On August 4th and 5th, veteran MMA official and owner of Combat Consulting Rob Hinds and Bellator Fighting Championship play-by-play announcer and certified boxing referee Sean Wheelock put on an ABC certified Referee and Judge training in Overland Park, KS. The intention of the course was to educate current and potential referees and judges on both the Unified Rules of MMA and how to properly deal with the myriad situations that one might find themselves in when charged with these positions. The training consisted of Power Point presentations, video review, in-cage demonstrations, and an open forum throughout the weekend for any and all questions. There was also a written exam at the end ...

Athletes from around the Midwest took center stage at Madison's Alliant Energy Center on Saturday night as part of a Madtown Throwdown 28 card that featured notable wins from Steve Carl, Tyler Hellenbrand, and many more. Make sure to check out some of the best photos from the night including Hellenbrand's barrage of strikes, Rob Couillard's fight-clinching triangle, and Mike Rhodes' brutal knockout.

Saturday night at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison the Madtown Throwdown 28 co-main event featured an exciting bout between Tyler Hellenbrand and Jimmy Kim as both fighters entered the cage with perfect records. But that would all change after the hard fought battle that electrified the fans in attendance. Kim traveled up to Wisconsin's capital from Central Illinois Combat Club along with teammate Matt Wikoff before the Illinois fighter squared off against one of Wisconsin's best lightweight fighters in Hellenbrand. The large 155-pounder from the Chosen Few electrified the crowd with exciting monster punches that were blasting both fighters in their skulls and the fight didn&...

Certain gyms just seem to personify certain individuals. Case in point: undefeated lightweight prospect Tyler Hellenbrand enters his Madtown Throwdown 28 bout against Jimmy Kim with the same determination and desire as many of the Chosen Few predecessors before him. After spending a few months at Trainers Elite in Madison in the early stages of his training, Hellenbrand instantly noticed that in order to reach his potential he would have to find a facility that stressed competitiveness. After one session at Chosen Few he was hooked. "I started training at Chosen Few around two years ago and right away I fell in love with all the guys and the gym," Hellenbrand told US Combat Sport...

While the transition to fighting came easy for Jake Shields, his road to the top of the sport was anything but. For over ten years, Jake fought around the world in various mixed martial arts promotions and competed in hundreds of grappling tournaments, before finally signing with the Ultimate Fighting Championship. While he has dealt with an immense amount of adversity to get to this level of the sport - being broke, not having insurance, and raising a daughter as a single father - he has attributed his ability to succeed and overcome these obstacles to the strength and loyalty of his team around him. It is commonplace in mixed martial arts for fighters to switch gyms and change affiliatio...