Is it destiny to grow up in a family of a certain trade? What about a family of fighters? The historic Hart family, hailing from Canada is one of the most famous amateur and professional wrestling families in organized fighting history. However, there is a more unique story…

Born in Washington, D.C. and raised in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Greg Jackson took a different route than your run-of-the-mill mixed martial artist. With a family of champion wrestlers, including his father, uncle and brother, Jackson learned to develop wrestling rather quickly, while growing up in a rough neighborhood.

What’s more, Jackson decided, at a young age, that wrestling wasn’t enough. Mixing in some Judo with his wrestling expertise, Jackson soon developed his own form of martial arts. And by 1992, he was ready to open up shop and begin teaching others what had become known as Gaidojutsu.

History was made in 1993, when Jackson saw his first Ultimate Fighting Championship, and took a page out of the Gracie family’s book, adding BJJ to his fighting form. He’s also added kickboxing to the form, learning from his mentor and five time world champion Michael Winkeljohn.

Jackson at UFC 96

What is known as The World’s Premiere Fight Team, Jackson’s Mixed Martial Arts, located in his hometown of Albuquerque was officially named an MMA school in 2000, and since its birth, the school has developed ten world champions. It is even said that Jackson’s fighters have an 81-percent winning percentage, according to Sherdog.

As a guy that mainly taught himself, Jackson’s coaching tendencies are among the best, as seen by his repertoire of successful fighters, which include light heavyweight Jon Jones, Nate Marquardt, former light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans, and current UFC welterweight champion Georges St. Pierre.

The best thing about Jackson’s coaching? Passion.

“I like changing people’s lives for the better,” Jackson said in an interview with his school’s website.

“I think that’s definitely the part I’m addicted to. When I see somebody that you know is just a normal student and their life becomes better, they become a stronger person, they become a better person, that something that really exemplifies why I’m in this business.”

Jackson works alongside Winkeljohn, who coaches kickboxing at the academy, as well as strength and conditioning coach Chris Luttrell, and Chad Lemoine – each providing expertise in the areas that make Gaidojutsu the powerful form that it has become.

Jackson is currently filming a documentary on the genesis and development of Jackson’s MMA, and will see some of his fighters face off at UFC Live on March 21, 2010, including Jon Jones, Paul Buentello, Eliot Marshall, Clay Guida, and Brendan Shaub.

Quickly established as arguably the top facility and fight team in Europe, Wolfslair MMA Academy is now gaining a strong reputation as one of the leading gyms in the MMA world today.

Michael Bisping training at Wolfslair

Wolfslair Academy is a gym located in Widnes, United Kingdom, which has both produced and recently signed several UFC stars and other elite level fighters.

Co-owners and managers Anthony McGann and Lee Gwynn established the fight team as MMA fans with the goal of creating the top MMA facility in the U.K. They quickly achieved their goal and the facility continues to grow.

The gym gained notoriety primarily due to its signing of U.K. based UFC star Michael Bisping. Bisping’s appearance as a coach on The Ultimate Fighter (TUF) created recognition for the gym, because several of its staff members were featured as trainers on the show.

With the recent signings of former UFC light-heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson and heavyweight Cheick Kongo, the gym added two huge names and talented fighters to its roster. These signings have attracted new fighters to the gym for training purposes, as well as more publicity, and sponsorship and endorsement opportunities.

Rampage and Dave Jackson

The trainers at Wolfslair Academy are not internationally recognized MMA figures like the staff of many top-level gyms in the U.S. However, the team’s trainers are extremely experienced and have many achievements within their fields, making them very effective coaches and gaining them praise from fighters.

Wolfslair’s talented training staff, access to the public, and its appeal to traveling fighters and prospective fighters in Europe are its main strengths. These factors contribute greatly to the gym’s rapid growth and success as a business.

The head coach at Wolfslair is Brazilian jiu-jitsu and judo black belt Mario “Sukata” Neto. Neto, the gym’s jiu-jitsu coach, is a one-fight UFC veteran and holds a 10-5 professional MMA record against top-level opponents. Neto has many accomplishments in the world of martial arts, including winning the grand masters in BJJ, winning a Vale Tudo championship in Russia and earning a third-degree black belt in BJJ. He was featured as one of Bisping’s coaches on TUF.

