UFC Hall of Famer holds second MMA workshop in Culpeper

This past week was a big one for mixed martial arts in the Commonwealth.

The Ultimate Fighting Championship — MMA’s most recognizable brand — held its first show in Virginia at the Patriot Center in Alexandria Monday, and on Tuesday UFC Hall of Famer Dan “The Beast” Severn held his second MMA workshop at Zamora Boxing Gym.

“MMA hasn’t been around that long and a lot of it is still in its infancy,” Severn said. “That’s why there aren’t many true coaches in the sport. I take pride in being a coach and passing down some of the knowledge I have gained.”

Severn — who made his first appearance at the gym on Montanus Drive in Culpeper last July — had about 17 budding mixed martial artists hanging on his every word Tuesday, and he rarely missed an opportunity to slip one of his patented one-liners into the conversation.

Severn: Somebody once asked me to describe MMA in one sentence and I told them I could do it in one word: Pain. The kind that is better to give than to receive.

Severn began his career in the octagon at a time when there were only two rules — no hitting in the groin and no eye gouging — and the shows were held in a tournament format, which meant fighters had to compete in more than one match a night.

“I didn’t really know what I was getting into when I was first approached about it,” Severn said. “The UFC had really just begun, and I didn’t even tell anyone in my family what I was doing because I knew things could go wrong and I didn’t want them to worry.”

The Flint, Mich., native first stepped into the cage in 1994 and has since fought the likes of Royce Gracie, Tank Abbott, Ken Shamrock and Mark Coleman.

“I didn’t even know what jujitsu was when I first started,” Severn said. “I saw the Gracie family taking people down and winning on the ground and it looked like wrestling to me.”

Severn: The audience can’t feel your pain, but one day we’ll be able to attach electrodes to fans so they can and when they’re screaming, tapping out and crapping their pants they’ll think, ‘wow, you really are the man.’

Severn isn’t known for his knockout power or his head kicks that come out of nowhere.

“When it comes to muay thai, boxing or jujitsu as a single entity I’m terrible,” Severn said. “But I’m pretty sharp when it comes to blending them all together.”

Most of the 6-foot-2-inch, 250-pound Severn’s fights end on the ground, where he inflicts plenty of damage on his opponent without the audience even realizing it, and he’s just fine with that because it’s what he knows.

Severn went to Arizona State on a wrestling scholarship in 1976 and, with the help of legendary coach Bobby Douglas, molded the Sun Devils’ program into a grappling powerhouse by 1981.

“The man (Douglas) was maybe 150 pounds but when we was on top of you he felt like a 300-pound orangutan,” Severn said. “He would wrestle anybody. He was very hard to shoot in on and very tenacious.”

Severn won a Pac-10 title and was a two-time All-American at Arizona State, and he showed the young fighters at Zamora Boxing Gym exactly how he has skillfully incorporated many of his wrestling techniques into his successful MMA career.

Severn: I find these moves in what I call the ‘Mongolian Book of Pain.’ They have been laboratory tested, and yes some test subjects did have to be sacrificed in the process.

The 51-year-old Severn picked a different student with each demonstration Tuesday, but the end result was always the same. Whether it was with a wince, a flinch or an audible gasp, those chosen reacted to Severn’s slightest move when they were in his grasp.

“I’ve never seen anybody tap out from tickling, but then again I’ve never tried it,” Severn said. “You’ve got to understand that the ultimate goal of MMA is to come out of it alive. Your job is to inflict pain on your opponent and you have to expect the same in return.”

Severn demonstrated several techniques for closing distance on an opponent and taking them to the ground after a clinch. And once on the ground, he presented a plethora of moves from just about every top position — not to mention several simple, yet effective, tricks of the trade such as applying pressure to the ribs with an elbow from side control or grinding a forearm into an opponent’s face like a saw.

» Guerilla Journalism blog

Find out how Dan Severn thinks former UFC light heavyweight champion Rashad Evans will fare in a rematch against Lyoto “The Dragon” Machida.

» Starexponent.com