The sole time I felt as dramatic an improvement in my body was coming out of bicep reattachment surgery a couple of years ago, and that was from whatever painkillers the anesthesiologist gave me. The drug effects were gone the next day. It’s been two days since the seminar, and my hips feel even more radically better than immediately after, both walking around and sleeping at night. I am enjoying so much more freedom of movement laterally that walking feels a little unmoored. And this is after one set of prehab exercises. I have the highest hopes for what I can do after several months three times a week, or whatever schedule is determined to work best.

As Dr. Mo explained, the hip is a dynamic joint with many degrees of movement, and requires a nice balance of stability and mobility to keep your range and strength at its peak when performing sports like jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, and mixed martial arts. Saturday’s workshop used several exercises to create “space” in the back of the hip for better movement with either rotation or flexing the hip. This allows you to improve your kick height, increase kicking power, as well as improve your guard retention, all without relying on using your hands to place them in certain positions. These movements can be improved upon and trained over time to keep you in the gym and thriving.

For those of you who didn’t make it, below are the four exercises covered. Obviously, a short video doesn’t do the material justice, but it at least gives you some idea as to the subject matter.

SL Bridge
2 sets of 15 reps each leg

Wall Referenced Kickstand Deadlift
2 sets of 8 reps each leg

Side bridge series
2 sets of 8 reps each side

Copenhagen Planks
2 sets of 20 seconds each side

Neglecting these movements creates patterns that place stress on specific areas that can lead to injury if left unaddressed. Injuries heal and pain can improve, but the absence of pain is not the presence of function. If you’re not addressing all of your deficits, then you’re never going to be physically prepared for the demands of your goals. The body is always moving towards the path of least resistance and it will play to its strengths. That means if you don’t ever address the problem areas, then you never get to utilize them efficiently again.

Dr. Mo is running a Combat Athlete evaluation special for $99 (regular cost is $250). There are only three slots left. The evaluation includes:
•Injury history analysis
•Total body movement analysis
•ROM, Mobility, Nerve, Strength and Functional Movement Assessment
•Complete report of findings and explanations
•Customized performance strength program for you to work on that specifically addresses your issue
• Sport-specific warmup and cool-down routine
•Custom step-by-step progression that helps you kick and roll without any limitations or pain.

To secure one of the few remaining spots, email Dr. Mo at elevationptp@gmail.com

For more information on his background and services, please check out Elevation Physical Therapy and Performance.

The post Hip Mobility Seminar Review appeared first on Amherst MMA.

Lee left a legacy that truth in unarmed combat lay outside of fixed systems. He showed the world a contest with fighters in fingered gloves, using strikes, kicks, takedowns, and tapping out to submissions on the ground. That was in 1973; didn’t happen in the UFC until 1997.

In short, Bruce Lee left a world where mixed martial arts made sense.

When MMA came along, it was a new process for the refining of technique, one as simple as wheels on luggage. If you want to figure out what works in a fight, then fight. If a technique doesn’t work for you, you’ll know, because you will get hit in the face. The name Bruce Lee gave to his approach – Jeet Kune Do, or The Way of the Intercepting Fist – captures that reality.

And if there was no Bruce Lee, you wouldn’t be reading this. I was 13 years old, the youngest kid in class, about 110 pounds, and spending the summer with pops in the mountainous Kingdom of Lesotho, Africa. I watched Enter the Dragon at the Holiday Inn Maseru, and since that moment, I have not wanted to do anything else for a living.

Pops got me into training with two South Korean 6th-degree black belts, Mogg Yoon and Tae Hyun Park, who were teaching the nation’s Police Mounted Unit, on the grounds of the national prison. Then I went back to ma in Cambridge, USA, and walked into the Suk Chung Institute of Tae Kwon Do in Harvard Square. The first thing I saw was a pic of Mr. Chung and Bruce Lee arm in arm. I did TKD and wrestled in high school. My college dropped wrestling the year I started so I did martial arts only, and bought into a studio when I graduated in 1982. I did that full-time for a little over a decade. Then one night, we all got together at a condo to watch UFC 1 on PPV for $14.95.

I started learning everything I could about the new sport with a guy at the gym named Dave Roy. We put everything we figured out in a notebook. In 1996 Dave set up an AOL site called The Art of NHB Fighting, with a Technique of the Week in it, drawn from the notebook. Eventually, hundreds of people every week were checking out the AOL site, so we decided to turn our fighter’s notebook into The Fighter’s Notebook, and self-publish it.

We decided to set up a website to market the book, so I grabbed a few urls. I was upset that Disney beat me to NHB.com by a few weeks, and passed on MMA.com for $200. We partnered with FightingTalk.com, a news page, and the owner suggested we call our site The Underground. Sounded OK to me, so we self-published the Notebook and went live at mixedmartialarts.com in August of 1998.

I am sad that Bruce Lee never got to see his vision become a sport. He would have loved it, as his brother Robert explained: “Spirit-wise, he would support it 1,000 percent. It’s what he came up with.” Brothers can of course be biased. But UFC president Dana White called Lee, “The Father of Mixed Martial Arts.”

Rest in Peace Bruce Lee, and thank you, for everything.

The post Rest in Peace Bruce Lee, on The 51st Anniversary of Your Passing appeared first on Amherst MMA.

This blog is part of an ongoing series on what’s real in martial arts. Historically, there were four main ways to “prove” an art had validity in a self-defense context:
•Argumentation: “This art strikes all the major pressure points one after the other, so it is far too dangerous for mere sport.”
•Demonstration: Students attack and master flails around, while students fall to the ground dramatically. Master then breaks ice, boards, blocks, etc.
•Anecdote: “Graduation from the karate college in Korea included driving your fingers into a bull and pulling out its heart.”
•Appeal to Authority: “Navy SEALs have used this, for thousands of years!”
Under this approach to establishing efficacy, all styles ended up being better than average.

Then, in the mid-90s, MMA rose to prominence, and experts from countless different appropaches actually fought, and in so doing, across time, learned what parts of their method work, and which are useless or worse. But MMA is not the sole means to determine the effectiveness of a given martial art.

Cellphone and security cams are everywhere, which has opened a window on thousands of cases of martial arts being attempted on the street. These can be roughly divided into several main categories:
•Mutual Combat;
•Dojo Storm;
•Bouncer;
•Informal fights;
•Style vs. Style; and,
•Self-Defense.

In the self-defense example below, a female judoka some call “Rwanda Rousey”, is being accosted by an unfortunately inebriated man.

JUDO ON THE STREET

A previous video, no longer available, shows the initial interaction between the two. It seems heated, but also potentially playful to some degree. Suddenly, without telegraphing her intentions, the female judoka uses fluid technique to drop the man directly onto his face. This is in effect hitting him not with a fist, but with the planet. The man is immediately rendered unconscious. The woman helps the man to a sitting position, and even tries to help him stand, unsuccessfully.