Boxing coach Tony Quigley and his son Tony Quigley Jr. are an integral part of the gym’s coaching staff. Rampage was impressed by the instruction of Quigley and his son upon coming to train at Wolfslair, and now spends a substantial amount of his time working with them. Junior Olympic gold medalist Tony Quigley Jr. is a professional boxer with a record of 13-2.

Rampage and Kongo with Tapout members in Wolfslair apparel

Thai boxing coach Dave Jackson is renowned within the muay thai community for his expertise as a coach and his uniquely effective style of muay thai. Jackson has worked extensively with Rampage and Kongo. Kongo was very impressed with Jackson’s style of muay thai and instruction while initially training at Wolfslair, and he has now refined his skills training under him. Jackson was featured as one of Bisping’s coaches on TUF.

Brazilian jiu-jitsu black belt and 3-1 professional MMA fighter Kazeka Muniz is Wolfslair’s wrestling coach. Gwynn is the gym’s strength and conditioning coach in addition to being a co-owner.

The gym currently holds a roster with several UFC veterans, including Michael Bisping, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, Cheick Kongo, Paul Kelly, and Mario “Sukata” Neto. Other notable fighters include Alex Cook, Tom Blackledge, Lukasz Les, Henrique Nogueira, Curt Warburton and Abdul Mohamed. Many top-level fighters travel to Wolfslair for training purposes, including Andre Arlovski, Ian Freeman, Dean Lister, Tiki Ghosn and Ricco Rodriguez.

Rampage recently took a leave from the UFC to star in the upcoming film, “The A Team.” A dispute with UFC President Dana White also contributed to his decision. Rampage coached the most recent season of TUF along with Rashad Evans. The two light-heavyweights are scheduled to fight on May 29 at UFC 114 in Las Vegas, Nev.

Paul Kelly is 1-1 since making the move to the UFC lightweight division. Kelly looks to improve his record when he faces Matt Veach on April 10 at UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi.

After going 9-2 since his UFC debut, Cheick Kongo has lost his last two fights to top heavyweights Cain Velasquez and Frank Mir. Kongo hopes to avenge his losses and get back in the title picture with a win over Paul Buentello in the upcoming UFC Live: Vera vs. Jones on Mar. 23 in Broomfield, Colorado.

Cheick Kongo Training with Michael Bisping & Teammates @ Wolfslair (2008)

Michael Bisping (ufcmedia.com)

Australia is currently the hotspot for MMA action, as we get ready for UFC 110, which will occur in Sydney. Highlighting the Main Card is the much anticipated Nogueira vs. Velasquez. However, there is another fight that may draw more attention.

Only separated by three years of age, middleweights Wanderlei Silva (33) and Michael Bisping (30) are more dramatically separated by eight years of professional experience. With his first professional bout in 1996, Silva has risen to become not only a great fighter at 32-10-1 (1 NC), but also a great leader and teacher, starting his own fight team (Wand) in Las Vegas, Nev.

Bisping, on the other hand, began his professional career in 2004 at Pride & Glory 2: Battle of the Ages, in which he won the fight in 0:38 with an armbar over Steve Matthews (2-4-0). Since then, Bisping has generated an 18-2 record – his only losses occurring within the past two years. He was undefeated with a record of 14-0 until a loss to Rashad Evans (14-1-1) in 2007 at UFC 78 on a split decision.

More recently, Bisping, also known as “The Count,” added his only other loss against United States wrestling specialist Dan Henderson. Prior to the fight, which occurred at UFC 100 in Las Vegas, Nev., Bisping and Henderson squared off in a different venue: The Ultimate Fighter: United States vs. United Kingdom. Bisping coached the UK’s team, as he grew up in Clitheroe, Lancashire.

In a fight with implications of a shot at Anderson Silva for the Middleweight Championship Belt, Bisping looked to improve his record to 15-1 and contendership, but Henderson had other plans. In what seemed to be an evenly matched first round, both fighters exchanged blows using their hands and feet, which is not surprising, beings that Bisping’s style indicates a background in kickboxing, BJJ and Muay Thai.

By the end of the round, it was quite obvious that Wolfslair MMA Academy’s own, Bisping, was fatigued, and at 3:20 in the second round, after another match of punches and kicks from both fighters, Henderson landed two big punches to defeat Bisping via an absolutely ruthless knockout.

Bisping would rebound nicely, as he ventured off to his homeland of England where he would face off against Canadian BJJ specialist Denis Kang at UFC 105 in Manchester.

