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.
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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!
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