Musings From Another Corner - Issue 3

Editors Comment Spending time losing is one of the hardest things that Tycooners go through but to most people it is a phase that comes and goes and it is how you react that makes all the difference. Learning from these periods end up making you a stronger and wiser manager that allows you to make the step up to the higher level of competition.

What is quite interesting is that the period seems to come to most people at one of two stages, either at the 1000 mark or at the 400 mark in the managerial rankings. This would suggest that this is the stage that natural talent or due diligence to the forum can take you before you need to start developing your own style and ideas. It is my feeling that this is showing that the community is working fantastically well at the moment as this natural bridge that changes managers from the learner to the sharer and they can then start to build their own groups of people up. It should be a proud thing for all of us.

Busy issue with several topics hit upon that should cover many aspects of the game. I would like to thank all the people who gave up their time to do interviews and articles to make the magazine so much better than it would have been without them and also look forward to some top guys contributing in the future which will be a pleasure for all, including myself, to read.

Looking into the future, there are some big events coming up, with several establish orgs now coming to 50 and 75th events which is a big milestone for the game as it shows that there is a strong underbelly of orgs out there running events week in and week out to keep everyone in the game happy and content. I would like to congratulate anyone who gets to one of these monumental marks as this should be seen as a major achievement considering the hard work it takes to consistently put on events.

Also, congratulations all the first champions in my org the VFC:E in Amsterdam, everyone seems to be having a good time and anyone who wants to join me, please pm me and we will sort something out.

Cardiff

Contents How Good Do You Think You Are? Interview With Camradio Greatest Grappling Art - Dave Crimson Sliders - What Are they Good For? Attack or Advance Position?

Interview With Blixxx Mannetosen On Understanding Trends Physical Revelations - Part 2 VFC 50 Preview Interview With Steve SFO Guide To The Fifa World Cup 2010 From Team Sports To MMA in the UK? VFC:E Reviews

Advertise In Musings From Another Corner each month -Its free

How Good Do You Think You Are? It is an immortal Tycoon question, one that every manager asks himself and many people ask the community but in reality it is almost impossible to give a precise and impartial opinion on of how far a fighter has got through its developmental phase. Not only is it dependant on knowing about how the stats combine to make a great fighter but also how do you compare yourself with one another without knowing where their secondary and physical stats are hidden from you. So, this is a comprehensive guide to where different fighters abilities should be and how you could potentially compare them with the rest of the world of Tycoon.

Why Is This Important?

This information categorises fighters which has several applications that should prove to be very useful in several different elements of the game.

- Know Your Level The game is nearly 18 months old now and frankly the difference between those who have been here from early on and had time to develop their abilities and learn from their mistakes is going to have a major advantage over the newcomer, even with the help available. This gap is only going to increase as the game continues to go to strength to strength, which is not a negative thing, it just means that there needs to be an idea implemented that you need to develop your way into a top organisation rather than setting yourself up to fail.

This does not mean that people cannot become great managers and challenge the best but it takes time to develop strategy and skills. Having a chart to show your progress means that money should not be the only consideration as a challenging but achievable level of competition should be in your mind as you choose an org as well.

- Development One of the keys to the game is even development across the three distinct elements (Primaries, Secondary's and Physicals) in a concentrated way to get the best out of your fighter. The guide is designed to show that you cannot be a monster in just one thing to be considered at a higher level than counterparts who are of lesser ability in your strength area but the other sides of their game can more than make up for that.

For those new to the game, this does not mean trying to build up every single element at the same time, this is about matching up skills so you excel in one or two elements at first and then build up other aspects.

- Guiding Fighters Many fighters of differing standards ask for help and this is something that we all do and there are many people in many different ways willing to give up their time to do so however one of the things that has become clear is the need for different advice for different levels of fighters. This is not unknown information and many experienced managers who have gone through these different stages themselves can offer this but the personnel opinion of the manager to what level they guess the fighter is can vary. Hopefully, this will be simplified by the level system as people will be able to directly attribute where the person needing help is compared to their own situations with fighters in the past.

Creation Of The Levels One of the great difficulties is trying to analyse the levels and also matching up the different approaches of building a fighter therefore there can be no linear program to put in place.

Another problem is making a scale that encompasses levels that are yet to be reached and covering those who are starting with new fighters from the varied ages between 22 and 18.

Another aspect that also needed to be included is the advantage of having a fighter with wonderful ability in the concentrated fields than it is being respectable across the board which further complicates the situation. All this needs to be combined without frightening people off as it could look like an impossible mountain to climb.

The Solution Breaking down the problem into two halves has been the most significant step forward as the advanced development fighter can go into the experienced chart from the middle and not the bottom which elevates the fighter who has been put together effectively from the one who has been put together in a more haphazard way.

This non-linear growth has also allows new fighters of all ages to come in and not be above the very bottom level but they will all progress in different ways and go through different levels. Subsequently this means that a fighters progress can be tracked compared to its counterparts and may reveal where some early builds falter and other builds with more long term ambitions may prosper later on which is an element that has to be considered.

The chart is broken down into the three elements of the fighters build to not emphasize the need to have all aspects to be a great fighter and fighters are unable to grow up the chart without addressing all elements. This is partly designed to separate those of equal ability on the outside compared to the hidden but also to encourage people to embrace these differing parts so that they have the best chance to have the best fighter that they can make.

Fighter Development Chart Table 1 - Experienced Fighters Class

Primaries

Secondary's

Physicals

A

Sensational Or higher In 3 Or more

Sensational Or Higher In 8 Or More

Sensational Or Higher In 4 Or More

B

Sensational Or Higher In 2 Or More

Sensational Or Higher In 6 Or More

Sensational Or Higher In 4 Or More

C

Sensational Or Higher In 1 Or More Wonderful Or Higher In 2 Or More

Sensational Or Higher In 4 Or More Wonderful Or Higher In 2 Or More

Sensational Or Higher In 3 Or More Wonderful Or More in 1 Or More

D

Wonderful Or Higher In 3 Or More

Wonderful Or Higher In 6 Or More

Sensational Or Higher In 2 Or More Wonderful Or Higher In 2 Or More

E

Wonderful Or Higher In 2 Or More Superb OR Higher In 1 Or More

Wonderful Or Higher In 4 Or More Superb Or Higher In 2 Or More

Wonderful Or Higher In 4 Or More

F

Wonderful Or Higher In 1 Or More Superb Or Higher In 2 Or More

Wonderful Or Higher In 2 Or More Superb Or Higher In 4 Or More

Wonderful Or Higher In 3 Or More Superb Or Higher In 1 Or More

G

Superb Or Higher In 3 Or More

Superb Or Higher In 6 Or More

Wonderful Or Higher In 2 Or More Superb Or Higher In 2 Or More

H

Superb Or Higher In 2 Or More Proficient Or Higher In 1 Or More

Superb Or Higher In 4 Or More Proficient Or Higher In 2 Or More

Wonderful Or Higher In 1 Or More Superb Or Higher In 3 Or More

I

Superb Or Higher In 1 Or More Proficient Or Higher In 2 Or More

Superb Or Higher In 2 Or More Proficient Or Higher In 4 Or More

Wonderful Or Higher In 2 Or More Proficient Or Higher In 2 Or More

Table 2 - Developmental Fighters Class

Primaries

Secondary's

Physicals

A

Wonderful Or Higher In 1 Or More Proficient Or Higher in 1 Or More Competent Or Higher In 1 Or More

Wonderful Or Higher In 2 Or More Proficient Or Higher in 2 Or More Competent Or Higher In 2 Or More

Wonderful Or Higher In 2 Or More Superb Or Higher In 2 Or More

B

Wonderful Or Higher In 1 Or More Competent Or Higher In 2 Or More

Wonderful Or Higher In 2 Or More Competent Or Higher In 4 Or More

Wonderful Or Higher In 2 Or More Superb Or Higher In 1 Or More

C

Superb Or Higher In 1 Or More Proficient Or Higher in 1 Or More Competent Or Higher In 1 Or More

Superb Or Higher In 2 Or More Proficient Or Higher in 2 Or More Competent Or Higher In 2 Or More

Wonderful Or Higher In 1 Or More Superb Or Higher In 1 Or More Proficient Or Higher In 1 Or More

D

Superb Or Higher In 1 Or More Competent Or Higher In 2 Or More

Superb Or Higher In 2 Or More Competent Or Higher In 4 Or More

Superb Or Higher In 2 Or More Proficient Or Higher In 2 Or More

E

Proficient Or Higher in 2 Or More Competent Or Higher In 1 Or More

Proficient Or Higher in 4 Or More Competent Or Higher In 2 Or More

Proficient Or Higher In 4 Or More

F

Proficient Or Higher in 1 Or More Competent Or Higher In 2 Or More

Proficient Or Higher in 2 Or More Competent Or Higher In 4 Or More

Proficient Or Higher In 2 Or More Competent Or Higher In 2 Or More

G

Competent Or Higher In 3 Or More

Competent Or Higher In 6 Or More

Competent Or Higher In 4 Or More

H

Competent Or Higher In 2 Or More Feeble Or Higher In 1 Or More

Competent Or Higher In 4 Or More Feeble Or Higher In 2 Or More

Competent Or Higher In 3 Or More Feeble Or Higher In 1 Or More

I

Competent Or Higher In 1 Or More Feeble Or Higher In 2 Or More

Competent Or Higher In 1 Or More Feeble Or Higher In 5 Or More

Competent Or Higher In 2 Or More Feeble Or Higher In 2 Or More

J

Feeble Or Higher In 3 Or More

Feeble Or Higher In 6 Or More

Feeble Or Higher In 4 Or More

K

Feeble Or Higher In 2 Or More Abysmal Or Higher In 1 Or More

Feeble Or Higher In 4 Or More Abysmal Or Higher In 2 Or More

Feeble Or Higher In 2 Or More Abysmal Or Higher In 2 Or More

L

Feeble Or Higher In 1 Or More Abysmal Or Higher In 2 Or More

Feeble Or Higher In 3 Or More Abysmal Or Higher In 3 Or More

Feeble Or Higher In 2 Or More Abysmal Or Higher In 1 Or More

M

Feeble Or Higher In 1 Or More Abysmal Or Higher In 1 Or More

Feeble Or Higher In 3 Or More

Feeble Or Higher In 2 Or More Abysmal Or Higher In 1 Or More

How To Use The Table?

The table is supposed to be as flexible as possible and including all possible builds and developmental phases so the chart is full of the statement "or higher" which indicates that this can be anything higher than the indicated amount. Below are some examples to where a fighter would feature on the chart.

Fighter A - Brand New 18 Year Old Stats Boxing - Wonderful (111) / MT - Useless (2) / Wrestling (11) - Abysmal / BJJ -Useless (2) Punches - Wonderful (111) / Strike Def- Wonderful (111) / Takedown Def - Wonderful (111) / The Rest - Useless (2) Agility - Respectable (61) / Flexibility - Useless (2) / Speed - Mediocre (43) / Strength Useless (2) / Cardio - Absymal (11) / Balance - Respectable (61) This fighter would fall into the lowest category at first, position 2M. Even though the fighter has wonderful statistics in both the primary and secondary sections, he does not have the critical final element to go into any other group as he is useless in every other section.

Fighter B - Feeble Mike The fighter commonly known as a "Michael Bisping" build is a fighter when first created and all the stats evenly distributed over all elements of the fighter. This equals feeble for all fighters between the ages of 18 through to 21 with 22 year olds having feeble primaries, mediocre secondary's and feeble physicals.

This is not a strong build which will be shown in the next stage but for now this fighter would be significantly higher in the chart at 2J as he achieves all the objectives of that section.

6 Months Time (or 2 game years) As this is an example, I have arbitrarily added 140 points to the primary, 200 to the secondary column and 300 points to the physical column. The increase in physical column representing either a person doing cardio and strength training or doing the same weeks in circuit training. This has no real world comparison, it is for example purposes only.

Fighter A The manager decided the fighter needed to develop wrestling up to proficient and gain a purple belt in BJJ. At the same time, he has built his defensive grappling to strong, submissions to proficient and take downs to competent. The very first thing was for the manager to increase his strength and cardio to wonderful and with a few Circuit Training sections rising his agility and balance to superb.

This would mean that this fighter has developed from the position of 2M and now matches up to the criteria of 2A ready to progress into the experienced table.

Fighter B Just like when the manager made Feeble Mike he has raised all his levels equally. All his physicals are now at respectable, his secondary's at competent and physicals at proficient.

This fighter may look better rounded but will definitely be at a disadvantage in both the stand up and wrestling while it will be relatively equal on the floor.

This disadvantage is presented in the chart as the fighter which started 4 levels above Fighter A will have only progressed from level 2J to level 2G, 6 places below Fighter A. Questions And Answers My fighter is in one group for physicals but a lower one for my secondary's and physicals.

Which group am I in?

To qualify for a group you have to match all the criteria. The fighter is only as good as the fighters lowest statistical level as a poor group will hamper your fighters abilities.

Can my fighter be in more than one group?

All groups are mutually exclusive which means that no group should overlap and allow a fighter can be in two groups at once.

If this becomes a possibility, then I have made a mistake.

This doesn't differentiate the different statistics? Why aren't boxing, wrestling etc looked at differently?