The fight would win Fight of the Night honors, and featured a much different Bisping. Contrary to Bisping’s prior fight, his opponent gained complete control of the first round, mounting Bisping twice in the early-going.

Bisping followed with a statement kick to the head, which grazed Kang, and then followed up with two of his own takedowns. After a few jabs and another takedown, Bisping mounted Kang and finished him off with punches and knees. The referee stopped the fight at 4:24 of the second round, declaring Bisping the winner by TKO.

So, will Silva’s quick and aggressive Muay Thai and BJJ style, paired with the extra eight years of professional experience, bode well for the 18-2 Bisping? Bisping certainly thinks so, especially after tweaking his defensive posture, according to an interview on Bisping’s website.

Bisping vs Silva (mmafight.com)

“I’ve been working a lot of my defense, obviously since the Dan Henderson fight,” he commented. “I had no choice. I got knocked out there, and I’m not in a rush for that to happen again. I’ve been working on my defense, and I’ve got no qualms standing with Wanderlei.”

UFC 110 will air on February 21, 2010, and we will find out if Bisping has what it takes to handle a veteran and rank among the top middleweights in the world.

Although Thiago Silva lost a unamimous decision to Rashad Evans at UFC 108, Thiago nearly finished the fight in the 3rd roung with a two-punch combination that dazed Evans.  After the exchange, Thiago was able to push Rashad to the ground but was unable to capitalize from there.

There’s much debate as to which fighter should be awarded this prestigious honor.  I’ve seen a lot of great fights this year but not many ending in life-changing knock outs.  Two are up for discussion.

When Fedor Emelianenko took on Brett Rogers at the Sears Centre in Illinois on November 7, MMA watched supporters boo an American and root for a Russian.  Both fighters were ranked, Emelianenko at No. 1 and Rogers at No. 8 in the Heavyweight division.  No one was quite expecting the knock out that would occur when Rogers was left at the mercy of Emelianenko’s fists of fury.

After the first round, Emelianenko was only up 10-9 as they both scrambled to get punches in and fought to keep their battle in the center.  Emelianenko already had a busted nose and had missed Rogers on his first jab.  In the second round, things changed.  Rogers met Emelianenko’s right hook and was flat on his back to end the match at 1:48 in the second by TKO.

I would say, that is pretty impressive but have a look for yourself.

Now, Lyoto Machida knocked out Rashad Evans last May and that, too, was impressive and rather painful to watch.  Machida and Evans faced off in the octagon at UFC 98 in Las Vegas, Nevada for the light heavyweight championship.  Prior to the match, both fighters we undefeated.  Machida remained so, having never lost so much as a round through this match up.  Evans, was taken down, knocked completely unconscious with his back still up against the cage.  It appeared as if his legs just gave out from underneath him and he fell to the canvas like a deflating balloon.

Machida laid it on him in the second round of their fight.  Machida just dominated the match, making it look like Evans didn’t see any of it coming.  He earned the Light Heavyweight Championship title and Knockout of the Night honors.

So really, I’d give my vote to Machida but everyone knows that Emelianenko is a strong candidate as well.  This is one that can’t really be decided by just me.  What’s your choice?

One of the most anticipated fights of UFC 100 is Dan Henderson vs. Michael Bisping. Most expect the fight to be won or lost on the ground. This being so, the biggest question is, who will have the overall advantage? Can Bisping out-wrestle a former Olympic wrestler? And does Henderson, who now primarily relies on his fists, still have the wrestling skills to overcome Michael Bisping?

MMA veteran Dan Henderson, is a former olympic wrestler and PRIDE middleweight, and light heavyweight champion. He is also, as of more recently, a largely one -dimensional fighter. One would think that Henderson relies mostly on his strengths in wrestling; in fact, he is criticized for not fighting to his wrestling strengths. He has found most of his success in his cannon right hand.

Michael Bisping is a former kick boxer. He is 18 and 1 in the UFC, his one loss being a close split decision. Bisping is the former Cage Warriors Fighting Championship light heavyweight champ, and former Cage Rage light heavyweight champ. He was also winner of The Ultimate Fighter television series during the show’s third season.

Let’s take a look at both fighters’ wrestling backgrounds.

In high school, Henderson wrestled at both the 1987 and 1988 California State Wrestling Championships, and received medals there for his accomplishments.

