April News Part 1
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Quote
of the Day
"Life
is either The Greatest Adventure in the World -- or it's not.
You Choose...."
John Milton Fogg
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UFC
38:
London's ROYAL ALBERT HALL To Host!
TICKETS
ON SALE APRIL 10 FOR UFC'S FIRST EUROPEAN FIGHT, JULY 13, AT
ROYAL ALBERT HALL IN LONDON
English
Heavyweight Ian Freeman to Meet Las Vegas' Frank Mir
LAS
VEGAS, April 9…Officials of the Ultimate Fighting Championship
(UFC) today announced that tickets, £100, £75 and
£50, will go on sale Wednesday, April 10, for its first
European fight show to be held Saturday, July 13, at the Royal
Albert Hall in London, England. Tickets are available at the
Royal Albert Hall box office, at all Ticket Master outlets in
the United Kingdom, by calling Ticket Master at 011-44-020-7316-4709,
or on the internet at www.ticketmaster.co.uk.
The
event also will be available in the United Kingdom, Ireland,
North America and Brazil on British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB),
iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, Dish Network, Bell ExpressVu , Viewers Choice
Canada and Globosat Programadora LTDA pay-per-view television.
It also will be televised on WOWOW-TV in Japan. The fight will
be televised live at 7 p.m. (BST, British Summer Time) on British
Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB) and on a tape-delayed basis in the other
countries. Viewing dates and program schedules will be announced.
The suggested retail price in North America is $29.95.
A
full fight card will be announced but Heavyweight Ian Freeman
(10-4-1 in Mixed Martial Arts) of Sunderland, England, will meet
Frank Mir (4-0-0) of Las Vegas, Nev., and Middleweight Mark Weir
(12-0-0) of Gloucester, England, will fight an opponent to be
named.
'We
are really excited about bringing the UFC to the United Kingdom
for our first fight in Europe. The viewership for our weekly
television show on Sky Sports since February has been excellent
and we are looking forward to bringing the UFC live to thousands
of U.K. fight fans,' said Dana White, UFC president.
The
UFC airs a one-hour show, Ultimate Fighting Championship, at
11 p.m. (BST) each Thursday on British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB).
It is soon to be expanded to two hours.
The
Ultimate Fighting Championship, headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev.,
is the world's leading mixed martial arts sports company. It
is owned and operated by Zuffa LLC and has distribution agreements
with WOWOW, Inc. in Tokyo, Japan, British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB)
in London, England, and Globosat Programadora LTDA and Sportv
in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. The Ultimate Fighting Championship
is a sport that brings together the world's most talented mixed
martial arts (MMA) athletes from disciplines such as karate,
jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, wrestling, sumo and others in a quest
to become an ultimate fighting champion. |
UFC
37: Another Match Goes Down!
UFC
37: High Impact Friday, May 10 - CenturyTel Center in Bossier
City, LA
The
bad news seems to hit UFC & ZUFFA in droves. On Tuesday April
9th, UFC was told that Joe Hurley would be unable to compete
in UFC 37 - he was apparently struck by a truck and suffeed a
leg injury.
UFC's
Joe Silva is now left with the unenviable task of finding a replacement
to fight BJ Penn.
After
losing Dave Menne to injury, it looks like the replacement will
be HnS 185 lb Champion Ivan Salaverry.
Source: Abu Dhabi |
Interview
with Murilo "Ninja" Rua
Murilo
"Ninja" Rua has made a big splash in the MMA scene
over the past couple of years, racking up a record of 7-1-1,
losing a controversial decision to Dan Henderson. Ninja is known
for his brutal and merciless style familiar to all Chute Boxe
fans. Now, he talks about PRIDE, MMA, and the internet.
Dan
Rose: First off, thanks for doing this Murilo, I know you must
be very busy going into Pride 20. How did you get into Mixed
Martial Arts?
Murilo “Ninja” Rua: I always liked Martial Arts since
I was a kid. My first pro fight was Meca, three years ago.
Dan
Rose: How did you get affiliated with Chute Boxe?
“Ninja”: First I started training with Pele (Jose Landy).
Then Pele took me to Chute Boxe Vale Tudo team. The head of Chute
Boxe is Rudimar Fredrigo.
Dan
Rose: People don't understand how hard you guys work. What's
your Training schedule like?
“Ninja”: Yeah I train hard. I train 6 hours a day six
or seven days a week. I swim in the morning from 7 to 8. From
8-10 I train jiu-jitsu, and from 10 to 12 I fight Muay Thai.
In the afternoon I run or lift weights.
Dan
Rose: So do you train specifically for a fighter or do you train
the same way and prepare yourself for anyone?
“Ninja”: I train the same way no matter who is the
fighter. I train on top (Muay Thai) and I train on the ground
(Jiu-Jitsu).
Dan
Rose: What is your ultimate goal as a fighter?
“Ninja”: I want to be the best.
Dan
Rose: Recently Pat Miletich had to go up in weight because his
stablemate, Matt Hughes, held the belt in his weight class. What
happens if you earn a shot at the Pride Middleweight Belt?
“Ninja”: Fighters from Chute Boxe will never fight
each other outside of training, not even in a tournament.
Dan
Rose: Are you under contract to fight in Pride? Could you fight
for the UFC if you wanted? Maybe chase Top Team fighter and UFC
Middleweight Champion, Murilo Bustamante?
“Ninja”: No, I do not have a contract with the Pride.
Rudimar, my manager decides where I fight.
Dan
Rose: Can you give us any insight on who you'll be fighting at
Pride 20? I've heard it might be Quinton Jackson or Alex Stiebling...can
you tell us who it actually will be?
“Ninja”: Yes, We just closed the fight. I will be fighting
against Jose Mario Sperry from Top Team. I look forward to Pride
20.
Dan
Rose: I watched the Dan Henderson fight and thought you had won
it fairly convincingly. Looks like he won the fight on the strength
of a flurry of punches and a yellow card. Would you like a rematch
against Dan Henderson?
“Ninja”: I know that I won that fight. I dominated
the fight. I did not deserve the yellow card. If I get a chance
again there will be no doubt when I beat him.
Dan
Rose: Would you fight him the same way?
“Ninja”: No, I will use more Muay Thai.
Dan
Rose: If you could pick someone to fight in say, Pride 21, regardless
of if they are in Pride, UFC or wherever, who would you pick?
“Ninja”: Alex Stebling.
Dan
Rose: Why?
“Ninja”: He is too cocky.
Dan
Rose: You really put a beating on Alex Andrade in your last fight,
yet he went the distance. Were you surprised how much he was
able to take. Afterwards his face was really a mess.
“Ninja”: He is a fighter with heart, but I felt comfortable
that I was in control of the whole fight.
Dan
Rose: How did you get the nickname "Ninja"?
“Ninja”: I always liked Japanese Martial Arts films
when I was a kid. The other fighters used to make fun of me and
call me Ninja. The name stuck and I stared to use it.
Dan
Rose: When you aren't fighting or training, what do you like
to do in your spare time?
“Ninja”: I give Muay Thai and Vale Tudo classes at
my friend's academy, and I hang out with my girlfriend.
Dan
Rose: What could you tell me about yourself that would surprise
our readers?
“Ninja”: I am coming out with a T-shirt and a video.
Dan
Rose: There is going to be a Pride video game released for the
Playstation2 this summer. Are you going to be a character in
that game?
“Ninja”: Yes, Vanderlai (Silva) and I are going to
be in the game. I took a bunch of pictures recently for the computer
game graphics.
Dan Rose: Are you a fan of video games? Any favorites?
“Ninja”: I do not know, but I train alot of kids that
love Playstation 2.
Dan
Rose: Do you spend any time on the net checking out the forums
or MMA related web pages?
“Ninja”: Yeah I check out different web pages with
my friend's computer. But I really do use Sherdog the most to
check the records of the fighters I am going to fight. Sherdog
is the most complete.
Dan
Rose: Thanks, do you have a website I could pass on to the fans?
“Ninja”: Well, I am just starting it now. It will be
www.muriloninja.com.br It should be up soon,
I am getting the domain name today. Chute Boxe may have a site
soon too.
Dan
Rose: Anything you'd like to say to your fans out there?
“Ninja”: I will win the fight! (smiling)
Source:
Sherdog |
Quote
of the Day
"There
is no crisis to which academics will not respond with a seminar."
Anonymous
|
The
Barnett & Pulver 'EXODUS' - A Commentary
Should
we be surprised that Josh Barnett and Jens Pulver are leaving
the UFC to test the competitive waters of Pride? The answer must
be an unequivocal 'absolutely not,' especially if we analyze
the histories and backgrounds of both Pulver and Barnett.
Josh
Barnett
Barnett's
move to Pride is a logical one, particularly when considering
Josh's desire to be considered the best heavyweight fighter in
the world. Barnett understands that recognition goes through
one man -- Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Noguiera. Never one to shy away
from a challenge, Barnett relishes the opportunity to go toe-to-toe
with Minotauro when (not if) he is given the chance.
'When'
is the critical word in that last sentence, as Zuffa erred in
the handling of Barnett as an asset for the UFC. Specifically,
the UFC made a tactical mistake when they signed Barnett to a
one-fight contract in the title fight against Randy Couture.
It has been speculated that the contract Barnett signed was a
significant raise over his past fights and that Zuffa did not
want to commit to similar money over a long-term contract with
Barnett. Now, the short-sighted decision appears to have cost
the UFC it's heavyweight champion.
Another
aspect of Barnett's potential exodus to Pride is the deep connections
of Josh's coach and trainer Matt Hume to DSE. It's often overlooked
that Hume is a regular judge for Pride, and is also on the verge
of making his comeback - rumored to be with Pride as well. Hume's
positive working relationship with Pride can only help the negotiations
for Barnett's move to the UFC's primary competitor.
Jens
Pulver
Jens
Pulver is the Rodney Dangerfield of MMA. In each of his last
three fights, Pulver has been considered the underdog by the
fans and the 'expert' handicappers of MMA. It was predicted Caol
Uno, Dennis Hallman and B.J. Penn would take the title away from
Pulver. Yet each time Pulver stepped into the Octagon, and with
workman like precision, retained his title. That hasn't been
enough for his critics, and Pulver continues to get little respect.
While
Pulver publicly states the criticism doesn't bother him, it's
difficult to believe that at some level the chorus of boos hasn't
had an effect. While the personal validation any victory may
have for a fighter, the support and recognition from fans is
what reaffirms a fighter as a true champion. If Pulver is seeking
that affirmation as a great fighter, Japan is the country to
build upon his reputation as a 'champion.'
