Testosterone Festival Showcase in Houston October 17-18

We are very proud to be taking the Texas Testosterone Festival across the stage, building on the success of our inaugural event. Immersed in Ink, the national tattoo convention, has invited The Texas Testosterone Festival to showcase during their festival at the Marriott Westchase October 17 and 18.

The Import All-Stars Auto Con is happening at Immersed in Ink but the MMA Bootcamp Intensive has been cancelled! If you pre-registered, please email us for your refund: info@texastestosteronefestival.com

MMA Bootcamp Intensive Coming to TTF in Houston!

Our apologies. The MMA Bootcamp Intensive in Houston October 17-18 during the Immersed in Ink Festival at the Marriott Westchase has been cancelled. The Immersed In Ink Festival, however, goes on!

In unrelated news, best of luck to Sam Hoger in his next fight!

Phil Cardella Attacks From the Back

Jon Kirk Ground and Pound

Melvin Guillard Using the Fence

Rocky Long Boxing for MMA

Kamal Shalorus Takedowns and Takedown Defense

Phil Cardella Returns to WEC August 9

Phil Cardella will be facing Ed “9mm” Ratcliff at WEC 42 on Sunday, August 9, according to MMAWeekly.com. Cardella is coming off a 42 second submission victory over Johnny Flores and is one fight removed from a split decision loss to Danny Castillo at WEC 39. MMAWeekly writes of the loss “Cardella was a winner in the minds of many fans and critics after his fight against Danny Castillo ended a split decision.”

Perhaps they read some of the thoughts from this site.

Ed Ratcliff has been quiet ever since his loss to Dallas’s Marcus Hicks in WEC 33 in March of 2008. Suffering injuries and dropping to lightweight, “9mm” is a tough and unorthodox striker. 

Read more of what Cardella has to say about the matchup at MMAWeekly.com. Follow the other rumored fights for the card at MMAJunkie.com as well.

Sunday, August 9 is going to be a big day for the Testosterone Festival. Plan to spend it with us at Bikinis Bar and Grill on IH-35 in Austin. 3:00 is Come See Grown Men Cry, a competitive eating event, followed by The Fantasy Poker League at 6:00, then we will be gathering to cheer Phil on when his fight is hopefully televised that evening.

Here’s some video on Ratcliff for you to get a sense of what Ratcliff will try to bring to Cardella’s table.

Phil Cardella Robbed at WEC 39

Texas’ own Phil Cardella was robbed of a decision last night at WEC 39 when he thoroughly dominated two of three rounds against Danny Castillo but only one of the three judges gave him the two rounds.

From WEC.tv regarding the first round… “All Castillo could do on the mat was try to stall and survive and hope that the referee would force a stand-up due to inactivity.” Regarding the second round… “As Castillo attempted to standup, Cardella fired a brutal upkick that violently whipped Castillo around and sent him slumping down. He fell perfectly into a Cardella triangle. It appeared the end was near but Castillo was saved by the horn signaling the conclusion of the round.” Regarding the third round… “With about 30 seconds left, Cardella improbably trapped his opponent in another triangle choke, and then switched to an armbar. Castillo held on as time expired and escaped with a split decision victory.”

Sherdog writes “Castillo survives and takes a generous split decision.”

And here is video from WEC.tv of Castillo doing everything short of conceding that he lost the fight.

Danny Castillo - Welcome to Texas

Came across this photo on Phil Cardella’s Myspace page. Cardella throws down with Danny Castillo this Sunday at WEC in Corpus Christi.

The prevailing thought is… welcome to Texas, Danny Castillo. This may not turn out well for you.

Click here for video from the WEC website interviewing both fighters.

