Brian Elliott
A fan since seeing his first UFC tape in 1994, Brian Elliott has been in print on the subject of mixed martial arts for the last five years. Currently the Associated Press correspondent for UK UFC shows, Brian has also written for the likes of the Canadian Press, The Sun, and The Daily Mirror, and has featured as a guest analyst on Fight Network Radio.
Ian Butlin - Profiled for the BFC Tournament
03/03/09 07:15
Though he first began martial arts training at the tender age of seven, it’s immediately obvious in talking to Huddersfield’s Ian Butlin that he doesn't factor in to the outdated stereotype of the uneducated fighter. Rather, considering his degree in sports science and how seriously he values mental preparation for a fight, you could argue that his education his greatest asset, followed closely by a tremendous determination and will to win.
“My background in sports science really helps my preparation, training, and structure,” he told BritFight. “It has helped me to build programs for myself, and it certainly helps me while I’m in training, because I always know at what level I need to be at, to reach my peak by fight night. Keeping track of all that kind of information, and knowing that I’m as well-prepared as I could be, gives me a lot of confidence when I go to the ring.
“A lot of that confidence also comes from the mental side of my game, which Les Allen (Butlin’s original MMA coach, who fought in Pancrase in 1999) has really brought out in me,” he continued. “He teaches a lot about meditation and the internal side of being a martial artist, which is something that is missed out on in almost every MMA gym. That mental preparation allows me to go in there with a clear mind, and a better ability to focus. Bruce Lee said 'The consciousness of self is the greatest hindrance to the proper execution of all physical action', and that's how I go into the ring. It makes it easier to react to whatever situation I find myself in.”
A martial arts fan ever since he was introduced to the short-lived TV show “The Master” in his childhood, Butlin first took judo lessons, before transferring his skills to Muay Thai, and then boxing. The latter led him to tremendous success at junior level, including winning the Gold medal at the British Universities Championship in 2000, but the perils of boxing judging eventually led him to try his hand at the multi-disciplined sport of MMA instead.
“Because of the way that a draw had been made, I had to fight in the Yorkshire boxing finals and the North East Counties finals on the same night,” recalled Butlin. “I won the Yorkshire final, but it was a tough fight where the referee gave my opponent chance after chance to continue, even though I'd cut him quite badly.
“So because the fight went longer than it should have, I ended up with a little lump around my eye going into the North East final, and when I got hit on that same spot in the second fight, it burst the lump. It actually felt better to me because the pressure was released around the area, but the referee immediately stopped the fight, without even letting me see the doctor. My corner were happy that it wasn't a bad injury, so the inconsistency really got to me. From that point I decided that I was going to pursue mixed martial arts instead.”
After two semi-pro MMA bouts – against Peter Irving and Rob Hannis – went his way via submission, “M16” decided that it was time for him to turn pro, to make sure, as he put it, that he “wouldn’t regret not going for it”. At around the same time, he opened up a gym with his brother Dave, and the facility proved a factor in four wins out of five on the professional circuit. But a cancelled fight in 2005 between he and former PRIDE fighter Charles “Krazy Horse” Bennett was the beginning of a difficult period for Butlin, and one that it has taken him until now to fully bounce back from.
“My pro training at the gym really speeded up my progress, I think. I had a real successful first few years, when I fought for the Cage Rage title, and the Cage Warriors title, but things changed a little when I was scheduled to fight Bennett.
“I trained so hard for that fight and felt I was in the best shape of my life, but then the fight was cancelled because he wasn't allowed into the country. I felt so down after that that I just wasn’t able to motivate myself back to that level. I went off the rails, and fell into a downward spiral. Really, the last little while I've been doing myself a disservice, training myself and taking fights here and there. It's only this year with things getting back on track that I feel that I can reach that level again.”
Remarkably for a fighter of his notoriety, Butlin’s last victory was way back at the end of 2006, just months after he described himself as the best lightweight in the country. Having once again found focus, “M16” is keen to show that he can back up that lofty proclamation in the opening round of the BFC Lightweight tournament, as he faces Harvey Harra, to whom he lost in May 2006.
