2008

You know the name Greg Jackson of Jackson’s MMA in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His training facility is widely regarded as one of the top MMA training camps in the United States. And right beside Jackson, is the gym’s premier…

2008 has been a defi ning year for Gegard Mousasi. The Armenian-Dutch fi ghter recently claimed the Dream middleweight grand prix championship, defeating American Top Team’s Denis Kang, Korean Judoka Dong Sik Yoon, fi erce…

For most people, dreams are far away and usually unattainable. But Joachim “Hellboy” Hansen is a special case. When he captured the DREAM lightweight title in June, it was the culmination of hard work, persistence, and a little…

As he swings open the front door of Hackney’s Combat Academy on a late July evening in Roselle, Illinois, you’d swear Keith Hackney could still ground-and-pound with the best of them inside the Octagon. Noticeably absent from…

Shortly after the fi rst UFC in 1993, a college student who called himself Ben signed up for lessons at Nelson Monteiro’s Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu school in Del Mar, California. Ben, a student at the United States International University…

My search for the best fi ghts in all of the land brought me to Chi-town. I came to see the perennial showman, Shonie Carter, headline an action-packed fi ght card for PRIMETIME FC. Jacob Stahler, founder and president, called his fi rst…

One reason so many people love MMA is because of its pure unpredictability. When you take away that aspect of a sport, it ceases to be a sport. That’s why professional wrestling is now classifi ed as “sports…

Any mixed martial arts fan will likely tell you they admire their favorite fi ghters for more than their skills and prowess inside the cage. Fan loyalty goes beyond the sport into the realm of human connection— they relate to their…

California is known for it’s beautiful bikini-clad models so it may come as a surprise to fi nd out that Melanie LaCroix hits people in the face for a living. Getting smacked around isn’t necessarily our idea of fun, but this is…

Athens, Georgia, is a college town if there ever was one. Home to the University of Georgia, Athens knows three things: good football, hot women, and fun bars. The HardCore Gym has been slowly adding a fourth: MMA. The gym itself is…