Imagine
how appealing it is to Jens Pulver to have of a world-class organization
committing to building a weight-class around him. Granted, Pride
does not have a proven 155lb weight class but signing Pulver
is a huge step in attracting the top talent. While Pride has
established itself as a premiere organization with the light-heavyweight
and heavyweight divisions, the love of the smaller fighters in
Japan is equally passionate. Smaller fighters like Mach Sakurai,
Rumina Sato, and Anderson Silva have cult-like followings in
Japan because of SHOOTO's commitment to developing fighters in
the lighter weight classes. Pride's ability to attract a top
fighter of Pulver's caliber, combined with a commitment to sign
other top and emerging 155 lb. talent, makes for an intriguing
development in MMA.
No
Surprises
If
the departure of Barnett and Pulver from the UFC does materialize,
we shouldn't be surprised. The allure of what Pride has to offer
each of these talented fighters is tough to turn down. Both Barnett
and Pulver want to prove to the world that they are the greatest
fighters in their weight classes and Pride provides them the
avenue to do so on the world stage.
Source: Abu Dhabi
|
Breaking
News From PRIDE
TOP
TEAM x CHUTEBOXE Battle Looks TO Be Signed!
Word
on the upcoming PIRDE 20 'Armed & Ready' card scheduled for
APril 28th is expected to come quickly now, as the show is only
about two weeks away.
It
is now almost 100% that Japanese icon Sanae Kikuta will rematch
Renzo Gracie, after Sanae supposedly turned down a match against
Ricardo Arona.
In
a return to a match previously rumored, it appears that American
wrestler & RINGS Champion Dan Henderson will face off against
Arona.
So
what does this leave for Mario Sperry, who was also rumored to
be facing Henderson? It appears that PRIDE may dip into their
bag of Brazilian talent and produce a ChuteBoxe v TOP TEAM Brazilian
rivalry match.
Sperry
asked to come down a weight class, so that he could contend for
a belt in a different division than teammate 'Minotauro' Noguiera.
It seems that moving to a new class sets up a match for Speerry
with Murilo 'Ninja' of Chute Boxe.
It
also seems as if the Noguiera brothers, Rogerio and Heavyweight
Champion Rodrigo, will now wait until the June card to appear
in PRIDE.
Source:
Abu Dhabi
|
UFC'S
RODRIGUEZ TO TRAIN AT
FAIRTEX FOR UFC 37
***For Immediate Release***
UFC'S
RODRIGUEZ TO TRAIN AT FAIRTEX FOR UFC 37
San
Francisco, California - April 8, 2002….
Ultimate
Fighting Championship (UFC) heavyweight veteran Ricco "Suave"
Rodriguez has chosen none other than Fairtex Combat Sports Camps
as the training ground for his fight at UFC 37 on May 10th at
the Centurytel Center in Bossier City, Louisiana. Rodriguez will
arrive at the San Francisco-based training camp this Wednesday,
April 10th and will endure a two-week stay there.
"I'm
excited and enthused to go to the camp because one main thing
they do there is conditioning and they're unbelievable for their
striking with their knees and elbows. They're the best in the
business," said the 24-year-old Rodriguez of Phoenix, Arizona,
who went undefeated in three outings with the Japan-based Pride
Fighting Championship and is a former Abu Dhabi and King Of The
Cage champion. Primarily a Jiu-Jitsu stylist, Rodriguez holds
a nearly unblemished professional mixed martial arts record of
9 wins and 1 loss, with seven of his wins coming by way of either
knockout or submission. He stands 6 foot 4 inches tall and weights
240 pounds.
Rodriguez's
selection of Fairtex as the site of his training camp is indicative
of the importance with which fighters see it in sharpening their
skills. Former UFC Middleweight champion Dave Menne utilized
the camp before his bout at UFC 35 two months ago.
Traditionally
a training center specializing in the martial art and sport of
Muay Thai kickboxing as well as boxing, Fairtex Combat Sports
Camps (www.fairtex.com) has evolved into the
premiere training ground for professional and amateur martial
arts competitors since its San Francisco birth in 1994. Its 2
Bay Area locations boast six professional world Muay Thai champions
on site and continually play host to countless other top-ranked
Muay Thai and mixed martial arts competitors from around the
globe.
|
Style
vs Style is Officially Dead!
(Bulls On Parade)
November
12th, 1993 was ground zero of the new age of combat sports. A
thin, lanky Brazilian easily defeated larger, stronger opponents
by employing tactical ground positioning mixed with an arsenal
of submission holds. For those who thought this feat was nothing
more than a fluke, our skinny South American friend repeated
his eye-opening performance the following March. The names Royce,
Gracie and Juijitsu were quickly gaining notoriety among martial
artists and fight fans alike. In the months and years to follow
a rift began to develop between those who saw Brazilian Juijitsu
as the "Ultimate" style in unarmed combat and those
who felt that BJJ was simply a piece of a much larger and ongoing
puzzle. The detractors of BJJ often took the stand that in-order
to become a complete fighter one must study various forms combat
styles. The disciples of Gracie often argued that the process
of developing complete fighters had already been done, and the
result was BJJ.
As
time went on wrestlers, kickboxers and even self proclaimed "streetfighters"
had their share of success in what was becoming known as mixed
martial arts competitions. One would think that the style versus
style arguments would have died right then and there, but to
the contrary the more that different styles were seen as having
something to offer the more fuel was poured onto the inferno.
Many in the martial arts world thought these arguments were silly
and did nothing more than to spread negativity among potential
students and fans. As a writer I thought this was a wonderful
time in combat sports. Many people who would otherwise be sitting
on a couch cheering on the car crunching Gravedigger between
sloppy gulps of Budweiser and pork skins, were now engaged in
heated debates which required at least some form of philosophical
thinking.
I
admit it, I loved the drama! I could watch internet message boards
for hours as the blood pressure of offended stylists would rise
and fall with every slight against this system or that system.
"Royce
didn't really lose to Howard"
"Sperry tapped! You can clearly see him tap!"
"Kerr studied juijitsu, that's how!"
"Rickson would…"
"What about Lavern Clark?"
"Catch Wrestling?"
"Tyson would…"
"Sak tapped! You can clearly see him tap!"
Oh the drama! Far more than any heterosexual man should have
outside of Hollywood. And what made it so good is that the fighters
themselves would often get involved. On more then one occasion
a fighter has given his opinion on the matter via print, radio
and even televised statements.
Ironically
this debate made subculture stars out of some who have never
stepped in a cage. The web put names like Highmount and Pdking
on the level of legitimate theorists, and I for one did not care
one bit. If I had my own television show I would dress Luke Beston
up in a Crocodile Hunter outfit and give him his own segment
where he would track down and wrestle Catch grapplers and Judoka
ground specialist in the far reaches of the world. Drama Kings
with keyboards sports writers are, and why not? It's a new sport!
Let's have fun! The more excitement we create, the more people
will turn their heads and say "what's that over there?"
Style vs. style arguments/debates provided this in spades. But
alas, all good things must come to an end.
Despite
the bold proclamation in the title, style vs. style has been
on life support for some time now. Every top ten fighter in every
weight class has training in striking, takedowns, submissions
and ground positioning. The only questions left pertain to the
strengths and weaknesses are of a certain combatant. This is
not a bad thing at all, but the debate must now shift from a
style perspective to that of the individual fighter. I can't
help but feel that MMA will lose some of its uniqueness when
debating the fight game, but this new outlook will definitely
help develop MMA as a legitimate mainstream sport. This brings
us to the main point of this writing. The long and probably overly
stated history lesson above serves as nothing more than an introduction
to some interesting developments taking place in San Diego California.
During the style wars of the 90's many people felt that the main
opposition, that stood against the Brazilians, was Ken Shamrock
and his Lions Den. Having fought Royce Gracie twice in the UFC
and developing a team of young warriors that could fight both
on their feet and on the ground, many looked to the name Shamrock
when it came to developing the next generation of MMA stars.
However as the sport of MMA passed into the new century, the
Lions Den has hit a few stumbling blocks. Pete Williams has suffered
two straight losses in the UFC, Vernon White and Tony Galindo
have been side lined by serious leg injuries, Guy Mezger has
stated that he is considering retirement, Jerry Bohlander and
Mikey Burnett have been MIA from pro-fighting and the exact location
of the San Diego Lions Den has already switched twice this year.
All of this has caused many in the fight community to not only
question "what the heck is going on?" but to ask if
the Lions Den was going to have any relevance in the future of
MMA at all. Well a casual "check up" trip I took to
the Den provided me with more than enough answers.
After
watching Joe Hurley prepare for an upcoming fight, Tony "The
Bull" Galindo walked in and greeted me with a huge smile
on his face. It was almost as if he was expecting me to be there.
In all of five minutes Tony adjusted his knee brace, gave shouting
orders to his fighters and rallied off a very interesting interview.
Brian
Piepenbrink: So how has everything been going?
Tony
Galindo: Everything's been going pretty good. As you heard I
took over the Lions Den here in San Diego, I bought the franchise
off of Ken. Now I understand the stress. I never understood why
he was so stressed out until now. Now that I took over the Dojo,
the Young Boys and everything else, it's quite a full time job.
BP:
Is Ken still affiliated with the Lions Den?
TG:
Absolutely! Even though I bought the name, he's still my dad,
he still owns it… it wouldn't matter if I paid off everything,
if he'd told me to go do something I'd do it. He's still in charge.
He's still my Ken.
BP:
Why don't you tell us a little about your last fight where you
injured your knee.
TG:
Ok, if you really want to get into a shitty subject [laughs].
My last fight, what happened was that the first round was excellent
for me. I had been working with Miguel and kickboxing so much
that my kicks improved 100%. I couldn't wait to kick. During
one of those kicks I landed and snapped my ACL. I didn't know
because when you're going that fast and you have that much adrenaline
you don't feel it. I felt a snap but I didn't know what had happened.
I kept kicking, and if you saw the fight I was still kicking
him. The problem was since my ACL was torn the only thing holding
my knee together was what was around it. I destroyed the miniscus
and did cartilage damage to the top of the femer, which prolonged
the injury. I should be back right now fighting, it took a long
time in rehab. Now I'm back training, and I should be getting
in the octagon no later then June and I'm also doing a fight
for Dorian as a gift from Ken to Dorian in Holland RINGS this
October.
At
this point in the interview my curiosity was pretty much satisfied.
Already thinking about the Arby's Turkey Bacon Ranch sandwich
that I would be devouring within minutes I decided to throw out
a general question to initiate the wrap up. However Galindo's
answer was one I never would have expected.
BP:
So what else do you have planned for the future?
TG:
Well there's a lot of good things that are happening. As you
know the top team is the Brazilian Top Team and the only reason
they are the top team is that they are changing with the times.
I think a lot of the mentality that the Brazilians have and that
the older generation have is that they are set in their ways.
And their way is the only way. They don't take that philosophy
that Bruce Lee had that was so true: You should take everything
that works and integrate it together. Not one art is better than
another. You always have something to offer because really it
comes down to the individual.
