We're Back With Another LineStar Weekly Knockout!

Written by LineStar contributor, combat sports enthusiast, and practitioner, Chris Guy. More about me at the end of this newsletter.

Instagram: @therealsethgeko

Twitter: @DadHallOfFamer

They’re outside again. I hear them. That’s the worst part. The sounds they make. The groans, the growls, the hyena-like yipping, and yapping, it’s all too much. I’ve come face to face with them, and they’re not a pretty sight, but they’re no match for the machinations of my imagination. The vile, twisted images are there every time I close my eyes, Polaroid negatives burned into my mind, and I can’t wipe them away like soot-covered glass.

That’s not from lack of trying. In between boarding up every orifice in the house, I catch what I can of the fights. Then I’m off again to slay a few that have broken through. Stab them. Shoot them. It’s all the same, just a motion I go through now. I have plenty of boards. Well, enough to get me to the end of the fights, at least. So I hammer away and run back just in time for Paul Craig vs. Jamahal Hill.

It’s over before it even started. Hill inexplicably decided to play in Paul Craig’s guard even after narrowly escaping a shoulder crank/armbar attempt. The second time… Lady Luck must have been on her state-mandated ten-minute break. Hill’s arm was dislocated and flapping around, tapping with a mind of its own. But apparently, the ref thought Hill was hailing a cab as Craig blasted away with elbows to a helpless Jamahal Hill’s head. That had to be a dark place. But I don’t feel sorry for Jamahal. I have my own problems. My own darkness.

I hear them upstairs. It’s a real pain when they get on the roof. I beat feet up there. Two are climbing through a window, struggling to squeeze through at the same time. Dummies. Another is tearing away the boards at the other window. This might take a while. It’s ok, though. I don’t mind missing Demian Maia vs. Belal Muhammad; I’ve never seen an exciting Maia fight anyways. Pop, pop, stab, stab, hammer, hammer, then I’m flying down the stairs again.

Nate Diaz already looks like one of the things outside, and he just touched gloves with Leon Edwards. Diaz doesn’t have the same pop in his punches anymore. He’s reaching for shots that used to land perfectly. I hear them in the basement. I guess this one is over anyways. I sigh and start to get up when Nate finally lands the left hand he has been looking for all night. Leon is rocked; he's doing the chicken two-step. There’s only a minute left. They’re in the basement. I can’t leave now. Why is Nate taunting Edwards and not pouncing on him? He’s running out of time. So am I. Damn. Nate almost pulled it off.

There are four in the basement. Good thing I keep the heavy artillery down there. The foundation is concrete, and the thick heavy pillars are perfect for providing cover while I sweep the flamethrower back and forth. The windows are at ground level; it’s awkward work boarding them up. Brandon Moreno has Figueiredo’s back when I get back to my laptop. Even though I probably won't survive through the night, I couldn’t help but drop an Andy Jackson on Moreno before the fight. When Figueiredo finally taps, I’m euphoric. Yeah, the scratch I won is nice, but I’m happier for Moreno. Ironically, one of the last fights I’ll ever see provided one of my all-time favorite moments.

It’s a little too quiet for a little too long. It’s the third round, and Israel Adesanya is completely dominating Marvin Vettori. Even on the ground. Adesanya has had no problem getting back to his feet and even reversed Vettori a couple of times and ended up on top. Vettoris lead leg looks necrotic. That seems to be the theme of the evening.

