After another dominating win at the UFC against loudmouth Bethe Correa, Ronda Rousey seems unbeatable in her division and probably in MMA altogether.

So, we were curious to try to find one time Ronda walked out of a mat without being declared the winner.

Well, the only match we could find was the women’s 70kg division quarterfinals in the judo tournament at the 2008 Olympic Games, in Beijing, China.

Ronda was having a good campaign and had won her first two matches, first against Nasiba Sukriwva (TKM) and then against Katarzyna Pilocik (POL).

The third opponent would be Netherland’s Edith Bosch.

After a scoreless regulation time, with only 1:43 left on the clock at the golden score extra-time, Bosch was able to score a ippon with a counter attack after Ronda went for a takedown.

Rousey landed on her back and the referee signaled the ippon, the highest score in judo, as the American continued the movement and ended in side control.

Ronda thought she had won and was truly surprised when the referee awarded her opponent the win.

In a interview to USA Today at the time, Rousey was clearly upset with the outcome of the match and the fact she could not repeat the gold medal her mother AnnMarie De Mars won at the 1984 World judo championship: “I kind of want to live up to what she has done, and so I was like nervous about disappointing her. And she was like, ‘I’ve already won my medal. I only want it for you because I know what it feels like and I want you to have that, and if you don’t win tomorrow, I won’t be disappointed in you or mad.’ ”

After losing the chance to win the gold medal, Ronda returned on the repechage and won three more matches to secure one of two bronze medals, the first olympic medal for US women’s judo in all times.

Here is her final match for the bronze against Germany’s Annett Bohm.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVKYfslwUQU

Beijing 2008 was Ronda’s last appearance in judo.

She debuted in MMA on August 6, 2010, still as an amateur.

In only 23s, she caught Hayden Munoz with an armbar.

Watch it.

And the rest is history.

She had two other amateur fights and won both in the first round by armbars.

Her professional debut was on March 27, 2011, against Ediane Gomes, beat in the first round with an armbar.

Five first-round armbar submissions later and a Strikeforce belt, she made her debut in the UFC on February 23, 2013, with another armbar submission in the first round on Liz Carmouche and the women’s bantamweight belt.

She is now 12-0 in MMA (professional), with 9 armbar submissions (8 in the first round) and 11 victories in the first round.

Back to 2008, when asked if she was going to try a MMA career, she was not certain: “I don’t know. “A MMA coach I know says, ‘Just come and learn how to punch. Maybe we’ll find you a fight later,’ ” she said. “So I don’t know. I might learn how to throw a punch, but I’m not making any promises.

Turns out she did learn how to throw a punch or two, didn’t she?

https://youtu.be/0Jf0BzK9xW0

This armbar is perfect for when you have an opponent that has turtled up really well. But don’t be deterred as the arm is still readily available for your taking.

Take a look at this submission that Travis Stevens has broken down:

Mark Munoz dons his custom “Keep Olympic Wrestling” shirt. Photo by Erik Fontanez

Wrestling is back in the Olympics.

The International Olympic Committee on Sunday voted to reinstate the original Olympic sport, placing the event in the 2020 and 2024 Olympic games.

“Today is the most important day in the 2,000-year history of our sport,” FILA President Nenad Lalovic told the Associated Press. “We feel the weight of that history. Remaining on the Olympic program is crucial to wrestling’s survival.”

Wrestling received 49 votes for reinstatement in the Games, beating out baseball/softball (24 votes) and squash (22 votes).

Seven months ago, the IOC decided to pull wrestling from the Games, which sent a shockwave through the wrestling and mixed martial arts communities. Many MMA fighter have their roots in wrestling, such as UFC heavyweight Daniel Cormier, former two-division UFC champ Randy Couture and UFC middleweight Mark Munoz, among others.

The removal of wrestling from the Games spurred numerous petitions, which led to today’s IOC decision that will see the event return through 2024.

“We cannot imagine the games without wrestling,” Sheik Ahmad Al-Fahad Al-Sabah, the head of the Association of National Olympic Committees, told the AP. “Wrestling is a founder. Today was a great result.”

Alexander karelin

The Russian wrestling legend Alexander Karelin has joined the campaign to keep wrestling as an olympic sport in the 2020 games.

The three-time olympic champion wrote a letter published this Tuesday at FILA’s website.

