USA Grappling National Coach Ricardo Liborio raised the team champion trophy from the 2009 FILA Grappling World Championships in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla. photo by Max Fry

No Holds Barred: USA Grappling National Coach Ricardo Liborio

Click here for Ricardo Liborio interview

On this edition of No Holds Barred, host Eddie Goldman once again has the pleasure of speaking with Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu and grappling legend Ricardo Liborio.

Ricardo Liborio is the co-owner and head instructor for American Top Team (http://americantopteam.com/), and also the head coach of the USA Grappling team.

In another lengthy discussion, we reviewed the April 8 Bellator Fighting Championships card in Hollywood, Florida, which Liborio attended and had fighters competing. We discussed both the televised fights and the victorious performances of Roger Huerta, Joe Warren, and Georgi Karakhanyan, as well as the undercard victories of Chris Manuel and Edson Diniz.

We also got an update on the health situation of American Top Team fighter Thiago "Pitbull" Alves, who was pulled from a recent UFC card following a medical test which showed a brain irregularity. He will be returning to action shortly, and we learn more about what happened to him.

In addition, we discussed the sport of grappling, and its prospects for being added to the program of the Olympic Games. Liborio explained what changes he believes must be made to improve the organization of the sport, the need to grow it on the grassroots level, and much more.

Also, No Holds Barred is available through iTunes at 
http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=150801513&s=143441

The show is in MP3 format, so may take some time to download.