This week’s news of the passing of four-division champion Alexis Arguello has hit the boxing world hard. For those who missed it, the Hall of Famer’s body was found early morning Wednesday in his hometown of Managua, Nicaragua. Reports from Associated Press describe the cause of death as a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the heart.

Eulogies have poured in from around the world. Barry McGuigan published one of the best today, “Let The Bells Ring in Honour of Alexis Arguello,” for Britain’s The Mirror. A former world champion in his own right, McGuigan describes “El Flaco Explosivo” (The Explosive Thin Man) as “the kind of fighter that I aspired to be but never quite made it…”

On the other side of the world, current pound-for-pound entrant Nonito Donaire of the Philippines describes his admiration for Arguello in this ESPN piece, both in and out of the ring. He intends to dedicate his title fight next month to Arguello’s memory.

You may have seen Arguello lauded not only for the precise punching which earned him 65 career knockouts, but for his charitable work in Latin America in Oscar De La Hoya’s “Oscar Night at the Fights” special on ESPN Classic. Arguello was in fact serving as mayor of Managua at the time of his death.

You may have seen the HBO Legendary Nights series (available online here) which chronicled Arguello’s classic bouts with Aaron Pryor. In addition to a long ring career, Arguello once fought in Nicaragua’s bloody civil wars of the 1980’s.

What you may not have known, and what is chronicled in this classic bit of sports writing from Gary Smith, is that the fights that raged inside Arguello were perhaps as brutal as either conflict.

Comparisons have been made in online blogs comparing Arguello to Donaire’s countryman Manny Pacquaio, who is rumored to be leaving boxing behind to pursue his country’s highest office next year. It’s at once flattering and painful. Pacquiao is a similar virtuoso of the ring and a great hero to a struggling country. He also looks to enter an ugly political world laden with corruption, with little in the way of education and much in the way of hangers-on.

I hope he reconsiders.

But hopefully, the comparisons between the two will end in the ring, which is where I prefer to remember Arguello. He may have eventually lost the battle to his demons, but in film he remains a great champion whose fighting spirit and precise technical style will never be forgotten. Descanse en paz, Flaco Explosivo.

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Pictured: Attendees of Royler Gracie’s Fife, WA seminar last Saturday

There have been many legendary champions in the world of jiu-jitsu, but it may be difficult to find anyone who can match the achievements of Royler Gracie.

He’s well known as a veteran of Mixed Martial Arts competition, where he & his brothers Royce & Rickson helped make the Gracie name known worldwide; the sport where Royler’s father Helio helped establish his family’s dominance a generation ago. But it’s in pure grappling competition where Royler has really shined: a four time world champion at black belt in the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu World Championships, and a three time winner of the Abu Dhabi Submission Wrestling World Championships. Last Saturday, the legend enjoyed a huge turnout at a BJJ seminar in Fife, Washington; where he was hosted by Carlson Gracie black belt Marcelo Alonso.

It was a rare treat for all involved, perhaps including the legend himself; as in his thick Brazilian accent, Royler encourages the seminar’s attendees to ask questions near the seminar’s conclusion: “Guys, I learn a lot from my brothers and I learn a lot from my father. But I learn most from my students. When they ask me something, I have to know. If they ask and I don’t know, I know I have to learn. And I learn new jiu-jitsu every day!”

Pictured: Royler Gracie (left) and Marcelo Alonso

After the seminar, the youthful 43-year-old remains energetic. “This is my first time here,” he mentions. “Hopefully not my last! It’s great to see jiu-jitsu grow. Marcelo is doing a great job here.”

Royler would know, as he’s seen it all in the jiu-jitsu world. This 2009 coast-to-coast seminar tour has taken him from his new home in California to schools all over the US and Canada in recent months. He brings not only his own experiences, but also those of his family which has been so integral to the development of grappling in martial arts. But unsurprisingly, it’s when he’s describing his grappling competition past that he gets most excited. When the BJJ World Championships were first established in 1996, Royler Gracie became perhaps its brightest star.

