EVERY time I visit a country, I make sure I check out the sports scene. I had a great time doing that in the United Kingdom several months ago. This week, we’re in San Jose, California, and taking a look at the Lute Training Academy and Ballator Dynamite 1 at the SAP Center.
The other day I had the chance to see the Bellator Dynamite 1 event in San Jose. Bellator Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) light-heavyweight Liam McGeary submitted Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Hall of Famer and legend Tito Ortiz via inverted triangle choke at the end of round one to remain the undefeated and undisputed Bellator MMA light-heavyweight champion of the world.
It was the first time I saw Ortiz in the flesh and was actually rooting for to him mainly out of sentimental reasons. I’ve watched him since he started in the UFC 18 years ago, and at 40 is probably a few more fights away from calling it a career.
Now, one looks at McGearey next defending his belt against light-heavyweight tournament winner Phil Davis. That will make for an interesting fight since Davis presents a whole new skill set and challenge for McGeary. I’m going to go out on a limb and say Davis will be the new Bellator MMA light-heavyweight champion either before the end of the year or by the first quarter of next year.
Feder Emalianenko, arguably the greatest heavyweight MMA artist ever, has signed with Bellator MMA and this has caused a seismic shift in the MMA landscape. In another development, former UFC lightweight contender Josh Thompson made his debut in Bellator with a dominant performance over Mike Bronzoulis via arm triangle choke. Expect Scott Coker to give Thompson an immediate title shot after an outstanding result.
I was also fortunate to have visited the Lute (Portuguese word for fight and pronounced as “looch”) Training Academy in San Jose, made famous by, among other things, the song “Do You Know the Way to San Jose” by recording artist Dionne Warwick.
Lute is owned by Christ Coldiron and the husband-and-wife team of Shawn and Stefanie Wallace. Aside from providing circuit training for those looking to use MMA as a form of exercise, the gym provides teaching lessons in Brazilian jiujitsu and wrestling.
According to Stefanie, Lute relies mostly on word-of-mouth advertising rather than committing funds to traditional advertising and promotional activities.
Membership of Lute has been gradually increasing and this is mainly due to the family atmosphere that Coldiron and the Wallaces promote. In short, all gym patrons are treated like family members and not customers who just come and go.
The gym boasts of veteran jiujitsu practitioners who, in the Jiujitsu world, need no or very little introduction. And the jiujitsu world is growing in California, especially in its northern parts like San Jose.
Leandro Vieira, a decorated jiujitsu fighter who brings to the table 25 years of jiujitsu experience along with countless accomplishments and awards in jiujitsu tournaments in the United States and all over the world. Coldiron is a veteran black belt jiujitsu fighter.
Daniel Cormier is a former free style Olympic wrestler and Strike Force heavyweight Grand Prix Champion and one of the best, if not the best, wrestler in the UFC. Now 36, Cormier is the current UFC light-heavyweight champion and ranked No. 2 and No. 6 pound-for-pound in the world by Sherdog, the highly credible ranking outfit.
What’s common among these three gentlemen is their passion to teach and impart their vast knowledge to their students, especially children. Their youngest students are between 3 and 4 years old. The instructors take care to tell the young ones that the sport is for self-defense and self-discipline, and the intent is not to be the aggressor and to hurt others.
San Jose, which has become some kind of center for MMA and jiujitsu is the third-largest city by population in California and has the 10th largest population in the US and the county seat of Santa Clara county. It is therefore no small, ordinary city, although it has its own airport, the San Jose Municipal airport. In fact, it is now known as a Global City, known for its affluence and high cost of living.
One of San Jose’s main claims to fame, aside from Warwick’s song, is its being given the nickname of the “Capital of Silicon Valley.”
Speaking of the “Big One,” San Jose lies, according to reports, between the San Andreas Fault and the Calaveras Fault. It is said that the San Andreas fault was the source of the deadly 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, which was the subject of a movie several years ago.
Filipinos have come in droves into San Jose. It is not unusual to see a number of Filipino restaurants and stores selling Filipino and Asian stuff. According to the 2014 US census, 32 percent of the city’s more than 1 million population is accounted for by Asians. Of that 32 percent, 5.6 percent are Filipinos.
The city boasts of several sports franchises, among them: San Jose Sharks (ice hockey); San Jose Barracuda (ice hockey); San Jose Earthquakes (soccer); and the San Jose SaberCats (arena football).
Among the notable people born in or who have moved to San Jose are Jason Dahl, captain of the United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed at 10 a.m. in Pennsylvania in the terror attack 9/11 instead of the terrorists’ intended target of the US Capitol Building; Jon Fitch, 37 (26 wins, seven losses, one draw and one no contest), competed in the UFC and lost by unanimous decision to the legendary Georges St.-Pierre; Mike Swick, 36, retired MMA middleweight (15-6); Cain Velasquez, MMA fighter and former two-time UFC heavyweight champion.
In other fields, San Jose is proud to be the home of Jerry Yang, cofounder of Yahoo!; Olympic gold medalist Tommie Smith; Caitlyn Jenner, transgender woman, and formerly Bruce Jenner, decathlon gold medalist in the 1976 Olympics in Montreal; Cesar Chavez, farm labor leader; Steve Wozniak, cofounder of Apple computer and several dozen other personalities.
Truly, San Jose has become a sports, business, culture and arts and technology center all rolled into one.