TECHNICAL BREAKDOWN

This is a textbook example of using judo for self-defense. The concept of off-balancing (kuzushi) is so central to the art that founder Dr. Jigoro Kano said kuzushi is judo, and without it, your judo is not judo. The woman first off-balanced her assailant by driving him backward with an attempted Ouchi-gari.

When he overcompensates and drives forward, she employs another central aspect of the art – using an opponent’s weight against him. She executes ippon seoi nage, and the man topples over her, until he is hit in the face with the Earth, and goes unconscious.

HOW TO DO DROP SEOI NAGE

Below, Coach Travis Stevens demonstrates Drop Seoi Nage. He is an Olympic silver medalist in judo, a black belt in jiu-jitsu under John Danaher and Renzo Gracie (the fastest promotion in BJJ history, at 18 months), and a force of nature.

THE MORAL OF THE STORY

There are truly compelling arguments to be made for why judo works on the street. But the same can be said too for ludicrous approaches. Villari Kenpo and Aikido experts, for example. will argue efficacy for hours. The reality is not in talk and words – if you practice a martial art, and can see evidence of it working, either from experts testing their art against trained, active resistance, or from real self-defense moments, or both, then you are in all likelihood on the right path to developing legitimate self-defense skills.

On the other hand, if your art has no adepts willing to test it, and there are no verifiable instances of it actually working (public video, not anecdote), then in all likelihood it is worthless from a self-defense perspective. There are countless benefits to the practice of martial arts, and a lack of self-defense can be irrelevant to your goals, so this is not a call to change. It is however a call for reality.

And lastly, if you practice judo, you are in amazing hands. Anyone in Western Massachusetts with an interest in judo is encouraged to check out Kuma Judo in Florence, Mass.

The post Man Hit With Planet After Accosting Female Martial Artist appeared first on Amherst MMA.

The old means to establish a martial art’s effectiveness were:
•Argumentation: “This art combines hard and soft styles, so it’s the best, I’m 100% sure.”
•Anecdote: “O’Sensei once dodged bullets fired by experts at 25 meters, twice. He was a wizard.”
•Appeal to Authority: “Bruce Lee taught this to Navy SEALs!”
•Demonstration: “Grab my wrist. No, the other one.”

Then MMA came along, testing experts from various disciplines against each other; a large, verifiable body of knowledge of what works emerged (along with a vast body of knowledge of what fails). However, there is today another means to know what works for self-defense. Cellphone and security cams are everywhere, which has opened a window onto thousands of cases of martial arts working and failing on the street. These can be roughly divided into several main categories:
•Mutual Combat;
•Dojo Storm;
•Bouncer;
•Informal;
•Style vs. Style;
•Self-Defense.

The final one, self-defense, is the proportional use of force to protect against an unprovoked attack that objectively threatens imminent injury or worse. A remarkable example occurred in 2022, at the Brunswick Street Mall in Brisbane, Australia.

Pro welterweight MMA fighter Viktor Lyall was minding his own business , when he reportedly saw two punks – Josh Townsend and Jessee Swain – stomping a man in an alley. The fighter promptly broke it up. Then the two attackers relentlessly followed and harassed Lyall, spurred on by a Swain’s partner, Tia-rose Shaw. Her father is a bodybuilder, as you will hear.

How Did Martial Arts Work?

The altercation is a seminar in using distance management – not getting close enough to get hit, while momentarily stepping into the pocket to hit back first. It’s also a seminar in situational awareness, never letting the second assailant get in position to sucker punch, something the punk was desperately trying to do. Further, Lyall was simultaneously making sure his own companion was close and safe. And it is a seminar in staying cool and controlling temper, in the face of extreme and prolonged harassment that included being spit on.

“Not all heroes wear capes,” wrote Lyall’s friend, BKFC star Bec Rodriguez, who originally posted the video.

Breakdown from Lawrence Kenshin:

And here’s a view from above:

The Fighter’s Side

“I never laid hands on either of those males, nor needed to until the events of that video transpired and I needed to defend myself,” Lyall told The Chronicle. “I was merely involving myself to extricate another party. That’s when I got involved, and that’s the only reason I got involved.

“You can see quite clearly from the video that I don’t want to hurt anyone, otherwise I would have, and I’m walking away getting followed.”

The pair remind of the jackals referenced in Christopher Walken’s Lion Speech. However, Lyall requests that there be no further steps taken against the two unfortunates. He hopes that their enshrinement in the global @$$hole Hall of Fame was sufficient.

“As they’re identifiable, I hope people can also respect the privacy of the aggressors and not ruin their livelihoods or whatever they do,” wrote the fighter. “Although the two males were together beating someone brutally, it was stopped. That video going viral is probably (hopefully) enough punishment for them. Please don’t harass. Ultimately, to me, it was just a bit of a tiff. They got plowed on. It happens. It’s good nobody got hurt.”

Lyall fights for the Brisbane-based XFC, and trains at Brisbane’s Gamebred Academy, under coaches Ryan Dunstan, Simon Clough, and Jason Lonergan. 

Follow the hero without a cape on Instagram.

The post Aussie MMA Fighter vs. Multiple Street Punks appeared first on Amherst MMA.

Over time, the parts of each martial art that work against a trained opponent came into view. Today, martial artists have readily available the best of jiu-jitsu, wrestling, boxing, muay Thai, judo, kickboxing, sambo, sanda, taekwondo, and karate. Call all that martial arts in the arena.

However, the rise of cell phone video and security camera footage has opened up a second means to determine the efficacy of any particular martial art or technique. Call that martial arts on the street. These incidents can be roughly categorized as:
•Self-Defense: The proportional use of force to protect against an unprovoked attack that objectively threatens imminent injury or worse.
•Mutual Combat: Legal in only a few states in the US, this is when two people decide to fight each other outside of any organized sporting context. There are typically some rules, either explicit or implicit, that include no weapons, and can extend all the way to punching only, with no kicking or wrestling.
•Dojo Storm: These typically involve a skeptic or rival, who wants to test his or her own skills vs. a coach or fighter at a gym.
•Bouncer: Part of the job involves dealing with aggressive behavior or non-compliance with statutory or establishment rules.
•Informal Fight; Participants engage in contests held, often loosely, under boxing, wrestling, MMA, etc rules, outside of any recognized sporting organization. Location can range from the gym to the backyard to the beach.
•Style vs. Style: MMA was born from these, and although the practice has largely died out, they can cast clear light on reality.

This author has broken down over 1,000 incidents caught on video of martial arts being used on the street, as defined above. In the case below, the martial art being showcased is boxing. When it went viral in 2015, the video was presented as an Irish professional boxer on vacation attacked by over a dozen Turkish shopkeepers. The truth is a little more complicated, but the basic facts are straightforward.

