Props: EuroSport.Yahoo.com
Quoteworthy:
“Quinton had a split from his coach and he knew what a good job we did with [Michael] Bisping so it was a natural move for him. His old management weren’t on great terms with the UFC, but we are very UFC-friendly here and have a lot of time for (UFC president) Dana White so we stepped in. It was the same with Cheick. He was having some problems negotiating his new contract with the UFC and was looking for somewhere to train so it was an easy decision for him to join his mates…. He has been training with Quinton for his last couple of fights, and we know that has not been a happy camp. We think he will be a happier fighter here; he is only a couple of hours from his home in Paris and we will be taking all the other distractions like sponsorship out of his hands.”
When it rains it pours … just ask Juanito Ibarra. Cheick Kongo has now bolted from his camp, joining one of Ibarra’s other prized fighters, former light heavyweight champion Quinton “Rampage” Jackson, overseas at the Wolfslair MMA Academy in the United Kingdom. Of course, Michael “The Count” Bisping is also a Wolfslair fighter and more than likely the person responsible for recruiting Jackson to join the gym after his differences with Ibarra emerged. No specific reason was given for the split between Kongo and Ibarra, but the “French Sensation” is now certainly closer to his native France.
48 Comments »
Has Ibarra said anything yet about Jackson or Kongo?
wolfsliar has really benefited from this entire situation.
As long as they get some of my fav. fighters like Quinton, Bisping and Kongo ready to perform to the best of their capabilities, I dont care what happens!
Its a bit weird to have them all here in europe, because while the Wolfslair is quite a capable camp, you limit yourself in terms of cross-training with other camps as many of the top-fighters like to do.
Sure, Greg Jackson is just a flight and 12 hours or so away, but the jetlag kills you effectively for 2-3 days. Well, maybe those big names will create even more enthusiasm for MMA here in europe.
I’m not sold on Greg Jackson = greatest camp….just because Jarinde decisioned Chuck, and Evans KO’d Chuck…this is the same guy by the way, Chuck Liddell) it shows me that Chuck is the one with a problem and it doesnt matter who fought him. Jardine was brutally KO’d by Houston and Wanderlei….Evans has looked boring every moment he fights except when he got that Ko on Chuck. GSP beat John Fitch, but I dont think he needed Jackson’s camp to do it! I’m not denying they have some good talent for sure, but I wouldnt say thay have the best camp.
That post just reinforces that you can’t put in affect any rational, concrete pattern in the UFC; at any time, at any place, anyone can lose. There are simply way to many variables for an accurate fighter ranking system.
Chadx23 good points, I agree!
BNF, you got your answer about Kongo. This is what I said in the Tito thread about Juanito! The fighters he trains will retire him. Who would want to trust him after whats came out?
I figured Kongo would follow. I remember a clip where Rampage, Kongo and Bisbing were training together and were all laughing like a bunch of school girls. I guess you could just tell they were all tight. Sucks to be you Juanito!
I mentioned Greg Jackson merely as an example of a camp on US soil, as many others.
I guess Juanito was right when he said he would retire if Rampage lost… certainly looks that way now
Over the years I’ve noticed camps become popular as their fighters are winning or produces a champ. It circulates and so should the fighters for various reasons.
Juanito Ibarra brought Jackson up to a championship level, but I think it was more Jackson’s renewed dedication to training that did it. There’s a lot of camps that could have brought Jackson to this high caliber level and there’s a lot of camps that could maintain it. For Jackson it’s the atmosphere, he gets along with Bisping and likes the comeradery there, hopefully that will translate into winning.
brendan, that’s some funny stuff. Juanito’s retirement just wasn’t voluntary…
Since we are on the subject of camps, I was wondering what you guys really thought of Hackleman and The Pit. For a while, due largely to Chuck’s success, that was a camp I always heard people talking about. The thing is, outside of Chuck, I never hear about anyone coming out of that camp. I think Glover and Anthony Banuelos train out of there, but haven’t made a huge impact. Am I missing anyone, or is that it?
Well at least Juanito still has Hector Ramirez.
Lol, he’s the local fighter hear in the I.E (Cali). It was huge for the area when news was heard that he was fightin Griffin. Then, the craze fizzled shortly after the consecutive losses. Still, it’s cool to have some local talent.
pHIL: HOW has your muy tai training coming? I absolutely love it!
I crave Contact. I like being hit so its awesome. I got hit with my 1st hard leg kick like a week ago, and let me tell you….leg kicks are NO JOKE!!!!!
Jits is going good. With each class, I find myself surpassing other white belts that I train with. There is SOOOoo many small details involved in Jits that its really amazing. They have to lock me out of the gym to get me to go home.
At this point, my most useful training is probably Yoga. These past couple years I lost all flexability, going to Yoga is slowly changing that and its awesome. It helps me in both Jits and Muy tai class.
Uh, we got Muay Thai guys in here? Nice!
Kick loses to punch, punch loses to knee, knee loses to elbow, elbow loses to kick. MT!
It’s going good. I’ve been training like everyday for the last 18 or 19 days or so.
Mega Jits.. Crazy Thai Box.. Sanda.. Wrestling.. Strength and conditioning..Cardio..I feel like I’m sweating pounds off daily.. I’m feeling good.. Today is going to be a lite day for me. after work.. just running on the thread.. eliptcal.. junp rope.. some weights.. steam room. shower.. then go home.. Tomorrow I covering a BJJ class for my coach.. a training partner of mine is fighting on short notice at the Ring of Combat AC.. on Friday.