This is deliberate to equal out all of these different situations. Which is better and tactics associated with them is not the intention of this chart, it is simply to help people qualify where they are.

If a fighter is built and the primary's and secondary's don't match up, won't this chart be misleading?

Hopefully people will have used the available information and their own common sense to match up fighters so that they can the best chance to win. However, yes the chart could be misleading if this occurrence happens but frankly they would have far bigger problems than this chance.

Who is the better fighter, one that qualifies for 2A or one that qualifies for 1I? There is a certain amount of opinion in this but in general, someone who is at 2A will have an advantage over someone who is at 1I as the all round advantage but will more likely than not get beaten by the others fighter strong ability.

However as in all cases it depends on the match up and the managers ability to set sliders.

How do I know when to move up?

You simply look at your fighters statistics and compare it to the chart. Each stat has at least two full pop levels involved. There is no quarter pops involved so that it is fully accessible to non VIP users.

How do I know when to know when to move from the developmental chart to the experienced chart? Do I have to join from the bottom?

The limit you need to pass over to get into the experienced chart is to hold proficient in 3 primary's, proficient in 6 secondary's and Wonderful in 2 physicals with another 2 proficient.

You would then join this chart where you fit in so if you already have wonderful and superb stats you could potentially join the experienced chart half way up.

Why is proficient across the board been set as the lower border for the experienced chart?

Not only is it half way up to the chart but it has been set that way as it is approximately what you should gain with an average learner at a good to better gym in two to three game years (or 6 to 9 months). Those who can afford elite or private gyms will likley develop quicker than this however this has been based on the idea of a player starting and finally becoming experienced in mmatycoon as a whole.

Why is level A1 so high? Surely no one can reach that?

No one really knows what level a fighter could potentially get to in MMA Tycoon as the game is still relatively young and the chart has been made to include any potential improvements in the game. Will it be achievable, I honestly do not know but it is certainly something for the best in the game to aim for.

What is the highest level now?

Another unanswerable question. Somebody will have to volunteer where there best fighters land on the chart before we can know this How fast should I rise up the chart?

There is no measurement for learning speed in these charts and a prediction could depend very much on the route a fighter chooses to develop. Some fighter who look to improve their top abilities first are not going to rise up the chart quickly until they move on to weaker aspects while other will slow down when it gets tougher to raise their ability.

This should not be used to gage learning speed.

Could a fighter full down the chart?

Currently the only way for the fighter to fall down the chart would be if you did not train for several weeks and allow your cardio to drop down and this could mean you fall the physical list.

This will, most likely, change in the future as the fighter ages and starts to lose some of his ability however that will not happen in the game until fighters reach 30 or more and the owner has yet to signal when that will even be implemented.

Is this official In no way is this an official chart. It has been made for the use of the community if they choose to use it or not however it is simply a supplimetary part of the game and has no official standard within mmatycoon.

Interview With Camradio "Remi Lebeau aka Camradio is one of the very best exponents of finding a niche in the Tycoon market and using this to create great designs that stand out from the crowd. Highly opinionated and on the very forefront of the movement on how clothing company's should be changing for the better, this is a revealing interview on how clothing company's work from the inside, how they get their inspiration and what the future may hold. Marvel Combat is definitely a store you will want to check out http://www.mmatycoon.com/clothingpublic.php?cid=1171 ."

I think it would be interesting to see how a clothing company actually works and what additions would make the experience more rewarding. Very few people understand how things work outside what they do in the game Well the way it works is first you have to find templates which are basically just a blank shirt. From there you use a photo editing program to design the item. Once you have the item you upload it. From there you have to actually order the shirt into your store. The more of a single item you order in the cheaper the cost per item, so it you order 100 shirts it may be like $10 per item where as if you order 200 it will be $8 per item. So obviously buying in bulk is more profitable, but obviously is more expensive upfront. Also the monthly cap becomes an issue as well. As it stands right now you can order 3500 items a month. Once you reached 3500 you cant order anything until the next month.

Before you can do that, you need to come up with the designs in the first place. Where do you get the inspiration?

Well your inspirations really depend on what kind of store you want to be. I would be considered a specialty store all my designs revolve around either retro videogames or marvel comics. I also create custom clothes for gyms and orgs.

When designing clothing I usually just jump right with a logo or item and try to base the colors and design around it.

That inspiration sets the good from the great clothing shops apart. What made you decide to go down the niche market route?

Well there was two reason I chose to make this type of store. Firstly I have a passion for it.

I grew up reading,watching and playing this stuff so I enjoy making everything. Secondly there were already a bunch of big stores with people who are big into graphic design and I didnt want to try and compete with them.

So who do you think do the best clothes in mma tycoon?

Well I obviously have a little bit of a bias towards my stuff solely on the fact I like the characters but I would probably say 5th Round in Vegas Certainly one of the top places to go. Have you got a favourite design you have made?

I would probably say my Gambit Designs he is my favorite Marvel Character and I redid that design multiple times before I finally decided to stock it. However have a new design that because of the 3500 cap I cant stock yet but when I can stock it on June 1st I think it might become my favourite Would you like to tell me the inspiration behind the new products?

Sure well my original design were all from Marvel Comics so Spiderman, X-Men, Iron etc. I also carried a few that people not be as familiar with like Deadpool. I grew up reading the comics, watching the cartoons and to be honest I collected Marvel Collector Cards as well.

I decided that I want to expand a bit since there isnt a Huge market for Comic Book shirts so I started with my other childhood obsession: Video Games. grew up playing the original Nintendo and I've actually owned every Nintendo system ever made including the Horrible Virtual Boy

Is there any other ideas that might be on the horizon?

I am going to be making some 90's tv shows designs. I already have some transformers designs and am currently working on some G.I. Joe and Ninja Turtles designs. Basically I will be the place to go if you are a part of the Slacker Generation What are your opinions on making clothing stores better? think the biggest change that needs to happen is the 3500/month cap. By having a cap it makes me somewhat reluctant to make new designs because I won't be able to stock everything. I shouldnt have to discontinue a line to launch a new one.

How do you think the best way of going about that is? Straight increase in the cap or another option? think the best way to go about it would be that you could buy a warehouse that would increase the total amount you can stock. It would be a onetime fee. Kind of like how supplement companies save up to research a higher quality product.

Would you suggest that there should be different levels of warehouse?

Sure I think it could range from a 500 Small warehouse all the way up to 3500 Corporate warehouse. The other good thing about this would be right now clothing companies don't really have anything to spend money on Is that 500 + (The original 3500) or just 500?

Supplement Companies can make higher quality items. Orgs can pay fighters more/Get Bigger names. Clothing store can't do anything. d yes no matter what you should keep the original 3500 so it would be 3500 + 500 Do you believe in clothing of different quality material?

What do Well the way I see it I think it defeats the purpose of creating a good design. Why bother spending time on a design if someone is only going to buy it for the quality? There

is only two reasons someone buys a supplement: The Quality and the Price. There should only be two reasons to buy Clothing: Design and Price you think of the proposal of having different quality of materials?

On that note, what do you think about the sale of really cheap clothes without designs?

Whats the point? The only people who are gonna buy them are new players without any money. Anyone who wants to really enjoy the game won't buy them.

is there anything else you would like to comment on in the mma tycoon world?

I just want to say thanks to a few people, Steve the owner of the SFO and Dudley the owner of Biobonds Supplements both in Montreal. The three of us all started our businesses at the same time and created the Goodfellas Alliance. Without them Marvel Combat wouldnt be where it is today.

And That is some advice I'd give to anyone starting a new business, regardless of which type, connecting with other businesses is the easiest way to grow your business and frankly it makes the game more enjoyable.

Submission Grappling - Not Just The Home To The Brazilians It seems like every time, when somebody manages to do something worth noting on the ground these days in Mixed Martial Arts, it's a real showing of excellent Brazilian Jui Jitsu.

When people speak about submission grappling at all, the general feeling is that, it is Brazilian Jui Jitsu.

I personally, don't think they are wrong to think this way. After all, Royce Gracie rammed his martial art, right into the minds of 86'000 people on November 12th 1993, with an unassuming, yet technically pure display of grappling that not many of the people watching, saw coming.

You all may know too, that Brazilian Jui Jitsu wasn't the first grappling art. You all may know that Combat Sambo is out there. You might even know, that original Pankration dates back to at least 648 BC. But how much do you know about Catch as Catch Can? What do the names Ad Santel, Karl Gotch and George Hackenschmidt mean to you? Where did the phrase "No Holds Barred" come from?

This is a comparison, between the old art of BJJ, and the even older art of "Hooking".

To speak about one combat discipline these days, and especially about its history, is difficult.

So many different disciplines, intertwined with so many others, borrowing small bits, learning new tricks and tweaking themselves, until we get them today, where a lot are much of the same. What i will try to do is provide a comparison between the two arts, and hopefully show the subtle and not so subtle differences.

The Closed Guard Ok, the closed guard is a staple of any serious Jui jitsu practitioner. A really good closed guard, is actually a rarity amongst MMA fighters, but when utilised properly, can be a great defensive and offensive weapon. I have heard many times, that Catch Wrestlers are inferior because they don’t use the closed guard. It is said they don’t use it because they don't like to be on their back, and they are complacent enough to expect to be in top position all of the time.

I feel this is not true. There is a version of the closed guard in Catch. I agree, it is not used in the way Jits guys use it. But it does exist. The bottom line on the closed guard from a Catch wrestling point of view, is if you’re going to be a Catch guy, and not compete in MMA or ADCC, there is no need for a full closed guard. A closed guard does not stop you being pinned in a catch wrestling bout, so why risk it?

As I said, there is a guard from bottom taught to Catch Wrestlers, and to be honest, its main uses are for the application of leg locks, and for exploding out of a bad position, to be somewhere where you can control your opponent better. I personally do use closed guard, as it is a very useful tool. To say it is a glaring hole is rather silly.

Useless holds and locks Another thing i have been hit with before. Catch wrestling concentrates on too many "useless holds and locks". What they refer to, is hammerlocks, slicers, crushers and certain joint manipulations.

I sometimes think sooner or later somebody is going to tell me "a Hurricanrana doesn't work in MMA". This sort of argument is not easy to counter, partly because it’s a little idiotic and also as far as breaking down how effective a hammerlock and be, or a calf slicer. They have been done in MMA, but they are rare. All I can really say on the subject is, how many Gogoplatas and Omoplatas have you seen in MMA? Not many I imagine, does that mean they dont work? No of course it doesn't. Aoki bested the Sengoku World Champion Hirota

with a nasty Hammerlock on New Years Eve 2009.

I can understand the mentality of passing over a pain hold for a joint manipulation or choke hold, as they are more absolute. Your opponent has no option than lose with a choke, you can render somebody unable to continue with a limb break, with slicers and crushers however, you are simply testing your opponents pain threshold. This may be a reason why we do not see many in MMA. Lockflows "Lockflows do not train you for a real time grappling situation".

So, something that is used in Catch Wrestling a lot, is the old lockflow. This entails a half speed spar, where one of the guys, transitions from lock to sub, this is done to teach proper application of holds and to train the mind to spot the openings. One of the big questions asked with lockflows, is why bother training them, when you can just spend your time grapple sparring for real?

As far as I am aware, lockflows are not really utilised in any other martial art like they are in Catch, guys drill holds, but not so much as go for full lockflows. My opinion on them, is they are excellent for perfecting your skill, repetition is the key. Joe Rogan said that any low percentage hold can become a high percentage hold if you train it enough, to me that rings true. When you spar, the same options do not always present themselves, therefore it is difficult to perfect a particular hold that you’re not totally familiar with.

People think lockflows are used instead of sparring, when in fact they are used alongside the sparring.

This leads me to the most important difference between the two arts. The big difference is Philosophy.

Philosophy

The more i research, the more I realise that every style and every technique are more alike than not. What separates them is the broad philosophy and tactics of the arts. Even then, the individual styles of the instructors and practitioners make overlap all those arts a lot.

Submission before position is a myth within Catch, although you are encouraged to grab hold if you can, out of position. BJJ is billed as more of a chess match, position first, then submission. Philosophies differ, as far as attacking and defending go, and also in the way other situations are approached. But there is much borrowed and traded from one art to another, that with guys grappling, it would be difficult who is trained in Catch, who in BJJ and who in Sambo.

In the end, realise that everyone has their own style and type of ground fighting. Strictly segregating techniques and philosophies into any one style limits yourself too much. You have to learn or experience as many as you can, then pick what works for you.

There is definitely room in MMA for more Catch practitioners, and some of the holds other grapplers may deem unusual can catch people off guard. Wrestlers like Randy Couture and Brock Lesnar, have sought out Catch techniques to supplement their already elite level wrestling, I would imagine catch suits them better, it’s a more rigid, aggressive, strength based style of grappling, all about top control, and smothering your opponent.

Thank you for reading, I assume people will disagree with certain points of this article, and may want to take me to task on certain points, that’s cool if you do, I hope you enjoyed it for what it was, and any criticisms or discussions are welcome.

Dave Crimson "Dave Crimson runs the Vicious Apparel, a clothing company on the London highstreet and is a highly active member of the Vicious Fighting Alliance. A manager in the top 10% of the game, he is touted to be one of the managers to keep an eye on in the future"

Sliders - What Re They Good For? To Strike? To Sub? Or to Advance?

