The Blogboard Jungle

If your New Year’s resolution includes starting Brazilian Jiu-jitsu, Elite Sports Core gi might be what you need in 2024. When I started Brazilian Jiu-jitsu in 2005, there were only a few options out there. Atama, Howard Combat Kimonos, and Koral. Or, you could just use a Judo gi but the grips your opponent can get on you will have you being controlled a lot, which can diminish your goal to learn this fantastic martial art. Thankfully, the sport has grown so much since then and the options for training gear are now more plentiful and affordable. This is where Elite Sports comes in.  In August , Elite Sports sent me one of their gi’s to try out and review. They were cool about me telling them I would be honest about it and would need time to roll (train) in it and see how it washes, hangs, and handles heavy sessions of all the pushing, pulling, and grabbing a gi goes through. I’m happy to say, I was sold on the gi after wearing it and finally was able to give it an honest review: ...

We're excited to be working with Elite Sports and Born Tough to try out their products! We will come up with a review post once the product testing is done Keep an eye out for these updates. The first review will be on the following product: Some of the folks I train with have already been using these products and they seem to be holding up well for them. I'm looking forward to seeing it for myself.  Check them out here: https://www.elitesports.com/ collections/brazilian-jiu- jitsu-bjj-gis https://www.borntough.com/ collections/mens-workout- shorts Be sure to check the full review on our YouTube channel  and podcast once I get it on the mats.

Photo by Ravi Palwe on Unsplash I got to field test the Sony ZV-1 camera outside of just using it for streaming and let me tell you, this is a great camera for folks that want to get into video content. A few weeks ago I was back at my first event covering MMA since COVID-19 hit when I went to cover Bellator 282 for MyMMANews.com. After over 2 years of covering events remotely through ZOOM it was time to get back on the road. Not traveling left me with time to invest in equipment for covering events on the road.  Previously I used a Go PRO Hero 5 with a mic attachment, which worked well a while but had its limitations. Check out this interview with Valerie Loureda from 2019: During the two years of being stuck at home, I focused on what I could from there and decided since I was saving so much money from not going anywhere, I'd invest in better equipment. So, I got a stronger laptop to handle video content, and I picked up the Sony ZV-1. It was initially just to get a better...

BELLATOR MMA 264: Mousasi vs. Salter Main Card: Friday, August 13 – live on SHOWTIME 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT    Middleweight Title Bout: c-Gegard Mousasi (47-7-2) vs. #1-John Salter (18-4) Welterweight Bout: Andrey Koreshkov (23-4) vs. #10-Sabah Homasi (15-9) Bantamweight Bout: #3-Magomed Magomedov (18-1) vs. #4-Raufeon Stots (16-1) Heavyweight Bout: #7-Davion Franklin (3-0) vs. Everett Cummings (16-0, 1 NC) Middleweight Bout: Ty Gwerder (5-2) vs. Khadzhi Bestaev (10-4)   Preliminary Card: BELLATOR MMA YouTube Channel | SHOWTIME Sports YouTube Channel | Pluto TV 7:15 p.m. ET/4:15 p.m. PT   Women’s Featherweight Bout: Pam Sorenson (8-3) vs. Roberta Samad (5-1) Lightweight Bout: Justin Montalvo (2-0) vs. Kendly St Louis (3-4) 142-Pound Contract Weight Bout: Jeffrey Glossner (2-2) vs. Sebastian Ruiz (2-3) 195-Pound Contract Weight Bout: Orlando Mendoza (pro debut) vs. Jon McNeil (pro debut) Check out our MMA product recommendations thru our Amazon Affiliate link:

Bellator 257 Prelims are available on the Bellator MMA YouTube Channel (above) and the Showtime Sports YouTube Channel. Be sure and watch the main card on SHOWTIME, Bellator's new home! See the full bout listing below: BELLATOR MMA 257: Nemkov vs. Davis 2 Main Card: SHOWTIME 9 p.m. ET/6 p.m. PT    Light Heavyweight WGP Quarterfinal Bout: c-Vadim Nemkov (12-2) vs. #2-Phil Davis (22-5) Light Heavyweight WGP Quarterfinal Bout: #3-Corey Anderson (14-5) vs. Dovletdzhan Yagshimuradov (18-5-1) 175-Pound Contract Weight Bout: Paul Daley (16-1) vs.  #8-Sabah Homasi (15-8) Flyweight Bout: #7-Veta Arteaga (5-4) vs. Desiree Yanez (5-2)   Preliminary Card: BELLATOR MMA YouTube Channel | SHOWTIME Sports YouTube Channel | Pluto TV 6 p.m. ET/3 p.m. PT   Light Heavyweight Bout:#5-Julius Anglickas (9-1) vs. Gregory Milliard (12-5) Featherweight Bout: #1-Julia Budd (14-3) vs. Dayana Siilva (9-5) Heavyweight Bout: #7-Steve Mowry (8-0) vs. Shaun Asher (13-3-1) Welterweight Bout: Gra...

Bellator MMA returns Friday night and as part of their move to SHOWTIME, the entire card can be viewed for free on their YouTube channel and SHO.com. Watch the ceremonial weigh-ins here:

This is the press conference for UFC 245 : Kamaru Usman vs. Colby Covington. The two welterweights will face off for the final pay-per-view of 2019. Covington has been vocal about fighting Usman and on the eve before UFC 244, the press conference for the event will take place in Madison Square Garden. Oddly enough, Covington has said he wants U.S. President Donald Trump to attend his fight and it is said that Trump will attend UFC 244. It should make for an interesting weekend in New York City beginning at 5pm EST with this UFC 245 press conference.

