TJay Thompson, the architect of SuperBrawl and Icon Sport and a foundational figure in early Hawaiian MMA, joins the MMA History Podcast to detail how a Boston native managing female oil wrestling at Gussie L’Amour’s nightclub near Honolulu Airport fell into promoting fights in 1996. With no prior combat sports background, he ran packed monthly no-holds-barred events in the roughly 400-capacity bar using a homemade steel, cable, and plywood ring before partnering with Norwegian strongman and World’s Gym owner Ode Haugen to move the shows to Blaisdell Arena under the SuperBrawl banner.

Thompson recounts the early financial losses that nearly ended the promotion, the turnaround to profitability on the road in Guam, and key cards including SuperBrawl 2’s Vitor Belfort versus Jon Hess main event—promoted as Victor Gracie and held under true no-holds-barred rules—that drew Shaquille O’Neal and the Los Angeles Lakers. He covers Jay R. Palmer’s rapid rise as an untrained street fighter and his notorious head-stomp finish of Maurice Corty, the brutal 30-minute John Lober versus Frank Shamrock war that turned the Blaisdell crowd against the Lion’s Den, Matt Hume’s early influence on matchmaking and rules, Dan Severn’s willingness to take half his purse after a poorly attended El Paso show, and the creative workaround of staging SuperBrawl 7 as an ancient pankration-style “Pain Creation Tournament” to navigate Hawaii’s ban on extreme and ultimate fighting.

The conversation also touches the tense Relson Gracie–Egan and Enson Inoue rivalry that dominated the local scene in the late 1990s. This episode captures the chaotic, high-risk origins of one of MMA’s most influential regional promotions and the characters who built Hawaiian MMA from the ground up.

0:00 start

0:48 MMA History Podcast Intro

1:19 Joey Venti’s guest introduction

1:35 interview start

1:52 start in MMA promoting

6:55 Foxy oil wrestling tapes

8:30 Jay R Palmer

9:16 hosting events at the Blaisdell Arena

10:55 mistakes made by promoters

14:34 Hosting Superbrawl 1

15:56 Jay R Palmer career highlights

18:15 SuperBrawl 1 card

19:23 attendance for SuperBrawl 1

21:32 Vitor Belfort vs Jon Hess (last NHB fight)

26:40 video rights for SuperBrawl 2

28:55 dealings with Carlson Gracie

29:05 Lakers in attendance at SuperBrawl 2

30:50 Maurice Corty vs Jay R Palmer

34:27 relationship with John Perretti

36:37 Zane Frazier

37:26 Pete Williams vs Mark Coleman controversy

40:09 John Lober vs Frank Shamrock

44:56 Pat Miletich vs Jason Nicholsen

46:38 Danny Bennett vs Jay R Palmer

47:50 connecting with Matt Hume

52:10 Danny Bennett vs Jay R Palmer (rematch)

53:25 SuperBrawl 4 fight card

53:49 SuperBrawl 5 success

54:46 experience with Dan Severn

58:32 SuperBrawl 6

1:00:04 brawl at the Pan Ams

1:04:19 aftermath from the Pan Ams

1:06:54 Baret Yoshida leaving Relson Gracie

1:09:56 SuperBrawl 7

1:10:23 SuperBrawl 8 fight card

1:13:02 Ronald Jhun

1:14:39 SuperBrawl 9 in El Paso

1:16:01 teaser for part 2

1:16:57 interview wrap up

1:18:00 outro/ closing thoughts

NEW MMA History Clips Channel:

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Mike - The MMA Detective - @mikedavis632

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#SuperBrawl #TJayThompson #MMAHistory #HawaiianMMA

Joe Brammer, known as The South Side Strangler, joins the MMA History Podcast to recount his journey from a chubby son of a preacher man in Des Moines, Iowa, to a Midwest submission specialist who ground out a path to the UFC.

He details the raw early 2000s Iowa scene built around Toad Holler bar fights and promotions like Midwest Cage Championships, sharing stories of training and fighting alongside Josh Neer, Houston Alexander, and Jeremy Stevens in an era of minimal oversight, high fight volume, and wild characters.

Brammer walks through his early pro bouts, including a lights-out moment during an XKK Trials fight, his guillotine choke win over Michael Johnson that helped launch his UFC run, and his Octagon appearances against Mark Bocek and Aaron Riley after short-notice call-ups and brutal weight cuts.

He also covers training stints with Ivan Salaverry in Seattle, time at Throwdown Training Center in San Diego around fighters like Dean Lister and Jocko Willink, plus the injuries and close calls that shaped his career before he returned home to run gyms in Waukee and Ankeny, Iowa.

This episode captures the unique, under-the-radar Midwest pipeline that produced far more UFC talent than its size suggested.

