PeedeeShaolin
08-02-2003, 02:34 PM
The North American Grappling Association, or NAGA, is becoming the fastest growing, most intense submission wrestling circuit in the United States With competitors flying to the East coast from as far away as Hawaii and Brazil. With several events throughout the year the competitions tough venue has brought names like Matt Serra, Ricardo Almeida, Phil Baroni, Dan Severn, Sean Alvarez, Jeff Monsen and Fransico Neto out to play.
The NAGA(www.nagafighter.com) is the creation of Kip Kollar. Anyone who's ever been to a NAGA before can easily recognize the shiny head and bright smile that Kip always brings the the floor. Kip is a UFC judge and referee and is the head referee for World Extreme Fighting. Kip is also a 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu jitsu under Jacare Cavalcante. He's also a comptetant MMA fighter himself.
http://www.nagafighter.com/images/kippsfight/punch2.jpg
The Naga's submission wrestling tournaments can attract so many fighters and spectators for its gi and no-gi divisions that the bleachers are almost always full. The competition is extremely intense with some of the best local grapplers, and the occasional superstar, competing for some great prizes. Rather than run his tournaments with an iron glove, Kip is a guy who's entirely open to conversation. He listens to the concerns of the teams competing and treats everyone fairly. He also offers extremely generous trophies and prizes...we're not talking about rinky dink mom and pop shop plastic trophies, we're talking championship belts for the advanced and absolute winners, Katanas, embroidered jackets, 3 foot trophies and even as much as $5000 in prize money.
This kind of generosity draws some tough cookies from team Renzo Gracie, Loydd Irvin, TSK, Kioto, Tai Kai, American Top Team, Total Approach JKD, Fight Factory, Boston BJJ, and Caique.
http://www.nagafighter.com/tournaments/2002nagc/photos/MenFight8.jpg
http://www.nagafighter.com/tournaments/worldchamp/photos/DSC_0201.jpg
http://www.nagafighter.com/tournaments/worldchamp/photos/DSC_0186.jpg
Having personally competed in past events I can tell you the tournament is run great with hardly ever a complaint. Then again, theres not much to complain about when you pay one price and are allowed to enter as many divisions as you want. Many people sign up for the Intermediate division and end up fighting in gi, no-gi and then going on to compete in a higher division later in the day just to get more experience.
And you want to see some kids with great skills? The NAGA's no-gi childrens division is always gret to watch. You see some tiny kids with alot of skill shooting fast takedowns and submissions.
http://www.nagafighter.com/tournaments/2002nagc/photos/KidFight9.jpg
http://www.nagafighter.com/tournaments/worldchamp/photos/DSC_0072.jpg
http://www.nagafighter.com/tournaments/worldchamp/photos/DSC_0048.jpg
The NAGA also has a women's division that showcases some of the hottest(often literally) female grapplers on the East coast. Its not unusual for some of the women to enter the men's light weight divisision....and WIN. Some of the best women's division grapplers include TSK's Laura D'Auguste and Renzo Gracies Shannon Logan.
http://www.nagafighter.com/tournaments/worldchamp/photos/DSC_0104.jpg
http://www.nagafighter.com/tournaments/worldchamp/photos/DSC_0080.jpg
http://www.nagafighter.com/tournaments/2002nagc/photos/WomenFight4.jpg
The NAGA is open to EVERYONE so no matter what your style, if you want to test yourself against some great grapplers this is the place to be. They have divisions from Novice to Absolute and you'll rarely find the type of sportsmanship that you find at these events.
Let me give you an example.
Recently, NAGA held the 2003 Pro-Ams in Florida. Four of the very best teams would be setting their best against each other in 5 weight classes for a 1st prize of $5000. The teams represented were Team Renzo Gracie, Team Loyd Irvin, American Top Team and Freestlye Fighting Academy. This division would be a special division in ADDITION to the rest of the tournament but would definitely be the highlight. The division showcased talented no-gi submission grapplers and former Abu Dhabi competitors like Jeff Monson, Sean Alvarez, Joe D'Arce, Amuary Bitteti and Marcos Avellan.
After some great fights it would come down to former Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world champion Amuary Bitteti vs. Lloyd Irvin. There was only one problem: Irvin had injured himself in the previous match, at seeing how this was his first competition since breaking his neck, the doctors refused to allow him to continue. When American Top Team found out the that Irvin would be unable to fight, they refused the win by forfeit and agreed to split 1st place and the $5000 prize money with Irvin's academy out of respect for his warrior spirit. Later on, Lloyd Irvin showed alot of respect for ATT by presenting Ricardo Liborio with the first place trophy.
NAGA has events in New Jersey, Conneticut, New York, Florida and Hawaii. If you have the opportunity I would strongly suggest competing or at least spectating. Kipp Kollar also runs 2 MMA promotions, Mass Destruction(www.massdestrruction.tv) a Boston based MMA event that will be happening next on August 16th where fighters like Carlos Barretto will be fighting. Kip also sponsors Reality Fighting(www.realityfighting.tv) which will be going Pay-Per-View for the first time in February 2004.
