Judo

With all the buzz and hype that accompanied Ronda Rousey's Strikeforce mixed-martial-arts debut, it was rather tepid in comparison to the whirlwind of talking heads and media meet-and-greets that the Glendale-trained grappler has had to deal with as of late. Ahead of today's Strikeforce Challengers 20 card at The Pearl at the Palms Casino & Resort, Rousey has found herself at media events for UFC 137, UFC on Fox and attended a red carpet event for the aforementioned Fox event. She's made radio appearances and talked to print and Internet media members aplenty.

GLENDALE - [Updated: 3:20 p.m.] Sevak Magakian entered the octagon determined, focused and ready. But as is the game of mixed martial arts, anything can happen. And opponent Jonathan Brookins' slick display of jiu jitsu left the Glendale fighter unconscious in the first round, as Brookins defeated Magakian in the latest episode of "The Ultimate Fighter" on Wednesday night. "It kills me, it eats me inside, I was supposed to be one of the guys in the finals," said Magakian, who also added that roughly 10 days before the fight he sustained a broken rib and rib cartilage damage in training.

GLENDALE — For Alberto Crane, a veteran of 18 mixed-martial-arts bouts and countless grappling tournaments, his next fight — a three-round welterweight tilt against veteran Gabe Rivas at King of the Cage's Turning Point card today — poses no novel obstacles. "I know what I can do," Crane said. "What'll happen will happen. " But while it's business as usual in the cage for Crane, his nerves are a bit different outside of the cage when it comes to coaching, as the Glendale resident will lead a throng of his Gracie Barra students into competition at today's event at the Braemar Country Club in Tarzana, which starts at 5:30 p.m. "It's a lot of these guys' pro debuts," said Crane, who's the head instructor at Gracie Barra Burbank and Pasadena.

Gary Moskowitz SOUTHEAST GLENDALE -- There is a general consensus among six 17-year-old Japanese students visiting California this month -- American food is a little too oily and Magic Mountain is cool. The group of Japanese exchange students, all female and from Nisshin High School in Osaka, are attending classes at Glendale High School and have been staying with host families since March 9. In addition to taking classes in English, physical education, drama and ceramics at Glendale High on weekdays, the group of Japanese teens have braved the coasters at Magic Mountain, strolled the sidewalks of Venice Beach and spent a day at Disneyland.

GLENDALE — Ronda Rousey's Strikeforce debut came and went in the lighting-quick fashion that all of her fights — amateur and professional — have. But after defeating Sarah D'Alelio via submission in just 25 seconds on Friday night at Strikeforce Challengers 18 in Las Vegas, it was apparent that the Glendale-trained mixed martial artist wasn't exactly pleased with the boos that accompanied the controversial stoppage. Nonetheless, Rousey improved to 3-0 as a professional with an armbar victory, as she jumped to lock in the hold and cranked back and then signaled to referee Steve Mazzagatti that D'Alelio (4-2)

These are the days of Ronda Rousey. She has become a media darling, a sex symbol and a bona fide mixed-martial-arts superstar who's been all over the television screen, magazine covers and, of course, the Internet, with roughly 100,000 Twitter followers and counting along with this vlog and that interview and so much more. Just about everything she does is news these days in the world of MMA journalism and often times beyond. Perhaps lost in the aura, ascension to stardom and "it factor" that seemingly surrounds her has been the fact that she's reached the top of women's MMA because she's one helluva fighter with the Strikeforce women's bantamweight title to defend against former champion Sarah Kaufman on Saturday night in San Diego at the Valley View Casino live on Showtime's "Rousey vs. Kaufman" card.

After plenty of speculation and unconfirmed reports over the past weeks, it became official Friday that the meteoric rise of mixed-martial-arts superstar Ronda Rousey will now be a historic one. “It's official,” Ultimate Fighting Championship President Dana White told Jim Rome on “The Jim Rome Show,” “Ronda Rousey did sign with the UFC.” The news was originally reported by TMZ on Nov. 8, but Rousey was tight-lipped about...

They learned the basics of wrestling a year ago. They competed in tournaments and a few dual matches and have learned to be tougher. Now, the members of the Hoover High boys' wrestling team say they're ready for new challenges in the second year of the program's existence. “They learned the essentials of wrestling last year,” said Tornadoes Coach Mark Bitetti, a world history teacher at the school who started the program last year. “They're picking up where they left off.” Where they left off in 2011 was without a league.

GLENDALE — Sherdog.com, arguably the sport of mixed martial arts’ most renowned website, has Roman “The Emperor” Mitichyan’s record listed as 5-1. Mitichyan insists it’s incorrect, he’s even contacted the site, as he says he has all his fight tapes to prove the validity. But more importantly to him than what his record is now, is what it will be. “The plan is to make it 10-1,” the Glendale resident said. Mitichyan (9-1)

GLENDALE — When Sevak Magakian was last supposed to fight Jeremy Umphries in November, the Glendale fighter received another opponent on short notice. In fact, Magakian couldn’t keep up with how many different fighters he was scheduled to face, between opponents pulling out due to injury or for whatever reason. At one time or another he had at least four different names he was thought to have faced. But then the entire card was postponed. So now, once more, Magakian finds himself faced with Umphries.