My heart drops. I kick it away. I won’t need it much longer anyway. It’s him. The leader. He’s outside. I can tell because the others get worked into a frenzy. They’re wild; they howl at the moon. Part demon, part grizzly bear, the leader leaves no doubt of his presence with an undulating, bassy growl. I’ve seen him before. He just watches from afar, never taking part. This time is different, though. I know what he wants. He’s looking for a fight. But I’m not stupid. I’m not going out there. But I know someone who will, and he’s only a text away…

Chang Sung Jung (-105 ) vs. Dan Ige (-115)

Zombie: DK: $8.2k, FD: $ | Ige: DK: $8k, FD: $

Dan Ige is a zombie killer. At least he hopes he will be on Saturday night. Ige is one of the few true any-time-any-place type of fighters. Since his debut in 2018, Ige has fought in the UFC noine times and has compiled an impressive 7-2 record. Ige has already fought the very best in the featherweight division, including Edson Barboza and Calvin Kattar. He beat Barboza (technically) but lost a five-round war to Kattar last year. This past March, Ige scored a twenty-two-second one-punch KO over the tough Gavin Tucker.

The man they call 50K is one of the best you’ll see at fighting defensively inside the pocket. Ige gets into technical firefights and lives to make documentaries about them. When exchanging in the pocket, Ige’s right hand never leaves his face, and he shortens his punches like a batter shortens his swing to make contact. Defensively, Ige is fundamentally sound and leaves few opportunities for the opponent to land big shots. Attention to detail is what sets people apart in all walks of life. For Ige, it’s what sets his striking apart from other fighters. He jabs off centerline, rolls off punches, steps off at angles, and tucks his chin when he throws power shots, anticipating counters.

Dan is deceptively quick, and because of that, he can cover distance with his power hand while hiding the lead hand behind it. The cross-hook combination (known as the 2-3) is a crafty way to sneak the lead hand around the guard because it deceptively brings the lead hand closer to the opponent as opposed to when you lead with it. Few fighters have the hand speed to do this and get away with using it as often as Ige does. Ige also attacks the body with combinations and mixes up head and body strikes mid-combination. When Dan dawns the yellow jersey and stays on his bike, constantly moving laterally, he’s at his best, finding angles to attack from instead of attacking repeatedly up the middle. 50K Ige will need all his tools against Chan Sung Jung, known to his horde of followers as the Korean Zombie.

In 2013 Chan Sung Jung fought Jose Aldo for the featherweight title. The Zombie lost the fight then lost several years of his career as he then had to complete his mandatory service in the Korean military and did not fight again until 2017.

Chan Sung Jung had some of the most underrated boxing in MMA. I say, “had” because Jung was a Hollywood Blvd street performer version of the Korean Zombie in his most recent bout against Brian Ortega. He displayed none of his trademark elusiveness and footwork in the pocket, no slipping and ripping, and no angled entries into the pocket. He got caught time after time, reaching for punches instead of using his hand speed and feet to close the distance. Instead, Jung over pursued and telegraphed his strikes by loading up and crow hopping into them. It’s a habit that has plagued him throughout his career, as he tends to run into big shots. He was KO’d at the literal last second by an Ong Bak ducking back elbow by Yair Rodriguez, and Ortega dropped him in the third round with a spinning back elbow that pretty much signaled the end of the fight.

When The Zombie is on his game, using subtle slips and counters and footwork, it looks like he’s standing in place shadowboxing in front of a mirror. But he’s actually creating slight angles and manipulating his opponent with short, choppy steps and slides.

Make a fist and look at it like you’re going to sock yourself. The width of your hand is as far as your head needs to move to avoid a punch. It’s not much. Often, you see big, exaggerated bobs and weaves that are effective for avoiding strikes but leave little opportunity to counter. Short, quick slips allow you to counter before your opponent moves or covers up. The Korean Zombie is a master at moving his head and feet just enough to avoid strikes and countering off the brief openings.

If the King Zombie Chan Sung Jung shows up this Saturday, we’re in for a treat, and this fight will be an absolute banger. If the King Zombie doesn’t show up, Dan Ige might roll up with the ray gun and walk right through Jung and put himself on the fringe of title contention. Both fighters have excellent outputs and should put up solid significant strike numbers, especially in a five-round fight. The Zombie is the historically better finisher, with fourteen of his sixteen career wins coming via stoppage, while Ige has noine stoppages in fifteen career wins. However, Dan Ige has never been finished in his career, while The Zombie has been stopped via TKO/KO three times. And all of them were brutal. The main event-winning streak now sits at noine. One away from double digits. On wax, Dan Ige via decision.

