At Legends Mixed Martial Arts Training Center we offer MMA, Muay Thai, Jiu Jitsu, Wrestling, and Fitness. Our classes are taught in a friendly environment where we value skill, smarts, and sportsmanship over strength or brutality. Members can expect a great workout and the opportunity to acquire valuable skills that will benefit all aspects of his or her life.
At Legends, we value the "Art" in Mixed Martial Arts and look forward to offering you the ultimate workout experience.
Eddie Bravo’s 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu ended 2009 on a high note, with both the Hollywood and Burbank dojos representing with multiple winners and runner-ups at the final Grappler’s Quest tournament of 2009, which was held on December 12th in Las Vegas.
Hollywood (aka “Headquarters”) had four out of six competitors place, including purple belt Ralf Warneking and blue belt Steve Cox, who both won gold in their respective divisions. Burbank sent five competitors, four of them placing.
Warneking scored two submission wins on his way to the top of the Masters (40+) No-Gi Advanced cruiserweight division (180-199 lbs), while Cox remained undefeated in the Men’s No-Gi Beginner bantamweight division (below 129.9 lbs).
Warneking also won the absolute (no weight class) division, earning him over $1,000, a championship belt, and Grapplers Quest sponsorship for 2010.
“This was a smaller showing for 10th Planet due to it being right around the holidays, having to drive in to Vegas, and people being sick. I know of at least 3-5 people who were out due to illness,” said Juli Fung, who took silver in the Women’s Beginner No-Gi Class B (120-139.9 lbs).
Rounding out those who placed on behalf of 10th Planet Hollywood is Aidan Gonzales, who took bronze in the Men’s Beginner Absolute division.
Of the Burbank dojo, Miguel Hernandez show-and-proved with his gold medal win in the Men’s No-Gi Novice Bantam (Below 129.9 lbs), while Jenna Shih claimed silver in the Women’s Intermediate No-Gi Class B (120-139.9 lbs). Rachel Tan placed bronze in the Women’s Beginner No-Gi Class A (120 lbs. & below).
Legends MMA’s Ryan Lupkes made his tournament debut for 10th Planet, and although having a strong showing, was ultimately outpointed. Likewise, brown belt Scottie “Einstein” Epstein, despite coming up on the short end, represented in the most competitive bracket , the invitation-only professional division, against black belt Rodrigo Ranieri. Unfortunately, a knee injury hampered Epstein going in, and when the seasoned leglock specialist zeroed in on the leg, “Einstein” found himself fighting from a disadvantage.
Eddie Bravo’s 10th Planet Jiu-Jitsu expects to have another strong showing next at the Gracie US Nationals, on Sunday, January 24th, at the Fitness Expo in Los Angeles.
Peter Nylund protege Robert Brigante, who is currently training overseas with the Tiger Muay Thai & MMA fight team in Phuket, sent us video of his second Muay Thai match. Brigante won via KO after two low kick knockdowns. Here’s the footage:
The long-developing “Legends” reality show project has taken a major step forward, having found a home at www.iamrogue.com, the online social network and lifestyle brand which spawned from the Rogue Pictures film label (Dave Chappelle’s Block Party, Assault on Precinct 13, Shawn of the Dead, The Last House on the Left).
Launching with over one million views per month (and jumping 10-fold in 2009), Iamrogue.com is a new entertainment / lifestyle website that showcases the latest online and real world content in movies, music, TV, sports, and pop culture. Among the featured online TV projects is “Legends,” a reality-show presentation which was taped earlier in 2009.
The idea behind the project is a Hills-like chronicle about the staff and teams that make up Legends and BeSpun, as they learn how to balance the personal and professional while toiling and training to achieve their dreams. Of course, you’ll recognize most, if not all, the familiar faces, and hopefully feel the same “family” element that we get to enjoy at the gym on a daily basis.
Check out the trailer here: http://iamrogue.com/sections/television/legend
If you like what you see, please leave a comment. The idea behind iamrogue.com is for viewer feedback to have a stronger influence on creative content decisions for the website.