“The video of me saying that I was the best lightweight in the country seemed to get around pretty quickly,” he joked. “But I actually do believe that, though now I've got to go and prove it. There was a fight a while ago that we tried to arrange between myself and Ollie Ellis, which would really have given me the opportunity to say that I was the best, but the match kept being put off and put off, for all kinds of reasons.
“So I feel like I've never had the opportunity to prove my worth, and it is going to be much tougher to do that now, with the division so much more competitive than it was a few years ago. With the Lightweight tournament, there’s so many people who can win it; I think if you were to ask the experts, they’d say that the Lightweight tournament is the most open that the BFC has.
“As far Harvey Harra, he has really improved since we last fought,” Butlin concluded. “But really, I had a bad rib injury going into that, which forced Dave to pull me out after the first round. Now, at least, we’ll get a proper conclusion to the fight.
“All of my training is back in my brother’s hands now, and we’ve put together a strong conditioning and fight plan for me. Working with Les again, I’ve gone back to my roots, and I’m more positive in my outlook than I’ve ever been.
“The result of the fight is definitely going to be different this time around.”
Archived articles
Ian Butlin - Profiled for the BFC Tournament
03/03/09 07:15
BFC - What do you think?
08/02/09 12:41
Ian Dean
Ian ‘The Oracle’ Dean is the mainstay of Warrior Promotions and matchmaker extraordinaire. His innate ability to pick the best matches for Cage Warriors has earned him the title ‘The Oracle’ along with his encyclopaedic knowledge of UK & International MMA.
A Fantastic Result Or A Dangerous Precedent ?
20/07/09 08:01
Some Thoughts and Feelings: A Fantastic Result Or A Dangerous Precedent ?
Anyone who has been following the Cagewarriors.com forums lately would have surely noticed the furore concerning last weekend's Lightweight bout at Total Combat 30. As the BJJ Black Belt and long time UK MMA veteran Dave “Speedy” Elliott took on the promising young Caged Steel fighter James Saville. Although controversial topics on the forum are nothing new, this topic really did divide a very active and vocal UK MMA scene, even more so than usual.
In the end, the vocal majority were wrong and the youngster pulled off a very impressive TKO win early in round 1. Although I was not there, I can't help pondering if this is the last we will hear on this subject As although it was a fantastic result for Saville, I just can't help thinking this result has set a very dangerous precedent in an unregulated scene which always seems to be teetering on the brink.
I first met James Saville in 2006, just days after his 16th Birthday, where he was competing in an Amateur bout at Ultimate Force. Although I have heard about Saville before and saw some clips of his previous fights, I was keen to see him fight live. Although socially he looked like a shy and awkward teenager, you could see potential once he stepped inside the cage.
Although the bout was held under “No head shot / Amateur rules” I felt Saville was troubled by the stand-up skills of his opponent. However when the action hit the mat, Saville's slick ground work was evident and he secured the win in impressive fashion. I remember speaking to his coach at the time and told him to “look after that kid” as the general consensus at Cageside was this young Yorkshireman could be a star of the future. It's also worth noting that Saville already had 6 fights under his belt before that bout and that his opponent; Lawson Tennent fought under professional rules the following year despite only being 16 and a half himself. (But that as they say, is another story)
With over a dozen Amateur/Semi Pro wins on his record and only 1 loss,(which was down to another debatable matchmaking decision against the bigger, stronger and older Andrew McQueen in 2007) you could argue that Saville was ready to dip his toes into a very competitive UK professional scene. Although at just 18 years old and with question marks about his strike resistance still hanging in the balance, he made his pro debut. To his credit he did not pick an easy fight as he went up against the very able Team Supreme youngster Dan Korbely, who has spent the last few years building an unbeaten streak on the AMMA FC shows in the Midlands.
The bout between Saville and Korbely was an eliminator for the now aborted BFC Bantamweight tournament, which would have seen the winner take on a top 5 UK Bantamweight contender just a few months later. The contest started at a furious pace as Saville stormed forward and uncharacteristically landed a flurry of strikes on Korbely which initially stunned him before he fought back and slowly took control. As Saville was on the back foot I felt he crumbled under the pressure and pace of his opponent before he eventually tapped from strikes.