Winner: Dan Ige | Method: Decision

Aleksei Oleinik (+175 ) vs Serghei Spivac (-230)

Oleinik: DK: $7k, FD:$ | Spivac: DK:$9.2k, FD:$

Aleksei Oleinik is the epitome of a one-trick pony. That trick is the Ezekiel Choke. The Ezekiel is a rare choke, using one forearm across the throat while the other arm goes behind the head. With the hand threading behind the head, you reach around and grab the forearm of the arm across the throat. You then sink the blade of your arm into the throat to finish it. Google it; I did my best. Oleinik has fourteen career Ezekiel Choke submissions; that’s more wins by Ezekiel than most fighters will ever have in career wins. It’s a specialized choke, and Oleinik can finish it from the top and even while being mounted. Think about that.

Oleinik looks like an old James Bond villain and has some of the gaudiest career stats that you’ll ever see. Oleinik has over seventy MMA bouts, including fourteen in the UFC with an 8-6 record. He’s riding a two-fight losing streak, and his last four losses have all come via KO/TKO. But check it; he has fifty-noine career wins and has finished all but five of them. That’s fifty-four finishes for all of you using your hands to count.

Unfortunately for Oleinik, his standup is awful. The only way Oleinik would win a boxing match is if he fought a Denver sports fan. He’s got hands like a Shaun T Insanity boxer. It’s clumsy and consists entirely of wide power shots thrown with the sole intention of closing the distance to initiate the clinch. Oleinik wears a Life Alert bracelet in case of an emergency, and he can’t get the fight to the ground.

Serghei Spivac will win this fight. I’d be shocked like Marv if he doesn’t. He’s a wrestler with a heavy top game, and the only way he loses is if he lets Oleinik break his posture and put his forearm across Spivac’s throat. Other than that, Spivac should be able to take down Oleinik and meticulously chip away at him with elbows and punches. If he decides to stay on the feet and slow play it in the first round, Spivac will have a clear advantage on the feet. But he’s not a great striker by any means. If Spivac started a boxing career, I would line him up with a tune-up fight against a Rockies fan before giving him a Nuggets fan.

For about one minute, Oleinik is a submission threat, but it’s all downhill after that. I have zero point zero idea how/why this is the co-main event. I’d take my chances on Spivac scoring an early finish. Three out of four of Oleinik’s most recent losses have come in the first round. The fourth occurred twenty-one seconds into the second. Serghei Spivac via TKO, round two.

Winner: Serghei Spivac | Method: TKO Rd.2

Marlon Vera (-210) vs. Davey Grant (+170)

Vera: DK: $9.1k, FD:$ | Grant: DK: $7.1k, FD:$

USDA Certified Banger. Davey Grant graduated Summa cum laude at the University of Underdogs and is a Twenty-Twen-Twen alumnus. Back in March, I famously turned an Andrew into a Ulysses when I bet on Grant to beat the highly-touted Jonathan Martinez. Grant came through with a second-round KO victory and notched his third win in a row after starting his UFC career by going 1-3. Grant is an excellent example of a late bloomer who may have finally found his recipe for success. He debuted in 2013 but only has seven appearances since and has been known mostly as a grappling specialist. That all changed in 2020; Davey won his last two bouts with his striking. Davey didn’t even attempt a takedown in those scraps.

Wavy Davey is awkward like wiping left-handed and reminds me of a smaller version of Jack Hermansson. He uses a wide variety of kicks, including spinning heel kicks to the calf, power teeps, and snap kicks up the middle. Grant uses wide punches and will reach into the back seat like he’s looking blindly for the CD case to load up on his power shots. His finishing move is a three-quarters shovel punch that he throws at an upward angle from his waist with either hand that his opponents never see coming. Davey’s punches come from every angle like a minute hand, but they never come traditionally from his face. Grant will use both stances and is extra sneaky using a step-in right hook out of the orthodox stance. He steps forward with the rear foot while throwing a hook at the same time. It’s a clever way to close distance.

