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1st Prize: A year supply of Fight Caps weight loss/sporting suppliment, donated by fightcaps.com 2nd Prize: A KOBC shirt, donated by www.buykobc.com 3rd Prize: An MMA shirt, donated by www.cageplay.com 5th Prize: A personal consultation on MMA betting by www.mmamoneyline.com for the upcoming MMA event of your choice. 6th - 10th Prize: A bottle of Fight Caps weight loss/sporting suppliment, donated by fightcaps.com more info at the bottom of the pageMessage From Chris Bennett Chris Bennett's story and why you should donate: The world of professional sports is a harsh one, and with only 1 in 26,000 people making it to professional status, there are plenty of athletes left in the dust after a lifetime of work. If you consider the road of the professional baseball, basketball, football or any major sports star, you'll see that while they must train to become perfect in their craft, the transition from the amateur to the professional is often a gentle one. Professional athletes in the major sports will move from college, which is often an all-expenses-paid trip, and directly into drafts which land them in professional sports teams. These positions on professional sports teams will often start at wages you or I will never see in our lifetimes, with signing bonuses that could pay off our mortgage and car payments with plenty to spare. Now, consider the path of the professional mixed martial artist. The amount of training and dedication is no less rigorous than that of other athletic pursuits, but there is no college for MMA. Fighters are required not only to pay their own way in their respective gyms, as well as buy their own equipment and suppliments, but often work full-time jobs to afford all this, on top of the many hours of training they need in a day. These men and women will start their careers as amateurs, making little to no money, and risking injury every time they fight, just to build a name for themselves and perhaps attact a few small sponsorships if they're lucky. In most sports, injuries stop many from bridging that gap between amateur and professional levels. In the world of MMA, the thing that stops fighters from making that transition, in addtion to injures, are the burden of bills, family and the cost of living associated with the sport. In a catch 22, you need to put all your effort into your training to win as a professional, but can't afford to stop working, because MMA doesn't pay enough. Amateur MMA is a relatively new development, as in the dark ages of the sport, anyone who cared to could step into a cage as a "professional" and work towards a large paycheck if they could cut the mustard in the cage. As the sport evolved and the quality of professional opponents increased, it became neccessary to create amateur rules to seperate the back-alley tough guys from the true combat sport professionals. While this is a smart development for the sport, the lack of exposure and lack of pay make it very difficult for fighters to move into professional MMA when they're ready to be realistically competitive, and they're often forced to make a choice; become a professional with too little ring time and training, and jepardize a strong professional record for a paycheck; or leave the sport behind all together. It's a hard choice, and I can't imagine how many phenominal fighters may have been lost to the daily grind. As an MMA analyst and bettor, I watch hours of footage a week to keep up with fighters, either professional, moving into the sport from wrestling or submission grappling, or moving up from the amateur circuit. I'd be lying if I said I enjoyed amateur MMA, as while you often have to admire the drive of the young men fighting to achieve their dreams, the skills they display are often in their rawest, developmental stages, which make it a difficult endeavor to analyse their potential. Sometimes you run into a diamond in the rough though, and that's what I found with Chris "The Samurai" Bennett. Adobe Flash Player not installed or older than 9.0.115!  Eric Funkhouser vs. Chris Bennett 1/31/2009 Having formed a partnership with www.mmasucka.com, I found an article on the site concerning Chris Bennett, and decided to look into the young, yet seasoned amateur fighter. What I saw wasn't the typical aggressive one-two punching and guillotine-happy amateur, using more emotion than brains, but a fighter who was cool under pressure with a highly functional BJJ game that you'd expect to see in the lower level of the professional circuits. In reading further, I found he was only nineteen, and that changed everything. I have nineteen years of martial arts experience, have been following MMA since the pre-UFC Pancrase days, and have never seen someone with a depth of talent like Chris Bennett has at his age. Chris Bennett is an amateur though, and reading about his life, I found he'd fallen into that same pitfall as so many other talented amateurs, in that he could hardly afford to live, let alone further his MMA career. Using a bit of detective work, I managed to find a way to get him my cell number, set up a phonecall, and heard his story for myself, so that I might recount it to you here.  