On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again speaks with the owner and president of the Maximum Fighting Championship (MFC), Mark Pavelich.

Their next show will be MFC 28: Supremacy on Friday, February 25, at the River Cree Resort and Casino, just outside Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The main card will air live throughout North America on HDNet Fights.

In the main event, MFC veterans Ryan Jimmo and Dwayne Lewis will fight for the MFC light heavyweight title. In a lightweight bout, a rejuvenated Drew Fickett will face Matt Veach, who is replacing the injured Antonio McKee.

Our discussion with Mark Pavelich started off focusing on this card and branched out to examine the progress of MFC as an organization. MFC will very shortly be announcing their expansion into the province of Ontario, where mixed martial arts has only recently been allowed and sanctioned, and their plans to run numerous shows there. We also discussed that the athletic commission in Ontario is only permitting MMA fights in a cage and not a ring. MFC has thus far used a ring, and we discussed the issues related to that, as well as much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred at http://nhbnews.podomatic.com/entry/2011-02-22T14_55_26-08_00.

You can also download No Holds Barred at http://www.mediafire.com/?12g2do31yd4pn2w. 

If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes at http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=150801513&s=143441.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter (http://iancarpenter.com).

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

Beezid.com - Penny Auctions (http://www.beezid.com). Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions (http://www.beezid.com).

American Top Team (http://americantopteam.com). Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com.

The American Sambo Association (http://www.ussambo.com), which is committed to becoming the premier association in the U.S. dedicated to the advancement of Sambo. Sambo is a form of sport, self-defense, and combat established in the former Soviet Union during the early twentieth century. For more information, go to ussambo.com (http://www.ussambo.com).

BJJMart.com (http://bjjmart.com), your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

Thanks, Eddie Goldman

http://eddiegoldman.com

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with Randall Yogachandra, the CEO of I SEE Entertainment (http://www.isee.ae), which is the promoter and owner of the mixed martial arts promotion, the Abu Dhabi Fighting Championship (ADFC) (http://adfc.ae). We also briefly review the Strikeforce, Bellator, and HBO Boxing cards.

The ADFC will be having their third event Friday, March 11, at Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. This will feature the finals of their open-weight tournament, with Marcos Oliveira taking on Shamil Abdurahimov.

In a lengthy discussion by Skype on Thursday, we spoke with Randall Yogachandra about this event, the concept behind the ADFC, and the importance of Abu Dhabi to the entire sporting world. They have big plans to expand throughout the Middle East and North Africa region, and work with other promotions all around the world, perhaps one day leading to the formation of an international federation for MMA.

We also open with a brief review and commentary on the main televised fights from this weekend. While Strikeforce certainly had an exciting show, the defeat of Dan Hornbuckle and Jim Wallhead in the quarterfinals of the Bellator welterweight tournament again showed that this might be the best tournament Bellator has ever held.

You can play or download No Holds Barred at http://nhbnews.podomatic.com/entry/2011-03-06T05_03_39-08_00.

You can also download No Holds Barred at http://www.mediafire.com/?nr8dvbfc544g697. 

If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes at http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=150801513&s=143441.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter (http://iancarpenter.com).

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

Beezid.com - Penny Auctions (http://www.beezid.com). Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions (http://www.beezid.com).

American Top Team (http://americantopteam.com). Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com.

The American Sambo Association (http://www.ussambo.com), which is committed to becoming the premier association in the U.S. dedicated to the advancement of Sambo. Sambo is a form of sport, self-defense, and combat established in the former Soviet Union during the early twentieth century. For more information, go to ussambo.com (http://www.ussambo.com).

BJJMart.com (http://bjjmart.com), your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

Thanks, Eddie Goldman

http://eddiegoldman.com

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again speaks with Mark Pavelich, the owner and president of the Maximum Fighting Championship (MFC) (http://www.maximumfighting.com/).

MFC will be holding its first show in the province of Ontario, Canada, this Friday, April 8. MFC 29 will take place at Caesars Windsor and be telecast live on HDNet Fights.

Headlining this card are two title fights. MFC light heavyweight champion Ryan Jimmo (14-1) will face Zak Cummings (13-2), while MFC welterweight champion Douglas Lima (17-4) will fight Terry Martin (21-8).

