8pointmma.com's Podcast

In this podcast we will breakdown all the main fights for UFC on Versus 1 and do our 8 Point Breakdown for Vera vs. Jones.

We brought our new journalist Steve Dranberg on board for this event.

Click the podcast to hear the full breakdown!

Hello everyone, and welcome to the inaugural episode of 8 Point MMA.com’s: Month of Bellator Special. With Bellator Season Two quickly approaching 8 Point MMA.com has agreed to sit down and interview every fighter that will be competing in Season Two. This week we will be starting with all the Bellator Featherweight Tournament participants.

First up, we have Wilson Reis. Wilson was on Bellator's first ever season, and ended up losing to eventual tournament winner, and now Bellator Featherweight Champion Joe Soto. Wilson got the call to return to Bellator and compete in their Season Two tournament. When asked about getting a second chance at the title Wilson told 8 Point MMA.com, "I was very excited and very happy to come back in Season Two. I'm excited to get in, beat three opponents, and win the title. That's my goal right now."

Wilson is matched up with Shad Lierley for his opening match up in the tournament. Wilson realizes Shad is a threat, but told us "I think it's a great match up. I know Shad is well rounded, I (have) watched his footage. I'm very excited about the fight, I think his style is a great match up for me. I look forward to being better (than him).

Shad's background before MMA was in wrestling, where he was a top college wrestler. With Wilson being a submission expert, we asked him if he thought this played out to his advantage and he said, "My Jiu-Jitsu is a big advantage for me. I know it's good for me, because now I am learning my striking, and my wrestling. I love to wrestle, it's one of my favorite sports. I think that fact that Shad is a very good wrestler is going to make the fight tough for me. At the same time though, it's fun because I love to wrestle."

Wilson will be one of the few returning fighters from Bellator Season 1. When asked about this providing a possible advantage, Wilson said "It benefits me because I know how to fight three times in three months. You have to come with a good game plan. Especially after your first fight, you have to be smart. How to be ready, and keep your body in shape."

Click the podcast to hear Wilson talk about a possible rematch with Joe Soto, how he has grown as a fighter since Season 1, and more!!!

Today 8PointMMA.com was able to catch up with the ever exciting Chris Lytle. Chris just won a fight against Brian Foster at UFC 110 in Australia. Chris told us, "It was a good win for me. I watched his last couple fights. I was pretty impressed with the way he fought, a pretty quick victory for me is what I really wanted. I wanted to show that I am more than a one dimensional fighter. I was looking to throw punches but he kept trying to tie it up and get the takedown."

Brian Foster's game plan caught Chris off guard however, "I thought he was going to be much more aggressive, really looking for a stand up war. He was trying to be much more technical than I thought. I was trying to come in with big shots, and he was trying to just take a shot, and move away. Pick me as apart, as opposed to stand and bang, which is what I thought he was going to do"

With his Submission of the Night award, Chris has moved into the All-Time earnings leader for UFC Locker room Bonus Awards. He laughed when asked about the record, and told 8PointMMA.com, "That's a fantastic thing to have. I'm just glad that my last few fights have been getting recognized for doing good things."

Click the podcast to hear Chris's thoughts on who he would like to fight next, the experience of fighting in Australia, and more!!!

Today Bobby Huron, member of the Tapout house, joined us to tell us about his time at the house.

Click the podcast to hear the full interview!

We have been doing an in-depth special about the new Tapout House, that Donald “Cowboy” Cerrone and Leonard Garcia opened up in recently. There is no better person to talk about that experience with, than Carey Vanier. Carey has been through the Tapout House now and emerged with a contract with Bellator.

We asked Carey about the transition to a new environment, “When I was down there I did not know what to expect. My first visit down there, it was all new guys from different parts of the country. Some guys were pros, some guys were amateur. Also, it was the first time that I was meeting “Cowboy” and Leonard.”

Carey also noted he had a lot of fun outside of the gym too, “”Cowboy” took us all out shooting, dirt biking, played a lot of “zombies” in Call of Duty, we played a lot of that game.”

“It was a really good experience for me. I got really close with Leonard and “Cowboy”, and I got to see what it was like to be a pro fighter. To see the day in, day out stuff that they do. At least for me, the #1 question was what do those guys have, that I don’t have. That was one thing I really enjoyed. I got a friendship with all the guys in the house, every single one of those guys had something different to offer. I really have a close relationship with Bobby, he is Leonard’s younger brother, we click.”

Carey also noticed a change in his fighting game in his time training, “My striking. There’s one thing I can tell you about Jackson’s camp, and it’s those guys bang. The days that we sparred, we’d go at it. It was my first time being a gym where everybody is as good, or better than you. The competition level is always high. It’s almost like a sink or swim, especially when you go to the Pro class. I’ve seen guys that came down to the house that thought they were ready to go into the pro class, and work out with the guys that were pros. They weren’t ready at all. I got in, and I had to learn how to swim.”

Click the podcast below to hear the full interview where Carey talks about cornering in a WEC fight, to what he liked most about the house, and more!!!

This is the very first of what will be a a semi-regular podcast about what is going on at 8 Point MMA.com.

Click this podcast if you want to know how to win almost $100 of MMA stuff in next to no time!!!

Full Description coming soon...

8 Point MMA.com caught up with MMA fighter Dave Hess to talk to him about his upcoming fight with Jake O'Brien this Saturday at MMA Big Show.