You can always count on hearing those words after every BJ Penn post-fight interview. But now, “The Prodigy” is adding tons of new and exclusive content to his iconic website. One debuting feature is a new series called “GymPass with Miss Rara,” an online tour of MMA gyms around the world.
Legends MMA / BeSpun has the honor of being one of the first gyms visited on Miss Rara’s world tour of MMA training centers. Check out the episode here:
On the international front, Legends MMA member Robert Bregante recently had his Muay Thai debut.
Bregante, 27, first started taking Muay Thai from Legends trainer Peter Nylund two years ago. Wanting to take his skills to the next level, Bregante moved out to Thailand three months ago, and has been training at Tiger Muay Thai in Phuket ever since. He says his plans are to stay there for a year and hopes to get at least 10 fights under his belt before returning to Legends. His routine consists of two training sessions per day, in addition to running twice daily, totaling approximately seven hours of training a day, six days a week.
Here’s the clip for Robert’s match (he's in the white trunks):
About his experience abroad, Bregante said by email “it feels wonderful to have my hard work pay off, after going through this experience I think it's the hardest thing I have ever done in my life. But it has come with a huge sense of accomplishment, and now I feel like I can accomplish anything I set out to do.”
“I think what surprised me most about this whole experience is what I learned about myself. I set my fears aside and allowed myself to embrace a new culture and new way of life. . . it has helped me to become more confident in myself, something I was lacking before I arrived to Thailand! I am especially grateful to Peter, the first person I met when I walked through the doors of Legends, the first person I trained with and my biggest inspiration for coming out here to Thailand!”
Congratulations on the big victory, Robert, and keep up the heavy training. We’ll be looking forward to having you back in the gym when you return.
Longtime Legends MMA members Dustin Mueller, Mike Orlandella, and Lawrence Tsang all crossed the “Throwdown Threshold” last month, competing in an amateur Pankration event.To boot, all three did so in victorious fashion, with Mueller and Tsang winning by unanimous decision, while Orlandella secured a kimura armbar for a second round submission.
“All three have been with me for a long time,” said Legends trainer Amir Rahnavardi, who has coached the trio since their first classes at Legends.
Tsang, wrestled in high school, found his pre-fight techniques as a fundamental key to getting the upper hand before even stepping into the ring.
“Lawrence is cool as steel.You could tell he’s competed his whole life.The other coach . . . comes up to me, he said ‘dude, there’s something up with that guy, bro.He’s way too relaxed’. . . He’s smiling and having a good time and walking around.Like you’d never think this guy is gonna fight right now and it’s his first fight,” explained Rahnavardi.
“I just remembered from wrestling [that] the key was to stay calm.Because that’s the biggest mistake, is if youget all worked up, get your adrenaline pumping, when you get into the ring, you’re alreadywarn out.You get tired out already.I tried to stay as calm as possible. . . I was also trying to intimidate, just by acting. . . That’s part of the fight, right?Just intimidate the other person, then you won’t have to fight, right?” said Tsang.
Tsang’s wrestling came into play during the bout as well: “Lawrence just basically controlled the guy.Beat him up a little bit on the stand-up, and then grabbed him and took him down, and would just control him.And he’s just a beast like that.His base is phenomenal.”
Tsang remembered, “he kicked me twice on my leg, and then after that, I just started kicking him as far as I could. Just to make him think twice about kicking me. . . And then, after awhile, I could feel my legs slowing down a little, so I used my wrestling to take him down, because I didn’t want to lose that advantage [that] I knew I had. . .Most of the match was pretty much me in his guard, hitting him in the stomach.”
Orlandella and his opponent, identified as “Nadir,” circled and traded cautious but powerful kicks during the first round.In round two, business quickly picked up, as the two exchanged kicks almost immediately.As Nadir charged in with a combination, Orlandella reached for a takedown and took it to the ground, quickly securing side mount.Nadir muted Orlandella’s offense with half-guard, but the Legends’ fighter peppered him with body shots before sinking in a kimura on the left arm, rolling through and wrenching hard for a quick tapout.