Well recently I joined with Odie [Neto; BJJ black belt] and we're
going to become, not just teammates but partners. And he's going
to join the Lions Den and you know that once he does it there
is no turning back [for him]. So I'm giving him full trust. And
we're going to get him ready. He's going to show us what he has,
which is what the Brazilians know and we're going to add that
to our arsenal that we have with the Lions Den. This will be
the best addition ever! We plan to make the baddest team and
the baddest fighters come in the next two years. I personally
plan to get Odie… I don't know if you've seen him grapple
but his ground skills are insane…
BP:
So let me get this straight. What you are saying is that the
Lions Den will have a full time BJJ black belt?
TG:
Absolutely. And we in return are not only going to join together,
but we are going to get him ready fight no holds barred. Because
for a guy that has as much experience and is that good that hasn't
had a break and hasn't had a shot at any of these fights…
we don't understand.
Me personally, and I'm not speaking for Odie. This is how I think.
The Brazilians are very weird. They're all about the Brazilians.
The Brazilians are first and they always take care of them. Odie
being Portuguese and American, his head instructor from what
I know hasn't gotten him any fights but he's gotten fights for
everyone else. That's not right. I've been here for three years
with Ken, almost four and look where I'm at. Look how many fights
Ken's gotten me and look how far he's taken me. I give him my
heart and soul. This kid here [Odie] he's phenomenal. By putting
us together now we're going to have an unstoppable team. He knows
all that my enemies have and I know the weapons he doesn't have.
Together we're going to join and make a better team than anyone
has ever seen out there so we can carry on the tradition of the
Lions Den and make Ken proud. Because that's all I want is to
make Ken proud.
BP:
Wow. Anything you want to end with?
TG:
Yeah. I'm coming back and I'm coming back with a vengeance. And
I will tell you this. Anybody that I catch on any legs, will
remember me for the rest of their life. I have a whole new attitude
on fighting right now, and for the last six to eight months all
I've been doing is studying technique and working on, not just
my power because I already have that and the muscle. Now I just
need to fine-tune my technique and that's all I've been doing.
Now when I come back I feel sorry for the first person to step
up because I'm going to fucking break them in half!
BP:
Thanks a lot Tony.
TG:
You got it Bro.
Since
this interview was done I've found out that this new partnership
is actually more than what was stated at first. You see, Odie
Neto is not some desperate grappler that needed the Lions Den
to help make some dough. Neto has a very successful school of
his own, and from what I understand the schools themselves are
actually merging meaning there will be a cross over of students
and not just staff.
I
must state that this was a brilliant move on the part of Tony
Galindo. Guy Mezger told me once that the Lions Den would always
be a factor in MMA because of all the young talent it brings
in and develops. I never would have thought that this statement
would apply to the management side of the organization. I took
a picture of Odie's girlfriend Laura standing beside Tony's girlfriend
Uta. Both were wearing Lions Den shirts but the backdrop was
a mural of the Brazilian flag. This picture kind of sums it up.
Some people will claim this as a victory for organizations such
as the Lions Den for having assimilated BJJ and the culture that
surrounds it.
Some will claim this as a victory for BJJ, because after all,
isn't BJJ becoming a permanent part of every fighter what the
Gracie's wanted? Some very angry people have approached me on
this issue from more than one side and this may not be the last
interview on this subject. All I can say is that I can't wait
to see the type of fighter that comes out of this new alliance
and the next era in fighting.
Source:
Sherdog |
Quote
of the Day
"In
the space age, the most important space is between the ears."
Thomas J. Barlow
|
Super
Brawl Update!
Media Alert!:
The
Return of the Heavyweights!
“The Biggest Tournament in History!”
Heavyweights
take center stage in Hawaii
HONOLULU,
Hawaii -- Hoping history will repeat itself, a talented field
of heavyweight fighters will put it all on the line April 26-27
at the Blaisdell Arena in search of instant recognition and the
opportunities that go with it.
Super Brawl 24: Return of the Heavyweights, presented by Full
Contact Fighter,
promises to be the most exciting event held in Hawaii in recent
years. The two-day, 16-fighter tournament boasts $20,000 in prize
money and hopefully a chance to start a career with the sport's
major organizations.
"Without a doubt, some stars will be discovered in this
tourney," said Super Brawl promoter T. Jay Thompson. "We
have a talented field of competitors and the only thing that
is certain is we're going to have people throwing bombs and people
getting knocked out."
Just over two years ago in the same arena, Super Brawl held what
is considered to be the most successful heavyweight tournament
in the sport's history. Of the eight competitiors, six went on
to compete in either UFC, Pride, or both. Advancing to UFC were:
Josh Barnett, Bobby Hoffman, Travis Fulton and Rico Rodriguez.
Advancing to Pride were Heath Herring, John Marsh and Rodriguez.
Barnett, the newly crowned UFC champion and winner of the first
tourney, will be on hand to personally put the belt on this year's
champion.
Half of the field for "Return of the Heavyweights"
was selected through qualifying 8-man tournaments held earlier
this year in Iowa and Utah. The rest, were selected from a long
list of applicants asking to take part in the event.
"We have received more interest from fighters than we ever
imagined," said Extreme Challenge promoter Monte Cox, who
is co-promoting the event. "We have stuck to our promise
to only use up-and-coming fighters who have no prior experience
in the UFC or Pride... we're looking to make some fighters' dreams
come true."
Ben Rothwell (11-1) of Milwaukee, Wis., won the Iowa event, beating
Mike Radnov (9-4) of Dallas, Texas, in the final. Tim Sylvia
(10-0) of Bettendorf, Iowa, won the Utah event, beating Matt
Frembling (8-1) of Buena Park, Calif., in the title match. All
four will compete in Hawaii.
Adding to the local flavor will be Hawaii favorite Wes "Cabbage"
Coreirra, who has become a Super Brawl standout.
   
All 16 fighters will compete in single bouts on April 26... reducing
the field to eight fighters. On April 27, the eight will continue
the tourney until one fighter wins three bouts (four over two
days) and is crowned the champion.
Tickets are on sale at the Blaisdell Center box office, all tickets
plus outlets or online at http://www.ticketplushawaii.com/
Much more information is available at http://www.superbrawl.tv/
For additional information,
email T.Jay Thompson at tj@superbrawl.tv or call (808) 524-6062
|
Scrapper's
Videos Gets Review
Scrapper's
Bodyweight Conditioning Video
Reviewed by Dave Godfrey
General
Description of the Tape Contents
The
first tape starts off by clarifying the most frequently asked
questions about the workouts. Before each workout he explains
in detail how to do all the exercises correctly. The workouts
are progressive and each one is slightly more intense than the
last one.
The
first tape has two workouts on it that can be done either indoors
or outdoors. He has constructed these workouts so that you need
minimal equipment and you can do them pretty much anywhere with
a bit of space.
The
first workout lasts about 30 minutes and is the least intense
workout of the series. The second workout is more intense with
a wider array of exercises incorporated into it. It lasts about
50 minutes.
The
second tape involves sprints and, if you have access to equipment,
chin-ups and pull-ups. As such they are best done outdoors. These
workouts are very intense. The first workout called a sprint/pull
up workout lasts around 25-30 minutes. It starts off with a load
of circuit type exercises and then launches into the sprint pull
up routine. After this comes more exercises and another sprint
pull up routine.
The
second workout he calls a quick sprint workout. It lasts about
10 minutes and is designed as a short, sharp, intense workout
that you can do if you are pushed for time. This is just a continuous
workout without any rest periods and involves various exercises
and sprints. The final workout on the second tape is called a
5-10-5 workout. This is a culmination of all the exercises from
the previous workouts. It is the most intense workout in terms
of volume in the series: 40 to 45 minutes of pain. He has grouped
a whole load of exercises and sprints together into one block,
and does a pyramid of these exercises from 5 up to 10 and back
down to 5 again.
The
workouts on the first tape have been written up on his web site,
www.trainforstrength.com so that you can print them off to follow,
but the workouts for the second tape have not, so you will have
to write these down from the video yourself.
Almost
everything that Scrapper does on the tapes is based on pyramid,
so that you start of easy, build up to a peak, and then come
back down again. In this way the warm up is incorporated into
the routine. In some of the workouts he does an individual pyramid
for each exercise in turn, in others he groups the exercises
together and treats the whole workout as a pyramid. With the
more intense workouts you find that you are at the limit of your
threshold for the whole of the second half of the pyramid even
though you are reducing the numbers each time.
Each
workout is an all over body workout with all sorts of different
exercises. Some that you will have seen before, and other weird
ones that will make you hurt in places that you didn’t know
existed. There is a lot of variety to give you a complete workout
and to offer you lots of alternatives should you not be able
to do any given exercise.
Quality
of the Tapes
The
material on the tapes is very good. They are designed in a way
that is very flexible. They do not need any specialist equipment
and can be done pretty much anywhere. He has incorporated lots
of different exercises and variations so that everyone can do
something. If you are injured and can’t do a particular
exercise then there is a whole list of other alternatives to
chose from. If you can’t do the most intense version of
a particular exercise then there are about 5 other variations
of differing intensity to chose from. He emphasises the point
that he doesn’t want you to passively sit there and watch.
Even the sprints on the second tape can be replaced by skipping
or jumping jacks if you don’t have access to an open area.
The
way in which he trains is quite unique. The structure of the
workouts is different to what most people will be used to doing
with lots of pyramids and combinations of exercises grouped together.
Many of the exercises were completely alien to me, and some were
quite amusing to watch. He also has a unique way of counting
on some of the exercises. He doesn’t count individual reps,
he counts groups of reps and gets you to count each group. This
he tells you is to regulate your breathing. A lot of this seems
weird at first but you soon get used to it.
Whilst
it is evident that Scrapper is freakishly fit the tapes are very
much about making you fitter. He emphasises the point that the
purpose of these tapes is not impress you or intimidate you but
to motivate you and show you how you can get better. This is
why the workouts are very progressive. They gradually increase
in intensity so that the fitter you get, the more you do. And
within each workout there is a lot of flexibility so that you
can adjust them to your capabilities.
The
workouts are very specific to MMA. All the exercises involve
using your body weight instead of an abstract metal weight, and
they provide an all over conditioning workout. But they are also
specific to MMA in the type of fitness that they target. MMA
is inherently Anaerobic (the break down of energy without the
presence of oxygen, associated with brief, intense activity).
There are short periods of near maximal exertion followed by
periods of active recovery. And the workouts on the tapes are
based around this principle.