THE BACKGROUND

The hero of the story is a Kuwait-born and raised, Irish citizen of Muslim faith, named Mohammed Fadel Dobbous. He was on vacation in the Aksaray neighborhood of Istanbul, Turkey, when he went to a shop, and approached a shaky refrigerator to remove a bottle of water. When he opened it, perhaps a little roughly, a number of bottles of water fell out to the ground. For reasons that are not entirely clear, the shopkeeper became enraged, and tried to assault Dobbous with a stick.

The Irishman fought back, with success. In response, other shopkeepers came to the defense of their fellow small-business owner. Then the tourist took his glasses off, put them on top of his head, and took out multiple attackers. When they realized things were not going their way, the shopkeepers called for more help. The crowd of attackers swelled.

The tourist sought temporary refuge in his hotel, but then went once more into the fray. The crowd by then was armed with clubs and wooden chairs. The tourist retreated to his hotel more than once, gathered his strength, and waded again into the swarming shopkeepers a final time.

Eventually, the shopkeepers retreated. You can see why:

THE AFTERMATH

Senol Palan, 32, owner of the shop with a tippy refrigerated case, offered an implausible explanation. Palan said the tourist wanted to buy alcohol and when he was told there was none there, he left and returned with a friend, opened the case roughly, and caused the bottles of water to fly out. We all saw what happened next.

“The man was so strong. He was toppling anyone he punched,” said Palan. “Then nearby shopkeepers rushed in to help. It was like he was made of stone. He was not punching like a human.”

Another shopkeeper, who is seen on video being one-shot dropped and then stumbling off, asked reporters for 10,000 Turkish Lira (around US$600) to replace the nine teeth he lost. When asked if he lost all nine teeth from just one punch, the man replied, “Brother, did you not see the man, he is like Mike Tyson.” Palan himself lost two teeth.

Dobbous was interviewed shortly after the incident, and offered his perspective. Wearing a sling, he reported he suffered a broken hand, dislocated shoulder, and a knife wound to the back, plus lost his phone, watch, and gold chain. Other reports cite a fractured skull.

“I wasn’t drunk, I don’t drink,” he said. “I went to get a bottle of water. When I opened the door they fell all over me. I said I was sorry – accidents happen. But I was shocked at what happened next. … They should fight like men. You don’t have to come at me with weapons. Come at me with your hands. I didn’t come looking for a fight. I am a Muslim, like yourself. My hand [is injured] and my shoulder is dislocated from when someone hit me in the back.

“All this for water?”

Dabbous was acquitted in court, with the judge ruling that he acted in self-defense. Palan, was convicted of “deliberate injury” and sentenced to 3.5 years in prison, later reduced to 26 months. Two other suspects received fines only, as their attacks did not result in injury.

The shopkeepers in the area are predominantly Kurds, rather than Turks. Relations between Kurds and Turks are not typically warm and fuzzy. Support on social media in Turkey for the Kuwaiti-Irish tourist was widespread.

“Should we write a novel titled ‘The Irish tourist?’” quipped noted Turkish novelist Ahmet Ümit. A woman named Bakteri Plaa, proposed marriage. A game called Irlandalı Boksör [Irish Boxer] was developed in Turkey. In it, a character looking like Dobbous stands next to a refrigerator full of water bottles, and then beats up angry shopkeepers wielding clubs and chairs, among other objects.

THE LESSONS

Watching MMA fights is compelling, but the greater meaning is learning what’s real – which martial arts techniques work against a capable attack, and which fail. Likewise, the application of martial arts on the street can be compelling video content, but the greater meaning is learning which techniques and methods actually work, on the street.

Dobbous was widely reported to be a professional boxer, but the reality is he just trains in the sweet science. The tourist speculates he won the fight, “because he is fit.” That of course parallels one of the great truisms in combat sports, explained succinctly by Karl Gotch: “Conditioning is your best hold.” That’s one of the vital lessons imparted here.

Across the globe, hopelessly out-of-shape martial arts teachers delight in fleecing the credulous, offering to teach “deadly” techniques without the requisite conditioning. For example, in far too many aproaches to Kenpo, it often appears that the two primary teacher requirements are being overweight and holding a 10th degree black belt. If you are not in decent shape, do not expect your skills to work.

Mr. Dobbous’ amazing performance also reflects having naturally heavy hands. As any striking coach will tell you, much of great knockout power is innate. Anyone can increase their punching power dramatically, but some people are born with heavy hands. Dobbous absolutely was. That’s another important lesson – some vital skills in self-defense are innate.

It should also be noted that the tourist received a lot of injuries, could have been killed, and might well have been better off if he just ran into his hotel and stayed there. Watching and appreciating video of martial arts on the street shouldn’t extended to thoughtlessly glorifying it.

The two martial arts with the highest demonstrated level of success on the street are jiu-jitsu and boxing. For a one-on-one altercation, jiu-jitsu has demonstrably proven to be the best, and all the more so because the level of damage can readily range from a hug to face-smashing. However, the efficacy of jiu-jitsu against multiple attackers is much more limited. This is obvious, but more importantly, is borne out by the record of jiu-jitsu being used on the street. Boxing, on the other hand, has a tremendous record via security cam and smartphone video of working very well against multiple attackers.

On the subject of lessons, no generalities should be drawn from this single incident about the nation where it took place. Turkey is most deservedly a beloved destination for over 40 million tourists worldwide each year. The beauty of the nation and the kindness of its people are known and cherished by all who visit.

And lastly, the next time you are in a store, wherever you are, and remove a bottle of water from the refrigerator, take care that they don’t drop to the ground. No good will come of it.

The post 11 Teeth Missing After 15 Armed Shopkeepers Attack Irish Boxer appeared first on Amherst MMA.

Hearing this may come as a terrible shock, but some say that O’Sensei Seagal is also a creep, and worse. As fight coordinator and former PRIDE commentator Stephen Quadros related, “I had heard all the horror stories about how he would hurt actors and stunt performers, dislocated shoulders, kick guys in the nuts to see if they were wearing cups, etc. I had heard about Gene LeBell.” The Gene LeBell story – “Skidmarked For Death” – is legendary, and has been retold for a generation. But is it true?

In 1991, the now-deceased LeBell was working as a stunt coordinator on the award-winning Aikido documentary Out for Justice. From there, stories diverge. It’s alleged that at some point, Seagal claimed he was immune to chokes due to his extensive martial arts training. According to this telling, when the then 58-year-old LeBell heard about the claim, he gave Fritão the opportunity to test his choke immunity.

As the story goes, LeBell set the choke up, Seagal said “Go”, and promptly went unconscious. And then went #1 and #2, in his trousers. Ever since, either because of a rumored legal gag order (see below Masato Toys action figure for confirmation), or because in the stunt business what happens on the set stays on the set, LeBell has never definitively confirmed or denied the story.

However, the story has been repeated as fact countless times, privately and publicly, by the likes of Joe Rogan (watch here), Ronda Rousey (watch here), and just about everyone else in the space.

‘Judo’ Gene LeBell Speaks

Over a decade ago, MMA journalist Ariel Helwani asked LeBell to confirm or deny the alleged Steven Seagal evacuating episode.

