This blog is purely the opinion of the writer and does not always reflect the opinions or views of House of Pain or its employees, management, owners, or any vagrants who may be hanging around the HOP compound.

So a lot has happened since my last blog that I want to catch you all up on. Big things have been happening in the world of House of Pain MMA! We’ve got some really big news to break over your skulls and as you read on further you’ll see that House of Pain is making waves locally and nationally! In the famous words of Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure……”Something strange is afoot at the Circle K!”

House of Pain Fighter Matt Grice lost via submission at UFC 100 in Las Vegas in July. In the nights opening bout, Matt lost via guillotine submission to Dean Lister/Brandon Vera trained fighter Shannon Gugerty. In true HOP fashion, Matt refused to quit and tap and that’s what we love to see from our fighters is a warrior mentality and leaving every ounce of his spirit in that cage. Matt announced later his planned drop to the 145 pound fight division to where he will be one of the bigger competitors instead of a smaller 155 pounder. Best of luck on that and HOP will be in Matt’s corner all the way!

In other news former UFC fighter David Heath overcame a blatant foul by absorbing a knee to the face as he was on the ground to choke out EliteXC and IFL veteran Wayne Cole in the main event in Tulsa, OK at Freestyle Cage Fighting. Heath looked as sharp as ever in his dismantling of the former NCAA All-American wrestler and picked him apart standing. Heath eventually dropped Cole and put him out for the count midway through the second round. Dave was wearing House of Pain gear and props to Dave for the shout out post fight! As always we encourage fighters who wear HOP swag to send us your pictures and fight results at HOPMMA1@GMAIL.COM so we can feature you on the site!

The big news from the HOP camp is that House of Pain will be sponsoring a brand new MMA television show to be shown on NBC called “The Fight Life” which will be shown on national television. “we are sponsoring a new MMA reality show on NBC TV called ‘The Fight Life.’ It will air weekly on NBC, starting in late August, and the initial series is 12 episodes of fights - leading up to title belt. We’ll have HOP banners and logos in it, and we filmed an HOP TV commercial for it last night. Should be cool!” says House of Pain owner Rick Brewer. Stay tuned to our blogs and WWW.HOUSEOFPAIN.COM for more details!






There are also some cool shots in the movie Never Back Down with House of Pain shirts in the fight scenes! Check out the movie!



As always, if you are a promoter, fighter, or fan and would like to have House of Pain roll into your show and set up a booth and represent you, please contact us! We load up each and every weekend and travel all across the US and support MMA in every shape, form, or fashion. Also check out our website for the HOP weightlifting blogs! Sean does a kick ass job keeping everyone up to date and don’t forget to add them to your MySpace friends too!

As many of you who regularly read my blogs know, we take a hard look and an honest approach to how I see the world of MMA both good and bad. In this instance, I hope that you will all share in my sincerest best wishes and help support one of our own.



Jessica Bednark collapsed during training and was rushed to the emergancy room yesterday with a bleed to her brain. The doctors preformed emergancy surgery to remove the pressure on her brain. They had to remove a small area of her skull as well. Jessica remains in a medically induced coma right now. She is in ICU and can not have any visitors until Tuesday or Wednesday.

Jessica is a professional female fighter, with a record of 5-2-0 at 135lbs. She was scheduled to fight June 12th against AJ Jenkins and was training when this happened.

I was informed by her camp that she does NOT have medical insurance and depended on her job for her training and bills. We need to come together right now and help Jessica. Her family was extremely grateful that we have posted bulletins, but now as a fighter community, we need to extend a helping hand. Hit your sponsors as well.......

PLEASE SEND ALL DONATIONS and cards to
Derek Gould
15824 Neon St NW
Ramsey MN
55303



Jessica you are a fighter with heart and courage, you will pull out of this. Keep her in your thoughts and prayers please.

Best wished to Jessica in a complete and full recovery from your House of Pain family. We are always in your corner!

Any and all opinions expressed in this blog are that of the poster only, and do not reflect those of House of Pain, it’s employees, and especially the guy that mows the yard at the worldwide headquarters of House of Pain. He’s too lazy to care.

