Bloodstain Lane – Inside the Mind of the Shooter

[snakerattle79]

http://ironforgesiron.net/index.php/201 ... e-shooter/

Bloodstain Lane has been at the forefront of MMA opinions for a while now and if you don’t know who he is, you’ve either been living under a rock or playing too much Nintendo DS with Cecil Peoples. At Iron Forges Iron we’re all about spreading the word, and that includes educating you about Anthony Lane, the figurehead of Team Takeover (of which IFI is a part of) and the online voice of the fans. Enjoy learning more about the infamous “Shooter”, his thoughts on the current state of MMA, and his legendary, no-holes barred opinions. His website, http://www.bloodstainlane.com is coming soon, so register at http://www.teamtakeover.tk/ to start posting and keep up to date with developments.

1. You talk a lot about JMMA and harbour a clear passion for K1 – how do you feel Japanese fightsports have been faring since the demise of Pride?

Well, obviously it’s not at the level it used to be when Fedor, Wand, and Cro Cop were smashing people in PRIDE and Hoost, Aerts, and Hug were dominating K-1…but the Japanese Fight Scene still and always will have its charm. From the epic entrances, the exciting fights (guys are always looking to finish), the ring, the quiet yet passionate and knowledgeable audience, and just the overall vibe that can’t be replicated in America. Plus there’s still a plethora of fighters that are keeping the scene alive: Shinya Aoki, Badr Hari, Michihiro Omigawa, Georgio Petroysian ,Semmy Schilt, Katsunori Kikuno, Maximo Blanco, Gokhan Saki, etc.

2. Besides the obvious pro-wrestling connections and character-driven fighters such as Minowaman, what do you think JMMA has that Western MMA lacks?

Say what you want about Pro-Wrestling…but one thing they know how to do is put on a great show. The reason why JMMA has such a cult following is because of the character-driven themes of fighters. In PRIDE you had “The Last Emperor”, “The Axe Murderer”, “The Fireball Kid’, “Cro Cop”, “Shogun” …these guys were like comic-book characters and their nicknames fit their unique fighting styles perfectly. In Western MMA you have Gray Maynard, Tyson Griffin, Frankie Edgar…all excellent fighters but they don’t have that aura or uniqueness to them…they’re like factory-produced fighters.

3. And besides the drunken fans and – to coin one of your own phrases – “Zuffa Zombies”, what does western MMA have that JMMA doesn’t?

The only thing Western MMA has that JMMA doesn’t is probably the training regimen, which seems to be at a pretty high level. Other than that what do they have? Maybe more boring fighters who like to hug and stall rather than fight.

4. If you could travel back in time to watch an event live in Japan, which would it be?

Well two come to mind. I would have loved to have been at PRIDE Final Conflict 2005. The Middleweight Grand Prix had a murderers’ row of fighters and Shogun had to get through Rampage and Little Nog to make it to the semis. And it didn’t stop there: in this event he had to fight “The Demolition Man” Alistair Overeem and then face off at the time to a monster named Ricardo Arona and he did so in amazing fashion. There will NEVER EVER be a Grand Prix like that again. The fact that Shogun beat Rampage, Minotoro, Overeem, and Arona, was one of the greatest feats in MMA history and – to top it off – that card probably had the most anticipated fight in MMA history, the battle between the two top HW’s in the world at the time: Fedor vs Cro Cop, in which Fedor won in one of the greatest fights of all time.
And the other one is the 1996 K-1 WGP when Andy Hug won it. It was a special moment for me, not only ‘cause Andy is an icon and a hero to me, but because the story line was something out of a Rocky movie. In the semi-final Andy had a legendary 5-round war with Ernesto Hoost but in the final he faced his Arch Nemesis at the time: the much bigger Mike Bernardo. Mike had knocked out Andy two times previously. So this was their 3rd meeting, and it was in the finals, and Andy finally succeeded and defeated Mike with his signature spinning low heel kick to win the GP. His fist pump after the 10-count is one of my all-time favorite moments in sports history.

5. We all like to pretend that we’ve been following fighters since they first put on their handwraps. Which up and comers should be on our radar?

Well in MMA obviously I’ve been pumping up Maximo Blanco, a modern day Axe Murderer with World Class Wrestling, and an M-1 Global fighter named Shamil Zavurov, who is a very fun fighter to watch and one of Shogun’s products from Team UDL Paulo Tuba who is on the rise. In the world of Kickboxing, Mosab Amrani, an absolute beast who is like a smaller Badr Hari, and Murthel Groenhart, another violent Mike’s Gym fighter. And in the world of boxing, Luis Valero, brother of the late great Edwin Valero, who fights exactly like him…pure violence. Follow these guys and you will see what I’m talking about you fucking bozos.