“Did you in fact choke out Sensei Seagal, and is it true that he did in the process soil himself?” asked Helwani.

LeBell replied with a significant degree of ambiguity.

“Well, if a guy soils himself, you can’t criticize him. Because if he just had a nice big dinner an hour before, you might have a tendency to do that,” said LeBell. “Steven Seagal is a very outstanding martial artist. I’ve got nothing against Steven. … Personally, myself, I don’t think he’s taught these mixed martial artists how to win a match. … He’s done a lot for martial arts. But I know where he’s insulted Randy Couture. Well, Randy Couture if he ever got mad would have him for lunch. … And that isn’t to put down Steven, but ‘closed mouth don’t catch any foot.'”

Helwani pressed on.

“So, did that happen?” Helwani again asked. LeBell again spoke elliptically.

“You can’t be braggadocious if you’ve done something,” he cautioned. “Everybody has their individual things that have happened. I personally don’t think you should put down, as many people do with Steven, because he’s trying to do his best.”

The journalist tried one final time.

“So does that mean, Gene, that you will not confirm this actually took place?” he asked.

“Well, if 30 people are watching, let them talk about it,” replied LeBell. “You interview a boxer or a wrestler and it’s ‘I, I, I’ and ‘me, me, me.’ What do I know? Gene LeBell knows Gene LeBell. And if I tell ya the stories … everybody that tells you a story is the hero of their own story.”

To date, this conversation is the closest LeBell ever came publicly to saying the story was true, and it’s not close.

Steven Seagal Speaks

Seagal has repeatedly and very pointedly denied the legend. He was beyond adamant during an interview with Helwani that took place not long after the exchange above with LeBell.

“Gene LeBell is a pathological liar,” said a clearly upset Seagal. “My children are the most sacred thing in my life. I swear on my children that we never ever had a fight at all. If someone doesn’t believe me , you can ask the stunt coordinator Conrad Palmisano. Conrad Palmisano is a Vietnam veteran. He’s a man of honor. He would never lie to anybody. You can ask him. There was never a fight. If LeBell said there was a fight, then he’s a pathological, scumbag liar.”

This is not a He Said She Said, it’s more a He Denied, He Declined to Deny. So what actually happened?

So is The Seagal Dookie Drawers Story True?

While it’s a compelling narrative, no one who was there has ever confirmed it. Stuntman, martial artist, and celebrity bodyguard (including for Seagal) Ron Balicki said emphatically and at length that he knew from witnesses that it did not happen.

“Another stuntman by the name of Steve Lambert was also an eyewitness to Gene’s and Steven’s brief interaction,” said Balicki.

Recently, the aforementioned famed stuntman Steven Lambert – a direct eyewitness – explained at length what actually happened, during an appearance on the Striking Samurai podcast.

“There was two bodyguards which were Steven Seagal’s, there was Steven Seagal, there was Gene LeBell, there was Lincoln Simonds who is stunt guy, and myself,” said Lambert. “There was six people there. … Nobody else was there, nobody else experienced it, nobody else saw. … Seagal didn’t piss in his pants, he didn’t go into convulsions.

“But there was a confrontation, it was a difficult physical confrontation … I happened to open the door and I saw Seagal and LeBell, and the two bodyguards talking in front of LeBell’s trailer. We were probably a good 30, 35 feet away and I said, ‘Hey Lincoln, LeBell’s talking to Seagal, let’s go see if we can join in,’ you know just innocently. So I jump down and I start walking over and Lincoln is about ten feet back of me, jumps down, and we start walking over we get there and they’re just having a simple conversation in front of each other.

“It’s Seagal and the two bodyguards are on each side of them … and they’re talking about moves and introducing themselves, being casual and entertaining and everything’s light. They start talking about different techniques, and they’re talking about a chokehold, and Seagal starts the conversation. He goes I see the way you do your choke holds, and he was disagreeing on the way that LeBell would do it, and LeBell said, ‘Well let me explain to you how I do it.’

“When you work with somebody, a master, a black belt, you know even somebody that is a white belt … it’s an automatic, known-fact rule, that you go slow. You’re having a conversation, you’re teaching, you’re showing, you’re expressing your movement, and that’s just what LeBell was doing, in slow motion.

“He walks around Seagal and he’s in back of him, facing his back, and Seagal’s kind of looking over. We see the two bodyguards looking, and Lincoln and I are kind of we’re in back of one side. and back of LeBell, watching, very innocent. LeBell starts to put his hands around [Seagal] and very slow, just as I’m moving right, and the minute his hands go around Seagal’s neck, before he even touched them, grazed them, Seagal just side steps full blast, and forearms down right in [LeBell’s] crotch.

“That’s crazy. I mean like if I told you if I spread my legs and I said hit me in a crotch with your forearm as hard as you can, that’s what Seagal did. And LeBell jumped up like three feet in the air, and I see LeBell’s face and it’s literally three feet in the air.

“The moment [LeBell’s] toes touched the ground, he just sidestepped and spun his hand around the front of Seagal’s neck, and took his leg and put it in back of Seagal’s feet and just threw his arm back and threw his leg forward, LeBell that is, and Seagal went flying about four feet high and landed right on his butt and back hard. Ouch. The bodyguards looked at LeBell, and I looked at Seagal, and I looked at Lincoln, and everything is in slow motion, and Lincoln’s mouth was open, and my mouth was open.

“I was shocked because that was full blast until then. The bodyguards they looked at Seagal, they looked at LeBell, and I’m watching this happen – a matter of a split second – and I’m thinking ‘Oh my God here comes a huge fight.’ Because I’m thinking the bodyguards are looking at LeBell, and the bodyguards look back at Seagal, and I look back at Seagal, and Seagal shakes his head like a no. The minute Seagal did that with his head, the bodyguards stood down, because they were like almost in reaction mode, confrontation reaction mode. Like I said, this happened in a matter of moments.

“The minute LeBell felt everything was easing up, he stuck out his hand and said, ‘But if I did that let me show you what you could do,’ and helped him up. I was scared that something else was going to go on, so I ran to get the stunt coordinator Conrad Palmisano. He was busy with sending camera, so I’m back at him, and he had producers, directors, the DP, everybody listening to him. So I’m in back, and I’m waiting for the right moment, because you can’t just barge in – you don’t want people to know, you don’t want to make a big thing out of this right? So I go in back of him waiting for the right moment and I kind of leaned to his ear and I said, ‘Conrad, there’s a confrontation with Seagal and LeBell at base camp, you better get over here and break it up.’

“Well he didn’t understand what I was saying, so he ignored me, and I’m just looking and he’s continuing with his camera work. So I walk away kind of hesitant, five, ten feet away, and all of a sudden he pops up and he realizes what’s going on, and he runs over there and he yells to LeBell before he even gets over there. He’s like 40 feet away – ‘LeBell, get back to your trailer.’ LeBell looks at him and goes right back to his trailer and that was the end of that. That’s what happened.

