Atlantic City, NJ - Louis Gaudinot and Uriah Hall went into Ring Of Combat knowing the strengths of their respective opponents. It so happened that they were exactly the same in both cases. Both TSMMA Senseis had a distinct advantage striking while knowing their opponents best chance for victory came with wrestling. While neither was nervous about being outskilled on the ground, the trend in MMA judging has been to award rounds to the fighter with more takedowns, often regardless of damage done standing. Shihan Tiger Schulmann's instructions were very clear, if your opponent goes after your legs make them pay with strikes. Both fighters followed instructions just as one would expect of a Sensei.

Gaudinot was up first against a tough Iowa wrestler in Nate Williams. Williams was cornered by Josh Neer, who some may remember from his numerous fights in the UFC. Neer tends to opt for standup wars, but his protege was looking for takedowns from the beginning. Williams showed the deteremination wrestlers are known for, continually attacking Gaudinots legs looking for a single leg. Unfortunately for Williams when he grabbed ahold Gaudinot made him pay with a barrage of shots to the head. Gaudinot slickly hopped on one leg, avoiding the takedown attempts of Williams, while continuing to rain a bevy of strikes on Williams. Williams succeeded in getting Gaudinot to the canvas on a couple occasions, only to see himself getting stuck in bad positions and choosing to return to the feet. It was a beautifully executed gameplan for Gaudinot, who moves to 3-1 as a pro and is looking to avenge that one loss as soon as he possibly can.

It was a tough act to follow for Sensei Hall. He has been training diligently since his victory last April at the Bellator finals in an effort to round out his game. Obviously possessing elite standup, Hall needed to improve his transistion game and ground game to ensure his ability to control where a fight happens. He would face Mitch Whitesel in the Middleweight fight. Hall came out following his gameplan exactly. He used his ridiculous speed advantage to pepper shots on Whitesel from distance, keeping his ability to stuff the takedown attempts he knew would be coming. Whitesel's first attempt was a telling one as he got deep on a double leg only to be stuffed by Hall. Whitesel continued to press Hall against the cage where his transitions from double to single and inside leg sweep proved fruitless. The only thing he earned for his trouble were a number of strong shots to the head as he ducked down for his takedown attempts. Little by little the game Whitesel lost his way in the fight as he was systematically dismantled by Hall. Using every weapon in his arsenal (an arsenal that has some impressive weapons) Hall attacked all three levels of Whitesel's body, eventually slowing him down before scoring a TKO in the third round over a clearly frustrated and debilatated Whitesel. A huge victory for Hall who moves to 3-0 in MMA and looks to have a great future in the worlds fastest growing sport.

Both Sensei's have put a great display of Discipline on for all their students and in fact all the students of TSMMA. We saw the great performances in the cage, but it was the weeks of preparation that truly seperated the two fighters. Both set a great example of how to set a goal, focus on it, and keep working until that goal is achieved. Congratulations to both, we can't wait to see them back in the Cage soon.