For Part 2 of our week-long special into the Tapout House we were able to catch up with standout WEC fighter Cub Swanson.

Cub is very amazed with the progress that has been made with the fighters in the Tapout House. He mentioned to us, "It's great. It's the kind of thing a lot of people want to do. Giving a lot of people the chance to come, and step up their training. They can be in the atmosphere of training full time."

Now a top fighter himself, Cub was quick to recognize the benefits something like this could have had on him when he first made his entry into MMA. "I had something similar to that. I would go up to Big Bear with Joe Stevenson. This is the first one that I have heard of that is not pieced together."

For fans that are considering a trip to the Tapout House themselves but are on the fence, know that guys like Cub make regular appearances at the house, and help with the instruction. "I come out here quite frequently and help out as much as I can when I am here, get in some good training."

The fighters in the house will also be used to hep guys like Cub with thier upcoming fights. When asked about using guys from the house for his training camp Cub told us, "I'm going to use the best guys I can possible. A lot of the guys here are pretty damn

In the late parts of 2009, Leonard Garcia and Donald "Cowboy" Cerrone decided they wanted to make a place where fighters of all skill levels could come and train with pro fighters, and live the fighter life.

Thus the Tapout House was born. Now open for operation with Leonard and Donald as Co-Owners, the Tapout House is really beginning to get rolling, and has been in operation for almost 6 months now.

When asked to describe the Tapout House, Leonard Garcia told us "Basically the Tapout House is mine and Cowboy's home. It's a nine bedroom house that is sitting on ten acres of land, we just had all the room in the world. Normally we would hold camps where we would bring fighters from different places to live and stay with us. We decided it was a good idea to start letting anybody come out. Anybody that's trying to make it to the big show, or anyone that is trying to better themselves. What people get to do, they pay $500, they come out here and live with me and Cowboy. Basically go through the routine we go through every day as MMA fighters. We train two, maybe thee times a day, five days a week."

We also asked Leonard what caused him to start the Tapout House and Garcia told us, " We have such a good team at Greg Jackson's, guys who are high level at pretty much anything, and everything. Instead of bringing only high caliber fighters in, we can give anyone a chance. It's good to see new styles, a lot of the guys whom are young and hungry, are developing new styles. It's something that you have to see everyday, otherwise it can catch you by surprise. That's where the idea came from."

Although the Tapout House can be compared to The Ultimate Fighter House, there should be none of the nonsense that has plagued The Ultimate Fighter House here. Leonard said "There's no rules as far as leaving the premises. There's a big line between our house and The Ultimate Fighter House. We have all types of activities out here. We have three four-wheelers, two dirt bikes, we actually have a dirt bike track out in the backyard. They can come out here and free their mind, and not just be cooped up in one spot. We have stuff to get your mind off training. It's a big difference in the stress release I believe."

Click the podcast below to hear all the other information about the Tapout House, and find out 2 of the upcoming members on The Ultimate Fighter Season 11!!! Stay tuned the rest of the week, we will have a daily podcast from a different member of the Tapout House. Tomorrow will be Cub Swanson.

Recent Strikeforce acquisition Rogerbowling joined 8PointMMA.com, to discuss his upcoming fight in "MMA Big Show" and his upcoming future with Strikeforce!

Click the link for the full interview!

The guy that has fought in almost every Major MMA Promotion known to mankind, Mike Pyle, revealed to 8pointmma.com today that he should be fighting at UFC 114, and discussed some other things with us for our Podcast #15.

Click the podcast to hear Mike talk about a possible 2nd fight with Jon Fitch, fighting overseas, and more!!!

Bellator Fighting Championships just signed Middleweight prospect Matt Major on for their Season 2 Middleweight Tournament. So 8PointMMA.com caught up with Major to discuss the Bellator Tournament, Teammate Cain Velasquez, and more!

Tyson Griffin has been a little absent from the scene lately, with a rib injury, but he is ready to make his return, and gave 8PointMMA.com some time to discuss a variety of subjects.

Click the podcast to hear Tyson's prediction on Couture vs. Coleman, the cause of his improved boxing, and more!!!

Today 8pointmma.com was able to get some time with UFC Lightweight Gray Maynard for a quick, 8 point interview.

Gray may have lost in The Ultimate Fighter competition to Nate Diaz, but he avenged that loss at Ultimate Fight Night 20 last month. Gray said "It felt really good. It was a tough fight, he's a tough kid, i'm just glad to get the win."

Click the podcast below to hear the full interview including Gray's thought's on Couture vs. Coleman, Florian vs. Gomi, thoughts on a potential match up with teammate Tyson Griffin, and more!!!

Today 8PointMMA.com was able to catch Eddie Alvarez for a quick, 8 point interview, to discuss his return to fighting, his desire to fight UFC Kingpin BJ Penn, and more!

Eddie was able to give us a little light into his possible schedule to return to competition, after a knee injury. "The end of April I will be back in action, my rehab is knee is going excellent. I'm actually recovering much faster than I expected. Dr. Moore from Temple, did an awesome job on my knee, and I'll be back to 100%."

Click the podcast below to hear Eddie's thoughts on avenging his defeats, his thoughts on fighting at Welterweight again, why he would love to fight in front of a home crowd, and more!!!

We apologize for the background noise, the only time Eddie was available was at an Airport, so there is some commotion.

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