MMA-URLS

Welcome Mike Riordan to the Bloody Elbow grappling team. I like mixed martial arts in cages. I've heard critics dismiss the cage as a mere trinket of showmanship cooked up by the Gracies. No matter the rationale for its creation, I believe the cage is a boon to MMA, distinguishing it from any other sport and delineating it as an altogether new and unique product. Other detractors claim the cage results in a less realistic simulation of real combat, diminishing the fulfillment of MMA's central mission. I fail to understand this viewpoint as most actual fights I have seen have not taken place in empty meadows far from civilization; rather, they usually take place confined in areas in close proximity to rigid or at least semi-rigid barriers. Related Judo Chops Luke Rockhold Puts On A Cage Crawling Clinic Against Jacare Souza Luke Rockhold Jump Kick to Spin Kick The cage serves as a reasonable representation of these barriers. Not only does the cage function as a realistic environmental barrier it also possesses untapped potential to be used as a propulsion mechanism for many exciting fighting techniques. This entry looks at Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza's last fight against Bristol Marunde at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey and how Souza uses the cage in exciting new ways. More SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey Before a returning to discussing Jacare, first a little bit of foundational stuff that isn't as tangential as it may appear on first blush. Any practicioner of the grappling arts is aware of the fact that it is generally much easier to work a grounded opponent than one who is on their feet. By extension, once you ground an opponent, if you believe you can accomplish something meaningful while atop your opponent, you would prefer to keep him grounded. Therefore, when a grounded opponent seeks to stand up and escape your control, it is helpful to be able to return the opponent to the ground in a controlled manner. The discipline of American folkstyle wrestling (I prefer to call it scholastic wrestling and will do so from here on out) excels at teaching its practitioners controlled "mat-returns" when and opponent stands from bottom with his back to his opponent. In Freestyle and Greco wrestling stand-ups are comparatively rare as they leave one open to a high amplitude/exposure big point scoring move such as a suplex. In scholastic, the stress is on control rather than exposure, wrestlers receive no points for simply returning an opponent to the mat and therefore a move such as a suplex, even if it were legal in scholastic, would be less desirable as it could easily result in the loss of control. For this reason, a fighter intent on finishing a contest on the ground is best served executing a mat return which maintains control throughout. It makes sense to say that the same could be said for mat return situations in fights. Supplexes are flashy but will inflict an unpredictable amount of damage and can squander a position of control. Kevin Randleman learned this the hard way against Fedor. At higher levels of scholastic wrestling, the primary option for returning an opponent to a mat is to lock at the waist, step around the opponent, pop the hips to lift then pull him over your knee and onto his face. Two time NCAA champ Matt Valenti demonstrates below: Notice his hands are locked to the same side he steps to, this torgues the opponent away from him when he lifts and returns. Were the bottom man facing him he could potentially engage in a variety of funky shenanigans. Matt also steps around to the right side which will put him on his opponents off side. Most wrestlers are slightly worse at working from bottom when their opponent is on their right side. He also, upon landing, immediately reaches beneath the arm of his partner and grabs the wrist. The other move we are starting to see used more as a mat return on the college is this snazzy look-away whip over trip. Here demonstrated by Jordan Olliver on Illinois' B.J. Futrell. On lower level of wrestling, you most commonly see simple trips used as mat returns. Some coaches will instruct their pupils to trip their opponent backward if their weight is coming back, and to trip them forward if their "nose is in front of their toes." Here is the closest thing I could come to a gif of the latter scenario as Dustin Schlatter front trips some Kyrgystani guy after getting behind him on a nice outside step single leg. See how he pushes off his left leg while displacing his opponents right leg with his right leg. It doesn't get any simpler when bringing a guy to the mat. In Jacare Souza's last fight versus Bristol Marunde, Jacare uses a similar technique to bring his opponent to the ground, only he does so with an inventive twist. First off Jacare goes underneath Marunde's arms with a body lock. I won't call it a bear hug as I usually reserve that term for the technique that collapses the opponent's