It is a generalised statement to make but one that seems to ring true with a great deal of the Tycoon population that sliders for the ground game is more difficult to get right than the stand up and this comes out, certainly in many managers first successful builds however anyone with ambitions to come out and rival those at the very top need to get to grips with the ground. Possible the most difficult aspect of this is devising how much you want to strike or sub the opponent and at the same time knowing that there may be an advantage being in a superior position with some even questioning if there is any advantage to improving position.

Real Life MMA The idea of the advantageous position is a hot topic in most mixed martial arts circles at the moment as there are strong arguments being raised that the holding of a key position should only be as effective as the damage and fight ending capacity it holds, with defending such positions being seen as just as important as the offensive side. Should a wrestler who holds the top position in guard causing little or no damage really be considered the dominant fighter, especially if the opponent is landing hammerfists from the bottom and how about scoring submission attempts, especially from the bottom, who is the aggressor and controlling the situation even if the move is reversed. It is something that is bound to be evaluated for some time to come.

This added complication makes it far more difficult to establish the worth of the different situations as it doesn't have the nice clear defining lines that other aspects of the sport behold. Consequently this also becomes embossed in the mind of fighters who see the different ways to win through moving and attempting submissions from different angles as a way to win but may not fully understand why certain things are better than others, outside it being simplified to the overly used clichĂŠs of it being easier or scoring in the judges mind which are of course true but only half the story.

The main reason for improving position is to nullify your opponents potential ability to stop you from completing a move, either a strike or a submission attempt while focusing on positioning yourself into a place where the opponent is weakest which can be generalised but may not be necessarily absolute. The difference between a true student of the game and someone who has learnt the rudimentary functions to a high level is that the student can identify where a fighter is least resistant to a hold while the rope learnt fighter will simply go to the process of achieving a pre-planned position.

Emphasis of this point can be seen in the case of back position which used to almost guarantee the fight ending with a rear naked choke however this simply does not happen

anymore, even at lower level (outside the UFC. Strikeforce etc) events where people have learnt to relax through the hold and only those who apply it with skill land it with first time regularity. Sometimes it is better to hold at side control, especially against certain strikers who have less flexibility in highly muscled torsos that allows for kimura variants to be achieved with far more ease as the muscle simply hasn't been trained to defend that position.

Striking from the mount may be the goal but in reality how much is this an advantage or can it be seen as an option to be used only when it is beneficial. Getting out of guard is always the strikers first goal as the threat of the triangle is one that cannot be ignored no matter how well versed in submission defence a fighter is. However from there, it is often about your opponent and your own trust in your power that can make the difference. Striking with short punches and elbows may not cause the ko damage of the full mount position but the conservative use of weight and grinding can cut and tire and opponent before you open up.

How much this all applies to the game is dependent on your view however following these trends is worthwhile to all mmatycoon managers as these real life situations will be emulated in the code as Mike keeps it up to date and changes it to the times. Especially with the potential income of round by round fighting schedules, it may be even more noteworthy to pay attention to different tactics.

History of the Submission and Submission Spamming Submission spamming has been a defining and community scarring experience that effected a great deal of the old guard and is this mystic happening to those new ones who may not understand the effect that it had on the game. As it happens, I joined the game at almost the exact time the idea of submission spamming was being taken apart so I saw the reprisals but never experienced the full effect.

For those who don't fully understand why sub spamming was different to the other trends that MMA Tycoon has experienced, sub spamming was actually a flaw in the system where the defence of a submission took far more energy than executing the move which meant that eventually the fighter defending would be exhausted and the submission would be achieved. This meant that fighters with brown belts which were the highest standard level for BJJ at the time could simply go for submission after submission and be almost guaranteed the victory. Apart from going for the opponent with the same vigour there was no defence against it so the system was fundamentally changed which was one of the most revolutionary moves towards a more complete game that Tycoon has gone through.

However, the big knock on effect from this time onwards is the development of ground sliders are six to eight months behind those stand up sliders which are so effective. This development of the sliders has started to increase with the overall improvement of fighters who need to be great in every area so this is exciting time for ground sliders but it also means that the various schools of thought are currently standing side by side with their individual effectiveness, especially in different situations are being closely examined.

Another side effect of the submission spamming era is that the current ascendancy of ground and pound with managers finding it usefulness rising as development increases. In this article, it will only touch on GnP as a by product of the slider but a closer examination of submission verses floor strikes is in the works.

Different Schools Of Thought More than any other subject, the way people approach this very significant slider is completely different with two predominant ideas coming to the fore.

Attack Until Submission Approach Some may argue it is a relic from the sub spamming days but it has proved on numerous occasions to be an effective technique for fighters with high cardio and strength especially when paired with a clear advantage in BJJ level.

The idea to the option is that from which ever position, especially as takedowns are often into advantageous positions from the very beginning and be very aggressive in throwing strikes and looking for the submission, keeping the opponent very busy, which both drains their energy and doesn't allow them to do anything offensive in reply. With the introduction

of top and bottom sliders this can be taken a step further with a fighter from the bottom throwing submissions up to stop the opponent landing anything serious while mixing it up more on top where strikes can often open up the submission.

Countering this technique can be extremely difficult as those who go all in on this approach will be going with 80% or more aggression along with setting the action slider all the way to the left and will simply not look to advance position at all. Looking to control an opponent in this situation can prove to be almost impossible and has seen many a downfall for the over aggressive striker hoping to be stood up by the referee.

Control and Advance Technique This is the idea of looking to improve position, using various mixture of passing the guard, dropping shots to weaken the opponent and then look to gain the submission. It requires understanding control of the opponent, while being busy enough for the referee not to stand it up and still tiring out the opponent to make the submission easier.

Significant advances of this strategy have been undertaken recently, especially with the ascendancy of the multifaceted super fighters that dominate the very top organisations in the game. Looking to improve your place is key when the opponent as the ability to avoid your strikes and defend your submission attempts and even use these missed attempts to improve the position and end up in a better position or even sweeping into the top position.

This can happen from any position at the top level with people bucking out of mount and using the scramble to land an armbar which has happened on more than one occasion and it suddenly becomes difficult to argue against this more cautious of approaches.

Finally the qualities of GSP and BJ Penn are being realised as these fighters are able to emulate their real life contemporises as they show off their skills of wrestling and grappling to the utmost until they have bamboozled their opponent to give up the submission.

Advancing and the Stick Position With the introduction of the stick position, advancing position has become a more expectable way to go as you can then choose where you want to position your fighter and use this to control the fight on the floor while not worrying about always looking for the next advancement in position. This is hugely important as every fighter can now afford to improve position to the one most of the fighters choosing and this will alter from fighter to fighter.

Primary objective is to get to one of three positions which are side control, full mount and back control. These are best as they allow your fighter to land shots with less defence between you and him and the opponent cannot land submissions nearly as easily as the time when you can use their legs to entangle. This should always be given hard consideration when choosing your approach to the floor and it also gives you far more freedom to how you get your advance slider.

Wrestling verses BJJ One of the biggest revelations for the new player is that the ground game is not purely the domain of the BJJ fighter and that wrestling is a key ingredient for the man who wants to dominate against the best. The proportions to which is most important is certainly for debate especially with the difference of being on your back compared to being on top but for these purposes it should be remembered that there is a definite difference between fighters with a combination of talents than just being quality in one area.

The Key To Discovering Which Method Is For Your Fighter The easy answer to this is looking for everything in combination as the ground game is far more interlinked than the stand up game with wrestling and BJJ having a large bearing depending on the situation as does several secondary's depending on what is occurring. This means that tactics for one type of fighter may simply not be viable for another and makes the advance position slider far more complicated than it seemingly should be. So from this point on the guide is broke down into some classic builds, both in beginner and advanced forms to look at the advantages of a particular method and how you could potentially combat it.

The BJJ Brown Belt One of the fighters most new managers attempt to get the best out of, a fighter with the full 110 BJJ, submissions and defensive grappling, looking to drag the fight to the floor in any way that they can and slip the submission on for victory. These fighters, assuming that they

have positioned themselves in an organisation of people with similar abilities, are a prime candidate for the all out attack technique as they can raise both cardio and strength up with ease and then be in the position that the fighters opposing can be simply overwhelmed.

In fact, the idea of a fighter who holds a BJJ of at least two belts (assuming equally good secondary's) better than his opponent with similar or inferior wrestling can simply use the failed submission attempts to advance position and then the next attempt will be in a better position to get the finish.

If you r against a man like this the most obvious advice is not to allow yourself to be taken down using conservative striking to stop the fight getting to such a dangerous place however there are some occasions when it seems that it cannot be avoided. In that case, there are two options although neither are ideal, the first is to control the opponent but this often only a temporary delay hoping for a refs stand up or getting to the feet.

The other way, which is relevant here, is to look to advance position on almost every occasion looking to punish the opponents mistakes to get back to the best position or even ideally sweep which does happen surprisingly often even when the man on the bottom is the inferior fighter. It is a dangerous tactic to take but can be very effective against this tactic especially if your fighter has better cardio than the opponent as he may simply be able to wear him out.

The Wonderful Wrestler Time for ground and pound.

When this lands it may possible be the most devastating single attack in MMA Tycoon and wonderful wrestlers who can land it however the key here is simply to make sure that these shots land and to avoid the submission attempt from the bottom. This means that getting to the right position is all important, which ideally means full mount although side control in a fight where stand ups could be critical for the fighters chances of winning would is also highly effective.

The balance of attack and positional sense is further complicated by the amount of missing a GnP fighter does when in the full guard which can lead to a stand up due to the game engine. This prioritises getting to the advanced position and setting the slider to 70% improve position can be seen as a good move although a 60/40 split is not uncommon. This technique needs to be partnered with high amounts on the finish slider as keeping very active will make and break such a fighter. One thing for sure, the knowledge that the devastation could be swift when in that position should make ground and pound machines very happy.

Stopping it though is all about control and getting back to the favourable, missing position.

Look to slip back into guard with high advance position on the floor but on the whole it is more important to control the position as the mixture of inactivity and missing is often the best way to get the fight back to the feet. Looking to get up against a wrestler is often a bad move as they hold superior control on the mat and it is far more difficult to do which further supports the technique.

Half and Half Fighters who have a purple belt and respectable wrestling are a common site in lower level orgs and can often be a mix of very successful and complete failures which is often a mix of sliders and hiddens but the reality is that you can only get to grips with one of these things, the other is down to lady luck herself.

What all managers of these fighters need to know is that they can do a bit of everything so that is exactly what they should do, looking to mix up strike attempts with passing and looking for the submission at the end while making sure you keep control and position.

Consequently you can often find an opponent's weak area and exploit it with glee using this mix. Depending on opponent, this means that your advancement slider should never go to far away from the middle as these mixture of attempts can really bamboozle an opponent.

Defence on the other hand can often be down to aggression. using this to look for the submission as they throw down and it is a common occurrence to see these type of fighters

caught in a guillotine as the opportunist strikes even if the fight looks like they have a disadvantage.

The advanced Fighters Of Tycoon Land This period of dominance will come to an end for most fighters as they work on their weaknesses, so do their opponents and in the end they become equally matched, especially as the concentration is often on the defensive aspect of the fight rather than offensive side.

Deciding the correct tactic from this point is often down to fight to fight circumstances but it certainly is the death of the subbing to win tactic as these fighters simply do not have the situation where they will be exhausted into retreat nor get carried away with throwing down from a poor position. This is the time that earning the ideal spot really comes to the fore, with managers starting to understand that fighter will loosen up and naturally attack more once they have achieved their ideal position and if the opportunity to get the back opens up they will take if their advance position slider is high enough. However if the fight goes to decision the fighter who works hardest and catches the judges eye can definitely win so the balance has to be sort as everything else does.

One thing is for sure, this slider will not win or lose a fight for you but it is a key ingredient for laying the base of a philosophy that clearly can make all the difference and like every slider it needs to be carefully considered before all fights happen.

Interview With Blixxx " Mike Smith aka Blixxx is a eccentric character who is very active in the forums with his alliance and has recently opened up an event where the alliances are putting up or shutting up in an epic battle between some of the top alliances there is. Famous for his outbursts and sometimes deconstructive arguments, Blixxx has a lot to say" The event is all about alliances. How important do you believe alliances are in mmatycoon?

Let me start by saying I've only had VIP since FEB and that is also when I started playing "seriously".

With that being said, when I first started I wanted to be a loner and fly solo and have no part of an alliance. Then one day I said f*ck it and opened the doors to The Church Of Elijah on April 4th.

So to answer your question, they're important if they are actually alliances. I've had to deal with some of the flakiest so called alliances preparing for AW. Some members of some alliances had absolutely no clue what was going on. They didnt know who was buying what, who was making what, who was kissing who etc.

You have your own alliance, what does this add to your experience?

If you're lucky enough to be part of an alliance like "The Church" it definitly adds to the game. I think our comradery is second to none. We've got Havoc64 and Mr. Terror in here so its never a dull moment.

We're also an alliance where everybody talks to everyone, we're not one of those "Walmart" alliances where they have like 80+ members with no common interest. They slap a tag on their company and say we're an alliance. and one of the things we like to do is send this picture to all the fighters we beat...it let's them know who we are.

