Matt Hughes is in London right now signing autographs (just found this out!), and there’s 15 minutes left to go to meet, greet, and get an autograph from him.

From Suffer-System.com:

Come one and come all to our first sponsored meet and greet. The free “autograph & photograph” session will be held on Friday April 28/06 from 3:15pm-5:30pm at Westmount Mall (lower Level Centre Court). People are encouraged to bring their cameras & come out to meet the UFC champion. They can also purchase Matt Hughes gear and a new line of “Suffer System gear” will be unvield and available for purchase!
Registration for the Matt Hughes seminar will also be available.

The seminar is tomorrow, so I’m not sure if there’s any more spots open in order to attend.

Also, from MMA Toronto, there’s a seminar with Matt Hughes on April 30, 2006 at the Kombat Arts Training Academy.  I can’t seem to find any information on their website about the Hughes seminar, but there is one with Erik Paulson coming up on May 27, 2006.

You know there’s interest in mixed martial arts and MMA training in Ontario if fighter’s like Matt Hughes and Erik Paulson are holding seminars here…dammit Ontario, legalize MMA so those who are training can actually compete here!

From MMAWeekly:

With a win on Saturday night, Anderson Silva successfully defended his Cage Rage middleweight title taking out Tony Fryklund, and it has now been announced that the Brazilian striker and possibly the #1 185lb fighter in the world has inked a multi-fight deal with the UFC.

Silva has long been thought of as one of the best middleweights in the world and has competed in numerous organizations including Pride, but will now try his hand at the UFC and may not have to wait very long to get a shot at current champion, Rich Franklin. The UFC middleweight division has undergone quite a bit of change over the last year and outside of Nathan Marquardt, who is seen as the current #1 contender, Silva steps into the division and automatically becomes one of the top fighters in the company.

More…

Nice!  Anderson “The Spider” Silva is a dangerous dude…he has wins over guys like Hayato Sakurai, Alex Stiebling, Carlos Newton, and Jeremy Horn.  The last time I watched Silva he lost to Ryo Chonan via a “Flying Scissor Heel Hook” in
Pride Shockwave 2004 (see the video below…it’s a crazy submission move).

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For those of you who are serious about MMA training, here’s an awsome article written by Chad Waterbury that covers pretty much all aspects of strength training as applied to mixed martial arts.

Preview from T-Mag:

Welcome to the first installment of the Hammer Down training program for Mixed Martial Art (MMA) fighters. MMA events such as UFC, Pride, and K-1 are quickly rising to mainstream status, so it’s not surprising that many people have become interested in learning how a MMA fighter trains. Specifically, what fitness qualities must be developed to help them transform into more effective fighters?

To address this question, I’ve written a three-part MMA fitness program. My intent isn’t to show how others have trained; my intent is to unveil the methods I’ve found most effective for MMA fighters. So I’ve created three different training systems to develop strength, endurance, and mobility that coalesce into the Hammer Down program.

For simplicity’s sake, I’m using these three fitness terms very loosely:

Strength: Most strength qualities fall under three primary types:

1. Static strength (isometric contractions)
2. Dynamic strength (concentric contractions)
3. Yielding strength (eccentric contractions)

Strength training exercises for MMA fighters should develop all of these types of strength, but some are more important than others. Unlike a sport such as powerlifting where maximal strength is king, MMA fighters must develop a vast number of strength qualities.

One of the most important strength qualities for an MMA fighter is explosive endurance strength. This is the ability to repetitively execute explosive efforts. (Think of Vitor Belfort’s early round punching when he shows up in top shape.)

Endurance: MMA fighters must be able to perform at a high intensity for a prolonged period of time. Most MMA competitions are organized with durations that range from 15 minutes (UFC non-championship fights) to 20 minutes (Pride fights) to 25 minutes (UFC championship fights). So the 15-25 minute endurance range must be developed to the highest level. Of course, some fights end in significantly less time, but you must train to perform at a high level for the entire fight.

Jogging for 60 minutes won’t help since it’s challenging aerobic metabolism (the long duration energy system). In fact, long-duration cardio will hurt your efforts since you’ll likely lose maximal strength and muscle mass while causing a muscle fiber type shift away from high-force power toward low-force endurance. Therefore, the intermediate energy system, anaerobic glycolysis, must be developed to build endurance strength (more on this in the next installment).

Mobility: This is the fitness quality I’ll use most loosely. What I’m referring to by mobility is, of course, the ability to move freely. You’re going to enhance mobility by developing dynamic, static passive, and static active flexibility (again, more on this in the last installment).

Read the rest here

From LiveAudioWrestling:

The 2-year dispute between the WWE and Brock Lesnar finally came to a close today and both parties settled in court. Lesnar’s no compete clause will apply to certain pro wrestling organizations in North America (read TNA) but for the majority he will be free to compete in wrestling and will have no restrictions when it comes to MMA, which he is considering. Lesnar will continue to work for New Japan including this Wedneday’s show.

I doubt it’ll happen, but if it does, it would probably attract some of WWE’s audience to watch more MMA. Heck, he might even do well too! (Brock Lesnar was the 2000 NCAA amateur wrestling champion).

On the subject of Brock Lesnar, check out his match with Akebono in New Japan Pro Wrestling…very few men make Lesnar look small…

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The official rules of the IFL are up on their website (you can find it here).

Some notes:

• The rounds are 4 minutes each (1 minute shorter than the UFC).  Although each round is shorter, this could mean for a more intense and action packed fight.
• This was mentioned earlier, but the fight will take place in a boxing ring.  I think a ring is better than a cage from a marketing perspective…that is if you’re trying to market MMA as a sport and not a “brutal cage fight”
• As far as apparel is concerned, no Gi or shoes allowed!
• No elbows to the face or head – awesome.  Elbows, although effective, can really cut up someone’s face, resulting in a referee stoppage.  I’d rather see a fight end in a knockout or submission as opposed to a cut.
• No kicking, kneeing or stomping the head of a grounded fighter.  I believe all of these are allowable in Pride, but not in the UFC.

Check out the full IFL rules on IFL.tv