RAT PACK’S ‘NEXT BIG THING’ CAPTURES HEAVYWEIGHT CROWN!

As many of you know I predicted (quite publically and repeatedly) that the undefeated Central PA Warrior Challenge HW Champion who was 3-0 with three 1st round K0's going in to Friday nights fight, would not make it out of the first round with RPFS's “Next Big Thing” Bubba Naratil.
 
What no one could have predicted was the incredibly quick and devastating way in which Bubba captured the crown. Seven seconds and one left jab/right cross combo after the opening bell and Bubba was the new champion! For those of us who trained with Bubba going into this fight, the out come was inevitable as his level both standing and on the ground is simply outrageous at this point for any weight class let alone the heavyweights, and for the 40 RPFS'ers in attendance, it was a night which will be remembered for years to come.
 
Congrats big man and thanks for a job well done!

Thanks to Ed Arner for all of the great standup training he has done w/ Bubba over the years, to  Ed and Joel Roberts for their masterful corner work (okay, well they were in the corner) and especially to all of you who made the trip. Your continued support makes it all worth it!!

RAT PACK DOMINATES AT CENTRAL PA WARRIOR CHALLENGE
 

On Saturday February 20th, still riding hide from Bubba’s big win the night before, the RPFS grappling team dominated at the Warrior Challenge Submission Championships where Damon Moyer captured the kids Advanced title, D-Boy returned to his winning ways in capturing the teen advanced title, Shannon took an impressive 2nd in the teens Intermediate and Brent Yoder extended his win streak to 26-0 w/22 tapouts in 6 consecutive tournaments by capturing the adult advanced title.
 
Overall another great weekend for the RPFS/JSMMAA team and thanks again to all of our competitors.
 

RAT PACK’S NEW WRESTLING CHAMPION

CONGRATULATIONS TO RAT PACK'S JAKE CHRISTMAN FOR HIS STUNNING FIRST PLACE FINISH AT THE 2010 P.I.A.A. DISTRICT XI WRESTLING CHAMPIONSHIPS.
 
IN ONLY HIS SECOND YEAR OF WRESTLING JAKE AVENGED HIS ONLY TWO SEASON LOSSES IN THE PROCESS OF GOING 6-0 ON THE WEEKEND AND TAKING THE TITLE IN ONE OF THE MOST COMPETITIVE DISTRICTS IN THE COUNTRY.
 
WE AT RPFS AND THE JSMMAA ARE ALL PROUD OF YOU JAKE!

REALITY MMA CAPTURES HEAVYWEIGHT CROWN

Huge congrats to Big Joe Aquino of Reality MMA and his trainer, Reality owner Chuck Glass for bringing the JSMMAA its second MMA title. Here's the report from Chuck:     
 
  "My fighters name is Joe Aquino. He is 6'5'' 266lbs. Big boy. Joe won the super heavy weight title in Virginia on Jan 30. We fought with On Slaught fights in Va. It was a 3 round slug fest but Joe Clearly won as the judges awarded him with a 30-27 victory over his opponent Chris Adler who trains with the Hanover academy of Pa. Chris was 5-1 before the fight with 4 ko's. No slouch. Joe took him down in the first 2 rounds and pounded him from cross side. Chris was a bloody mess at the end of the fight. A call on Monday after the fight and the promoter said Chris had a broken nose a shattered orbital bone and a major concussion. Now that’s a beating."
 
Great job guys.

SIMRELL MMA ASSOCIATION 2009 SUMMER BELT TESTING

On September 13, 2009, members of the Simrell MMA Association from each of the four academies had the unique opportunity to test for rank in the art of BJJ before three of the top black belts in PA. Joining James Simrell and Brian Miller was Richard Riccitti of “The Edge MMA” in Brodheadsville who lent his time and talents to the event and who expressed his astonishment at the overall skill level of the rank canidates.

Over the course of several hours, James, Brian and Rich put the approximately 30 participants through a grueling course of moves, techniques and live training which left little doubt that the candidates had done their homework and were ready for advancement.

At the end of the day, nearly everyone who tested was promoted which was a great reflection on the quality of instruction and training at each of the four Simrell MMA Academies.

On the Rat Pack side, congratulations to Jeff Johnson who, though only there to help out,  was awarded a stripe on his blue belt, to Ron Keblish who was awarded a stripe on his purple belt and to Kerry Lobel who was awarded three stripes on his blue belt. Earning their blue belts were Andy Biel, David Christman, Jason Williams, Kevin Myirski. Bent Yoder, hot off his 20-0 decimation of the North East grappling circuit was awarded a well earned purple belt and Rat Pack top gun Joel Roberts, on the heals of his 2009 NAGA Advanced division title, earned his Brown Belt.

Congratulations to all and we look forward the the next session in the fall.

THE HAWK FLIES HIGH IN THE ELECTRIC CITY!

Brian Hawk took Scranton, PA by storm on Friday November 27th by choking out a very heavyhanded Guy Salano in the third round at "Cage Fight 2". This was one hell of a fight with back and forth action including an amazing lateral drop take down by Hawk as well as a second round armbar at the bell which had the crowd on its feet. The improvement in Brian's game between his mma debut in July and now is absolutely amazing and goes to show that hard work and dedication does pay off.
 
We at RPFS are extremely proud of Brian and he is a welcome addition to the Simrell MMA fight team.
 
Also on the card was Kevin Myirski who lost a three round decision to a game fighter from Gracie NEPA who took full advantage of the amateur rules by playing the takedown and hold game to the hilt. Kevins striking is excellent and his grappling prowess is beyond question, so once we fill in the gaps with some take down defense, he will be a force to be reckoned with.
 
Also making his mma debut was RPFS bad boy Andy Biel who, though succumbing to a rear naked choke late in round one, showed great promise. Bottom line with Andy, as he well knows, is that he did not execute his game plan and first time jitters kept him from showing his opponent the ferocity with which we have all become accustomed. Being the warrior he is, Andy was back in the gym the next morning and has vowed to drop to 170 and set things straight after the first of the year. I for one can't wait for that!

VERSUK & BREINER TAKE WORLD CAGE FIGHTING CHAMPIONSIPS BY STORM!

A HUGE RPFS congrats to "Adorable" David Versuk and "Big Red" Matt Breiner for their flawless victories at the World Cage Fighting Championships on Saturday November 21 in Greensburg, PA.
 
After a close first round which saw Dave get the early take down and then control his opponent from the top while avoiding several decent submission attempts, Dave came out in the second round with a "Fedor-esque" right cross which dropped his opponent and set up a tapout at 32 seconds of round two via arm triangle.
 
Not to be outdone by his teammate, Big Red took utilized his height advantage to keep his heavier opponent at arms length with a relentless barrage of devastating head strikes forcing the ref to mercifully stop the bout at only 21 seconds of the first round.
 
While the crowd was none too happy with the RPFS gang  as both fights involved local favorites (and I was so quiet, polite and unassuming as always) and while I suspect that we are no longer welcome at the Marriot Courtyard (not my fault as I was up in the room watching UFC w/ D-Boy), I can assure you that Greensburg won't soon forget us!
 
Thanks to everyone who made the long trip especially Joel Roberts who did another great job in the corner and D-Boy who helped out backstage with both fighters. We at RPFS take particular pride in these two victories as not only do we have a great personal affection for both of these guys but as both have been training with us for a relatively short period of time, they are a great testament to the quality of training currently avail bile at RPFS.