Did this lead you to come up with the idea of the Alliance Wars?

The whole idea of AW is to put everybody on a level battlefield. I questioned the validity of the alliances with outstanding win percentages and such, and after doing some research I came to the conclusion that most (not all) of these great records and great fighters are because they've been training the longest, they've been around since the beginning of the game. Also some of them were training in the "sparring spam" era. So you think you're a great strategist...f*cking prove it, on a level battlefield.

AW1 had what we call a "Meat Grinder" format where your fighter fights almost immediately, this adds a new element to strategy. It's like going to war with only shotguns. How well can you strategize with limited weapons. Thats just one format, we'll introduce other formats with future AW's.

Alliance Wars picked up a lot of interest very quickly. Do you feel that some people felt they had something to prove especially as yourself along with other people had questioned certain ones validness?

I think people are just like me...they want to know! It's also a great way to get your alliance's name out there. The forums have new people joining all the time and the forums are where people get their "news". The most popular alliances right now are the ones that are in the tournament. Prior to AW how else would your alliance shine?

You had your first round of fights, were there any big surprises or even some results that you expected but others may not have?

I'm pretty surprised The Church didn't advance LOL. Who was your stand out performer from AW1?

I'm really impressed with Boondock Fight Team's fighter, he's the smallest fighter in the open weight tournament...he's not even a heavyweight. I'm also impressed with THE STEEL PENN ALLIANCE's fighter. These two alliances are facing each other in the QuarterFinals and theres been some serious smack talk. I'm excited.

There is a great rivalry forming between Steel Penn and Boondock, do you see this carrying over to a more extensive campaign between the two alliances at a later date?

If it does, they can always take their fights to neutral ground at The C.O.E. : Convention Center http://mmatycoon.com/orgpublic.php?oid=1678 How do you see the event progressing from this points It's all exciting, there are some real good match ups for the Quarters on June 11th and some of the losers of the first round are also fighting. http://mmatycoon.com/orgupcomingeventpublic.php?EvID=68396 Is there any other tournaments like this coming out of The Church in the near future?

They'll definitely be more AW's and we're working on other types of tournaments, but just as long as theres AW we're all happy.

Finally do you have any comments to make about forum posterboy Murderface?

Murderface...I'll just say...we're all glad he's on our team.

Mannetosen On Understanding Trends Before I start typing this article (even though it's me rambling more than an article), I just want to get this out of the way: I really don't know much about the sport of MMA compared to a lot of guys here, and I've never claimed to. This will be written based on my limited knowledge of the sport, and a bit less limited knowledge of this game.

As long as I've been playing this game, people have been complaining about parts of the game mechanics, be it the amount of 5 seconds knockouts, the dreaded clinch, the lack of power in knees, or sub spamming. Sub spamming, together with takedown spamming, was overpowered in the sense that you could keep bumrushing them like a gotard with no regards for energy or strategy, and still win eventually. Heck, even the mighty YB Sol was at around feeble wrestling when he was terrorizing the LHW division.

The other things, on the other hand, are balanced. If you get knocked out in five seconds, one of the following may be true: 1) Your chin is horrible 2) Your opponent has awe-inspiring power 3) Your striking defense sucks 4) You got screwed over by the game 5) All of the above The game, just like real life, allow for flash knockouts. This usually happens when you're badly outmatched in the striking department, be it technically, or just hiddens. The game might roll an absurd damage roll for your opponent (I'm not gonna pretend like I understand coding, as I barely know how to operate my cell phone), and you might lose because of that.

Your black belt may also get subbed by a blue belt, because there is a tiny possibility of it in the gaming motor. Besides, if your brown\black gets subbed by a inferior grappler, it might simply be because you decided to hang out in a position where it's possible to get subbed, instead of working your way to a position that's truly dominant, like side control or mount.

A couple of months ago, people were up in arms over "clinch spamming". Fighters with superior clinch abilities were able to control the fight, and this made many people call for nerfs. What people fail to understand is that the clinch is considered an entire range of fighting, and that they, in not training their clinch to an acceptable level, basically ignored that fighting range. It's like not working on your ground game at all. Sounds absurd, no?

I've never had a problem with a clincher during my time in the game, mainly because all of my guys, even my original fighters, started out with a pretty decent clinch, and I've worked

on it regularly. I've used it as an offensive weapon to neutralize other fighters' striking, or maybe even takedown superiority. I'm usually wary of using it against grapplers, though, because of the apparent ease of pulling guard, but good takedown defense and balance (physicals are important, boys and girls) usually gets rid of this problem.

Anyways, the people complaining about the clinch started working on their clinch games, and the complaints magically disappeared. Some might claim it's broken (and it's perfectly possible that it is, as seen by the takedown\subspam fix), but try to work your way around it first.

I guess I came to this conclusion before I bought my VIP, which was after roughly 5 months of playing. It wasn't a very impressive feat or anything, but this was during YB Sol's reign. YB was very good at grinding out decisions against grapplers with his sliders, and one of his strengths was that he was incredibly well-rounded (except for his horrible wrestling, which was all he needed back then). He only started falling down after the takedown-and-sub nerf, which was at more or less the same time superior strikers started to rise. I think most, somewhat experienced managers remember when Jesus Gonzalez demolished YB and shocked the entirety of Tycoondom. This more or less led us into the era we've been in ever since, the Sprawl 'n Brawl era. Early Tycoon was riddled with grapplers, and most of my guys were built to combat this trend. With the surge of strikers, it was suddenly hit-or-be-hit. This led many guys to work hard on their clinch game, which allowed them to neutralize the opponent's striking, while imposing their own will. We're currently seeing a shift towards Muay Thai as the main striking base over boxing, mainly because of the project fighters, as a MT fighter needs a lot more skills in order to live up to his full potential than a boxer does.

This is probably the future, as it allows them to strike at range while still being deadly in the clinch. I think we'll see a lot of wrestlers built to counter these fighters, which will make BJJ more popular again, and there we go again. In an MMO, there will always be a flavor of the month-thing to do, but it doesn't necessarily mean that it's overpowered.

What I'm trying to say is that we should try to look for solutions first when we face a problem. This is true in all walks of life, not just MMATycoon. At times, the complaints might be legitimate, but most of the time, it's bollocks. Thank you for your time.

-Eirik "Eirik Tveit aka Mannetosen is one of the true elite managers in the game, sitting just off the top 30 managers in the world and still on an upwards curve. Having just celebrated a year here at MMA Tycoon, this is one of the people to listen to in this game"

Physical Revelations - Part 2 The Action Makes The Man The first article caused quite a stir, even with people who did not necessary agree with my assessment, as it got so many people realising that the importance of physicals is majorly under rated as it doesn't have the glamour of the primary or the hidden surprise element of the secondary and this can only be a positive thing to every single persons build. The impact has seen many managers really assess their training regimes and how it should be implemented from the very beginning which could hopefully see some fighters progress further and discover new things for themselves.

This time around the concentration is on the action elements of the physicals, a group of elements that are critical from situation to situation, often being the link between success and failure which allows your fighter to use skills to its maximum potential. It should be pointed out to those who are new to the game and have read the wiki and are confused why this is talking about physicals applying to more than one situation, the wiki is just an example of one situation where the attribute is used while this is going to be a more comprehensive list that should give the new player a far better understanding of the whole system.

What differentiates the action physicals from the constant ones (which a analysis can be found in the previous issue) is that they take real precedence in certain situations but fade away into the background in other situations where they become negligible and should not be concerned with. The three in question, flexibility, agility and balance are also notable together as the main abilities improved by yoga which is considered by many as the poorest of the individual learning systems as it does not have a supplement that is directly attributed to it but it also means that it and the stats around it have been heavily examined.

This means that these physicals can be pulled apart which many in the forum and in chat have done with far more vigour than I can but this is trying to break down the barriers between perception and reality.

Determining The Key Factors This is a not an easy process and I must tip my hat at many people who have chimed in with recommendations and ideas to how different attributes effect certain areas however this guide was built up from three cornerstones of information and followed up by experimentation to get a clear picture of what is going on.

Something that will also become evidentiary is that elements are sometimes combined to create a situation when they seem to have similar if not equal importance causing further confusion. Where possible an attempt has been made to make defining lines and try and show the ideal combinations together however this is not always possible due to lack of

clarity and in these instances the information has been left deliberately vague as not to confuse any further than necessary.

The Action Physicals Agility Natural movement is all important to most fighters, it can rarely be learnt in real life but we are fortunate to be able to do this in MMATycoon and it gives the fighter the opportunity to cause and avoid damage. It is the control and flow that keeps an opponent guessing and allows you to slip a punch in between the defences when the other man thinks he is well protected and is an essential aspect of any striking game.

In Tycoon terms this is indicative of the stand up game and so the results prove as it is the critical element for landing and avoiding strikes off all kinds. Going with the most traditional and easiest to understand first, agility in punching and boxing is the element that allows you to land and transfers the power to the opponent. All the speed, power and technique in the world don't matter if you can't graze the chin of the opponent and give you the chance to let him see little birdies. As obvious as this seems, it is important to remember that the agility stat is quite often seen as high enough but for sprawl and brawl fighters there is no way it could be under remarkable as it is the very element that will in you a fight.

This accuracy talent is also transferred to kicks however it does not govern the transfer of power that it does in boxing, more on that later, but it is a key element to landing. Less well

known it is also the very same for elbow strikes within the clinch as it is punches which means that elbows can be experientially made better. In fact, this high agility often comes out in fighters who win a lot of fights by cut as the agility means the aim of the elbow is more accurate and increases cut size quicker leading to referee stoppage. This should be separated from the clinch where agility has very little meaningful affect which may also explain why having an impressive clinch game is so difficult as the fighter needs several high physical abilities to really get the best out of the situation.

Just to add to the complications agilities role in knees has become clearer in recent times with the separation of knockouts to ineffective knees as the fighter with good agility may land often but doe not ko, this is down to another physical entirely which may mean you can argue that agility is not comparable to the other situations on the feet.

Regardless of the situation, the one thing to really remember for any striker is that the higher the agility, the more you land means the further you can afford to push the damage compared to accuracy slider towards damage, leading to more positive finishes. Especially deadly in combination with speed and strength, this can turn your average boxer into a devastating knockout beast in relatively short time.

However people also forget the defensive side that agility takes as agility is the movement and timing of the body which means it is the major physical the governs strike defence. This is, more often than not, the real difference in a stand up battle as both men can have equal power and aggression but when one fails to land and the other doesn't, there is only going to be one winner. Proportionally, this with speed will make take your fighter to the next level in many orgs as the fighter who cannot be touched is the fighter who doesn't lose.

Suddenly, that time spent circuit training is starting to look really good for your prospects.

The clinch game seems to have very little to do with the clinch game apart from one surprising aspect and that is the in clinch takedown where it is replaces speed as the dominant attribute. This could potentially equal up the chances of many boxers in Tycoon who really struggle with the clinch fighters as there control is undeniable however if they can land the takedown and look to GnP them it opens up a whole new aspect for that type of build, dragging it back into the limelight. Obviously these physical attributes need to be coupled with the appropriate primary and secondary ones however it certainly opens up a whole new game plan for certain group of fighters.

Agility even shows its face on the floor, although primarily hen the fighter is in the top position. Like the other aspects of striking, ground and pound relies on agility for accuracy and can be used to great effectiveness combined with balance an strength however it has another, more secretive element to its existence, namely the top pass. Passing guard is governed by a mixture of elements but that comes to the fore is agility as it requires the body to be able to move in ways that cannot be located by the opponent and slips through.

To many people this may seem like quite a big departure from the common knowledge however repeated tests have proved that passing is considerable easier and more efficient with high agility and could transfer as a great control mechanism for a fighter looking to hold down another fighter and land some GnP. On the whole, if there is an element of the fighter where accuracy or illusion is required, you can bet that agility is the physical element that you want to put your money on.

Balance Deceptively simple in appearance, balance is the feature of the physical plethora that allows a fighter to control his opponent in close proximate. This then obviously applies to the much vaunted takedown defence where it is not just a key element but the must have accessory for that situation. Not being taken down is so much of the real product that its replication in Tycoon was one of the first priorities for those founding members which all of those have followed have been able to use and abuse since but this trend of balance being the main attribute in close corner situations is far more wide spread than previously noted.

This is down to balance, with a generous helping from strength is the ingredient that allows a fighter to control another in the clinch, stopping both the strikes and holding them in an advantageous position. This also goes for establishing the clinch and is the platform for all damage that results from that situation adding a new element to the thinking behind that build.

Another well held and now confirmable part of balance is maintaining top position when on the floor, stopping the BJJ specialists from sweeping you and setting the base, in a recurring theme, for all damage to be administered. This has the most effect on ground and pound which efficiency goes up remarkable when a fighter holds both good balance and good agility, perhaps a combination more associated with a striker and possible indicating the natural progression of these types of fighters away from simply standing and banging, creating a plan B.

So far, balance has had little effect on striking however it has shown that it becomes the partner of agility, alongside speed when a fighter is set to counter. It seems that a good counter striker needs balance to transfer the agility of slipping a strike into an efficient come back shot although speed is also important as this registers whether you can react quick enough to apply all these other elements. This would suggest that countering is not as straight forward as being aggressive but may have hidden potential to the better developed fighter although you are running the risk of coming up against someone with better skills.