At
the beginning of the first tape he says that the workouts are
designed to be interactional. You are supposed to count with
him, keeping the same pace and pattern as him throughout the
workout. In this way it is more inspiring and motivational because
you want to keep up with him as he cranks out 15 dive-bomber
push-ups at the top of another pyramid. This is fine for the
first two workouts, which can be done indoors. However the remaining
workouts have sprints involved and need to be done outdoors,
so you will need to take a copy of the workouts with you unless
you can set up your video outside.
The
presentation on the tapes is very much a no frills, no bullshit,
to the point delivery. They are easy to understand, and everything
that you need to know is there. There are no gimmicks, it’s
just the workouts, and what you need to know about them, nothing
more. To the point where the camera work and the sound are not
great studio quality. There is a lot of background noise and
on the second tape the sound is slight ahead of the picture.
In making the tapes he has clearly ignored the quality of the
video and just concentrated on getting the message across. Some
people might be annoyed by this, but for me the tape has the
same appeal as your local hard-core, "meat head shed"
gym. Their sole purpose is functional and efficient. No garnish
just hard work and the bare essentials.
The
only gripe I have about the tapes is the first workout on the
second tape: the sprint/pull up workout. At the end before he
gets to the last sprint pull up section he says that the battery
on the camera ran out so he misses this last section out. I thought
that he could have done it again so that you get the complete
workout on the video.
The
videos cost $39 for both which I think is excellent value for
money. That’s approximately £25 for two videos.
Conclusion
On
the whole I liked these tapes. The workouts are tough but "you’ll
get out of it what you put in" and they work. The video
quality is not fantastic but its clear enough to get the point
across, and besides the material covered more than makes up for
it. In his own words "Purchase these tapes only if you are
serious about getting into the best shape of your life."
More
information on the videos can be found on Scrappers web site:
www.trainforstrength.com
Source: Sherdog |
PRIDE
NEWS & More
With PRIDE's
20th show scheduled for April 28th still unnannounced, things
still look as murky as ever. It is known that many fighters have
been 'confirmed' for the event, but nobody knows who is going
to fight who.....
Complicating
things is the apparent injury of Ikuhisa Minowa. Minowa was regarded
as the opponent for Renzo Gracie but this match will probably
not happen.
Word in Japan
is that Renzo may now face Sanae Kikuta. Kikuta you may recall,
wanted to fight UFC Champion Murilo Bustamante, but this will
not happen. Kikuta then asked for Royce Gracie, who is wanted
back in PRIDE in a big way. Royce Gracie is scheduled to return
for the PRIDE GRAND PRIX at the end of this year.
Sanae Kikuta
asked first to fight UFC Champion Murilo Bustamante in a rematch
of their match at the Pancrase Trans Tour 2000, but Murilo is
apparently willing to stay with Zuffa, where he will start negotiating
soon. Will the UFC sign Murilo to a new contract prior to his
upcoming defense against Matt Lindland? Bustamante is another
UFC Champion targetted by the Japanese promoters, mainly due
to a lot of interest in matching him up with Kikuta. With a lot
of money awaiting him in Japan, it may not be too much longer
for this rematch, however.
The matchup
of Mario Sperry and Dan Henderson is very close to a done deal,
though Henderson was told he would fight Ricardo Arona at one
point. With Arona available, he was offered to Kikuta as well,
but the Japanese ADCC 2001 champion did not like the idea of
facing Arona, because he is no longer affiliated with the Brazilian
Top Team.
In the mix we
still have American fighters Alex Steibling and Jeremy Horn,
both have been told they will be in the next PRIDE. Steibling
may face Murilo Ninja, Rodrigo Gracie or Rogerio Nogueira Another
American in the mix is Quinton Jackson.
PRIDE still
wants UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett with the goal being
a 'unification' match against PRIDE chgamp Rodrigo Nogueira.
There are very
big rumors in Jpana swirling around UFC Champion Jens Pulver.
It seems he may be appearing in PRIDE, but plans go beyond that.
Pulver wants to fight in the K-1 as a lightweight. This is a
new division for K-1, so negotiations involve at least 3 other
fighters as well as Pulver, as they look to start up the weight
division.
Source: Abu
Dhabi |
Quote
of the Day
"To
err is human, but it is against company policy."
Anonymous |
Interview:
THE HEADCOACH of
AMC KICKBOXING & PANKRATION
MATT HUME
By Martins Denis
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil: Will you return to NHB?
Hume: Yes, GOD willing.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil: Why have you been away from the ring for so long?
Hume: I had a complete tear of my ACL in Abu Dhabi in 1998. I
rehabed it and I was training to return to competition and then
also tore my MCL ligament. I then had surgery but had complications
after the surgery and a bad staff infection that required another
surgery. Finally I'm now healthy and training to make a return.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil: You did well in two big Submission events, Condenters
(beat Kenny Monday) and Abu Dhabi '98 (beat Micah Pittman and
Luís Britto). Do you think that the fans were surprised
with your performances in both events?
Hume: My team's name is AMC Kickboxing & Pankration. We've
always been grapplers as well as Kickboxers. Some of the fans
may have been surprised at my victories in those events, but
most felt that I'd win those matches and were looking forward
to seeing me go against Renzo Gracie in the finals, unfortunately
that match never happened due to my knee injury. It'd have been
an honor to compete against Renzo.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil: Will your opponent for yor comeback be Jens Pulver -
I heard UFC is closer to losing him than ever?
Hume: No opponent has been decided yet, however Jens would be
a great opponent and a fight that the fans would like to see.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil: Your last reported NHB fight was in '97. Besides organizing
events, training your fighters, and being a judge in Pride, what've
you been doing lately?
Hume: I've been recovering from my injury and surgery and training
my fighters. I haven't competed since Abu Dhabi in March 1998.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil: Your last NHB opponent was Pat Miletich. What did you
think about him when you fought and what do you think about him
now?
Hume: Pat is very good. He didn't look like himself against Matt
Lindland, maybe Matt is that good, but I think Pat is much better
than he looked in that fight. I think Pat can do very well at
185 pounds as long as he is confident.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil: Why do you prefer to come back in a category lighter
than your own, how's your shape?
Hume: I'll be in good shape or I won't fight. I'm planning to
come back at my normal weight, I've always fought against much
heavier opponents but my college Wrestling weight was 158 pounds
and my Kickboxing weight was 160 pounds, I'm very comfortable
at that weight, I've never weighed more than 172 pounds for any
of my fights.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil: Now, I'd like to talk about PRIDE. How did you get involved
with the event?
Hume: The rule director Mr. Yuji Shimada contacted me and asked
me to judge for Pride. I am happy to have the opportunity to
be involved with Pride.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil: Is there any fight that still hasn't happened in the
Pride that you'd like to watch or judge?
Hume: Well, one fight for sure I'd like to see, but not as a
Judge. Josh Barnett vs Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira. I think
the fans deserve to see this fight between the UFC champ and
the Pride champ, but not to say one organization is better, just
to see which fighter is the best heavyweight in the world, thats
what we really want to know!
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil: Before you entered in the Pride, which was the most controversial
fight you watched?
Hume: I didn't watch very many before my involvement with them.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil: And which was the hardest fight you judged in the Pride?
Hume: Vitor 'The Phenom' Belfort vs Heath 'The Texas Crazy Horse'
Herring. There were special rules with no knee strikes on the
ground and a weight point advantage to Vitor. This was the first
time we had that situation and it made judging difficult, also
draws were not allowed and there weren't overtimes. We had to
choose a winner at the end of the match and consider all of the
criteria during one 10 minute round and 2 five minute rounds.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil: Is AMC Kickboxing & Pankration at the peak with this
UFC heavyweight title?
Hume: This is our 16th World Champion in combat sports, NHB,
Submission Wrestling, Kickboxing, Muay Thai and Boxing. It's
a very happy acomplishment for us, but we try to look at it like
another day at the office and plan to be there again in the future.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil: Can you consider Josh Barnett the most dangerous fighter
from your Team?
Hume: He's the most well rounded with his skills right now. We've
many fighters that are equally dangerous and can end a fight
quickly, however.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil: Besides Dennis Hallman, Chris Monson, Anthony Hamlet
and Barnett, who else should we look out for trained at AMC?
Hume: Ryan Diaz, Lance Gibson, Charles Pearson, Aaron Riley,
Ivan Salaverry and Roman Roytberg. Watch for those guys.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil: Do you think Barnett should renew his UFC contract, or
go to Pride?
Hume: Sorry, can't talk about that one quite yet. As I said earlier
however, we'd like to fight Nogueira.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil: No problems. So, which were the Barnett's mistakes during
that match-up against Pedro 'The Rock' Rizzo?
Hume: Josh had a good first round on the feet and was supposed
to take Pedro down in the second round. Josh got carried away
and got a little to aggressive on the feet which is where Pedro
is dangerous. Pedro is a counter fighter and usually backs away
from his opponents until they over commit and make a mistake.
Josh fell into that trap and Pedro did what he does best and
took advantage of it. Josh learned a lot from that fight and
is a better fighter now because of it. Pedro is a great fighter.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil: Would you like to train Barnett for a rematch against
Rizzo or train him for a kind of title unification against the
winner of Semmy Schilt(KOP) x 'Minotauro'(KOK&Pride)?
Hume: I prefer 'Minotauro'.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil: I already knew this reply [laughs]. What's most impressive
in 'Minotauro'?
Hume: Minotauro's ground work is the most impressive. Specifically
the way he flows and transitions from each submission and maintains
good position as well. He's also a very well rounded fighter
with few weaknesses. That's why he is the Pride champion.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil: Thanx for your time and good luck in your NHB come back;
I wish 'The Baby Face Assassin' Barnett x 'Minotauro' too.
Hume: Thanx for the interview and thanx to all of the supporters
out there!
Source: Abu Dhabi |
JEFF
BLATNICK:
GABLE WAS WRESTLING'S NAME OF 20TH CENTURY,
CAEL SANDERSON WILL BE KING IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM
It
was a sportscaster's dream for big Jeff Blatnick. His assignment,
which he eagerly accepted, and as it had been for years at CBS
and more recently for ESPN, was to be the color commentator and
analyst for the broadcast of the 2002 NCAA Div. 1 Wrestling Championships.
This
year, of course, this job entailed something sweeter and more
special, even for that proud band of diehard wrestling people,
among whom this 1984 Olympic heavyweight Greco-Roman gold medalist
counts himself. This year he had the honor and pleasure to call
the match that would be the culmination of the perfect college
wrestling career of Cael Sanderson.
'I
think most people here wanted to see him do it,' Jeff said when
I caught up with him in Albany's Pepsi Arena on March 23 shortly
after Cael received his fourth straight Outstanding Wrestler
award in an NCAA championships. And then Jeff elatedly dove into
offering his take on the numbers that reflected Cael's mammoth
achievement.
'He
was 40-0 this year. He had 21 pins. The rest were tech falls.
