BY JACOB KLENSIN

There is something immediately nostalgic about stepping out of the climate controlled comfort of air travel and into that uniquely tropical night time heat. It unites locations all over the world within a given distance to the equator. In my own experience it makes Bangkok reminiscent of Ghana which brought back memories of Venezuela. I’m no stranger to travel, and to be coy, I’ve done some crazy shit.

But I’m not here to talk about my two-week camel trek in Niger, or the time I got lost for four days in Burkina Faso, or my run-ins with the law in South America. I’ve moved beyond these things and I am now a documentary photographer, focused on capturing combat sports, who just landed in Thailand on a mission to begin capturing the true root and essence of Muay Thai. But as grown up as that sounds, I’m still a late twenty’s guy who lives in Philly and works as a bicycle mechanic to supplement the frequently un-lucrative career as a photographer, in Thailand for a month. So lets not get the impression that its all business. And even though I do plan to stay as busy and productive as I can, theres always the little things, the intricate details of a combat sports photographer traveling in south east Asia, that most won’t see in my hopefully glorious images showing true Muay Thai.

Oh, and I’ll be training too, which I’m sure will provide a number of entertaining anecdotes considering the training will most likely be years beyond my level of skill, experience and athleticism. You see I’ve never been much of an athlete and certainly not a fighter for that matter, but became curious about training once I began photographing fighters. I only began training Muay Thai regularly about seven months ago, so I can’t wait to tell as many people as I can about getting my ass kicked in training or throwing up half way through a run. I’m terrible at running.

So I’ve linked up with The Fight Nerd to bring you some of the gory details. Some will be fight related to varying degrees, others might be what I ate, (that is if I’m able to figure out what it was), but they will all be the reflections and stories of a fight photographer in Thailand. By the way, my name is Jacob Klensin, and my project is called “The Figure of Fighting”, and this will be the side of it that few have yet to see.

So where was I? Oh yeah, the heat, it’s hot here. And its that kind of heat that just doesn’t exist even on the hottest day in the northeast. Its that still, calm heat, that makes your clothes feel like you’ve been sweating in them for days before even putting them on. I certainly hope I’m not the only one who’s clothes feel that way in this kind of heat. I realize how gross it sounds as I write it and acknowledge that it would be a poor way to introduce myself to a new audience.

But I was told to keep it casual, so I will assume you all know the feeling. Bangkok isn’t what I expected in a few ways. The drive from the airport to hotel at midnight reminded me a lot of Mexico City. I think theres something, other than the weather, that unites well developed cities in otherwise fairly poor and underdeveloped countries. The smallest details seem similar, down to the constructions of basic infrastructure that one might not notice until its seen repeatedly in otherwise disconnected cities throughout the world. Or if your an observational photographer frequently obsessed with and overwhelmed by human infrastructure, which i’m aware most people are not.

By day I was well aware that I was a good bit further from the American border and considered the possibility that the similarities may have been somewhat credited to the twenty-four hour trip and twelve hour time difference. But Bangkok still wasn’t what I expected, and I realized quickly that I really should have known better. I was told by a friend who has lived in Thailand for a number of years now that Bangkok is as crazy or as not crazy as you want it to be. The seedy underworld frequently highlighted in films seems to be just that, an underworld.

On the surface its much like many other major cities, and if anything its remarkably clean, especially considering I can never find a trash can. There are lots of stray animals, but they are generally cute and too exhausted from the heat to be anything but. There are a lot more of two things here than I thought there would be, white people and 7-11′s. There are a lot of both, and maybe I should be focused on other things considering its my first time on this side of the world, but I continuously find it intriguing. I guess who wouldn’t want a slurpee in weather like this?

As clean, well developed, and accessible by public transport as this city is, there are always those little reminders that you are in Thailand. Its those little details like the never ending unrecognizable street food, or the fact that I don’t normally communicate mainly through pantomime, or maybe when your taxi doesn’t slow down for the elephant crossing the road. Oh yeah, two nights ago my taxi barely even slowed down for the elephant crossing the road, and I’m still in the city. So despite being contrary to certain expectations, or reminding me of other parts of the world in light of jet lagged delirium, there is no denying that I am here in Thailand. And its been moving fast.

It’s been less than a week and I’ve already photographed and trained at Fairtex in Bangplee. I think they were going easy on me, cause even though my entire body hurts to move, I can still move. I’ve seen fights twice already. Once outdoors in front of a mall, one of the very fancy ones in fact right in the center of downtown. Imagine that MMA fans back home. The others were at the legendary Lumpini stadium, which with the exception of the overwhelming presence of tourist, was everything I had hoped and expected. Not arena sized by any means, but as energetic as any sold out 20,000 seater, cooled only by fans and with the top level separated by the rest by an eight foot high fence housing the bulk of the gambling.