Chris Bennett spent the majority of his formative years in Florida, and got his first taste of BJJ from an unlikely source, when a friend directed him to a purple belt who was training kids in an apartment complex's common area. His first BJJ lessons took place on a tarp in the common area with other kids from the apartment complex, and while he only learned the basics of the art, it was enough to put a fire in him to pressue martial arts. After a year spent moving around with his mother and her boyfriend, the mother eventually moved her family back to Ohio. with a permenant home established, Bennett looked towards serious training in BJJ and quickly found it with Team G-Force. Chris came upon Ron Gableman's Team G-Force and found himself in a harsh enviornment populated by grown men, who were more than happy to deal the young man a beating. This helped give Chris a messure of toughness not found in most teenagers, and everyone knows that the harder you train in the gym, the easier your fights will be in the cage. Being too young to fight in amateur MMA due to the regulations in Ohio, Chris began dominating the local submission grappling tournaments at various weight classes but soon found himself fighting in the cage in Kentucky, where promotors don't often ask for proof of age. Seven amateur fights later, the seventeen year old fighter held the Ring of Rage 145lb title, a perfect record, and a suspension from the athletic commission for fighting as a minor. This only slowed Chris down for a few months though, as he was able to make his return when he turned eighteen and started fighting in the MMA Big Show as an amateur, where he had previous performed as a submission grappler in exhibition matches. In the last year, Chris went to 16-1 as an amateur, winning the MMA Big Show Lightweight Amateur title, and defending it six times thus far. All this success in combat sports has come with a heavy dose of real-world problems though, as in a short span of time, the floundering ecomoney cost Chris his job and his car broke down from all his trips too and from Ron Gableson's Team G-Force, Nathan Fitch's Son of Siam, and Shawn Hammond's Nashville MMA and Tennessee. This has left Chris Bennett at a stalemate, as an opening at the prestigious Pan American Jiu-Jitsu Championships awaits him, but lack of money and transportion won't allow him to compete. While the Pan Ams aren't MMA specifically, they are a place for strong grapplers to test themselves, and titles at these tournaments are huge feathers in a fighter's cap which are very desireable for talent scouts looking to sign professional fighters. Take a look at recent and upcoming cards, and you'll see names like Phil Davis, Jacob Volkmann and Luke Rockhold, all of whom came to hold lucrative professional fighting contracts based on submission grappling experience. Having seen Chris Bennett in action, I know he stands a very good chance of taking a championship at the Pan Ams, and having talked with him, I know he doesn't stand a chance of getting to California without our help. As a life-long martial artist, I want to help Chris and allow him to reach his potential, as many people helped me out along the way as well, and it's only right to give back to those who are just starting their journey. As a fight fan, I owe it to myself to allow someone like Chris to have this opportunity, as I'd honestly be stunned if I didn't see Chris Bennett walking out under a major promotor's banner in the next few years. As a writer, martial artist and fight enthusist, myself and MMA Mafia asking you to help out Chris Bennett with his trip to Irvine, California for the Pam American Jiu-Jitsu Championships. There will be periodic raffles for prizes given by writers, MMA websites and various advertisers, and all the proceeds from these raffles will go straight to Chris Bennett to allow him to travel to California and compete at the Pan Ams. In short, if you're willing to spend $55 on a pay-per-view and $80 a month on cable packages to watch professional athletes in action, why not spend a few dollars to help someone get to that level? Consider it as not only helping out an athlete reach his goals, but investing in the sport and your entertainment as well. Every dollar given to Chris will be money well spent as he sets himself up for a bright future as a professional fighter. The raffles final drawing will be on March 10th and each raffle ticket costs $1. Tickets must be purchased through Paypal using the link below, and upon purchase, you will receive an e-mail with your raffle ticket numbers included. These numbers will be drawn on or around 6pm on the day of the drawing, and the numbers will be broadcast via Twitter, and then posted on this page. Winners will be contacted within a day or two after the drawing to sort out details like shirt size and mailing address. All prizes are donations and are "as is", and while I'll do my best to accomidate all winners, some variables like shirt sizes and benefit of some prizes to the winner are out of my hands. There is a Grand Prize, which will be awarded to the person who purchases the largest dollar amount of tickets in the five drawing span of this contest. If there is a tie, the winner will be determined at random between those who tied. Please specify the quantity and type of tickets being purchased (regular or golden tickets) when sending money via Paypal. The Grand Prize, for the person who purchases the largest dollar amount of tickets during this fundraiser, is a Warrior International Team Carwin shirt, autographed by UFC Heavyweight Title Contender, Shane Carwin. This item was generously donated by www.shane-carwin.com and www.mmaadnet.com. Prizes for the final drawing on March 10th are:1st Prize: A year supply of Fight Caps weight loss/sporting suppliment, donated by fightcaps.com 2nd Prize: A KOBC shirt, donated by www.buykobc.com 3rd Prize: An MMA shirt, donated by www.cageplay.com 5th Prize: A personal consultation on MMA betting by www.mmamoneyline.com for the upcoming MMA event of your choice. 6th - 10th Prize: A bottle of Fight Caps weight loss/sporting suppliment, donated by fightcaps.com You can purchase your tickets below with the Paypal link up until noon of the day of the drawing. So, please help Chris Bennett reach the Pan American Jiu-jitsu Championships and help yourself win some fantastic prizes by purchasing your raffle tickets today!