“I learned how to compete then,” he recalls. “I fight hard and made the crowd be on my side. I made the referee be on my side! That’s how you learn. You can bring this to your life. I see this every day, (jiu-jitsu) gives everyone lots of confidence.”

This benefit of jiu-jitsu training is well known, but the example which Royler uses to illustrate the point comes as a surprise.

“Maybe the confidence to say I’m sorry,” he says. “If you aren’t able to say ‘I’m sorry,’ you aren’t going to make it in the world.”

Royler describes his favorite achievement as his fourth win in the World Championships in 1999. “I got sick a few days before. I didn’t let anyone know. I play!” He remembers with a laugh.

He sees a huge potential in the future of his beloved jiu-jitsu competition, along with some huge sources of frustration.

“Jiu-jitsu still has a lot of evolution to go. America has had a lot of contribution to that. I think jiu-jitsu will grow more than MMA in the next few years. More popular.”

According to Royler, the ability to participate in the sport is key to this. “In jiu-jitsu you can train from from age seven to seventy, no problem. MMA, what? Seventeen, to forty?” he grins widely.

But asked about this month’s BJJ worlds in California, where he now resides, his demeanor changes, and he simply says, “I don’t enjoy.”

“Too tight,” he describes the action. “Good guys just clinch and hold each other. Too much stalling; the referees are confused. It’s time to change rules.”

His team, Gracie Humaita, won the women’s division for the third year in a row at the 2009 Worlds, but they weren’t as successful in men’s division this time. Royler describes 2009 as a year to rebuild. “We got some guys coming up. It takes time. We used to control the game. But it’s a new time.”

In an interview for Fightworks Podcast last year, Gracie considered returning to competition at this year’s Abu Dhabi Championships, and possibly even scheduling another MMA bout. But now when asked about his future, Royler confesses, “I think my time for competition has passed, man.”

“I made a good contribution,” he explains. “But I don’t have a sponsor now, and you need to spend a month, month and a half training. And if you don’t win, it’s no money. I (also) wanted another NHB fight, but with the economy now, they don’t pay like they used to. I don’t just want to be on TV, I want to make some good money. I guarantee you every time you saw me fight, I got paid. So I’m not retired yet, but I’m close.”

Asked about Diego Sanchez’ recent success in the UFC after beginning training under Royler Gracie disciple Saulo Ribeiro, Royler says, “Yeah, he’s with us now. Tough kid, trains hard. You’ve got to train hard!”

Sanchez is donning a jiu-jitsu gi in his training for the first time, and is seeing improvements in his groundwork.

“Yeah, you have to learn the gi,” Royler explains. “I always prefer the gi. It’s in the details. More slow, technical game. Then they take the gi off and it’s like they’re taking flight! I hope he gets a title shot soon.”

But however the cards fall, Royler Gracie seems undeterred in his love for the art. “You got to have fun, man. You got to live the life!”

There’s a new seminar a few days away; bringing more chances for the legend to learn, and to learn from the legend.

Pictured: Tommy Hackett (left) & Royler Gracie

Total-MMA would like to say thanks to Marcelo Alonso for making this interview possible. Please visit MABJJ.com for more information about his academies in the Seattle area.

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There have been a ton of autobiographies from MMA champions released in the last year or so. Here at Total-MMA we have reviewed releases from legendary champions (and controversial figures) like Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, Matt Hughes, and my favorite of the bunch, Chuck Liddell. Forrest Griffin, a good-but-not-legendary-fighter who has avoided any controversy in his career, may strike you an odd choice to offer a worthy addition to that MMA library. You’d be right on all counts: his “Got Fight?” which was released by HarperCollins a few months ago, is a worthy addition, and… it’s a pretty odd one.

Subtitled “The 50 Zen Principles of Hand-to-Face Combat,” Griffin loosely follows a self help theme here, including lots of funny anecdotes about his life in and out of MMA and some good advice for the would-be fighter. But “Got Fight?” never feels anything like instructional. Actually, it mostly recalls a few hours at an old and off-color dive bar with an old and off-color friend. (You may have friends like Forrest Griffin, although I’m not sure you want more than one. He’s the one that is featured in all those stories of yours that begin with the words, “do you remember that time…?”)

