The London Free Press of Canada did a pair of feature articles today on our fighters. One on Shawn Tompkins and another on Chris Horodecki.
The Free Press compared Horodecki to hockey phenom Sidney Crosby and Tompkins to a preacher.
Both articles are a great read.
Categories: Chris Horodecki · Shawn Tompkins
Our wrestling coach Jason Townsend is leaving us. He’s heading to USA Wrestling headquarters in Colorado Springs, CO. Jason will be taking over as Manager of Developing Wrestling Styles. His focus will be on Submission Grappling, Beach Wrestling and Sambo.
Jason coached the U.S. Submission Grappling Team at the 1st World Championship this year in Ankara, Turkey. The U.S. Team won 9 gold medals. Jason will continue to work with the Submission Grappling Team. There is hope by USA Wrestling and FILA that Submission Grappling will be a full Olympic sport in 2016.
We’re extremely proud of Jason who has been a phenomenal coach and teammate here at Xtreme Couture and we know that he is going to do a tremendous job in his new role. USA Wrestling made a great move and we wish them both well.
Categories: Jason Townsend · Submission Grappling
John Alessio returns to the cage in the WEC on December 12th. He’ll be resuming his title hunt when he takes on undefeated fighter Todd Moore. Moore out of Houston, Texas sports an impressive 9-0 record with 4 TKO’s and 1 submission.
The fight will take place in the welterweight division and will be aired on VS.
We hope to put up an interview about the fight and his future plans with John Alessio soon.
Categories: John Alessio
Meet Randy “The Natural” Couture at the North American Mixed Martial Arts Expo, December 1st & 2nd.
NAMMAE is happening at The Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA. Tickets cost $9.50 per day or $16 for both days and are available at www.nammae.com/tickets.html
Randy will be signing autographs Saturday December 1st at noon. Only the first 500 people will be able to get one. So get in line early to receive a ticket entitling you to an autograph.
On Sunday Randy will teach a 2-hour seminar. Time to be determined (but we expect it will be around noon).
All of the major brands in MMA will be present with a booth. It’s a great place to go to get deals on clothes, training gear and nutritional products and have some fun while doing your holiday shopping.
You’ll also be able to meet MMA stars Tito Ortiz, Kendall Grove, Tyson Griffin, Gray Maynard, Joe “Daddy” Stevenson and Sean Sherk! Eddie Bravo will be teaching a seminar and autographing copies of his new book, “Mastering the Twister”. There’s also a USA Wrestling sanctioned Submission Grappling Tournament both days that is sure to be exciting.
For more information log on to: www.nammae.com or call 877.9-NAMMAE.
Categories: randy couture
Round 1
Round 2
Round 3
Next up for Jay is Delson Heleno a dangerous 170-lb fighter in what could be the most explosive fight of the year. The winner will be crowned as the IFL’s 1st Welterweight Champion. It’s going down December 29th live on HDNet.
Categories: IFL · Jay Hieron
Valerie Haney spoke with Frank “Twinkle Toes” Trigg about his upcoming fight against Edwin Dewees premiering on HDNet December 15th.
Haney: You have a fight coming up against Edwin Dewees on HDNET Fights on December 15th. This is your first time fighting for them. Why HDNET?
Trigg: I’m a weird fighter – I’m a professional broadcaster that fights. I look at the total contract not just the fight. HDNet only worried about me as a fighter not a broadcaster. They want me to come in kick ass and send him home in a body bag and do it two more times in a year.
Haney: The rumors a few weeks ago before signing with HDNET was a possible fight between you and Paulo Filho (15-0) in the WEC for the title? What really transpired there?
Trigg: I really wanted the fight. There were 3 different lines in the contract that were a sticking point. Reed Harris did a great job trying to get it done. It was just a contractual issue that we couldn’t agree on.
Haney: Edwin Dewees hasn’t had a fight in over a year. Does this change your game plan or training?
Trigg: No. I’ve been there before. I’m not sure what he’s learned that’s new in the past year. I think this will be a good fight.
Haney: What unique challenges does Edwin pose in your perspective?
Trigg: His ground game and Jui-Jitsu. He has a weird stand up style. I haven’t seen him in a year so it’s old tape. He can get my last 3 fights to see what I’m doing. I can’t pick up anything new on him.
Haney: What is a typical training week entail during your preparation for a fight?
Trigg: 5:30 am strength and conditioning, 11:00-12:00 techniques like Jui-Jitsu or mit work (3 days a week)along with sparring 4:00 – 6:00 (5 days a week).
Haney: Describe the level of training here at Xtreme Couture versus other gyms you have trained at. What makes Xtreme Couture unique?
Trigg: At Xtreme Couture everyone is a nice guy, no egos, no assholes. I’m the biggest dick in the room. You get a great workout situation all the time. I went with Jay White and didn’t realize how good his stand up is. Mike Whitehead moves so well for his size. In Vegas it’s the best training you are going to get. Can’t get a better group of guys to work with. For the last 8-9 weeks the practices have been very structured. Ron Frazier, Shawn Tompkins, Chris Ben have all been great at keeping a structured format which is very important for an athlete. I know when I walk in I have to focus for the hour and a half or hour and forty five minutes and that’s it.
Haney:: I read that you eat a lot of sushi, is this true during training and if so for our readers that never eat sushi what would you suggest to order for your first time?
Trigg: I’m a big sushi lover. I spent a lot of time in Japan working for pride. My wife doesn’t like it that much. We have a rule at home that for the training camp we don’t get to eat out. You can’t control what’s in the food. Sometimes we have to break the rule if I’m on the road but we try hard not to. Sushi is hard to make at home so I don’t get it during my training camp.
