BJPenn.com’s FIST-ta-CUFF Radio Show 195: Todd Vance, Norman Parke, & AJ Matthews

While you wait for this weeks episode to air on Sunday, get caught up on last Sundays episode below. You won’t be disappointed.

We are back this week with a lineup that should have a little something for everyone. We kick off the first hour with a man who served in war and has used MMA to combat PTSD not only for himself but his fellow soldiers, a man who won his season of The Ultimate Fighter and is fighting on UFC 162. Second hour of the show we have our inside man back from Bellator’s Fight Master.

As you can see from the above clip Todd Vance has been busy since the last time he was on the show. If you aren’t familiar with Todd it won’t be long until you are. Todd is a Veteran of the Armed Forces who came home suffering from PTSD who eventually found MMA to be a release. Todd is no stranger to the show and has one of the most amazing stories of anyone to be on the show. Todd began his martial arts journey at 14 and began fighting at 16. Todd fought 12 times as an amateur (11 Wins-1 Loss) and 7 Times as a pro before leaving for the Army (5 Wins-2 Loss). He even took Famous Muay Thai Champion Brian Popejoy to a decision. While in the Army Todd was sent to Iraq and made Sgt Squad Leader and showed what a Fighter he was by Leading more than 250 Combat Missions and Leading more than 75 Successful Raids. Todd’s service is touched on in the New York Times Best-Selling Book about the War in Iraq entitled My War: Killing Time in Iraq by Colby Buzzell. Todd is also the inspiration for another New York Times Best Seller, Dear John, which is also a movie with Channing Tatum playing Todd. Todd is the Striking Coach for UND1SPUTED’s Professional Mixed Martial Arts Competition Team. He Teaches Muay Thai Classes and is also available for Private Training in Muay Thai, Boxing, MMA, or Fitness/Conditioning. Get over to the POW website and check out Pugilistic Offensive Warrior Tactics at http://powsandiego.blogspot.com/

Norman Parke is back on the show and this time he’s got a fight less then a week away. Norman is set to take on Kazuki Tokudome at UFC 162 in Las Vegas, NV July 6. Norman was the winner of “The Ultimate Fighter The Smashes.” Norman is coming into this fight on a seven fight win streak with his opponent riding a 3 fight win streak. We will talk to Norman about his layoff, training in San Diego at Alliance, and getting his shot inside the UFC. Norman is coming off a layoff that began in December of 2012, we will discuss if the layoff has been a blessing and how anxious he is to get back into the cage. We will see if Norman went home during the time between his last scheduled fight and the beginning of this camp. If you haven’t heard Norman up in the shop don’t worry this is your chance to get to know one of the top prospects from any season of TUF in the last few years. Follow Norman on Twitter @Norman_Parke

Bellator aired it’s second episode of their reality show “Fight Master” so our second hour is being kicked off by our inside man AJ Matthews. AJ earned his spot inside the house on the first episode selecting to be the first member of Team Couture. We will talk with AJ about his thoughts on some of the fights as we saw 4 new contestants enter the house. This episode we get to see some of the fighters AJ will call his teammates. We have plenty to talk with AJ about in regards to the show, what you didn’t get to see on the show from guys reactions, how long the process is from winning the fight to selecting your coach and much more. Tune in and get your inside look at Bellator MMA’s “Fight Master”. Follow AJ on Twitter @AJ_MMA

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.