UFC 100 is fast approaching, and as the flagship company of MMA celebrates it’s 100th pay per view event, several big things are in store for the MMA fans who will be attending. Yours truly will be there with the posse of travelers who will be sporting the HOP gear in full support of HOP sponsored fighter Matt Grice, who will be making his fourth appearance in the Octagon. Yes we got tickets, and no….you can’t have them! This event will mark a milestone in Zuffa’s existence as the world’s biggest and baddest UFC organization without a doubt. I know we bag on the UFC for some of the things we deem as selfish and ignorant as far as business decisions they make and the way they treat fighters, but here’s the skinny of what Zuffa actually means in the grand scheme of things in my eyes.

When Bob Meyrowitz began the UFC with the help of BJ Penn’s relatives way back in the day, they fought tooth and nail to establish a forum for many different MMA styles to clash and find out who would be the king of their cage for that night. They battled politicians, law officials, and any type of authority that thought this type of combat between willing participants was bad for the public. People showed up. People bought tickets. People turned out. People oohed and awed at these competitors pitting their style against a totally different style of combat to see who was the best man. The problem is that the early UFC brass didn’t have the money or the backing to challenge authority to make their product succeed. Sad but true. Along comes the Fertitta brothers with a young buddy named Dana White, who had dabbled in fighter management up to this point. This conglomerate had the cash to buy the failing organization, and turned the dying product into somewhere that fighters had an opportunity to showcase their skills.

They challenged authority at every turn, fought every local politician, turned their nose up at local and state laws and found loopholes, and held UFC events across the nation, and also in Brazil and Japan. This encouraged fledgling ideas of the organizers of Pride and numerous other fighting organizations to try their hand in the MMA business. While some shared the same rules, others tested new waters by using rings, head stomps, and many other fight techniques which were cutting edge at the time. Again, all inspired by the current Zuffa regime. The UFC started running Pay Per View events, Launched a tv reality show with the Ultimate Fighter, and set the bar so high that without the funding that Zuffa had, no one could honestly challenge in the money making department. As Zuffa bought up the smaller challengers and one by one fell trying to live up to the high standards that the UFC had set, only Pride truly challenged the UFC and that soon fell amidst allegations of mob involvement and lost tv contracts. Again, Zuffa swooped in to purchase the rights and contracts of its only true challenger since the Fertitta/White group bought the suffering company. EliteXC has tried and failed miserably. YAMMA, and recently Affliction has made an attempt, and while putting on a quality show inside the ring, has failed to lure the audience away from the UFC. Result is doomed organization.

While this paints the UFC to be power hungry and a monster in the MMA business who do as they please, when they please (and yes, they do that without a doubt) , it is meant to pay tribute to what they have done. They are the only ones who have been successful in truly establishing mixed martial arts as a mainstream sport. It’s like buying a soft drink…..”do you want a Coke?” even if you mean a Pepsi or Dr. Pepper……they’ve established their brand as the far and away leader in the business by implementing their business plan and not wavering from their game plan. Sounds like how Lyoto Machida has earned a title shot doesn’t it? Or how Rashad Evans has earned his belt? Zuffa is the undisputed champion of mixed martial arts worldwide, and whether by brute force of shoving people around and imposing their will, or by a great business plan and brilliant marketing, they have done what no one else has….and that’s be the undisputed kings of MMA.



HOUSE OF PAIN WILL BE AT UFC 100 FAN EXPO! Details coming very soon! We’ll give you the booth location and information! A very special giveaway also for our MySpace Fans ONLY! Will happen each day! Signed HOP gear by our sponsored UFC Fighter Matt Grice! Snag your Matt Grice t-shirt now on our website at www.houseofpain.com and support a true bad ass fighter and one hell of a guy!

House of Pain sponsored fighter David Heath will be fighting live on the MFC this Friday night at 9 pm Central Time on HDNet against Pride/EliteXc veteran Travis Galbraith! Check out Dave’s fight and his signature series t-shirts are available online at our homepage as well!

Keep your chin down and your gloves up!

All opinions in this blog are that of the poster alone and do not in any way reflect those of House of Pain, it’s employees, or management. Any assumption of such will doom you to one thousand hours of watching Anderson Silva vs. Thiago Alves with no breaks. Don’t be that person.