Grant’s biggest strength doubles as his biggest weakness. His wide, low punches leave him vulnerable up the middle, and he doesn’t have much head movement to supplement his lack of a traditional handguard. His opponent, Marlon Vera, is an excellent up-the-middle attacker who uses snap and teep kicks, uppercuts, and standing knees.

Marlon Vera was The Ultimate Fighter Latin America winner, and I just realized something as I was looking at Vera’s record. This fight is a rematch from a fight back in 2016, a fight that Davey Grant won via decision. If it weren’t for that win, Grant would have started his UFC career going 0-4. Vera debuted off the TUF show in 2014 and has a UFC record of 10-6.

Marlon Vera is a slow starter and has lost some close decisions because of it, but he has never been finished in his twenty-five-fight career. Vera can fight from the outside and can also thrive in a firefight, using shovel hooks on the inside and long straight punches from the outside. He uses a variety of peppering kicks to set up his hands and uses aggression to fill the gaps in his technique. On the mat, Vera is a gifted grappler with excellent strikes from his guard and is also a submission threat. Weaknesses, Vera tends to carry his hands low with little head movement and takes a lot of damage in the pocket.

Before I realized these two had already fought, I was leaning towards Davey Grant. Vera looked hesitant and had all kinds of trouble dealing with Jose Aldo’s hand speed in his last fight. Marlon gave up his back in the opening seconds of the third round, and Aldo was able to maintain back control for almost the entire five minutes. Vera showed no urgency to get back to his feet; he wasn’t willing to risk getting choked out to get back up and win the fight. That worries me. Fantasy-wise, Davey has excellent grappling and can score from the top position and on the feet. Vera doesn’t have enough output, and I don’t think he will finish Grant. I see this ending with the same result as it did in 2016. Davey Grant via decision.

Winner: Davey Grant | Method: Decision

Julian Erosa (+115 ) vs Suengwoo Choi (-145)

Erosa: DK: $7.6k, FD:$ | Choi: DK: $8.6k, FD:$

This fight has a good shot at being in the conversation for FOTN. Seungwoo Choi is a world-class and highly decorated Muay Thai fighter. He uses classic hand and kick combinations and also mixes in standing elbows. Choi has long, straight punches with a range-managing jab from the outside but struggles inside the pocket where his long strikes are a little less effective. His lateral movement makes him a hard target to take down, and he’s tough to hold down when he is on the mat. His grappling is more survival Jiu-Jitsu and used as a means to get him back to his feet. Seungwoo has a high output and a bottomless gas tank to supplement it.

Overall, Choi is a well-rounded fighter, and he is currently riding a two-fight winning streak after dropping his first two UFC bouts. Those two losses were too stiff competition in Movsar Evloev and Gavin Tucker, two guys with strong wrestling games who were able to control Choi on the mat. However, Choi is coming off a win against Youseff Zalal, another grappling-heavy fighter, who had a hard time getting Choi to the mat. Evloev and Tucker both have better wrestling than Choi’s opponent Julian Erosa, but I think Erosa is a more dangerous submission threat than both of them.

Julian Erosa has had a weird UFC career and is currently on his second stint with the promotion after getting the callback when he KO’d Jamall Emmers on The Contender Series in 2018. He previously went 1-1 after making it to the semi-finals on The Ultimate Fighter. He’s currently riding a three-fight winning streak after riding a three-fight losing streak after he appeared on the Contender Series.