Considered by many as the best of all times, Karelin gives his reasons why wrestling needs to stay in the olympics.

On February 12th, the International Olympic Committee voted by secret ballot to recommend that wrestling be dropped from the Olympics in 2020.

The IOC executive board met on May 29th in St. Petersburg, Russia, and selected Wrestling, Baseball/Softball, and Squash as the list of sports to be considered for inclusion in the 2020 Olympics.

The IOC general assembly will meet this September in Buenos Aires, Argentina, to vote to select the sport(s) for the final spot(s) in the 2020 Olympics.

Read the letter:

A Rhetorical Question : Why wrestling?

Wrestling is a great sculptor of body and soul.  It helps to develop fragile and clumsy children and teenagers into a strong, goal-oriented young man or woman with confidence in themselves.

Wrestling is a way of finding a purpose in life and it gives you respect and the acknowledgement of others. In a Poet’s words, “Wrestling is always overcoming yourself, who you were yesterday and determining who you will be tomorrow”.

Wrestling is an everlasting engine that determines the development of each of us. Who knows how sweet is a taste of hard work? And when we win we will do anything to repeat and live through these moments again.  Wrestlers never stop on their accomplishments. If  a maximum is reached in sport, wrestlers will continue to look and find a use for new energy, talent and ideas in all life’s variety.

Wrestling teaches us to be friendly, to be honest and demanding of yourself, and thousands of my colleagues can undersign these words and values.

Russian literary classic Vissarion Belinsky says, “Wrestling is a condition of life.” The sport of wrestling personalizes these words not just for athletes, but also for the huge army of our fans around the world.

Alexander Karelin

Now watch a video of Karelin in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vHOA-VrcRZU

Travis Stevens for the Copa Podio Middleweight GP on September 8. Photo: Copa Podio

The Copa Podio Middleweight GP on Sunday, September 8 is a bit different than the events in the past. This time, there are more brown belts and wild cards than ever. Between Paulo Miyao entering way below the weight limit as a light-featherweight and two brown belts along with many brand new black belts, both yellow and green groups have no sure winner.

Perhaps the biggest wild card is that of Judo Olympian Travis Stevens, a Renzo Gracie brown belt. Although his Jiu-Jitsu resume may be short, especially compared to those on this Copa Podio roster, his Judo accomplishments make him one of the best in the world.

A two-time U.S. Olympian in 2008 and 2012, he recently earned a bronze in the Judo Pan American Championship. Today he trains and teaches in both Judo and Jiu-Jitsu at his school in Boston, MA as well as in NJ/NYC but for the Copa Podio, he’s all Jiu-Jitsu.

Travis spoke with GRACIEMAG about what it will be like to enter a Jiu-Jitsu event such as the Copa Podio:

GRACIEMAG: Coming from a very high level of Judo, how will you adapt those skills to your opponents at Copa Podio?

TRAVIS STEVENS: Unfortunately for me the strategies that are used in Judo are not the same as BJJ so there wont be much cross over. The only thing that I will be able to bring to the table from Judo is how comfortable I feel while competing. I’m used to competing about 15-16 times a year for Judo which keeps me in a competition mind set.

How do you normally balance your Judo training versus Jiu-Jitsu training and have you adapted your routines for the event?

I’m lucky enough that Judo provides me with a living and I’m able to do it full time. So BJJ for me is just a hobby. I normally train Judo full-time, two sessions a day Monday through Thursday and one Judo session on Friday. I do BJJ at least once a day either teaching or if I’m lucky I get a good rolling session in during the week. But I spend my weekends driving down to NYC from Boston to train BJJ full time at Renzo’s school in the city and at Renzo Gracie Fort Lee. Friday and Saturday I do two BJJ sessions and one BJJ session on Sunday. Then I drive back home sunday.

Even though BJJ causes some strain on the body I still consider it down time because I really enjoy working with John [Danaher] and Renzo [Gracie] and all the other guys from Renzo’s. The only thing I’ve really changed in my training for Copa Podio is I did a little bit of situational drills for specific people. Which is something that I’m not accustom to doing in Judo or BJJ.

How does it feel coming into a Jiu-Jitsu tournament and atmosphere? Do you feel like your skills and outstanding Judo accomplishments will be overlooked by your opponents?

