Happy Holidays from COTW

As 2010 draws to a close and we settle in for the festive season with family and friends, all of us at Club Of The Waves would like to wish you all the best, a Happy New Year and good vibes for 2011. Aloha :)

Andrew Gardner Tiki Ghosn Dennis George Kultar Gill Allan Goes

Celeb jiu-jitsu showdown: Ashton Kutcher vs. ‘Al Bundy,’ who wins?

A guy breaks into your home and gets on top of you. Can you find a way to get yourself off the floor?

Here's a shocker. Ed O'Neill of "Al Bundy" fame from "Married with Children" would probably be standing in a matter of seconds and chances are Ashton Kutcher would have no shot of rising to his feet. You ask why? The 61-year-old O'Neill has been training jiu-jitsu for 15 years, meanwhile Kutcher is a novice, who borrowed a black belt, during this recent visit to Brazil.

Black Belt Magazine tells the story that O'Neil, who played a dumpy shoe salesman on FOX's hit television show, got hooked on jiu-jitsu during a quick visit to Rorian Gracie's gym in Torrance, Ca.

O'Neil was pushed by a producer/writer friend John Milius to visit the gym. Gracie put "Al Bundy" through the robber drill and he failed.

Taking the bait, he asked Gracie how he'd managed to maintain complete control (while on top of O'Neil). Once the principle was explained the simplicity of the art floored O'Neil. He set up an appointment to begin training and has been rolling ever since.

Black Belt reports that in 2007, O'Neil received his black belt.

"Ed has a vast knowledge of moves," Gracie said. "He has great execution of the techniques and does them with a certain level of ease. We're worked with this guy every single week for 15 years."

Maybe Kutcher, 33, will have his black belt in 15 years. The photo is from Rio de Janeiro where Kutcher stopped in to visit a Carlson Gracie disciple.

Ashton Kutcher, [was in] yesterday, June 13, [to see] Ricardo de la Riva, in Copacabana, Rio de Janeiro. Ashton showed that understands the subject and trained very well with the black belts of the academy.

Ashton learned the secret of one of the world's most famous guards, the De la Riva guard, which was demonstrated by the master himself, to the finest detail.

Tip via Fightlinker

Marcus Aurelio  Mikhail Avetisyan Luiz Azeredo  Luciano Azevedo  Ba Te er 

Johnson and Lamas win while controversy erupts at UFC on Versus 4

PITTSBURGH -- Michael Johnson, Ricardo Lamas and Charles Oliveira were early winners at UFC on Versus 4 on Sunday night, but one of the fight's results is still in question.

Johnson with quick win

In his first fight since losing in the finale of "The Ultimate Fighter," Michael Johnson put on a show in a first-round TKO of Edward Faaloloto. Though Faaloloto cut Johnson's eye early, he dominated most of the round with takedowns and strong ground and pound. Near the end of the round, Johnson clinched with Faaloloto, threw several knees and then knocked him to the ground with a big right. He followed up hammer fists until the referee stopped the bout at 4:42.

"It feels amazing after six months off to go in there and get a TKO.� He's a tough guy.� I knew he was going to bring it," Johnson said after the bout. "We were both fighting for a job or fighting for comfort. �He came at me with a barrage, then I just took over."

Lamas shows off his striking

Ricardo Lamas won his UFC debut in impressive fashion, overpowering Matt Grice in the first round. Both fighters have a wrestling background, but much of the round was spent on their feet. Grice gave up a takedown, but it was in stand-up where Lamas shone. He wobbled Grice with a kick to the head, then followed up with a knee that staggered him. Finally, Lamas ended the bout and sent Grice to the canvas with a right hand at 4:41.

"I came into this fight wanting to mix it up.� I think I had better standup and ground game.� When I had the opportunity to take him down I did and when I had the opportunity to strike I did," Lamas said.

Oliveira vs. Lentz ends in controversy

An exciting bout between Charles Oliveira was marred by an illegal knee and poor refereeing. Oliveira won by submission, but the fight's result will be reviewed by the Pennsylvania State Athletic Commission due to an illegal knee.

Oliveira won the first round with strong striking. Lentz started with a quick takedown but had trouble with Oliveira's guard. When the fight returned to stand-up, Oliveira used knee after knee to control the bout. He knocked Lentz to the ground, and then jumped on top of him to sink in a guillotine. Lentz worked his way out of it, and then sunk in a guilllotine on Oliveira, who then worked his way out of it. Oliveira took over the round at the end when the bout went back to the ground. Oliveira threw short elbows until the round was stopped.

In the second round, Lentz took advantage of a flying knee by Oliveira to get a takedown, but that's where the fight went awry.

