On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman begins by discussing the changed business climate for mixed martial arts following the ratings success of last Saturday’s EliteXC show on CBS.

In light of this, we covered the news conference Thursday in New York, where it was announced that the Affliction mixed martial arts promotion and real estate mogul Donald Trump had entered into a partnership, with Trump buying an equity stake in Affliction. The inaugural Affliction show takes place Saturday, July 19, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, and will be shown in the U.S. on pay-per-view.

We got a brief comment from Trump about why he chose to invest in Affliction, and spoke with Tom Atencio, vice president of Affliction, about the company’s business plans, as well as their intention of creating unified MMA championships by working with the new sanctioning body, WAMMA.

This Saturday night, June 7, WBC super welterweight champion Vernon Forrest (40-2, 29 KOs) will defend his title against Sergio Mora (20-0-1, 5 KOs) from “The Contender” series. This fight takes place at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., and will be shown in the U.S. on Showtime. We spoke with Vernon Forrest Thursday afternoon at a New York news conference about this fight and what to expect in it.

Also this busy weekend, the 2008 World Jiu-Jitsu Championships, better known as the Mundials, take place beginning Thursday, June 5, and running through Sunday, June 8, at the Walter Pyramid on the campus of California State University Long Beach in Long Beach, California. This event is organized by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation.

To preview the Mundials, we spoke with our colleague Kid Peligro, a senior editor of the ADCC News and a correspondent on our show. In a lengthy discussion, Kid offered his picks for the favorites in the weight classes in the men’s and women’s black belt divisions, as well as the absolutes. We also discussed the critical role of grappling in the mixed martial arts.

The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called “The Heist”, by musician Ian Carpenter.

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

IFL, the International Fight League, the world’s first professional mixed martial arts league. Make sure to check out their regular TV shows on FSN (Fox Sports Net) in the U.S. and to check your local listings for dates and times. Check out the IFL web site, ifl.tv, for a listing of IFL live events and their TV schedule.

Gladiator Challenge, shaking up the mixed martial arts world since 1999, and now with 30 shows per year. For more news and info, check out their web site, GladiatorChallenge.com.

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

Gladiator Magazine, for in-depth coverage of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, submission grappling, and MMA, as well as lifestyle articles on surfing, cars, movies, and more. Gladiator Magazine is available at any major bookstore and online at BJJMart.com or Jiu Jitsu Pro Gear.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

Thanks, Eddie Goldman

No Holds Barred blog

No Holds Barred podcast

The Boxing Standard

No Holds Barred on MySpace

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman begins by discussing the changed business climate for mixed martial arts following the ratings success of last Saturday’s EliteXC show on CBS.

In light of this, we covered the news conference Thursday in New York, where it was announced that the Affliction mixed martial arts promotion and real estate mogul Donald Trump had entered into a partnership, with Trump buying an equity stake in Affliction. The inaugural Affliction show takes place Saturday, July 19, at the Honda Center in Anaheim, California, and will be shown in the U.S. on pay-per-view.

We got a brief comment from Trump about why he chose to invest in Affliction, and spoke with Tom Atencio, vice president of Affliction, about the company’s business plans, as well as their intention of creating unified MMA championships by working with the new sanctioning body, WAMMA.

This Saturday night, June 7, WBC super welterweight champion Vernon Forrest (40-2, 29 KOs) will defend his title against Sergio Mora (20-0-1, 5 KOs) from “The Contender” series. This fight takes place at the Mohegan Sun in Uncasville, Conn., and will be shown in the U.S. on Showtime. We spoke with Vernon Forrest Thursday afternoon at a New York news conference about this fight and what to expect in it.

Also this busy weekend, the 2008 World Jiu-Jitsu Championships, better known as the Mundials, take place beginning Thursday, June 5, and running through Sunday, June 8, at the Walter Pyramid on the campus of California State University Long Beach in Long Beach, California. This event is organized by the International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Federation.

To preview the Mundials, we spoke with our colleague Kid Peligro, a senior editor of the ADCC News and a correspondent on our show. In a lengthy discussion, Kid offered his picks for the favorites in the weight classes in the men’s and women’s black belt divisions, as well as the absolutes. We also discussed the critical role of grappling in the mixed martial arts.

The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called “The Heist”, by musician Ian Carpenter.

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

IFL, the International Fight League, the world’s first professional mixed martial arts league. Make sure to check out their regular TV shows on FSN (Fox Sports Net) in the U.S. and to check your local listings for dates and times. Check out the IFL web site, ifl.tv, for a listing of IFL live events and their TV schedule.

Gladiator Challenge, shaking up the mixed martial arts world since 1999, and now with 30 shows per year. For more news and info, check out their web site, GladiatorChallenge.com.

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

Gladiator Magazine, for in-depth coverage of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, submission grappling, and MMA, as well as lifestyle articles on surfing, cars, movies, and more. Gladiator Magazine is available at any major bookstore and online at BJJMart.com or Jiu Jitsu Pro Gear.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

Thanks, Eddie Goldman

No Holds Barred blog

No Holds Barred podcast

The Boxing Standard

No Holds Barred on MySpace

(L-R) Simon “Super Kong Rubber Tube” Roberts, Antoni Hardonk, Dean T, “Little” Dean McKelvie, Henry Akins, Me, Ian “Monkey” Monkton. Behind the Camera: “Big” Dean Barthelemy – thanks mate

Update 8 June 08 – Antoni won his fight in Round 2 with a sweet right hook – congratulations!!

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman reviews the CBS and EliteXC Saturday Night Fights card, which took place Saturday, May 31, at the Prudential Center in Newark, New Jersey, and was shown live in the U.S. on CBS.

We continue our discussion of the Pygmalion-like story of Kimbo Slice, examining its next chapter, his third-round TKO over James Thompson in the main event on this card.

We discuss the positive and negative aspects of this show, including the belittling of the role of grappling in mixed martial arts.

We conducted several interviews right after the show. We spoke with former UFC heavyweight and Pride Grand Prix champion Mark Coleman, who seconded Phil Baroni and Carlton Haselrig, about those fights, as well as his own return to fighting.

We spoke with middleweight Joey Villasenor, who scored a first-round TKO over Phil Baroni.

We spoke with unbeaten heavyweight Brett Rogers, who scored a first-round TKO over Jon Murphy.

And we got a brief comment from former UFC heavyweight champion and King of Pancrase Bas Rutten, who trains Kimbo Slice.

The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called “The Heist”, by musician Ian Carpenter.

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

IFL, the International Fight League, the world’s first professional mixed martial arts league. Make sure to check out their regular TV shows on FSN (Fox Sports Net) in the U.S. and to check your local listings for dates and times. Check out the IFL web site, ifl.tv, for a listing of IFL live events and their TV schedule.

Gladiator Challenge, shaking up the mixed martial arts world since 1999, and now with 30 shows per year. For more news and info, check out their web site, GladiatorChallenge.com.

BJJMart.com, your premier source for all Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu gear, videos, books, and much more.

Gladiator Magazine, for in-depth coverage of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, submission grappling, and MMA, as well as lifestyle articles on surfing, cars, movies, and more. Gladiator Magazine is available at any major bookstore and online at BJJMart.com or Jiu Jitsu Pro Gear.

FightBeat.com, for news, results, interviews, and free exclusive videos from the worlds of boxing and mixed martial arts.

Thanks, Eddie Goldman

No Holds Barred blog

No Holds Barred podcast

The Boxing Standard

No Holds Barred on MySpace