“Now who told, who got it out, who spread it out, I know I didn’t. I know Lincoln didn’t, at least I believe Lincoln. I don’t know if the bodyguards did it. I don’t know if Seagal did it, leaked it out. I don’t know if Gene LeBell leaked it out. Gene LeBell, I love him; you see how close Gene LeBell and I are in the movie? But Gene LeBell is a showman, right? I don’t think he would tell a lie.

“I think that lie, that rumor. that part of it pissing in his pants, and going convulsions, I think it was spread by somebody else, somebody who was writing the story, you know, somebody to somebody to somebody. But I believe LeBell would never say what was said to the magazines, and all that, if I had to guess. Also, let me say I feel horrible for Steven Seagal – he deserved it, what he got, because he started it. But the after-occurrence all these years later was brutal.

“I’ve seen Gene LeBell many times, he’s read my story; he says that’s exactly what happened. If you put Gene LeBell and I together on an interview, and I look at him and I say, ‘Gene isn’t that exactly what happened?’ He’ll tell you that’s exactly what happened. … We’ve discussed this already, I’ve teased him, he tells me that he didn’t say that, somebody else said that. He can’t figure out [who] but he’ll play with you if you interview him. He’ll play with you because Gene is a showman.

“It’s [Seagal’s] fault. I feel bad for him. It’s brutal because it’s carried on this long. But if he would have admitted it in a playful way with respect, at the beginning, or in the middle, or even now, it would go away. A couple of people have called me and asked, ‘What do you think would happen if we got them together?’ And I said, ‘Well, I’m sure Gene would come.’

“Seagal’s got to get off his high horse, and the trick is is to make it funny, make it funny when they meet, because I’m sure LeBell would make it funny – ‘Come here Steven, you know your ball shot made me fly in the sky, how’d you like me putting you on your back?’ ‘You know LeBell, you’re one of the few that has ever put me on my back, I congratulate you for that.’ It could be humorous and it would all go away – that’d be great if that played out.

“I’ve suggested that to a few interviewers that have called me up privately and Seagal refuses to do that. So I think our interview is basically the only one with one of the witnesses that’s going to be out there. You did interviews with Palmisano and Balicki and Seagal, where you were telling the story, but it sounded like they wanted to like bad mouth Gene LeBell, and kind of turn it into that.

“The only thing I will say on this video is that Seagal did not pee in his pants, and he did not go into convulsions. That’s all I’m here to say, because Conrad Palmisano asked me, a friend of mine, and that’s all I’m gonna say. My name is Steve Lambert. I’m here to say that in the Seagal-LeBell confrontation, Seagal did not piss in his pants or go into convulsions. End the story.”

“I can’t reiterate this more – anybody who says otherwise about this story are liars. It’s that simple because they weren’t there, the producers. the directors, whoever, only the six were there, nobody else saw.”

So, finally, from an eyewitness, comes what’s apparently the truth – Seagal did not dump in his drawers, but did got dumped on his back (sounds like by Osoto Gari). Lambert’s delivery is compelling, but clinching the argument, the story could not have come from Seagal’s direction, as it contradicts O’Sensei’s version, and makes him look like a fool. So the truth is cool, but not as cool as the myth. That’s the way it always is.

Gene LeBell passed away on August 9, 2022, a legend in the grappling world. Steven Seagal has lived in Russia since 2016, when he was granted Russian citizenship by his friend President Vladimir Putin.

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It happened at the 1972 Munich Olympics, in Greco-Roman wrestling. The guy on top is the USA’s Chris Taylor, age 22. He weighed around 444 pounds, maybe less, sometimes more. He’s the heaviest athlete in Olympic history,

The little fella on bottom is West Germany’s Wilfred Dietrich, 38, who weighed in at 287. Both he and Taylor were representing their nations at super heavyweight, each in both Freestyle and Greco.

Beginning in 1956, often competing in both FS and Greco, Deitrich medaled in five Olympics and five world championships, taking Olympic gold in 1960, and the world championship in 1961. During a seven-year run from 1955 to 1972, he never lost in Freestyle.

Taylor beat Dietrich in FS by decision at the 72 Olympics, and went on to win Bronze, after losing a controversial decision to Russia’s Aleksander Medved. But a few days later, in Greco, although he did not go on to medal, Wilfred Dietrich hit what many people call the greatest throw in wrestling history.

It was set up by a surreptitious, seemingly friendly hug (rather than the customary handshake), so Dietrich could see if he could reach his arms around Taylor.

“I was about four feet away when it happened,” said Jim Peckham, assistant coach of the freestyle team. “It was about five to ten minutes before their match and Dietrich came up to Chris and said ‘Chris, it’s so good to see you.’ Instead of a handshake, he gave him a big hug. I tried to step in to stop it but was too late. I think he was doing it to see if he could get his arms around Chris to attempt a throw. Keep in mind, the match was in Germany and this was Dietrich’s home mat, so he was trying to gain every advantage possible.”

The greatest throw in wrestling history was not without controversy.

THE CONTROVERSY

“I can tell you exactly what happened because I was four feet from it,” said Alan Rice, 1972 Olympic Greco-Roman head coach. “Dietrich has this throw but he couldn’t reach his arms all the way around Chris, but he got around there, and he went to his own back and that was the days of the touch fall. Dietrich went straight back and he was pinned, he pinned himself. Then he rolled Chris over and got Chris on his back and the referee called the fall. It was a great injustice because Dietrich did pin himself.

“[Dietrich] could not lock his hands around Chris. He could get his fingers touching but just barely, not enough to grip his fingers at all. He was very much well-known for that throw. I don’t think Chris was too worried about the throw because he knew if he went belly to belly that [Dietrich] would go to his back and pin himself. He did, but the referees flat out did not call it. He was on his back for no longer than one second, but they did have the touch fall rule in place so (Dietrich) was pinned.

Wayne Baughman, 198-pound member of the 1972 Olympic Greco-Roman team, also vividly recalled what happened.

“Dietrich was working for a double underhook the entire match,” said Baughman. “After the first period had ended I began yelling as hard as I can that he’s looking for the double underhook and he’s going to try and throw you. He looked directly at me and nodded yes.

“Chris went right out there in the second period and puts in the double overhooks and that’s when Dietrich hit a perfect front souplesse. When Dietrich hit the mat I couldn’t see him. He must have sunk about a foot into the mat. He was smashed flat in the mat. Dietrich did not hold a bridge but he did have enough momentum to carry him through to his right side and he stepped over onto Chris and got the fall.

“Five minutes later I went back to the locker room and Taylor was there by himself slouched over on a training table swinging his legs like a little kid. He looked up at me and shook his head and said, ‘I didn’t believe there was a human alive that could physically pick me off the mat and throw me, but I was wrong.’”