The ground level was the ringside level and access there allowed you full entry to the backstage area where the fighters had their hands wrapped, were massaged with liniment oil and warmed up. It was also an area frequently mobbed with sight seers posing for photos with the fighters like they were in a super hero costume in front of the chinese theater in Hollywood. Although I really am in no place to speak too poorly of the tourist visiting the stadium considering I’m almost as white as most of them, just as western and had about 10 pouches on my belt each full of various camera gear. But hey, thats what I do.

Tomorrow I head about six hours north of the city to an area that most people who know the country raise their eyebrows and say that I’m about to see some “real” Thailand, if not Cambodia, which it borders. I have only suspicions as to what that means, but I’m looking forward to finding out. I’ll let you all know as soon as I do. So this is just the start, an introduction of sorts.

I’ve barely begun to scratch the surface during these first few days here, and especially in this brief writing. Trust me, theres a lot more to come. So check back, let us know what you think, and I’ve already had one fighter request video of me eating the weirdest things I can find, and being that I’m a sucker for challenges, lets keep those to a minimum. I want to thank the Fight Nerd for collaborating with me on this, and you all for reading it.

Stay posted, more of the miscellaneous adventures of a combat sports photographer in Thailand coming soon! You can learn more about Jacob on his website as well!

Mike was born and raised in Powell River on the southwestern coast of British Columbia. A natural athlete, he played all kinds of sports growing up. He mainly represented his home town in soccer, baseball and hockey.

“I always played the craziest positions,” Mike said. “Goalie in hockey and catcher in baseball. Who else has the balls to stand in front of objects flying at your head or players trying to run you down?”

But, as he got older, Hill didn’t see much future in the sports he played.

“I got as far as I could and that’s when I knew it was time to move on,” he said.

He first decided to pursue a career in MMA after watching the Forrest Griffin versus Stephan Bonner fight on the first Ultimate Fighter in 2005.

“I mean, that whole season in the TUF house I was wishing I could be in that house,” Mike continued. “I remember telling a few friends that I would be in the UFC one day and they all laughed…. From there it’s all been kind of falling into place; from my Dad having a heart attack, me being angry and getting in a bad bar fight, sending myself with no MMA experience to Seattle for the TUF 2009 tryouts and then hearing about Team Toshido. It’s the best choice I ever made; packing my bags, leaving my town and chasing my dream of being a professional athlete.”

Mike now fights out of Team Toshido under the guidance of David Lea.

“Our gym has produced some of BC’s best fighters, including UFC stud Rory McDonald,” he noted, proudly. “My coach and our fight team work so well with everyone; our egos and problems are left at the door the minute we step into the club. We are there to train, learn and teach. We all have a lot of fun; It’s a great club and a great team!”

Mike’s favorite fighter is his team mate, UFC contender Rory MacDonald, who Mike thinks of like family.

“It’s a bonus to be able to call him brother,” Mike said of MacDonald. “When I walked into Toshido, I got pounded on by Ror and the rest of the pros for months and months. Slowly I got his respect, I think. He let me train beside him; he let me learn and hang out with him. I got to be beside him through two of his UFC camps and saw how dedicated he was. If I was slowing down he would hit me or slam me that much harder. Everyday I wanted to prove to him and my coach that I could be with this team.”

After 15 months of training away from home, Mike finally got his first fight.

“I went straight to the pros,” he said. “What’s the point of fighting amateur? You work so hard, train so hard for your fight, you might as well collect a pay check…. I’m 4-0 as a professional; don’t forget I trained for 15 months and it was hell before I got my first fight. I thought about quitting a few times, I won’t lie, but my coach knew I was ready. That first win was the best feeling in the world.”

Mike comes by his hard work ethics and tenacity inherently. His grandmother moved her seven children, including the youngest with Down’s Syndrome, by herself from England to Canada in order to give her children the best possible life.

“My Papa, on my Mom’s side, he still gets up at 5am every morning and heads to the farm to work,” Mike explained. “The guy never stops.”

Even though his rise to the status of professional MMA fighter has been a long journey, Michael Hill has never lost that initial dream in 2005 of being part of the TUF House and, of course, the UFC. With this goal in mind, he headed out to Las Vegas for The Ultimate Fighter season 15 tryouts.

