BJPenn.Com’s FIST-ta-CUFF Radio Show 189: Rafael Lovato Jr., Rener Gracie, AJ Matthews, & Bruce Buffer

This week on BJPenn.com’s FIST-ta-CUFF Radio our guests cover three of the biggest topics in the sport at the current moment. Our first two guests will be talking Metamoris 2, while our third guest will be talking the new Bellator Reality show “Fight Master” & our last guest talking his new book “It’s Time!”

Our first guest this week is none other then Rafael Lovato Jr. Rafael is set to take on Andre Galvao at Metamoris 2 on Sunday, June 9, 2013. Rafael is the second American (Our own B.J. Penn being the first) to win the Brazilian National Jiu-Jitsu Championship as a black belt. Rafael has been training with the Ribeiro brothers (Xande and Saulo), after he competed against Saulo in the finals of the 2003 Arnold Classic, when Rafael was just 19 years old. Rafael’s accomplishments go much further though he is the most decorated American BJJ competitor today. He was the first person ever to win the European Open Championships, Pan-American Championships, Brazilian National Championships (Brasileiro), and World Championships (Mundials) at the Black Belt level in the same year. Rafael also belongs to an elite group of grapplers to ever win Black Belt World Championships with and without the gi. Rafael was also the first American to produce a Black Belt No-Gi World Champion as a coach. We have plenty to talk about and we will fit as much as we can into 30 minutes. Follow Rafael on Twitter @lovatojrbjj

Okay so if I say the last name Gracie who do you think of? I mean you could think of Royce, Rorion, or maybe even Helio, but what about the new generation? Well our next guest is just that, the new generation of Gracies, and Rener Gracie is back in the SHOP! The last time Rener was on the show we talked him taking the reigns of the Gracie family business and taking it to the next level. This time we plan on talking the current state of BJJ inside it’s own sport and also inside the sport of MMA. You know we have to talk the upcoming Metamoris 2 card, and where he visions the sport of BJJ in the next ten years and if he believes it will ever reach Olympic status. Rener was one bad man on the mat and now he is helping take the sport to new places. Get ready for some of the best BJJ talk you will find on the web, make sure to follow Rener on Twitter @RenerGracie

Bellator just recently announced the cast of their new reality show “Fight Master” and kicking off the second hour is one of the men who made the cut. Alliance MMA Welterweight AJ Matthews is dropping in to talk everything he can about the show. Of course like other MMA related Reality Show contestants who have appeared on the show their is much more that AJ can’t talk about but we have plenty of questions that he can answer. We will talk with AJ about the process to get on the show and how the experience was for him overall leading up to being selected and entering the shows house to begin filming. AJ entered the show as a 24 year old pro with a record of 5-2. We will talk to him about his thoughts prior to filming knowing who the coaches were and the other cast members. If you want your first look at “Fight Master” then you need to tune in cause we will be talking with AJ all about it. Follow AJ on Twitter @AJ_MMA

After both fighters have walked the path that leads them to the Octagon, entered the cage, and heard the roar of the crowd; only one thing is left before they end up laying it all on the line they have to hear from the Veteran Voice of the Octagon “It’s TIMEEEEE!! Speaking of the “Veteran Voice of the Octagon” Bruce Buffer the man who has coined the phrase is on the show to talk about his book coming out “It’s Time, My 360 View Of The UFC.” We will talk with Bruce about his book and what made him decide to write a book, a few of the stories inside the book, if he will be doing a book tour and if so where you can catch up with him, and of course where you can get a copy of the book. Bruce is much of a part of the UFC as anyone from Burt Watson, Stitch Duran, or even Joe Rogan, so get ready for the man who gets it started to finish the show and provide us with some amazing stories. Follow Bruce on Twitter @BruceBuffer

The show starts at 7:30 PM PST 10:30 PM EST and Phone lines are open all show (347) 633-9597 and we love to have listeners voice your thoughts and get in your questions. Follow us on twitter @FISTtaCUFFRadio (Anton) @FISTtaCUFF (Drew) and @ProMMANowDenny (Denny) and follow the site @BJPennDotCom. You can also follow us on Instagram @FISTtaCUFF (Anton) @FISTtaCUFFRadio (Drew) and @ProMMANowDenny.