Whether your a grappler looking for an arena to test your skills or a MMA fighter looking for a fight check out www.nagafighter.com and you'll be on the right track.
The NAGA(www.nagafighter.com) is the creation of Kip Kollar. Anyone who's ever been to a NAGA before can easily recognize the shiny head and bright smile that Kip always brings the the floor. Kip is a UFC judge and referee and is the head referee for World Extreme Fighting. Kip is also a 2nd degree black belt in Tae Kwon Do and a blue belt in Brazilian Jiu jitsu under Jacare Cavalcante. He's also a comptetant MMA fighter himself.
http://www.nagafighter.com/images/kippsfight/punch2.jpg
The Naga's submission wrestling tournaments can attract so many fighters and spectators for its gi and no-gi divisions that the bleachers are almost always full. The competition is extremely intense with some of the best local grapplers, and the occasional superstar, competing for some great prizes. Rather than run his tournaments with an iron glove, Kip is a guy who's entirely open to conversation. He listens to the concerns of the teams competing and treats everyone fairly. He also offers extremely generous trophies and prizes...we're not talking about rinky dink mom and pop shop plastic trophies, we're talking championship belts for the advanced and absolute winners, Katanas, embroidered jackets, 3 foot trophies and even as much as $5000 in prize money.
This kind of generosity draws some tough cookies from team Renzo Gracie, Loydd Irvin, TSK, Kioto, Tai Kai, American Top Team, Total Approach JKD, Fight Factory, Boston BJJ, and Caique.
http://www.nagafighter.com/tournaments/2002nagc/photos/MenFight8.jpg
http://www.nagafighter.com/tournaments/worldchamp/photos/DSC_0201.jpg
http://www.nagafighter.com/tournaments/worldchamp/photos/DSC_0186.jpg
Having personally competed in past events I can tell you the tournament is run great with hardly ever a complaint. Then again, theres not much to complain about when you pay one price and are allowed to enter as many divisions as you want. Many people sign up for the Intermediate division and end up fighting in gi, no-gi and then going on to compete in a higher division later in the day just to get more experience.
And you want to see some kids with great skills? The NAGA's no-gi childrens division is always gret to watch. You see some tiny kids with alot of skill shooting fast takedowns and submissions.
http://www.nagafighter.com/tournaments/2002nagc/photos/KidFight9.jpg
http://www.nagafighter.com/tournaments/worldchamp/photos/DSC_0072.jpg
http://www.nagafighter.com/tournaments/worldchamp/photos/DSC_0048.jpg
The NAGA also has a women's division that showcases some of the hottest(often literally) female grapplers on the East coast. Its not unusual for some of the women to enter the men's light weight divisision....and WIN. Some of the best women's division grapplers include TSK's Laura D'Auguste and Renzo Gracies Shannon Logan.
http://www.nagafighter.com/tournaments/worldchamp/photos/DSC_0104.jpg
http://www.nagafighter.com/tournaments/worldchamp/photos/DSC_0080.jpg
http://www.nagafighter.com/tournaments/2002nagc/photos/WomenFight4.jpg
The NAGA is open to EVERYONE so no matter what your style, if you want to test yourself against some great grapplers this is the place to be. They have divisions from Novice to Absolute and you'll rarely find the type of sportsmanship that you find at these events.
Let me give you an example.
Recently, NAGA held the 2003 Pro-Ams in Florida. Four of the very best teams would be setting their best against each other in 5 weight classes for a 1st prize of $5000. The teams represented were Team Renzo Gracie, Team Loyd Irvin, American Top Team and Freestlye Fighting Academy. This division would be a special division in ADDITION to the rest of the tournament but would definitely be the highlight. The division showcased talented no-gi submission grapplers and former Abu Dhabi competitors like Jeff Monson, Sean Alvarez, Joe D'Arce, Amuary Bitteti and Marcos Avellan.
After some great fights it would come down to former Brazilian Jiu Jitsu world champion Amuary Bitteti vs. Lloyd Irvin. There was only one problem: Irvin had injured himself in the previous match, at seeing how this was his first competition since breaking his neck, the doctors refused to allow him to continue. When American Top Team found out the that Irvin would be unable to fight, they refused the win by forfeit and agreed to split 1st place and the $5000 prize money with Irvin's academy out of respect for his warrior spirit. Later on, Lloyd Irvin showed alot of respect for ATT by presenting Ricardo Liborio with the first place trophy.
NAGA has events in New Jersey, Conneticut, New York, Florida and Hawaii. If you have the opportunity I would strongly suggest competing or at least spectating. Kipp Kollar also runs 2 MMA promotions, Mass Destruction(www.massdestrruction.tv) a Boston based MMA event that will be happening next on August 16th where fighters like Carlos Barretto will be fighting. Kip also sponsors Reality Fighting(www.realityfighting.tv) which will be going Pay-Per-View for the first time in February 2004.
Whether your a grappler looking for an arena to test your skills or a MMA fighter looking for a fight check out www.nagafighter.com and you'll be on the right track.