“My experience at the UFC TUF tryouts was awesome,” Mike recounted, excited. “I’m happy I went. The day was long, but I met a lot of great guys, and made some pretty wicked connections with some boys at some top camps. Before my group of 40 came up, I walked up to Joe [Silva] and shook his hand, told him who I was, and where I’m from and I knew after that he would really watch me.

While no one will know if Mike made it into the TUF house until the show is about to air, he finished his time in the tryouts with confidence, noting that he even impressed himself with his ground work, that is usually not his strong suit. In a closing statement, Hill spoke with a young athlete’s optimism.

“I just want everyone to know who reads this that all this is just a few small steps to what I want to accomplish,” he said. “I’m not even close to being the athlete and fighter that I want to be, or want people to know me as. There is so much more hard work ahead of me, and I’m not going to stop until I get there. I’m ready for whatever it is that lies ahead of me, and each day I’m going to work that much harder, if I ever do have a bad day I’ll work twice as hard the next day to make up for it. That’s who I am, and nothing is going to stand in the way of my dreams. Oh and one more thing: I love you, Mom!”

Night of Champions

Good evening Fight Nerd Fans! This is Jay “Smilin Jack” Jodoin live at the Mansfield, MA. Holiday Inn Grand Ball Room bringing the American Fight Organization’s “Night of Champions” to you all via liveblog commentary. I will be keeping you all updated as the night progresses! This is TheFightNerd.com’s first liveblog of an MMA show, and hopefully not the last!

It looks to be an incredible event with ten of the thirteen fights being for the AFO’s professional or amateur championship belts (hence the clever name of the event)! This show is headlined by Team Rock Star’s Luis Felix against Daryl Walker for the 155 lb. lightweight title, and Ruben Rey will meet Lionel Young for the 145 lb. featherweight title, so expect to see a lot of gold by the end of the night.

I will be live play by play and commentary after every round of tonight’s fights, so keep refreshing for the latest updates. Live updates begin at 8 PM EST. Hit the jump for the results as they happen!

Jared Sarno”SSSF” Vs Shane Decristoforo”Team United” – 125 Ammy Title

Round 1 D
Decristoforo scores a quick take down, Sarno working from guard. Decristoforo Slams Sarno but he holds on in guard, Decristoforo defends an arm bar and passes. Sarno sweeps to full mount. Decristoforo turtles out and stuffs back attempt and transitions to triangle. lots of back and forth action on the ground, with first round ending in both men in a triangle and landing strikes to the face. Round 1 even

Round 2
Sarno stuffs a take down and and Decristoforo pulls guard. Sarno gains a full mount and starts reigning bombs. Decristoforo escapes and ends up in Sarnos guard, stands up and starts leg kicking. Round 2 ends with a brief scramble and Sarno on Decristoforos back from standing. to close to call!

Round 3
Sarno shoots, presses on the cage and and decristo fights out and shoot scoring the take down to side control with viscious knees to the side, goes to full mount and ends up on Sarno’s back in the scramble. sinks RNC but the round ends, and that’s how the fight ends too… leaning toward Decristoforo

Jared Sarno “the Badger” Wins UD

Kin”Kong”Moy “RedLine”Vs Rico Disclulio”Sit” -135 Ammy Title

Round 1
Crowd chants Rico!!! Battle of the Unbeaten Begins! exchanging leg kicks, Rico lands first. Solid stand up exchanges! Rico is getting the better of the fierce exchanges. Rico lands a one-two which drops Kin . He follows and finished with huge strikes to the face.

Rico via TKO 2:21 Round 1

Andre Soukhamthath”Team United” Vs Rob Font “Sit” – 145 Ammy Title

Round 1
Here we go Muay Lao vs Muay Thai! Good exchange and Font pulls guard. Andre Landing heavy strikes from Fonts guard. Font wrestles out and ends up in side control. Andre defending well from bottom. Round ends there. Round very even, leaning toward Soukamthath

Round2
Exchanging leg kicks, Andre gets taken down and locks in guard, scrambles up and lands upper cuts. Font works him back down looking to keep it on the ground. Font in guard but not advancing. Andre defending well from bottom looking to sweep. Round ends there. To close to call.

Round 3
Championship round begins with both men swinging for the fences. Font works in for another take down. Font not advancing and Andre looking to escape or sweep. Fighters scramble and Font ends up on back working RNC, Andre defending well and striking.Fight ends in a mad scramble. Fights to close to call.