Trigg: Try fatty tuna, it’s a fish but not a hard fish. Easy to chew and swallow. Try shrimp if you like shrimp that always good. And the rolls like Philadelphia or California it’s a good mix of American & Asian style. Easy way to step into it.
Haney: What is your next goal you expect to obtain at this point in your MMA career.
Trigg: I don’t know I haven’t thought about it. I always look at the next fight and to become a better fighter, better Jui-Jitsu, better Stricker. I don’t plan to far out. I’m a collector of belts I think there is another one in the future. I plan to fight for 3 or 4 more years.
Haney: Besides your upcoming fight what’s keeping you the busiest these days.
Trigg: The Holidays – Thanksgiving and Christmas. Christmas is a big thing. I have my kids we always go to Chicago and spend time with the family. It’s neat but hectic. I also always keep busy with my clothing line and design work for it.
Haney: If there were one great fight you’d like to see in 2008 who would it be and why?
Trigg: I’m Bias I would like to see Fedor vs Couture. I haven’t been quiet about it. I really want to see Fedor tested one more time. There are a lot of great fights coming up Serra vs Hughes, Wanderlei vs Liddell. I also love to watch Kendall Grove and Jay Hieron. I’m kinda bias I’ve known Randy for a long time and would love to see that fight. I want to see Randy smack one more guy one more time.
Haney: Being a parent and having grown up with 7 brothers do you have any advise for me and my two sons of 2 and 3-1/2. They are starting to hit each other. Is this something that we should embrace now to become the next great MMA fighter.
Trigg: Embrace it in a certain way. Don’t let them smack each other around the house only allow it when you go to the gym. The gym can be in your house. An area that you make in a corner of a room. You need to teach them to be sportsman at an early age. Give them equipment and a time frame keep it structured. Embrace it boys are boys.
Categories: Uncategorized
Forrest Griffin guest stars tonight on NBC’s hit crime drama “Law & Order: SVU”. The episode is titled “Fight” and focuses on a murder somehow related to an underground fighting league. Forrest plays a bad guy and word is steals the show.
Law & Order: SVU airs on NBC at 10pm ET/PT.
Here’s a preview of the show.
Categories: Forrest Griffin · Law & Order: SVU
In early April Xtreme Couture was contacted to see if Randy would be willing to attend a military homecoming ball for soldiers returning from Iraq. The coordinator, an active duty wife, mentioned how Randy had taken the time to visit the guys in Iraq last summer “To this day, we still hear stories about his visit from our husbands. Our husbands are huge “Randy” fans but believe it or not, we have some very hard-core “Randy” fans in our wives as well. ” The men and women served a total of 15-16 months and were returning home late October. The huge celebration was for their return. “We continue to live ordinary lives at home while they put ordinary aside for extraordinary! This will also be the first occasion our battalion has to collectively say farewell to our fallen soldiers.”
“It was truly an honor to be part of the welcoming home ball for the 2/3 infantry patriots and the striker battalion. What a great pleasure to meet the soldiers and their families. Their enthusiasm and patriotism continues to impress me. Both my wife and myself look forward to new ways to support the troops.” ~Randy Couture
The party was filled with enthusiasm as Randy took the majority of the evening mingling with the soldiers, signing autographs and taking photos.
Categories: xtreme couture GI Foundation
(Coach Shawn Tompkins holds pads for Jay White)
Heavyweight Jay White returns to the cage on Saturday December 15th at the American Airlines Arena in Dallas on the HDNet Fights show. He’ll be taking on Patrick Castillo.
Jay is chomping at the bit to get back in the cage. His last fight was on St Patrick’s Day in 2006.
Jay came down from Oregon to train with Randy for 2 weeks before the Gonzaga fight and ended up staying. He spent his summer serving as a stand-in for Gabriel Gonzaga and rolling with The Natural everyday. He also helped Phil Friedman get ready for his pro debut and trained with James “Colossus” Thompson, Forrest Griffin and Kimbo.
Now that he is settled in with a good, positive team situation he’s ready to make his mark on the HDNet Fights show.
(Jay tries to get a rear naked choke on the boss)
Categories: jay white
(Mike Pyle and Coach Ron Frazier work the mits)
Mike Pyle is in Corpus Christi, Texas ready to take on Jake Shields in the co-Main Event of the Elite XC card on Showtime. Mike had an incredible training camp, looks sharp and is ready to make his name known.
If you’re unfamiliar with Quicksand Pyle, he’s well versed in Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai. Mike taught himself how to fight as a teenager in Tennesse. He put mats in his mom’s shed and taught himself jiu jitsu while beating up his buddies (who he bribed with beer) and watching tapes. He is a consummate competitor who never backs down from a challenge. He fought Quinton Jackson at the beginning of his career in a fight many people feel could have been judged his way, he took on Andrei Semenov in Russia, beat Jon Fitch and Shonie Carter, held the WEC Welterweight Title and competed in the IFL at 185lbs a weight class above his fighting weight.
If he and Jake Shields had been promoted better, this fight could be headlining one of the biggest Pay Per Views of the year. On paper it has FIGHT OF THE YEAR CANDIDATE written on it in big, bold letters. Maybe in a way, it works out for fans that they get to see it for free Saturday. Both Mike and Jake are class acts and great fighters. Jake may have an advantage in jiu jitsu (but not by much), Mike has the advantage standing and may have an edge in wrestling. Expect a tremendous bout when they step in the cage with lots of takedowns, submission attempts, reversals and scrambles. Basically expect it to look like a Tyson Griffin fight.
Elite XC airs this Saturday at 10pm ET/PT.