Two forfeits. And he had two decisions against Trenge. One was
over 10 points, and then the 6-1 match they had at the College
All-Star Classic,' he said. Then he commented about Cael's match
with his final opponent, Jon Trenge of Lehigh, who had fallen
to the Iowa State senior twice before this just concluded season.
'I really felt that he knew that Trenge was going to try to be
conservative. He got on the board early. Once Trenge had to start
to wrestle and get offensive, Cael's real good then. He is unbelievable.'
Jeff
offered an analysis of Cael's seemingly unstoppable offense and
impervious defense: 'Technically he's outstanding with movement.
He doesn't use binding, in other words, tying up with the opponent
to cause the setup. What he's going to do is, he'll make the
tie, but his body is not in the exact same position you think
it is. And it causes you to step. He's extremely good when his
body's at an angle and moving.'
But
objectively analyzing technique does not diminish awe. 'I compare
him to a lion that runs as fast as a cheetah. You don't see that
very often, but there's the guy that can do it. He's king,' said
Jeff.
'He's
probably only been taken down once,' he continued. 'I remember
another guy called Les Gutches who came off the mat and was embarrassed
that he got called for stalling after beating a guy by ten points.
Well, I think Cael Sanderson thinks along the same way. People
will call this a perfect career, but I'll bet you Cael Sanderson
has already thought of matches he could have done better in,
scored more points, or pin an opponent, or just do better. That
is what makes him distinguished from the others. That is what
makes him unique. I can't wait to see him as an international
competitor.'
Cael,
who in 2001 won the U.S. National Freestyle Wrestling Championships
and the World Team Trials, passed up a chance last year to wrestle
at the World Championships when that event was moved from New
York and rescheduled due to the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, in
order to complete his college season and last semester. His replacement,
Brandon Eggum won a silver medal. Speaking of Cael's style in
international wrestling, Jeff said, 'I'll compare him to Stephen
Neal when he first broke into the World Championships. No heavyweight
really knew how to deal with him because he moved so well for
a heavyweight, was very, very quick. The difference with Cael
is he's non-stop. He's going to grind you into the ground or
attempt to. He's got extremely good technique, and the boy doesn't
get tired. I don't know where you would start to find a weakness
with him, or how you would go about trying to beat the guy, because
I don't see any weak spots. It would sort of be that maybe Trenge
had the right idea, is that you just try to go ultra-conservative
and hope that at the end of the match you're within striking
distance with a big move.'
So
how far can Cael go? 'Gable was the name of the 20th century
in wrestling. And it's going to be Sanderson in this new millennium,'
Jeff said.
He
also noted that Cael, despite his dominance of college, is well
on his way to making the necessary adjustments from the style
of wrestling used in American colleges, which places great emphasis
on control, to the more technical style used in international
competition where points for back exposure. Still, with losses
in the past in national freestyle competition to Lee Fullhart
and Mike Van Arsdale, themselves both NCAA national champions,
Cael is still a work in progress.
'Certainly
he needs seasoning,' Jeff said. 'His wide open style has to be
curtailed a little bit in international competition because of
the rules difference with back exposure points. When I watched
him wrestle Gutches, literally he was trying to get away on the
bottom, and it cost him both a back exposure and a throw. And
you can't give up six points in a match and expect to win off
of mistakes. That's just part of his development. He understands
that freestyle's a little bit out there for him, but over these
last couple of years he's closed that gap.'
But
Jeff does not believe that will be an obstacle for Cael. 'He's
the number one man now in the country, and I think if he maintains
the attitude and the unity that he has -- he's a very stable
individual, he doesn't have any social problems or bad habits
of any kind -- he's going to be around a long time. And he is
setting a standard. He's raised the bar to that level now that
people are going to start dreaming about him. Who knows what's
going to be the product of him upping the ante the way he did?
It's going to help wrestling,' said Jeff.
Cael
moved up in weight from 184 to 197 his last college season, but
has indicated that, with the new weight classes mandated by FILA,
the international wrestling federation, in January, he would
again go down and wrestler at 185 pounds.
But
Jeff wasn't so sure. 'I wouldn't rule out 211. He might be able
to continue to compete and work his way up that way, but he wrestled
184. He wanted to take pressure off himself cutting weight.'
Then he cautioned, 'And again, these are new FILA weights. And
if there's anything I've learned with FILA, wait till next week
and something else will change. I love wrestling, and I think
FILA is trying to do their best, but sometimes the decisions
they make astound me. I know that when they moved [heavyweight]
from 286 to 275 and Kareline couldn't make it, it went right
back up to 286. Now the guy that knocks off Kareline and wins
the Worlds right after that, Rulon Gardner, he's told it's not
275, it's all the way down to 264. So I think it's discriminating.
I think there's a lot of big people with under 10 percent body
fat that could easily be competing. And it kind of disturbs me
to see them limit access and limit the amount of numbers that
we have in terms of weight classes and competitors to the Worlds
and to the Olympics.'
'RULON
WILL BE BACK'
On
that subject of Rulon Gardner, I asked Jeff what he knew about
his condition. 'From what I understand he hasn't answered anybody's
phone calls. I put calls in. I got a couple of e-mails back.
I think he's just laying low. He wants to focus on getting healthy,
and I think that's the smart thing. Keep all the distractions
down. You make that mind-body connection. That might help him.
He was in a fight to keep the toes on his right foot, and I know
they've done some operations. They'll need some skin grafts to
help heal the wound. But we're all praying that Rulon's going
to be able to come back. He's in great spirits. It's just he's
dealing with something that is going to force some change, and
hopefully it's not too much, he can return to the mats and return
to being a champion.'
He
added, 'He got caught in a tough situation. He thought he could
get his sled out of some water. He got wet, and that's what led
to the freezing. But at the same time, if effort has anything
to do with recovery, Rulon Gardner will be back.'
Since
we spoke, Rulon had a toe amputated and announced that he plans
to return to wrestling, although no date was mentioned. But few
will doubt Jeff's assessment on Rulon.
It
was time for both Jeff and I to move on. We had both come to
Albany expecting to see history. We not only got what we expected,
but left the better for it.
For
me, the 2002 NCAA Div. 1 Wrestling Championships was one of the
most inspirational sporting events I had witnessed in many a
year. It was not only a sportscaster's dream, but also a fan's
dream, a wrestling nut's dream, really any sports enthusiast's
dream.
So
even though it has been over for about two weeks, please don't
wake us up just yet. Not at least until the next major wrestling
event we cover, that is!
Source:
Abu Dhabi |
Susumu
Has PANCRASE & DEEP!
Hello,
We
have added pictures from a Pancrase event held on March 25th
and DEEP held on March 30th. Please enjoy!
Susumu's
Gallery: http://come.to/susumu
|
A
Word From A UFC Champion:
FRANK SHAMROCK SPEAKS...
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
As
a professional athlete and trainer of other athletes in the sport
of Mixed Martial Arts (MMA), I would like to make the following
statement:
In
the last eight years since achieving my childhood dream and turning
professional in the sport in of MMA I have witnessed a great
many changes to our sport of mixed martial arts, both for the
good and bad.
In
1995 the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) was the most popular
selling Pay-per-View (PPV) event on television, even setting
a PPV record at the time. Sadly just three years later UFC/MMA
struggled to stay on satellite as the sport was banned from cable,
namely TCI/Time Warner, for political conquests.
When
I first turned pro in 1994 this sport was just gaining national
recognition, unfortunately that recognition was for the negative
aspects associated with the marketing of the sport, not for the
talents of the athletes. As MMA became less and less accessible
by way of television, our numbers were growing at a grass roots
level at an unstoppable pace; our martial artists and athletes
were demanding to compete and participate.
With
this demand a new sport was born and a new breed of martial artist
and athlete. During those times of struggle with the cable companies
we became an easy target for politicians to step on us on their
way to the top. How can we blame them, after all our sport was
initially advertised as ' No Holds Barred', 'There are NO Rules'
and 'Anything Goes'.
It
was during these tumultuous times that instead of tearing our
sport apart, WE, as a community joined together to make the merits
of our sport and our athletes known to the general public.
Everyone
did their part.
·
Our fans started an e-mail coalition and a letter campaign to
various cable carriers and political entities.
· The fighters took pay cuts to keep the show alive. In
1998 SEG (former owners of the UFC) approached me and basically
told us they could not afford to pay the guaranteed contract
they negotiated with me. I took a 40% pay cut, so we could have
a show. Every fighter has this same story in some facet.
· The promoters did their part by changing the rules to
appease the commissions, and creating the Mixed Martial Arts
Council with Mr. Jeff Blatnick to regulate the sport. In fact
in 1998 SEG sent Jeff Blatnick and I to New York City to attend
a charity benefit for Cable Positive. Our goal was speak to Leo
Hindry then president of TCI/Time Warner, about why we were not
allowed on cable. SEG paid all expenses plus donated $10,000.00
(ten thousand) dollars to charity so we could have a table near
Leo Hindry. We cornered him and asked the question. His answer?
When this becomes a sport, you will be back on cable.
The
efforts of our community are what has deemed us a sport and put
us back on cable.
Now that we are being given this recognition as a real sport,
we must strive to emulate the standards and ethics of other American
sports.
As
a true sport we will require some sort of regulation to protect
our athletes…and our fans.
When
I heard what happened at the Ultimate Athlete event (UA) at the
Morongo casino, I was outraged. How could UA let this happen?
Who is regulating these athletes so promoters can't take advantage
of them and fans don't get hurt? Who are these promoters and
what right do they have to use our fighters and all of their
hard work for a quick buck?
If
our sport were more organized and evolved we could tell who belonged
in the ring and who did not. As for the athletes they are the
first ones to be affected by events like the UA incident, and
the last ones to get paid.
Just
today I read in the Wrestling Observer that BJ Penn donated $10,000.00
(ten thousand) dollars to the 9/11 FUND because he had said that
'if he got a title fight' he thought 'he would win a lot of money
and he would donate some money to the Fund'. He lost that fight;
but kept his word.
These
are the kind of athletes that make me proud of being a professional
MMA fighter and I believe that MMA athletes are the best in the
world, in the ring or out of the ring.
I
must admit that I do not follow this sport and its every move
on the Internet but it was this sport and the desire to conquer
it that made me who I am. I am an exceptionally private person
and have always treasured my private life and the quietness that
it brought . I never really wanted to be famous, I just wanted
to be really good at something and this was the result…
With
all that said:
I
have been approached in an advisory capacity by several State
Athletic Commissions who are all jointly concerned about the
safety of the athletes. They feel that we have proven the merits
of a real sport but that we need some kind regulation. We need
to monitor, promote, and protect our sport and athletes.
I
would like your help as a community to create a regulatory organization
whose primary goal is to protect our athletes and their futures.