Balance is all about having control over your opponent and subsides any positive position a fighter holds so that they can keep it for as long as possible while giving him the best opportunity to deal out the damage that can be match finishing.

Flexibility Often seen as a the submission defence, high kick offense physical, flexibility rears its head in several situations that are not normally considered and makes it a stat that some fighters may want to include that they didn't think about beforehand.

However flexibility does really have a significant effect on high kicks as it does with medium and low ones, transferring a fighters strength and natural knockout power through the strike, which will give a fighter a far greater chance of knocking out an opponent. Without it will also make reversing the move easier which can lead into the counter takedown, a constant danger for the kicking star. This also applies to knees in the clinch and considerable increases the chance of a knockout from that position which has been a thorn

in the side to many managers in recent times. To some it has even been considered the missing link in the clinchers arsenal.

Flexibility also comes up in clinching once again when the fighter is trying to stop a takedown as it combines with balance to make an impenetrable combination of guile and muster. This can really add to the frustration of some fighters and also opens up the line in Muay Thai/BJJ fighters at the lower ranks who use the cross over to make a very tough fighter However flexibility really comes into its own when a fighter is on his back as there is no other stat that monopolises one area of the game quite like this as a fighter without flexibility is a sitting duck. It mainly governs defensive grappling which covers both defending strikes on the floor and submissions as well as looking to gain a positive position, ideally in the form of a sweep. In fact, a BJJ guy will such high flexibility and the other skills to match could conceivable use the tactic of flopping to the back and winning the fight from there as long as the opponent is not well versed in keeping position.

It also governs the effectiveness of submissions alongside strength however this will come as a shock to nobody and hopefully all guys with aspirations to make it as a BJJ fighter will have worked this out for themselves otherwise this might not be the game for you.

Conclusion What can we discover from all this information? The most important point to take out of all of this is that physicals are not just that nuisance stats that need to be at a certain level for the fighter to perform without hindrance but the very backbone that makes a Tycoon fighter great. Without them, all the skills in the world will not be enough and amassing physicals above the normal station of a fighter can fill in cracks that might have otherwise been exposed which is always something worth remembering and maybe next time you look to create a fighter you may look at them in a different and hopefully more successful way.

A historic event as the Vicious Fighting Championships is hosting its 50th event which is a huge landmark for this breakout company who have taken the city of London by storm and managing to step into the world 20 on several occasions and setting up some of the best fighters in the world as well as hosting some of the top managers. Time has been kind to the VFC who have been able to sign some big names and are always in the market to expand and look to fortify their place on the top of London scene and try and emerge into the world top 10 which this event could be a big step towards as it features every champion in the company as well as some past heroes from the organisation.

The first fight sees unbeaten lightweight Ronny Boy (9-0-1) take that up the challenge of under rated but extremely dangerous Ol "Dirty" Bastard ( 10-3-0) and what an occasion it is to make their respective debuts for the company. Both men have all round talents however Bastard could well be the favourite as he appears to hold superior power on the feet and looks better versed on the floor. However the good news for Boy is that he may be able to control his opponent with strong wrestling that will be a distinct advantage to where the fight happens. Both of these guys will have an eye on what happening later on in the night to see who comes away with the 155 title.

The next two fights showcase two men who have had an amazing achievement here in the VFC having appeared in the company's very first show and is still here today even though the organisation is very different from those early days. Both former lightweight champion Neville "The Devil" Champman (8-3-0) who takes on the far more capable and dangerous Reima "Machine" Maansiirto (9-3-0) who will surely look to apply some BJJ genius to the fight and Paul Baeumer (8-6-1) who has the challenge of Joey "Fnord" Jojo III (7-2-0) which should be a great fire fight on the feet, have achieved a remarkable thing lasting this long.

These two men must be somewhere near the head of the queue for being VFC hall of famer contenders.

Janne Jakoavain (12-3-0) will be looking to add his tenth (T)KO win of his career as he takes on the scariest submission fighter in London and the former champion Jake "Baby Boy" Redd (11-3-0). Jakoavain can knock out the former champion with very accurate and powerful punches that have been the keystone to the young man's career which could be further emphasised by a significant reach advantage. The fear of course is that Redd is an elite BJJ guy with great wrestling which Jakoavain may simply not be able to cope and you can bet that if the fight is on the floor for anytime we will surely see an arm snap.

Sometimes a fan wants to see two men go head to head in a fight where leather is being thrown and blood is being spilt and at VFC 50 these mans are definitely be catered for. Toto "Pinoy" Bato (13-4-0) with 11 (T)Ko's gets his chance at Mark "The Braveheart" David (8-3-0) who has only finished fights with (T)KO's. Both men can bang and although they have all round skills it would seem like a dog race at the horses if that happened as everyone just wants to know one thing here; Which is the best puncher.

The main card is title fights all the way through with all of them being 5 rounds of action that simply showcase the very best fighters that can only be seen as a supersonic show.

"KO Machine" Gilbert Schilt (11-4-0) is entering the VFC for the very first time to challenge the light heavyweight champion Bret "The Hitman" Hart (9-4-0) in a close fight with little between the two of them. Many will say that Schilt is going to have a stand up advantage but in reality it is going to be very close as the Dutchman's boxing advantage may not be as devastating as he is used to but in a similar vein Hart will not have the wrestling lead that he is used to. Many fighters around the event as many are already milling around suggest it is about the lucky shot wherever the fight happens to end up and the end result is as clear as mud.

Middleweight rematch for the title as "The Lion" Erik Williams (12-4-0) defends his title against the man he head kicked to sensational effect which announced him on the VFC scene back at VFC 29, Cain Mir (10-3-0). However many saw this as a freak event, Mir seemed out of sorts while Williams was fired up and it became a instant classic as the fight only lasted 31 seconds sure Williams come out and dominate but amazingly come out with a wild kick that caught Mir in the temple and he crumpled to the floor. Mir has the superior ground game but is likely to box with Williams in the first few minutes but then again Williams is an man who has looked unbeatable recently and will go in with nothing but confidence to repeat the last match up.

Two fighters, both before their prime, both 7-0 and both have designs to have or to keep the Vicious Fighting Championship Welterweight championship in a battle between two of the most highly tipped and highly sort after athletes in London today. Everyone knows about the champion "Maze The" Blaze Hastings (7-0-0) who has some of the most devastating power to be recorded in MMA Tycoon. In his entire career he has only been out of the first round twice and holds two victories in the first 30 seconds of a bout. However

Rhomboid Goatcabin (7-0-0) is not exactly a slouch either, having won his fights in every imaginable way and against fighters with bigger reputations. His wrestling base may worry Hastings as his ground game, while impressive is still relatively untested especially against such powerful GnP. This could be a fight you may see again and again and again and never tire of it!

The co-main event sees the underdog champion Clifton "Rumble" Barnes (7-0-0) once again go in against a superior fight on paper looking to come out the other side with yet another surprise victory for a man who's confidence cannot be catalogued. Unusually for a heavyweight Barnes has nimble hands which seem to get under the skin of opponents and when they succumb to the knockout blow it is almost a surprise however the man facing him is arguable another step up in class. David "Shark Attack" Repetto (9-1-0) is on a 9 match unbeaten streak all outside the VFC but such form is being rewarded as he steps up to the big leagues but it is uncanny to note that the skill set required ot beat Barnes is exactly what Repetto holds. His striking is accurate but powerful and has ground skills to deter a takedown which leaves the newcomer the favourite by some way.

The honour of headlining such an event as this has fallen to the lightweights where the champion "D" Roy Bull (8-0-0) goes head to head with Croatia's Boris Cekada (9-4-0). Both men are measured up almost identically with nothing to call in every aspect of fighting so it will simply be down to tactics who comes out on top. Some argue that Cekada could be vulnerable to Bull's style on the floor but others believe he has developed since his losses early on in his career while people are still floundering to find Bull's weaknesses and many wonder who could even chance themselves such a high profile talent although over confidence could always be his downfall.

Interview With Steve SFO "L Steve The H known to most people as Steve SFO looks at MMA Tycoon in a different way, looking ot create an experience over rankings and his company its associates can be seen in many places although they are primarily concentraed around Montreal. Steve has garnered controversy in the past but his vision is clear from his opening statement" I built the SFO through very hard work and perseverance. Some have said that the SFO is trying to take over the game, that is not true. I believe that the SFO is the best ORG in the game and so do a lot of managers in the SFO. I believe our commentary is the best, our posters are the best, our mangers are more involved than with any other org. Our Alliance has seen members come and go but I believe the managers involved now are some of the best in the game. The SFO is able to do what it does because of the money it spends on its employees. Without them the SFO is nothing. We have a weekly magazine, we send fighters around the world. Our events are very profitable. As a manager, my fighters have not fought for the SFO for a very long time. I fight around the world on the search for the second best org in the game.

When approaching running an org, was there a clear objective in your mind? The SFO has a clearly defined look at the world, and has produced a very successful attitude and goodwill towards itself, especially from within with some people even saying that there is a certain "us against the world" attitude which has given the org a loyalty that few can be so confident on having over such a long period.

When I started playing this game, I had know idea what I was doing. I was sitting here at work with my co-worker Dudley Fitz (now owner of Biobonds Montreal) and he said, I'll bet you there is an MMA Manager game that you would enjoy playing. So we found MMATycoon, built a fighter each, and clicked QFC at the same time. Luckily we were matched together and that's how it all started.

Shortly after we went VIP. At the beginning I was constantly spamming people with an introduction to the SFO and what I was trying to accomplish. Lots of guys answered an joined and next thing I knew I had a very long roster. I met Remi of Marvel Combat Montreal and there we had the Goodfellas. I owned the ORG, Remi was doing custom SFO designs in addition to his regular stock, Dudley was providing the supps and doing our commentary which gets BETTER and BETTER. I owe a lot to those guys..

We grew to over 170 fighters. I decided to cut guys with losing records and of course inactive managers. Right now ALL of our managers are active. My approach now is to make this org fun for myself and everyone involved. If I lose interest, the org will close. It's all about having fun. I get messages regularily from guys telling me how much they love what we do. I have guys moving fighters from around the world because they know what

we provide is the best in the game.

It is us against the world. I feel like a lot of the orgs in this game don't put enough effort into what they are doing. I am not happy with some of the orgs I fought for. If all the org owners did what we do at the SFO, this game would be even more fun. I guess my Marketing background coupled with my teaching experience makes me the type of person who cares about others and how they feel. It is very important to me that the managers who fight for the SFO believe that they are getting the best experience in the game.

On a side, I have always been impressed that you get a mag out a week, I struggle to do this once a month!

I have to give credit to Chris Nylan. Chris is what makes Typeout! the SFO's Weekly Review successful. I get PMs all the time telling me what a great job he does. Chris has a really good understanding of the game and the SFO as a whole. ou clearly have an inbuilt determination and a team that surrounds you to propel the SFO forward however where does your inspiration come from?

I am inspired by the SFO's managers.I want to have fun and so do they. Whenever I am sitting here I start thinking of things to do and I do them. I get people to help and things roll along.

Have you found that other orgs have lead the way in a positive way and you have been able to use that to make the SFO better?

It seems to me that a lot of the other orgs are just trying to make money or get themselves in the top 10 or whatever in the rankings. Of course that is a general statement that does not apply to all orgs.

I like what Blitz is doing over in Hilo, those guys have cool tournaments and stuff like that.

I am joining the Ultimate Manager Tournament, so I'll finally get to fight for a Blitz event. I fight for Fire FC in Helsinki and I am very satisfied with the way they provide their fighters excellent training and the personable attitude of their owner, ViD. I fight for your org, VFC and so far so good. You guys provide fights and write ups regularly so thanks for that. The guys over at ACME do a great job. I fight for ACME St Petes and ACME Montreal. Both owners are awesome guys.

I don't care about SFO's ranking. Sure, I'm happy when I see the SFO jumps a few spots on the highstreet but it's not my goal to be the top of the world.

I recently had an inactivity of 40 days run out on one of my fighter's contracts who was

fighting for a top 10 org. The org owner wouldn't give my guy a fight because his record wasn't good enough. He did tell his org that we could do QFCs, but if I wanted to do a QFC, I wouldnt have signed with the org. As far as I am concerned orgs like that are fighter hoarding and I totally disagree with holding fighters and not letting them fight.

It becomes increasingly clear that your objectives are far more about creating an atmosphere and a feeling than anything else. Which has been your proudest moment as an org owner and did it arrive from something more than just a good fighter fighting another top fighter?

I've had several small proud moments. Mostly managers asking me to bring their top fighters into the SFO. In terms of big proud achievements. Our last event, PAIN had a high 90's rating and 90k+ in profits. One of my favorite managers, Marcus, is now holding 2 SFO belts!

How much are you looking forward to your new tournament? What makes this so special?

