Showing posts with label Jeff Lawson. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jeff Lawson. Show all posts

Sunday, March 12, 2017

Jeff Lawson Gi Grappling

Here is judo black belt and former TUF competitor Jeff Lawson using his skills in a GI submission grappling match against Paul Richards.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

TUF 9 - Pierce Whines, Dent Shines

Apparently the "broken blood vessels" in 170 pound US team member Jason Pierce's foot were a little more serious than initially thought. He revealed in this episode that he got cellulitis and then staph infection. Pierce doesn't seem to want to fight in this episode, and eventually gets booted by Dana White.

In other action, the last 155 match is set with Team USA's Jason Dent v. Team UK's Jeff Lawson. Jeff apparently lost 10 days of training due to a chest infection. He explained that he was initially a little quiet on the show, but had loosened up and showed more personality over time. Next thing we know, a pro-wrestling match ensues between Lawson, Stapleton and Amasinger.

Jason Dent on the other hand is content to not talk to the others and play the outsider. He really seems awkward during the show and Dan Henderson labels him as hard to coach. Dent does show Henderson respect, but he seems to want to do things his way.

The fight was actually pretty good. Lawson was throwing huge kicks off the bat looking for a KO. Dent was fighting relatively cautious. Eventually, Lawson was able to get a takedown, and throw a ton of ground and pound Dent's way. Dent blocked most punches, defended against submissions and got through the first round.

In the second round, Lawson was completely gassed, putting his hands on his knees. Dent took his time, stuffing Lawson's takedown attempts and peppering Lawson in the face with punches. After a couple scrambles and a near kneebar, Dent defended another takedown and sunk in an anaconda choke for the victory. The Dent victory now places three Americans in the semi-finals.
usa Pictures, Images and Photos

Dana White claimed the victory wasn't impressive. I thought Dent played it safe, not rushing in to get kicked in the face. Obviously, Dana wanted to see Dent pounce on Lawson and finish it quick. Anyone who has seen the Pete Sell v. Scott Smith fight knows that sometimes is a bad idea.

With Pierce gone, it will be either be Mark Miller or Frank Lester(currently 201 pounds) filling in to fight Dave Faulkner. During the episode, Faulkner apparently doesn't like "gumshields" in his mouth. A gumshield apparently is the UK equivalent of a mouthguard. He will be getting a hypnotherapy session in the next episode to stop his gag reflex.

Here are the current semi-final line-up, UK ahead 4-3:

155 US- Jason Dent, Cameron Dollar
170 US- Damarques Johnson

155 UK- Ross Pearson, Andre Winner
170 UK- Nick Osipczak, James Wilks

Last 170 spot- UK's Dave Faulkner v. Mark Miller or Frank Lester

Thursday, April 2, 2009

TUF 9 Debut - UK Edition

The Ultimate Fighter Season 9 debut featured 16 fighters from the UK trying to make Team UK and earn a shot to Las Vegas. Every fighter seemed ready to brawl and was hungry to get that ticket. The fights were staged at the Wolfslair which is coach Michael Bisping's home gym.

It was kind of awkward throughout the 8 fights as Bisping had 3 fighters from his gym trying out and a few more that he knew personally. As such, some fighters got a little more coaching than others. Regardless, I enjoyed the episode and the raw feel of a cage and only a few spectators.

These guys seemed to be matched up well. The only slight favorite to go down was Che Mills, who got a tough draw in the more experienced James Wilks. I had Che as a 2-3 seed, and Wilks around 4-5. Team UK's advancing lightweights might have more talent than the welterweights.

Matches-

Andre Winner def Gary Kelly via KO(knee) R1- Andre Winner completely dominated the Wolfslair trained Gary Kelly. Kelly got stuck in a Thai clinch and ate a vicious knee to the face. Winner followed Kelly as he crumpled to the canvas and the bout was called. An oxygen mask was needed, but Kelly was ok.

Jeff Lawson def James Bryan via Sub(armbar) R1- Judo ace Jeff Lawson showed off some skills in his defeat of the younger James Bryan. Lawson executed a nice hip toss to get the fight to the ground, then went to work. After some posteuring, Lawson locked in an armbar to defeat Bryan.

James Wilks def Che Mills via Sub(kneebar) R1- Wilks ate some serious punishment from Mills until the fight went to the ground. Wilks leaned back and sunk in the kneebar with Mills responding too late. Wilks stated that he had been training in the US for the past few years.

Martin Stapleton def Dan James via Sub(rear naked choke) R1- Stapleton controlled the action standing, sneaking in punches on James. Once the bout got to the ground, all James could do was try to grab Stapleton's gloves before the rear naked choke was in. Stapleton, a military man, declared it the fight of his life.

Ross Pearson def A.J. Wenn via KO(punches) R2- Pearson and Wenn spent most of the first round in the clinch trading shots before Pearson snuck in two vicious standing knees to close out the round. With Wenn wobbled, Pearson smelled blood and attacked in the second round landing a left right combination followed by punches.

Nick Osipczak def Tommy Maguire via KO(knee) R1- Osipczak controlled the action from start to finish as Maguire seemed to run out of gas about three minutes in. From there, Osipczak threw a flurry of punches before a knee knocked out Maguire.