Decision goes to Rob Font 29-28 UD

Nate “The Snake” Andrews “Team United” Vs Thane Stimpson” – 155 Ammy Title

Round 1
Fighters tap gloves. Stimpson shoots and scores a huge lifting double leg and gains side control. Lands some strike and advances to mount. Starts working t GnP from top. Nate scrambles and Stimpson ends up on his back with deep RNC, squeezes hard and gets the tap. Stimpson is an enormous 155 pounder and overwhelmed Andrews with wrestling and GnP.

Stimpson via RNC 2:09 Round 1

Ricardo Georges “Pardel ” Vs Jeff Bermani “Sit” – 170 Ammy Title

Round 1
Bermani comes out with an explosive twenty or so punch combo! Pardel weathers the storm. Working the clinch as the fight goes to the ground and back up to standing. Pardel scores a take down and ends up in Bermanis guard. Pardel is working GnP as the round comes to close. Lots of action..very close round.

Round 2
Round two starts with a huge right cross from Pardel landing clean and knocking Bermani completely out! Leaning toward KO of t night on that one.

Pardel takes the Title via (officially a tko-hmm) KO :06 of Round 2

Joe Cloutier”Doomsday” Vs Jon Duclaw “Prov Fight Club” – 185 Ammy Title

Round 1
Fighters tap gloves, Cloutier shoots and slams a double leg to full mount and starts in on heavy GnP! Reigning bombs from full mount, Duclaw desperately scrambles and ends up in a sprawled out north south choke, possible Darce, tough to see, Cloutier gets the tap!

Officially a Guillotine Choke 1:56 Round 1

Mario Gonsalas “Team United”Vs Javier Vasquez “Connors” -HW Ammy Title

Round 1
Feeling each other out, clinch, Javier throws a big leg kick,and they start to exchange. Javier scores a take down and Mario gets back up taking several heavy punches. He shakes them off and calls Javier on! Round ends with Mario shooting into several heavy strikes. Round 1 for Javier.

Round 2
Lots of Clinch work on the cage and little else. Javier landing strikes. Some stand up exchanges. Mario showing huge heart. Round ends in a clinch.

Round 3
Championship round Mario lands big superman punch and Javier responds pressing him on the cage and working the body, heavy dirty boxing going on against the cage from both fighters. Both men bloody! Big exchanges in the center of the ring..Fight ends with both men punching each other in the face for the entire last ten seconds! Leaning toward Javier for t W….

Javier Velasquez UD 30-27

Ruben Ray Vs Lionel Young”Maxx” – 145 Title fight

Round 1
Fighters touch gloves. Ruben lands first, clinches and lands so sick knees, Lionel shoots under and hits a deep high double and drives Rey into the mat taking back and sinking in a deep RNC, Rey is forced to tap.

Lionel Young Round 1 :42

185 Shawn Baker Vs Glen Reeves

Round 1
Reeves scores a double leg, Baker scrambles to back and sinks in a RNC then gets his hooks in and extends Reeves, forcing him to tap out.

Shawn Baker via RNC :45 Round 1

Luis “Rockstar” Felix Vs Daryl Walker – 155 Title fight 

Round 1
Feeling out, low kicks from Felix, Daryl working some bodies shots. Good even exchanges, Felix lands a solid one-two and scores with a big double leg take down to side control. Knees from side and into full mount. Felix secures the position. Felix lands a huge elbow and Walker explodes to standing. Hugh exchanges! Felix scores another double to full mount and Walker explodes back to standing. several exchanges as the round ends. RD1 Felix

Round 2
Walker looking to press the action. Felix shoots and scores another huge double leg slam! Walker scrambles and Lewis ends up on Walkers back. Walker spins and Felix gains full mount and with some positional word start the GnP. Walker turtles and Felix pounds, spins back to his back and Felix lands huge elbows and starts with the heavy GnP! Felix is pouring it on, Walker is surviving and heavy assault! Round 2 Felix – Walkers eye is swollen shut, docs checking…..Doc calls the Fight

Felix wins with Walker not be able to answer the bell!

AFO puts on another great event! Living up to 2010 Promotion of the Year reputation!

Looks like New York has a new spokesperson to help push MMA in New York, and it’s Frank Shamrock!

Shamrock, who is in the process of moving to New York and filming a reality series called “Ungloved” all about the journey, has stepped up to the plate to help educate the masses and politicians about MMA. This comes as great news after Governor Cuomo conveniently forgot that Zuffa was lobbying him to help MMA and just plum forgot to put it in his budget plan for 2011, despite the sport being proven to generate $23 million in revenue. One would assume income would be welcome in the state with deep financial debt, but I suppose not.