Stories soon emerged of Saville's problems with the weight cut and talk soon occurred that he was moving up to Featherweight, which domestically is full of experienced and powerful weight cutters. Nevertheless people were rightfully interested in this talented young fighter, however on June 24th, it was announced on the Cagewarriors.com forums that he would be fighting Dave Elliott at Total Combat 30, as a Lightweight, a full 2 weight classes higher (which depending on your preferences is either 9.1 kg or 20 lbs heavier)
Instantly alarm bells rang through my mind, as despite the UK MMA scene being an unregulated and often unprofessional mess, there has always been a notion of self regulation between most of the major players in the game, which has been facilitated in part by internet forums, which has in the past stopped some controversial situations or rulings from happening due to peer pressure and debate.
However when the fight was announced here the scene was polarised as some experienced campaigners and professional fighters were baffled by the match-up. After all Dave Elliott is a man in his 30's with a BJJ Black Belt and over 7 years experience in the sport. He had 18 professional MMA bouts to his name (excluding numerous Kickboxing bouts) and had fought a mixture of UFC, Pride FC, and Shooto veterans, e.g. Dave Lee, Jean Silva, Gerald Strebendt, Kyotaro Nakao and more.
Although the promotional team and Saville's friends vigorously defended the fight and ultimately were proved right, I can't help thinking that a dangerous precedent has now been set in the UK, As this bout has given unscrupulous promoters carte blanche to put on an array of lazy, baffling and ultimately dangerous match-ups, whilst relying on the excuse that “Well everyone said the Saville/Elliot match-up was a mis-match and looked what happened there.”
However not every young fighter will be as naturally talented as James Saville, who trains at one of the UK's most respected MMA Academies, nor will every up-and-coming fighter have the backing of good sponsors, years of training (albeit in the Amateur/Semi Pro ranks) or friends to support them. And this worries me a lot as the subtle system of checks and balances in the UK scene may be forgotten, if people feel they can no longer challenge Promoter's decisions without being shouted down by “I told you so”.
Maybe I am overreacting but I believe this is yet another reason why we need a genuine and legitimate UK MMA Commission or Governing Body, as without it I feel we are just 1 step away from disaster. It's been shown on numerous occasions that Promoter's cannot work with each other and as the market gets more and more competitive, I fear some Promotions and individuals will result to more controversial tactics to stay ahead. And without any body or group to check their power, I fear the consequences could be very damaging.
I also wonder what happens if a young fighter is mismatched and is seriously hurt because of it? Is the promoter ultimately responsible for this, or do we as individuals need to share the blame if we encourage this kind of behaviour as the fighter is our friend, our team mate or if we simply turn a blind eye as it is none of our business or we are simply too scared to speak out.
For this fight I did not speak out and over the past 24-36 hours I have felt a twinge of guilt and also relief, as I would have felt guilty for not speaking up if something terrible had happened and ignoring something I feel so passionately about. Right now I feel conflicted, concerned and frustrated as this and many other negative situations will continue until this sport is properly regulated by an independent and professional Governing Body.
However I am not holding my breath for it to happen any time soon.
Archived articles
A Fantastic Result Or A Dangerous Precedent ?
20/07/09 08:01
M-1 Challenge in the UK
29/08/08 02:00
Jeff 'Wombat' Meszaros
Jeff ‘Wombat’ Meszaros has over 10 years experience covering mixed martial arts for websites, magazines, radio and television. In twenty years martial arts experience he holds Black belts in Hapkido and Taekwondo, Black belt in Brazilian jiu jitsu, Brown belt in Judo and was a 2008 Pan American silver medalist in BJJ.
Can't We All Just Get Along?
03/03/09 07:07
Here in North America, is seems natural for fight promoters to fight. While they might not step into the cage themselves, it is common for them to fight over ticket sales and try to mark their "territory" like animals competing for mating rights. Really, it's the same with any business. After all, there's only so much money out there and any sensible person wants as much of it as he can get. But MMA promoters here sometimes take it to the next level, even going so far as to sabotage their competition by calling up athletic commissions and venues, or sometimes even fighters themselves, to try to throw things off track by spreading lies and rumors. It's the sort of villainous behavior you expect to read about in comic books or see in soap operas, but it happens.
Considering this, the fact that various promoters in the U.K. have come together to make the British Fighting Championships is quite astounding to say the least. The very idea of it seems contrary to the "every man for himself" nature of the fight business. Still, it sets an excellent example for the people here in North America, who are all still obsessed with back-stabbing one another for a slightly larger share of the pie.