Our new Become a Made Man tournament is Remi's idea. It's huge. We've got 2 coaches, Remi and Dudley and each team has their own private gym. The Biobonds gym is run by Marcus and the Marvel gym is run by Chris. We're giving away more than 100k in prize money and we have lots of cool managers strategizing and helping each other because it is a team tournament, sort of like TUF. We recently had a hiccup when our Alliance member Jack, left his gym by accident but everyone got together and determined that he did not get illegal training so he will continue on. I'm really enjoying the tournament and their has been lots of smack talking so it's lots of fun. Good luck to all involved!

Who have been the standout fighters through the SFO's history? Are there some people there still from the first few events?

I think everyone would agree that the SFO's most popular fighter is Poppa Ping. He can talk trash with the bets of them. He held the SFO's Super Heavy Weight belt for a long time but since he lost it there have been reports of a downward spiral. I just hope that Poppa can straighten himself out get back to training because the SFO needs him to fight.

Popppa, if you are reading this, the SFO misses you man! Get back to training and we'll set your up for a title contention fight.

Your alliance is well known. What makes it special?

The Goodfellas embodies what I believe this game should be about, comradery and good times. We spend a lot of time in the chat box encouraging each other, reporting good news about our businesses and giving advice. We plan to win the Alliance Wars so bet on us if you want to make some virtual dollars!

Finally to address a couple of last things; Firstly, do you have a desire to see an SFO in event city? If so do you see it as an establishment of a brand or spreading your philosophy through the game?

I tried at first to get the SFO in other cities. Guys opened orgs and called themselves the SFO but they just dont do what we do in Montreal. So, as far as I am concerned, there is only 1 SFO. There is no point in any other calling themselves the SFO unless they do exactly what we do, which is EVERYTHING!!

Is there anything that you would currently change about the game?

That's a good question. Hmm. I like the game a lot. There are a few minor things like a release button on the Fighter Plus list would be cool. Maybe a limit to how many fighters an org can have. Overall I really like the game and wouldn't change too much.

Anything you would like to say to the Tycconiverse?

To the org owners: Commentary, the forum, posters, and general manager involvement is everything. Focus on that and your fighters will continue to re-sign.

To all the managers, who fight for us and the guys behind the scene that keep us going, you are the BEST. To all the other mangers in the game, the SFO is where it's at. Bring 1 fighter over to Montreal and experience it.

Guide To The World Cup The world cup finals are the biggest single sport tournament in the world garnering more viewers worldwide and is something that all sports fans should be aware of even if interest is low so as an extra element for our American cousins this is a preview to show you and what you need to know about the 32 teams that have entered the tournament.

Basic Guide to the World Cup Format.

The world cup is made up of 32 teams broken down into eight groups of four with all teams in each mini league playing each other once. There are 6 Fifa continental zones with a certain amount of countries from each region making it through to the tournament, which breaks down as; Africa: 5 nations (Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Algeria, Nigeria and Ghana)+ the host nation South Africa Asia: 4 Nations (Japan, South Korea, North Korea and Australia*) Oceania: 1 Nation (New Zealand) Europe: 13 Nations ( Germany, France, Spain, Portugal, Holland, England, Denmark, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, Italy, Greece, Switzerland) North America: 3 Nations (USA, Mexico, Honduras) South America: 5 Nations (Brazil, Argentina, Chile, Uruguay and Paraguay). *Australia successfully applied to move from the Oceania region to the Asian region for the 2010 world cup.

The groups are drawn so that a country does not have to play another country from its home region until the knockout stages except for Europe who have too many sides for this to happen. The groups are set up with 8 sides going through as seeds which were South Africa (Hosts), Argentina, England, Germany, Holland, Italy, Brazil and Spain. The two sides with the most points after three games will go through s winner and runner up respectively.

The winner of a group faces the runner up of another group when the knockout stages begin.

The knockout stage features 16 teams, going through a last 16, quarter, semi and final stage.

There is also a third/fourth match but no one cares about that.

World Cup Groups The groups have been set for some time, but to make it easier to see which groups should be most competitive the teams have been seeded as 32 teams running from 1 (favourite) to 32 (least favourite) as well as combining them in groups.

Group A (11) France (15) Mexico (29) South Africa (19) Uruguay One of the weakest groups in the world cup, Group A features several teams who have had problems in their preparations and leaves the group wide open. France would normally be seen as the favourites but hampered by their rather bizarre coach Raymond Domenech who has repeatedly played players out of position and the unfortunate incident with three of their players, of which one was dropped with an under aged prostitute has dented both hearts and minds. With a generally aging squad as well, with many members older than 30 France struggled to get through to the finals, eventually going through with a blatant handball from Barcelona's Thierry Henry. All this controversy leaves the group far more open and France also have previous for falling short in similar circumstances when they were knocked out of the group stage at 2002 world cup.

The other teams also have their problems, with Mexico the next biggest team on reputation there mixture of a lack of competitive games in qualifying, with the USA the only big rivals and the cool conditions may not favour a side who mainly play in the warm. One advantage could be the altitude though which many players are very used to. Uruguay are a free flowing attacking side with the likes of Diego Forlan and Luiz Suarez and were high scoring and were the first ever world cup winner. However they have big defensive flaws with pace a worry throughout. Qualifying through the playoff with Costa Rica which means that this is a group with only one side qualifying in the usual way.

Hosts South Africa are by far the lowest ranked side in the tournament and have had poor run for the last few years with notable players Benny McCarthy there top scorer ever not even making the side and several of their other players including Steven Pienaar and the first man to get to 100 caps Aaron Mokena being tired after a long season in the premiership and having had more pre tournament games than any other team going into the tournament. However South Africa did impress in the Confederations Cup however this tournament did not offer more than a glimpse of hope as they failed to qualify for the 2010 Africans Nations Cup. Group B (4) Argentina (24) Greece (21) Nigeria (18) South Korea The clear favourites for this group is Argentina who have arguable the most skilful attacking squad in the tournament and they are blessed with the best player in the world Lionel Messi who may see this as an opportunity to emulate manager Diego Maradona's 1986 miracle where he dragged the side to the win. Alongside Messi is Manchester City's Carlos Tevez and Inter Milan's Diego Milto and the side may play 4-3-3. The midfield is also filled with the attacking Veron, Di Maria and Maxi Rodriguez however not taking defensive pair Javier Zanetti and Cambiassi could hamper chances as their main defensive midfielder Javier Mascherano does like a yellow card. However these concerns should only kick in once the knockout stages begin.

Greece famous for their overly negative tactics which shocked everyone at 2004 for them to be shock winners however the same players make up this squad with the tactics and players becoming old and warn with teams finding themselves able to neutralise them.

Unconvincing in the group stages, their bright spark is Sotriris Ninis who is just 20 years old and has been tipped to join one of the biggest teams in Europe this summer. Nigeria are in a similar difficult situation with aging players including the 33 + X year old Kanu who may be anything but to 48 years old. There are other players with questionable ages and several members of the squad have had personnel and legal problems. Adding new players as led to squad members walking out and a new manager that has only been in charge for a matter of months makes them quite vulnerable.

The real wild card is South Korea who have looked to have recaptured some of the form from their 2002 semi final appearance and their dominance of the Asian group going unbeaten in the final stage (4 wins and 4 draws) has led many to speculate how well they can do in the tournament. However with their small stature and the combatable nature of both Nigeria and Greece it could be difficult to get their technical game going. They are favourite to go through as runners up.

Group C (28) Algeria (6) England (26) Slovenia (17) USA One of the more unequal groups of the tournament, England and USA will be short favourites to qualify for the tournaments knockout phase. England are going to be the favourites as the nation who invented the sport will be looking to end 44 years of suffering since 1966. With the talented Wayne Rooney up front and a formidable midfield quartet including Frank Lampard, Steven Gerrard and a resurgent Joe Cole they will be one of the toughest teams to beat in the tournament. However uncertainty a goalkeeper will be a worry and injury worries to key members of the defence will not go down well either.

The USA are going to be looking for the chance to recreate the 1950 shock over England in the opening game and are going into the tournament with a lot of confidence having gone into the tournament with a long undefeated streak in the last few years as well as defeating Spain in the Confederations Cup. The consensus though is that the US have more questions about them than answers as many of their stars have not been able to shine as brightly as some would hope in Europe with Clint Dempsey being a notable exception and there may also be a worry where the goals are coming from with Landon Donovan not being a prolific finisher against top opposition.

The two other teams have been through the wars just to get to the tournament, with Algeria going to an extra game with fierce rivals Egypt in a game outside the tournament as the two sides could not be separated. While Slovenia managed to squeak past Russia on away goals however it was a very impressive achievement considering the size difference of the nations size, Both teams have notable players however no outstanding star which has proved to have some benefit in the past but it would be a big surprise to see either side gp through.

Group D (22) Australia (7) Germany (16) Ghana (10) Serbia Known to many as the second group of death (more of that later) as all four of these sides have ambitions to getting through to the later stages and three of the four have been called potential dark horses by the newspapers. The one team everyone is sure will progress is Germany, hosts in 2006 they have had major losses due to injury including Michael Ballack, who has captained the team up and till now who was injured in the FA cup final and there first choice keeper. This adds a lot of pressure on stalwarts Phillip Lahm and Sebastian Schweinsteiger who will be filling in the gap left by Ballack. The team is certainly strong enough to move on and they have proved to be greater than there parts on more than one occasion however this tournament with a lot of young players, may be a tournament too far.

Second place in the group really is a difficult thing to predict, Serbia have been named the favourites by many to go through as they are strong at the back especially with Vidic, the imposing Manchester United defender there and a dangerous striking combination who have scored freely in qualification. This team beat France into second place in the qualifiers and could be a very stiff test to whoever they met, which may be England, in the knockout rounds. However Austrailai may have something to say with that, having the best defensive record out of any team who qualified and a lot of guile through experienced premier league and Serie A players. however a lack of pace may dent their hopes as will an aging squad who may not hold up to the pace of the tournament.

Ghana would normally be one of the favourites to progress but a combination of such a difficult group and losing inspirational captain Michael Essien have left the Ghanaians relatively flat and squad disruption has only added to their woes. However playing in their home continent, it may raise their game and they could cause a shock.

Group E (12) Cameroon (14) Denmark (3) Holland (23) Japan The Dutch are one of the leading lights entering into the tournament being the only side to have won every single one of their games in qualifiaction and have the most exciting front 6 in Europe. An injury too Arjen Robben may derail some of their momentum but a combination of great pros such as Dirk Kuyt and elaborate play makers such as Robin Van

Persie mean they could potentially rip any country apart on a good day and they should win the group.

Second is very much between Cameroon and Denmark. Denmark are very confident, organised and disciplined, they beat both local rivals Sweden and Portugal to win their group in a one of the toughest qualifying groups. A reliance on Aresnal's Bentner would be a worry but they will keep the games tight and could only need one goal to win. Cameroon on the other hand are all about Inter Milan's Samuel Eto'o, one of the greatest players in Africa' history winning African footballer or the year a record 3 times but has never really performed for his country. If he comes out firing, it could be difficult to stop them as a skilled midfield will give him good service but if he isn't on form, it could a long tournament from them.

Japan make up the group and they have only won once in six games in 2010 and come in with little confidence behind them or their coach. Looking for their first World Cup Victory outside their own country, Japan's aims will be low which could be as bad as not picking up a point.

Group F (9) Italy (30) New Zealand (27) Paraguay (26) Slovakia A weak group, Italy should progress with all 9 points but it will be their aging side that will worry them for later stages. Manager Marcelo Lippi has stuck with many of 2006's world cup winners and this has meant that the average age of the squad is well over the age of 30 and rather than looking to promising youth he has instead gone back to old tried and trusted guys. A lack of pace and general tiredness, they are unlikely to repeat their 2006 heroics but should not have a problem with the group.

Paraguay came second in the South American group however they collected many of their points before 2009 and 2010 has been a very poor year indeed. Strong and used to the conditions may be in their benefit but a lack of quality will cost them dear but will still be confident in seeing round 2. Slovakia are in the same boat, having excelled early in their group, they bettered neighbours Slovenia and the Czech Republic but a combination of several key men not getting regular first team football and niggling injury worries could really hamper their chances.

Oceania's nation in the world cup New Zealand are a difficult team to judge having beaten a series of minnows to qualify for the tournament. Friendly results have not gone well, being beaten significantly by Turkey who did not qualify a bad indication for a side more associated with Rugby than the beautiful game however gaining a point would be a great success for them and qualification would be like winning the cup itself.

Group G (2) Brazil (8) Ivory Coast (32) North Korea (5) Portugal The fabled group of death features 3 sides in the top 10 chances to win the cup with one ultimately losing out before they get going. However before getting to the battle between the big guns, a symbol about North Korea. ?. No one really knows anything about them and are expected to be beaten badly in each game however that is a pure guess at this stage.

The very unromantic Brazilian side comes to the world cup under 1994 world cup winning captain Dunga, with Brazil playing a great defensive game that allows their front 4 to relish the chance to get the best out of the situation knowing that there is a solid base behind them. Unpopular in his home nation and disappointing many who think fondly of the sides

of Pele and co, this Brazil team are ultimately successful having eases through qualification and the Copa America. look for Luis Fabiano to be top scorer of the tournament.

This would tend to suggest that the team to lose out will come from Portugal and the Ivory Coast. Many will bill it as Ronaldo verses Drogba (if the latter gets there after breaking an arm in a friendly before the tournament) but both teams are very similar which should lead to exciting games. Both are extremely good going forward, both sides have incisive and deadly finishers and play with wingers and attacking full backs but defensively both are naive with questionable goalkeeping. These two sides meet in the first game of the group and could decide there and then who qualify for the next round.