Winning numbers for Week 2 Drawing: 1st Prize of a KOCB shirt: 2025
Winning numbers for Week 3 Drawing: 1st Prize of an Evan Shoman MMA Print of Randy Couture: 3003 2nd Prize of an MMA shirt from Kali Kaos: 3036 5th-9th Prize of a bottle of Fight Caps weight loss/sports suppliment: 3037, 3004, 3022, 3013, 3043
Winning numbers for Week 4 Drawing: 1st Prize of a copy of Anderson Silva's Striking Manual: 4037 2nd Prize of an MMA shirt donated by Cageplay: 4021 3rd Prize of an expert fantasy and MMA betting consultation: 4001 4th - 8th Prize of a bottle of Fight Caps weight loss/sports suppliment: 4025, 4026, 4016, 4014, 4008
 Mike Hammersmith Ranked #1 at cageplay.com 2009 Represents MMA Mafia in the "Pro's Pick" section at mmamoneyline.com  Follow Mike on twitter
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Re: Chris Bennett Fundraiser, Donate and have the chance to win some Prizes from MMadnet, Shane Carwin, Efrain Escudero and Kalikaos.
Jan 23 2010 22:01:58 great stuff well writtin wish i could help but i gots no credit card im only a young lad have the same excuse for not donating here
i say kj pays up and he puts an mma mafia logo on |
#23603 |
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Re:Chris Bennett Fundraiser, Donate and have the chance to win some Prizes from MMadnet, Shane Carwin, Efrain Escudero and Kalikaos.
Jan 23 2010 22:04:02 Mike put a lot of time and money into this so if you could spread the word it would be really cool.
Please donate too, you can donate a dollar and have chance to win some prizes. Think of it as buying a MMA friend a beer  |
#23606 |
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Re:Chris Bennett Fundraiser, Donate and have the chance to win some Prizes from MMadnet, Shane Carwin, Efrain Escudero and Kalikaos.
Jan 23 2010 22:46:50 If you can't help with donations, please help by spreading the world on any forums or social networking sites you can.
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#23611 |
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Re:Chris Bennett Fundraiser, Donate and have the chance to win some Prizes from MMadnet, Shane Carwin, Efrain Escudero and Kalikaos.
Jan 24 2010 03:41:43 will do
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#23621 |
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Re:Chris Bennett Fundraiser, Donate and have the chance to win some Prizes from MMadnet, Shane Carwin, Efrain Escudero and Kalikaos.
Jan 25 2010 20:12:14 Come on guys this is going for a great cause! Donate one $1 and help some1's dream come true...If u cant donate please help spread the word like Mike said....There are some great prizes out there...
So dont forget to donate!!!! |
#23718 |
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Re:Chris Bennett Fundraiser, Donate and have the chance to win some Prizes from MMadnet, Shane Carwin, Efrain Escudero and Kalikaos.
Jan 28 2010 22:16:20 Message from Chris Bennett |
#23924 |
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Re:Chris Bennett Fundraiser, Donate and have the chance to win some Prizes from MMadnet, Shane Carwin, Efrain Escudero and Kalikaos.
Feb 12 2010 02:48:07 Hey mike How much more money does he need??? Can we have an update?
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#24737 |
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Re:Chris Bennett Fundraiser, Donate and have the chance to win some Prizes from MMadnet, Shane Carwin, Efrain Escudero and Kalikaos.
Feb 15 2010 23:11:25 Sorry, I didn't see you'd posted.
The response has been very good, and depending on if a sponsor comes through in the next couple weeks, we're $90-$250 away from the goal. |
#24919 |
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Re:Chris Bennett Fundraiser, Donate and have the chance to win some Prizes from MMadnet, Shane Carwin, Efrain Escudero and Kalikaos.
Feb 16 2010 00:03:56 Mike Hammersmith wrote:
Sorry, I didn't see you'd posted. The response has been very good, and depending on if a sponsor comes through in the next couple weeks, we're $90-$250 away from the goal. I try and post it around some more on other forums |
#24924 |
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