Frank was in Albany yesterday on the floor of the New York State Senate, talking with politicians such as Senator Joseph Griffo, Assemblyman Frank Lopez and Representative Bing, and helping them hear our pleas. Frank tweeted about the process through the day, and had one interesting quote, which was, “meeting of the minds with Rep Bob Reilly denied by his office. WTF?! But everyone is otherwise feeling MMA in NY.” So there ya’ go, MMA world. Some guys just enjoy playing the part of the villain, and New Yorkers who support MMA have known who that man is for some time. Meanwhile, as of the time of this post, the rally for MMA in NY in front of City Hall is going down and if you are in the area, you should drop by and show your support!

You can follow Frank’s new twitter at this address, which will have updates about his reality show and his push to help MMA in New York!

It was promised to Mark “The Machine” Hominick that if he were to win his bout against former teammate at Team Tompkins,  and The Ultimate fighter 8 alumni George Roop, he would be granted his title shot against the current and premiere UFC featherweight kingpin Jose Aldo. Both men were coming off huge wins before heading into this fight. In Mark Hominick’s last three appearances of the WEC he notched a Triangle/Armbar against Bryan Caraway, put up an exciting performance against Yves Jabouin, and battled against the Greg Jackson Slugger Leonard Garcia. Whereas in George Roop’s last three appearances in the WEC, debuting as a Bantamweight, he lost a decision to former WEC champ Eddie Wineland, then moved up to featherweight and fought a huge Draw against Leonard Garcia, and rebounded from his 0-1-1 record against Chan Sung Jung, whom he defeated by head kick to make his final WEC record 1-1-1.

In the battle between the Shawn Tompkins students, Mark Hominick ruled the fight finding his distance and range from Roop’s long reach advantage. Thus eventually knocking down the taller Roop; having referee Don Turnage halt the fight at 1 minute and 28 seconds of the very first round. Not only did Hominick win to get his shot at the title, he did doing so in a dominant fashion, and as promised Mark Hominick will be Jose Aldo’s next opponent. According to Fightmetric Hominick scored 2 knockdowns landing only 9 out of 16 strikes.

Jose Aldo, the deadly Striker who ended his WEC career with a perfect 8-0 record with the WEC title around his waist, was suppose to defend his first UFC title against Josh “The Fluke” Grispi on the UFC’s New Year’s event, but was unable to due to a neck injury that he received 3 days after being granted his UFC Featherweight belt. Grispi then faced newcomer Dustin Poirier on the proposed event. But in the end Josh Grispi proved to be a “Fluke” losing his chance at the title shot. According to Fighting insider Jose Aldo’s manager Ed Soares announced that Aldo is now back in training after doing physical therapy to straighten things out. Soares said that “He’ll be ready”

UFC 129 will mark the sixth appearance of the promotion in Canada, but will also be the first time to host a show in the Rogers center of Ontario. The event will present the Welterweight title on the line as George “Rush” St Pierre, will face off against ADCC medalist, former Shooto middleweight champion, former EliteXC welterweight champion, Strikeforce middleweight champion Jake Shields.

According to Five Ounces of Pain, Tim Kennedy will not fight Jason “Mayhem” Miller on March 5, and instead will face rising middleweight star Luke Rockhold of American Kickboxing Academy. Kennedy and Miller met for the first time at Extreme Challenge 50 in 2003, where Kennedy won by decision. The pair met once more in 2007 at HDNet Fights: Reckless Abandon, again fighting to a decision but with “Mayhem” taking the win this time around. The proposed third match seemed inevitable, until the powers that be decided to scrap it and give us Kennedy VS Rockhold while Mayhem chills out twiddling his thumbs, waiting for an opponent of his own.

Rockhold, a Brown Belt in Guerilla Jiu Jitsu under the Masterful Jiu-Jitsu/Judo jedi Dave Camarillo, is 7-1 and in his last appearance, Rockhold finished Paul Bradley two minutes and 24 seconds into the first round. He also holds notable wins over former Prospect Cory Devela, and “The Ultimate Fighter 7″ competitor Jesse Taylor. Rockhold was then suppose to fight Matt “The law” Lindland in Strikeforce San Jose but received a shoulder injury weeks before the event.