Group H (12) Chile (31) Honduras (1) Spain (20) Switzerland

Spain were a class act at Euro 2008 and it dispelled the myth that they could not win anything and will be favourites once more as they seem to have the perfect mix of attacking flair, midfield dominance and defensive security. Some injury and transfer speculation may have unsettled them some but the group look like three warm up games and that should settle them nicely.

Chile are clearly the team who should also qualify, 10 years after their golden generation, have finally recovered to press forward with a group of strong youngsters. No one as yet have made a name for themselves in the big leagues but this might be their coming out tournament. The Swiss may have something to say about that but a lack of conviction all around leaves them exposed and they scored the fewest goals of any side that qualified for the tournament. Final side is little Honduras who qualified through luck rather than skill and only showcases how poor the CONACAF groups are. Look for them to have more goals put past them than anyone else unless North Korea manage to beat them to that honour.

Who Can Win? In reality the 4 sides who have a good chance of winning are Holland, Spain, Brazil and Argentina. Spain are the bookies tip closely followed by the Brazilians and many think that this will be the final however my pick is Holland who have looked extremely good for some time and could surprise a few. Argentina are full of great players but a win is going to be despite Maradona rather than because of him.

From Team Sports To MMA? Can The Brits Do It To? Outside the martial artist from a kid and the wrestler who doesn't know what to do after school, player s who have failed to succeed in professional sports teams have started to emerge as a threat in MMA. From Herschel Walker coming in after a college hall of fame career and a notable professional one to the likes of Matt Malone and Marcus Jones in the TUF: Heavyweights. From accounts from several gyms, these occurrences of transfer athletes are happening more often with several running back looking to become involved after the end of their relatively short careers and other players who have been cut while never achieving what they hoped. Even rumours about Kobe Bryant wanting a shot at the UFC have been circulating but can this transition happen with Britain's two biggest sports ?

The Football (Or Soccer) player Those of you who are thinking about "Shrek" Wayne Rooney or "Fat" Frank Lampard, who have already got the nickname sorted out, are obviously never going to become mixed martial artists but the power players of league 1 and 2 it could potentially be a option. These players are often the less skilful but more physically gifted and many of them would have stamina that would translate well in to the 15 or 25 minute match ups.

Another aspect would be a lot of these players would have done some boxing or other hand to hand skill training as part of the course as it is believed to build up upper body strength as well as improving perception which is all important when judging the flight of the football.

This may seem a far leap but this is a sport that can produce the John Barnes rap or the Cantona karate kick so anything can happen. However the difficulty of these types of players transferring across will be the two fold, one being physical and the other will be fiscal.

Firstly the physical side, football players will have problems with dynamics as the expansive movement across the pitch does not translate into a good stance to stuff the takedown.

Another issue for certain will be flexibility as soccer players do suffer from a distinct lack of training in that area as there is an advantage in having a stiffer muscle as it transfers more power to the ball. This could be a real problem as it would not only cause them difficulty in BJJ but also make their movement more stilted in the stand up game.

On the other side is definitely a fiscal issue, a player even in league1 or 2 level will be picking up between ÂŁ1500 and ÂŁ2000 a week ($2200 -$3000) which would be a lot to give up on considering when you are dropping down to the bottom realms of the MMA pay scale, not knowing if you are going to succeed.

The Rugby Player Notoriously the toughest man in sport is the back row, a group of men who are shockingly quick for their size, powerful and explosive who like nothing less than, with or without the ball, ramming themselves into the opponent as a test of strength, trying to blast them out of the game. Yet the backs are a mixture of toughness and balance, taking these hits from much heavier men and bouncing off them to advance down the pitch. This seems to make them the natural type of athlete to enter MMA. There are potentially massive upsides for these players especially compared to the avergae British fighters as their experiences tackling and being tackled can be transferred into some wrestling which is the Achilles heel of all fighters from the UK. Admittedly there would have to be adjustments but this is part and parcel of such a subjective idea however these men may have the best chance of anyone who has not gone through the rigors of years of wrestling classes. This not the only thing that these players have on their side as their immense strength and balance will also allow them to pick up control of the ring or cage quicker than the average fighter which could translate to a solid clinch game.

The first evidence of this was seen at UFC 114 with former amateur rugby player John Hathaway getting what can only be described as a surprising victory over ultimate fighter winner Diego Sanchez and it showed that the skill set with dedicated training can transfer over. In fact balance really could be the key as it allows for knees and punches from awkward angles that may not be considered typical by many a striking coach which was again seen by the knee that caught Sanchez in the first round.

This does not mean that the conversion would be perfect nor would it mean instant success for anyone who thought they were a bit hard but it is certainly a potential place to look for fighters coming out of the current striking only wilderness of Britain

VFC:E Reviews

Like any good lover, the end felt as good as the beginning as VFC:E 9: Final Crisis showed itself to be an event that had staying power. For the first time in the company's history there were more decisions than any other result that pulled down the event rating but this organisation is more interested in putting on fights people want to be involved with than anything else so why should anyone dwell on that!

The VFC:E's inaugural 145lb match up started the show and it turned into a high impact, high speed ground match that showcased the speed and agility that these small men have.

In the end neither Alfred "Alfa" Viik (1-2-0) nor Gilles "The Punisher" Voet (0-3-0) could force the fight to finish in the allotted time however it was the killer instinct of Viik that may have won the judges decision. Both men wanted top position but while Voet failed to land any of his takedown attempts, Viik landed all four and then proceeded to try and sub the man. On occasion Voet did sweep Viik but failed to take advantage of it sufficiently and walked away with defeat.

Rick Rolled (0-2-0) showed great heart and spirit to get to the end of the fight which will lead onto positive things in the future but was ultimately outwrestled and out positioned by "Mohikaani" Pikku Hiawatha (1-0-0) who may be disappointed that he could not finish his opponent. The power takedown was always going to be a danger for Rolled and so it proved as he was forced to defend off his back for much of the fight. Hiawatha dominated the fight looking for submissions and landing some devastating ground and pound but in reality both men can take some big positives from this fight.

Promising newcomer "Critical" Bill Vos (1-0-0) came in and took a positive step in his career against "Seaweed Brain" Percy Jackson (0-2-0) who has an interest on getting even with Vos. Vos controlled the clinch and get Jackson in it for great periods of time much to the derision of the fans, but it proved to be very effective. However Jackson should be praised for his ability to avoid damage which shows that his future is still bright while Vos buoyed by his victory will surely be looking to the future and improving for whoever comes next In a fight that was crucial for both fighters, Hans "Frog Smoker" Wigger (1-2-0) came away with the victory applying a well seasoned ground game that saw him secure the victory early in the second round. His opponent, Elkir Delfino (3-7-0) had a great start cutting Wigger early and looking very impressive however this all changed when Wigger landed a takedown. A strong mixture of advancing and GnP seemed to weaken Delfino who is a warrior but sometimes his gas tank lets him down which happened here. Wigger was able to get the fight down almost immediately and sink in a impressive control kimura which really kick starts his career.

A great back and forth fight that eventually saw Davis Paul" The Irish Bomber" Marcus (2-00) claiming the victory with a flurry of punches too much for Johnny "J-mart" Martins (1-20). Martins wanted the fight on the floor even though a head kick nearly toppled Marcus however when the fight got there, neither man really got anything going in that position.

When the fight did return to the feet, it was like Marcus found anther gear cutting and knocking down his opponent and using some intelligence that is becoming more clear every time he steps into the arena, he got Martins to return to the feet and turned on the style to get the well earned victory.

"Pauka" Jukka Jumi (2-0-0) put on a competent if unspectacular performance to keep his undefeated record together and retiring his opponent Alouisyous "The End" Anthony (1-20). Jumi out boxed his opponent and then took the fight to the floor in a style of someone who wanted to show that he is more than just a one note fighter which he undoubtable did as every round was his. Certainly someone moving up the division with a plumb.

Quick finish for Rap "Poi Dog" Reiplinger (3-0-0) who was able to knock out opponent Stefan "Skyscraper" Sturve (2-1-0) in a showing that was all about the striker getting his strikes of before the brown belt could pull the fight to the floor. However impressive sprawling was one evidence and it was Reiplinger's ability to circle away and land on the break which caused the most damage until it was just too much for Sturve.

A come from behind victory for Phillip "Big Bird" Britton (5-2-0) who was being dominated by opponent Tota "Pro Bowl" Silva (3-6-0) until pulling off an arm bar from the floor to get a shocking victory. The fight went to the floor early and turned into a grappling match with both men exchanging holds but importantly for Silva he was able to keep the top position and look more likely to finish but it was not to be the story this time.

An epic stand up, stand out battle between Roid Rage (2-1-0) and "Kokomo Joe Powell (3-00) saw two men with big hands and even harder chins swing at each other for three solid rounds with neither man able to get the advantage that told in the allocated time. In reality the key was accuracy which Powell had more of landing often while Rage was just a half second slower which consistently scored with the judges as well as the fans. However it was Rage who came closest to finishing the fight as early in the second, he landed a beautiful combination that knocked Powell down and looked like it was about to be finished but Powell survived and turned it on, never really allowing Rage to land again. A fight for the fans.

The VFC:E's first ever lightweight champion is Raymond Hood (3-0-0) who put on a clinch master class to get the victory over Chilli "Spicy" Con Carne (2-1-0) who was simply unable to drag the fight to the floor. Hood simply pulled the fight into the clinch and continued to land elbows and knees which not only exhausted Con Carne but also demoralised him however he will not be the last who suffers this fate and there is a good chance that we could see this fight again in the future. The card was unanimously 50-44 in the favour of Hood and he will look to protect that title in the future.

The opening 4 fights of VFC:E 10: Marooned all went to decision with some understandable nervous performances that will have both enlightened the losers to the difficulties in starting your MMA career and sent the winners back knowing that they will have to be committed to becoming the champion however any one of them, whether they have won or lost may be able to get to the top as that is one of the joys of this organisation.

The first fight saw Hammy "Belly" Hameater (1-0-0) get the decision over Pawel "Kosciej" Piechowiak (0-1-0) in a tight fight of evenly matched strikers who were going hell for leather to prove themselves but in the nervous anticipation nothing quite came off for either man.

Both men landed significant blows with Hameater cutting his opponent in the second and it was a little more damage that probably sure him get the nod on the scorecards.

Robert Paulson (0-4-0) lost his retirement match up in dramatic circumstances as he landed numerous shots to his opponent Mike Cottager (1-0-0) but with such lacklustre authority that Cottager was simply allowed to dominate and control his opponent in a solid opening win. More wins like that will raise him up in people's estimation fast.

A very close fight between Jack Russell (0-2-0) and Jacque St Pierre (1-2-0) saw the Canadian win on a very controversial split decision however the effects of the fight saw him retire due to a serious injury. Russell landed with ferocity and will be on the winning track in no time if he continues to improve.

In a battle of muay Thai "holy" Holden Hallister (1-1-0) came out on top over Hiroyuki Hanzo (0-1-0) but both men excelled in their distribution of their talents adn will be looking for new victims in the future. Perhaps the main problem was the two fighters could second guess their opponents which meant that both fighters were unable to land or even threw identical strikes. Hallister landing more telling blows was the difference but it was a very good fight.

A dominant performance by What "Dunno Boy" Dcrackboy (1-1-0) with a startling display of hand speed and boxing technique over 2 rounds until he was suddenly caught in a world beating armbar by Oceano Pacifico (3-2-0). Dcrackboy was dominant for such long periods

and coped well when previous forays to the floor until the submission that shows you that you can never relax at this level of competition, not even for a moment.

Allan "Big Slick" Hawthorne (3-1-0) showed that he was the better grappler after securing an arm bar against the highly rated and well rounded Sid "PUNK'D" Vicious (1-2-0) ina fight that was all about the submission with both men looking for and achieving the takedown and being able to defend the others offensive moves until the very end when a slip in position opened up the opportunity and it was gratefully received by Hawthorne who is looking to be a top contender.

One young fighter in Big Boy (2-0-1) extended his undefeated streak at the expense of Gilbert "Hurricane" Yvel (1-1-0) as the wrestler put on a great display of ground and pound that would have ko'd anyone in the heavyweight division. The ease he took Yvel down with surprised many and it will a tough man who gets in Boy's way while Yvel will rebuild and go again at the belt.

Another fan of Ground and Pound is Jack Bauer (2-1-0) who took only 9-0 seconds to take Ken "Pitbull" Packer (2-1-0) down and knock him out. Packer has good strikes but Bauer had wish to feel only one of these before being able to take it to his domain. Once there is was a walk in the park for the young man but this is far more to do with his power than anything else and will be looking to do it again in his next fight.

What can only be described as a sub spam fest saw Tugg "Scorcher" Speedman (2-1-0) beat Rachel "The Educator" Fay (4-5-0) in a match that Speedman dominated. However Fay will be delighted to have survived so long against a top brown belt who was trying every trick in the book to get the victory until he eventually secured an arm that finished the fight.

