Highlander MMA News

The Battle of Tampa Success!

Mike — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 02:43:01 +0000

Battle Of Tampa TWO in the books, brought close to 500 fans to the Green Iguana on N. Dale Mabry in Tampa for what would be an amazing night of amateur MMA bouts! In the cage there were knockouts, tap outs,ankle locks and arm bars! This event showcased upcoming fighters from schools such as Highlander MMA, World Class Martial Arts, Omega MMA, Frontline Fitness and others who are looking to add experience and exposure in their quest of turning pro. The back area of the Green Iguana was a great outdoor location featuring VIP Cabanas, poolside seating, elevated stage and DJ tower, food off the menu, plenty of bars and ample room for all. The ten bout card was well matched and every bout had action!
The main sponsor for the event, Bawl and Maul, were on location making sure everyone got a chance to try their new fighter fuel, Brawl and Maul Brew! (Think Red Bull For Fighters) Brawl and Maul also sponsored many of the fighters on tonight’s card.
Other sponsors include,MMA Solutions, Wolf Pack Martial Arts Supply, Byrd & Gonzalez Attorneys at Law, The Press Box Tampa, SW Florida’s Elite MMA, The Penthouse Club, MAD Creativity, The Florida Combat Network, and Scores Gentleman’s Club supplied the ring girls!
Tampa fans can expect another show at the same place in April, as well as many more amateur and pro events here in Tampa on the Horizon! It is a great time to be an MMA fan here in Tampa and it’s only getting better!

Highlander Patrick Edwards with a 1st round submission!

[caption id="attachment_100" align="alignnone" width="558" caption="The Silver Surfer captures the Victory and the "Fight of the Night""][/caption]

Nick The Irishman fell short and lost the Decision on his first fight

[caption id="attachment_104" align="alignnone" width="558" caption="Frontline's Peterson with KO of the Night"][/caption]

Pat Krepper was awarded Blue Belt

Mike — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 06:07:57 +0000

Pat Krepper Long Time student of Professor Yanez was awarded Blue Belt tonight. Congrats Pat!

Delaney Owen Carpe diem!

Mike — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 03:35:35 +0000

Sunday January 22st- Gulfcoast Xtreme Grappling Championships a beautiful Sunday in westcoast florida at 70 degrees and sunny. The Girl would have no beach day no proper dress in church no shopping at the mall she be a differnt type. Delaney Owen one of the TOP Female Grapplers in the Sport of Florida Grappling once again on the mat. Owen only training for 11 months at 115 has gone females 40lbs heavier and years more experience still in the hunt. Owen has placed in 9 tournaments in less then a year as she is usually the least experienced and lighter the divisions she has held her own through injury and pride break. Today she won the NO Gi division in her weight sealing submissions. “Delaney Owen is one of the most technical students i have ever taught, she has mastered her skill in order to convey her knowledge as if were coming from her instructor.” Professor Yanez
Owen has her work cut out for her as she strives for MMA and Jiu Jitsu Goals, if she can remain humble and stay clear of lifes sidewalks she will have a place among the sports greatness…

MMA Fight moved in short time!

Mike — Sun, 22 Jan 2012 02:20:42 +0000

Oct 28th- The Battle of Ybor was to take place. A full stacked card 20 Amateur MMA Fighters in the quest of their dream to become a professional athlete was ALMOST stoped. The fight was planed at a hip hop club cause of the size of the dance floor and layout of the building. A month before the fight 2 young black males were killed by gunfire in the VIP of the club 2am on a saturday night. The News Channel got wind of the fight happening and contacted the families of the victims and the New Black Panther party to go protest the event, basically creating the news. The Fight would have been over by 10 pm before the main club even opens and normal club patrons arrive. Los Locos Productions translated means “the Crazies” putting on fights for the first time we picked that name and all of a sudden they thought we were being racist.
“Williams and a half dozen others carried signs in protest of the MMA fight because they say it promotes violence just weeks after the murder of Leslie Jones Jr. inside Club Empire. Jones’s friends and family were even more upset because promotional materials for the fight featured two monkeys holding handguns.” channel News 10

SO! after a mild Heart attack due to the fact at 3 pm we had no venue. Professor Yanez and MMA Solutions with the help of everyone the fight was Moved to Highlander MMA. We had the certify the Cage get Chairs food and drink and it had to be done in 5 hours. Highlander MMA was transformed in what seemed to be FIGHT CLUB. The fights took place and were Fantastic!
Official Results http://www.mixedmartialarts.com/mma.cfm?go=stats.fightCard&eid=28df9987-ea7a-4bcd-9447-59b4e8403e9e Congrats to the fighters and thanks again for making Halloween Fight Night Happen.

Delroy Hymes wins his fight!

Main Event Colbert vs Delvalle

[caption id="attachment_74" align="alignright" width="1800" caption="Fred Monciao Wins his title"][/caption]

The Avengers Win 2012 Florida State Overall Team Title – Popovitch and Abreu’s Super Team Victorious at Grapplers Quest Florida

Mike — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 23:36:40 +0000

Submitted by BrianCimins on January 19, 2012 – 6:32pm
Who are The Avengers? They are the #1 Ranked Grappling Competition Team in the State of Florida in 2012 after winning the overall Team Title on January 14 at Grapplers Quest. Pablo Popovitch and Roberto Abreu’s Super Team was developed to compete with team amassed of 10+ competition teams and locations. They’ve always trained together since 2007 and it was a “unique competition team experiment that produces champions,” commented Grapplers Quest founder, Brian Cimins.
The Avengers win their first Overall Team Championship Title by Winning the 2012 Florida State Overall Team Title hosted on Saturday, January 14th in Coral Springs, Florida.
The next event in Florida is Saturday, November 10, 2012 back in Coral Springs and sponsored by TapouT and Gaspari Nutrition.