Tim Kennedy, of the United states Army and former Strikeforce title contender, was last seen in a rough and tumble battle against the current Strikeforce middleweight champion Ronaldo “Jacare” Souza in a 5 round war where Souza surprisingly bested Kennedy in the stand-up. Prior to the event, Kennedy, who made a return to Mixed Martial arts after serving time in the army, was riding a three fight winning streak in Strikeforce with wins over Nick Thompson, Zak Cummings, and Trevor Prangley.

Strikeforce Colombus will headline the Light Heavyweight title match between the Hard Hitting Dan Henderson and Muay Thai specialist Rafael “Feijao” Cavalcante. The co-feature will have the Flying female Dutch submission extraordinaire Marloes “Rumina” Coenen defending her title against the Tough wrestler, Miesha Tate.

If you are not wearing some form of pants while you are grappling, I feel very bad for your opponent. For those normal folks like us that in fact buy pants for training, these trousers serve two purposes – to feel like we are wearing nothing at all even though we are and to make us look stylish while choking out the competition!

I have brought you reviews on shorts, like last week’s review of Bad Boy’s Vale Tudo shorts, gloves, pads, and even custom mouth guards. This time I am reviewing some pants. Not just any pants, but Sprawl’s latest creation- their Gi-flex gi pants. Go ahead and press the jump button and see if these shorts are the real deal or just another pair of pants for lounging on Sundays. 

Per Manufacturer-

SPRAWL has brought the same engineering and innovation that has revolutionized fight short designs since 2002 to create the new SPRAWL Gi-Flex Gi Pants. The Gi-Flex has offers BJJ players the best features that have existed in the SPRAWL MMA shorts, including:

First Impression- When I first got these I was very impressed with how they looked. They felt very light, but durable and the closure system was like other sprawl shorts. Could not wait to try them on.

Construction- The construction of these gi pants is great. There was no loose threads and all of the stitching is done very well. They have a stretch panel in the crotch similar to sprawl fight shorts as well as a pocket on the inside of the waistband. While I am mentioning the waist band it is the exact same setup as their Sprawl Fusion S shorts. It is a standard hook and loop style that uses elastic for plenty of adjustability and a drawstring. The waistband also has a small piece of rubber the lines the entire way around and provides that extra bit of grip. These pants are manufactured in China and are made out of 98% cotton and 2% stretch fabric. All of the logos on them are embroidered.

Fit- I have received plenty of emails on the fit of these and there is a good reason for that as it can be a little tricky. Sprawl does have a chart on their website which shows what size you should order. The way that I tried to get the best size was to get the correct size in the waist and go from there. I chose a medium based on the shorts that I have received from sprawl and when I got them the waist was perfect, but they were a little too long. Luckily these pants can shrink up to 3 inches using the dryer. After a couple tries I got these at just length that I wanted them. It depends on how you like your gi pants. The inside of these pants have a mesh lining inside of them which is suppose to keep the pants from sticking to your legs. I don’t in general have this problem with gi pants so I can not really say whether it works or not compared to normal gi pants. I cant say though that these pants did not stick to my legs.

Training- I used these for several weeks trying all sort of different techniques. First I would like to say that these pants did not disappoint. They are an extremely comfortable pair of pants to wear while training. Like I mentioned before they did not stick to me at all when training. I would not consider them an extremely lightweight pair of pants.
My favorite feature of these is the waistband. I like how much adjustability there is and also how snug it stays around your waist. With some gi pants in the past I have had them shifting from side to side around my waist, but due to sprawls channel lock system this was not an issue with these pants. I however did not notice much difference with the stretch panel in the crotch. I am not a big guy and I feel maybe people who are bigger then me might benefit more from the stretch panel. I did not have kind of problems with any sort of technique and overall the gi pants felt very comfortable while training. They did not bind up and the material feels very durable.

Pros-

*Great Construction

*Lots of adjustability with sizing

*Embroidered Logos

Cons-

*Fit can be tricky at first

*Did not notice stretch panel

Overall- I am glad that I got a chance to use these as the are an excellent pair of gi pants. With some innovative features I think sprawl is headed in the right direction with these. I know that I have always been looking for a pair of gi pants that has so much adjustability plus the waistband of a pair of some of the best fight shorts on the market. If you are looking for a new pair of gi pants I strongly recommend taking a look at these. You can get these for right around $75, but sprawl does have a trade in program right now where you can send them your old gi pants and that knocks the price tag to right around $55. However that is a limited time offer so get them quick.

(Highly Recommended)

Be sure and check out all my reviews at www.MMAGearAdvice.com

**Disclaimer** I received these at no cost for the purpose of review and received no payment from the company to do the review.