Oliveira hit Lentz with a knee while Lentz was on both of his knees. Though it appeared to be illegal, the fight was allowed to continue. Oliveira then took advantage, continued to hit Lentz and then sunk in a rear naked choke to stop the fight at 1:48.

The crowd in Pittsburgh erupted in boos and chants to protest the result, and an item was even thrown into the Octagon. UFC commentator Joe Rogan announced that the fight will be reviewed by the commission afterwards because of the illegal knee. Because the bout was stopped before the end of the second round and the knee was blatantly illegal, it will likely be turned into a no-decision.

Dean Amasinger  Jimmy Ambriz Matt Andersen  Alex Andrade  Jermaine Andrè 

The athletes are coming! Mitrione KO’s Morecraft at UFC on Versus 4

It take a lot of stones to stand calmly in front of a 6-foot-6, 261-pound giant. Matt Mitrione, a former NFL player and college star at Purdue doesn't lack for confidence and it showed from the get-go against Christian Morecraft. An alum of Season 9 of "The Ultimate Fighter," Mitrione headhunted throughout and pounded out his opponent with a clean 1-2 that knocked Morecraft silly at 4:28 of the second round in the Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, Pa.

Morecraft was out on the way down. Mitrione couldn't jumped on top and inflicted more damage, but backed off. Once Mitrione landed the right hook and left straight down the pipe, Morecraft crumbled to the canvas and lost his mouthpiece.

"I figured I gotta finish this off when he came and got me," Mitrione talked about rocking Morecraft in the first and backing off a bit. "This time I saw his eyes roll back. I knew he was done. I understand this is a sport and we're [gladiators] and bloodthirsty, but you don't do [expletive] like that."

Mitrione picked apart Morecraft from the start. The bigger man was simply too slow. As more top-notch athletes get into the sport, it's scary to see how quickly they pick up all the elements of mixed martial arts. Boxing may be one of the toughest to learn. Especially on how to use a jab and staying relaxed. Mitrione's a natural.

"All I can say about my hands is I piss excellence� and I just get used to it. Sorry everybody I piss excellence," joked Mitrione. "It's what I do."

Mitrione, who entered TUF 10 with zero professional fights, is now 5-0 in the UFC. He was taken down twice and handled it calmly. Clearly, the work he put in with Xtreme Couture, a renowned MMA camp in Las Vegas. paid off.

Mitrione is a quirky personality, who's come a long way from a premature end to his NFL career. The defensive tackle suffered some awful ankle and achilles injuries as he held spots on the roster of the San Francisco 49ers, N.Y Giants and Minnesota Vikings. It's look like he's now found a new athletic career.

"My personal life has been rollercoaster. This sport keeps me focused and driven. I thank you guys so much. All the support, even though people don't know it, the things they say from 'The Ultimate Fighter' until mow makes me feel so good about myself� and where my life is headed," said Mitrione.

Hermes Franca Rich Franklin Ian Freeman Don Frye Tony Fryklund

Octagon Girl Arianny really loves her Bud Light Lime

Arianny Celeste isn't just a pretty face who rolls around on a bed of limes for money. The UFC's most famous Octagon Girl really is a beer drinker! Check her out pounding that brewski right out of the can. That beer belly is right around the corner.

The Bud Light Lime promotion serves as a primer for UFC 132. Bud Light has stepped up its support of the UFC, including a massive promotion to give away trips to the September UFC card in New Orleans.

On a side note, the new video is easily the best Arianny YouTube appearance since the pancake extravaganza.

Tip via MMAFix

Aldrin de Jesus  Todd Duffee  Marvin Eastman  Stav Crazy Bear Economou  Yves Edwards 

We've moved to a new address!

We're sorry (but excited) to announce that our "Surfing, Surf Art & Culture" blog has moved to Club Of The Waves! We've migrated our entire blog archive over there, so you can still find all our old posts and plenty of new ones too! Blogger has been very good to us since 2008, but it's time for us to move on…

The 'new' blog over on COTW has two options to view it in the traditional or "Classic" blog view, or the slightly different "Grid" blog view. See which you prefer…

www.clubofthewaves.com/blog/

Aloha.

Robert Berry David Bielkheden Michael Bisping  Dan Bobish Vagam Bodjukyan

Daniel Cormier Explains Why He Didn't Try to Take Down Jeff Monson - Daniel Cormier

Daniel Cormier Explains Why He Didn't Try to Take Down Jeff Monson Video by Daniel Cormier

Ba Te er  Ryan Bader  Siyar Bahadurzada Bao Ligao  Josh Barnett