THE END

Dietrich still holds the record for most Olympic medals in wrestling, with five. He passed away from a heart attack on June 3, 1992, in Durbanville, South Africa. He was 58, and is buried in his hometown of Schifferstadt, Germany.

Chris Taylor went on to a career in professional wrestling under the tutelage of Billy Robinson and Verne Gagne, and even had an exhibition bout vs. Andre The Giant. However, as it had for so many of his opponents, Taylor’s size proved to be too much. Due to health issues, he was forced to retire from wrestling, and died in his sleep of cardiovascular complications, at home in Story City, Iowa, on June 30, 1979. He left behind his wife Lynne Lawrence and a daughter. He was just 29 years old.

“The only thing Chris was upset about is that he let the whole thing happen,” said Lynne. “He always used to joke that everyone could see his bald spot in the picture.”

H/T to BJJEE, FightingArts, and WIN-magazine.

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It was long believed that Italy, land of Julius Caesar, Marco Polo, Dante Alighieri, Cristoforo Colombo, Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo Buonarroti, and Galileo Galilei, had produced the world’s highest ranking martial artist. Shang-Men-Rem Prof. Gilberto Pauciullo holds 22 10th degree black belts, including five in Jiu-Jitsu alone, and one in mexed martial arts.

That’s Pauciullo in the middle, with the yellow jacket, paunch, and giant white belt.

Shang-Men-Rem Prof. Gilberto Pauciullo’s official certificates include:
11th Duan – Man Seer Kung Pai Kung Fu
10th Dan – Katory Yama Ryu Ju-Jutsu
10th Dan – Okonawa Go Ju Ryu
10th Dan – Street Rapid Defense System
10th Dan – WOSD/Kapap System
10th Dan – Self-Defense
10th Dan – Agni Kempo
10th Dan – I.F. Knife Fighting System
10th Dan – Ju-Boxing Full Contact
10th Dan – Shin KakutoJutsu Hanshi
10th Dan – Gung Chi Pai Gung Fu System
10th Dan – Ju-Hitsu AJJIF
10th Dan – Ju-Jitsu IJJF
10th Dan – Ju-Jitsu ACJJ
10th Dan – Ju-Jitsu UAJJ
10th Dan – Martial Arts Police Method
10th Dan – Makoto Ryu Ju-Jitsu
10th Dan – Bu-Jutsu Sigung
10th Dan – Mexed Martial Arts
10th Dan – SERCSU
10th Dan – DIM MAK
10th Dan – Nefusen Submission Ju-Jitsu
10th Dan – Vietnamese Combat Martial Arts
Grade A – Hanshi – Soubukai Karate-Do / Japan-Tokyo
Si Gung Wing Chun – In Yp Man Martial Arts Sifu Council
Si Gung Chi Kung
9th Dan – Ken Jitsu
9th Dan – Tatsu Seiki Kikou-Do
9th Dan – Kamishin Kai Ju-Jitsu
9th Dan – Karate-Do
9th Dan – Pinoy Eskrima S.Miguel de Abanico Ming Sune Do
9th Dan – Chinese Kempo
9th Dan – Kokusai Sin Jutsu Kempo Kai
Muk Yan Chong – Wing Chun Institute
Chi Sao – Wing Chun Institute
8th Dan – Judo
8th Dan – Kimuchino Aikido
7th Dan – A.O.S. Tai Chi System
7th Dan – Ashihara Bu-Do Kai
7th Dan – Ting Ho Dao
7th Duan – Shaolin Yang Sheng Fa
7th Dan – OSTCS
6th Dan – Seishinryoku Goju Kick Boxing
6th Dan – Kendo.
6th Dan – OSR Karate-Do
4th Dan – FULUNGJJ
2nd Dan – Sakibo
Master of MARMA ADI
Master of KALARIPAYT
Master of KAPAP – Level B – cert.n:704788
Master of Military – Police Special Force
Master of Special Commando Force – S.O.G.
Master Expert of Krav Maga
Master Expert of Close Combat System
Depositary Master of Italian Traditional Knife
Depositary Master of Italian Hand Weapons Combat System

Most of us had the same three reactions, in quick succession:
1. “Only a 4th dan in FULUNGJJ??!? Pull yourself together man, and put some real effort into Sakibo.”
2. Jiu-jitsu is pathetic for having no living 10th degrees, while this luminary alone holds 22.
3. Is Shang-Men-Rem Prof. Gilberto Pauciullo truly the world’s highest ranked martial artist?

It turns out, he’s not.

With 45 years documented study of the martial arts, India’s Supreme Grand Master (Guru/Dean) Dai Soke Prof/Dr. Jagdish Singh Khatri (Ph.D.) M.A. (IGF) has earned 43 10th degree black belts, and two 12th degree black belts. This rate of nearly one 10th degree per year shows he is REALLY good. Where Shang-Men-Rem Prof. Pauciullo has a mere five 10th degrees in jiu-jitsu, the Supreme Grand Master (Guru/Dean) Dai Soke Prof/Dr. holds twelve!

Dean Professor Dr. Khatri also lists a Cinturon Negro 10th Dan. This means he is a 10th-degree black belt in black belt! That’s pretty cool. He has a 10th-degree black belt in mixed martial arts too, and according to his bio, another 10th degree in mixed martial arts. Shang-Men-Rem Prof. Pauciullo only has one 10th degree in MMA, and he can’t even spell it right – he wrote mexed martial arts. What a goof Pauciullo is.

Supreme Grand Master (Guru/Dean) Dai Soke Prof/Dr. Jagdish Singh Khatri (Ph.D.) is also a COLONEL GRAND MASTER – India & Nepal Alians Bulgarian Commandos (ABC). He’s too modest to mention it, but he is in 17 Hall of Fames. And he has 12 PhDs. So in sum, the world’s highest ranked martial artist is not Shang-Men-Rem Prof. Gilberto Pauciullo, but is in fact Supreme Grand Master (Guru/Dean) Dai Soke Prof/Dr. Jagdish Singh Khatri (Ph.D.) M.A. (IGF).

Anyone doubting the Dean (Guru) Dai Soke Prof/Dr. probably doesn’t even have one 10th degree, and is jealous. So for the few doubters, here is the proof – his certificates have a Flickr account:

The moral of the story of these dual numpties is, to quote Royce Gracie, “The belt only covers two inches of your ass, you have to cover the rest.” Given the giant belts that Supreme Great Grand Masters wear, it’s a little more than two inches of ass that are covered, but then, these asses always have oversized asses.

And to close with the opening question, phrased properly – Who is the world’s most knowledgeable martial artists? The real answer is probably Dan Inosanto, a global treasure,.

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The Great Man Theory doesn’t remotely explain all of history, but it is at the least a source of lively discussion. In that spirit, who are the most influential figures in martial arts in the last 100 years?