By the way, we emailed Danny Castillo for an interview for this website. Here is the dialogue:

“Hello Danny,

We’re looking forward to your fight in Corpus Christi for WEC on March 1. We have to admit, we are HUGE Phil Cardella fans and will be cheering for all of the Texas-based fighters on the card.
That being said, we wanted to see if you would be interested in participating in an interview to put on our website, ..www. TexasTestosteroneFestival. com…

Here are our questions…

1) What is your gameplan against Phil Cardella at WEC on March 1?
2) What’s the one part of your game you’re hoping Phil Cardella does not discover or exploit during your fight?
3) Are there any injuries you don’t want Phil Cardella to be aware of?
4) What hotel will you be staying in the night before your fight? What will be the name you’re checked in under?
5) Do your cornermen need directions to the nearest hospital to the American Bank Center?

Thanks for your consideration, Danny. We’d wish you luck with training and in your fight March 1 but we’re really not capable of doing so. We hope you understand.
Respect.
The Texas Testosterone Festival”

Castillo’s response?

“LOL…Thats really cute!”

So, perhaps including a picture of a naked woman in our email to entice a response backfired.

For more on this fight click here.

Update 2/27/09: Put a new picture from the Sherdog forums above (hat tip to Evil Scott) as well as a link to video interviews with both Castillo and Cardella.

XFC Weigh-Ins are Tomorrow Night

Obviously, we’re more than just a little excited for a great weekend of MMA in Texas - WEC Sunday night features Amarillo’s Leonard Garcia taking on Featherweight Champion Mike Brown, Dallas’ Marcus Hicks takes on Rob McCullough, and Austin’s Phil Cardella takes on Danny Castillo. We’ve posted twice before about Cardella so look at those posts for more info on that fight.

But for those of us who are fans of live MMA and interested in those fighters just one step away from the big shows like UFC, WEC, Affliction, and Strikeforce… we’re going to XFC on Friday night at the Travis County Expo Center. Rumors are out that talent scouts from the top of the food chain will be present. What’s a better way to sell a show than by great rumors like these flying about? We’re taking notes.

And to build the excitement, tomorrow night are the weigh-ins at Shiner’s Saloon at 422 Congress in downtown Austin. Fighters, Hot chicks, merchandise giveaways… hell, we’ll be there too. Buy us beer.

Austin’s Chris Spicer is 2 and 0 as a pro including a a dominating performance against a game Ken Laney just a couple weeks ago. Spicer has spent less than 2 minutes in the ring thus far. Look for fireworks against Jon Kirk, who is much more experienced with an 11-5 record but on a two fight losing streak.

Another fight to look forward to is the girls’ fight. Houston’s April Coutino will have her hands full with Jen Babcock from Team Jackson in Albuquerque. She gets knocked around by guys like GSP, Keith Jardine, and UFC Light Heavyweight Champion Rashad Evans… she has to be tough.

WEC’s Phil Cardella Will Hurt Danny Castillo

Phil Cardella sure knows how to secure Texas’s reputation for being a lawless house of crazies.

“I go wild pig hunting at night — I’ll walk around the woods with guns in the middle of the night,” he confessed. “I’ll dive off a 70-foot cliff head first, I’ll go 70 feet underwater without tanks. I don’t let any dips**ts into my academy.”

But he also knows how to scare the living bejeezus out of his opponents - the next one being Danny Castillo at WEC in Corpus Christi on March 1.

“I’m going to go in there and kick this guy’s a–; I’m going to choke the s— out of him. I’m sure he’s going to give me a choke. He’s going to get the s— beat out of him and he’s not going to want a rematch.” Then he talks of his last opponent, Rafael Dias. “I beat the snot out of Rafael Dias in my guard and he couldn’t pass. I beat up Rafael and put him in the hospital … I gave him a whole lot of elbows and almost submitted him several times. I didn’t break his spirit — I just kept pummeling him in the head and making the cuts bigger. His head hurt for two months straight. I didn’t enjoy inflicting those injuries to him but I’ll do it in a heartbeat to my next opponent.”

More great quotes from Cardella can be found here.

We may already be the kinds of guys that come up with excuses why we won’t take the wife or girlfriend to a Haunted House in October but chalk us up as particularly scared of Phil Cardella. By the way, even if you’re a dips**t, stop by Cardella’s Gracie Austin Jiu Jitsu Academy at 2919 Manchaca in South Austin and take some lessons.