Questions over how that tactic will work against better ground fighters have been going around since the fight happened though while Fay has become an instant favourite for such guts in the face of adversity.

"Gorgeous" Garvin Grocz (2-2-0) was not as pretty as he woke up after feeling the power of experienced brawler Simon "Conetto" Pegg (6-3-0) in the main event. Grocz managed to pull the fight to the floor early but never really secured the hooks he needed to control the body and Pegg managed to use the cage to get back to the feet where he delivered a series of strikes worthy of the knockout that Grocz just stood there and took, it was only when the ref stood in that the fight was stopped showing what heart Grocz has and that he will mature into a great fighter.

As time goes on and the fighters become yet more famous in the VFC:E, there was no doubt that VFC:E 11: Unrelenting Trends was a apt name especially as the heavyweight champion was being decided. A card full of finishes, it was over in what seemed like the blink of an eye but it was well worth the admission fee.

The first fight was shocking as "Violent" Vincent De Jonckheer (0-0-1) and Danz Pipko (0-0-1) went three rounds to gather a draw which left both men undefeated and leaving the audience watching confused but agreeing in a fight that was more about missing than landing. Both men were concentrated on a certain area, Pipko on the takedown and De Jonckheer on the head kick so both men could defend against the others offensive objective and a draw was a fair result.

"Archangel" Gabriel Striker (2-6-0) continued to build his career from a slow start as he won his second fight in a row through rear naked choke against strong brawler Nevin Urkow (1-30). This was expected to be a striking battle but Striker brought the fight to the floor early and landed some big GnP and followed it up, as Urkow tried to roll back to his feet, to take the back and sink in the submission much to the shock of the audience.

Two fighters making their debuts came face to face with "Kid Stardust" Hank Chinaski (0-10) looking to land with his promising stand up ability however it was Bruce "Le Doush" Duce (1-0-0) who was able to get the fight to the floor and apply the takedown and dominate on the floor. Duce was transfixed on the submission in the first round but Chininski was able to defend in ease. However Duce's corner helped him a great deal as the fight entered the second round as Duce managed to get the takedown again but this time applied some devastating strikes that rocked and then finished Chinaski which was very impressive indeed.

Rahlir "Frequent Flyer" Jefferson (0-1-0) fell to the more experienced Noah "Big Boy" Smith (2-2-0) in a three round decision victory which showed the difference between experience and a new fighter. Smith was able to counter Jefferson with considerable ease and control from the top position as well as hurting the newcomer early on the first round however the positives for Jefferson is that he kept going no matter what was thrown at him and he

seemed to grow into himself as the fight went on. Both fighters will have got something out of this fight.

Ottatukka Oikenee (2-0-0) was able to submit the Muay Thai practitioner Jason "the Jobber" Jobber (2-2-0) in a interesting battle of wits. Jobber was looking to apply the clinch and Oikenee was not having it, running from the distance closing of Jobber for the first two minutes and when Jobber achieved the clinch he was almost immediately taken to the floor.

From this point, Jobber sent from aggressor to defender and wasn't able to make the transition fast enough as Oikenee secured an arm and got the victory in just over 3 minutes of the first round.

Dave "Vicious" Collins (2-0-0) applied some brutal ground and pound to defeat Berbatov Krum (2-1-0) in a fight that considering it lasted under 3 minutes could have gone either way. Both men held top position and rained down punches on his opponent but it was ultimately the better accuracy of Collins that was the key and he walked away with an impressive victory over a very tough opponent.

A massive single punch was the difference in the fight between Christian Gagnum (3-1-0)and Bas "El Guapo" Ubereem (1-3-0) as these two stand up fighters looked to land the decisive blow. In the end it was Gagnum who landed more often and this lead to a desperation shot from Ubereem which Gagnum timed perfectly and caught his opponent flush on the chin.

This uppercut left his opponent bouncing off the floor and left no one in doubt that this Gagnum is a series contender in the VFC:E. Quickest knockout of the night goes to Mr "Really Tight" Happypants (3-0-0) who landed one devastating combination that knocked Liam "Alter" Igo (2-2-0) clean out in just 5 seconds flat and left many wondering if anyone can stand in the way of this young man.

Tappin "Out" Datass (3-1-0) left little more time in his fight against the dangerous and heavy handed "The Pope" Larry Bishop (4-2-0) as a diving takedown was the key that happened in the opening moments which immediately put Bishop on his back and Datass in control.

Datass is currently the apex submission artist at heavyweight and he proved it yet again with a great armbar victory in just a few seconds but it is not the end of Pope who will be looking to come back stronger in the near future.

The heavyweight belt was decided in extraordinary circumstances, with Dwight Schrute (30-0) able to outbox Ron Simmons (4-1-0) which surprised many by countering him at almost every moment. This cut Simmons and then staggered him and Schrute saw an opportunity to get the fight to the floor where he may be able to dominate and control the fight however the double leg turned into a pick up and slam which has such ferocity it knocked Simmons clean out in a moment that will live in the memory forever and began the reign of Schrute as the heavyweight champion.

Vicious Fighting Championships: Europe progressed to featuring its first Fight Night show and was a great way to introduce talent to the Dutch audience who are so very keen to get to see as many VFC:E events as possible and with this calibre talent, this is really not a surprise at all.

Majority decisions are quite unusual however this was the conclusion to the fight between two new comers Aaron Wright (1-0-0) and Augustus "Rocker" Pablo (0-1-0) ina true back and forth fight that was a great way to annoucne themsleves to the audience. Pablo was dominant on the floor landing classy ground and pound while Wright's stand up was powerful and accurate and it was possible this greater accuracy that got him the nod in the judges eyes but it could have gone either way. Regardless, it was a great fight for both fighters.

Big punch from Cedric "Congo" Myton (1-0-0) was the most significant action in the 48 second knockout of Fedor Kiely (0-3-0).Both fighters went into the fight throwing down as if their lives depended on it and both landed but eventually it was going to be a huge punch from Myton that separated Kiely from his consciousness and gave him a debut victory.

An inexplicable fight for "The Spartan" Leonardo Nidas who seemed overwhelmed by his first experience of mma and simply froze, failing to land anything in the 15 minutes period yet he still managed to get through the onslaught of Congo "Roy" Ashantie (1-0-0). Have no doubt that Ashantie dominated the fight and this is clear on the judges scorecard where he won every round by 2 points but it is still some feat for Nidas to get to that point.

Bunny Wailer and Jimmy de Vries was a no contest Close fight saw Owen "Sparks" Stark (2-1-0) beating Aaron "Dyke Fingerer" Alard (1-3-0) in a fight where many watchers thought the result could have gone the other way and others thought the result was just right. Alard was dominant on the floor and Starks landed some

clear power shots while on the feet. All three rounds were shared equally but in the end it was the more damage Starks caused that won the fight but it was a good battle.

In a brown belt battle, Gabriel "Barba" Fenili (1-0-0) took the fight with two seconds to go in the opening round by catching seemingly tireless Aj "Eraser" Pencil (0-1-0). Both men went submission to submission and hold in what was a delightful display of intricate body manipulation but in the end it was Fenili who was on his back seemed to be losing the round as Pencil has kept position better but a quick slip of the hips put on the perfect triangle which left Pencil choosing dream street or tapping even with such a short period of time left.

Accuracy was the key to Eric "Foreplay" Foreman's (2-2-0) victory over "The Red Dragon" Christoph Rabenseifner (0-2-0) as the two stand up fighters went head to head and looked to knock one another out. It was always going to be about who landed the first significant shot and in this case it was Foreman who did so and in under a minute which will have disappointed Rabenseifner however he will come back for another fight and will likely come in and get on the winning chart.

Another impressive display from Brendan "The Boog" Ryan (2-2-1) who fended of the attempts of Sjors "Stoney" Haze (1-2-0) takedown attempts and preceded to punish him every time he tried. It was clear early on that Haze could not handle the extra power his opponent held and the end game after two previous knock downs and a very hazy Haze who simply walked into the combination that left the ref no alternative but to dive in and save the fighter. A very good fight.

"Steve's" Big Guns (4-2-0) and "The Postman" Christian Thompson (3-2-0) went toe to toe with combinations being thrown wildly with little hitting until Guns took over with around 3 minutes of the first round when a jab and shot to the middle started to repeatedly landing and this combo eventually rocked Thompson. Thompson valiantly threw back and looked to land a knockout blow but in the end Gun's responded with a crushing left that knocked Thompson clean out and gave the crowd a remarkable moment.

The main event started out so well for Michael "M&M" Durell (0-2-0) who dominated the first round with the jab and looked a million dollars against highly touted Dond "Killer" Bond (5-2-0). It was a one sided round that was clearly scored in Durell's favour but this was a false dawn as Bond showed why he is so highly rated by coming back into the game, using a mixture of the clinch and takedowns to avoid the strikes and eeked out a well earned victory. Both men still have a big future if they can develop their games further,

The last two championships were decided at VFC:E 12: Volatile Horizon in another big event for the company and another record breaking crowd. With two titles on the line there was plenty to get excited about as well as showcasing more and more of the best fighters really starting to unleash their power and might that will make every event more and more enjoyable for all those involved.

Considering a minute before this match ended El Guapo (0-3-0) had Bill "Stand up" Crisp's (4-4-0) back and was looking to sink the rear naked in, the end becomes far more shocking as somehow Crisp stood up and out of the position and after some guided shots unleased a combo that would have stopped anyone in the world. A great win for the experienced to the fighter and will look to get back up to the top of the division as he clearly has the ability.

Another loss for Maximus "The Spaniard" Decimus Aurelius (0-2-0) retired him from the sport of mma as he was arm bared by Escudero "The Emperor" Escobar (1-0-0) in the first round of the fight. "The Spaniard" took the fight to the floor himself but was unable to cope with the rolling ability and the arm bar was there from the very beginning, and when it was taken it shocked nobody.

Brian Brockman (4-1-0) went on to a well crafted victory over decision victory over a very competitive Zeig "The Axe Murderer" Tripovic (0-1-0). Brockman's experience was telling, using the clinch to control and hold his opponent in a position where he could not get any shots and stopped any action really happening. This very impressive game plan shows this is a fighter and team to watch out for in the future.

After a very close first round which both men showed that there raw skill is really top notch and that the fight was going back and forwards in a way only two men with real hunger for the sport, it was the second round that really shocked as it was very short, only lasting 20 seconds as the victor Olly Oxenfrei (2-2-0) caught Alex "Kuku" Kukushkin (1-3-0) with a left hook that left him on the ground. That type of power was just not expected by anyone and it was the end of a very entertaining match up which was a shame but it was a great ending.

Jeff "no Question" Albertson(3-1-0) showed that his elbows are razor sharp as he ended Heath Stanton (0-2-0) in the first round when the doctor came into to stop the fight having adjudged that the cut was just too bad for the fight to continue. Albertson was able to clinch at will and Stanson who clearly felt that he could use his boxing to get out of trouble was overwhelmed taking on 19 elbows which simply split him open like a ripe peach.

Gilbert "The Hurricane" Yvel(2-3-0) is a great stand up fighter but Krzysztof "The Avenger" Wojciechhowski (2-0-0) was able to show his Achilles heel of Yvel taking him down and tapping him out. it was done by a rather fancy looking Americana which you don't see that often however it was an impressive display whoever you ask.

Good decision victory for Brendan "blackthorn" Reilly (2-1-0) took a clever win over Santana da Silva (1-3-0) by taking the Muay Thai master down and looking to land some ineffective but busy ground and pound which one the fight in the judges eyes. This type of tactical flexibility is the difference between a good fighter and a great one and will mean that Reilly has made a big step in the division.

Two very popular fighters went for the fight of their lives as Theo "Dragon" Dor (4-1-0) and Nico Obino (2-3-0) went to war with one another and came out smiling even though one fighter came out on top. Tor got an early knockdown and looked to have the fight in the bag but Obino fought back and turned the situation around. This trend continued in round two with both men scoring takedowns and going for a submission but neither could connect and most people had the rounds at one a piece. Half way through round 3 Obino was holding the top position and landed a big shot from the half guard but Tor caught a guillotine but Obno did not looked to concerned. A matter of seconds later, Obino was in the full guard and limp with the ref bringing him round which saw Tor walk away with the win but it was smiles all around between two warriors.

The welterweight champion is Bryan "The Beast" Baker (5-0-0) who won a 5 round mammoth battle as he took down his opponent "Canyon" Aaron Kingstown (2-2-0) at will and was able to dominate the position without causing any real damage. In fact it was amazing how few strikes landed and the lack of damage could be a concern but in reality Baker walked away with the title and the glory and will look to maintain it for as long as possible.

Main event decided the belt that goes around the waist of the best fighter at205 and the light heavyweight champion is Rick "Wild Thing " Vaughn (3-0-0) who took a deserved win against an impressive Peter "Spider" Parker (3-1-0) as both undefeated fighters wanted to show what they could do on the big stage and they did. Vaughn is a stand and bang star while Parker is all about the wrestling and it was the wrestler who found it hardest to get his game going as he was unable to get a good grip on his opponent.

However this turned into a small problem after Vaughn caught alight and smashed into Parker with a huge shot that rocked the young man's very foundation and the ref stood in which looked like a premature stoppage at first but then people realized he was out on his feet. Great way to end a top show.