The first part of Henderson’s collegiate career took place at Cal Stat Fullerton, and then at Arizona State, where he wrestled at the 1993 NCAA championships.

A year earlier he represented the country in the 1992 Olympics, and then again three years later at the 1996 Olympics.

Since his recent reentry into the UFC in 2007(Henderson participated in the late 90’s, when the UFC was still a single tournament, rather than a “league”) he has fought some of the best strikers and wrestlers. Among the ones he has beaten are Rousimar Palharis at UFC 88 and Rich Franklin at UFC 93.

Henderson made it very difficult for Palharis to get him on the ground, and when he did, Henderson showed superior wrestling skills. In the win against Rich Franklin, Henderson showcased his wrestling abilities by dominating Franklin on the ground for most of round 2, which was the decider in his split decision victory.

Bisping’s background in wrestling is not nearly as heralded as Henderson’s. Originally, he was a kick boxer who had some success and won a British light heavyweight kickboxing title. It was not until 2004 that Bisping entered the sport of MMA.

Bisping relied heavily on his kick boxing experience to carry him to 10 and 0 record in the Cage Warriors league, and made the transition into the UFC in 2006.

He was featured on The Ultimate Fighter, and received training under legendary fighter Tito Ortiz. Although he went on to win the show, he realized that expanding his ground game was crucial to his success in the UFC.

Bisping faced a three time NCAA D III wrestling champ in Matt Hamill at UFC 75, and came out with the split decision win. He showed good resilience to Hamill’s take downs, and a strong ability to get back to his feet. The Hamill fight proved to be one of his best ground-oriented fights.

Since then he has much improved. Bisping faced Rashad Evans at UFC. He took his only loss in the Evans fight, but demonstrated much-improved ability on the ground, only allowing 5 of 15 attempted takedowns as recorded by MMA Madness.

Bisping is also currently training with renowned wrestling coach Zach Lite of the famed, Wolfslair gym. Lite also trained UFC light heavyweight sensation, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson. Lite is also going to be a coach on The Ultimate Fighter season 10. He is very confident in Bisping’s refined wrestling skills. “He will take Dan Henderson down more than one time in the fight. He will, that’s how he is going to win the fight. That is how I see it. When they start trading I think Mike will win the scrambles,” Lite said in an interview with Fighters Only Magazine.

We will have to settle for making Comparisons and educated predictions while we wait for them to meet in the octagon on July 11th, at UFC 100. The fight is largely up in the air though, and it is anyone’s guess who will come out on top. This is part of the reason it is such a fan favorite. Will the former wrestling star, get the better of the ground action? Can the kick boxer come out on top with the win? Well, we will just have to wait to find out.

Overview:  Forrest Griffin knew what he was talking about in this pre fight interview as he talked about his upcoming light-heavyweight title defense against top contender, Rashad Evans.  Griffin mentioned, he was not going to under estimate Evans and was well aware of his knockout power;  he was going to keep him at jab length and work his low kicks;  finally, he was going to try to avoid any take downs and make Rashad work at his potential attempts.  The fight mirrored everything he said.  Unfortunately for Forrest fans, Griffin did everything he wanted for two and half rounds before he got caught with Evans powerful right hand, which he warned of.

Summary:  Griffin vs. Evans

Forrest Griffin clearly came out and dictated the pace for the first two rounds.  I felt this is some of the best stand up I have witness from Forrest in his UFC career.  He was very unpredictable while using all four limbs in his fluid and accurate combination attacks.  Evans, known for sitting back and waiting for the big shot, was on his heels most of the fight.  When Griffin was not attacking, he was covering and counter striking well and his footwork and angles were making it hard for Evans to land any solid attacks.

Throughout the first two rounds Griffin landed kicks seemingly at will.  The main reason for this success is that he was setting his kicks up with punches first and he was changes targets from low(legs) to high(head).  Ultimately though, he got careless when he kicked to the body without a great set up, which usually makes it easier for an opponent to attempt a kick catch and a quick right cross counter.  This is all Evans needed as he drilled Forrest with the straight cross counter to the chin that dazed Griffin enough to allow Rashad to dominate in Forrests guard.  Griffin, who has an effective MMA guard which usually has him standing back up, could not recover and took much punishment after over a minute on the ground.  The ref stopped the fight and Rashad Evans took the title from fan favorite, Forrest Griffin.