Please
send your comments on how to create a regulatory organization,
and or suggestions, and advice to the following e-mail:
MMASPORTS@HOTMAIL.COM
If
you would like to volunteer your man or woman power for this
cause I expect that we will need the following:
1.
Clerical Duties
2. Webmaster, etc..
3. Legal Advice
4. Research
Thank
you kindly for your time and interest in MMA/Combat Sports and
our athletes,
Frank
J. Shamrock
MMAsports@hotmail.com |
Professional
Brazilian Jiu Jitsu in... Japan???
May
2nd, 2002
Ground Impact Tokyo, Japan,
DIFFER Ariake
That’s
right! Paraestra Dojo, one of SHOOTO’s top promoters, is
holding Japan’s first ever Professional BJJ event. Paraestra
often adds a BJJ match or two into their pro SHOOTO cards but
this is definitely something new. The event is called Ground
Impact and will be on May 2nd in the DIFFER Ariake in Tokyo,
Japan. As we are mostly aware, the grappling arts are integral
part of Japans martial arts culture, from traditional Judo to
Combat Wrestling, from Freestyle Wrestling to SHOOTO. Yuki Nakai
is the founder of Paraestra and the first ever Brazilian Jiu
Jitsu black belt in Japan. He is the driving force behind BJJ’s
presence in the ‘Land of the Rising Sun’ and is scheduled
to compete on May 2nd against Leo Vieira. To fans of BJJ this
promises to be a great one. Also lined-up to compete are Masahiro
Oishi, the SHOOTO Featherweight Champion, and Naoya Uematsu.
We are not sure where things are going to go from here, but it
should be interesting.
Line-up:
Yuki Nakai vs. Leo Vieira
Shinsuke Fukuzumi vs. Isamu Shishido
Takeru Ueno vs. Naoya Uematsu
Yutaka Tan vs. Naoyoshi Watanabe
Masahiro Oishi vs. Hidenori Hayashi
Koji Asakura
Takashi Watanabe
Koichi Kuwabara
Source:
Abu Dhabi
|
Quote
of the Day
Anger is
a condition in which the tongue works faster than the mind.
|
Want
to Advertise?
Onzuka.com
is now accepting banner ads like the one you see above for the
Kaneohe Academy. We are offering low cost advertising on our
site which has a good daily following. Remember, we focus on
Hawaii based martial arts news and rumors, but have mainlanders
checking in on a daily basis as well.
Martial
arts have a demographic of about 5 to 60+ years old. So even
if your company or club has nothing to do with martial arts,
martial artists or hobbists must eat, drink, and shop too right?
If you are interested or know a company or school that may be
interested, please email us for our rates. |
New
Day for Kaneohe Academy!
NOW OPEN
ON TUESDAYS AND THURSDAYS 8:30-10:30 PM at TWISTERS GYMNASTICS
and
SATURDAYS 1-3 PM Smith Tae Kwon DO.
Click
on the banner above for more information. |
Gracie
Jiu-Jitsu Pac-Rim Championships
Above
is some information on the upcoming Gracie Pac-Rim Championships
which will take place on May 26-27 at the Hawaii Convention Center.
There will be a gi and no gi division. The tournament will be
a part of the Aloha Muscle and Fitness Extravaganza 2002 which
will feature power lifting and fitness competitions. Prize money
will be give to the professional no gi division and prizes and
awards will be given to the amateur gi and no gi division winners.
Contact John Cooper (614-537-6501) or email him at graciepacrim@aol.com for more information.
By
the way, disregard the number stated above for the Aiea Academy.
Call the main academy for details at 589-2524 or email us.
|
Force
Fighting Championships
May 18, 2002
Blaisdell Arena,
Honolulu, Hawaii
UFC
Veteran, Todd Medina, has turned promoter and plans to hold a
mixed martial arts event here. He is looking for fighters who
may be interested in fighting. More information coming soon!
|
UFC
37: More Lineup Changes!
UFC
Line-Up in a state of flux!
UFC
VP Joe Silva is scrambling to replace the injured Dave Menne
in the upcoming UFC. Rumors have his short list of fighters down
to UFC veteran Jermaine Andre and HnS Champion Ivan Salaverry
to face tough Russian Andrei Semenov.
On
Thursday evening, UFC suffered another setback when Igor Zhinoviev
pulled out of his fight with Chuck Lidell. Silva is already working
on a replacement, and is reportedly working on a foreign opponent
for the Iceman.
Source:
Abu Dhabi |
SHOOTO
Goes International
in a Big Two Parter!!!
Official SHOOTO
Date: April 14
Promoter: Paraestra
Kitazawa Town Hall
Tokyo, Japan
Coming up on
April 4th SHOOTO gym and Promoter Paraestra presents a huge two
part event that will last all day! It starts in the afternoon
then reconvenes in the evening for a total of 10 professional
bouts and 4 Brazilian Jiu Jitsu matches. It is in the small Kitazawa
Town Hall arena but what makes it so big is the international
flavor that will be involved. Scheduled to appear are fighters
from Holland, Germany, Sweden, Brazil and of course Japan. There
will also be a women’s bout on the card. The eventing line-up
will also present Mamoru’s return after losing the Featherweight
title to Masahiro Oishi.
Part
1:
Bout #1: Class-B (154 lbs):
Mitsuhiro Ishida [TOPS] vs. Takuto Hida [Impress]
Bout #2: Class-B (167 lbs):
Akira Kikuchi (K’z Factory) vs. Jani Lax (MMA Alliance)
Sweden
Bout #3: Class-B (154 lbs):
Masato Fujiwara (Paraestra) vs. Dudu Guimarães (World
Fight Center) Brazil
Bout #4: Class-B (Ladies 158 lbs contract):
Merlos Coenen [Tatsujin Gym] Holland vs. Miwako Ishihara [Zendo
Kai]
Bout #5: Class-B (123 lbs):
Kentaro Imaizumi [SK Absolute] vs. Shuichiro Katsumura [K’z
Factory]
BJJ Matches:
Takashi Watanabe [Paraestra] vs. Jiro Wakabayashi [SK Absolute]
Hiroshi Tsuruya [Paraestra] vs. Takumi Nakayama [Paraestra]
Part
2
Bout #1: Class-B
(132 lbs):
Naoto Kojima [Paraestra] vs. Naoya Miyamoto [Knuckle Gym]
Bout #2: Class-B
(167 lbs):
Yoshifumi Dogaki [Paraestra] vs. Toru Nakayama [Impress]
Bout #3: Class-B
(167 lbs):
The Babanba [Paraestra] vs. Mario Stapel [Power Academy] Germany
Bout #4: Class-B
(154 lbs):
Yohei Suzuki [Paraestra] vs. Toniko Juniol [World Fight Center]
Brazil
Bout #5: Class-A
(132 lbs):
Mamoru [STG] vs. Hiroaki Yoshioka [Paraestra]
BJJ Matches:
Ikuma Hoshino [Very Good Man] vs. Ayumu Sato [Paraestra]
Kazuhiro Kusayanagi [K'z Factory] vs. Martijn de Jong [Tatsujin
Gym] Holland
Source: Abu Dhabi |
CAEL'S
APRIL ITINERARY:
SPOKANE, WRIGLEY FIELD, NEW YORK, VEGAS
Submitted by: Eddie Goldman
If
anyone thought that the conclusion of the college wrestling season
would mean a prolonged period of rest and relaxation for Cael
Sanderson, they weren't paying attention to the celebrity status
the undefeated Iowa State wrestler has achieved.
Last
week Cael traveled down the road to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, to wrestle
in the Dan Gable Classic's 'Spirit of the Heartland' wrestling
meet on March 29 at the U.S. Cellular Center. Wrestling under
college rules in a 197-pound match, he ended up with a 24-9 technical
fall victory over Cliff Thompson of Upper Iowa.
Right
now Cael is in Spokane, Washington, to attend the Northern Quest
2002 World Cup of Wrestling at the Spokane, Arena, April 6-7.
This world dual meet championship has six teams entered this
year, representing the U.S., Russia, Canada, Germany, Korea,
and Mongolia.
Although
Cael is not wrestling in the World Cup, he is also training with
the U.S. national freestyle team in Spokane in preparation for
the U.S. National Freestyle Wrestling Championships, which will
be held April 24-27 in Las Vegas, Nevada. According to Iowa State
assistant coach and his teammate on the national team, Chris
Bono, Cael's training has been going 'real well.'
Cael
will be leaving the World Cup before it is completed to travel
back to Chicago on Sunday. He has accepted an invitation from
the Chicago Cubs to throw out the first ball and to lead the
Wrigley Field crowd in the traditional singing of 'Take Me Out
to the Ball Game' during the seventh-inning stretch of Sunday's
game between the Cubs and Pittsburgh Pirates in Chicago. That
game begins at 1:20 PM CT. Harry Caray would have been proud.
His
next stop is the New York-New Jersey area for a series of wrestling
clinics along with Chris Bono for the weekend of April 13-14.
Details for these clinics can be found at: http://www.themat.com/pressbox/pressdetail.asp?aid=4888
More
information on Cael's increasingly hectic activities can also
be found at the official Team Sanderson web site at: http://www.teamsanderson.cc/
Source:
Abu Dhabi
|
Quote
of the Day
You can't
change the past, but you can ruin the present by worrying over
the future.
|
Warriors
Quest 5
"New Blood"
Blaisdell Arena, Honolulu, Hawaii
Friday June 7,2002
Main
Event
Light Heavyweight Championship Title Bout
David "Kawika" Pa'aluhi Vs. Sean Gray
Many
of you witnessed Sean Gray beat Hawaii's Falaniko Vitale via
TKO for the #1 contender spot. Now Kawika Pa'aluhi, who just
had a big knock out victory over Bobby Southworth, will have
the fight of his life. Gray and Pa'aluhi will do battle for the
vacant Warriors Quest Light Heavyweight Championship title. Gray
is favored to win the championship, but he better come prepared
for a war. |
SHOOTO
Results:
March 31st,
2002
Promoter:
ALIVE
Nagoya Public Hall, Nagoya, Japan
This
past Sunday the 31st in the Nagoya Public Hall in Nagoya, Japan
there was the long awaited return of Naoya Uematsu. He had been
out of SHOOTO competition for over a year due to a serious viral
infection that almost claimed his life. Now that he is healthy
he was looking to pick-up where he left off in pursuit of the
143 lbs title. The belt was held then and is now by long time
Champion Alexandre Nogueira. But in his way was Kazuhiro Inoue.
Inoue was looking for redemption after his disappointing loss
to Hiroyuki Abe by a cut stoppage. Both men poured on the attack
but were be forced to settle for a draw.
