AKA News

Northern California Golden Gloves Tournament

by Dray Miller

Team AKA turned in a dominant performance at this year's Northern California Golden Gloves tournament, held March 30th-April 2nd in San Francisco. Six individual titles were brought back to the gym by newcomers and veteran fighters alike, most notably Jimmy Zimmerman's title in the Open Heavyweight Division. His victory makes him the Northern California representative in his division, and propels Jimmy to the Golden Gloves regional championships, set for April 10th in Tulare, Calif.

With another first-place finish, Zimmerman would be sent to the California State Golden Gloves championships to be held April 30th in Los Angeles, representing the better half of the state to take on the Southern California faction. Those who prevail at the state tournament will represent California in May at the National championships, in Little Rock, Ark.

Other notable performances at the Golden Gloves included Shamrock Submission fighter-turned-striker Clint Coronel, who after roughly eight months of dedicated training with coach Danny Kelly managed to win the Male Special Senior 165 division in convincing fashion. Adding to the individual titles list were Amber Goodwin in the female 110 division, Alex Paracha in the Male novice 141 division, Mark Greeing in the Male 201 novice division and Valerie Evans in the female 119 division.

Evans was the victim of an apparently intimidated opponent, who despite coming all the way from Japan to fight, dropped out after agreeing to meet Val halfway between their weight categories (114, 119). After dedicating the last few months to getting in shape for the competition, the disappointed AKA fighter was left champion by default when her opponent disappeared 20 minutes before their fight.

Congratulations are also in order for the dedicated coaches who helped these champions and the other competing fighters shine at the Golden Gloves: Danny Kelly, Jerome Turcan, and Travis Johnson and Josh Thomson, who were on hand to coach at the tournament.

Ultimate Fighter News:

by Dray Miller

AKA-trained fighters emerged from the inaugural season of Spike TV's "The Ultimate Fighter" as some of the most featured, promising and successful contestants of the hit series.

Bobby Southworth enjoyed time as both a hero and a villain on the show, but most importantly the leader of his faction, Team Liddell. After winning the first ever fight of the series with a devastating knockout, Southworth fought eventual finalist Stephan Bonnar to a very controversial decision, which he found himself on the losing end of. Bobby finished the season with a decision loss to Sam Hogar of the Militech Camp.

Josh Koscheck was another highly profiled star of "The Ultimate Fighter," as his feud with the show's most outspoken star, Chris Leben, led to the highest ratings of the series outside of the live finale. After defeating Leben, Koscheck went on to lose a tough decision to eventual champion Diego Sanchez. At the show's finale, Koscheck defeated Cesar Gracie fighter Chris Sanford by first round KO.

Finally, after spending much of the season in the shadows, Mike Swick showed everyone why he is one of the most respected fighters in the nation who hadn't already been featured in a major show. After agreeing to move up a weight class for the opportunity to be on the show, Swick gave up 13 pounds at the official weigh-in but still managed to control most of his fight with Stephan Bonnar. With round one firmly in his grasp, Swick was caught in a slick submission in the final seconds, forcing him to tap out. He made up for the disappointing loss at the finale, however, when he overwhelmed a very dangerous Alex Schoenuer and came away with the knockout victory in about 20 seconds.

Strikeforce Results:

by Dray Miller

Team AKA had a big win to go with a disappointing loss at last months Strikeforce Kickboxing Championships at the San Jose Civic Auditorium. Gary Owens had continued success building off his last Strikeforce performance, again dominating his opponent and scoring a third-round KO.

Travis Johnson came out strong in his bout, rocking his opponent early on while looking for the quick knockout. After dominating the first half of the fight, Johnson finished the on an empty gas tank, leaving the fight in the hands of the judges, who gave the very close decision to his opponent. A rematch could be in order for the next Strikeforce event, slated to take place at the HP Pavilion in June.

AKA Jiu-Jitsu Promotions:

by Dray Miller

When Dave Camarillo is your jiu-jitsu coach, promotions aren't exactly a common occurrence. That, and the fact that he tends to promote students in groups make them worth mentioning.

Three more purple belts were added to the gym, when Jon Fitch, Mike Malloy and Steve "Old Man Steve" Bradley were promoted last month, making the beatings they currently deal out easier for the blue belts to handle. They join Josh Thomson and Earnest "Waffle" Ellender as the only fighters promoted to the rank of purple belt since David took over the program. Two more fighters are wearing blue belts these days as well, as John Berris and Neal (last name unknown) were promoted in April.

Congratulations to both the students and David on the growth of the overall jiu-jitsu program with each promotion.