Erosa is a head-scratcher. At times he looks like a seasoned striker and top-level grappler, and at other times he turns on 90 Day Fiancé in the hotel room and doesn’t show up to the fight at all. A fringe member of the Wu-Tang Clan, Erosa is deadly with head-and-arm chokes like the D’arce, and now would be a good time to advise Choi to Protect Ya Neck. Julian is a finisher; he has eleven wins via submission and eleven via TKO/KO in twenty-five pro wins.

Erosa has a knack for hanging around and making fights ugly, and Choi is more of a finesse fighter who likes to stay on the outside and engage in technical kickboxing matches. Julian’s striking is underrated, but I don’t think he wants to engage in three rounds of kickboxing. The grappling will heavily favor Erosa, and I expect him to close the distance and initiate the clinch to work trips. But Choi is hard to get down, and his movement and output may cause Julian problems. Erosa has plenty of value as a submission threat and has a better shot at a finish than Choi, but I’m taking Choi to strike his way to a decision win. On wax, Seungwoo Choi via decision.

Winner: Seungwoo Choi | Method: Decision

Wellington Turman (+115 ) vs Bruno Silva (-140)

Turman: DK: $7.4k, FD:$ |Silva: DK:$ 8.8k, FD:$

Wellington Turman sounds like a style of suit you can buy at JCPenny. They usually come in beige, but during the spring, they get silly and make a limited edition off-white version. You can rock a Wellington Turman with a scarf in the winter and wear the coat with boat shoes and Jorts in the summer. Wellington Turman is also a young fighter with a 1-2 UFC record.

Some of you may remember C.B. Dollaway; he was a finalist on The Ultimate Fighter Season 7. Turman's style and stature remind me a lot of Dollaway. Both are basically wrestler strikers with big power and minimal technical skills. Wellington has heavy hands, but he’s mostly a one's and one-twos striker and never gets to the second and third level. His jab is limited, and he relies on his power right hand to close the distance rather than speed and footwork.

There are two Bruno Silva. There’s a flyweight Bruno Silva who’s riding a two-fight KO winning streak, and there’s this Bruno Silva who’s making his UFC debut. This Bruno Silva is wild; he’s off the leash squatting on lawns. He looks like Jason chasing a damsel in distress around the cage, pin-wheeling his arms like the windmills on your way to Palm Springs. His uber aggression and the way he throws repeating hooks remind me of a young Shogun. He’s a self-checkout brawler, and it looks like a cartoon dust cloud of flailing limbs when he engages.

Bruno’s game is to engage with heavy left-right combinations and change levels when chaos ensues. Silva is a puncher, not a boxer and a kicker, not a kickboxer. He will struggle in technical kickboxing matches and needs to mix in his wrestling and heavy top game to be effective.

The weird thing about Bruno Silva is that he hasn’t fought in three years and is getting the call to make his debut. His last fight was in 2018, and he won the M1 Global middleweight title in that fight. This fight is a complete your-guess-is-as-good-as-mine type of scrap because Silva comes with a lot of unknowns. But I’m getting strong Gregory Rodrigues, aka Brazilian Debo vibes from Bruno Silva, and I’m going to go out on a limb and pick him to win this fight. He has sixteen finishes in nointeen career wins, and all sixteen of those are TKO/KO’s. Bruno Silva via TKO, round two.

Winner: Bruno Silva | Method: TKO Rd.2

Matt Brown (+140 ) vs Dhiego Lima (-175)

Brown: DK: $7.2k, FD:$ |Lima: DK:$ 9k, FD:$

Don’t F@!# with Matt Brown’s snus. If such a thing existed in 2008, Matt Brown would have been immortalized, like his nickname, in the meme hall of fame when he was on The Ultimate Fighter. He almost recorded the first in-house KO when a fellow contestant put lemon juice in his dip. The incident epitomized Brown’s whole persona and fight style, rough, rugged, in your face, and relentless.