So in reading “Got Fight?”, you sit at the bar with Griffin, and a few beers later he’s giving you his definition of manhood, including a multiple choice test with point totals. (You must pass in order to read the rest of the book.) Then by beer four, he tells a truly uproarous story or two. Right before closing time, he’s moved a couple of tables aside and is demonstrating his deadliest moves; from an omoplata to his defense to sword attacks. (As an aside, a guy I knew in high school recently released the excellent “Seattle’s Best Dive Bars: Drinking & Diving in the Emerald City” if you want a good locale for this. Nice work, Mike!)

In Griffin’s own words, the self-help stylings of “Got Fight?” are “more than likely to make you dumber,” and maybe he’s right. At times, it’s profane and even reprehensible. But, it is consistently funny and when you think about it, which may be dangerous here, Forrest’s basic premise to take on whatever you fear head-on is as good as any.

Is it worth buying? Sure. It doesn’t cost much more than the price of a pitcher of beer these days. “Got Fight?” is worth getting.

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What do you ask for from a regional MMA show?

Do you come to see a few good local prospects get a chance to step up in class? Are you hoping to see a few veterans hungry to get back to the big stage? Maybe… just a good, competive fight or three?

The last Strikeforce show in the Seattle area failed to deliver on these hopes more often than not, as I reported for Total-MMA last year. That night, the co-main events fizzled out quickly, and a undercard heavy on local talent mostly underwhelmed the Tacoma crowd and HDTV audience.

But last night at the ShoWare Center in Kent, Strikeforce washed away any memories of that night as this edition of their new “Strikeforce: Challengers” Showtime series provided solid bell to bell action all night long. Inspired performances from Joey Villasenor and Tim Kennedy led the way, both of whom marked their return from recent inactivity with solid wins.

In the main event, it was a superior workrate which carried Joey Villasenor past the noticably bigger Evangelista “Cyborg” Santos in their middleweight bout. The Greg Jackson-trained slugger absorbed some strong leg kicks from Chute Boxe’s Santos, but controlled most of the fights standup as well as its brief ground sequences. His eventual split decision win marked Villasenor’s first since knocking out Phil Baroni in EliteXC last May. In a post-fight interview, Villasenor boasted that he had Strikeforce champion Cung Le “shaking in his boots;” but while his heart is unquestioned, Villasenor’s technique may not be up to the challenge.

Similarly, a year and a half had passed since US Army Special Forces sniper Tim Kennedy had graced an MMA ring. His second round victory over Nick Thompson by submission to strikes would be celebrated by a huge following of supporters from nearby Fort Lewis. Thompson appeared overwhelmed as Kennedy earned takedowns, superior positioning, and finally victory via a series of punches in back control.

One of the night’s better bouts saw rising star (and Victoria, BC native) Sarah Kaufman earn a unanimous decision victory over Shayna Baszler, in the first ever Strikeforce womens bout to be contested with five minute rounds. In contrast to Villasenor and Kennedy, Kaufmann entered the Showare Center just a month removed from her victory over Miesha Tate. Baszler hit the best takedown of the night, a beautiful outside sweep to drop Kaufman to the mat in round one, but failed to capitalize. After a shaky start, Kaufman recovered to outbox the Josh Barnett protégé over the remainder of the bout.

Both veterans of bigger shows, Jorge Gurgel and Conor Huen delighted the crowd by neglecting their jiu-jitsu roots to engage in a three round standup war in their 160 lb catchweight bout, but there was an air of disappointment as neither fought to their true potential. The eventual winner by unanimous decision, Gurgel described the bout as “everything I ever wanted,” but it would have better for this observer to see the Marcus Auerelio black belt go hold-for-hold, rather than toe-to-toe, against the much different approach of Huen’s 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu. Still, the pace both fighters kept was commendable.