lumbar inward and sends his shoulder falling to the mat. Souza drives forward with the lock and starts to hip in. At this point Marunde really needs to be tougher with the whizzer and try increase the leverage on it by angling his right hip up and away from Jacare, as this is the only thing keeping Jacare from taking his back. Alas, Marunde isn't a strong enough wrestler to do this and his arm slips uselessly to Jacare's head. Souza now has Marunde's back, Marunde's nose is well in front of his toes, all Jacare has to do to bring him to the mat with a simple front trip, the same as shown above. However, Jacare decides to get inventive, he executes a front trip, but instead of pressuring forward with his rear leg planted on the mat, his back leg mule kicks off the cage like a swimmer in a turn. This looks really cool and it really increases the forward force as he trips Marunde. Unfortunately, it created so much force that I believe it causes Jacare to land on his left hip, far enough out of position to be unable to maintain control of Marunde's back. This occurrence of pushing off the cage would be fairly unremarkable, but it is made interesting in light of the fact that Jacare employs another cage-propulsion based grappling technique later in the fight. A control technique common to several grappling disciplines involves inserting legs underneath the legs of a grounded opponent, belly to back, while both facing the same direction. Joe Rogan calls it "putting the hooks in." I'm just a simple wrestling coach, the country rube of the martial arts world. I know nothing of this ornate and learned jiu-jitsu nomenclature. I call it throwing in legs. I always will. In scholastic wrestling, the act of throwing legs in on opponent who stands from bottom so that the bottom man supports the entirety of the top man's weight, is almost always done as a means of forcing a stalemate. When a wrestler is in top position in scholastic, the end goal of any of his actions must be to work for a pin. Anything other than this is the illegal act of stalling. Throwing legs in when a guy is on his feet leaves the top wrestler with no recourse but to simply hold on, he is merely preventing his opponent from escaping control, this is not working for a pin, it therefore is a stall. Please view the clip below. This is the Big Ten finals featuring Lance Palmer of The Ohio State and now of MMA, and Iowa great Brent Metcalf. Once Palmer is off the mat and hanging from Brent's back, there is really nothing Palmer can do t return him to the mat. He can't simply hang heavier to one side or the other, Metcalf is a world class wrestler and is too solid in the standing position. Palmer's use of this tactic can almost be described as cynical, he knows he is stalling, Metcalf knows and waves his arms out in frustration and the ref identifies it and raises his fist to call the infraction. But what if this action took place adjacent to a rigid structure like a wall or even the side of a cage? Lance Palmer could ever so cleverly push off of the cage with his free foot causing both combatants to fall to the mat while maintaining control of his opponents back. This actually happens in Jacare's match with Marunde. Portrayed in the two gifs below. Once again, Jacare gets the body lock, and once again, for reasons I do not understand, Marunde does not whizzer at all and simply obliges Souza by presenting his back. At least Marunde has the presence of mind to block Jacare's attempts to throw the leg in on the right side though Jacare looks perfectly content to simply step around and throw the leg in on the left side. Here is where Souza tries something that is almost pretty darned sweet. While Marunde is supporting his weight, Jacare reaches his leg all the way behind him, plants his foot on the cage, and kicks. Once again the result is really cool looking. Both men spiral to the mat and were Jacare to maintain back control and finish the fight from there, then we would really have witnessed something truly notable. Unfortunately, Jacare lands out of position once again and losses his position. I wonder if had Marunde been a truly dangerous opponent like, say, Melvin Guillard, would Jacare had initiated the choke immediately after throwing the leg and pulled Marunde back, ending the fight thusly? I'm pretty certain he could have and this raises the possibility that Souza had little or no regard for Marunde and was simply hot-dogging. At least hot-dogging is usually fun to watch, and in this case resulted in some meaningful innovation. Jacare's uses of the cage as a means bring his opponent to the ground from behind were probably superfluous and they definitely didn't work as well as they could have. They are still interesting. Fighters have only begun to exploit the cage as a constructive element in grappling and striking techniques, Jacare's cage use in his fight against Marunde is hopefully the harbinger of more ingenius cage based technique in the future.