Here is video of Cardella beating the snot out of Dias.

Phil’s video from joe on Vimeo.

Best submissions in mma?

“No. 4 The Triangle Choke: While in the guard, the fighter traps his opponent’s arm and pulls it forward. From there, the fighter puts his leg opposite to the isolated arm behind the opponent’s head and locks that leg into place with his other leg. Once the legs are locked, the opponent is trapped, and the fighter in guard applies pressure until his opponent either taps out or loses consciousness.”–www.askmen.com

Just this past Saturday at UFC 95, Demian Maia further cemented his position as one of, if not the, best bjj practitioner(s) in mma today by submitting WEC Middleweight Champ (for all intents and purposes) Chael Sonnen; a fight between two guys with slightly unpronounce-able names. His transitions and finishes are impressive, worth drooling over when watching again in slow-mo. With Anderson Silva having been submitted in the past, you heard it here first, Maia might be the man to beat him (if Silva can avoid being submitted by a very game Thales Leites, also slightly unpronounce-able, at UFC 97 in April).

Sadly missing from the askmen.com list are the Peruvian Necktie and the D’arce Choke. Also, I’d probably put the Gogoplata higher than 10. But, it’s tough to complain; I’m just glad stuff like this is being talked about at all, as 4 years ago no one knew what was going on when an mma match hit the ground. And knowing is half the battle, according the G.I. Joe.

Texas MMA Star Leonard Garcia can Beat Mike Brown

WEC Featherweight Champion Mike Brown certainly doesn’t have the legacy of B.J. Penn, but Georges St. Pierre’s dismantling of Penn as the result of a cunning gameplan demonstrates the next evolution of MMA and, more importantly to challenger Leonard Garcia, the best opportunity for victory this Saturday at WEC 39 in Corpus Christi.

Like Penn, Brown has shown an amazing amount of dexterity, both on his feet and on the ground. A true mixed martial artist, Brown has been training multiple disciplines from the start. A good wrestler with devastating KO power and brutal ground and pound, Brown has his fair share of submission victories on his resume.

Garcia, on the other hand, has an effective punch and a granite chin. He’s fought much of his career against the bigger fighters at 155 and has been willing to go toe-to-toe from bell-to-bell in legendary wars against Roger Huerta and Cole Miller. Both of these decisions were losses and Garcia will need more than just a homestate crowd to take the belt away from Brown if the judges get their say in the matter.

Expect this to go a lot longer than Brown’s victory over Urijah Faber or Garcia’s KO of the mighty Jens Pulver, but expect Garcia to need a great gameplan to take the belt home to Lubbock.

We all watched a visibly pained Brown leave the cage with his new belt as a result of bodyshots Faber was effective in inflicting but unable to capitalize on in later rounds that were never to be.

Garcia’s granite chin and stamina will make the later rounds nearly an inevitability. Brown should be fully recovered from his injuries four months removed but Garcia should strike Brown’s midsection with his punches, knees, and kicks continuously March 1 to wear the champion down, re-aggravate any lingering wounds, and use his own stamina and durability to his advantage – wearing down the champion while weathering his storm until opportunities arise for KOs, submissions, and round-stealing combinations as the later rounds arrive.

Garcia will have to avoid fighting from his back. This may prove difficult as Brown’s takedown skills are strong and Garcia has never demonstrated exceptional takedown defense while competing at 155.
Leg strikes have been the traditional foil to a strong takedown artist, and that should certainly be part of Garcia’s arsenal, but a counter-puncher like Garcia can also put his back to the cage and engage in dirty boxing both as a way to utilize the opportunity for strong knees to the body but also to leverage the cage in preventing a takedown and neutralizing Brown’s almost-certain strength advantage.

Garcia has the ability to win this fight and by taking a page out of the Team Jackson / Georges St. Pierre playbook and arriving in Corpus Christi March 1 with a solid gameplan, Garcia can become the next king of the 145 pound division.