Rarely taking a step back, Brown’s trademark is aggression with awkward hand and elbow combinations. Any part of the body that can be used legally in an MMA fight, Matt Brown will throw it. He makes fights ugly, in the clinch, on the mat, in the center of the Octagon, at Walmart, wherever.

Matt Brown has lost five of his last seven bouts, including his most recent against fellow MMA legend Carlos Condit. Brown nearly beat the highly touted young prospect, Miguel Baeza in 2020 when he had Baeza out on his feet but was unable to close the deal like Nate Diaz failed to do in the final minute against Leon Edwards. Brown was TKO’d early in the second round, but showed he is still dangerous.

Dhiego Lima is the brother of former long-standing Bellator Champion Douglas Lima. He made it to the Ultimate Fighter Finals in 2017 but lost to my fellow Poway High School alum Jesse Taylor. Lima has a solid all-around game and can compete with high-level competition anywhere the fight goes. He’s good at a lot of things but not great at anything. I take that back; he’s great at throwing low calf kicks. In his last fight, Lima had Belal Muhammad’s leg looking like a gangrene infection from a musket ball shot to the leg at Gettysburg. But in that fight, Lima used the cage as his Linus comfort blanket and continually retreated for the entire fifteen minutes and lost a one-sided decision.

Last week, UFC 263 had eleven decisions in fourteen total fights. Almost every one of those decisions was of the split variety. There was nothing but coin flips all night long, and this week will be much of the same. I’d really like to see Matt Brown get a win here, but the question is, how much does he have left? If Lima goes forward this time out and uses the calf kicks to open up with his hands, he can use them to take down Brown and cause him all kinds of problems. Brown struggles with defending takedowns, and that will be Lima’s path to victory. Brown just needs to make it an ugly, grimey war and stay on the attack. With little to no confidence, I’m rolling with Dhiego Lima via decision.

Winner: Dhiego Lima | Method: Decision

Prelims

Highlighted Matchups

Kanako Murata (+115) vs. Virna Jandiroba (-140)

Murata: DK: $7.8k, FD:$ | Jandiroba: DK: $8.4k, FD:$  

This is high-level wrestling vs. Jiu-Jitsu. Virna Jandiroba is one of the best Jiu-Jitsu players in women’s MMA, and Kanako Murata has some of the best wrestling in the strawweight division, just under Carla Esparza and Tecia Torrez. As so often happens when two ground specialists face off, they subconsciously acknowledge a grappling stalemate and concede to an exclusive stand-up match between two mediocre strikers. I’m hoping this is the exception to the rule, much like Demian Maia vs. Ben Askren was. That match actually featured lengthy grappling exchanges and ended with Demian Maia choking Askren unconscious, a common theme in Ben Askren’s late career, unconscious.

It’s always interesting when each fighter’s strength plays into the other fighter’s strength. Murata is all about level changes and top control, and Jandiroba doesn’t mind being on her back in the least. Jandiroba has thirteen career submissions in sixteen pro wins, and four of those subs came from her guard. Can Murata utilize her strength, wrestling, and navigate Jandiroba’s submission attempts, or can Jandiroba win top control and use her pressure to work her way to the back mount where she has seven wins via rear-naked choke? Jandiroba doubles as a sub threat from her back; I can’t say the same for Murata.

If it stays standing, Murata has the better striking, traditional wrestler striking with tight short combinations. Jandiroba’s hands are more suited for the Coors field bleachers during the seventh-inning stretch. On wax… I don’t know yet. I got to think about this one a little longer.

