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Mixed Martial Arts making its big move in the world of sport and in New Orleans
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William Knorr, shows his Kickboxing titles off at POWER MMA
The world of Mixed Martial Arts is going to experience one of the most intense November's in its history. As a sport MMA is finally making it to the mainstream. In New Orleans the transition to the big time is evident.
Here are a few of biggest things happening in Mixed Martial Arts particularly as the relate to New Orleans MMA fans, fighters, trainers, and sponsors:
1. Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brett Rogers. Although this fight is not in New Orleans it will have a major impact on the sport in the area because it is being carried on network television. There are many people who became interested in doing MMA because they saw Fedor fight. The man is a legend and he is also an example of an MMA athlete that has negotiated his full worth and retained his rights. Brett Rogers has been awesome with the media. HIs story about working at Sam's club and making it big resonates with the averge guy on the street. His respect for Fedor as an athlete has been fairly remarkable.
With his WWE pedigree, Brock Lesnar (the current ill with mono UFC champ) has given off a very different vibe towards his opponents, something which has yet to be proven effective in the promotion of the sport, the way it was in professional but fake wrestling.
In the sport of MMA there are a lot of fighters who end up being friends with their opponents. An interesting example of this on the local level is the relationship between Cody McDardle (who works out with Rich Clementi) and Blake Dufour of POWER MMA. After their epic battle at Rich Clementi's Slidell Reality Combat show, the two became friends. Look for sportsmanship to be a continuing trend. MMA is a sport that attracts a wide range of personalities and world views, the beauty of the sport is that in the training of it, respect is given to all who give effort in most gyms.
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(Pat Barry and Davis Mena: Carlos Mena picture)
2. Pat Barry, the knockout sensation from the Lower 9th ward in New Orleans is about to put a whole lot of energy into the New Orleans fight scene, particularly once he returns from Wisconsin for an eagerly anticipated hometown celebration and rest. Barry's style of figthing is exciting to watch and to learn. Just as we have the New Orleans Saints and Hornets we now have a top level professional heavyweight fighter who may end up contending for a belt in the UFC heavyweight division.
Pat is smaller than a lot of heavyweights and as such is an underdog in the division. New Orleans is an underdog city and as such our fight fans will respond to Barry bringing a lot of good energy to the sport. Barry's success shows that with enough determination and hard work anything is possible. Look for Pat to be doing seminars and picking up some new sponsors in the New Orleans area.
3. Coaches. There are a lot of great coaches in the New Orleans area. We've covered a lot of these guys here, from Marco Macera, William Knorr, Adam Peeples, Brett Hughes, Danny Evans, and Jo Evans at POWER MMA to Raphael Ellwanager with Gracie Barra, and Kelvin Doss and Rich Clementi at Gladiators Academy. As coaching and understanding of the sport matures, we are going to see more top notch athletes coming out of New Orleans.
4. Female Fighters. In 2009, Strikeforce proved that women can build a real and lasting fan base in MMA particularly with the Cyborg vs. Carano fight and the upcoming Vera vs. Couture bout. Look for MMA in New Orleans to be in the forefront of the women's division expansion. In November 2009 we will see the debut of POWER MMA's Magali Niel at Harrah's casino. We hope to see Amanda Lauland do the same in January.
5. Amateur MMA. Its taking off. We have seen a lot of great new fighters coming up in the sport. Perhaps the biggest ticket seller of the year was Placquemines Captain Kevin Johnson, who won his first MMA bout. He has just recently been discussing his return to the sport. Look for Eddie Gonzales, Kyle Martin, Blake Dufour, Justin Mattern, Donny Meadows Jr., and others to have a big impact on the sport.
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(Kevin Johnson, is a 1-0 Amateur sensation at age 36 fighting out of POWER MMA, Photo: Valerie Coffin)
6. Charlie Rader. This guy, if he continues the right kinds of training and conditioning could move himself up to the next level in the sport. Being a professional fighter is very difficult, look for Charlie to make a break-through in 2010.
The best things in MMA in New Orleans are yet to come.
