In the spirit of Nwohioguy (MMA)...?

Without looking at previous answers (or Wikipedia)...

1) To gain better control of the opponent. Specifically, to gain double under-hooks, or to break free from double under-hooks.

2) Left. To move away from his power side.

3) Varelans vs. Ruas - ??

Maurice Smith vs. "Conan" Silveira 1 - One of the first strikers (Smith) with good takedown defense.

Sakuraba vs. Royler Gracie - First time a Gracie was submitted in MMA (although not without controversy). Saku, you and your crazy kimura from back control.

Henderson vs. Jackson - Title unification bout at UFC 75. Unifying the PRIDE and UFC lightheavyweight title.

Griffin vs. Bonnar 1 - First big move towards mainstream. Popularized "TUF", and allowed the UFC to continue promotion through network television.

Herring vs. Nogueira 1 - To crown the first PRIDE heavyweight champ.

Shamrock vs Severn 1 - To crown the first UFC Superfight Champion I believe.

Machida vs. Evans - The "rebirth" of Karate

4) Pride - circa 1997

UFC - circa 1993

Pancrase - Early 90's?

Shooto - I'm gonna be honest, I don't know much about Shooto. I've heard a lot about it, but have never seen it.

I'm gonna say Pancrase.

5) Shin choke from guard. Usually initiated from rubber guard. Setup similar to Omoplata. Brad Imes.

6) Shoulder lock using legs. Initiated from guard position, finished in a position somewhat like turtle position. None that I know of. The only instance I can recall is a Dean Lister fight in a smaller organisation.

7) "Vale Tudo" means something along the lines of "free fighting". Brazilian heritage.

8) That's a tough one. Rich Franklin comes to mind first. Other than that, I'd be guessing. I'll say one.

9) Dan "Shovelface" Henderson. Also known as "Hendo". I prefer the former. Pride welterweight(185) and middleweight(205) champ.

1) What is the purpose of "pummeling" in the clinch?

Pummeling is to get under hooks or better position while standing, and also takes place on the ground.

2) Your opponent is standing with his left leg forward. Do you circle to his right or left side? Why?

Circle towards his left leg because his power hand is where the power shots will be coming from. Dan Henderson vs Bisbing is a good example of this

3) What are the significance of the following fights: Varelans vs. Ruas, Maurice Smith vs. "Conan" Silveira 1, Sakuraba vs. Royler Gracie, Henderson vs. Jackson, Griffin vs. Bonnar 1, Herring vs. Nogueira 1, Shamrock vs Severn 1, and Machida vs. Evans

Varelans vs. Ruas- Leg kicks win fights

Sakuraba vs. Royler - Gracie Gracie is not the only nor is it the best grappling style.

Henderson vs. Jackson - With Hendo holding the pride 205 lbs belt it gave us a true number 1 205 champ

Griffin vs. Bonnar - made the sport what it is today buy how many people tuned in to watch it and made people see it as an exciting sport and not just a bunch of thugs rolling on the mat

Shamrock vs Severn 1 - It showed that Shamrock had real submissions and did not just lay in the guard and do nothing. Shamrock was also the first super fight champ with this fight I believe.

Machida vs Evans - Karate can be used to kick some @ss.

The others I do not know the significance

4) Which organization came first: Shooto, Pancrase, Pride, or UFC?

Shooto I think but really do not know

5)What is a gogoplata? Which heavyweight fighter is notorious for earning multiple wins with this technique?

The Gogoplata is a shin choke. I don't know which fighter has pulled them off the most, probably cause I only know the two main ones. Aoki and Diaz. There are some others locked in my brain just can't think of them right now (edit) is it Brad Imes. I wasn't sure when I first wrote this so I looked him up and he has a couple. Just sounded familiar.

6) What is an omoplata? How many UFC and Pride FC fights have been won with this maneuver?

Omoplata is a shoulder lock using the legs to crank on the shoulder. I have no Idea now many fights have been won with it. Was Dustin Hazlets Omo an arm lock or an omo?

7) What does "Vale Tudo" mean and which country originated the practice of Vale Tudo?

Anything Goes is the translation

8) How many current or former UFC champs have Masters degrees or above?

