In conjunction with The Arena, Spar Customs is holding the first ever MMA Trifecta Party. The first event will be the MMA Expo @ The Arena Sunday August 1 from 12-5. The 2nd event will be a UFC viewing party followed by the 3rd event, a UFC after-party at Red Circle.. For more information on the MMA Trifects, go to the MMA Trifecta page.
In conjunction with Spar Customs and the University of Jiu Jitsu, The Arena is holding a MMA Expo Sunday August 1 from 12-5. The event will be held at The Arena’s 3350 Sports Arena Blvd. San Diego location next door to the San Diego Sports Arena where the UFC will be holding its’ event after the MMA expo. For more information on the Expo, go to The Arena’s MMA Expo page.
The Arena’s fight team continued it’s winning streak on July 3rd. The Arena entered 3 fighters in the Native Fighting Championships and all 3 fighters dominated, each winning in the 1st round. Joe Duartes fought first and won in 90 seconds, followed by Mike Parker who won in 65 seconds, followed by Mike Burlison who KO’d his opponent in 10 seconds.
The Arena Team has been on a roll. Both Chris Cope and Cris “Cyborg” Santos won by TKO’s in 2nd round of their respective Strikeforce fights on June 26th. And before that, The Arena went 3 for 3 at the Native Fighting Championships on 5/29 with Saul Galindo winning by TKO in the 1st, Cosmoe Cala also winning by TKO in the 1st and Kyle Reid winning by TKO in the 2nd.
Additionally, Stephen Abas, Olympic Silver Medalist and Wrestling coach for The Arena won his MMA debut at Tachi Palace on May 5th. KJ Noons won recently as well, in both Dream on 3/22 as well as in Strikeforce on 6/16. And one of The Arena’s boxing coaches, Rich Power, extended his professional boxing record to 11-0 on March 27th.
The Arena hopes to keep its fighters winning as long as they can, as the gym continues to build its fight team and provide its fighters with outstanding coaching and training. Additionally, well-known MMA Manager Jeff Clark is helping guide the careers of many of The Arena’s team members as he gets fighters signed with numerous fight promotions including the UFC, Strikeforce, M1 Global, Dream and Bellator.
San Diego MMA Gym The Arena was featured in the fight media world once again, this time in the UFC Countdown show for UFC 107. The UFC typically films the Countdown show before its highly anticipated MMA fights. The UFC’s traditional preview show for December’s UFC 107 will debut the second week of December 2009.
UFC 107, featuring the Diego Sanchez vs. BJ Penn Lightweight title fight, will take place December 12th, 2009 at the FedEx forum in Memphis, Tennessee. The highly anticipated Sanchez/Penn fight will be the main event, with the card also featuring Frank Mir vs. Cheick Kongo, Jon Fitch vs. Mike Pierce, Kenny Florian vs. Clay Guida and 7 other bouts.
“Countdown to UFC 107″ goes behind the scenes as Sanchez and Penn ready for a fight that will determine the UFC lightweight champion of the world. The 60-minute preview show has earned rave reviews as the UFC has continually created better shows with each filming, including high quality production values and close access to the fighters.
Sanchez was interviewed and filmed training at the Arena, under the watchful eye of head coach Saulo Ribeiro, the 6x Jiu Jitsu World Champion. The Arena is the Premier MMA gym in San Diego, and where Ribeiro calls home.
Besides its own MMA program, The Arena houses Ribeiro’s University of Jiu Jitsu, one of the most successful Jiu Jitsu programs in the world. The Arena is also home to other UFC and WEC fighters including Fabricio “Morango” Camoes and Rani Yahya, as well as many up and coming young MMA fighters.
The Arena is THE MMA Gym in San Diego that trains professional fighters as well as students who want to train like fighters. The Arena offers training in Boxing, Jiu Jitsu, MMA, Muay Thai, and Wrestling in its San Diego MMA gym. For more information on The Arena, go to http://www.TheArenaMMA.com.
Diego Garijo, a well-known San Diego Jiu Jitsu and MMA fighter, won big in his first fight on the Bellator Fighting Championships 8 on June 5th 2009.
