Joe "Wonder Boy" Stanford Wins His MMA Debut!

I had the privilege of working the corner for Joe Stanford tonight as he won his MMA debut with a first round stoppage. Joe is a hard worker on top of being naturally gifted. He just turned 18 less than a week ago, and has been training for just under 8 months. He has already won multiple golds at NAGA (see videos below) in Novice, Beginner, and Intermediate (Teen and Adult divisions) with almost all of his wins by submission.

I'm incredibly excited about the future with guys like this waving our flag. I'm so proud of you, Joe :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4sJ3e...layer_embedded

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5mshxISIX4&feature=player_detailpage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jIQIMvO82bQ&feature=player_detailpage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vw8sDALnju8&feature=player_detailpage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=taMOUfPJ-cQ&feature=player_detailpage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csKj1qlguX0&feature=player_detailpage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0egvmagpbc&feature=player_detailpage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yw7ThjoMZRQ&feature=player_detailpage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TnPZeXP5RSA&feature=player_detailpage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3g1S0sm4VI&feature=player_detailpage

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9F2Wq4ejpA&feature=player_detailpage

Congrats, You got a beastie on your hands!

Damn good toss towards the beginning. Florence venue? Ash Rivers reffing?

Very impressive. Did that guy go out from a headlock escape? Nice butterfly to negate the slam too. He gets it.

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Originally Posted by bobby rivers

Very impressive. Did that guy go out from a headlock escape? Nice butterfly to negate the slam too. He gets it.

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We didn't know what really happened. At first I thought he went out from strikes (I was worried Joe hit him in the head). They were all body shots so we thought he just hit him so hard he went to sleep (never seen it but hey who knows). Then I thought he passed out from squeezing so hard (maybe holding his breath). But after watching the high def version I realized what happened.
As Joe clears his head from the head lock, the top of it caught the guy in the jaw. It's quick (I had to watch it about 20 times to see it) but he goes limp on exit.
So he actually got knocked out by inadvertent head butt. Of course NOBODY knew what happened and probably still don't. I haven't had the heart to tell Joe.

In all honesty I think the fight would have been over. Joe doesn't lose that top position very often and when he does it's usually because he LOVES armbars and triangles setup from there. So dude was probably done for. But I hate that it happened the way it did.

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Originally Posted by Chris Ludington

We didn't know what really happened. At first I thought he went out from strikes (I was worried Joe hit him in the head). They were all body shots so we thought he just hit him so hard he went to sleep (never seen it but hey who knows). Then I thought he passed out from squeezing so hard (maybe holding his breath). But after watching the high def version I realized what happened.
As Joe clears his head from the head lock, the top of it caught the guy in the jaw. It's quick (I had to watch it about 20 times to see it) but he goes limp on exit.
So he actually got knocked out by inadvertent head butt. Of course NOBODY knew what happened and probably still don't. I haven't had the heart to tell Joe.

In all honesty I think the fight would have been over. Joe doesn't lose that top position very often and when he does it's usually because he LOVES armbars and triangles setup from there. So dude was probably done for. But I hate that it happened the way it did.

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Oh god say it ain't so! Ok apparently they are making them wear shin pads now.... but are they not allowed to strike to the head when an opponent is down now?!:mad:

Holy shit that arm throw was insane! Looks like Joe Stanford is the new 10p star on the block. Hell yeah! Great work Brandon, way to hold down the fort, beautiful job :-)

Great work!

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Originally Posted by Joe Friday

Oh god say it ain't so! Ok apparently they are making them wear shin pads now.... but are they not allowed to strike to the head when an opponent is down now?!:mad:

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In Novice there are no head strikes to a grounded opponent. No knees or elbows to the head at all. No heel hooks or neck cranks..
Advanced rules are different - including strikes allowed to the head of a grounded opponent.

I'm cool with novice fighters not being able to strike the head to a grounded opponent. Let's bring these fighters up in a safe environment and let them develop a proper defensive game. Once they reach advanced and by then hopefully there won't be as many head injuries. That's just my opinion.

I would never let Joe fight if the rules hadn't changed. He just doesn't have enough tools at this point to risk it. But with the rule changes MMA leans a lot more toward Jiu Jitsu guys...and I'm ok with that.

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Originally Posted by Eddie Bravo

Holy shit that arm throw was insane! Looks like Joe Stanford is the new 10p star on the block. Hell yeah! Great work Brandon, way to hold down the fort, beautiful job :-)

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Even though Joe is representing our school, almost all of the credit for teaching him should go to Chris Ludington. Chris has done a great job of learning and passing the knowledge to Joe. I'm just proud to be involved in the process and to have these guys waving our flag :)

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Originally Posted by Brandon Mccaghren

Even though Joe is representing our school, almost all of the credit for teaching him should go to Chris Ludington. Chris has done a great job of learning and passing the knowledge to Joe. I'm just proud to be involved in the process and to have these guys waving our flag :)

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Thanks for the shout out. Truth be told, he has so many natural talents I can't take credit for much. I am trying just to mold his training philosophies and keep him going in the right direction. You know a little bit of his history so you understand, but I am just trying to keep him surrounded with good people with good intentions. Let's just say he's not really known for his intelligence. But sometimes it's good to be a little bit "off". Keeps the brain from playing those tricks on you.

Seriously though, I know your team can get Joe to the next level and I am going to do what I can to make sure he is there as often as possible. Thanks for all you do Brandon and thanks for being there for us last night.

Bed time.

Holy shit!!!!! 0:18 of first video!!! Holy shit!!!!!!Mad props for that ippon seio nage bro! Mad props all around, but especially for that! Bad ass judo, bad ass jitz. Thanks for sharing all of this with us, I will definately be putting this in my "videos to watch to get me off my ass and train every second I can" folder. 0:18!!!

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Originally Posted by Chad Clark

Mad props for that ippon seio nage bro!

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We have worked that in class mainly because of his height. But that's the first time he has used it with so much force!