We often read about people gaining a lot from getting involved in the martial arts. Such was the case with Shirley Bendell, a recent inductee into the International Karate and Kickboxing Hall of Fame. Bendell, a victim of both gang and acquaintance rape that lost her sister to an unsolved murder began participating in the martial arts back in 1980.  She believes that the move helped her to become a victor, not a victim.  Today, she holds a Fifth-Degree Black Belt in Song Moo Kwan Tae Kwon Do, Freestyle Karate, Shitu Jujitsu and Shitu Judo. 

However, Bendell has done more than just take from the martial arts; she has also given to them. You see, over the past 18 years she's taught more than 1,300 women and girls in a special sexual-assault prevention class.  She has also instructed many in regular classes and thinks of those she works with like extended family.

Bendell received the Hall of Fame honor from her husband, Don, for these reasons and more, making them the first husband-wife team to be inducted.  In fact, Bendell had no idea that she was even the guest of honor at the annual Bendell Karate Awards Banquet at Shrine Hall in Pueblo West, instead believing she was going to receive a surprise visit from one of her famous friends.

"I cannot believe this," Bendell said following the presentation. "This is one of the best days of my life. Thank you so, so much." 

Congratulations to someone who clearly deserves the honor that was bestowed upon her.

Reference

Canon City Daily Record

"This fight is my destiny... It's everything that I've ever dreamed of," said Diego Sanchez before challenging BJ Penn for his UFC light heavyweight championship. Of course, past would-be opponents often stated such things only to find out later that Penn was more of a nightmare opponent than anything else. Speaking of "Nightmare," you're probably wondering how Sanchez did. So let's get to it.

The first round saw Sanchez come forward aggressively early and get absolutely dropped by a huge Penn right hand for his efforts. From there, Sanchez ate a terrific onslaught of punches that would have taken out a lesser man but somehow survived. For the majority of the rest of the stanza, Sanchez and Penn were pretty even on their feet until Penn landed a strong right hand at the end of the round.

In the second round, Penn once again used his better boxing skills to gain points on his adversary, often connecting with punches right after failed Sanchez takedown attempts. By the way, the same exact kind of thing occurred in both the third and fourth stanzas. But the fifth round proved different. You see, a Penn high kick opened up a huge cut on his opponents' forehead that caused the doctor to stop the fight by way of TKO.  This fight tells us a few things about Penn once and for all.  First, his boxing is at the top of the food chain in the UFC lightweight division.  Second, cardio is no longer a problem at all.  And last, he's the greatest MMA lightweight champion we've seen to date.

BJ Penn wins via TKO at 2:37 of round five.

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Before taking on the absolutely enormous Cheick Kongo at UFC 107, Frank Mir said, "my long term goal is Brock Lesnar's demise." Would this kind of forward thinking prove to be foolish with a different challenge in front of him in the here and now? One word: Nope.

Mir came out willing to strike with his adversary. Simply put, he utilized good head movement, connected with a big left hand that dropped Kongo, and then choked him out cold. In the end, a revitalized and much bigger Mir made it look easy.

Frank Mir wins by submission at 1:12 of round one. And he didn't even have the leverage people usually need to sink in the guillotine.

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"I enjoy welcoming in the new guys and putting an early beat down on them," Jon Fitch said before taking on Mike Pierce at UFC 107.  It was hard not to believe Fitch considering his record.  That said, they have the fights for a reason, right?

The first round saw Fitch take his opponent to the canvas pretty quickly and then take his back.  Though he landed several strikes from that position, he was unable to flatten Pierce, which caused him to eventually give this advantage up.  Soon after, Pierce took Fitch down only to watch him get to his feet rather quickly.  For the rest of the round, Fitch proved to be the more technical striker.

1-0   Fitch.

The second round saw Fitch gain two takedowns and out strike his opponent on his feet, causing Pierce to need a stoppage in the third.  Unfortunately for Pierce, he didn't get it. 

Jon Fitch wins via unanimous decision. 

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