Garijo represented The Arena (http://www.TheArenaMMA.com), a MMA gym in San Diego known for the strength of its MMA team and its outstanding training. He also represented San Diego’s The University of Jiu Jitsu, owned by the famous Jiu Jitsu World Champions Saulo and Xande Ribeiro.
Garijo shocked the crowd with his come-from-behind win, stopping opponent Saad Awad in 4:45 of the 1st round by rear naked choke. Garijo, known as “El Nino” like other Latino MMA fighter Gilbert Melendez, came into the fight with a 3-1 record, having won his first three fights in a row, but then losing by TKO in his last fight in 2007.
After taking a 2 year layoff to concentrate on his Jiu Jitsu game under the tutelage of Jiu Jitsu masters Saulo and Xande Ribeiro, Garijo returned to training MMA at The Arena, a well-known MMA gym in San Diego. The Arena houses one of the most powerful MMA teams in the U.S., with fighters on their roster including the UFC’s Diego “Nightmare” Sanchez and the WEC’s Rani Yahya.
Garijo returned to the cage to face Saad “Assassin” Awad, who was the heavily favored fighter. Awad came into the fight with a 7-2 record, having fought 5 more times than Garijo over the last 2 years. Initially, the fight looked bad for Garijo when Awad, the San Bernadino favorite, opened a bad cut over Garijo’s eye. But Garijo fought through and countered with knees, then went for a double leg takedown and then guillotine. Awad escaped the guillotine and took Garijo’s back. Garijo once again countered and put Awad in a rear naked choke, ending the fight with an incredible comeback in the 1st round to the screams of an incredulous crowd.
The fight was a huge win for Garijo, who has left his regular job to concentrate full-time on his MMA career. Garijo, managed by Jeff Clark of veteran MMA management company NCFC (http://www.NCFC.tv), trained extremely hard for his Bellator debut and his work clearly paid off.
It was also one more testament for The Arena’s MMA Team, with 5 previous wins by its fighters in the last two months, including wins by Rani Yahya, Xande Ribeiro, Fabricio “Morango” Camoes, “Notorious” Rick Slaton and Joe “Hybrid” Duarte.
About The Arena – The San Diego MMA Gym and Fight Team
The Arena is a MMA gym in San Diego that trains professional fighters as well as recreational athletes who want to train like fighters. The Arena offers training in Boxing, MMA, Muay Thai, No Gi Jiu Jitsu and Wrestling. For more info on The Arena, go to http://www.TheArenaMMA.com
About the University of Jiu Jitsu – San Diego California
The University of Jiu Jitsu in San Diego California is owned by multiple time Jiu Jitsu World Champions Saulo and Xande Ribeiro. It is one of the Premier Jiu Jitsu schools in the world. The Ribeiro brothers teach full-time in their San Diego Jiu Jitsu academy, alongside their famed mentor Royler Gracie. For more info on the University of Jiu Jitsu, go to http://www.UNIJJ.com
San Diego, California June 4th, 2009 — The Arena
MMA in San Diego is continuing its rapid explosion, with another major MMA event being held in San Diego after the WEC 38 event at the San Diego Sports Arena on Jan 25th 2009. The 2nd San Diego MMA event, known as War Gods, was held at Viejas Casino May 30th, 2009. As usual, one MMA gym in San Diego, known simply as The Arena (http://www.thearenamma.com), continued to dominate, with both of the fighters The Arena had on the War Gods card winning in spectacular fashion in the 1st round of their respective fights.
The Arena entered two San Diego favorites, “Notorious” Rick Slaton and Joe “Hybrid” Duarte. Slaton, an experienced brawler with fights against notable UFC fighters such as Shane Carwin, and Duarte, an upcoming young fighter featured on The Ultimate Fighter Show in 2008, both impressed the crowd with their quick wins.
Rick Slaton, entering his fight with a 9-1-1 record, is a well-known local figure in the San Diego MMA world, having been involved in it for over a decade. Although known for his “Art of Face Punching” and issuing what Slaton calls “Free Pain”, he surprised the crowd by coming out quickly with two rapid leg kicks against MMA Fighter / Professional Boxer Salah Zabian, who was quickly overwhelmed. Slaton rapidly administered his particular brand of Free Pain to Zabian, TKO’ing him in 56 seconds of the 1st round.