I feel like a kid on his first day of school when I go to a BJJ competition looking around feeling out of place watching people warm up and a little lost on what I should be doing. But when I step on the mat and see my opponent I feel at home again and regardless of rules and scoring systems a submission is always a win so I know my goal and how to get there. I don’t think my Judo accomplishments will be overlooked but I think that my Judo accomplishments won’t help me in any BJJ competition. Even if someone tries to stand up and take me down I’m just going to pull guard anyways. I’m going to Copa Podio to do BJJ not Judo.

For more information and to purchase the livestream of the Copa Podio on Sunday, September 8 go to www.copapodio.com

Video to Save Olympic Wrestling

Here is a thrilling video on the campaign to keep Wrestling as an Olympic sport.

Last February, the International Olympic Commite (IOC) decided not to include wrestling as one of the 25 modalities guaranteed to make the 2020 Games.

Since then, the wrestling community has gathered in a campaign against the IOC’s decision.

The video is yet another action in that direction.

The IOC will gather on May 29 to 31, in St. Petesburg, Russia, when wrestling will have its last chance to make the list.

USADA letter says Gabi is PED free

After Andre Galvão, another 2013 Pan champion got a letter from the USADA (US Anti-Doping Agency) with some great news.

The female heavyweight and absolute black belt winner, Gabrielle Garcia, is in the clear for any performance enhancing substances, according to the letter.

Gabi posted the letter in her Facebook page this Sunday.

To GRACIEMAG, she said: “I have always had to prove to other people a lot of things in my career. People seem to forget that I was always big, but I lost many times before I became the athlete I am today. I lost to Ana Laura Cordeiro, to Ana Carol Lebre, to Lana Stefanac. Today, I train to overcome my limits because I want to be number 1. First they said I had no technique, then they said I was too big and after that they said I was on the juice. People give no value to hard training and to everything I give up to be a champion. I deserve to be a champion and I sincerely expect that all the people that talked about me and judged me are now sorry and start thinking about what they say before they say it. I showed them that my doping is my will power. If I have to be tested after the Worlds again, I will, but I hope that people start respecting me as an athlete that trains and dedicates to the sport. I know they will come with other excuses, but if I was going to care about all that people say, I would have abandoned the sport a long time ago.”

In the next days, the USADA must release all the other results from the athletes tested after the 2013 Pan.

Caio Terra, champion and tested in Irvine, one of the major supporters of the drug testing. Photo: Ivan Trindade / GracieMag.com

Professors requested and the IBJJF worked seriously to implant the drug testing for the first time in Jiu-Jitsu. In partnership with the agency United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA), the tests were promoted for the first time during Pan 2013 in Irvine, Calif. last weekend.

Because of the contract, the Federation staff can’t talk about the athletes selected for the urine test. However, the champions commented on it, despite the initial strangeness.

“It was a bit embarrassing, because of the presence of a woman there watching you. But they are right, this is the way,” praised Gabi Garcia, one of the athletes who was seen heading for the test.

Other names were the absolute champion Marcus Buchecha, Andre Galvao, Roberto Tussa, Caio Terra, Rafa and Gui Mendes, Luiza Monteiro and Vanessa Oliveira.

Featherweight athlete and bronze medalist Augusto Tanquinho talked about the draw process: “They randomly selected the categories of black belt, not the athletes. So when we had the result of the champions of each, they were called for the test.”

For some athletes, the most uncomfortable part of the exam was not being able to see some of the finals, since they were being tested.

“I liked the initiative. I expected to be tested, but I was not drawn this time. It is better for the competitors and clearer to the public. In Jiu-Jitsu, nothing replaces hard work,” praised Michael Langhi, lightweight champion.

The USADA, which conducts tests in accordance with the international rules of the IOC, has examined athletes in the Olympic and Paralympic Games since 2000 in the U.S. The agency will report test results to athletes when they are completed.

Olympic Wrestling took over the cover of GRACIEMAG in 2000

The wrestling community woke up today with some really sad news.

The Olympic Committee decided not to include the sport in the list of 25 modalities that are guaranteed to be in the 2020 Summer Olympics.

With that, wrestling will have a last chance to make the list at a presentation for the International Olympic Commitee Board, in St. Petersburg next May.