The question is subjective to a significant degree, but a central factor considered is how many millions of people were influenced to take up the practice of the particular martial art. Further, notable weight is lent to those individuals who created a martial art with legs – one that maintained its integrity, and did not splinter into sometimes unrecognizable pieces. And lastly, as the title indicates the figures had to be legitimate martial artists in their own right, rather than figures who promoted the martial arts through political means, or the media.

Our list begins with ….

5. General Choi Hong Hi

Choi Hong Hi, founder of Taekwondo

Choi Hong Hi (9 November 1918 – 15 June 2002) is the father of Taekwondo. As Taekwondo is reportedly the world’s most popular martial art, his inclusion on the list is obvious.

Choi is a figure of no small controversy, and his contributions are minimized in some quarters. That however is politics. Gen. Choi chose to spread the art he developed to North Korea, where much of his family remained after the war, and that did not sit well with the South Korean government, which set up the WTF to compete with Choi’s ITF. But that is politics, not reality.

And for the record, the general’s name is pronounced something like “chwe.” So if someone claims to be an authority and pronounces it Choi rhymes with joy, then you know they don’t know what they are talking about.

4. Bruce Lee

Bruce Lee, founder of Jeet Kune Do

Bruce Lee (27 November 1940 – 20 July 1973) is the father of Jeet Kune Do. His influence is extraordinary.

Lee essentially introduced Chinese martial arts to the world. He was responsible for the martial arts boom in the 1970s, the largest the world had ever seen, inspiring countless millions to take up the practice of martial arts of every imaginable sort. However, his greatest contribution may lie in his freeing martial arts from the classical mess.

Lee found martial arts as a collection of countless strictly organized and controlled contradictory sets of beliefs and practices, each of which believed itself to be clearly superior to the others. It was, truly, a field in which everyone was certain they were better than average.

He left a legacy that truth in unarmed combat lay outside of fixed systems. He showed the world a contest with fighters in fingered gloves, using strikes, takedowns, and tapping out to submissions on the ground.

In short, he left a world that was ready to embrace mixed martial arts.

When MMA came along, a new system was created for the refining of technique. It is as simple as wheels on luggage – to figure out if something works in a fight, just fight. If a technique doesn’t work for you, you’ll know, because you will get hit in the face. The name Bruce Lee gave to his approach – Jeet Kune Do, or The Way of the Intercepting Fist – captures that reality.

3. Rorion Gracie

Rorion Gracie, co-founder of the UFC

Royce Gracie is the world’s best-known exponent of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. Royce’s brother Rickson was historically the best fighter in the family. And the art was refined by Royce’s father Helio. But the man who brought it to the world is Rorion Gracie (born 10 January 1952).

And the way he brought it to the world was by co-founding the Ultimate Fighting Championship, and putting his younger brother Royce in it to win it. The wheels-on-luggage simple idea was that you could test the efficacy of a martial art by actually fighting, rather than by blabbering about it in the barbershop or in the dojo. The result was the UFC, which in turn ushered in the fastest revolution in martial arts training in history.

So although he did not found an art, Rorion Gracie, is our third most influential martial artist in the last 100 years.

The other co-founders of the UFC deserve honorable mention: Campbell McLaren, Bob Meyrowitz, David Isaacs, and above all, Art Davie. Davie is the single individual most responsible for creating the UFC, but not being a martial artist himself, he’s not on this list.

2. Gichin Funakoshi

Gichin Funakoshi, founder of Karate

Gichin Funakoshi (November 10, 1868 – April 26, 1957) is the father of karate. He was one of the Okinawan karate masters who introduced the striking art to the Japanese mainland in 1922; but the word “karate” then had different meaning than it does today. Funakoshi founded Shotokan, which, along with Kyokushin, is one of the two best-known styles of karate in the world.

Kyokushin founder Masutatsu Oyama, who deserves an honorable mention, was in fact one of Funakoshi’s students. Funakoshi had changed the name of karate to mean “empty hand” instead of “China hand,” creating the word and meaning that spread more than any other martial art.

For better and for worse karate has splintered into countless directions. Karate can be two players wearing foam floaties bouncing up and down, or it can be the exclusive practice of kata, or it can be bare-knuckle knockdown style, or it can be Karate Combat, and the list goes on and on. However, Gichin Funakoshi is the figure who brought it to the world, and that is why he is the second most influential martial artist of the past 100 years.

1. Jigoro Kano

Jigoro Kano, founder of Judo

Kanō Jigorō (10 December 1860 – 4 May 1938) is the founder of judo. Judo was the first Japanese martial art to gain international recognition, and the first martial art to become an official Olympic sport. Kano’s innovations include the use of black and white belts, as well as dan rankings. He sent emissaries across the planet to proselytize, including Mitsuyo Maeda, who landed in Brazil, and taught techniques to the Gracie family. That led to the birth of Braziian Jiu-Jitsu, which in turn led directly to modern mixed martial arts. Another student, Vasili Oshchepkov, is the co-founder of Sambo.

While most martial arts have split off into widely varying directions, judo has remained judo for over 100 years. And while there have been innovations and evolution, it is so tremendous a martial art that there remains just one judo.

And that is why Jigoro Kano is and remains the most influential martial artist in the last 100 years.

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Being knocked down in training is a signature moment in a fighter’s career or lack of one. Perhaps half the people quit not long after it happens, typically without realizing why. It’s a big deal, getting knocked down, and bigger still to stand up. That’s why the Japanese proverb “Nana korobi, ya oki” (“Fall down seven times, stand up eight”) holds so much meaning in mixed martial arts.

No fighter so well personifies the resilience, optimism, and self-belief contained in those words than does Roxanne Modafferi, who had her final fight at UFC 271 on February 12, 2022. It was her 50th bout, breaking the record for most fights by a female competitor in MMA history. 

“The Happy Warrior” is the last active fighter from a time when female athletes in “cage fighting” were an oddity. The fact that her “Happy Warrior” nickname was a suggestion from a fan on MySpace gives some indication of how long she has been in the game.

Kirik was in her corner for her first fight, and her last, and many in between, in Los Angeles, Japan, and Asbury Park, New Jersey, among other locales. Below he offers a look back at her career.

Origin Story of “The Happy Warrior”

In 2001, Modafferi walked into my fight gym as a college freshman. She was not a gifted athlete and was kinder than a hippie. I didn’t bother to ask if she had aspirations to fight; I wasn’t even certain at the time if she could catch a frisbee. I’d be more inclined to believe a sighting of a yeti wearing a Pats jersey, than what was to follow.

However, Modafferi possessed a relentless curiosity, focus, and aptitude for the sport, unhampered by the ego that so typically gets in the way until it is beaten out. Despite a lack of natural athletic ability, she stood out from the beginning. The only time she cried in training was once, from frustration, when I wouldn’t hit her hard enough.

Brazilian Jiu-jitsu at its most fundamental level is a method of reducing the opponent’s options from countless to just three: tap, nap, or snap. Before long, Modafferi was training at several gyms and adjusting the attitude of newcomer frat boys who went too hard, by reducing their choices to just two, or in practice just one. Without the fortitude to go to sleep, they always tapped.