Remember back in the day of some of the earlier mma events where all you use to see was those tiny little shorts that looked like underwear, I do. Jeff Sims here again and this time I am bringing you a review of some of the original vale tudo style shorts from Badboy. Be sure and click the jump button to read the full review and see if this is something that you could see yourself wearing.. 

Per Manufacturer-

The original Bad Boy “Vale Tudo” Shorts are made in Brazil by the same factory that has been making Bad Boy “Vale Tudo” Shorts since 1994. These shorts are the same fabric (also made in Brazil), structure, and fit that have made the Bad Boy “Vale Tudo” Shorts an icon of Mixed Martial Arts.

Each short is fully lined for your comfort and incorporates a drawstring for perfect fit. Often imitated and never duplicated, these shorts remain one of the most sought-after Bad Boy products around the world. 100% Polyamide.

First Impression- When I got these shorts I new that I was going to like them. They felt different then other vale tudo shorts that I had tired and could not wait to put them on and start getting the workouts in.

Construction- The construction of these shorts is absolutely excellent. When I pulled them out of the plastic bag that they I could tell these were going to be great quality shorts. They are thicker than most vale tudo shorts, but yet are still very stretchy. They did not have any loose threads, and are manufactured in Brazil. On the shorts you can see they have screen printed logos, but the screen printing seems extremely durable. I do not foresee it cracking or peeling. Now one thing that is very important about these shorts is you must follow the washing instructions that come with the shorts. The lining on the inside of these shorts is very comfortable. The shorts themselves are made out of 92% Polyamide and 8% spandex, although the website says 100% Polyamide, but I would believe that the tag is correct. The lining of the shorts however is made out of 100% polyamide. These shorts do feature a drawstring which is a nice way to keep them snug and the inner waist band is comfortable.

Fit- I got these shorts in a medium and the fit is right on the money. Now these are just a little bit shorter than other vale tudos I have used, but not my much being just around mid thigh level. The fit nice and tight like you would expect vale tudo shorts to fit. The drawstring comes in handy for keeping the shorts nice and tight around your waist. If you are in doubt about sizing I would go with your actual waist sizing as they are pretty true to size. The lining inside the shorts feels nice and comfortable. I did not have any kind of problems wearing these with a cup, as they actually do an excellent job at keeping one in place.  These are the type of shorts that you forget you are wearing.

Stand Up- These shorts work great for stand up. They have plenty of stretch. I did not have any problems with any technique. Most of the time I did not even realize I was wearing them . They are a very comfortable pair of shorts. The range of motion on them is great. They stayed very snug around my waist. The legs did ride up a very little, but there was no shifting around the waist at all.

Ground- On the ground these work very well. Yes it does feel like you are rolling around in your underwear, but hey these are vale tudo shorts. They stayed tight and had very little shifting around the waist. They did ride up in the legs some, but not enough to be annoying. As always with vale tudos it is a little weird to have someone in your guard but over time you get use to it. No problems doing an sort of techniques at all. Very comfortable on the ground.

Pros-

*Well Made

*Durability

*Great Fit

Cons-

*Not for Everyone

*Screen Printed Logos

Overall- What can I say about these shorts? I really could not find a whole lot wrong with them. If you can pull off wearing vale tudo shorts then I highly recommend picking these ones up. With the amazing quality and great fit, these are a hard pair of shorts to pass up. If you are in the market for vale tudo shorts make sure to check these out. They retail for right around $50.

 Be sure and check out all my reviews at www.mmagearadvice.com

**Disclaimer** I received these at no cost for the purpose of review and received no payment from the company to do the review.

I get asked a lot of questions about MMA equipment all the time. Things like,”What are the best shorts? Who makes the best gloves? What supplements should I use?” I have answers for all the questions, which I make available to readers like yourself such as my pieces on KNOXX Legionnaire Fight Shorts and Fairtex BGV1 Training Gloves,but a question I never get asked is, “How should I keep track of my training?”

Well, I have found the answer to that question. It would be the Mixed Martial Arts Training Journal. No, this isn’t the kind that your little sister keeps under her mattress, or the one you wrote in as a kid saying what you wanted to be when you grow up. Not even the one that says who ate a bug on recess. This is an MMA Training Journal. So, hit the jump and read about one of the most interesting and unique products I have come across.

This journal has every thing that you will need to chart your progress and goals for training. I will not be posting any pictures so that I can protect the content (since it is all print after all), but will let you know whats inside. It has an excellent introduction to the journal that explains why this little book is so important and includes a spot for your statistics, including height and weight and even a win/loss record (if you have one) and a BMI table.

