steverowbotham Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 Alright, so I promised some I would keep them updated. on Saturday, my brother Mike fought his 4th professional MMA fight in Lethbridge, AB. His opponent was a stiff test in Neil Berry, a 6'3 Muay Thai specialist with a Purple belt in brazilian jiu jitsu. Neil was the hometown boy and has much more experience having fought tough competition including UFC vet JAson MacDonald. Both fighters made weight for the middleweight bout, Mike at 186 lbs and Neil at 184.5lbs To start the fight... The fighters touch gloves and immediately Neil throws a superman punch (for those who dont know, its basically faking a leg kick and throwing a straight punch, its a cool looking move, and often catches you off guard). It did catch Mike off guard, but landed flush on his forehead. Neil kept the pressure coming throwing a jumping knee, grabbing the Muay Thai clinch and firing off 3 knees that landed flush on Mike's head. Mike, being a wrestler, took Neil down with a double leg into his guard. From here, he worked a bit of ground and pound before being caught in an armbar. Mike defended nicely and got out where he took Neil's back and sunk in his hooks. He looked for a rear naked choke, but Neil tucked his chin and kept good wrist control keeping Mike from locking the choke. Mike moved to an armbar from back mount and locked it in TIGHT, you will see in the pictures how contorted Neil's body is. Neil refused to tap, and Mike let go of the armlock eventually and let Neil into his guard where he locked up his other arm and finally forced Neil to play to 3 tap symphony at 3:16 of Round 1. Now for the pics! P.S. Mike's the much shorter, chubbier one. lol. Weigh-in pic Touch gloves Absorbing a nice Muay Thai knee to the temple Double leg takedown Neil grabbing the armbar on Mike Mike taking Neil's back Mike's 1st armbar attempt he still wont tap second armbar Checking on his opponent Is your arm okay? Victor! Hope you enjoyed! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walleyejigger Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 awesome, congrats to ur bro, the arm bar is sweet, first pic is hilarious though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toronto_Angler Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 Good job and congrats to your brother! He could do some serious damage in the lower weight classes...Is he thinking about moving down? Not that he isn't doing well at his current class but I would love to see him down lower where he could really start to make a name for himself.Cause if he's beating guys at 185 he will wipe the floor with guys at 170..You guys still train with Gary at FU? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverowbotham Posted January 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 Good job and congrats to your brother! He could do some serious damage in the lower weight classes...Is he thinking about moving down? Not that he isn't doing well at his current class but I would love to see him down lower where he could really start to make a name for himself.Cause if he's beating guys at 185 he will wipe the floor with guys at 170..You guys still train with Gary at FU? He is considering the move to 170 lbs. Its a big cut for him ,and he's trying to do it gradually. In June he cut to 185 from 215. In October, he cut from 208. This weekend, he cut from 198. He's getting his weight down naturally before he makes the cut to 170. Mike jumps from gym to gym. No true "home gym" for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mark Kulik Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 Good stuff Steve I hope to catch it when it goes on Sportnet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GBW Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 Steve, he should go train with Sean P in Durham then. PM me if you want his email addy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TJQ Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 Awesome.. I love mma Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaque Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 Man, i soooooo dont get this, no disrespect.....i realize theres alot of folks that look at me funny when i mention some of my hobbies, fishing in subzero temps for instance lol.....but i just dont get this one lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverowbotham Posted January 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 Man, i soooooo dont get this, no disrespect.....i realize theres alot of folks that look at me funny when i mention some of my hobbies, fishing in subzero temps for instance lol.....but i just dont get this one lol It's certainly not for everyone. What a lot of people dont understand is that at the professional level, its a sport. There is so much technical work involved in the game that most people dont get. MMA incorporates wrestling, jiu jitsu, boxing, kickboxing, judo, karate, muay thai and god knows what else. If you're not skilled in any area, your opponent will exploit that. You make a single mistake and you're going down. Rich Franklin put it best, its "working your way through a physical chess match." The brawlers and thugs dont last long in this sport because they dont have the discipline or mentality to succeed, they let their emotions take over. I for one, enjoy the sport, but am the first to try and break up a streetfight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toronto_Angler Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 Man, i soooooo dont get this, no disrespect.....i realize theres alot of folks that look at me funny when i mention some of my hobbies, fishing in subzero temps for instance lol.....but i just dont get this one lol I don't get hunting lol but to each there own who am I to judge? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
misfish Posted January 27, 2009 Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 Now for the pics! P.S. Mike's the much shorter, chubbier one. Hope Mike dont read this Steve. Buddy looked like he had already won in the first pic.Looking down on him and all. Great job by Mike. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverowbotham Posted January 27, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 27, 2009 Hope Mike dont read this Steve. Buddy looked like he had already won in the first pic.Looking down on him and all. Great job by Mike. LOL. The guy was 7 inches taller than Mike, but Mike ducked down to make it funnier lol/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Abberz Posted January 28, 2009 Report Share Posted January 28, 2009 I dunno the guy looked like Trevor from the trailer park boys....I'm glad your bro took down that lanky-ass alien looking dude Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lookinforwalleye Posted January 28, 2009 Report Share Posted January 28, 2009 Congrats to your brother on his victory, I hope he took his opponet out for a couple of cheeseburgers it looks like he could use something to eat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverowbotham Posted January 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2009 Congrats to your brother on his victory, I hope he took his opponet out for a couple of cheeseburgers it looks like he could use something to eat. LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaque Posted January 28, 2009 Report Share Posted January 28, 2009 It's certainly not for everyone. What a lot of people dont understand is that at the professional level, its a sport. There is so much technical work involved in the game that most people dont get. MMA incorporates wrestling, jiu jitsu, boxing, kickboxing, judo, karate, muay thai and god knows what else. If you're not skilled in any area, your opponent will exploit that. You make a single mistake and you're going down. Rich Franklin put it best, its "working your way through a physical chess match." The brawlers and thugs dont last long in this sport because they dont have the discipline or mentality to succeed, they let their emotions take over. I for one, enjoy the sport, but am the first to try and break up a streetfight. Its like most things, to an outsider like myself it looks like two guys beatin the snot out of each other.......and in one paragraph, youve explained a whole lot that i had no idea about. Makes a little more sense anywya........like i said no disrespect. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverowbotham Posted January 28, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 28, 2009 Its like most things, to an outsider like myself it looks like two guys beatin the snot out of each other.......and in one paragraph, youve explained a whole lot that i had no idea about. Makes a little more sense anywya........like i said no disrespect. Never took it as disrespect. Like I said, its not for everyone. It's a sport that is taking off in popularity as people become more educated. Years ago, it developed a bad reputation based on promoters advertising it as a no holds barred bloodsport. Since then, there have been many rules incorporated into it, timed rounds have been added and promoters are focusing more on the athleticism and work ethic than the thirst for blood. My brother has never been in a street fight that I'm aware of, but he loves the sport, to him its about competition. Him and his opponents usually get a beer after the fights and discuss their bout, what each guy did right or wrong and learn from eachother. To them, its no different than a hockey game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gerritt Posted January 28, 2009 Report Share Posted January 28, 2009 awesome!! Thanks for the detailed report on your brothers fight! I love MMA... and this weekend should be awesome!!!!!! G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
steverowbotham Posted January 29, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 29, 2009 awesome!! Thanks for the detailed report on your brothers fight! I love MMA... and this weekend should be awesome!!!!!! G Agreed. GSP FTW Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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