Carnell Giles calls himself a teddy bear. You might have a tough time telling that to anyone who has met him in the cage, however. “I’m like the biggest teddy bear ever,” said Giles, the Columbus Township resident who turned…
Ladarious Jackson gazed across the courtroom at the muscular man in shackles. It was like looking at himself. He thought about their happier days, young brothers diving off furniture, playing like pro wrestlers. They escaped their sad reality, if only…
For the last four years and change, Henry Cejudo, has been a golden goose for MMA. Coming out of the 2008 Beijing Games where he claimed freestyle wrestling gold at 121 pounds, Cejudo was 21 years old and the youngest American wrestler…
The path that led Ryan Ciotoli to mixed martial arts began at Ithaca College, where after a standout high school career at Union-Endicott, he would graduate in 2002 as one of the most successful wrestlers in school history. Despite missing…
by big_hunt
In a perfect world, young athletes who rise to the top of combat sports like wrestling, boxing, and judo, would leave their sport to test themselves in the mixed martial arts arena. Unfortunately, we don’t live in this world and…
Much is made of the transition for those elite collegiate and Olympic wrestlers who wish to try mixed martial arts as a post-wrestling career option. On the heels of the 2012 London Olympic Games – which saw Americans Jordan Burroughs…
Mark Munoz will be a little wistful when he watches the upcoming Olympics on television. A two-time state high school wrestling champion from Vallejo who later won an NCAA title at Oklahoma State, Munoz twice tried to make the U.S.…
We have seen two professional wrestlers make the transition into, MMA. They were, Brock Lesnar, and Bobby Lashley. Lesnar went on to become the UFC heavyweight champion and quite arguably, made the UFC the PPV business they are today. Lashley, however, hasn’t achieved the…
By, JOSÉ PATIÃ’O GIRONA Here’s what most people know about mixed martial arts: Two men step onto a mat. They kick and punch each other until one falls to the ground. Then the action really gets violent. Oh, and they’re fighting…
