© Marc Wickert
www.knucklepit.com When knucklepit.com in Australia received a request for assistance from members of the US Marines Mixed Martial Arts team Red, Black and Blue, some of Down Under’s most elite martial arts instructors were contacted to help take this mission on board. Victoria’s Mick Nicholls, Sydney’s Mick Spinks, Brisbane’s Ken Twaddell and Gold Coast’s Bill Wakefield all readily agreed to help knucklepit send fight equipment to the Red, Black and Blue Team, to aid their training for MMA events. Red, Black and Blue team members include Force Reconnaissance Marines and an EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) Technician, who are all part of a Direct Action Platoon which provides special operational support for the Marine Corps. The primary members of the team have diverse MMA backgrounds including wrestling, Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu, boxing, Savat, and Muay Thai kickboxing. The team includes qualified Black Belt MCMAP (Marine Corps Martial Arts Program) instructors. Based at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, all five main members of Red, Black and Blue – Mike Mackay, Dan Frawley, Clay Argall, John Bailley and Rich Sweeney - have been training in martial arts or wrestling since childhood, and their ages range from 23 to 28 years. Whilst serving on the marine’s amphibious assault ship USS Nassau (LHA 4), the men also instruct in martial arts for a crew of 3000 personnel, and compete in both military and civilian-organised competitions. Team captain Mike Mackay recently fought in the no-gi, heavyweight division at the 4th Casca Grossa grappling tournament in Atlanta, Georgia. After working his way through the elimination bouts, Mike earned his place in the heavyweight final where he was narrowly defeated by a one-point decision. Born in Queens, New York, Mackay says, "I plan on participating in future NAGA (North American Grappling Association) events after deployment, and I would love to compete on a professional level, especially at the UFC, and possibly open an MMA school in my home town." Fellow Red, Black and Blue team member Dan Frawley says in early October, 2005, Camp Lejeune had an unexpected visitor arrive. "Randy Couture was on base here for a big sale with a company, and he was endorsing their products. Mike and I went up and we were talking with Randy. He’s a real laid-back and really nice guy. "We were mentioning to him that we have this MMA school. We decided to ask him if he wanted to come and train, thinking that the worst thing he could do was say no. He said, ‘Yeah, sure. That would be good.’ So he came and trained with us for nearly two hours. It was awesome. Of course, nobody beat him, but everybody learnt something from the experience. Randy said that as a team we were on the right track. Oh, man, that was amazing," says Frawley.
Dan, how did Team Red, Black and Blue come about? "Mike Mackay and I were talking about it, and we mentioned it to the other guys. They were along with it. Mike and I were heading it up and we talked over the phone a couple of times. Then my wife and I came up with a couple of names for the team. Red, Black and Blue kinda fit for a fight club, and also for America, being in the military, it’s kind of a patriotic meaning at the same time. I think it also sounds good. With a lot of the fight clubs out there, it kinda fits in." Can you tell us a little bit about the other members? "Mike Mckay is a heavyweight, six-foot-two, and a ball of fire. He’s got a lot more energy when it comes to talking and stuff like that than I do. On the mat we’re the same. We’re just about the same at everything, but when it comes to talking to people and business, he gets so excited. The way he puts it, he could sell a snow cone to eskimos. "Clay Argall is from Oakland, California. He is actually our corpsman (doctor). Clay is in the Navy, but he’s attached to our platoon. He competes in the heavyweight division. "John Bailley is a light heavyweight from outside Minnesota. He’s a good guy, but kinda quiet. He’s real strong in submissions, and well versed in that. He’s like an encyclopedia in grappling. "Rich Sweeney hails from Sacramento, California. His nickname is Big Hungry. He’s always hungry and always talking about eating this and eating that. He’s hilarious. Naturally, Rich is a heavyweight, and he’s unbelievably strong. He’s just a big muscle-head: more of a wrestler than anything else. We’re working with him on our submissions. His ground work is amazing from all the wrestling that he’s done."
What about yourself? "I’m from Sweetwater, Texas. Growing up, I did Kenpo karate for a while and then I started up on the Jiu Jitsu. Eventually, I met up with a bunch of guys on the West Coast and we created a fight club called USS Tarawa. That was the ship we were deployed on. We trained on it a lot and when we came back we competed at San Diego City Boxing – Dean Lister’s place. We got to meet Dean and we actually did pretty well. We had somebody in every weight division and everybody placed either first or second in their category." Dan, after you go to Europe, are you then off to Iraq? "It’s up in the air. It’s a possibility. I personally hope we do because I want to have the opportunity to do my job. And I know the other guys have the same feelings. "When we come back to America, we have a thing called the Tiger Cruise where we can invite people to come on board ship. We talked to Randy Couture about it and he’s going to check his schedule. He could actually be busy. But another thing we’re trying to do when we’re coming back is have a tournament on board – some kind of a smoker. People who train with us regularly on the ship could compete against some of the bigger names in mixed martial arts. "Last time we tried to get Pat Miletich and he was actually excited about it. We kept sending emails back and forth, but he was caught up in other obligations. So we’re hoping to make things happen this time with some people." Red, Black and Blue’s ship, USS Nassau, departs for the Mediterranean sometime in November, and the team members will be corresponding with knucklepit.com for future articles.
Articles on Bill Wakefield, Ken Twaddell, Mick Spinks and Mick Nicholls can also be found at www.knucklepit.com. They also feature in the article Further On Up The Road at knucklepit.
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