Full results:

Steve Hadsel d. Taylor Roberts KO (punches) in round one (0:17)

Len Bentley d. Marques Daniels by unanimous decision (one judge scored the bout 30-27 but the others got it right, 29-28; a good action bout)

Landon Showalter d. George Stork by unanimous decision (this was a strong display of clinchwork by the Arlington Kickboxing Academy fighter who won all three rounds)

Lyle Beerbohm d. Duane Ludwig by submission at 04:27 of round one (the finish came via a “bulldog choke,” similar to the way Carlos Newton beat Pat Miletich. Spokane’s Beerbohm has excellent takedowns and top control, but he took this, a terrible style match for Muay Thai standout Ludwig, in a scramble)

Brian Caraway d. Alex Zuniga by unanimous decision (this was a ground and standing clinic for Caraway)

Dennis Hallman d. Justin Davis by submission (rear choke) in 0:20 of round one (not much to be said here but respect is owed Davis for showing up on a day’s notice)

Luke Rockhold d. Cory Devela by submission (rear choke) in 0:30 of round one (Another prospect from American Kickboxing Academy, Rockhold stunned the local with a right hand, then capitalized quickly)

Sarah Kaufman d. Shayna Baszler by unanimous decision

Jorge Gurgel d. Conor Heun by unanimous decision

Tim Kennedy d. Nick Thompson by submission (punches) in 02:32 of round two

Joey Villasenor d. Evangelista Santos by split decision

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June 19, 2009: We are proud to announce the launch of the Independent World MMA Rankings. Some of the best and most knowledgeable MMA writers from across the MMA media landscape have come together to form one independent voting panel.

These voting panel members are, in alphabetical order: Zach Arnold (FightOpinion); Nicholas Bailey (MMA Ratings); Jared Barnes (Houston Chronicle); Jordan Breen (Sherdog); Jim Genia (Full Contact Fighter, MMA Memories, and MMA Journalist Blog); Jesse Holland (MMA Mania); Robert Joyner (MMA Payout); Todd Martin (CBS Sportsline); Zac Robinson (Sports by the Numbers MMA; Michael David Smith (AOL Fanhouse); Jonathan Snowden (Author of “Total MMA: Inside Ultimate Fighting”); Joshua Stein (MMA Opinion), Ivan Trembow (Freelance); and Dave Walsh (Total MMA).

These rankings are independent of any single MMA media outlet or sanctioning body, and are published on multiple web sites.

The rankings are tabulated on a monthly basis in each of the top seven weight classes of MMA, from heavyweight to bantamweight, with fighters receiving ten points for a first-place vote, nine points for a second-place vote, and so on.

The rankings are based purely on the votes of the members of the voting panel, with nobody’s vote counting more than anybody else’s vote, and no computerized voting.

The voters are instructed to vote primarily based on fighters’ actual accomplishments in the cage/ring (the quality of opposition that they’ve actually beaten), not based on a broad, subjective perception of which fighters would theoretically win fantasy match-ups.

Special thanks to Eric Kamander, Zach Arnold, and Joshua Stein for their invaluable help with this project, and special thanks to Garrett Bailey for designing our logo.

Inactivity: Fighters who have not fought in the past 12 months are not eligible to be ranked, and will regain their eligibility the next time they fight.

Disciplinary Suspensions: Fighters who are currently serving disciplinary suspensions are not eligible to be ranked.

Changing Weight Classes: When a fighter announces that he is leaving one weight class in order to fight in another weight class, the fighter is not eligible to be ranked in the new weight class until he has his first fight in the new weight class.

Catch Weight Fights: When fights are contested at weights that are in between the limits of the various weight classes, they are considered to be in the higher weight class. The weight limits for each weight class are listed at the top of the rankings for each weight class.

June 2009 Independent World MMA Rankings

Heavyweight Rankings (206 to 265 lbs.)

1. Fedor Emelianenko (30-1, 1 No Contest)

2. Frank Mir (12-3)

3. Josh Barnett (24-5)

4. Brock Lesnar (3-1)

5. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira (31-5-1, 1 No Contest)

6. Randy Couture (16-9)

7. Alistair Overeem (29-11, 1 No Contest)

8. Shane Carwin (11-0)

9. Brett Rogers (10-0)

10. Andrei Arlovski (15-7)

Light Heavyweight Rankings (186 to 205 lbs.)