Nothing would please me more than to see more events, especially the big events, follow along and adopt this idea. To a certain extent, that is slowly happening as organizations like WAMMA crown champions in events like Affliction and Dream where, respectively, they have recognized Fedor Emelianenko and Shinya Aoki as the world heavyweight and lightweight champions. But as nice as it is to see, the truly 'big dog' in the sport is still balking at the idea as the UFC looks down from the mountain top and laughs heartily.
Of course, you can't overlook the fact that the UFC operates using different rules. Unlike Dream, they allow elbows on the ground. While Affliction uses the same 'unified' rules as the UFC, they hold their matches (like Dream) in a ring while the UFC uses its trademarked octagon. Then there's Strikeforce; which uses a cage but does not allow elbows, just as the International Fight League didn't ... although the IFL happened in a ring. Plus there are the issues of scoring criteria, round lengths and even number of rounds.
The point is, considering how each event is going their own way, it's going to make it more and more difficult to see them turn things around and come back together. In fact, watching one event beside another is sometimes as different as watching American, Australian and British football; all of which probably started with the same idea of chasing around an inflated cow's bladder, while trying to hurt one another badly. Just as you couldn't have any unified event where the Los Angeles Raiders take on Manchester United, considering a fight between Fedor Emelianenko or Shinya Aoki and their UFC equivalents ... possibly Brock Lesnar and B.J. Penn, raises all kinds of questions such as "Does the fight happen in a cage or a ring"? and "Are elbows allowed"? Or even "Can a fighter wear a gi or ankle-length spandex banana-colored pants"? You see the problem. As nice as it would be for events to come together, at this point it would be like a dog having sex with a cat. They are two different animals entirely.
Still, there's no arguing against the benefits of bringing events together. I'm sure Shinya Aoki would like nothing more than the chance to bend one of B.J. Penn's legs right around, so his toes point towards the back of his head. Likewise, Brock Lesnar would likely jump at the opportunity to force one of his toaster-sized fists down the throat of Fedor Emelianenko, who continues to steal the heavyweight spotlight from the UFC; at least in the eyes of hardcore fans. Speaking of which, fighters aren't the only ones who would wet themselves with joy at the idea of an MMA grand prix where fighters can face each other in an open market. Finally, the matches that fans talk about as pure theory would be free to happen when they should; not years later when both fighters have fallen from their prime - as has happened in so many cases, including Chuck Liddell vs. Wanderlei Silva and the maybe-still-to-happen bout between Emelianenko and Randy Couture; which has been in the works for years and, if it happens, could correspond to Couture's 50th birthday. If certain promoters had cut through the red tape years ago, that fight would've happened already. Instead, it is still the subject of hot conjecture on internet forums.
So why hasn't this happened? Why is the effort not being made here in North America as it is in the U.K.? Well, I suppose the biggest answer is likely greed. Sharing is not in the nature of hard businessmen, who would rather have a larger slice of the market than concede anything to the competition by allowing certain matches to happen on the open market. Also, there's the dealings of agents and behind-the-scenes people who have their own agenda as well; either for the benefit of their fighter or sometimes just for themselves. As sad as that is, it's a hard reality that the sport would be a mess without them. After all, any fighter worth a pound of sand is willing to fight anyone, anytime, anywhere, but that would not make for a profitable business. Opponents need to be discussed and purses considered; sometimes rejected, for the financial side of things to happen.
But what would happen if Emelianenko fought Lesnar in a heavyweight throwdown? Or if Aoki faced Penn in a battle of lightweight jiu-jitsu masters? I have my guesses, of course, but from where I'm sitting the most likely answer is we'll never know. As events like Strikeforce, the UFC and Dream cast aspersions at each other, the concept of some grand-scale family reunion looks more and more unlikely.
Archived articles
Can't We All Just Get Along?
03/03/09 07:07
Predictions for UFC 95: Sanchez vs. Stevenson
29/01/09 04:35
UFC 93: Franklin vs. Henderson
15/01/09 22:23
The Bellator Fighting Championships
11/12/08 07:48
M-1 Predictions
29/08/08 07:39