I really looking forward to hooking up.. to train & and to burn some funk with my nizzle John for shizzle.
Soon my friend. Very soon. I am learning and improving at a fast pace!
Yoga is helping my development tremendously
yoga will help you with your conditioning as well by teaching you different breathing techniques.
do you roll up into your gym with your pink yoga mat john?
lol just playing
I never really thought that something like yoga would really be that big a benefit? Then again, during the first half hour of each BJJ class I take we do various odd stretches and strength moves that could be considered yoga, but almost all have a Jiu-Jitsu twist to it. My instructor is Brazilian, and only came to America a few years ago. He trained under Carlson Gracie, but his main instructor was Carlos Henrique, who awarded him his 3rd degree black belt. Needless to say, he is extremely hard to roll with. haha
yes but one probelm is still evident in this camp
no accomplised collegiate wrestler! no real wrestling trainer! doesn’t compare to the likes of extreme couture team quest, greg jacksons camp, AKA or ATT they will always have problems with takedowns
i thought he was retiring after quinton lost to forrest
he lied.
Does Ibarra have any MMA fighters left that haven’t dropped him like a turd in a toilet?
“No specific reason..”??? How about the fact that Juanita is a shysterous little thief?
Nice Kimura, we got our comments in on the same second.
I knew there was someone at the other end, typing just as quick as I did. Especially, when one reads,” 0 comments “. Funny, I could careless if I get the first post, but I subconsiously type that much faster when there is that possibility.
(Speculation)
I really want to hear Juanita’s side of this story so I could get an accurate oppinion of his faith.
so would I, but it looks like he is hiding under a rock.
If I was being accusted of something I didnt do, I would be doing interviews with every single last mma website on the internet, trying to clear my name
Exactly. Why wouldn’t he want to try to clear his name? Maybe he feels that he doesn’t have an obligation to explain himself, to rise above the rumors. But, that sh*t just don’t work if you’re in the eye of the public. An explanation is mandatory for dismissal.
There is really nothing he can say.He has been called out by other mma fighters with proof ,like the the Tito comment.He knows anything else out of his mouth,would automatically be thought as a lie.He is hoping that this will eventually blow over and people will forget over time,THAT HE IS THIEF!!!!
He probably wants to lay low and not inflame the situation. He has been black balled and his career is effectively over. I assume legal action is coming his way.
I wonder when we all faulted Ibarra’s managment…who the guy was that said quinton was fool for leaving and that cheick kongo was loyal and ibarra was proffesional enough to handle the jackson situation by showing up at kongo;s corner….EPIC FAIL!!!!!!!! lol…man was that dude wrong…cheick made like cheick in jail and split!!
i wonder if its the same deal that juanita is taking too much money from congo like he did with rampage..
I’m really surprised with the recent moves to Wolf’s Lair. You would think that the travel would be a pain in the ass. Especially surprising is that the UFC is so open to it especially with Rampage. He will become a marketing tool for the UFC again and it’s going to affect his training and scheduling if he has to travel back and forth between the Europe and the States.
well, the UFC is making major inroads into europe. maybe rampage available overseas to sign autos and attend events will probably help the UFC; especially with his profile from PRIDE.
Bisping can only get better with the upgrade in training partners, keep em comin Juanito.
saw this coming
Surprised rampage didnt go to ATT or Greg Jackson’s camp – Jackson probably wouldve been fine if Ibarra told him that losing is part of the game, instead of building him up to be some unstoppable warrior of God
Rampages boxing was really crisp and clean, wouldve been nice to get some muay thai in there though
– whats weird is that i think BJ Penn can benefit alot more by going to a specialized camp like ATT than having his own
imagine the potential ;p
Good move all around, the uk gets some sound mma fighters as residents and bisbing gets good quality sparing partners close to home! that can only be of benifit to him with his upcoming fight against the crippler.
All I got to say is GOOD!I’m so glad that all of his fighters are leaving him,first of all he is a thief,second of all i have not seen anything impressive about his training techniques.We all watched as all of rampage’s fighters lost on TUF.Congo got beat by Herring,Rampage loses to Forrest,and again he got caught ripping off Rampage.If he would do it someone that he looked at his son ,he would do it to Congo
I saw this one coming. It makes perfect sense for Cheick. He might also bring in some french kickboxers to help out occassionally.
these guys do look like wolves. underworld 3 anyone?
Ibarra is a crook for charging 60k to train? Just because Tito and some other groups only charge 35k. If you think about it that probably isn’t juanito’s fault. When I buy anything of significant value I check the quality of it versus the price. Rampage knew the price going to camp, if he thought it was too much he should have went elsewhere, like Tito’s camp where he could have learned to get his loud mouth busted just like tito does when he shows up against decent fighters. I highly doubt tito could have showed him how to knock chuck out. Anyone with vision can see how far Page’s striking came along under juanito. I don’t even like juanito ibarra, but Rampage should have looked into prices more. If I overpay for something because I didn’t shop around, It doesn’t make the store owner a crook, it makes me a dumbass for not doing my homework.
This will not get him any closer to a Tootle shot
Some people on here seem to have missed the news that Wolfslair will set up camp at Big Bear (in California) for Rampage’s U.S. fights. Rampage won’t be jet-setting when he has fights in the U.S. Wolfslair will make his training as easy for Rampage as possible, and let him train with the best people in the U.S. When he fights in the U.K., he can train here, then finish his training in the U.K.