Now lets get to the real meat of this journal. It has something that I think is very important – a place to set your goals. This is one are I think that is tremendously overlooked. People commonly set goals that are somewhat unattainable or do not set them at all. Think about it – without goals what are you working towards and how are you going to get there? It breaks it down in a couple of different ways from 45 days out to weekly goals.

Then you get into the daily journal. This part is unbelievable. It has everything for your training needs. You can input everything that you did that day. All types of training. Everything from weightlifting to who you rolled with that day and how you did. You can also put down what you ate and drank. This is the part that I found to be the most helpful. When doing this you can really break down what you eat and see if you are getting enough of what you need. For me, I found out that I was not eating enough calories through out the day. Now that I can see everything that eat and drink I am also less likely to eat crappy stuff.

Towards the back it has a place for notes and where you can enter in what you have learned about certain techniques or drills that you learned. It even has the rules for mma, muay thai, and jiu jitsu where it lists things like weight classes and ways to win.

I really can not say anything bad about this journal. If there is one product that I can convince you to get I hope it is this. By far one of the most useful pieces of equipment I have come across. I think that anyone that is truly serious about competing in mma, muay thai, or jiu jitsu should pick this book up. Trust me when I tell you, you will not be disappointed. This journal can be had for right around $20.

(Highly Recommended)

Click here to buy The Mixed Martial Arts Training Journal

As always visit www.mmagearadvice.com for more of my reviews.

**Disclaimer** I received these at no cost for the purpose of review and received no payment from the company to do the review.

So, everyone has gloves and shorts right??? Well, what about protection for those pearly whites? You don’t want to be that guy walking around with no teeth. Having cauliflower ear is cool, but not teeth… no way. Jeff Sims here again from www.mmagearadvice.com with another review. This time, I take a look at Jawwz custom mouthguards. While these top out as being one of the more expensive custom guards around, I try one out. Read the full review and see if this something that is worth your hard earned cash or if you would rather trust a boil and bite.

*First off just to let everyone know I got their high end mouthguard and that is what this review will be for.

Per Manufacturer-

Our “High End” mouthguards give you the option to create a mouthguard that represents you. Just about anything goes. Imagine what you want and email us at Artwork@Jawzz.com. The artist that will be creating your mouthguard will contact you, and together we will work with you to create your own one of a kind Jawzz Custom Mouthguard.

Process- I will not reveal too much about their process because they have some things that other companies out there are not doing to ensure a better fit. You still get option of either doing an impression yourself or going to a dentist to have this done. I chose to have them send me an impression kit. Their impression kit is very good. The instructions are great and very clear. Let me also say that they kept in contact with me the whole time. I would say that they have some of the best customer service in the business. For this mouthguard I left the design up to them. I gave them a very basic idea, but for the most part let them design it. I had no idea what the mouthguard was going to look like after sending my impression kit back to them.

A representative from Jawzz let me know when they got the kit, and when they were finished up with the design. Still not letting me know what the mouthguard looked like but said that it was going to blow my mind. The guard came very quickly I would say around a week so with out further ado here is what I received.

The Guard- Once I opened up the case and actually saw the mouthguard I was very pleased. There is no way I could have thought this up. The graphics on this guard are the best I have seen to date. Totally custom and seem to just flow. I tried it on and it has the tightest fit of any guard I have tried. It take effort to pry this out of my mouth. There was a small adjustment I had to make, but all I had to do was email them and they got back quickly telling me what I could do and if that did not work to just send it back and they would take care of it. Well I got it to work. I am very impressed by the guards that Jawzz makes. It is not super thick but still provides plenty of protection and is very comfortable while I am wearing it. Some mouthguards can make it hard to breath ,but with this one sometimes I would forget I even had it in.

Overall- This is a mouthguard that if you have the money for I highly recommend. If I had to give this mouthguard a rating, I would give it a ten on performance and fit. Then a ten on graphics and design.  The only problem I had was the slight modification I had to make which was very easy. Jawzz has many different styles of mouthguards to choose from, and of the custom fit ones they start at around $75 but this high end one like I got will get you a hefty price tag of right around $195. While that is a lot of money to spend on a mouthguard I can assure you that you will be pleased with what you receive like I was. You will see why this is the official guard of the “UFC”

As always check out www.mmagearadvice.com for more of my reviews. From gloves to guards I got them all. There is a reason I am the best in the business when it comes to mma gear reviews.

**Disclaimer** I received these at no cost for the purpose of review and received no payment from the company to do the review.