Last week the crew visited Norman Oklahoma and the Lloyd Noble Center to check out the fledgling organization Bellator Fighting Championships, and to check out a couple of notable fights featuring former Pride and UFC Veteran vs. Army Combatives head instructor Damien Stelly, as well as highly touted American Top Team prospect Hector Lombard. The crowd was sparse, measuring roughly 2,500 fans, but those who were there were entertained by the third event in the tournament series featured on ESPN Deportes. The show featuring 11 fights drug out over 4 plus hours due to tv filming, interviews in two languages, and unnecessary intermissions. Half of the crowd was gone by the main event. Hopelly Bellator will tighten up the production, do interviews in the back post-fight, and shorten the show to keep everyone in their seats until the final bell.

Lombard impressed me in particular with a lightning uppercut knockout from the clinch in about a minute and a half. In the quick fight, he showed his powerful leg kicks and punches that are as fast as anyone in the 185 division in the world, and yes that includes Anderson Silva. His short fireplug frame and unbelievable power will be something that the UFC will notice vey quickly and surely sign him to their roster soon. Stelly and Andrade was the war I had expected without a doubt. Damien controlled Alex with 7 takedowns during the bout, and landed some very nice knee strikes from the clinch that negated Andrade’s great boxing ability. With former Olympic Wrestling Champion Kenny Monday in his corner, I expected a much better takedown defense from the Dallas native, but never saw it. This fight was very entertaining to the crowd and now sets up a semi-final match between Stelly and Lombard in the next round. I’ll take Lombard in a tough fight that he should overwhelm Stelly in the long run. Other notable winners were Jason Norwood, who stopped Jon Kirk by submission ofter completely dominating him for two rounds, and Rudy Lindsey who submitted EliteXC and IFL veteran Wayne Cole, who looks on the downside of his fighting career.

The UFC announced a major fight for the August UFC 101 event for Philadelphia pitting Anderson Silva against brawler Forrest Griffin. This is a match that HAD to be made by the UFC brass after two lackluster performances and tons or criticism from the media and fans of Silva’s fights made possible by his opponents lack of willingness to engage the champ. One thing is for sure…..Griffin won’t shy away and that should get The Spider back in the groove and giving the viewers a more exciting fight.



As UFC 100 fast approaches, House of Pain is sponsoring a contest with UFC 100 fighter Matt Grice. The rules are simple. All you have to do is email your name, mailing address, and your message to Matt, which will be posted (Only first name and message will be posted) to his MySpace as well as on our House of Pain MMA MySpace page. The most creative and/or inspiring ones selected by Matt and our HOP MMA crew will qualify for the following prizes:

*Grand Prize – Autographed House of Pain fight shorts, Autographed House of Pain T-Shirt, and a personal phone call from Matt! (Winner will be contacted for phone number to set up your phone call)

*Runners-Up – (Three will be chosen) Autographed House of Pain T-Shirt & Autographed Photo

*Honorable Mention – (10 will be chosen) Autographed Photo

E-Mail all entries to: HOPMMA1@GMAIL.COM and don’t forget to include your address for shipping purposes! All entries will receive the brand new House of Pain 2009 catalog.

Make sure to check out our website at WWW.HOUSEOFPAIN.COM for our specials! We are always looking for new retailers for shows and stores so hit us up and we’ll hook you up and put some cash in your pocket the easy way….selling House of Pain gear!

Keep your gloves up and your chin down until next time!

All posts made by this poster are strictly his opinions and should not be assumed to be those of House of Pain, it’s employees, or anyone who thinks that President Obama’s new dog is a “rockstar” as he put it. If you believe either, you deserve to be bench pressed by a 380 pound ugly woman.



