No Holds Barred: Carlos Carvalho and Jennifer Golden on ADCC in Chicago, North Carolina, and New York

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with Carlos Carvalho and Jennifer Golden of the ADCC North American Federation.

It is a happily busy time in the U.S. over the next several weeks for ADCC (Abu Dhabi Combat Club), which runs the world's most prestigious and important grappling world championship. Three major events will be taking place over the course of the coming six weekends.

This Saturday, June 21, ADCC will hold both gi and no-gi tournaments in the Chicago area, at the Frontier Park Fieldhouse, 9807 S. Sayre Avenue, Chicago Ridge, Illinois 60415.

Besides these tournaments with numerous divisions, there will be two superfights under ADCC grappling rules. In a battle of Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu world champions, Rodrigo "Comprido" Medeiros will face Leonardo Pecahna. In what promises to be a very active and competitive match between two grappling masters, Jeff Curran will take on Omar Choudhury.

Next up is North Carolina. This event, also with gi and no-gi tournaments, will take place Saturday, July 12, at the Cabarrus Arena and Events Center, 4751 US Highway 49, North Concord, North Carolina 28025.

ADCC will also be making its debut at this year's MMA World Expo in New York, running two days of tournaments, also with gi and no-gi divisions. The no-gi competition will take place Saturday, July 26, with the gi competition Sunday, July 27. The location is the Jacob Javits Center, 655 W. 34th Street, New York, New York 10001.

Expect more information soon on superfights for the North Carolina and New York events.

We spoke with Carlos Carvalho and Jennifer Golden by phone Tuesday.

"It's the first time that we are getting into the area of Chicago," Carlos Carvalho said. The superfight between Comprido and Pecanha involves two well-known athletes in grappling and BJJ. As for the superfight between Jeff Curran and Omar Choudhury, he said, "It's going to be another small guy fight, but you know how they work, man. They are crazy. They are electrical. They jump around. They do things that the big guys can't do."

Jennifer Golden pointed out that ADCC is much more than the world championships which are held every two years, with the next one slated for 2015.

"We want our name out there all year long," she said. "So these national tournaments are ways for us to build our name and also for people to get experience with ADCC and our rules and the way we compete. So we're doing our best to try to hit all these major cities and give everyone an opportunity to compete with us."

We also discussed how these national tournaments are leading up to both East Coast and West Coast qualifiers in the U.S. for spots at the 2015 world championships, the importance of growing ADCC at the grassroots level, the significance of running ADCC tournaments at the MMA World Expo, and much more.

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No Holds Barred is free to listen to and is sponsored by:

MMA World Expo. The mixed martial arts community comes to New York City July 26 and 27, 2014, for the fifth annual MMA World Expo, featuring the Fighters Source U.S. Nationals amateur MMA tournament, two days of ADCC no-gi and gi grappling tournaments, MMA fighters, seminars with world-class trainers, vendors, panel discussions, catch wrestling competition, and much more. The MMA World Expo takes place Saturday, July 26, and Sunday, July 27, 2014, at the Jacob Javits Center in New York City.

American Top Team. Whether you're a beginner or a champion, train with the champions in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, wrestling, grappling, and mixed martial arts at American Top Team. Check out their web site at http://americantopteam.com/.

The 2014 Catch Wrestling World Championship, presented by the Snake Pit U.S.A., taking place Sunday, July 27, at the MMA World Expo at the Jacob Javits Center in New York. You can only win by pin or submission. Best two out of three falls. All styles welcome. For more information or to register, go to snakepitusa.com.

The Catch Wrestling Alliance, a catch wrestling promotion that works with the highest level catch wrestlers from around the world with the goal of reviving the great sport of catch-as-catch-can wrestling. The Catch Wrestling Alliance organizes catch wrestling sporting events, and its primary organizer is Dr. Raul Ramirez. For more information, go to catchwrestlingalliance.com.

Takedown Wrestling Media, America's wrestling TV and radio shows, which are hosted by founder Scott Casber, and have been airing on radio and Internet for over 17 years. Takedown Media produces a weekly TV program seen in 54 million homes in the U.S. on DirecTV, Dish Network, and cable affiliates around the country, called Takedown TV. Takedown Media also produces the weekly USA Wrestling TV show for the governing body of the sport, USA Wrestling. For more information, go to takedownradio.com.

Thanks, Eddie Goldman
EddieGoldman.com