UFC 244 has a main event in November and it's not for your traditional title. It is for the rights to say who is the "Baddest mother f**ker" in the UFC. The two contenders for the right to make such a claim will be having a press conference this evening. This is who will be in attendance: DANA WHITE, UFC president JORGE MASVIDAL, No. 3 ranked UFC welterweight contender NATE DIAZ, No. 6 ranked UFC welterweight contender Use code COAST 15 to get 15% off your CBD purchase with free shipping using our affiliate link

Karate Combat returns this weekend with Karate Combat: Evolution featuring their first title fight in a "secret location" according to their initial announcement . Luis "Pitbull" Rocha faces Edgar "The Bearslayer" Skrivers in the main event with other familiar names on the Karate Combat roster. See the announced matches in the featured image above and Karate Combat Evolution trailer below: Karate Combat Evolution airs this Saturday, 9/21 at 7pm EST. For the full Karate Combat experience, the event can be streamed at karate.com and its Android and iOS apps and Roku channel.  Distribution partners have included UFC Fight Pass, FITE, USA Today, YouTube, Twitch, Titan and Eleven Sports.

Photo: Mike Jackson/Legacy Fighting Alliance LFA 73 was in Dallas, Texas last weekend and the highlights of the event are available here if you missed it. The co-main event featured Hailey Cowan who is sure to have picked up a lot of attention after her win over Jessica Middleton. Middleton was Cowan's biggest test to date and picking up a win over Middleton shows that MMA will likely have a new star in Cowan. The main event featured a 25-second knock-out when Austin Lingo knocked out  Solo Hatley Jr. in the first round. You can see the full highlight reel below:

The second event of 2019, PFL 2 is underway this Thursday at Nassau Coliseum. The fights start at 7pm EST on ESPN 2, then moves to ESPN + at 9pm EST. Check out the weigh-ins here for PFL 2 before the fights happen tomorrow night.

The final weigh-ins for UFC 235 happen tonight and if the card holds together, Jon Jones will make a quick return to the cage ready to defend his title against Anthony "Lionheart" Smith. Also, a welterweight title fight between Tyron Woodley and Kamaru Usman serves as the co-main event along with Ben Askren finally making his UFC debut against former champion, Robbie Lawler. If you would like to hear a preview of the main card please listen to this week's Coast-2-Coast Combat Hour where we make our picks of the fights with the help of welterweight Fernando Gonzalez who fights at CXF 17, in southern California March 9. If you are ordering the pay-per-view this weekend you can do so through our Amazon Prime Video link below:

First pay-per-view of 2019 has the middleweight title on the line. Champion Robert Whittaker faces challenger Kelvin Gastelum with the winner of that fight likely facing the winner of the co-main event. The pre-fight press conference can be seen here, live from Australia and if you would like to order the event you can do so on Amazon Prime Video by using the order banner below.

Photo: Amy Kaplan/Legacy Fighting Alliance LFA 59 as always brought a string of finished on AXS TV Friday night, if you missed any of the fights check out the highlights and results below:

It looks like no time is being wasted with Jon Jones back in action. His scheduled main event bout at UFC 235 on March 9 against Anthony "Lion Heart" Smith is coming soon and the UFC will have the press conference today live from Las Vegas and you can catch it here:

If you haven't heard, there's one more pay-per-view left in 2018 for the UFC. UFC 232 will be the final one of 2018 for the promotion and with the last minute location change, hopefully, no fights are lost. With that being said, check out the predictions from the latest, Coast-2-Coast Combat Hour where they made their picks before the holiday. Co-host Matt Hawkins will be at the event Saturday and Ed will be at the Professional Fighters League New Year's Eve championship Monday so this is a busy weekend for the team here. If you plan on catching UFC 232 and ordering it at home you can do so via our affiliate link on Amazon Prime by using the "buy now" tab below:

Does UFC 232 seem underpromoted to you? It does to us and it was something we discussed on this week's Coast-2-Coast Combat Hour    because the event is ten-days away and it seems like something fight fans should be talking about, but that isn't really happening. Jon Jones vs. Alexander Gustafsson 2 is a great fight considering it one that Jones has said it was one of his toughest matches. The co-main event included the long anticipated match between Cris "Cyborg" Justino and Amanda Nunes, a champ versus champ bout that should absolutely make the winner one of the greatest female fighters to ever compete in the sport. Maybe we're too far away from it to start buzzing? Or, maybe December has had so many combat sports event we could be all fought out? That weekend will be the last one of 2018 and there are two, New Year's Eve combat sports events going on right after UFC 232. Here in the U.S. we have the championship fights for the PFL 2018 season in New...

The official weigh-ins for UFC 231 went down this morning and results can be seen over at MMA News but the ceremonial weigh-ins will go underway this evening and you can catch them here. The good news is that with all the worry over Max Holloway, he made it to the scale fine. Let's hope he stays that way so he can face Brian Ortega in what is probably the best featherweight match up the UFC has had in a while. The other fight that should have hardcore fans excited is the flyweight title fight between Valentina Shevchenko vs. Joanna Jedrzejczyk. Shevchenko holds wins over Jedrzejczyk in kickboxing so the matchup should be interesting to see and it is harder to call. If you want to check out our breakdown, listen to this week's episode of Coast-2-Coast Combat Hour where we had one of our supporters come on and break down the event with us.

The featherweight title is on the line Saturday night and a flyweight champion will be crowned in the women's flyweight division. See the final press conference here before UFC 231 happens on pay-per-view from Toronto this weekend. If you want to hear some predictions on the main card, check out this week's Coast-2Coast Combat Hour for a break down of each of the fights on the pay-per-view portion. To order the event on Amazon Prime please use the link below: