Category Archives: mma

Five Reasons To Take Up MMA

Like boxing, MMA is becoming more and more popular due to its many benefits. Not only is it highly physical requiring great strength and stamina, but it is also good for the mind and body. Mixed martial arts is also a great calorie burner so if you are looking to lose weight, you’ll be sure to lose a few pounds. Not only that, the great thing about MMA is that its easily accessible, with not much equipment needed at all, and no matter your age, gender, or ability anybody can take part.

Below we’ve put together five reasons you should be taking up MMA.

MMA is great for Fitness

You may not realize it but 5 rounds in the Hexagon require a huge amount of fitness. Fitness is one of the key components that is required when becoming a good fighter which is why a lot of the training is heavily focused on this. Even if you weren’t interested in getting in the ring, you would benefit from just going through the training program.

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Some Weird Facts About Martial Arts That You Didn’t Know About

Martial Arts are a form of traditional combat style for a specific geographic group. Some practices of martial arts are thousands of years old, while some were formed as recent as the 20th century.

There are certain groups of people who see martial arts as a way of life. A code or system to live by. Each form of martial art requires a lot of practice, hard work, and devotion. Martial art experts devote their life to acquire these ancient techniques. Martial arts, not only represent a physical stature or maneuvering skills but also require a certain state of mind.

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UFC Should End ‘Champion vs Champion’ Fights

The UFC is in dire need of marquee fights. They’ve stooped to the level of putting champions from different weight classes in fights, which can lead to a fighter carrying two different titles at the same time. This reduces the amount of title fights they can put together to headline shows. The whole deal is counter-productive in the long-term.

This all started when Conor McGregor faced Jose Aldo on UFC 194 in late-2015. McGregor won that fight and held both the Featherweight and Lightweight titles at the same time. Conor held onto both of those titles for some time, which muddied up both divisions for over a year. UFC President (and current matchmaker) Dana White had to make fights for interim titles at those weights.

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Vaping and Athletes

If you are a competitive athlete, you probably know that smoking is a major inhibitor to your performance. In fact, if you are at top performance, you are well aware on having any major bad habits can really hurt. Vaping does not pose quite the harmful affects that smoking can, but there are still some risks. If you are an athlete, the bottom line is that you may want to avoid it all together. Here are some facts to consider.

The act of vaping itself is not the reason to avoid it, it is the nicotine. Nicotine has been proven to constrict the blood vessels with regular use. This means that any form of cardio will be harder. If you are in a high activity sport or long distant running, vaping will prove to have a long-term effect of slowing you down. As of now, there are no long-term studies that show any definitive proof for vaping on the lungs. The vapor itself may be potentially harmless.

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CM Punk Should Have Never Fought in UFC

This isn’t breaking news, but professional wrestling and mixed martial arts are two very different things.

CM Punk had his second MMA fight of his career…and it was really, really bad.

Mike Jackson, a former Golden Gloves boxer and MMA journalist, handed Punk an embarrassing loss at UFC 225. Punk gassed out after the first two minutes of the fight. Jackson then spent the rest of the fight just playing with him. He could have finished Punk at any point, but it was almost as if he wanted to show the world how inept Punk was as a fighter. Punk was doing things BJJ white belts wouldn’t even do in practice. He was over-matched, completely gassed and was just getting his face beaten in.

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What Should the UFC do with Conor McGregor?

Conor McGregor is on a rampage.

Every since his boxing match against Floyd Mayweather, the man has been out of his mind. He may have pissed off the Irish Mafia in the process. I guess when you have a couple hundred million in the bank, you let loose a little (or a lot)).

On Thursday, McGregor and his entourage gained access to the backstage area of the Barclays Center while the fighters on UFC 223 were in vans and buses. McGregor (and his entourage) allegedly threw a metal dolly through a van window and either successfully, or at least attempted, to throw other objects like large metal bike racks.

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How To Expand Your Love Of Sports

You love sports. Of course you do, what’s not to love? But maybe you want to add a little more variety to your interests. You might be an avid follower of football or baseball, but you yearn for a fresh thrill. Not to worry, below are three popular sports you can start following now and discussing at length on forums or with your friends.