Patrick Krepper Wins Grapplers Quest !

Mike — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 00:39:38 +0000

Coral Springs FL- Patrick Krepper Long time student of Professor Yanez competed in Grapplers Quest this past weekend. Krepper after spending 6 months in Thailand training Maui Thai Kickboxing returned in fashion to BJJ competition. Taking 1st Place in GI and 3rd in No GI. Congrats Mr Krepper.

The Ray Camaraza 1st fight ! @ the Roxy ORLANDO

Mike — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 06:23:42 +0000

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Danny Venter with the WIN in Port Saint Lucie!

Mike — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 06:14:28 +0000

Danny Venter a Blue belt who has trained with Professor Yanez 3 years and started at Fight Factory when Professor Yanez had the rag tag team that spawned a few Pro fighters.

Popovitch on ADCC popularity and why Royler should have taken the match with Bravo

Mike — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 00:03:04 +0000

Brazilian jiu jitsu star, Pablo Popovitch, is a man on a mission. Mission objective: win his weight class and the absolute division at the ADCC tournament in late September. With a busy school and the Abu Dhabi tourney just around the corner, Pablo is finding himself with a very full schedule, these days. Fortunately, TapouT Radio was able to get some of his time in a recent interview. Popovitch filled us in on his plans, which include flying to England, this Saturday, to get some training in with Braulio Estima, before competing in the prestigious event, in Nottingham. The elite grappler gave some insight on the growth of ADCC, and the much deserved recognition it has been getting recently:

“I think with the UFC getting bigger and larger, people are starting to pay more attention to the grappling part of the game, and that’s one of the most important parts of MMA. You’ve got to be a good grappler nowadays, a good striker, good at wrestling, good at everything. I think it’s gonna keep growing and growing and people are gonna pay more attention to submissions and techniques.”

Popovitch, who has known Roger Gracie since childhood, weighed in with his thoughts on how he sees the Lawal/Gracie fight happening, saying,

“Man, that’s a tough match for him (Lawal). If I was in his shoes, I would try to outstrike Roger on the feet and avoid going to the ground. Mo’s striking, I don’t know how well he’s doing with his striking. I know he throws some heavy hands, but Roger has a bigger reach. Definitely Roger’s gonna be hard to take down. It could go either way. I’m cheering for Roger, of course, because he’s representing jiu jitsu, but if it goes to the ground, Roger will submit him, for sure. He might try to ground and pound Roger, but he can get armbarred so easy, or end up in a triangle because Roger’s so long. You know, the guy is 6’4 or 6’5, but King Mo is a tough guy. It should be an interesting match.”

He continued with,

“I see King Mo trying to keep it on the feet, trying to outstrike Roger, and Roger’s gonna have the longer reach in the boxing. If it goes to the ground, Mo could get submitted with an armbar or a triangle. If Roger gets on top of him, I think he’s done. A fight is a fight, and anything could happen. Mo could knock him out with a punch, but if I had to bet, I’d bet on Roger, for sure.”

With the recent controversy over the circumstances surrounding the proposed ADCC match between Eddie Bravo and Royler Gracie still on the minds of the fans and media, we were able to get Pablo’s opinion regarding the situation:

“Man, my opinion is Royler wanted a lot of money, and supposedly, the sheikh knew about that, because I was there, training with him, while this whole conversation was happening, in Abu Dhabi. He wanted too much money, and then, he wasn’t worth it to them, to invest that much money, but, if I put myself in Royler’s shoes, and that guy tapped me out, and I like Eddie, I think he’s a super nice guy, but I would’ve fought him for free, just to defend my honor. Eddie won that fight, submitted him, and you’ve gotta give him credit. A rematch would be a dream come true, if I were in Royler’s place. I don’t know why he asked for that much money. He has his reasons, and I don’t know what they are, but if I was in his shoes, I would take the fight for a lot less than that. I would do it for free.”

If you’re among the constantly growing list of fans that are excited to see the top competitiors in jiu jitsu, grappling at the most prestigious level, you will be happy to know that Budo Videos will be streaming the tournament live on September 24th and 25th.

You can follow Pablo Popovitch on Twitter or via his Facebook fanpage.

You can listen to the audio from this interview at TapouT Radio.

Delaney Owen the step above!

Mike — Fri, 29 Jul 2011 06:10:03 +0000

Delaney Owen the first female to train under Professor Yanez to compete in over 6 tournaments. ” most woman just get distracted with BF and friends and what not, it takes a special type of girl 1 %
to be good in this sport ruled by men” said Prof Yanez. Delaney a new green belt has competed almost completely against blue belts and a recent victory over a GB purple belt. At 115 she usually gives up 5 to 20 pounds in competition due to the lack of females in the sport, shes always in the finals one way or another. ” I’m in class everyday, i cant wait till i am the best!” Delaney says. Although she may be new at this sport, shes headed anywhere she likes wherther it be the cage or ADCC , her determination is second to none. Look for Delaney Owen on the Tournaments coming up a legend in the making….