January 31, 2011

By: Mike Chiappetta

Too bad we'll never know just how good Herschel Walker could have been. At 48 years old, even the seemingly ageless Walker admits that he doesn't see much of a lifespan for himself in mixed martial arts. He focuses more on the training than the fighting, leaving his Strikeforce career to his team at the American Kickboxing Academy.

That's a shame, really, because Walker could have been good. Very good. Sure, it's hard to tell just where he is right now. Even at 2-0, wins over Scott Carson and Greg Nagy aren't measuring sticks we can easily read. Beginner vs. beginner fights are understandable, but for the fan, they're not very helpful in evaluating talent. In Walker's case though, you can see he has it. For a young fighter -- figuratively speaking, of course -- he has good instincts, power and poise. And even at his advanced age, his athleticism is still quite obvious.

 

Walker has critics, of course, but most of them are more focused on why he has a job in the first place, rather than what he is when he steps in the cage. And aren't we supposed to care more about what happens in the cage?
It's a funny thing that most of the criticism of Walker comes from people in our sport, as if a guy who put aside his day-to-day job as the multi-millionaire owner of a multi-million dollar business to train for a payday he's going to donate to charity has something to apologize for.

 

Actually, it's just the opposite. We should be thanking him. Walker's involvement gets MMA out into the mainstream, where regular sports fans don't see him as a joke, even though he's 48 years old. He's not James Toney coming into the sport overweight and from an anonymous training camp. And he's not Kimbo Slice who never actually accomplished much in the sports world. This is Herschel Walker: Heisman Trophy Winner, NFL star, Olympic bobsledder. Athletically, he's as legitimate as they come.

This notion that he's being fed "tomato cans" is absurd. He's two fights into his career. Take a look at the records of most fighters around today, and 90 percent of them will also have similar no-name opponents in their first two fights. And to suggest he only belongs on the untelevised undercard is equally as ridiculous. Would you buy an expensive piece of jewelry and only wear it in the house? He's simply a unique case being treated in a unique manner.

Hopefully, his participation in the sport will cause more football players to give MMA a try. In many ways, football should be a great talent pool for the sport. It's full of guys who aren't afraid of physical contact, who are willing to work hard, and who have spent years working on explosive power. It's also full of guys who have no athletic outlet after their careers are cut short due to injury or not being quite good enough, or simply because the typical NFL career is startlingly short.

In Strikeforce, look no further than Ovince St. Preux, who played football in the talent-heavy SEC conference at the University of Tennessee, transitioned to MMA after his career came to an end, and has become one of the promotion's top light-heavyweight prospects. St. Preux was a slow starter in MMA, going 3-4 in his first seven fights before things started clicking for him, and he's improved and grown along with his opponent level, winning seven straight fights.

Think about how many guys out there play football at big time universities that never make it to the NFL, guys that are still great athletes but may be just a hair too slow for scouts, or who have an injury that scares off teams from drafting them. File UFC heavyweight star Shane Carwin under that category. He was a hot prospect that was supposed to be picked in the 1998 NFL draft before a back injury sunk his chances. Now he's among the UFC's marquee big men.

No one's saying football players would come in and dominate MMA. Most of the skills you learn in football don't have a practical application in MMA. But the athleticism translates, the physicality does as well, and MMA would certainly benefit from an increased talent pool. There would certainly be a learning curve for someone who never participated in wrestling or jiu-jitsu, but trained athletes who spend their life doing drills are generally much better at picking up technique than a random person off the street.

That's why Walker's been able to learn so quickly. He goes into a camp like AKA, the home of UFC champion Cain Velasquez, the home of stars like Jon Fitch and Josh Koscheck, and he's just going to progress at a faster pace than most. It's our misfortune that he started so late in life, and we'll always be left to wonder what might have been.

As it is, what he will accomplish in a short time is nothing short of remarkable; 48 years old and 2-0 in a sport made for youth. Walker will never win a championship, and he doesn't try to pretend he will, but if his legacy is opening the door for more athletes to try their hands at MMA, or simply to bring more attention to it, his time in the sport will have been as important to us as it was to him.

January 31, 2011

ISKA President Cory Schafer presented 2010 "Fan Favorite Best of" awards to Christine Cyborg and Fabricio Werdum just prior to the double world title event this past weekend in San Jose, California. Cyborg was honored as Best Female Fighter of the Year and Werdum claimed awards for both Best Upset and Best Submission for his spectacular defeat of Fedor Emelianenko. Complete list of recipients found below.