Posted in: jacare, cage, opponent, leg, marunde

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After six months away from action, Ronaldo Souza returned last night (March, 3, 2012) at the Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" event in Columbus, Ohio, to take on last minute replacement, Bristol Marunde. "Jacare" dominated the newcomer for the duration of the bout and after a few failed submission attempts, eventually trapped Marunde in a tight arm-triangle choke that gave the Brazilian a much needed, but expected win. What was more impressive than his submission victory? The fact that he fought for three rounds and was able to finish his opponent with a broken right hand ... and thumb. After the bout, the submission specialist knew he had injured his hand in the opening round, but did not know for sure the extent of his injuries. X-Rays later showed that he had indeed broken his right hand and thumb to accompany it and he sent Tatame the pictures to prove it while also confirming the injury via his official Twitter account. Ouch! Souza hoped that this win would earn him a title shot and a chance to avenge his loss to the man that took the title away from him, Strikeforce Middleweight champion Luke Rockhold, but the tough break (pun intended) will likely keep him out of action for a while. For complete results from last night's "Tate vs. Rousey" event click here and here.

Posted in: submission, hand, souza, right hand, marunde

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Slick submission-specialist Ronaldo Souza had hoped to make his claim for a chance to win his Strikeforce middleweight title back from Luke Rockhold by beating opponent Bristol Marunde in convincing fashion last night at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey. While the 32-year old lived up to his expectations in terms of finishing Marunde off, turning in a solid performance along the way, it appears his plans for a crack at the champion will have to be put on hold due to injury. Shortly after the bout’s conclusion “Jacare” revealed he’d hurt his left hand in the fight’s first round and was limited by the damage despite looking fairly sharp on his feet. X-rays have since confirmed Souza actually broke it in addition to his thumb, a fact he acknowledged earlier today on Twitter. No specific turnaround time was mentioned but, with Souza sidelined for at least a few months, it looks as though Tim Kennedy should now be set for the next shot at Rockhold’s belt as had been expected. Souza took Marunde out with a Rear-Naked Choke in the third frame of their main card clash, the twelfth submission win of the 15-3 Brazilian’s career. He has now won five of his last six scraps with the only exception involving the decision defeat to Rockhold. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: luke rockhold, souza, tim kennedy, marunde, fight ’s

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Former Strikeforce Middleweight Champion Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, who defeated promotional newcomer Bristol Marunde at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey, discusses the fight and reveals a hand injury suffered in the opening-round. Souza pays respect to Marunde as a tough opponent, and says he'd like to return to action as soon as two months time.

Posted in: hand injury, souza, marunde, jacare souza, openinground souza

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Ronald "Jacare" Souza discusses his Strikeforce third-round submission win over newcomer Bristol Marunde to open Saturday's main card in Columbus, Ohio.

Posted in: strikeforce, video, jacare, souza, marunde

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COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Watch below as Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza talks about his win over Bristol Marunde at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey, his injured hand, how much he knew about Marunde and what's next for him.

Posted in: jacare, bristol marunde, marunde, columbus ohio, jacare souza

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Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" kicked off its main card on Showtime tonight (Sat., March 3, 2012) with a middleweight showdown pitting former division champion Ronaldo Souza against the unheralded Bristol Marunde. Naturally, Souza was favored heavily coming in, mostly due to the fact that no one knows who Marunde was coming into the evening's festivities. They know who he is now. For all the wrong reasons, of course, due largely to his eating one of the sweetest spinning back kick's to the face you'll ever see. He walked through it, and managed to survive to the third round, but he was thoroughly dominated and eventually succumbed to an arm triangle choke. What's there to be said when the biggest criticism coming from this fight will likely be Souza's inability to finish sooner? To the surprise of no one, "Jacare" dominated the early action, avoiding strong shots from his opponent and taking his back in short order. He got a little dirty once he did, though, headbutting Marunde in the back, which the referee reprimanded him for. Then the Brazilian was reset due to illegal shots to the back of the head. No point was taken but the message was loud and clear. It turned out to be a good thing because Souza landed a strong counter that sent Bristol crashing to the floor. He survived the shot, not to mention the follow up guillotine, but the first round ended with the former champion having asserted his control. Easy peasy. Presumably because he wanted to entertain himself, Souza came out in the second throwing spinning shit, as Nick Diaz would call it, unloading with kicks and punches that had Murande flustered and falling backwards. "Jacare" also hit a late takedown (FTW) and played with a leg lock for a few seconds before the horn sounded. By this point it was just embarrassing how wide the gap between the two was. The third round came and it was only a matter of time before Souza locked in the submission and forced the tap. Move along, folks, nothing to see here. Remember, too, to check out MMAmania.com's ongoing live coverage of the "Tate vs. Rousey" main card action by clicking here.

Posted in: round, jacare, souza, bristol, marunde

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Ronaldo Souza defeated Bristol Marunde by submission (arm triangle). The stoppage came at 2:43 in the third round. Jacare aggressive at the start of the first round when he landed a straight right that backed Marunde against the fence. Jacare was confident in his hands throwing punches early opening up opportunities for his kicks. Jacare hit a takedown and immediately took Bristol's back with both hooks sunk in. Jacare headbutted Marunde's shoulder and then threw punches to the head. The referee stood Jacare up after some questionable punches landed to the the back of the head. As Marunda closed the distance he was dropped with a punch. Immediately Jacare swarmed and worked position for the remainder of the round. Marunde connected with a heavy right hand but Jacare responded with his own combination at the opening of the second. Jacare followed up with explosive kicks before swarming and taking Marunde's back. Marunde showing a great chin but also weak head movement and defense. Marunde walked right into a right hand and then a knee to the midsection. Jacare found a home for his overhand right hand. Jacare took Marunde to the ground and looked for a leg lock to end the round. Jacare immediately took Bristol Marunde to the mat and swarmed with heavy top control. Marunde gave up his back and Jacare sunk a hook in and looked to set up an arm-triangle choke. Bristol Marunde did little to defend and tapped almost immediately. SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey

Posted in: right, jacare, bristol marunde, bristol, marunde

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Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza had no trouble beating Bristol Marunde at Saturday night's Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey event, dominating him for two rounds before submitting him in the third. The fight was a mismatch from the moment it was booked: Marunde was a late replacement who just isn't on the same level as Jacare, one of the best Brazilian jiu jitsu practitioners in the world. Marunde knew he had nothing for Jacare and mostly played defense before finally getting finished in the third round. In the first round Jacare took Marunde's back and appeared to be working his way toward a submission, but when Jacare hit Marunde in the back of the head, the referee stood the fight up, giving Marunde new life. Jacare then dropped Marunde with a right hand and pounced on him on the ground, but Jacare wasn't able to submit Marunde on the ground, and Marunde survived the first. In the second round Jacare opened up his striking, with punches, front kicks and even a spinning back kick, hurting Marunde in the process. But when he took Marunde down and took his back, Marunde surprisingly shook him off and got back to his feet. Jacare dominated the striking, but Marunde once again survived the round. Jacare started the third round with a takedown, and now he was finally in the place he wanted to be: Jacare stayed on top of Marunde and worked to improve his position for a couple of minutes before finally sinking in an arm-triangle choke to end the fight.

Posted in: round, jacare, bristol marunde, marunde, round jacare

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COLUMBUS, Ohio - Ronald "Jacare" Souza is one step closer to reclaiming his belt. The former Strikeforce middleweight champion picked up his first victory since losing the belt to Luke Rockhold and tapped out late replacement Bristol Marunde. The fight kick off the main card of "Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey" at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. It aired on Showime following prelims on Showtime Extreme.

Posted in: strikeforce, luke rockhold, marunde, columbus ohio, fight kick

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This is the Strikeforce live blog for Ronaldo Souza vs. Bristol Marunde, a middleweight bout on tonight's Strikeforce card from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. Souza (14-3) is coming off a fight where he lost his Strikeforce middleweight title to Luke Rockhold. Marunde (12-6), who is making his Strikeforce debut, has won his last four fights. The live blog of this fight is below. More Coverage: Tate vs. Rousey Results | Latest Strikeforce News Round 1: Both fighters open orthodox with Jacare taking center cage. The two clinch and exchange hard body strikes and uppercuts, but nothing lands cleanly. Jacare clinches, lands a knee up the middle, a hard right hand and manages to take Marunde's back standing. Jacare now working the back while Marunde is on all fours. Jacare peppering Marunde with shots while referee Keith Peterson stands them up. He warns Jacare for punches to the back of the head. As they resume, Marunde eats a monster right hand that sends him crashing to the mat. Jacare attempts a guillotine from on top, but can't get it. Jacare is back on Marunde's back, though for now with no hooks in. Marunde stands, pummels in and now the two are clinched against the fence with Marunde pressing in. MMA Fighting scores this round 10-9 SouzaRound 2:Round 3:

Posted in: strikeforce, round, jacare, marunde, nothing lands

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When undefeated middleweight prospect Derek Brunson failed his pre-fight medicals last week and was removed from a scheduled fight with Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza, his spot was filled by Bristol Marunde. Word quickly spread about the late notice replacement, but the primary talk was, "Who's Bristol Marunde?" Today, just hours before he takes on the former Strikeforce middleweight champion, we'll try to help answer that question for you. Marunde has gone 9-1 in his last 10 fights including a recent hard-fought decision victory over Jay Silva last November which helped catch the attention of the Strikeforce matchmakers. He's a well-rounded fighter with nearly an equal amount of submissions, knockouts and decisions on his resume. Tonight (March 3, 2012), he'll be competing in by far the biggest fight of his life on the main card of Strikeforce: "Tate vs. Rousey" against one of the most intimidating middleweights on the planet. The Peter Pinto-trained fighter spoke to MMAmania.com about stepping up against elite competition, splitting time as both fighter and promoter and lastly, how he received a commendation for single-handedly chasing down and capturing a rapist in this exclusive interview. Check it out: Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Ok, as is customary with a late replacement fighter, the most obvious question is, how did this all get set up where you became the guy to fight Jacare? Bristol Marunde: It started with me sending Sean Shelby e-mails of my highlight tapes, my fights so basically I was knocking on the door of the UFC and Strikeforce and when that fight fell through, I was a natural choice because I'm coming off a good win over Jay SIlva and I'm right there in the States. I guess in this case, the squeaky wheel got the grease and I got the fight so I'm excited. The hard work paid off. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Yeah, I saw on twitter that you had met Sean Shelby on February 4th, so did that have any influence as well when you were at UFC 143? Bristol Marunde: Yeah, I was at the UFC and I met him personally and a face-to-face meet is the biggest affect you can have on somebody. I think the stars all aligned just right and it's gonna be a night of great fights. I'm on the radar and I talked to Joe [Silva] and Lorenzo [Fertitta] a few times and it's about time that they get me on there. They've been saying, "We know who you are. We've got you on the radar," so if this is how I have to prove to them that I should be there, then that's fine. I'll do it. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Can you tell me a little bit about what it's like to step up and take a fight on short notice. I don't think you had a fight scheduled, but I know you'd been training and you've been going around to different gyms working on adding skills. Can you tell me about the process of taking a fight on short notice? Bristol Marunde: Yeah, taking a fight on short notice, it depends on the person but to me, I think it's a good thing. The stress is a lot less. You don't have time to overtrain and I don't have time to sit and strategize to the point where it would be detrimental. I'll be able to go into this fight and beat him with the skills that I have. I think the match-up between myself and Jacare is good. A short notice fight, I was already in okay shape. Is it 100 percent idea? Nope, but MMA is a sport where hardly any fighter goes into a fight feeling 100 percent. There's always injuries, there's always problems and life issue that come up but we're fighters. We have to fight at the best of our ability. I was in a good enough weight range, just 15-17 pounds over to where I could take this fight on two weeks notice. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): I was reading a Tatame article about Jacare and he doesn't seem concerned about you as a late notice opponent. Do you think you can really surprise people here? Bristol Marunde: Yeah, I think this is a huge opportunity for me. Let's be honest here and look at the numbers. A lot of people don't think I can do this. Is it more motivating to prove everybody wrong? Definitely 100 percent. I want to come into this fight and I expect to win. I'm not coming into this fight looking to pay my dues and take a fight just to get into Strikeforce. There's no guarantees of the future. Strikeforce is only doing 6 events this year so I really need to come out and be explosive this fight. I really have to turn heads and it could add more pressure to it or it could cause me to perform at my best and I think that's really what I'm going to be able to do. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): You call yourself the "Master of the Kimura" in some circles, right? Bristol Marunde: That's true. I love that move. Once I get it in, I love to crank on it. It's a power based move and it fits into everything that I like to do. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): Would you even attempt that against a guy with the grappling credentials of Jacare? Bristol Marunde: People have asked me that, "if I have an opportunity, would I got for a submission?" I think that's very unwise. A person like myself would rather keep the fight standing or stay on top. I think it's unwise to go for a submission and suddenly, even if he's on the defense, that's still where he wants to be. I don't want to play his game. I don't want to go into his strengths and try to match him for it. That doesn't make any sense to me. I want to try to exploit him any way I can. If the Kimura's there and I'm on top, sure I'll go for that but am I gonna pull guard and go for a guillotine? Probably not. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): I had an opportunity to watch some of your fights, your highlight videos and I noticed your stand-up, you've got some great dirty boxing in the clinch and some really powerful leg kicks. Do you think you can beat Jacare if this fight stays standing? Bristol Marunde: Yeah, I think I do have an advantage on the feet. I think that he is strong and that's not a secret with his techniques and his wrestling, but I haven't been taken down in I don't know how many fights, 10 fights. I haven't been stuck on my back ever. It's not a bad match-up for me. My prediction for the fight is that wrestling will make a difference in who wins the fight. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): I've got more questions about your background. The big thing when it was announced you were stepping in to face Jacare was, "Who's Bristol Marunde?" so I did a lot of research and I want you to get some of the more interesting things I discovered out there if you don't mind. First thing's first. You're a promoter of a Reign Promotions in Washington.. Bristol Marunde: I've been in the sport for a long time and I love the sport. I want to promote it, I want to fight it. I have a big advantage over a lot of fighters in that I really understand the sport and the business side of the sport too. My promotion, Reign Fighting Championships, our next event is actually March 3rd, the same night. So I'm actually promoting and fighting on the same night. March 3rd is gonna be a huge night for me. I really enjoy promoting and building a show over the past few years. I really want to give young up-and-coming fighters a platform to build fights and be in a safe environment for a show that's professionally run so fighters can build their careers and experience without all the pressure, without worrying about anything else. I want fighters to come to my event and just put on a good show and have fun. I want them to gain experience so they can move on to bigger and better events and as my business continues to grow and get bigger, so does my fight career. It's good for me because everything I do has to do with mixed martial arts. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): I'd like to hear about the career turnaround you had. I know you started out 3-5 and then you moved out to Las Vegas and everything's turned around. You won nine of your last 10 fights and now you're in Strikeforce. What was your turning point that you feel? Bristol Marunde: That's a very good question. Where has my career gone? It's had it's ups and downs. You look at losses and you look at wins and what I had to do was say, "Okay, this is an experience. I don't believe that I'm a loser. I believe that I'm a winner and I'm gonna take these losses and I'm gonna look at it as life experience." I hated losing so much that it motivated me to go to the gym and train harder. Mentally, I became stronger and more relaxed as a fighter and what it's done is, it's really strengthened me and caused me to learn a lot about the sport. I've gone other avenues too like reading books on mental preparedness and I did a lot of experimenting in the sport and it's all got me to where I am today. As I go into the cage on March 3rd, there is nothing I can experience that night that I haven't already gone through. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): You got into the IFL pretty quickly in the beginning of your career. I think you had a 2-2 record at the time. Do you think that was maybe just too much, too fast for you? Bristol Marunde: Yeah, looking back, fighting Benji Radach, who had a lot of good wins. He had 15 fights or so and I was like 2-3 at the time. it was too soon. The skill level was there I think but for me, I mentally wasn't ready for the big stage and things weren't all together in my life and it caused me to stumble. A lot of fighters when they get a loss, they try to come back too soon without fixing the problem and then they pick up another loss. It's a snowball effect and then you have to dig yourself out of a deeper hole. What I'd done is I dug a huge hole for myself but I found a way out and it's not easy to step back and suffer some bad losses and you have a losing record, to come back but I did it. It's more motivating for me. Here's the way I look at it. I'm fighting because I want to go in the cage. I don't need to do it. I'm going in there with nothing to lose and I enjoy the sport. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): That's a terrific mindset. Now I'm sure you've told this story a bunch of times, but I feel it's important for people to hear it. I read that you caught a rapist a while back. I'm interested in the details on that if you wouldn't mind sharing. Bristol Marunde: Oh yeah man, that was a crazy story. This happened quite a few years ago in Bellevue, Washington outside of Seattle. It was 11:30 at night and I heard screams for help right next door to the apartment I was in. They were screams for life. It was very scary. I can still remember hearing that bloodcurdling scream and I opened the front door and a big guy came running out of the front door of my neighbor's. I knew she was a single lady so I looked in her house and she was back-down on her kitchen, laying on the floor. I don't know what possessed me but I chased this guy down the street. There was probably a half mile of street where I ran after him and all I had on was a pair of shots. I didn't even have shoes or a shirt on, it was straight Cops. I'm embarrassed looking back at it but I chased him down and cornered him in a parking lot and I just landed the best head kick I've ever had in my entire life, something that I still haven't been able to replicate since in a fight. He came at me and he put his hands up like he was gonna fight me and he was a big guy, like 220. He said, "Listen, man. I didn't do anything!" I don't know what possessed me, man, but I launched a big head kick and knocked him down and I picked him up and held him there and I told him, "If you move, I'm gonna kill you!" and I held my fist up right at his face and he just went limp and the Bellevue police showed up shortly after and arrested him. I guess he had been wanted in a bunch of other states for burglary and attempted rape so I helped put him in jail, well the police did, but I caught him. The mayor and the chief of police gave me a citizen's award and all this stuff. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): That's just crazy, hearing you tell it in your own words like that. I hate transitioning back to the fight but one of my last questions is, this guy, Jacare, he's a former champion. Are you concerned about what' he's accomplished or are you just focused on staying confident mentally? Bristol Marunde: I don't focus on my opponent. I think it does nothing mentally, to look at him as this big great thing. I've watched tape, I've seen him fight so I know how tough he is. I know what he's capable of but that's why I want to fight him for that exact reason. I think it's time for me to step up. I'm at bat right now and I think I'm gonna hit a home run. I'm a firm believer in the old saying, "The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward" so I think this is a big risk for me, but the reward is huge and that's what fighting is. Fighting is a risk and I'm willing to take it. Brian Hemminger (MMAmania.com): When you're picturing victory, what do you see? Bristol Marunde: I see that I'm looking down the barrel of my gun and I'm firing. I'm blazing forward and I'm hitting him in the face with punches and I think that's how this is going to end. I'm gonna come at him and he's gonna have to put me out to beat me. I'm going straight forward, circling, always attacking. I have nothing to lose in this fight. Bristol would like to thank Bulky Boy Clothing Company, his head trainer Peter Pinto, who's helped him drastically and Corey Coopersmith for helping him with nutrition and his weight cut. You can follow him on Twitter @BristolMarunde. So what do you think, Maniacs? Marunde has a good story, but can he shock the world against Ronaldo Souza? Will his extreme confidence in himself be enough to overcome the odds? Speak up!