We spoke with the always-outspoken Mark Pavelich by phone on Wednesday about the significance of this show as MFC continues to grow as a promotion. He explained why MFC has been so successful, and why he expects many of the new MMA events cropping up in Ontario not to last. He offered his thoughts on the buyout by Zuffa, the parent company of UFC, of Strikeforce, and how that deal is likely to end up. We discussed how the Ontario Athletics Commission is only permitting the use of a cage, and not a ring, in mixed martial arts. We also discussed the relationship between boxing and MMA, and much more.

We also offer a weekend preview of the major combat sports events around the world.

In wrestling, the U.S. Open takes place April 8 and 9 in Cleveland, Ohio, with a live webcast on TheMat.com (http://themat.com).

Boxing is headlined by the Hozumi Hasegawa-Jhonny Gonzalez featherweight title fight on April 8 in Kobe, Japan, and the Marcos Maidana-Erik Morales fight on April 9 in Las Vegas, Nevada.

Besides the important MFC card, this is another busy weekend in MMA. On Saturday, April 9, Bellator 40 comes from the First Council Casino in Newkirk, Oklahoma, and will be telecast live in the U.S. on MTV2. On that card, Bellator welterweight champion Ben Askren fights Nick "The Goat" Thomson in a non-title fight, Jay Hieron fights Brent Weedman in a welterweight tournament semifinal, and Michael Chandler fights Lloyd Woodard in a lightweight tournament semifinal. Ringside 10 also takes place Saturday, April 9, from the Bell Centre in Montreal, headlined by a Patrick Côté-Kalib Starnes fight. And Strikeforce returns to Showtime with welterweight champion Nick Diaz vs. Paul Daley, lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez vs. Tatsuya "Crusher" Kawajiri, Gegard Mousasi vs. Keith Jardine in a light heavyweight bout, and Shinya Aoki vs. Lyle Beerbohm in a lightweight bout.

In addition, we open by noting the open letter sent by two-time World Absolute Champion in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Rodrigo "Comprido" Medeiros about the need to combat steroids and doping in BJJ (http://www.adcombat.com/news/2011-04-06/kid-peligro-jiu-jitsu-news-it-just-got-real-rodrigo-compridos-open-letter-about-ster).

You can play or download No Holds Barred at http://nhbnews.podomatic.com/entry/2011-04-07T06_21_15-07_00.

You can also download No Holds Barred at http://www.mediafire.com/?8hqb75sd3uh7qmw. 

If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes at http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=150801513&s=143441.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter (http://iancarpenter.com).

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

Beezid.com - Penny Auctions (http://www.beezid.com). Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions (http://www.beezid.com).

American Top Team (http://americantopteam.com). Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com.

The American Sambo Association (http://www.ussambo.com), which is committed to becoming the premier association in the U.S. dedicated to the advancement of Sambo. Sambo is a form of sport, self-defense, and combat established in the former Soviet Union during the early twentieth century. For more information, go to ussambo.com (http://www.ussambo.com).

Thanks, Eddie Goldman

http://eddiegoldman.com

On this audio edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with our colleague and correspondent Kid Peligro (http://www.kidpeligro.com).

Our subject is the ADCC 2011 Submission Fighting World Championships (http://adcombat.com).

This is the most prestigious and greatest submission grappling tournament in the world. This year's edition will take place September 24-25 in Nottingham, England, at the Capital FM Arena (http://www.capitalfmarena.com).

We spoke with Kid Peligro by phone on Wednesday night about this event and its history and significance. We discussed some of the athletes who will be competing at it, the worldwide growth of grappling since this event's inception in 1998, the potential for grappling to become a major spectator sport, the use of technology to spread the word about grappling including a webcast of the event and Kid's own iPhone app, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred at http://nhbnews.podomatic.com/entry/2011-08-04T00_12_06-07_00.

You can also download No Holds Barred at http://www.mediafire.com/?1lbmwvdk30naujt. 

If one link does not work, please try another. The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes at http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=150801513&s=143441.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", by Ian Carpenter (http://iancarpenter.com).

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

Beezid.com - Penny Auctions (http://www.beezid.com). Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions (http://www.beezid.com).

American Top Team (http://americantopteam.com). Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com.

The American Sambo Association (http://www.ussambo.com), which is committed to becoming the premier association in the U.S. dedicated to the advancement of Sambo. Sambo is a form of sport, self-defense, and combat established in the former Soviet Union during the early twentieth century. For more information, go to ussambo.com (http://www.ussambo.com).

Thanks, Eddie Goldman

http://eddiegoldman.com