Long enthralled by Japanese culture, she did a junior year abroad in Japan. Already so stalwart a submission wrestler that she was a “Competitor of the Year” for the then regional grappling organization NAGA, the transition to MMA was natural. Roxy went 3-0 in Japanese women’s events, under rules that prohibited face-punching on the ground.

When Roxy returned to the US for her senior year of college, women’s mixed martial arts was barely acknowledged, and when it was, the typical reaction was disparaging remarks about a fighter’s sexual orientation or sexual attractiveness. A normal person would not enter the sport. But she stood up.

Rise Through The Ranks in WMMA’s Dark Ages

The sterling exception to WMMA’s poor reception was perhaps the most underappreciated figure in the history of the sport, Jeff Osborne. His HOOK ‘n SHOOT promotion showcased WMMA to the world with admiration and polish. Jen Howe, the then most dominant female fighter on the planet, was 12-0 with eleven stoppages. When Howe’s opponent for a title fight dropped out, another pioneer, Tara LaRosa, who knew Roxanne from Northeast grappling events and recently lost to Howe under MMA rules, told Osborne that the utterly unheralded Modafferi would win. 

Howe made the title offer, Modafferi asked me, I said no with a warm guffaw, and she flew to Evanstown, Indiana anyway, without my even knowing. And she won. It was impossible. 

Then she entered a one-night, open-weight eight-woman tournament in Japan. In the first fight, Modafferi beat by decision a 200+ pound jiu-jitsu black belt from Brazil in Ana Carolina by decision. I sat in her corner, in awe. In the second fight, she lost by decision to Megumi Yabushita, who had just won her initial fight by breaking Shannon Hooper’s arm with a front roll. Yabushita would go on to win the event when the great Erin Toughill was disqualified for an illegal elbow, that audibly broke ribs.

Next up was a rematch with Howe, and Modafferi won that too. When we went back to the locker room, I threw my sweatshirt over a mirror, as she was pretty banged up. Roxy found the mirror, looked at her face, and smiled.

It took place in Utah, and at the airport the next day, everyone looked pissed off at me. After a few minutes, I realized an older guy standing next to a young woman with a black eye engendered some assumptions; the good men of Utah appeared ready to hang me.

I asked Roxy to take the championship belt out of its case and throw it over her shoulder. Never egotistical, she declined. Not wanting to learn that I can’t fly by being thrown off an airport balcony, I insisted, and she agreed. Thereafter it was all smiles and questions at SLC International. That was “The Happy Warrior’s” first great peak.

Less Happy Times For a Warrior

Then Roxanne went 1-3, losing to Laura D’August, LaRosa, and Shayna Baszler. The sole win was a rematch with Yabushita. Five years into the sport, with a 4-4 record under full MMA rules, on a two-fight losing streak, it would be a good time to retire and move on to other, more fruitful pursuits. But Modafferi stood up again. It was 2006.

Now graduated from college and living and training in Japan, she went 8-1, beating the likes of Vanessa Porto, the far larger Marloes Coenen, and winning a rematch with LaRosa. 

In the Porto fight, which took place in Los Angeles, Modafferi’s French braids got loose. I had everything in my cut kit but a hair tie, so I dashed to a ring card girl and got one. At one point Roxy suffered a monster slam. I was concerned about whether her confidence might have been shaken to some degree after being slammed so hard. But I didn’t want to even hint at mental weakness, so in the corner, I asked how she felt about the slam. “When she lifted me high up and I was heading down, I was thinking ‘Wheeeee,’” replied Modafferi with a thoughtful smile.

That run earned her a shot at Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champion Sarah Kaufman. But Kaufman knocked out Roxy with a slam. 

Modafferi was released by Strikeforce and lost the next four. A five-fight losing streak, after a decade in the sport, nearing 30, is the definition of when it’s time to leave the gloves in the cage. But she stood up once again.

Her legacy was such that she was asked to be a cast member in The Ultimate Fighter 17. Picked dead last, Modafferi won her first TUF fight versus Valerie Letourneau by submission. She lost her second fight to Jessica Rakoczy, but was given a UFC opportunity in the TUF Finale against Raquel Pennington, and lost that too. Modafferi was now on a 1-7 run, in her 30s. That’s a far, far fall. But she stood up.

Syndicate MMA & Evolution to UFC Title Shot

Modafferi loved the training in the US that she received during TUF and left her beloved Japan to move to Las Vegas to train with John Wood and his world-class team at Syndicate MMA. Then she signed with Invicta Fighting Championship. If Jeff Osborne’s HOOK ‘n SHOOT was the slender thread that supported WMMA in the early years, Shannon Knapp’s Invicta FC was by 2014 the deep roots it so desperately needed, and remains so today.

The grappling-based Modafferi developed much-improved striking at Syndicate, and went 4-1 in the premiere WMMA organization. The run was capped with a title shot versus then-flyweight champion Jennifer Maia. The winner would be the best 125 women’s MMA fighter on Earth, the UFC having only a 135 division at that point. “The Happy Warrior” lost a split decision.

Modafferi won two more after the Invicta title fight loss and entered TUF a second time. This time she was picked first. That season was capped with a bout against Nicco Montano for the inaugural UFC women’s flyweight championship. Roxy lost by decision, but it was the “Fight of the Night”, earning her a $50,000 bonus, plus an extra $30,000 in Reebok Money. That was in 2017, and Modafferi fought on.

The Last Run

For nearly five years, at the highest level of the sport, four times Roxanne alternated wins and losses. Then the pattern broke, and she lost two in a row. 

At UFC 271, Roxanne lost her final fight, a controversial split decision to Casey O’Neill.

The secret to a long life is knowing when it’s time to go. As planned, Roxanne left her gloves in the Octagon.

Today

Today, Roxanne lives in Las Vegas and is happily married to an amazing man, and fellow fighter, Chris Roman. He proposed on national television immediately after winning a fight. 

The wedding was magical.

If you want to learn more about the life of Roxanne Modafferi, check out:
Memoirs of a Happy Warrior
Memoirs of a Happy Warrior II: Challenges 

And if you want to develop your own inner happy warrior, check out:
How to be Positive: Mental Training by the Happy Warrior

Legacy of The Happy Warrior

Roxanne Modafferi leaves a lasting legacy.

In the 1940s, much was made of the great heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis being a remarkable African American athlete. Jimmy Cannon set that straight when he famously reminded, “he is a credit to his race, the human race.” Modafferi is a pivotal figure in the history of WMMA, the final female fighter from the sport’s early days. But that misses the greater point. She is the nicest person I have ever met and destroys stereotypes about what women fighters are. But that too misses the point.

Modafferi’s message is larger than WMMA. It’s larger than MMA. It’s “Nana korobi, ya oki” – Fall down seven times, stand up eight. From her very first day, Roxanne Modafferi has lived it like no other.

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