Four of our team’s top prospects will be in action tonight at The Aquarius Resort and Casino in Laughlin, Nevada. Fights start at 8pm. Undefeated JD Stanley and Mike Dizak look to continue their winning ways and take the next step to MMA’s big stage. JJ Mix looks to win his second fight in as many weeks and Josh Downing looks to kick his career off with a win when he ssteps into the ring for the first time as a professional. Coaches Shawn Tompkins and Ron Frazier are in Laughlin with the boys. The show, put on by Skipper Kelp features up and coming talent from Nevada, California and Arizona.
Here are some Skipper Kelp highlights for your viewing pleasure.
Kim Couture will be a guest on “Cofield and Colkin” today on ESPN 1100am. If you live in Southern Nevada tune in, unfortunately ESPN 1100am doesn’t stream yet.
Steve and Dave the show’s hosts had Kim and John Alessio on the air last week and did a great interview. Steve and Dave were then guests at Kim’s fight Friday and apparently didn’t like what they saw. They carried on Monday about the fight, saying Kim shouldn’t have been allowed to fight, they don’t like watching women’s MMA, the rounds should have been 3 minutes instead of 5 and that the Athletic Commission did a poor job in sanctioning the fight and the ref should have stopped it.
Simply put, we disagree with all of the above fights. First, the Nevada State Athletic Commission is the best in the business. They do a tremendous job protecting fighters’ safety and they are incredibly thorough. Kim Couture and Kim Rose were both debuting fighters who have been training for their debut for the past year, have fought and won as amateurs and passed all of their medical exams. There is no reason not to sanction them. On the point of round length, why shouldn’t women fight full 5 minute rounds like the men? The hoop in the WNBA isn’t lowered. The women in the Olympics don’t run a shorter 100-yard dash. On top of those two obvious points, round length had nothing to do with the outcome of this fight. The punch that broke Kim’s jaw and caused all of the blood (which is what made the complaining viewers uncomfortable while watching) occurred in the first five seconds of the fight. That punch lands, the jaw breaks and the blood flows whether that round is 5 minutes or 15 seconds. Furthermore, a three minute round perverts the sport of MMA because it turns the fight into a kickboxing match instead of true Mixed Martial Arts. Three minutes doesn’t allow sufficient time for the fight to develop on the ground.
Here is what the arguments boil down to. Sexism. People are uncomfortable/don’t like seeing a woman get beat up and bleed. If it were two men in the ring on June 20th and one had his jaw broken on the opening exchange, hung in the entire fight and nearly won by submission as time expired that male fighter would be hailed as a conquering hero. Instead because it was a woman (and an attractive one at that) people are pointing fingers at the Athletic Commission, at the referee, at Randy, etc. Nonsense. It was a fight and injuries happen.
On a positive note, Kim had surgery on her jaw and is doing fine. She’ll be back in the gym training for her next fight at some point mid-late summer. This is further proof the ref did a good job. Aside from the jaw Kim isn’t hurt. A cut above the eye where the fighter’s vision is impaired is a reason to stop a fight, because by not seeing forthcoming blows the fighter could suffer severe brain injury. Blood from the mouth and pain from the jaw while being a competitive disadvantage does not negatively impact fighter safety. If a little blood is “bad for MMA” or “will turn fans off” as some have argued; then those “fans” were going to get turned off by MMA at some point anyway. People get hurt and bleed in MMA. This is the hurt business. Nobody wants to see fighters get hurt or suffer, but sometimes it happens. The NFL, the most popular sport in America has seen players paralyzed on National TV and that sport hasn’t suffered viewership. Bottom line, if you don’t like to see women fight, then don’t watch women fight. Nobody is forcing you to watch something you don’t want to. But at the same time, don’t try to ban women fighting or say they don’t have the right to do it. That argument is preposterous.
If you haven’t seen Kim Couture vs Kim Rose yet, check it out on YouTube.
“The Phenom” Vitor Belfort is at Xtreme Couture training for his upcoming bout at Affliction Banned. Vitor will be taking on Terry Martin in his debut at 185lbs. Vitor has spent most of his career fighting at 205lbs which is about what he normally weighs. Meaning he was going in the cage and ring against opponents 10-15 pounds heavier than him at fight time. He says he feels faster and lighter at 185 and is looking to make an immediate impact on the division.
Vitor will be in Las Vegas for the next few weeks and is available for privates. Call 702.616.1022 to book yours today.
(John Alessio looks at his broke arm after choking out Pete Spratt)
8,962 fans filed into the Thomas and Mack Center Friday night to witness “A Night of Combat”. The free night of fights feature Boxing and MMA was the brainchild of UNLV’s Daren Libonati and Banner Promotions’ Art Pelullo. Vegas fight fans were the beneficiaries of gratis tickets and priceless action. Both halves of the card featured tremendous action with warriors that gave their all and laid everything on the line.
The live event was tremendous. The Thomas and Mack Center put on awesome video packages, the Nellis Air Force Honor Guard presented the colors while an instrumental version of the Star Spangled Banner played and the packed house sang the verses and fans enjoyed themselves both in their seats and at the top notch bars and restaurants in the Thomas and Mack.
Be sure to get there in person the next time UNLV and Banner Promotions team up for an event.
Enjoy the MMA fight videos below.
To see some incredible photos of the event by our pal Tracy Lee check out Combatlifesytle.com
This Friday, John “The Natural” Alessio and Pete “The Secret Weapon” Spratt go at it in the Main Event of “A Night of Combat” put on by Banner Promotions at UNLV’s Thomas & Mack Center. In anticipation of that here are some killer highlight videos of Pete and John.
Rob is an incredible fighter who always comes in ready to scrap. His fight against Marvin Eastman last July was an epic 5 round war. Rob should be a great addition to the UFC’s already deep 170lb class.
POSITIVE NUISANCE catches up with Lou and Pete from the band Sick Of It All while on tour. Xtreme Couture proudly supports SOIA. Get the official Sick Of It All / Xtreme Couture tee shirt now.
(John Alessio looks at his broke arm after choking out Pete Spratt)