“Michael is a Kung Fu guy.He’s got a Kung Fu background. . . I used to call him Karate Mike,” explained Rahnavardi. “So before the fight, I go ‘dude, I want you to Kung Fu out, bro.All your weapons?Use, ‘em, dude.’And sure enough, he Kung Fu’ed out, dude. . .He does these crazy-ass side kicks, and weird whip kicks.And he was landing all that shit.He was phenomenal.”
The last Legends rep of the night was Dustin Mueller, whom Rahnavardi anointed Legends’ “Biggest Loser,” referring to his athletic makeover.Trimming down from a chubby 230 lbs. when he first joined the gym, Mueller fought at light heavyweight (205 lbs), facing a significant weight and experience advantage.
Although video of Mueller’s match was unavailable as of press time, Rahnavardi offered his own brand of play-by-play with this account:
“So, dude, he gets this fight.And he’s fighting a guy that’s bigger than him.And I’d seen the guy fight at the last fight.The guy wears a green wrestling singlet, and he’s tough. . . Dustin’s had zero fights and this guy’s had two or three fights. . . And I tell Dustin, I’m like ‘just go do your thing.Have fun’. . . And dude, he comes out, and he fuckin’ beats this guy up, dude.Boom, kick.Boom, turning his hip over completely.These long-ass legs just whipping.Dude, to the point where this guy was just panicked, bro . . . First two rounds, [Dustin] beats the crap out of him.Third round, got taken down, but the guy couldn’t do anything to him.Control, control.Won unanimous decision, dude.I’m tellin’ ya, as a coach, it was one of the most, like, gratifying moments of my whole career.”
“I was totally not ready to fight, at that time,” Mueller recalled.“Because I was just getting in the middle of getting my hands wrapped.I [only] had my right hand wrapped, and then I hear my name announced and I freaked out. . . They said ‘Dustin, you got two minutes to get to the ring.’It was crazy.I wasn’t even warmed up. . . I had to run back to the locker room to get my mouthpiece, and then my gloves.When I got to the ring and it started, I just wanted to chop this dude’s legs off. . . That was my game plan, really.Leg kicks.”
Of his work with Rahnavardi, Mueller said “I owe him a lot of credit for my victory, and my future victories too.He’s the one who’s trained me, my whole time here at Legends . . . when I got to Legends, I was like 230 lbs., and I was this fatass.I owe a lot to Amir, man.”
Legends MMA members obviously believe in taking care of their bodies, so it only makes sense that we’d want to take care of Mother Earth.To that end, we’re proud to announce that Ecco Ultra Lounge, LA’s first and only eco-friendly bar / nightclub, is now Legends MMA’s newest official monthly PPV viewing party location.
Starting December 12th, once per month, Ecco Ultra Lounge will reserve their entire space exclusively for Legends MMA members to watch live MMA broadcasts, which will be announced in advance on the Legends blog and social network sites (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace).
Our first party, as part of our holiday celebration, is this coming Saturday, December 12th, for UFC 107: PENN VS. SANCHEZ, live on pay per view.On the bill, UFC lightweight champion B.J. Penn defends his belt against the first-ever Ultimate Fighter winner, Diego “The Nightmare” Sanchez, in what could potentially prove to be one of the best matches of the year.Also in action is former UFC heavyweight champion Frank Mir vs. Chiek Kongo, and Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida.
Drink specials will be available, such as 2-for-1 beers.Food from next door can be ordered at the bar (trust me, they’ve got GREAT pizza and pasta). And best of all NO MORE SHOWING UP EARLY TO CLAIM A SEAT!!WE’VE GOT THE WHOLE PLACE TO OURSELVES!!!
Valet parking is available.And get this:hybrid cars get free valet parking!!
After a long year of discipline and hard workouts, come through to Ecco Ultra Lounge, watch some great fights, blow off some steam, and get in the holiday spirit!!All Legends members and friends are welcome!!