To many to count. Wandi has a degree in Business, Terry Martin is a lawyer. Christian Wellisch just graduated from law school not to long ago, said it was the hardest thing he has ever done

9) Who is the only man to concurrently hold titles in two weight classes in a major MMA organization?

Dan Henderson had the 185 and 205 lbs belts in pride

Edit at Avatar, What are you going on about. Callsigfuzzy is just asking a question to all of the supposed MMA "genueses" out there. Chill out a bit, it is going to be ok.

Edit at callsignfuzzy: Oh Champs that have Masters degrees. Honestly I have no idea. I never really paid to much attention to what they lives of the fighters is like out side the ring to much. Besides this is a long @ss answer for a G.E.D. educated dork like myself :) I also left some things like pummeling as a short answer on purpose

If you'd like you could email me about the things I am wrong on or am missing, I would like to know.

But I am suprised to see I am the only one who actually answered so far :(

I'm going to play the devils advocate here and see if I can at least understand why it is that people come about the idea that MMA is better to TMA: TMA's are from much older systems, which many have seen to become outdated or seen to be less effective as time rolled by due to cynicism towards many movies or other such things. More cynicism comes about when people see demonstrations of some art, such as aikido. In Aikido demonstrations, you seldom see a real attack, but rather a much more controlled environment than the real world. You see the aikidoka that is being demonstrated on throw a rather week punch or kick, and then a fabulously pretty technique follows it. However, the real world won't go like that. Anyone who has done legitimate sparring trying to use these techniques will notice just how difficult these moves are, especially against trained opponents. A major hand throw is very nice, but also very hard to pull off. From here many would say, "As this technique is hard to use in a real fight, and aikido has not removed it or changed it, therefore aikido is not continuously improving". Furthermore many TMA dojo's do not train realistically. If you've ever been to certain less than satisfactory competition taekwondo schools then you know what i mean. Furthermore, many TMAs do not emphasize fighting your opponents in ways that many would consider legitimate, such as the idea of grounding an opponent without yourself going down, would inquire suspicion from more modern people. I actually have run out of arguments, so there's my attempt at devil's advocate. EDIT: @Patrick, yes I two am perplexed by the boundaries between what people would call Traditional or Modern. The easiest dividing line would in my opinion be the foundations of MMA and the more modern forms of training coming about after Bruce Lee. But, I'm not good enough to really define tradition vs modern.

3. Sakuraba vs. Royler Gracie- First time in decades a Gracie lost an MMA-style fight, and lost it by submission, no less.

Henderson vs. Jackson- Unififed PRIDE and UFC 205-pound championships.

Griffin/Bonnar- Fight that brought UFC to the mainstream.

Herring/Nog- PRIDE title fight, considered one of the best HW fights ever.

Shamrock/Severn- Shamrock crowned the first superfight champ.

Machida/Evans- Beginning of the Era of the Dragon, baby. Oh, and I forgot- first ever undefeated champ vs. undefeated challenger fight in UFC.

4. Shooto came first.

5. Choke against windpipe using shin. Brad Imes.

6. A type of shoulder-lock using the attacker's leg, often used to get out from underneath an opponent. Not sure- Dustin Hazelett scored a nice armbar from an omoplata transition, though.

7. "Free fight" or "no rules"? Brazil.

8. What does this have to do with anything?

9. Dan Henderson, PRIDE welter (185) and Middleweight (205) pound champ.

Great question. I can only answer a couple of them, but I knew I was a bit of a hack anyway. I have been watching it off and on for almost 20 years though. You'd think Id have picked up more and retained a little. I think I lost my karate privileges answering that other question. Am I allowed to give my humble opinion on MMA?

Most of those questions are only about UFC and other MMA competitions, just cause you watch ufc everyday doesn't mean everyone else does. The only valid questions there are 1,2 first part or 5,6 and 7.

isn't this the martial arts section, not the b*tching and moaning section? why would you deliberately call out a man who offers his time to give advice on a free forum? your a clown. i used to respect you a lot, but now..... pfft..

Damn "call sign..." where do you find the time? are you independently wealthy or living at home with mom? what ever it is,... I think you have too much time on your hands.

in response to the Q&A test i'll just say no. take care "call sign..."

GO ASK CYBORG