No Holds Barred: Edward Catucci of World Cup of Mixed Martial Arts

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman speaks with Edward Catucci, the executive director of the World Cup of Mixed Martial Arts (WCMMA) (http://worldcupofmixedmartialarts.com).

The first show for the WCMMA will take place Saturday, September 15, at the MGM Grand Theater at the Foxwoods Resort Casino in the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation in Mashantucket, Connecticut. The WCMMA will feature both nation vs. nation team competition as well as individual title fights.

On this card, Team USA, coached by Ricardo Liborio, will face Team Portugal, coached by Kleber Repolho. A heavyweight title fight will pit Alexey Oleinik against Mike Stewart (replacing the injured Kelly Anundson).

Three fghters from China will also be competing for WCMMA titles on this card against three American fighters. Wang Sai will fight Brett Oteri for the WCMMA middleweight title, Yao Honggang will fight Dave LaChapelle for the WCMMA featherweight title, and Yang Jianping will fight Bill Jones for the WCMMA lightweight title.

The WCMMA has an ambitious plan of running events in many countries including later this year, establishing franchises in these countries, and building up to an actual World Cup team event in 2017 in Rome, Italy.

We spoke with Edward Catucci Wednesday night by phone about the WCMMA. The values promoted by WCMMA and its positioning stand in contrast to those of many MMA organizations.

The philosophy and mantra of WCMMA, he said in this interview, is "Respect, honor, and discipline." He emphasized, "What we wanted to do is really, truly pay respect to the discipline and art form of mixed martial arts." He views this project as a "public service" which is family-oriented and can influence young people to make "a real positive change, if guided in the right direction."

We thus discussed a lot about the concepts behind the WCMMA, the plans for running WCMMA events for the next several years, plans for television and for an Internet pay-per-view for the September 15 event, and much more.

You can play or download No Holds Barred at http://nhbnews.podomatic.com/entry/2012-09-05T00_02_50-07_00 and http://archive.org/details/NoHoldsBarredEdwardCatucciOfWorldCupOfMixedMartialArts. If one link does not work, please try another.

No Holds Barred is also available on mobile phones and iPads through Stitcher (http://landing.stitcher.com/?vurl=noholdsbarred).

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes at http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=150801513&s=143441.

The No Holds Barred theme song is called "The Heist", which is also available on iTunes by composer by Ian Snow(http://magicpumpkinstudios.com).

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

ONE Fighting Championship (http://onefc.com). ONE FC is Asia's largest and most prestigious mixed martial arts event. ONE FC features the best Asian fighters and has initiated the ONE Asia Partnership Network, which includes most of the major MMA promotions and MMA gyms in Asia. For more information, go to their web site, at ONEFC.com(http://onefc.com).

Beezid.com - Penny Auctions (http://www.beezid.com). Your #1 source for exciting auction shopping and outstanding deals on just about anything! Top rated, most trusted auction site online. Where do you shop? Beezid.com - Penny Auctions (http://www.beezid.com).

American Top Team (http://americantopteam.com). 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.

Thanks, Eddie Goldman http://eddiegoldman.com

Great interview. Sounds like something I could definitely get excited about.