NWI Tuff

Last Updated on Monday, 04 January 2010 03:44 Monday, 04 January 2010 01:30

2010: It’s Gonna Be a Great Year!

by Joe “the Professor of MMA” Pawlus

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I want to take this opportunity to wish everyone a happy new year and to express my gratitude to all the folks who have taken time to read my column. I also want to thank our illustrious leader, Roly Martinez, for providing me with the copy space to write about what I consider to be the most entertaining and rapidly growing sport on the planet....mixed martial arts. Last but not least, I want to give a shout out to all the local fighters who have given their time, effort, and talent to a sport that is always physically and emotionally demanding, and rarely provides equal compensation for the commitmentrequired. These guys and girls are by far some of the most tale nted and exceptional athletes in the great world of sports. With that said, let’s take a look back at 2009

and see some of the exciting highlights that played out.

World Wide

Probably the biggest story of 2009 was the growing popularity and mind-boggling performances of the best pound-for-pound fighter on the planet, Anderson Silva.

Silva, a Brazilian born wrecking machine, stunned the fight world by accomplishing the unthinkable. While maintaining control of the UFC middleweight belt, he began his impressive domination of the UFC light heavyweight division and became one of the top contenders by destroying former light heavyweight champion Forrest Griffin.

Also on the world stage, Northwest Indiana’s own Miguel Torres elinquished his WEC bantamweight belt after defending it for nearly two years. Torres was considered unstoppable and has consistently been listed as one of the top ten fighters worldwide. Challenger Brian Bowles put on an impressive display and accomplished something no other MMA competitor has been able to do in the last ten years....he knocked out the East Chicago native and took his championship belt. This was only Miguel’s second loss in nearly fifty fights and the first time any opponent has been able to put him to sleep. For those of us who know Miguel, this loss has only served to wake the proverbial “sleeping dragon,” and most of us anxiously await Torres’ return to the cage where he is undoubtedly going to reek havoc in the WEC bantam weight division. Mark my words, he will take the belt back in startling fashion.

Northwest Indiana Local Fighters

So many exciting events have taken place on the local level it would be hard to mention them all. Here are a few of the major highlights.

Torres fight team members Anthony Gomez and Bill Johnson captured the light heavyweight pro and amateur Total Fight Challenge titles, respectively. Gomez has only had one loss in his six year fight career, and Johnson has yet to taste defeat. Corral Martial Arts member Jared “the Spider” McMahon’s five year domination of the local bantamweight and featherweight divisions finally came to an end during the 2009 summer installment of the Duneland Classic in Valparaiso. McMahon faced off against Uflacker Academy’s Yusup Saadulaev in a featherweight showdown. After knocking Saadulaev to the mat during the opening seconds of the fight, McMahon got caught in a leg lock where Saadulaev snapped McMahon’s tibia/fibia in half. McMahon has undergone surgery and therapy, and it will only be a matter of time before this hugely popular fighter returns to the MMA game. Duneland Vale Tudo’s bantamweight standout Eddie Wineland made his much anticipated return to the ranks of the WEC. Although he lost his return debut to experienced Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu fighter Rani Yahya, big things are expected from this young local fighter who previously held the WEC bantamweight belt.

Keep Your Eye on...

Here is a list of fighters to keep your eye on in 2010. These are some of the best fighters from the area and will undoubtedly be heading to bigger and better things in the near future: Anthony Gomez, Josh Shockley, DeRay Davis, Yusup Saadulaev, Joey Benoit, Bill Johnson, Eric Oria, Scott and Mike Sands, Darrin Elkins, Lloyd Carter, Ryan Storey, Mike Welch, Christian Uflacker, Martin Jiminez. This is in no way a complete list, just fifteen of the top standouts from in and around Northwest Indiana.

Last Word

The last thing I would like to do is thank my family, Nicole and Lilly. Without the love and support of my girls, I wouldn’t be able to do what I love to do. Also, a prayer and word of gratitude to our dearly departed brother, Bobby K. He was taken from us before his time. I never would have connected with The Northwest Indiana Entertainer without him. Good looking out, and we know you are in a better place. Goytia made the switch to Bruce Lee’s art form Jeet Kune Do at the age of fourteen. By the age of seventeen, he joined the Marine Corps stationed at Camp Pendleton, California. Goytia was sent over to Japan in 1983 and ‘84. The Marine Corps was a perfect transition for a young man studying martial arts because Goytia became the 1984 - ‘85 Pendleton Camp kickboxing champion.

“I left the Marines at age 21, opened my first school, and have been at it ever since,” Goytia recalls fondly. Luckily, for the fight community, Goytia made a fortuitous decision by pursuing his passion and has produced the best local MMA promotion around. The Total Fight Challenge has proved to be the breeding ground for some of the best fighters on the planet...literally: Jason Chambers (History Channel’s Human Weapon), Clay Guida, Gideon Ray, and Stephan Bonnar (all UFC contenders), Matt Hughes (former eight time UFC welterweight champion), and Miguel Torres (former WEC bantamweight champion and top WEC contender). All of these guys made appearances at the Total Fight Challenge on their way to the “big show.” “I hope the TFC will grow and we can give the people a show they want to see,” Goytia stated modestly. “We want to have great matchups, avoid the mismatches that make for poor fights.”

So far, so good. The TFC hosts a constant stream of talented young fighters, all of whom have the potential to go to the next level. A lot of promotions focus on their production level and often make the actual fight card a secondary priority. There is no such risk with the Total Fight Challenge.

The fights are always exciting and the match making is exceptional. Goytia has also developed a reputation for taking care of his fighters; another promoter characteristic that is not all that prevalent.  In other words, Goytia pays his fighters as much as he can.

The Total Fight Challenge has just finished their eighteenth installment and shows no sign of slowing down. Normally, the TFC promotion takes place about three or four times a year. Although the Hammond Civic Center is normally home to the TFC, the next show will change locations. Total Fight Challenge XIX will take place on Friday, January 29 at the Club Eagle Arena, 7600 S Cicero Avenue, across the street from Chicago’s Ford City Shopping Mall. The doors open at 6:30 and the show starts at 8:00 p.m. Go to totalfightchallenge.com to gather ticket information, or just to learn some background information about the TFC. If you have never been to the Total Fight Challenge, make sure to check it out.

This is one of the top promotions in the Chicagoland area, and fans never know when the next big name might be coming through.