1. Lyoto Machida (15-0)

2. Rashad Evans (13-1-1)

3. Quinton Jackson (30-7)

4. Forrest Griffin (16-5)

5. Mauricio “Shogun” Rua (18-3)

6. Rich Franklin (25-4, 1 No Contest)

7. Keith Jardine (14-5-1)

8. Dan Henderson (24-7)

9. Renato “Babalu” Sobral (32-8)

10. Antonio Rogerio Nogueira (17-3)

Middleweight Rankings (171 to 185 lbs.)

1. Anderson Silva (24-4)

2. Yushin Okami 23-4)

3. Nathan Marquardt (28-8-2)

4. Demian Maia (10-0)

5. Dan Henderson (24-7)

6. Jorge Santiago (21-7)

7. Gegard Mousasi (25-2-1)

8. Robbie Lawler (16-5, 1 No Contest)

9. Vitor Belfort (18-8)

10. Thales Leites (14-2)

Welterweight Rankings (156 to 170 lbs.)

1. Georges St. Pierre (18-2)

2. Thiago Alves (16-3)

3. Jon Fitch (18-3, 1 No Contest)

4. Jake Shields (23-4-1)

5. Matt Hughes (43-7)

6. Josh Koscheck (12-4)

7. Martin Kampmann (15-2)

8. Mike Swick (14-2)

9. Carlos Condit (22-5)

10. Paulo Thiago (11-0)

Lightweight Rankings (146 to 155 lbs.)

1. B.J. Penn (13-5-1)

2. Kenny Florian (11-3)

3. Shinya Aoki (20-4, 1 No Contest)

4. Eddie Alvarez (17-2)

5. Joachim Hansen (19-7-1)

6. Tatsuya Kawajiri (24-5-2)

7. Frankie Edgar (10-1)

8. Josh Thomson (16-2)

9. Satoru Kitaoka (25-8-9)

10. Gray Maynard (7-0, 1 No Contest)

Featherweight Rankings (136 to 145 lbs.)

1. Mike Brown (22-4)

2. Urijah Faber (22-3)

3. Wagnney Fabiano (12-1)

4. Jose Aldo (15-1)

5. Hatsu Hioki (19-3-2)

6. Leonard Garcia (12-4)

7. “Lion” Takeshi Inoue (16-3)

8. Norifumi “Kid” Yamamoto (17-2)

9. Dokonjonosuke Mishima (19-6-2)

10. Raphael Assuncao (13-1)

Bantamweight Rankings (126 to 135 lbs.)

1. Miguel Torres (37-1)

2. Brian Bowles (7-0)

3. Takeya Mizugaki (11-3-2)

4. Masakatsu Ueda (9-0-2)

5. Joseph Benavidez (10-0)

6. Akitoshi Tamura (14-7-2)

7. Will Ribeiro (10-2)

8. Rani Yahya (14-4)

9. Damacio Page (11-4)

10. Manny Tapia (10-2-1)

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Alan Conceicao and I discuss UFC 99 and how the biggest winner of all might have been Mirko Cro Cop.

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What Misawa did for a living was fake fight, essentially. He went out and put on a show that was based loosely on the world of combat. Part showman, part athlete, part fighter and part idiot is how you can explain most people who choose to do what Misawa did for a living. Misawa helped pioneer, along with his peers in All Japan and later Pro Wrestling NOAH a dangerous, high-risk, blurred-reality version of pro wrestling. While still staged, the name of the game was one-up-man-ship and “fighting spirit.” This wasn’t new to Japan, but the way that they went about it was different. Instead of using legitimate strikes and submission holds like wrestlers like Inoki, Maeda and Takada, they opted to toss each other on their head and necks repeatedly to get the crowd excited. Instead of the occasional high risk move where one of the wrestlers lands on their head, matches broke down to what at times felt like an endless cycle of being planted directly on their heads.