6. There’s been a lot of heated discussions over the past year or so regarding the lay and pray tactic. Should dry-humping be awarded with decision wins or should a greater emphasis be placed on offensive fighting in terms of judging?

Laying on people and dry humping will eventually turn fans away, so something needs to be done. Yellow Cards needs to start being issued here, ‘cause these guys know they can get away with it, with no repercussions, but at the same time guys are gonna have to start learning how to avoid and escape these situations so it doesn’t happen.

7. MMA has come a long way since the early days of one-dimensional bar brawlers and martial artists, and continues to evolve. What do you think is next in MMA? Is there a clear direction or roadmap you see for the sport?

At this moment I don’t know what’s next…everyone is training every discipline, what else can they possibly do? The only thing I see happening is that, with the growth of the sport, we will see a lot more great athletes with an interest in competing. So instead of using their athletic ability in Football or Basketball, they will use it in MMA.

8. As for your upcoming sparring session with Nate Marquardt, what’s the latest from the Jackson camp? The last we heard, he’d promised to fly you over.

As of right now, there’s no news on this. They said they would but now it seems they’re backing off a bit…unless they’re game-planning for me and get back to me when they’re done.

9. When you started the Team Takeover forums with Fletch earlier this year, what was your vision for the site and did you envision it would grow as quickly as it has?

Me and Fletch knew it would grow big…we had a game plan going in. Capture the audience with the videos and from there we can branch off to other things. Now Fletch is writing articles for this website, we have both worked with Low Kick and M-1 Global, now we have our own Radio Show with Hooligan and Gary…the movement has just started.

10. You’ve been a strong supporter of M-1 Global over the past year. Do you think they’ll be able to translate their grass-roots support for up-and-coming fighters into a sustainable and profitable business model?

First off, anyone who trashes M-1 Global is a piece of shit, low-life, degenerate cocksucker. This is a company which puts on great cards and showcases great future talent. People always judge M-1 because of their management of Fedor, but forget about the management and look at what they do as a fight org…amazing work. Yes I think it will be a profitable business model. They are currently in talks with Showtime so that’s a big thing.

11. Fedor vs Overeem: still interested, or has the moment passed?

That is a DREAM fight of mine. Two of the best HW’s on the planet and two of my favorite fighters.

12. What’s your opinion about the current state of refereeing and judging in both Japan and the US? There’s been a rash of controversial decisions and poor judging and things don’t really seem to be improving. Is it time for some new Unified Rules to be sketched out?

It’s time for a change. The robbery of Shogun against Machida in their first fight was one of the worst moments in sports history and the explanations from these assholes was even worse: “Low kicks don’t win fights”…”Machida had octagon control”…so bruising leg kicks don’t count ha ha ha!? Machida could barely move and “Octagon Control”…the dude was running for his life in that fight. I’m tired of these criminals and rats doing the judging. They really need to start using actual fighters as judges imo…people who understand the game of MMA.

13. Lazy and unintelligent fans often throw the term “work” around like confetti whenever Minowaman wins. However, considering the recent revelations concerning match-fixing in Sumo and the endemic corruption found at almost all levels of Japanese bureaucracy, how widespread do you think it really is in JMMA?

Anyone who thinks Minowa fights are works deserve a Hacksaw Jim Duggan 2 x 4 across the fucking head…Minowa is one of the most decorated grapplers in the world and not to mention a veteran of the sport and an overall excellent fighter. That being said, it’s obvious the Yakuza is involved in some aspects of the fight game over there, which I’d rather not comment on ‘cause I plan on visiting Japan soon, ha ha.

14. Regarding your MMA debut next year, what are you doing in terms of mental preparation, diet, and training?

Eating Sausage and Pepper Heroes, whacking off to the latest Gianna Michaels scenes, and playing EA MMA….I started training again. I am a long way off but I’ll get there. I train Muay Thai and Boxing 3 times a week…I do BJJ 3 times a week and I started doing a Kettle Bell routine…slowly I will build myself up.

15. Most of your fans are aware of the fighters you personally rate and support but if you had to choose a training partner and camp, who would it be?

I can’t pick one, sorry…I would love to train with too many people and camps…I would love to train with UDL, Red Devil, Mike’s Gym, and Golden Glory.

16. Arm-bar or KO?

KO Motherfucker

17. Bloodstain Lane: legendary name. Where did it come from?

American Creep, aka My Best Friend, gave me that name one day…we’ve been fighting since we were 12, whether it was in the ring or the street, and I would always have bloodstains on my t-shirt…plus Bloodstain rhymes with Lane…so it was catchy.

18. Any message for fans new to MMA?

Yeah…Fuck Your Life

19. Do you want to give any shout-outs?

Shout out to the forum: http://www.teamtakeover.tk