko vs. Alex Schoenauer

Heavyweight
Roy Nelson vs. Reese Andy
Antoine Jaoude vs. Bryan Vetell

Just about all of these guys have been on the show so you can always catch up with past shows here.

And, as always, we welcome your participation in the live show.

IFL 185-pounder Brent Beauparlant, who grew up just a stone’s throw away from the revered Forum in Montreal, is a closet Boston Bruins fan.

Beauparlant confessed his dirty little secret to Joe & Ted on the Oct. 8 show.  He joined the guys, he thought, to talk just about his upcoming IFL Grand Prix semifinal match with top-seeded Benji Radach, but the conversation went well beyond.

As often happens, guests get caught up with the Joe & Ted.  Brent, who fights for the Toronto Dragons, ended up spending nearly the entire show with them, talking about everything from living on three continents in the span of a year, to his time with Canada’s national wrestling team, to the state of MMA in the Great White North.

To listen, find our player over here on the right ————————————–>
or CLICK HERE to get to the full listing of past shows and upcoming episodes.

Speaking of the schedule, Bad Brad Blackburn of the Seattle TigerSharks will be a guest on Monday, Oct. 15 at 9:30 EDT.  Bad Brad is coming off his no-contest against Travis Cox.  He has just gained a spot in the vaunted 170-pound class for the IFL Grand Prix, in which he will battle No. 1 seed Delson Heleno of the champion NY Pitbulls on Nov. 3 in Chicago.

SO YOU THINK YOU CAN FIGHT?

The IFL is conducting its “Draft” – an extensive open tryout in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago.  Joe & Ted are keeping on top of the stories that come from this unique talent search.  Nevada Lions 155-pounder John Gunderson, who was on the Sept. 20 show from Hollywood, FL before the IFL Team Finals, emerged from such a tryout last year!

In addition, Joe & Ted will be exploring the angles on the Grand Prix, with shows on Oct. 15, 22 and possibly 29.  They’ll be in Chicago for one-hour sit-down shows Nov. 1 & 2 before the two-hour ring-side extravaganza Nov. 3 at 5:30 pm EDT, right up until the bell rings to kick off the IFL Grand Prix semifinals!

LISTEN, OR GET CHOKED OUT!

Joe & Ted give you the best of the International Fight League (IFL) right here!

They started September, the month in which the IFL’s team champion will be crowned, by having on “Bad” Brad Blackburn, who will be fighting on the card Sept. 20, prior to the championship match between the Quad Cities Silverbacks and New York Pitbulls. The assistant coach of the Silverbacks, Steve Rusk, also gave his assessments 17 days before the championship throwdown.

Do not forget to stay tuned and find out what our favorite ring girl, Emily Miller, has been up to!

LISTEN HERE!

To listen, follow the link above to our Talkshoe page and subscribe to the feeds via iTunes or whatever you like. You can also download the files directly from the page, or even listen directly through the Talkshoe player. When shows are going on live, you can stream them through Talkshoe, as well.

The focus of the show has been the IFL for more than six months. Let’s take time to see how Joe & Ted took an idea and turned it into the hottest show on the web.

From December until March, the show was in the experimental phase, being put together in a live test environment. When Emily joined the show as a guest one March evening, the show took a turn and the focus immediately shifted to the personalities and storylines of the IFL.

There is no other place this side of “Battleground” that can boast this guest list (in order of appearance):

Emily “Ring Girl” Miller
Ken Yasuda (Tokyo Sabres coach)
Ben Fowlkes  IFL.tv Senior Editor)
Gideon Ray (Toronto Dragons)
Ring Girl Lori
IFL Commissioner Kurt Otto
Brian O’Shea  MMAMadness.com marketing)
Rory Markham (Quad Cities Silverbacks)
Mike Ciesnolevicz (Quad Cities Silverbacks)
Jay Hieron (LA Anacondas)
Vladimir Matyushenko (Tokyo Sabres)
Erik Owings (NY Pitbulls)
Jamal Patterson (NY Pitbulls)
Alex Schoenauer (LA Anacondas)
Shawn Tompkins (LA Anacondas coach)
Wayne Cole (Tokyo Sabres)
Igor Zinoviev (Chicago Red Bears coach)
Chris Horodecki (LA Anacondas)
Jeff Hamlin  MMAMadness.com writer)
Vince Waddell  MMAMAdness.com czar)
Pramit Mohapatra  MMAMadness.com managing editor)
Benji Radach (LA Anacondas)
Drew Archer (IFL operations manager)
Brad Blackburn (Seatle TigerSharks)
Steve Rusk (Quad Cities Silverbacks assistant coach)
Andre Gusmao (NY Pitbulls)
Bart Palaszewski (Quad Cities Silverbacks)
Maurice Smith (Seattle Tiger Sharks coach)
Bryan Vetell (NY Pitbulls)
Matt Lindland (Portland Wolfpack)
John Gunderson (Nevada Lions)
Brent Beauparlant (Toronto Dragons)

Joe & Ted also have done live shows from Chicago and the Meadowlands before IFL events, and will be doing shows from the sites of the Team Finals the week of Sept. 20, from the Grand Prix Semifinals the week of Nov. 3, and from the Grand Prix finals the week of Dec. 29.