Horse racing

This is a hugely popular sport to follow, and not just because you can make a decent amount of money betting on it. Going to the race is an event in itself, with many people dressing up in their best clothes and making a full day of it while watching the horse racing. Obviously, a huge part of the culture is “having a little flutter” on the races, and if that’s your thing, then companies like The Professional Syndicate can help you increase your chances of coming home with more than you left with. But all in all, it’s a great way to spend an afternoon. There’s nothing quite like being surrounded by hundreds or thousands of people who are all thoroughly enjoying themselves and are fully invested in the action.

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Sports Crush: Mackenzie Dern

We’ve written a handful of ‘Sports Crush’ posts since we launched ‘America’s White Boy.’ We have spotlighted a few UFC women fighters (Paige VanZant, Ronda Rousey and Miesha Tate). The response has been great, so we decided to profile another talented female fighter who is now with Invicta FC, the American/Brazilian Strawweight Mackenzie Dern.

Dern is the daughter of famous grappler Wellington ‘Megaton’ Dias. She has been training since she was 3 and was the #1 ranked female in jiu-jitsu when she decided to go into mixed-martial arts in 2015.

Dern is currently 4-0 and just signed a contract with Invicta FC and will make her strawweight debut against Kaline Medeiros. The 24-year old will no doubt find her way into the UFC soon.

See why we are crushing on MMA fighter Mackenzie Dern.

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Top Worldwide Sporting Events for Summer 2017

source: flickr

With the NBA Finals now over, and the soccer season well and truly finished, many sports fans have retreated for the rest of the year, awaiting their favorites to return. This time of the year can seem like a bit of a drag when it comes to major sporting events. But look a little closer and you can soon see that the sporting calendar still has a lot to offer, especially for those who like to put their money where their mouth is.

One of the most popular times of the year for sports enthusiasts is during the Wimbledon tennis tournament in the U.K. from July 3^rd -16^th. People placing wagers for sports fans are on fire for these matches, as punters try to guess the match outcomes and the tournaments outright. This year’s men’s singles is set to be exceptionally close, with both Roger Federer and Andy Murray close favorites with 2/1 and 3/1, respectively. If you want to take a slight outside wager then Rafael Nadal is a good option.

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UFC Botches New Women’s Weight Class

The UFC announced that they will be starting a new women’s weight class at 145 pounds and will crown a new champion at UFC 208. The inaugural 145-pound belt will either go to former Welterweight champion Holly Holm or Germanie de Randamie.

Cris ‘Cyborg’ Justino is the only reason why Dana White even thought of making a 145-pound class, but she is not in this match. Hell, she may not ever fight at 145 pounds again. In her two fights at 140 pounds in the UFC, she had to cut a ton of weight and her body nearly shutdown both times. In my opinion, she has too much muscle mass to fight at anything below 155 pounds on a semi-regular basis.

If you’re confused by that title match pairing since there is a glaring omission. This is one of the reasons why the 145-pound Featherweight weight class will be a huge failure.

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Ronda Rousey Huge Favorite Over Miesha Tate

It’s safe to say that everyone saw Ronda Rousey’s 34-second knockout of Bethe Correia last weekend. It was nearly short enough to post the video on Instagram and Vine.

Rousey’s next opponent is Miesha Tate, the only fighter to take Rousey into the second round. MMA fight odds are still quite lopsided. Oddessa.com CEO and head oddsmaker Joey Oddessa has Rousey as a 11/1 favorite.

These fighters have already face each other twice before, once in Strikeforce and again in UFC, with Rousey winning both bouts. Tate did stretch the second fight into the second round after avoiding multiple armbar attempts from Rousey in the first round.

Do you think Tate could pull off what seems impossible right now, and defeat Rousey in their third fight?

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UFC: Nick Diaz Claims Georges St-Pierre Takes Steroids

Nick Diaz just made UFC 158 a lot more interesting.

Diaz (26-8) faces Georges St. Pierre (23-2) for the welterweight title this weekend. On a radio show after the press conference Diaz made some startling allegations. He claimed GSP takes “plenty of steroids.”

This comes after GSP called Diaz the most disrespectful fighter in the UFC.

Is UFC 158 all hype or will Diaz/GSP be a fight of the year candidate? Continue reading →