Dean Amasinger def Alex Reid via decision- Amasinger won by getting the fight to the ground. Reid attempted a number of triangles, but none were sunk deep enough.

David Faulkner def James Bateman via Sub(kneebar) R1- Bisping's training partner Faulkner went for a takedown early before getting in the clinch. After eating a little punishment, Faulkner got the takedown, rolling into a kneebar.

TEAM UK Welterweights - 170

James Wilks
Nick Osipczak
Dean Amasinger
David Faulkner

Team UK Lightweights - 155

Andre Winner
Jeff Lawson
Martin Stapleton
Ross Pearson
uk Pictures, Images and Photos

*By the looks of the next episode, it appears one of the potential Team USA fighters will have issues making weight.

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

TUF 9 Cast Revealed

TUF 9 will premier directly after the conclusion of Ultimate Fight Night 18. Spike TV has announced the first 32 participants in the 9th season of The Ultimate Fighter. The UK and US teams will each face 1st round elimination fights before making it into the house. Coaching Team USA will be Dan Henderson, with assistants Krzysztof Soszynski Vinny Magalhaes. Coaching Team UK will be Michael Bisping with Cyrille Diabate as a stand-up coach.

Team USA Welterweights:

Mark Miller (10-4)- Mark was a former member of the IFL's Chicago Red Bears. His career highlights have been a devastating KO of UFC fighter Josh Neer at IFL Chicago and a decision victory against UFC fighter Brad Blackburn. He is mainly a stand-up fighter with a solid Muay Thai game.
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(Mark Miller KO's Josh Neer)

Kevin Knabjian (10-3) is a former Eastern Illinois wrestler who brings a four fight win streak into the tournament. He has wins over decent competition in TUF alum Josh Rafferty (9-6), Jacob Kuester (8-3), Mario Stapel (14-11) and Nino Marroquin (5-1). He has 6 KO's and 4 submissions on his record.

Jason Pierce fights out of Miletich Fighting Systems in Iowa. He has a (9-0) or (6-0) record depending on what database you look at. He has fought in the Extreme Challenge promotion with his biggest win over Luke Gwaltney (11-11).

Other US WW's: Ryan Biglar, Christian Fulgium, DaMarques Johnson, Kiel Reid and Ray Elbe (profiled in video below)

Team USA Lightweights:

Jason Dent (19-9) fought twice in the UFC, losing decisions to Gleison Tibau and Roger Huerta. The submission specialist has 14 submission victories on his resume with wins over Hawaiin veteran Kolo Koka (12-11), Harris Sarmiento (25-19) and team USA member Josh Souder (7-2).
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(Jason Dent pictured)

Santino DeFranco (13-4) fought once in the IFL losing to Rafeal Dias. With 9 submissions on his resume, his big wins are against Melvin Guillard (21-7), Kevin English (11-7) and Jamal Perkins (9-3).

Richie Whitson (4-0) is an Alaskan fighter now fighting out of Team Quest with coach Dan Henderson. The striker has KO wins over Ray Cooper (14-9) and Schon Ellis (6-2).

Other US LW's Paul Bird, Cameron Dollar, Tom Hayden, Waylon Lowe and Josh Souder.

Team UK Welterweights:

Che Mills has a record of (7-2) or (6-1) depending on what database you look at. He has heavy hands and power in his punches. He has fought primarily in the Cage Rage promotion with big wins over Ross Mason (14-9), Marius Zaromskis (8-2) and Oriol Gaset (6-3).

James Wilks (5-2) trains out of Eric Paulson's gym in California. He has wins over Ray Lizama (7-5) and Roman Mitichyan (5-2).
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(James Wilks pictured)

Nicholas Osipczak (3-0) trains out of Pancrase UK. None of his fights have gone out of the first round. His biggest win was over Brendan Flanagan (3-2).

Other UK WW's- Dean Amarasinghe, James Bateman, David Faulkner, Tommy Maguire and Alex Reid

Team UK Lightweights:

Andre Winner (9-2)- Winner was (8-1) before his last two fights where he drew against Abdul Mohamed (16-6) and lost a majority decision to Bendy Casimir (17-5). He has notable victories over Mario Stapel (14-11), teammate Jeff Lawson (13-2) and Daniel Thomas (9-6).

Jeff Lawson (13-2) is probably the frontrunner in the LW division with 11 submission victories on his resume. After a loss to teammate Andre Winner in 06', he has pulled off 10 straight wins. His big wins have come against Greg Loughran (18-11) and Joakim Engberg (4-3). He has crushed alot of cans in his young career. The judo blackbelt was a member of the British national judo team.
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(Jeff Lawson pictured)

Ross Pearson has an (8-4) or (9-3) record depending on the database you look at. He is the Strike & Submit British LW Champ and Ultimate Force LW Champ. In his last fight he beat Ian Jones (6-5) via submission.

Martin Stapleton (5-1) is primarily a Muay Thai fighter with solid kicks. He hasn't beaten a fighter with an above 500 record, with his biggest win over Martin Begley (5-9)

Other UK LW's- James Bryan, Dan James, Gary Kelly and A.J. Wenn

The Ultimate Fighter Pictures, Images and Photos