Posted in: fight, im, bristol, marunde, mmamaniacom

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In the second fight of the Showtime portion of Strikeforce: Tate vs Rousey, Ronaldo Souza (14-3, 4-1 Strikeforce) meets Bristol Marunde (12-6, 0-0 Strikeforce). Originally Souza was scheduled to face Derek Brunson, but Brunson was unable to pass his pre-fight medicals. Brunson requires corrective (contact) lenses in order to fight. Stepping up on short notice is IFL veteran and Reign Promotions owner, Bristol Marunde. Jacare has long been considered on of the top middleweights in the world outside of the UFC. A world-class grappler, Souza has made the proper adjustments recently to add explosive striking to his overall game. The former Strikeforce middleweight champion defended his belt once in a submission victory over Robbie Lawler before dropping the strap to Luke Rockhold at Strikeforce: Barnett vs Kharitonov. As one of the top grapplers in the world, Jacare possesses the type of skills to create problems for any of his opponents whenever the fight hits the mat. If there is one knock against Jacare it's that in MMA he often looks to maintain position instead of looking to finish. Against Robbie Lawler it was incredibly frustrating watching Jacare struggle to put Lawler away on the ground. As one of the top grapplers in the world, there is an expectation (unfair or not) that once the fight is on the mat, there will be submission finishes. It may be a case that Jacare has fallen in love with his striking and isn't training as a grappler as often as he was before, but it's something to note whenever Jacare fights. His opponent Bristol Marunde is relatively unknown to event the most hardcore of fans. An IFL veteran, Marunde didn't set the MMA world on fire, going 1-3 in the promotion. Since his return to the regional scene, Marunde has recorded a 9-1 record with his latest win over Jay Silva at SCC 3 in November. Marunde may be best known for his exploits outside of the cage when he used his MMA training to apprehend a wanted rapist who was hiding in his neighbor's house. Bristol is a fairly well rounded fighter training out of the Throwdown Training Center in Las Vegas. He doesn't really do anything great but he does everything well enough to remain competitive. If he has a clear advantage it may be in wrestling but taking the fight to the ground would be a huge mistake. If we're being honest with ourselves, Jacare is the clear favorite in the fight. There's a different between fighting Jay Silva and fighting Jacare Souza and we'll see that tonight. Expect Jacare to outwork Marunde on the feet before getting the fight to the ground and setting up a submission finish. While Marunde will have a puncher's chance, the odds say that Jacare wins this fight without much trouble. Jacare should win the fight by submission sometime in the second round after putting on a grappling clinic. SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey

Posted in: fight, strikeforce, jacare, souza, marunde

Read the full article at Bloody Elbow

Former Strikeforce middleweight champ Ronaldo Souza is on a quest to re-claim the belt he once wore around his waist. The first step on his path towards contendership comes this weekend at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey where he’ll take on Bristol Marunde, a late replacement for original opponent Derek Brunson who was scratched last week for medical reasons. While Souza’s adversary may have changed his focus remains the same, making sure to avoid overlooking Marunde simply because the 12-6 competitor is not well-known by fans. “They’ve replaced my opponent but I did not change my training,” said Souza in an interview with TATAME. “I kept training Jiu-Jitsu a lot, boxing on its proper amount, and intense cardio training. Now I gotta get there and cut weight. That’s my greatest difficulty now.” That challenge will soon change from hitting 185 pounds on the scale to attempting to stop Marunde who has had his hand raised in four straight and nine of his last ten tilts. “I’ve seen his last four wins, which were good over tough guys,” explained Souza, showing respect for Marunde based on what he’s observed on tape. “You only need to look for him and you’ll see he has fought tough guys. He has beaten former UFC fighters. He is an excellent athlete. I gotta be smart about this fight. I could tell he has strong hands and that he’s a good wrestler…complete.” “Fighting is all about the game plan. I gotta know my opponent. I’m trying to get to know him so I can find a way to fight him,” the 14-3 Brazilian continued before offering up a warning to his adversary. “He said he wants to stand-up against me… He better be careful with what he wishes for because he can go down.” While Souza had hoped for a Top 10 foe to cement another crack at champion Luke Rockhold, “Jacare” still feels a victory of Marunde should do the trick as long as he receives the same consideration the current title-holder did before earning his opportunity at gold. “I guess any win will put me on the line for the title, even because I didn’t wait for Luke Rockhold to have a (good) win to fight him. I guess the event should do the same about me.” Rockhold took Souza’s strap via Unanimous Decision. He earned his title-shot by beating six straight opponents including Jesse Taylor and Paul Bradley. Souza-Marunde will fight as part of a card headlined by Strikeforce bantamweight champ Miesha Tate putting her belt on the line against unbeaten judoka Ronda Rousey. The main card starts on Showtime at 10:00 PM EST with prelims on Showtime Extreme two hours earlier. Other featured fights include Paul Daley-Kazuo Misaki and K.J. Noons-Josh Thomson. PHOTO CREDIT – STRIKEFORCE

Posted in: fight, strikeforce, opponent, souza, marunde

Read the full article at Five Ounces of Pain

Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza was expected to face Derek Brunson next weekend at Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey, but Brunson was forced out of their bout this week for failing a pre-fight eye exam with the Ohio Athletic Commission. Luckily for Jacare, it was revealed today that Bristol Marunde will step up in Brunson’s place to take on the former Strikeforce middleweight champ in what will be his promotional debut. Hailing from Fairbanks, Alaska and fighting out of Las Vegas with the Throwdown Training Center, the relatively unknown Marunde (12-6) will be riding a four-fight winning streak into his battle with Souza. The 29-year-old last appeared in action at Superior Cage Combat 3 in November, taking out Jay Silva via unanimous decision. Recently deposed Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza (14-3, 1 NC) will be looking to rebound from his title-relinquishing loss to Luke Rockhold and put one back in the win column when he faces Marunde. Jacare dropped a unanimous decision to Rockhold when they met in the Strikeforce cage this past September to dispute the belt. Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey goes down on March 3 from the Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio and will feature a title fight between Strikeforce women’s bantamweight champ Miesha Tate and challenger Ronda Rousey.

Posted in: strikeforce, jacare, brunson, bristol marunde, marunde

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With Derek Brunson failing his medicals yesterday due to not meeting the minimum eyesight requirements spelled out by the Ohio Athletic Commission, Strikeforce had to find a replacement to face Ronaldo "Jacare" Souza as soon as possible. And they've found one in IFL veteran and current SCC middleweight champion Bristol Marunde (15-6). Marunde tweeted about it a little while ago: @BristolMarundeBristol Marunde Its public, I'm fighting Ronaldo 'Jacare' Souza on Showtime in Strikeforce! Looking forward to a tough fight! Feb 22 via Twitter for BlackBerry® Favorite Retweet Reply The 29-year-old Marunde is currently on a four-fight winning streak and holds wins over UFC veterans Rich Attonito and Jay Silva. He fights out of the Throwdown Training Center in Las Vegas. With just 12 days to prepare for a former Strikeforce middleweight champion and ADCC winner, he'll have his work cut out for him in Columbus. SBN coverage of Strikeforce: Tate vs. Rousey

Posted in: strikeforce, marunde, retweet reply, commission strikeforce, bristolmarundebristol marunde

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Superior Cage Combat middleweight champion Bristol Marunde has agreed to step in and take on Ronaldo (Jacare) Souza next week.

Posted in: week, jacare, marunde, face jacare, strikeforce marunde

Read the full article at sportsnet.ca

Former Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo Souza has a new opponent for Strikeforce “Tate vs. Rousey,” as Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker announced Wednesday that International Fight League veteran Bristol Marunde has agreed to face “Jacare” at the March 3 event.

Posted in: strikeforce, jacare, souza, march, marunde

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John Alessio and Bristol Marunde scored big at Friday night's SCC 3, trying to fight their way into the UFC.

Posted in: alessio, john alessio, scc, bristol marunde, marunde

Read the full article at MMA Weekly