Judo

Ken Karapetian's judo studio at the Glendale YMCA is not large, but he makes the most out of it. His judo students warm up by playing an impromptu game of soccer on the studio's padded floors; tiny traffic cones serve as goal posts. Later, the students run laps around the studio. Careful not to run into one another, the students hug the perimeter of the space as they run. Karapetian's judo studio is a converted handball court in the basement level of the YMCA's main physical fitness building.

GLENDALE — Roman “The Emperor” Mitichyan and his opponent on Saturday evening, Mike Dolce, are looking for the same thing at Call to Arms’ “Called Out MMA” event. A victory goes without saying, of course, but both are looking for their talents and will to wipe away past pitfalls in the arena of mixed martial arts. Both are former cast members on the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter” series, with Mitichyan (9-3)

In the fleeting days leading up to the most monumental night of his life, Karen Darabedyan is nervous, he’s excited and he’s anxious. But he’s always nervous before a fight he contends. “I’m the most nervous guy before a fight,” he admits with a smile. “I think that’s the best thing I have, being nervous before a fight, I’m a very careful fighter. I think being nervous, I use it in a positive way.” Of course this isn’t just any other fight that he’s readying himself for and it’s likely this is another kind of nervous.

For more than a month's time, Edmond Tarverdyan will be firmly entrenched in Las Vegas. He'll be doing what he loves: Training fighters and cornering combatants. But it's hardly going to be a vacation. For the first time in the history of “The Ultimate Fighter” show, the opposing coaches will be women, with Ultimate Fighting Championship women's bantamweight champion “Rowdy” Ronda Rousey opposing eventual title challenger Cat Zingano. Right next to Rousey, as he has been throughout her meteoric professional MMA career, will be Tarverdyan.

Burgeoning mixed-martial-arts female fighter Ronda Rousey will make her Strikeforce debut live on Showtime as part of the "Strikeforce Challengers 18" card on Aug. 12 in Las Vegas. Rousey, who trains among other places at the Glendale Fighting Club and is cornered by Glendale's Edmond Tarverdyan, will take on Sarah D'Alelio (4-1) in a televised bout. With a 2-0 professional record, Rousey has created plenty of buzz early in her career, as she's a former Olympic bronze medalist in judo, went 3-0 in amateur MMA fights and has won her two professional MMA bouts in a combined 74 seconds.

In his hopes of rising in the world of mixed martial arts, Glendale's Sevak Magakian said he was taking a chance to further his career when he took a fight with Bellator MMA on roughly two weeks notice. Magakian also looked to take a risk in his lightweight fight Thursday night against Jason Fischer when he went for a judo arm drag. Fischer sat down on the attempt and was able to take Magakian's back, which eventually led to a fight-ending rear-naked choke for Fischer, who defeated Magakian via tapout at the 3:37 mark of the first round in their Bellator 87 bout, which was streamed live on Spike.com from the Soaring Eagle Casino in Mount Pleasant, Mich.

Marina Shafir walked in, walked through some punches and promptly and emphatically took care of business on Saturday night. The up-and-coming Glendale-trained mixed martial artist easily disposed of opponent Danielle Mack with a first-round armbar, winning in just 59 seconds at Tuff-N-Uff's Mayhem in Mesquite II card in Mesquite, Nev. With the victory, Shafir, fighting at 150 pounds, improved to 3-0 in her amateur MMA career, as Mack (0-3)...

It was the same story for Ronda Rousey. It was the same unbelievably impressive, undeniably devastating story for the rapid-rising mixed-martial-arts star. In just 49 seconds, Rousey secured a gruesome armbar to coax a submission from Julia Budd on Friday night at Strikeforce Challengers 20 at the Pearl at The Palms Casino & Resort in Las Vegas. With the victory, the Glendale-trained grappler improved to 4-0 in her professional MMA career with all four victories coming in less than a minute's time and all coming via armbar.

GLENDALE — As the most monumental fight in Manny Gamburyan's career approaches fast, the tenacious mixed-martial-artist is clearly taking on the magnitude of his title opportunity and the task of facing World Extreme Cagefighting featherweight champion Jose Aldo straight on. During a Monday conference call, Gamburyan didn't hesitate in proclaiming that he was confident he could upset Aldo — seen by most as a phenom in the sport as...

When Ronda Rousey was but a little girl - shy and hushed - her dad bestowed upon her words to live by. Tragically, Ron Rousey was dead when Ronda was just 8 years old. His words, however, lived on. "He's the one that told me I'd win a gold medal and be the best in the world someday," she remembers. "And when you're 8 years old, your dad's right about everything. " And now, Ronda Rousey is 24 years old and she's become an illustration of beauty, brawn and devastating mixed-martial-arts skill that has many believing she is, indeed, destined to be the best in the world.

Ken Karapetian's judo studio at the Glendale YMCA is not large, but he makes the most out of it. His judo students warm up by playing an impromptu game of soccer on the studio's padded floors; tiny traffic cones serve as goal posts. Later, the students run laps around the studio. Careful not to run into one another, the students hug the perimeter of the space as they run. Karapetian's judo studio is a converted handball court in the basement level of the YMCA's main physical fitness building.

In the fleeting days leading up to the most monumental night of his life, Karen Darabedyan is nervous, he’s excited and he’s anxious. But he’s always nervous before a fight he contends. “I’m the most nervous guy before a fight,” he admits with a smile. “I think that’s the best thing I have, being nervous before a fight, I’m a very careful fighter. I think being nervous, I use it in a positive way.” Of course this isn’t just any other fight that he’s readying himself for and it’s likely this is another kind of nervous.

GLENDALE — Roman “The Emperor” Mitichyan and his opponent on Saturday evening, Mike Dolce, are looking for the same thing at Call to Arms’ “Called Out MMA” event. A victory goes without saying, of course, but both are looking for their talents and will to wipe away past pitfalls in the arena of mixed martial arts. Both are former cast members on the Ultimate Fighting Championship and Spike TV’s “The Ultimate Fighter” series, with Mitichyan (9-3)