2012 Olympic gold medalist in wrestling Jordan Borroughs commented on the news.

“Needless to say I’m beyond saddened at the news of wrestling’s removal from the Olympic Games starting in 2020,” Burroughs posted on his Facebook page. “This is no time to be sad though. We need to come together as a community and realize that this is beyond gold medals. These are the dreams of millions of boys and girls across the world at stake. Don’t stop dreaming and don’t stop believing. Save Olympic Wrestling.”

His comments reverberated through social media channels and started the “Save Olympic Wrestling” campaign.

Wrestling worldwide ruling entity also released an statement on the matter. It reads:

“FILA was greatly astonished by today’s recommendation of the IOC Executive Board not to maintain wrestling among the 25 core sports for the 2020 Olympic Games. FILA will take all necessary measures to convince the IOC Executive Board and IOC members of the aberration of such decision against one of the founding sports of the ancient and modern Olympic Games. FILA has always complied with the IOC regulations and is reprensented in 180 countries, with wrestling being the national sport in a fair amount of them and the only possibility for athletes to represent their country at the Olympic Games, thus contributing to their universality. The FILA Bureau will meet in Phuket (THA) on 16-17 February and will address this issue in view of the presentation of wrestling in front of the IOC Executive Board in St-Petersburg next May.”

While we wait for further developments in the matter, GRACIEMAG brings back one of the most important moments of olympic wrestling.

The video below shows the up to 130kg division final match of the 2000 Olympics, in Sydney. Russian Alexander Karelin was after his forth gold medal and also defending the title of undefeated athlete in international matches. His adversary was American Rulon Gardner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9yiCuX1hV8

Dana White, always sharp, in photo by Josh Hedges

“Never leave it in the hands of the three stooges”!

~ Dana White, president of the UFC, refereeing to the referees after Ben Henderson vs. Frankie Edgar 2.

“There’s no point in just being strong; you have to be technical. Who do you think is more dangerous: a gorilla with a machine gun or a sniper with a 22?”

~ Marcos Schubert, Jiu-Jitsu professor with successful instructional videos on the internet and avid GRACIEMAG reader.

“I see a lot of people calling for Jiu-Jitsu at the Olympics, but there aren’t many remarking about how year after year judo and wrestling lose participants. What I’m interested in is spreading Jiu-Jitsu as a martial art, as the most important tool for human self-development there is. To me that’s a lot better than seeing Jiu-Jitsu become a decorative Olympic sport like judo, taekwondo, badminton or canoeing.”

~ Ricardo Cachorrão, Jiu-Jitsu professor and our GMA in New Jersey

What about you, gentle reader, have you read or heard something striking from someone during the week? Share it with us, and have a healthy weekend.

Esquiva Falcão watched by his father, Touro Moreno, in London. Photo COB publicity

After 44 years, since Servílio de Oliveira’s bronze at Mexico—1968, Brazil has returned to the Olympic boxing medals podium. At this year’s Games in London, Brazil’s sweet-scientists could finally beat the drum in jubilation. In all, they netted three medals in the finest campaign of the South American nation’s pugilistic history, with Esquiva Falcão taking silver in the under-75 kg division; Adriana Araujo, bronze at under-60 kg; and Yamaguchi Falcão, Esquiva’s brother, earning bronze in the under-81 kg weight group.

“Olympic boxing in Brazil will change a lot now I’ve got the medal,” Esquiva told Sportv channel, already foreseeing better days for the style in his homeland. “There are a bunch of names in Brazilian boxing who can turn heads at the 2016 Olympics in Rio,” he added.

Watch the highlights from the match that qualified Esquiva Falcão for the under-75 kg final:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CDivTOgZADg

Ronda Rousey in action at Beijing Olympics / Publicity photo

Here’s another gem unearthed from the precious video trove that is Youtube.com. It was shot in 2007 in Rio de Janeiro during the 25th Judo World Championship.

Still a 16-year-old teenager, Mayra Aguiar, who recently captured a bronze medal at the London Games, faces now-MMA superstar Ronda Rousey. The match is a repeat of the 2007 Pan final, which was also held in Rio de Janeiro.

The outcome: Ronda Rousey pins her opponent for the win. The American judoka would go on to also shine at the Beijing Games, in 2008, where she came up with a bronze medal.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f7YOA5X1IWY&feature=related