It came about during a time when this “real fighting” stuff (the stuff this site is about) was starting to gain steam across the world and leave wrestling behind like the fad that it was. To keep the fans’ fickle interest, wrestlers had to prove how tough they are. What needs to be said and why this is important is that Mitsuharu Misawa was not only the posterboy for this style, but one of the innovators of this style, and this style essentially murdered him while performing. Think about that. Thousands of wrestlers have been inspired by Misawa and his style and adopted it as their own, fighting through the pain and injuries because that was what the fans wanted. The rude awakening is this; it is incredibly dangerous.

So what exactly is the relation to MMA, boxing, kickboxing and other sports? If anything, while they are real and often frowned upon by conservative politicians and members of the media, it cannot be stressed enough how much the State Athletic Commissions involvement in the United States and any other promotion around the world that looks out for their fighters’ safety does. Misawa would work grueling “tours” in Japan, where night after night he would at least suffer trauma to his spine, neck and head, if not worse. In pro wrestling, suffering a concussion and continuing on is all a part of the show. Be it that very show where you suffer it or the next night or the night after, your injury happened and you simply keep going and doing the same thing.

As we’ve seen lately, being a real fighter in the United States means if you suffer a concussion or anything near it, you will not see the inside of a ring until you have received medical clearance or serve a suspension term. Both Andrei Arlovski and Tim Sylvia have had future fights ruined for them after suffering knockout losses in their respective fights. If a fighter is on a medical suspension and decides to compete somewhere that does not honor the suspension, they can face fines and having their license to fight in the United States revoked. Suffering an injury if you are a fighter is very, very serious.

Even in Japan, where things have seemed to be more grey and fuzzy there have been some strides to protect fighters. When DJ Taiki suffered an eye injury, he was replaced and won’t fight until much later when he has healed. Those dangerous soccer kicks and knees that fans loved in PRIDE you won’t see all too often anymore, and if you do, well, you see a fight either end in a no contest or a disqualification.

These protections simply do not exist for pro wrestling, while companies like WWE have some policies in place, suffering a concussion does not mean you won’t perform the next night. In Japan it really seems like there are no real policies towards it, the same can be said for smaller promotions across the United States and other countries. It is just a show, so it must go on, right?

There are a lot of important lessons to be learned from this, but the real question is, will anybody actually pay attention to it, or will they think dropping each other on their heads is a fitting tribute?

I think a lot of MMA fighters should be thankful that there are people looking out for their well-being in an attempt to prevent situations like this from happening.

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It is 2009 now and things have changed. Andrei seems to be done with his mighty Affliction deal involving upwards of 7 figures for him to step into the ring (if you think most guys were locked into three fights, he had two Affliction bouts and an EliteXC paid-for-by-Affliction fight) and seems to be testing the waters with Strikeforce. The only problem is, after an impressive post-Tim Sylvia win streak, he has two losses in a row. One to easily the best Heavyweight in the history of the sport after a great effort, Fedor, the other to, well, Brett Rogers.

I am not attempting to take anything away from Rogers, because Rogers did as he probably planned to and he won. The thing is, Rogers has never shown anything other than his ability to smash somebody in the face with his fists, which is exactly what he did to Andrei. It is hard to say if Rogers is actually a good fighter or not because we don’t know what he looks like in later rounds and we don’t know what he looks like against a top fighter who is ready to fight. Andrei was not ready to fight.

Andrei not being ready to fight is not Rogers fault, it is clearly Andrei’s, and it has cost him a lot. His boxing debut which was weeks away has been postponed due to his medical suspension for being knocked out, and it isn’t clear what or who he could fight in MMA at this point. The heavyweight scene outside of the UFC right now is very grim, while UFC’s is rather bright. Outside of the UFC he did everything he could possibly do, which was fight 3 emerging challengers in Rothwell, Nelson and Rogers, and fighting the best in the world. The only fights he really has left are a rematch with Rogers and a match with Barnett.

I want to see the Pitbull of old, I want to see Andrei have another run at the top, but I’m just not sure he has it in him anymore.

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