No Holds Barred: Luis Ojeda on Aug. 30 American Heavyweight Catch Wrestling Championship

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman spoke with San Diego, California-based catch wrestler Luis Ojeda.

On Saturday, August 30, he will wrestling in the main event of the Liberty Bell Classic/King of Catch Wrestling Tournament.

This match will be for the American heavyweight catch wrestling championship.

In this match, Luis Ojeda, the two-time King of Catch Wrestling heavyweight champion, will face Anthony Sansonetti, the 2013 King of Catch Wrestling USA absolute division champion.

This match will be best two-out-of-three falls, with each fall having a 15-minute time limit, and take place in a ring.

Presented by the North American Catch Wrestling Association and Scientific Wrestling, the Liberty Bell Classic/King of Catch Wrestling Tournament takes place Saturday, August 30, at Primal Gym, 231 Bakers Basin Road, Lawrenceville, New Jersey 08648. At it, there will be an amateur tournament as well as this main event. In all these matches, you can only win by pin or submission, with no points or judges.

We spoke with Luis Ojeda by phone Monday.

With an extensive background in numerous grappling disciplines including freestyle and American folkstyle wrestling, judo, sambo, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, and the Swiss folkstyle wrestling called Schwingen, Luis Ojeda was well-prepared when he finally started training and competing in catch wrestling.

"There was a match that I was supposed to do against an MMA fighter, and we were going to do a grappling match, but we couldn't decide on the rules," he recalled. "He was about 280 pounds, and I said, 'Hey, why don't we add pins? Let's add pins to this.' And he didn't really like that. He said, 'Ahh, I'm afraid you're going to pin me because I spend time on my back.'"

He continued, "That's when I was looking on the Internet and I was lucky to find Jake [Shannon] and Scientific Wrestling."

He was invited to train with them, and said, "I felt lucky, because I got to train with some of the best -- Dick Cardinal, and then later with the late Billy Robinson."

We thus discussed his accomplishments in this recently-revived sport, including winning the heavyweight championship in 2007 and 2012 at the King of Catch Wrestling USA tournaments.

We also discussed why he believes that watching catch wrestling is "more exciting than watching a UFC fight", why he actually finds Schwingen wrestling to be the "most challenging style", his continuing training in many styles of grappling, his coaching high school wrestling, the potential for catch wrestling to re-emerge as a major professional sport, and much more.

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The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer Ian Snow.

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

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 AmericanTopTeam.com.

The Liberty Bell Classic / King of Catch Wrestling Tournament, presented by the North American Catch Wrestling Association and Scientific Wrestling. In this tournament, you can only win by pin or submission, with no points. It all takes place Saturday, August 30, at Primal Gym, 231 Bakers Basin Road, Lawrenceville, New Jersey 08648. For more information, go to KingOfCatchWrestling.com.

Scientific Wrestling, igniting a revolution in grappling based on the pursuit of traditional Catch-As-Catch-Can wrestling. Our people are legitimate Scientific Wrestling practitioners united around training, competition, innovation, grueling physical conditioning, camaraderie, and the sharing of reliable resources. For more information, go to ScientificWrestling.com.

Snake Pit U.S.A., whose primary mission is to breathe new life into real catch-as-catch-can wrestling and help lead the catch wrestling revolution for martial artists and those pursuing recreational training and fitness alike. For more information, 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