The Gorilla Press, Issue 83

John Diggins Wins In 59 Seconds At SUG 2

Last weekend, the Roseland Theater played host to the second Submission Underground event, in Portland, OR. The event saw household MMA names such as Jon Jones, Dan Henderson and Meisha Tate gracing the main card of a submission grappling contest under EBI rules. But headlining the undercard was SBG Portland’s very own John Diggins. Coach Diggins was competing in one of the few gi matches on the card against fellow local black belt KC Thompson, and it took less than a minute for the SBG coach to submit his opponent. Pulling guard before sweeping and coming up on top, Diggins quickly rolled into a knee bar and got the tap in a mere 59 seconds.

The win wasn’t the first time this year that a Diggins has impressed at the Roseland. This July, Amanda Diggins competed in the first Submission Underground event and won in equally emphatic style, tapping her own opponent within the opening minutes via toe hold. Submission Underground, presented by Chael Sonnen and streamed live on flograppling.com, is an exciting development in the ever growing sport of submission grappling, and it is awesome to see two of SBG’s finest black belt competitors featuring on the first two cards. That said, with multiple IBJJF world championship medals between them, and two comfortable submission wins to their names at the SUG events, one can only hope it isn’t long before we see both of them gracing the main card.

Congratulations to Coach John Diggins on his win! The students at SBG Portland couldn’t be prouder! As the coach in charge of SBG Portland’s BJJ competition team, it is always thrilling to see you leading from the front and diving into any challenge put before you, no matter the stage.

Matt Inman To Fight For Cage Warriors Title

This month, UK MMA promotion Cage Warriors announced its card for their upcoming event at the O2 arena in London. Headlining the night will be none other that SBG Manchester’s Matt Inman! Inman will take on Karl Amoussou in an exciting title fight for the Cage Warriors welterweight belt. The title shot coup comes a month after Matt secured yet another impressive submission victory on the last Cage Warriors card. Inman showed world class BJJ and incredible composure to expertly lock in a triangle choke while bloodied and under pressure on his back against Che Mills. Following the win, Inman took to social media, stating his intentions to either be signed for the next UFC London card, or get a Cage Warriors title fight. Just a month later, a title fight is what he got!

Inman’s title fight takes place on February 18th at the massive o2 arena and represents Matt Inman’s biggest fight to date. Here’s hoping 2017 is as fruitful as 2016, in which Matt was awarded his BJJ black belt from SBG Manchester Head Coach Karl Tanswell. Best of luck and skill in preparation for your upcoming title fight, Matt, and the whole SBG Manchester team!

Rich Beaupit on why he loves SBG!

Check out this video posted this month by SBG Niagara Head Coach Rich Beaupit. In it, he talks about all the things he loves about SBG. As a Head Coach, he obviously has a lot of love and respect for SBG’s world class coaching network and training methods, but like anyone in the tribe, what he loves most is the people. He talks about how wherever you are in the world, visiting an SBG will always result in you feeling welcomed and at home. For an organization with the reach of SBG, and with athletes who are at the very peak of their chosen field, be it MMA or BJJ, it is incredible that the One Tribe, One Vibe mentality is a constant. Not only is SBG a leader in functional martial arts training, but at developing communities off the mats as well. Wherever you go, SBG is creating better people across the globe!

Wimp 2 Warrior Comes to SBG Portland

2017 will see the global success Wimp 2 Warrior arrive at the SBG Headquarters in Portland, OR. The program, which has taken place in Australia, the UK, Ireland and now the US, takes regular people with little-to-no prior MMA experience, and puts them through a rigorous, six-month, professional fight camp with the goal of stepping into the cage at the end.

Wimp2Warrior’s philosophy is that the process is not about who wins or loses in their fights at the end of the six months. Instead, the process of becoming a warrior is in the six-month journey itself and the willingness to step into the cage and challenge yourself at the end. Visit their website to register interest in the program.

SBG 25th Anniversary Gear Available Now!

Straight Blast Gym is now in its 25th year of revolutionizing the world of martial arts, and it has released a collection of limited edition gear to celebrate! Everything from retro gis, to rash guards, fight shorts and t-shirts are available, but only for a limited time, so be sure to snap these up while they last. To check out the 25th anniversary gear, and all the other SBG items available for sale, stop by the SBG team page on the Fuji website.

Matt Thornton On Fatherhood

Matt Thornton sat down for an interview in December with fathering blog, brandnewfather.com. In an in-depth, 40-minute podcast, Matt touches on a range of different subjects. He links his own experiences of fatherhood with statistics of crime rates and the lack of male role models. The critical nature of fatherhood then leads to him talking about the importance of staying fully present with your children, an impressive feat given his status at the head of one of the world’s leading MMA organizations. Managing SBG as a business, coaching students, and penning a new book should be enough work for anyone, before fathering four children. Matt provides tips on how to manage it all. For any parents, or parents-to-be, this is a valuable listen. Enjoy.

