North American Grappling Association World Championships Review

With March 20th right around the corner, I can barely contain myself. Not only is it my birthday, but it is the first day of the NAGA World Championships that in Bayonne, NJ. Many of our local boys are heading down to Bayonne in search of some hardware, specifically one of the 123 samurai swords awarded to the winners of the adult and teen advanced divisions.

March 20,2004--Here is a look at some of the local fighters with world domination on the mind.

Representing the Dragons Lair (Team Mario Ramos), we will see at least four fighters, with possibly a few more to come. First we have Mandela Kponu who is flat out talented, and he loves to fight. He recently won a few divisions at the Dragons Lair Grappling Challenge III (DLIII), and rolled at least 10 times that day. To say hes a cardio machine would be putting it lightly. As usual, hell probably compete in several divisions, and will not go home empty handed. This week is a warmup for Mandellas Vale Tudo match next week in Joe Maffeis Hardcore fight show.

Second, we have Murillo Pereira who put on a modest show, in the intermediate division at the DLIII. After winning one match at intermediate, he bowed out with a stomach bug. If Murillo is in good health this weekend, all the fighters at 155 need to watch out for be a bit concerned.

Another Team Ramos fighter heading down to Bayonne is Matt Martin. I can sum Matt up in a few words: relaxed, methodical, and opportunistic. He never rushes things, and if you leave anything even slightly open, hell take you out.

Mat Santos is also sending down at least one of his fighters, Dana Blouin. Dana is a big boy (270LBS) who will compete in the more experienced divisions at super-heavyweight. Like all the fighters trained by Santos, he exhibits a great ground game.

From Reality Self Defense, we have two great fighters, Joe and Dany Lauzon. Im not going to insult your intelligence by telling you about Joe. Hes had more press in the past month than Martha stewart and Kobe Bryant combined. Between his performance at MD15, being named MASS MMA fighter of the month for February, and kicking serious ass at DLIII, youve got to know Joe, but you may not know his younger brother, Dany Lauzon.

Dany has been training for about a year and a half, and this will be his fourth tourney. Hes competed in previous NAGA events and placed as high as second. In a lesser known show, The Plymouth Grappling Tournament, Dany brought home an intermediate division gold medal all of this is damn respectable, especially for a fifteen year old. Ill finish telling you about this kid by giving you some words by which he lives: "THE MAT IS MY CHURCH. THE GROUND IS MY HEAVEN. JIU-JITSU IS MY RELIGION." Though Dany admits he is not the originator of that phrase, it is a powerful motto.

"Well I would like to say I am very confident going to the tournament and i'm hoping to come out with many victories .. and even if I don't win, I still learn so much everytime i go to the tournaments .. winning is great and losing sucks everyone knows that but in the long run the loses are what makes you want to improve and work harder for your goal so you will succeed. So I know i'm going to New Jersey to improve and win." -Dany Lauzon

The 2003 NAGA World Championships welcomed well over 1,000 competitors, and this years show is bound to have even a larger turnout. As always, you can count on MASS MMA to cover this event and post a write-up within hours after the events completion.

Massachusetts Coaches: If you have any other fighters competing this weekend, please send an email from the Contact Page We want to cover as many local fighters on Saturday as possible.

For more information Go to the Naga Worlds Info Page

www.massmma.com/naga_worlds_preview.htm