Joe Duarte is also an extremely popular San Diego figure and is considered a rising young gun in the MMA world. Although only coming into the fight with a 4-1 record versus his opponent, MMA vet David Gardner with 28 Pro MMA fights to his credit, Duarte scored an impressive victory in 2:41 of the 1st round. Gardner proved a tough and game opponent for the initial two minutes. However, Duarte was simply too much for Gardner, overwhelming and outgunning him with punches until the fight was called.
The Arena has an impressive roster of Professional MMA fighters on its team and is on a winning streak, with The Arena Team fighters Rani Yahya winning in WEC 40 on April 5th, Xande Ribeiro winning in the Japanese event Sengoku on May 2nd and Fabricio “Morango” Camoes winning in Strikeforce on 5/15/2009.
Other upcoming fights for the team include Diego Garijo in Bellator on June 5th and Diego Sanchez in the UFC on June 20th.
About The Arena – The MMA Training Gym in San Diego California
The Arena is a San Diego MMA school and fighter training gym that focuses on training professional fighters as well as recreational athletes who want to train like fighters. The Arena offers high-level training in Boxing, MMA, Muay Thai, No Gi Jiu Jitsu and Wrestling.
For more information on The Arena, call 619-222-5554, go to http://www.TheArenaMMA.com. You can also follow their tweets at http://www.Twitter.com/TheArenaMMA. For more info on Rick Slaton, go to http://www.MySpace.com/Rick_Slaton. For more info on Joe Duarte, go to http://www.MySpace.com/JoeDuarte.
May 03, 2009 – The Arena, the Premier MMA School and Fight Training Gym in San Diego recently gave a free seminar to members of the United States Marine Corps at Marine Corps Air Station (MCAS) Miramar, former site of the U.S. Navy Top Gun School.
With over 50 Marines in attendance, including instructors of the Marine Corps Martial Arts Program (MCMAP), The Arena’s instructors Rick Slaton and Chris Blanke demonstrated Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) techniques, as well as Self-Defense and Personal Combatives demonstrations.
Rick Slaton is a professional MMA fighter based out of The Arena MMA gym in San Diego and Chris Blanke is a professional Jiu Jitsu instructor based out of Toledo, Ohio, but frequent guest instructor to both The Arena and The University of Jiu Jitsu, also located in San Diego.
About The Arena – The MMA School / Fight Training Gym in San Diego
The Arena is a MMA school and fight training gym located in San Diego California that focuses on fighters and those who want to train like fighters. The Arena offers high-level training in Boxing, MMA, Muay Thai, No Gi Jiu Jitsu and Wrestling. For more information on The Arena, call 619-222-5554 or go to http://www.TheArenaMMA.com or http://www.MySpace.com/TheArenaMMA
The Arena MMA Team, Southern California’s Premier Fight Team, was featured in the latest edition (Volume 24, Isssue 3) of Revolt in Style magazine. Highlighting how The Arena has become THE gym for pro fighters training MMA in San Diego, the article profiles some of The Arena’s fighters and their upcoming bouts. The full text of the article follows:
Welcome to The Arena – Putting San Diego MMA On The Map
by Taff Davies
When I first visited San Diego’s newest MMA gym, The Arena, 3 months ago, I wrote an article afterwards about how San Diego was rapidly becoming a hotspot for Mixed Martial Arts training. The article detailed some of the famous trainers in the city such as Saulo Ribeiro (6x World Jiu Jitsu Champion). It also described how the San Diego climate and lifestyle was drawing some of the best fighters from all over the world.
What I didn’t realize when I wrote that article was how quickly The Arena would help prove my point about the explosion of interest in the San Diego MMA world. In 3 short months, The Arena has become a magnet for the professional San Diego MMA scene, with support from its corporate sponsors including Sinister Brand and Built To Fight. Although not a large commercial facility like some of its competitors, The Arena has everything a MMA gym should, while offering a much more personal environment. That seems to work in its favor, at least as far as the professional fighters go.