BEST KNOCKOUT:
Paul Daley KOs Scott Smith
2:09 of Round 1
December 4, 2010 at Strikeforce: Henderson vs. Babalu

 

BEST SUBMISSION:
Fabricio Werdum submits Fedor Emelianenko
1:09 of Round 1
June 26, 2010 at Strikeforce & M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Werdum

 

RISING STAR:
Tyron Woodley

BEST UPSET:
Fabricio Werdum submits Fedor Emelianenko
1:09 of Round 1
June 26, 2010 at Strikeforce & M-1 Global: Fedor vs. Werdum

BEST FEMALE FIGHTER:
Cris Cyborg

BEST MALE FIGHTER:
Nick Diaz

BEST FIGHT 2010:
Nick Diaz vs. KJ Noons
October 9, 2010 at Strikeforce: Diaz vs. Noons

January 30, 2011

One of the great pleasures involved in regulated martial arts and combat sports around the world is the opportunity to embrace diverse cultures and to help contribute to the sports growth in a global sense.

ISKA sanctioned a Super Cruiserweight Full Contact World title bout contested in Asaba, Nigeria last week. In order to provide our readers with a full sense of the cultural importance of this event we've provided below the official report as recorded by the Royal Family Scribe.

Email: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

 

We, the people, do hereby declare that Crown Warrior Prince Punchin Pat A.I. Nwamu, aka the Young King (Eze Wanta), is officially the strongest man in Asaba’s 5 quarters Kingdom, Nigeria. We also believe that our Young King (Eze Wanta) who we call Prince PAIN, is the toughest King in the world. On Saturday, January 22, 2011, history was made. Eze Wanta, live and in person, promoted, fought for, and won the International Sports Karate Association’s (ISKA) Super Cruiserweight Professional Full Contact Kickboxing Championship of the World.
According to the ISKA:

 

• There has NEVER been a member of a Royal Family to fight for and win the ISKA Super Cruiserweight Professional Full Contact Kickboxing World Title.
• This was the FIRST Professional Full Contact ISKA World Championship Super Cruiserweight Kickboxing match to EVER be held in Nigeria or on the continent of Africa.
• This was the FIRST time a former Super Cruiserweight World Champion Professional Boxer, would fight for and win the ISKA Super Cruiserweight World Championship Professional Full Contact Kickboxing Title.
• Prince Patrick A.I Nwamu is the FIRST Nigerian American to EVER fight for and win the ISKA Super Cruiserweight World Championship Professional Full Contact Kickboxing title.
According to the Nigerian Ministry of Sports:
• Prince Patrick A.I. Nwamu is the FIRST Nigerian American to win any Kickboxing world title EVER.
• Prince Patrick A.I. Nwamu is the FIRST Nigerian American, or person, to promote a World Championship Kickboxing match, of any style, in Nigeria.

Dakoru Dakoru was our young King’s opponent. He is known as one of Nigeria’s top/toughest Super Cruiserweight Kickboxers and the way he aggressively attacked the Prince for 10 rounds, while absorbing countless left-legged roundhouse kicks to the stomach and chest, showed why he was so feared. He had an intimidating face full of scars which would immediately let you know that this man was a fighter. It was his first opportunity for a World Title shot and you could see the hunger and determination in his attack. Dakoru Dakoru was a strong worthy opponent that came to fight, but unfortunately for him, the world’s toughest King was prepared to dish out whatever it took to make his Kingdom proud; which he did.

Prince Punchin Pat Nwamu aka Prince PAIN defeated Dakoru Dakoru by 10 round unanimous decision.

Kudos to President Cory Schafer and the ISKA Organization Worldwide, for teaming up with the Prince to create African and World history, which shows that the ISKA is truly trying to embrace our African fighters and help the sport grow within the continent. The opportunity has been warmly accepted and we are proud of our Prince for living up to the title of Crown Warrior/Champion of the World.