0:00 start

0:27 MMA History Podcast intro

0:59 Joey Venti’s guest introduction

1:19 interview start

1:24 staying off of social media

3:19 plugs/ promotions

3:52 fighters coming out of Iowa

7:00 starting off with Jeet Kune Do

8:34 fighting at Toad Hollar

11:53 experience with promoter Chad Mason

14:40 becoming friends with Josh Neer

19:45 UFC mismatching fighters

21:16 experience with XKK promoters Nick and Jeff

22:22 lights shut off during fight with Joe Germain

26:09 the end of XKK

26:49 XKK Trials fight card

28:40 Joe Brammer vs Cody Geertz

29:31 MCC creating an app

32:40 thoughts on Jeremy Stephens

35:55 moving out of Iowa

37:44 reason for fighting once a year

38:34 breaking Jaw cutting weight

42:54 Chad Masons reputation

44:10 Josh Neer vs Houston Alexander

46:22 Joe Brammer vs Allen Hernandez

47:07 Joe Brammer vs Alonzo Martinez

47:55 Alonzo Martinez travel story

50:01 100 fight club members

51:40 Brandon Quigley taking 2 KOs in 2 nights

53:48 MMA organizations not following rules

57:11 dealings with Travis Fulton

58:18 training with Chris David

59:16 training with Ted Worthington

1:00:28 Bryan Bresler

1:01:16 experience with a Combat Doctor

1:03:08 Joe Brammer vs Michael Johnson

1:05:38 manager Monty Cox

1:06:11 Manager Ivan Salaverry

1:07:38 sparring with Josh Barnett

1:08:25 Terra LaRosa

1:08:58 Matt Hume

1:09:34 Maurice Smith career highlights

1:11:03 Joe Brammer vs Chris Mickle

1:18:46 receiving a call from the UFC

1:20:06 training at Throwdown

1:20:58 working with Rudy Silva

1:23:43 Rudy Silva stories

1:24:44 experience with Brandon Vera

1:27:31 Jocko Willink

1:29:08 Timmy Ford

1:29:25 training partners in San Diego

1:30:44 not joining Miletich fighting systems

1:31:28 Drew McFedries

1:34:11 Joe Brammer vs Mark Bocek

1:38:23 Houston Alexander vs Kimbo Slice

1:39:07 Eric Paulson

1:39:18 cornering Jeremy Stephens

1:41:56 Joe Brammer vs Aaron Riley

1:42:53 going 0-2 in the UFC

1:43:04 dealing with injuries

1:45:06 Tomasz Drwal

1:45:36 Victor Moreno

1:46:05 Interview wrap up/ outro

NEW MMA History Clips Channel:

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Instagram

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Mike - The MMA Detective - @mikedavis632

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#MMAHistory #JoeBrammer #IowaMMA #UFCLightweight

The MMA History Podcast welcomes Ant Evans for his third appearance in episode 352. The former head of UFC media relations for the UK and continental Europe revisits 2010 as Zuffa’s international expansion accelerated. Evans covers the UK fighter wave led by Michael Bisping and Dan Hardy, the “cursed” UFC 108 card with multiple major pullouts including Anderson Silva vs. Vitor Belfort, and the office culture of the early Las Vegas years.

He details Chael Sonnen’s Ric Flair-inspired belt stunt, press access battles of the era, and landmark shows such as the sold-out UFC 110 Australian debut with Cain Velasquez, Jon Jones’ first main event against Brandon Vera, Georges St-Pierre vs. Dan Hardy at UFC 111 (including Hardy’s storage-unit training camp), UFC 112 in Abu Dhabi with Anderson Silva vs. Demian Maia and Frankie Edgar’s upset of B.J. Penn, Randy Couture’s submission of James Toney at UFC 118, and Brock Lesnar’s comeback win over Shane Carwin at UFC 116.

The conversation contrasts the lean, record-breaking Zuffa period with the later corporate era while teasing a Cro Cop Canada story for the next instalment.

0:00 start

0:37 MMA History Podcast Intro

1:08 Joey Venti’s guest introduction

1:21 interview start

1:24 head of PR in the UK for the UFC

3:48 UFC 108 disaster

6:43 Joe Silva issues with Gerald Harris

7:27 UFC 109 helping Chael Sonnen with bad guy image

12:17 interactions with Doug Crosby

13:34 Chael Sonnen Dark side of the cage

15:24 Joey Venti’s studio set up

16:59 camaraderie in the UFC

19:18 the UFC original US office

20:36 2 UFC employees fighting

30:14 UFC hiring Karen Bell

31:45 UFC limiting access to the press

34:43 Sherdogs relationship with pride FC

37:10 getting media coverage for the UFC

40:13 issues with modern coverage on UFC

44:07 reporters receiving bad seating

46:33 importance of having reporters at events

47:59 Teddy Atlas and Max Kellerman

50:54 UFC 110 Australia

55:10 Mark Hunt legal issue with the UFC

58:41 Jon Jones vs Brandon Vera

1:03:04 UFC 111 GSP vs Dan Hardy

1:11:16 UFC 112 Ariel Helwani reporting

1:16:49 Ariel Helwani refusing pay from the UFC

1:21:13 Anderson Silva vs Damian Maia controversy

1:26:13 UFC 112 card

1:26:27 Frankie Edgar fight shorts controversy

1:29:55 UFC 113 card

1:30:22 Paul Daley sucker punching Josh Koscheck

1:31:10 Mike Russow vs Todd Duffee

1:32:12 Chuck Liddell condom story

1:35:05 UFC 116

1:39:36 Kendall Grove comments about TUF

1:41:04 UFC 117

1:41:25 James Toney vs Randy Couture

1:45:52 IRS issues with James Toney

1:47:55 Dana Whites personality behind the scenes

1:50:59 UFC in 2010

1:54:03 interview wrap up

1:55:19 outro/ closing thoughts

Instagram

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MMA History Podcast

YouTube

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Mike - The MMA Detective - @mikedavis632

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ZELLE: Cutthroatmma@gmail.com / ph#: 773-491-5052

Thank you for your support.

#MMAHistory #UFC2010 #AntEvans #MichaelBisping