Well after returning from Chicago for the WEC 40 event held at the UIC Pavilion in downtown Chicago, a few things are blatantly clear to me. First off, there is no reason to own a car. Parking is $20 and the trains across town are $2.25. Hell yes I am cheap, but why hassle? Secondly, I don’t care when you go to Chicago or how long you stay, you are assured to experience a couple of things. Wind, snow, rain, and some damn fine eating! Thirdly, the natives love their MMA! Wth hometown heroes Jeff Curran and arguably the best pound for pound fighter in the world, Miguel Angel Torres, headlining the WEC 40 card, it was a cant miss show. Hence the reason House of Pain fighter Matt Grice and myself headed north to take in all that Chi-Town had to offer.

As we arrived late Thursday night at O’Hare airport, we jumped the train to downtown where we would crash at Matt’s college wrestling teammate, Danny Rubenstein’s pad. It overlooked downtown and had a nice view of Oprah Winfrey’s penthouse apartment. Oh if I only had a grenade I could throw that far….but that’s another story. It truly is a concrete jungle, and I don’t know how anyone rests in that place! On Friday, we hiked what seemed to me several miles to the WEC 40 weigh ins. We met up with an old friend, Nate James, who trains at American Kickboxing Academy, who was in town for the event to corner one of his teammates. A great Q & A session with UFC Interim Champion Fram Mir, WEB Champion Mike Brown, Donald “Cowboy Cerrone, and The California Kid, Urijah Faber quickly followed the official weigh ins and was a great time. One thing that stood out was Mir saying his only mistake in fighting Brock Lesnar the first time was not breaking his knee when the had the chance, and also stated he would not make the same mistake the second time. We’ll see on July 11th when we attend UFC 100 in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay!

Fight day arrived, and after a night out on the town enjoying some of Chicago’s finest deep dish pizza for dinner and a Portello’s Chicago-style hot dog for lunch, we dragged our overly-full stomachs to the cab to head to the event. After muddling through a group of students protesting the International Olympic Committee being in Chicago, we found our seats front row by the fighter walk-in ramp. The event didn’t take long to heat up as the second fight of the night featuring Manny Tapia riled the crowd and they never settled down from there. Every fight on the card was competitive and very exciting, proving once again that the WEC matchmaking is second to none in the sport. Chicago favorites like Shonie “Mr. International” Carter, Eric “Red” Schaefer, Jens “Lil Evil” Pulver, and the Tapout crew were all mingling through the crowd. I’m sure there were more, but this was just near our section. They played a very emotional tribute to Charles Lewis, better known as “Mask” from Tapout, who was tragically killed in an auto accident only a couple of weeks prior to the event. Very classy touch from the WEC to a man who gave everything he had to helping MMA athletes.
The Main Event featuring Miguel Torres did not disappoint one bit. He threw down for 25 minutes in a bout many are calling the fight of the year so far with Takeya Mizugaki. If you get the chance, you should check this brawl out. You won’t regret it! As we left, of course we were greeted by a nice Chicago snow and sleet storm, but that didn’t dampen the evening of one hell of a card and the great MMA fans of Chicago. I see them going back to the Windy City soon, as this fight was a huge success.

In other huge House of Pain news, sponsored fighter Matt Grice has signed his contract and is officially on UFC 100 on July 11th in Las Vegas, the biggest in history for the UFC! Also House of Pain will be at the MMA Expo being held at the Mandalay Bay on July 10th and 11th! You can get tickets for the Fan Expo at Tickemaster.com so don’t miss out on this huge event! There is also a special giveaway for any of our MySpace friends who come by our booth either day! Freebies for our friends! Make sure and tell them you are on MySpace and are our friend and we are gonna hook your ass up! Also we will be running a contest for some signed UFC 100 apparel from Matt! We’ll be giving away signed fight shorts, signed pictures, t-shirts, and other kick ass HOP swag, so make sure and don’t miss our blog next week as we review our trip to the Bellator Fighting Championships from April 17th! All the details will be there! Also check out our picture section as we have posted 100+ pictures to our Myspace page from the trip! Go to our homepage at www.houseofpain.com to order your matt Grice Signature Series t-shirts now!

Former UFC fighter and HOP tough-guy David Heath will be making a return appearance to the Maximum Fighting Championships live on HDNet May 20th to face former Pride and Strikeforce verteran Travis Galbraith on the main card. You can snag one of David’s HOP Signature Series shirts on our website!

Keep your gloves up and your chin down!