A Little Straight Blast Gym History Lesson…

A Quote From Amanda Diggins

SBG Portland Coach and BJJ black belt, Amanda Diggins, graced social media this month with the following quote to all her students and friends at SBG:

I wake up everyday with a few things in mind:
How can I be a better coach, and how can I have a bigger impact my students? What can I do to become a better student and athlete?
I believe the first two are tied into making myself available to my students. Secondly, I think being honest, and open to my students and training partners is an essential ingredient. We’re all in this together and I’m still learning right along side of you. We are a team with individual goals. I just wanted to thank you for holding me accountable, showing up to class, and being frustratingly in love with jiu-jitsu. I feel incredibly blessed from those who have taken their time and finances to participate in Private lessons with me. It supports my family, and gives me an opportunity to compete out of the country that I wouldn’t have otherwise. Seeing your individual growth during those lessons is something really special to me. This year wasn’t bad at all, but I’m striving to be better the next time around.

Thank you coach, for all the amazing work you do at the gym for each and every one of us. You have an incredible impact on all of our lives!

SBG Cork Wins

Congratulations to the SBG team in Cork; one of SBG’s ever-expanding facilities in Ireland. This month they sent competitors to take part in three different events – Gi BJJ, No-Gi submission grappling, and a stand up contest. Nine team members took part and all performed admirably, bringing home a host of medals in the process. It goes to show that SBG’s approach to functional martial arts is not confined to one rule set, and is effective across the spectrum of martial arts.

“It’s just one human against another. 2 arms, 2 legs, a head and possibly a torso.”

SBG Cork has been in operation for over ten years, and lists itself among the many facilities operating under the SBG Ireland banner.

Not only has SBG Ireland made waves that will forever change MMA through the likes of Conor McGregor, but it continues to change the lives of young individuals in all corners of the country. Congratulations to the SBG Cork team on their great performances!

New Belt Promotions This Month

As the SBG empire continues to grow with each passing month, the number of belt promotions taking place is getting hard to keep track of. Once upon a time, it was possible to promote just one student from white to blue belt through the SBG ironman ritual, but these days, it is often ten at a time! Just last month, the SBG Headquarters in Portland promoted nine new blue belts during a 70 minute ironman. That said, there were a few promotions last month that definitely stood out.

Across the Atlantic, at SBG Manchester, Ella Tanswell was presented with her brand new brown belt by SBG Manchester Head Coach Karl Tanswell.

Meanwhile, over in Montana, the always inspiring Davison twins, Ricky and Stella, received their long-awaited blue belts. The two youngsters have been training in BJJ since an early age, and have put in ten years of hard work prior to being awarded their blue belts. Stella Davison had this to say:

“It’s such an honor to receive my blue belt tonight!! 💙 And right along side me was my best friend and twin brother, Ricky. I started BJJ 10 years ago and this is the next chapter in my journey. Can’t wait for what 2017 brings!

Thank you to all of my coaches and teammates at SBG for always pushing and helping me to become who I am today.

Special thanks to my Mom and Dad who are always at my side “

In father Travis Davison’s words, the blue belt division just got a whole lot tougher. With the foundation of ten years hard training behind their blue belts, there truly is no telling how far these two young athletes may climb in the coming years. One thing is for sure, the whole tribe is very excited to find out! Congratulations to the Davisons, to Ella Tanswell, and to all the other SBG athletes on their recent promotions!

Matt Thornton’s Book Corner

This month SBG founder and Head Coach, Matt Thornton, made a book recommendation, suggesting everyone should take the short time to read Coach, by Michael Lewis. He said:

“If you’re a coach, you need to read this book. It’s short. It’ll take less than an hour. And if you find yourself putting it down before you’re done – unfriend me.”

Matt is an avid reader and writer, sharing this title specifically, along with a list of books to read for 2016. Matt is not just a coach himself, but a coach of coaches, and developed the training and coaching methods over the course of 25 years that have made SBG the incredible success it is today. So if you have any interest in coaching, when Matt Thornton makes a recommendation, it would behoove you to pay attention!

SBG As Part of the JJGF

A few months ago Matt Thornton announced that Straight Blast Gym was now a member of the JJGF; the Jiu-Jitsu Global Federation. Organized by Rickson Gracie, the federation operates with the goal to make BJJ the biggest martial art in the world, offering access to BJJ events and education across the globe to allow human development through BJJ. As an official member of the JJGF, Matt Thornton last month received a JJGF dogtag in the mail. Stating his team, ID number and belt rank, this small token is “the coolest thing Matt has received in the mail in a long time”. Even cooler is that it comes from the man, Rickson Gracie, who presented Matt with his BJJ blue belt decades ago…

The Gorilla Press, Issue 83