Also, unlike other gyms that concentrate more on fitness classes, The Arena caters to everyday people who want to train like fighters. These people want to get the benefits of exercise while actually learning real fighting skills. In this area, The Arena more than delivers, with classes including Boxing, MMA, Muay Thai, No Gi Jiu Jitsu, and Wrestling. The instructors are all top-notch; all of them either active or former professional fighters.
The Arena’s focused approach is obviously working because their professional MMA team is loaded with talent and their daily practices are packed. An argument could be made that The Arena Team is now the best in Southern California and one of the top 10 MMA teams in the country. It includes Diego Sanchez, Rani Yahya, Xande Ribeiro, Fabricio “Morango” Camoes, Joe Duarte, Pat Speight, Rick Slaton, Waylon Kennell, Diego Garijo, Ryan Burwick, Casey Ryan, and many others. It’s also a very active team, with members fighting in the UFC, WEC, Affliction, Strikeforce, and others.
In fact, Arena team member Rani Yahya (13-4) just fought in WEC 40 on 4/5, winning in 1:07 of the 1st round and Waylon Kennel debuted in Strikeforce on 4/12. Many other fights are coming up shortly for The Arena’s fighters, including Xande Ribeiro in Sengoku on 5/2, Diego Garijo in Bellator on 5/8, Ryan Burwick in The Badlands Beatdown on 5/9, Fabricio “Morango” Camoes in Strikeforce on 5/15, Joe Duarte in Wargods at Viejas Casino on 5/30, and of course, Diego Sanchez in UFC on 6/20.
With such an active team, The Arena will be drawing attention in the months to come. Along with other San Diego MMA gyms like Alliance MMA in Chula Vista, which features fighters like Brandon Vera and Dominic Cruz and trainer Eric Delfierro, The Arena should continue to draw some of the best fighting talent into San Diego, putting the city firmly on the MMA map.
For more info on The Arena, call them at 619-222-5554 or go online to their website at www.The ArenaMMA.com or their MySpace page at www.MySpace.com/TheArenaMMA
About The Arena and San Diego MMA
Located directly next to the San Diego Sports Arena, The Arena is a mixed martial arts school and fight training gym located in San Diego California that focuses on fighters and those who want to train like fighters. The Arena offers high-level training in Boxing, MMA, Muay Thai, No Gi Jiu Jitsu and Wrestling. For more information, please visit The Arena – San Diego MMA.
ESPN, along with the owner of Bellator Fighting Championships, visited the The Arena on Monday Feb. 16th, to film The Arena’s fighter Diego Garijo. One of The Arena’s other fighters, Charles Diaz, was also featured, as was Xande Ribeiro (owner of The Arena’s brother school, the University of Jiu Jitsu). Diego will be one of the featured fighters in Bellator’s upcoming season, so watch for him on Bellator’s premier on April 4th!
About Bellator
Bellator Fighting Championships will be broadcast starting April 2009 through ESPN Deportes. Bellator’s premiere season consists of twelve events which will be broadcast every Saturday night in primetime, with the first show airing April 4, 2009. There will be four simultaneous tournaments taking place in season #1 over a three month period. Eight fighters will be represented in each division. To win the Bellator Championship, a fighter must win a total of three fights over a three month period. At the end of the initial season, Bellator will have crowned four Bellator Champions and will have awarded each Champion $175,000!
About the University of Jiu Jitsu
The University of Jiu Jitsu is the leading school in the world for Jiu Jitsu instruction. Headed by 6x world champion Saulo Ribeiro and 7x world champion Xande Ribeiro, with family leader Royler Gracie frequently in attendance, the University offers world-class Jiu Jitsu instruction for all levels. For more information, please visit the University of Jiu Jitsu.
About The Arena and San Diego MMA
Located directly next to the San Diego Sports Arena, The Arena is the brother school of Saulo and Xande’s Ribeiro’s University of Jiu Jitsu, located next door. The Arena is a mixed martial arts training facility that focuses on fighters and those who want to train like fighters. The Arena offers high-level training in Boxing, MMA, Muay Thai, and Submission Wrestling (No Gi Jiu Jitsu). For more information, please visit The Arena.
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