No Holds Barred: King Mo on Rizin, Bellator, and Boxing

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Bellator MMA and American Top Team fighter King Mo Lawal.

King Mo is fresh off a major victory, having won the 2015 Rizin FF World Grand-Prix heavyweight tournament. To do so, he had to win three fights. On December 29, 2015, in the opening round of this eight-man tournament, he scored a knockout over British fighter Brett McDermott. Just two days later, on December 31, he won two more fights. In the semifinals, he defeated Teodoras Aukstuolis of Lithuania by unanimous decision. In the finals, he scored a knockout over Jiri Prochazka of the Czech Republic at 5:09 of the first round to win the tournament. This inaugural Rizin event was held at the Saitama Super Arena in Saitama, Japan.

We spoke with King Mo by phone Tuesday.

His approach to this tournament, he said, was "to go out there and try to take no damage, have good defense, and get my takedowns" when he wanted. On the advice of former UFC heavyweight and Pride Grand Prix champion Mark Coleman, who also was an NCAA Div. I wrestling champion and 1992 U.S. Olympic freestyle wrestler, he was able, under Rizin's rules, to fight while wearing wrestling shoes. King Mo said Mark Coleman told him, "You're a wrestler. I wore wrestling shoes when I won it. You wear wrestling shoes and you'll win it."

He also said, "I knew my boxing will be on point because I sparred with Michael Hunter," a 2012 U.S. Olympian who is currently 10-0 as a pro. "I sparred with Eddie Chambers," a former heavyweight title challenger. "I went to Philly for a day actually, and sparred with Eddie Chambers for 30 minutes." He also continued his training with Jeff Mayweather.

"I was ready, man. I was ready. I felt sharp."

We discussed each of his three victories in the Rizin tournament, as well as the Rizin rules, their use of a ring rather than a cage, and fighting three fights over three days.

In addition, we discussed how his plans for fighting in 2016 in Bellator and/or Rizin have yet to be determined; the wide-open heavyweight division in boxing with the Wilder-Szpilka and Glazkov-Martin fights coming up January 16 as well as the ascension of Anthony Joshua; his use of social media; and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by: Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.

No Holds Barred: Jake Shannon on Catch Wrestling in 2016

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again spoke with Jake Shannon of Scientific Wrestling.

We spoke with him by phone Wednesday.

2016 promises to be another year of advancement for the reviving sport of catch wrestling, with Scientific Wrestling and other groups already scheduling numerous events, training camps, and seminars. But the sport is still small and lacks strong organizations.

We discussed how to deal with this, and how also to prevent the type of corruption that is plaguing much of world sport today.

With these types of problems in mind, Jake Shannon said, "I've tried to treat catch wrestling as more of an open-source kind of endeavor by just letting anybody contribute, trying to keep everybody honest, trying to keep everybody upright, upbeat, and focused on the goal of promoting catch wrestling as a sport and participating and putting on events and things of that nature."

He continued, "My view is keeping the model kind of open-source, distributed, a loose federation of people all working together with like-minded goals and keeping each other honest, and that kind of stuff."

There were many highlights in 2015 for catch wrestling, most notably the match between the two-time East Coast King of Catch Wrestling, Thomas Velasquez, and the West Coast King of Catch, Travis Newaza, for the 2015 North American Heavyweight King of Catch championship. This match was won by Thomas Velasquez two falls to one, getting two pins after being submitted in the first fall. It took place December 12, 2015, at the North American Catch Wrestling Association event at the MMA World Expo in New York, and was the top catch wrestling match in 2015 (with video hopefully coming soon).

"If there is anything for me personally that marks catch wrestling in 2015, was everybody kind of just started to focus on moving forward," said Jake Shannon. "I'm hoping we can take that leverage into 2016 and really showcase the sport to everybody." 

We also discussed the pressing need for catch wrestling to get good sources of funds and revenue; the important role of catch wrestling coaches like Josh Barnett and Wade Schalles, who will be conducting a series of training camps this year; how catch wrestling's rules of winning by pin or submission makes it attractive both to fans and to athletes from all grappling and wrestling styles and disciplines; the importance of the upcoming catch wrestling event in July in Humboldt, Iowa, which is Frank Gotch's hometown; and much, much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred here and here. If one link does not work, please try another.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes.

You can also listen to No Holds Barred via Stitcher through iOS or Android devices or on the web, at http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/no-holds-barred-with-eddie-goldman.

The PodOmatic Podcast Player for iOS is available for free on the App Store.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

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

Gracie Tournaments, featuring regional, national, and world competitions in submission-only Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. For more information, go to GracieWorlds.com.

The National Registry for Wrestling, whose mission is to increase wrestling's fanbase, to build a registry of all wrestling fans, to serve as a connecting point for all wrestling fans, and to provide TV and Internet listings for wrestling. For more information, go to NR4W.com.

Defense Soap, an effective, deep penetrating body soap with natural antifungal, antiviral, and antibacterial soap ingredients. Defense Soap is the best cleansing body soap for men and women athletes who are involved in contact sports such as MMA, wrestling, grappling, jiu-jitsu, and judo, to help their antifungal, anti-ringworm, anti-jock itch strategy. Check out their web site, at DefenseSoap.com.