We are proud to present to the world:
Prince PAIN (Patrick A.I. Nwamu)
Kickboxing’s New King.

by
Ann Diane
Royal Scribe/Photographer

January 25, 2011

OUR NEW LEADERSHIP IN EUROPE HAS "HIT THE GROUND RUNNING!" In less than sixty days since they were granted full authority the new ISKA European Executive Council, consisting of Paul Hennessey (England), Davut Sidal (Turkey) and Hasan Arslan (Germany)have reorganized our continental infrastructure and managed to already have scheduled eighteen world class kickboxing title events for the first half of 2011! This is a remarkable accomplishment and speaks well of their intentions, efforts and abilities. We are all very excited about the "new energy" in Europe and the success in store for our organization, our promoters and our fighters.

 

5th February 2011

 

Hutton Moor Sports Centre, WSM, England

ISKA Women’s European Bantamweight title 54.5kg FC

Katie Sandal (England) v Sonya Woods (England)

Promoter: Stuart Davies

www.sweat.fa.com

19th February 2011

Vitrolles, France

ISKA European Light-middleweight title 72.5kg FC

Jeremy Sportouch (France) v Turcay Dugan (Turkey)

5th March 2011

St Columb's Hall, Derry, Northern Ireland

ISKA World Heavyweight title -96.6kg FC

Daniel Quigley (Ireland) v Pacome ASSI (France)

Promoter: Paddy Toland

www.ifka.co.uk

5th March 2011

Liquid Night Club, Stevenage, England

ISKA Women’s European Super-lightweight title 62.3kg FC

Stacey Parker (England) v Nikki Cunningham (Ireland)

Promoter: Trevor Spencer

19th March 2011

Muret, France

ISKA World Light-heavyweight title 81.5kg FC

Marlon Hunt (England) v Jean-Luc Benoit (France)

ISKA World welterweight title 66.6kg FC

Bruce Codron (France) v Modibo Diarra (France)

ISKA European Middleweight title 75kg FC

Yannick Tamas (France) v To be named

19th March 2011

Copenhagen, Denmark

ISKA European Welterweight title 66.6kg MT (To Be Confirmed)

James France (England) v Mohammed El- Mir (Denmark)

26th March 2011

The Lagoon, Paisley, Scotland

ISKA Women’s World Super-flyweight title 53.3kg MT

Hilary Mack (Scotland) v Linda Ooms (Holland)

ISKA European Light-welterweight title 64.5kg MT

Lloyd Cochran (Scotland) v Andy Grey (Ireland)

Promoter: John O’Brien

2nd April 2011

Pyramids Centre Portsmouth, England

ISKA World Super-Bantamweight title 56.6kg FC

Sean Bowman (England) v To be Confirmed

Promoter: Luke Carter

2nd April 2011

Brest, France

ISKA European Super-lightweight title 62.3kg OR

Xavier Bastard (France) v Cédrick Peynaud (France)

16th April 2011

Paris, France

ISKA European Featherweight title 58.2kg FR

Yacine Berrabah (France) v To be Confirmed

23rd April 2011

Gersthofen, Germany

ISKA Intercontinental Super-lightweight title 62.3kg

Kabunga Abubaker (Uganda) v To be Confirmed

30th April 2011

Heidelberg, Germany

ISKA World Light-middleweight title 72.5kg OR

Fadi Merza (Austria) v Alexander Schmidt (Germany)

7th May 2011

Leeds Town Hall, England

ISKA World Bantamweight title 54.5kg MT

Andy Howson (England) v Dean James (England)

Promoter: Richard Smith

www.badcompany.co.uk

7th May 2011

Copenhagen, Denmark

ISKA World Lightweight title 60kg FC

Søren Jørgensen (Denmark) VS Ronald Clarke (Scotland)

ISKA Women’s World Super-flyweight title 53.3kg FC (To Be Confirmed)

Mie Posselt (Demark) v Natalie McCarron (Ireland)

7th May 2011

Troyes, France

ISKA World Super-lightweight title 62.3kg FC

Mickael Gucionne (France) v To be Confirmed

14th May 2011

Reebok Stadium, Bolton, England

ISKA World Middleweight title 75kg MT (To Be Confirmed)

Daiton Jackson (England) v Vorn Viva (Cambodia)

Promoter: Darren Morris

www.rumbleatthereebok.co.uk

3rd June 2011

Tarascon, France

ISKA World Featherweight title 58.2kg FC (To Be Confirmed)

Johannes Wolf (Germany) v Lucien Gross (France)

17th June 2011

Clanree Hotel, Letterkenny, Ireland

ISKA World Super-welterweight title 69.9kg FC

Thomas McCafferty v To be Confirmed

Promoter: Paddy Toland