Khaos Williams (-165) vs. Matthew Semelsberger (+135)

Williams: DK: $8.9k, FD:$ | Semelsberger: DK: $7.3k, FD:$

Banger. Someone will be doing inventory on sheep for Old MacDonald after this one. In three UFC bouts, Khaos Williams has two KO’s in thirty seconds or less, and Matt Semelsberger is coming off a sixteen-second KO win. Williams doesn't have holes in his striking; he has black holes in his striking, massive gaps in fundamentals and technique. BUT (big but), he has the Dim Mak touch of death in his hands. Semelsberger has much more traditional, technical striking and can also ground Williams with his wrestling. Take a shot on one of these guys for a possible early finish

Twenty-Twen-Twen Sleepers

Twenty-Ten-Twen Sleeper

Last week's card was a struggle, it was a night of split decision coin flips, but the Assassin Baby, Brandon Moreno, came through for me at (+185). This week is going to be another struggle for underdogs, and dubs will be hard to come by as it's likely to be another night of close, competitive fights.

"Wavy" Davey Grant came up big for me against Jonathan Martinez his last time in the Octagon, and I'm rolling with him to pull off another upset against Marlon Vera. Vera's most recent performance against Jose Aldo was lackluster at best, and previously, Sean O'Malley was piecing him up before Vera landed the calf kick that rendered O'Malley's leg useless. Grant is awkward and throws strikes from angles that are difficult to see and defend, and he will cause Vera serious problems.

If Matthew Semelsberger can survive the opening minutes against Khaos Williams, I think he has a good shot at taking Khaos to the mat and grinding him out. He's the all-around better fighter and has much more technical striking than Khaos, and at (+135), he has good value and a legitimate shot at landing something fight-ending as well.

Pick 'Em

Aleksa Camur (-250 ) vs. Nicolae Negumereanu (+200 )

Winner: Aleksa Camur

 Method: Decision 

Kanako Murata (+115 ) vs. Virna Jandiroba (-140 )

Winner: Virna Jandiroba

 Method: Rear-Naked Choke Rd.2

Khaos Williams(-165 ) vs. Matthew Semelsberger (+135)

Winner: Matthew Semelsberger

 Method: TKO Rd.2

Josh Parisian (-130) vs. Roque Martinez(+110)

    Winner: Josh Perisian

 Method: Decision

Joaquim Silva (-130 ) vs. Rick Glenn (+110 )

    Winner: Joaquim Silva

 Method: Decision

Casey O'Neill (+135 ) vs. Lara Procopio (-155 )

    Winner: Casey O'Neill

 Method: Decision

Thanks for reading LineStar Weekly Knockout! We'll be back next Thursday with another one. Until then, good luck and support your local MMA Gym.

About Me

My name is Chris Guy, and I’m an avid combat sports enthusiast and practitioner. I’ve been a fan of MMA since the early 2000s when Limewire was still around, and I downloaded Bas Rutten’s Big Book of Combat. In 2004, I started training Muay Thai at City Boxing in San Diego, CA. I competed as an amateur for many years, and I've also dabbled in Jiu-Jitsu. I follow many different disciplines, such as Combat Ji-Jitsu, Muay Thai, Glory Kickboxing, Boxing, and MMA.

I’m equally as enthusiastic about the craft of writing, and in addition to writing about combat sports, I also write short fiction and music. I hope to bring unique prose to sports writing, and along the way, encourage people to not only become Martial Arts fans but to also become Martial Artists themselves.

In the future, you may see me refer to the Thunderdome; it's an ode to the old Mad Max movie and refers to the world-class training facility I built in my one-car garage. It's complete with throw dummies, wrestling mats, heavy bags, and six months' worth of Chef Boyardee cans from when I thought the world was going to end back in March. I hope you enjoy my work, and if you don’t, the Thunderdome has an open door policy.

Check out my Podcast The Whiskey (S)ick Podcast on Apple and Spotify. Parental Advisory Warning

🚨 Get 3 Free Months of LineStar Premium 🚨

Get 3-months of LineStar Premium for new users to SuperDraft who deposit/play $10!

Terms: Partnership offers do NOT renew. See SuperDraft landing page for full terms and conditions. Must be a new user to SuperDraft and deposit and play a minimum of $10 to qualify. If you have an existing LineStar Premium subscription you get a Hat/Tee/Pen combo instead of the 3-months.