COMPLETE
RESULTS:
Bout #1: Class B (132 lbs):
Masatoshi Abe [AACC] def. Keisuke Kurata [ALIVE]:
Sleeper choke at 4:03 of rd1
Bout #2: Class-B (132 lbs):
Yasuhiro Akagi [ALIVE] def. Takahisa Toyoshima [STF]:
Armbar at 2:00 of rd1
Bout #3: Class-B (154 lbs):
Naoki Matsushita [ALIVE] def. Takayuki Okouchi [Paraestra]:
Decision (19-19, 20-19, 20-19) at 5:00 of rd2
Bout #4: Class-A (154 lbs):
Kohei Yasumi [Paraestra] def. Daisuke Sugie [ALIVE]:
Guillotine at 3:31 of rd1
Bout #5: Class-A (154 lbs):
Naoya Uematsu [K’z Factory] draw Kazuhiro Inoue [Impress]:
Draw (29-29, 29-28, 28-29) at 5:00 of rd3
BJJ Match:
Hiroshi Umemura [ALIVE] def. Taba Aginaldo Masao [Infight] 6-0
Source:
Abu Dhabi |
Minotauro
Out of PRIDE 20!
By Eduardo Alonso
Despite
PRIDE's intention to have their Heavyweight champion defending
his title for the first time on April 28th, the Brazilian Top
Team member won't be figthting on the next PRIDE card. Rodrigo
"Minotauro" Nogueira won his title at PRIDE 17, in
November, with a win over Heath Herring. After this victory Nogueira
fought a non-title match at the last PRIDE event, in February,
against seasoned veteran Enson Inoue. "Minotauro" came
out as the winner, and DSE wanted him to finally defend his belt
at PRIDE 20. His opponent was heavily rumored to be UFC veteran
Semmy Schilt, but Schilt opted for a K-1 deal and he became unavailable
to face the champion in April. Other opponents were approached,
with no deal being close, and in the end FCF was told today that
Rodrigo "Minotauro" Nogueira surely won't be fighting
in the next PRIDE card, but his twin brother, Rogerio "Minotoro"
Nogueira, is still negotiating for a possible appearance. Minotauro
is likely to defend his title at PRIDE 21.
Source: FCF |
Results
from
DEEP 2001 4th IMPACT
DEEP 2001 4th
IMPACT in Nagoya
Saturday, March 30, 2002
Aichi Prefectural Gymnasium(Aichi, Japan)
Live gate: 6,500
* four(4) amateur 2x5-min rounds matches
* twelve(12) DEEP rules professional 3×5 min rounds matches
Future fight#1
Yoshinari Asano(The Body Box) drew Naoki Kimura(Evolution) at
full time limit.
Future fight#2
Tomoaki Nagai(Chokushin-kai Nagoya Fight Club) def. Tatsuya Kurahashi(T3)
by V1 arm lock at 1R 3:44.
Future fight#3
Tomomi Iwama(Nagoya Brazilian Jiu Jitsu Club) def. by KO at 1R
1:07.
Future fight#4
Mario Sergio Yokoyama(Mario Sergio Jiu Jitsu Academy) def. Hitoyo
Kimura(Makoto Gym) by TKO during interval after 1R.
Pro-fight#1
Ryogaku Wada(RINGS Japan) def. Asteka(Pro-wrestling KAGEKI) by
KO at 1R 2:54.
Pro-fight#2
Ryusei Doi(T3) def. Kyosuke Sasaki(U-FILE CAMP) by arm lock at
1R 2:51.
Pro-fight#3
Lumber Somdert Yoshizawa(M16 Gym) def. Mitsuhisa Sunabe(Hybrid
Wrestling MUGEN) by 2-0-1 majority judges' decision at full time
limit.
Pro-fight#4
Ryo Chonan(U-FILE CAMP) def. Kenji Akiyama(Zendokai) by KO at
1R 4:22.
Pro-fight#5
Yasuhito Namekawa(RINGS Japan) def. Daisuke Watanabe (PANCRASEism)
by 2-0-1 majority judges' decision at full time limit.
Pro-fight#6
Yuki Sasaki(Pancrase GRABAKA) drew Gustavo Ximu(Ruas Vale Tudo)
at 0-1-2 judges' decision at full time limit.
Pro-fight#7
Joao Roque(Nova Uniao) def. Takehiro Murahama(Osaka Pro-wrestling)
by arm bar at 1R 2:31.
Pro-fight#8
Hirotaka Yokoi(RINGS Japan) def. Memo Diaz(CMLL) by 3-0-0 unanimous
judges' decision at full time limit.
Pro-fight#9
Minoru Suzuki(PANCRASEism) def. El Solar(CMLL) by disqualification
TKO at 1R 2:26. *two times knee strikes to groin
Pro-fight#10
Wataru Sakata(Evolution) def. Toro Irison(Karare Studio) by arm
bar at 1R 4:05.
Pro-fight#11
Yuki Kondo(PANCRASEism) def. Kick Boxer(AAA/Extreme Fighters)
by arm bar at 1R 1:58.
Pro-fight#12
KENGO(PANCRASEism) def. Dos Caras Jr.(AAA) by rear naked choke
at 2R 3:56.
Source: FCF |
Quote
of the Day
God always
gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him.
|
"KUMITE"
No-Gi Tournament
Sunday, April
28,2002 11:00 am
Waipahu High School Gym
Entry
Fees: (includes tournament shirt and 1 month pass to Gold's Gym)
Pre-registered $30.00
Register at the event $40.00
additional division $5.00 each
Weigh-ins
starting at 8:30 am-11:00 am on the day of the event
Grappling starts at 12:00 pm
Divisions:
Novice- 1 year and under experience - 4 min match
Intermediate- 2 years and under - 5 min match
Advance- 2 years and over - 6 min match
Absolute - 6 min match
Weight Classes:
130 and below
131-144
145-160
161-175
176-190
191-205
206-220
220 and over
GREAT
PRIZES TO WIN!!!!!!!!
There
will also be cash prizes for the quickest submission in every
division and food stands along with some fight gear venders.
Also
6 amateur fights with 3 rounds!
(using head gear, shin guards, and gloves)
There are three fighters all ready signed up. Contact Kai below
as soon as possible if you are interesting in the amatuer fights.
Registration
forms at all MMA schools. Look for flyers.
Please
mail all registration forms to:
KUMITE Tourney
3632 Aliamanu Street
Honolulu, HI 96818
We
will try to do these tournaments atleast every 3 months to give
our Hawaii grapplers a lot more practice to improve their skills.
For
information, call Kai Kamaka at 478-4509/423-2022
or email at kkamaka@hotmail.com
|
Super
Brawl Calendar
SB 24
Heavyweight tournament April 26-27
SB 25
Egan v tba July 5
SB 26
September 7
SB 27
November 30
|
UFC:
Ultimate Submissions Debuts April 12
ULTIMATE FIGHTING
CHAMPIONSHIP TO PRESENT ULTIMATE SUBMISSIONS ON CABLE, SATELLITE
TV, APRIL 12
One-hour show
to feature best submissions in UFC history!
LAS VEGAS, April
2…. The Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) will present
Ultimate Submissions, a one-hour television special, on iN DEMAND,
DIRECTV, Dish Network, BellExpressVu and Viewers Choice Canada
pay-per-view starting at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST, Friday, April
12. The show will be re-played throughout April on those networks.
Viewers should check their local television listings for the
re-play schedule. The suggested retail price is $9.95.
Ultimate Submissions
will feature the best submissions in UFC history by its champions
and top contenders including current and former stars Royce Gracie
and Ken Shamrock, Tito Ortiz, Josh Barnett, Murilo Bustamante,
Pat Miletich, Frank Mir, Elvis Sinosic, Ricardo Almeida, Evan
Tanner and others.
The UFC's next
live fight will be High Impact on Friday, May 10, at the Centurytel
Arena in Bossier City, La. Tickets, $150, $100, $50 and $25,
are on sale at the Centurytel Arena box office in Bossier City,
at all Ticket Master outlets, Ticket Master Charge-By-Phone,
318-741-9700, or at www.ticketmaster.com. Service charges may
apply depending upon point of purchase.
Middleweight
Champion Murilo Bustamante (10-1-1 in Mixed Martial Arts) of
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, will defend his title for the first time
against top contender and U.S. Olympic Wrestling Silver Medalist
Matt Lindland (7-0-0) of Eagle Creek, Ore. Bustamante claimed
the middleweight crown January 11 when he knocked out former
champion Dave Menne in the second round at the Mohegan Sun Arena
in Uncasville, Conn. Other match-ups will include a lightweight
bout between Caol Uno (11-4-2) of Kanagawa, Japan, and Yves Edwards
(8-4-1) of The Woodlands, Tex., and Heavyweight contender Ricco
Rodriguez (8-1-0) of Las Vegas, Nev., versus Tsuyoshi Kosaka
(3-2-0) of Shiga, Japan. Light Heavyweight contender Chuck Liddell
(9-1-0) of San Luis Obispo, Calif., will meet an opponent to
be named as will Lightweight top contender BJ Penn (4-1-0) of
Wainaku, Hilo, Hawaii.
High Impact
will be available in North America on iN DEMAND, DIRECTV, Dish
Network, Bell ExpressVu and Viewers Choice Canada pay-per-view
and in Brazil on Globosat Programadora LTDA. It will air live
at 10 p.m. EST/7 p.m. PST in the United States and Brazil and
on a tape-delayed basis on WOWOW-TV in Japan. The suggested retail
price in North America will be $29.95.
The Ultimate
Fighting Championship, headquartered in Las Vegas, Nev., is the
world's leading mixed martial arts sports company. It is owned
and operated by Zuffa LLC and has distributorship agreements
with WOWOW, Inc. in Tokyo, Japan, British Sky Broadcasting (BSkyB)
in London, England, Globosat Programadora LTDA and Sportv in
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and networks in over 20 other countries.
The Ultimate Fighting Championship is a sport that brings together
the world's most talented mixed martial arts (MMA) athletes from
disciplines such as karate, boxing, jiu-jitsu, kickboxing, wrestling,
sumo and others in a quest to become an ultimate fighting champion.
|
INTERVIEW:
PRIDE Top Contender
JEREMY HORN
Jeremy Horn
has been one of my favorite fighters for years so whenever he's
around I try to catch up with an interview. I caught up with
Jeremy at the pre-weigh-ins video game demonstration at UFC 36,
shortly before a member of the audience played the video game
choosing Horn as his fighter. Horn stood behind the audience
member and watched as his video character proceeded to KO several
fighters-a feat Jeremy himself has never done. The next morning
there was another video game press conference/breakfast where
Jeremy dominated the attention of the press by playing in addition
to being interviewed. If I had the foresight I would have asked
more questions about his love of video games in addition to the
quickie below.
KM: You're still
fighting in Pride…how long is your contract?
JH: It runs out like May or June I think.
KM: When are
you going to be fighting again?
JH: April.
KM: Do you know
who your opponent is going to be?
JH: I hear it's going to be somebody from the Pancrase organization
but I don't really know any more than that.
KM: How far
in advance do you hear who your opponent is?
JH: Not long.
KM: Not long
enough to get some kind of game plan? (Horn shakes his head)
How does that affect your strategy?
JH: It doesn't affect me much because I pretty much fight the
same no matter who I'm fighting but people that really come in
with a game plan a lot it would affect them a lot.
KM: Do you prefer
Pride to UFC?
JH: They're the same rules so…
KM: What about
the ring/cage difference?
JH: As long as I can hit people in the head on the ground I'm
happy.
KM: What do
you think about the more controversial rules in Pride like kicking
an opponent when they're down…
JH: I think it's fine. They shouldn't have any fighters in there
that aren't capable of defending themselves from those kind of
things. They want to say they have the best fighters in the world
so they need to let those rules stay. If you have to put in rules
to protect somebody then they're not one of the best fighters
in the world. Someone who is good is not going to lie on all
fours and get kicked in the head, they're going to defend themselves.
I think the rules are fine. I've never had a problem fighting
with open rules.
KM: Have you
heard anything about Pride coming to the US?
JH: Just that it's gonna. I haven't heard anything more than
that.
KM: Would your
contract prevent you from fighting in anything else?
JH: No, I can fight wherever I want whenever I want.
KM: Why don't
we see you back in UFC?
JH: We might. There's really nothing saying I won't but right
now they have a really big crowd of Light Heavyweight fighters.
They got a big crowd and I have a thing going in Japan so there's
nothing going on but there's nothing that says it won't happen
again.
KM: Are you
still fighting around 199 pounds?
JH: Pride doesn't have weight classes so I fight over there at
about 210 and I might be going up a little bit depending on what's
going on.
KM: Last time
I saw you in UFC it looked like you were having trouble getting
down to Light Heavyweight…
JH: No, not really.
KM: You ready
to come back?
JH: Absolutely. I'm always training 100%; I'm always ready to
fight.
Source: Abu
Dhabi |
Wrestling
Tournament
Aloha
Wrestling Fans,
This weekend there will be a Freestyle wrestling tournament at
Kahuku high school gym.
Weigh-in: 8am-9am
Wrestling begins: 10am
Entry Fee: $3.00
All ages are welcome, hope to see you all there.
Next tournament will be April 20
Summer
Wrestlers make Winter Champions |
Quote
of the Day
Love ......and
you shall be loved
|
INTERVIEW:
RICARDO ARONA
His ribs are
healed of the bruise that kept him away from competition for
almost 9 months. Ricardo Arona has seen his name announced as
a PRIDE 20 competitor. The event is coming in April, but his
opponent still hasn't been announced - it may be Sanae Kikuta.
Arona speaks about these and other subjects, especially two touchy
ones: his win over Guy Mezger in PRIDE and his personal rivalry
with Gustavo 'Ximú' Machado.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- What do you think about ADCC not holding an event this
year? Arona- If they didn't hold an event because they wanted
to organize it differently or are trying to make it an even better
submission event I don't mind that it's not held and I think
it will be good in the long run. But if the reason it was not
held is due to a terrorism, I think that it was bad.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Any other negatives? Arona- I don't know if the all fighters
knew about it, so the period of the event - between March and
April - is coming and whoever wants to go has lost valuable time,
I was really hoping to fight against Mark Kerr.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- You fought twice in Abu Dhabi, and have won 3 championships.
Are you used to the way it is run and were you looking forward
to fighting there? Arona- Of course, I feel bad that there's
not ADCC in 2002. I'm not the only one who feels this way, every
fighter is feeling bad, ADCC is a great opportunity and we miss
it.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- For sure you're very anxious to face off against Mark
Kerr, what did you think of him in the last ADCC? Arona- He really
is very strong and good, he has a lot of experience because he
fought several times in Pride as well as all his wrestling training,
so I think that ADCC for him is fun, he isn't nervous. I know
that he's tough, but I trust that I can beat him, using my speed
to annul his strength, so I'm confident to come back to Brazil
with a victory.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- You fight NHB in 'light/middleweight' division and in
ADCC in heavyweight, how come? Arona- In reality I fight ADCC
in under 98 category and my normal weight is between 93-95kg,
so I arrive in ADCC and PRIDE at 95kg without problems. With
this weight I feel myself fast, strong and heavy.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- So are you in a correct weight class in NHB? Arona- Without
doubts, but the NHB categories are confusing right now. I'd like
to know more, because each event has its own categories, so it
is hard to say that you are or he is a middle or lightheavyweight.
When I fought Guy Mezger, he weighed 99kg; Vanderlei Silva weights
between 92-93kg, Kazushi Sakuraba weights 90-91kg, so these guys
are less than 94kg, and are called middle weight, but Pride put
me against a fighter who was around 100kg, so things are not
clear?
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Was that fight against Mezger a controversial fight?
Did you verbally tapout? Arona- I think anyone who watched that
fight, could see what really happened. Mezger kicked me and I
was ahead, I wasn't KOd, if I had been KOd I'd have dropped.
I reacted and soon after that I got a kneebar; maybe that was
an excuse for his defeat. When the fight was over, Mezger had
a lot of damage to his face and I was ok, even though I was sick.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- And Jeremy Horn, you fought twice in RINGS. Do you want
to fight against him with punches allowed on the ground? Arona-
If the PRIDE promoters want me to do that fight I will fight.
For me it is good, I beat him twice and if punches on the ground
were legal those fights wouldn't be decisioned by the judges,
I was on the top whole time during those fights. Horn vs myself
would be great.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Mr. Akira Maeda said, when you left RINGS to go to Pride,
that the Brazilians didn't have a Samurai Spirit that the Brazilians
are only looking for money. What can you say to that? Arona-
He has his interests and we've our interests. I'm a professional
fighter, IT'S MY LIFE, if Pride pays more than RINGS, it'd be
ignorant to keep myself in RINGS. So it's not lack of Samurai
Spirit or mercenary thing, just a professional act.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- How do you analyze your only defeat to Emelianeko Fedor?
Still is that in your mind? Arona- That isn't in my mind, because
I feel that I won that fight, without doubts. If punches were
allowed on the ground that fight wouldn't have lasted 3 minutes
- I lost because of the rules. I took him down, mounted him and
caught his back, so I think that the judges didn't want me to
fight against a RINGS Japan fighter, Tsuyoshi Kohsaka. But I'm
fine with that, Rodrigo 'Minotauro' Nogueira won the last KOK
tourney for Brazil.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Being a Jiu Jitsu fighter you did well against two strikers
in RINGS, Hiromitsu Kanehara and Gustavo 'Ximú' Machado.
Because of that were you confident against Mezger on the feet
and were you surprised by that kick? Arona- I don't think so,
we traded blows during 15 minutes on the feet, that's his specialty
and I ate one kick while he ate punches, lowkicks, knees; so
I was more effective than him and I ate a kick because it's part
of the fight. When that kick happened I was ahead of him, so
I stopped, he threw the kick, he was an opportunist. I'm confident
in my Muay Thai and I showed it.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Was there a personal rivalry between 'Ximú' and
yourself? Arona- Yeah, this was more than a rivalry between Jiu
Jitsu x Luta-Livre/Muay Thai. But I didn't worry about 'Ximú',
I wanted to fight against him and I did. If punches were allowed
on the ground maybe he'd still be out of action today, because
he dropped totally dizzy in front of me.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- What's the motive of this rivalry? Arona- I prefer not
to comment, it's nothing special.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- At first, was there a wrong interpretation by those who
didn't watch that fight? Arona- My opinion is, RINGS isn't Pride,
but that event had several professional fighters like Renzo Gracie,
Horn, Castello Branco and others, so they had competent referees.
The referee who was in that fight is a Pride referee also, so
he didn't make a mistake; I threw a lowkick and two punches,
'Ximú' dropped and sat down, I threw the last punch which
didn't have any power anyways, the referee intervened because
'Ximú' was dizzy before my last punch, he wasn't able
to continue and fight. If the promoters want to put 'Ximú'
against myself in NHB rules, there's not problem, I will fight.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- You're good on the feet. Arona- Since the start of the
fight with Ximu until the final minute I was better than him
on the feet. I've potential and confidence on the feet.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Who's with you to train on the feet? Arona- I'm improving
with Toniko Júnior (Team WFC/SHOOTO 'B' Class fighter),
who I trust a lot and his Muay Thai is very good.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- You trained Jiu Jitsu for 10 years, was it hard to start
training stand up? Arona- I didn't find it hard to kick or to
punch. But I know that 'I'm in my home' when the fight goes to
the ground, but I want to have 'two homes', on the feet and on
the ground [laughs], because a NHB fighter needs to be good in
both aspects.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Are you totally off of the Brazilian Top Team? Arona-
Yeah.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Don't you have a team, who are you training with? Arona-
Vítor Belfort and I were together, and we were trying
to get a name for our new team, but we couldn't agree on a name.
I'm on my own, sometimes I go to Barra to train with Paulo Caruso,
but nothing with BTT.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Did the fact that Vitor Belfort went on the tv show 'Casa
dos Artistas' harm your training? Arona- It harmed it because
we were training together almost everyday. So he left, but there're
other fighters training in Barra, so this's not a problem.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Befort deciding to go on the tv show makes it look like
he is ducking Chuck 'The Iceman' Liddell. What's your opinion
about this? Arona- We all have our own interests, he felt that
it'd be better for him go to 'Casa dos Artistas' than to fight
against Liddell. I wouldn't go, although I respect his decision.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Dan Henderson x José Mário Sperry (aka
The Zen Machine) is practically a done deal, so will your opponent
be Sanae Kikuta? Arona- I don't like to speak out about this
because nothing was announced yet. Henderson was my initial opponent
until 1/2 week ago, but right now whether I'm going to fight
Kikuta or not isn't known, these things are just rumors.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- So, are you focusing your training with anybody in mind?
Arona- I train hard, so there's no reason to be worried. However
I hope they decide about my opponent soon.
FIGHTWORLD.com
Brazil- Last words? Arona- I want to thank Vitamins&Minerals
and BadBoy for their supporting me. I want to speak out to the
Japaneses fan who I'm anxious to come back to Japan and step
into the Pride ring. I haven't fought since Pride 16 and they,
the Japanese fans, can expect a good performance by me.
Source: Abu
Dhabi |
Dr.
Goodman Speaks:
'Why I Had EVAN TANNER-ELVIS SINOSIC UFC 36 Fight Stopped
Submitted by: Eddie Goldman
Since coming
under the regulation of the major state athletic commissions,
mixed martial arts has continued to respect fighter safety. The
absence of any major injuries to its fighters in its regulated
events should speak for itself.
Yet often with
regulation comes controversy. These same commissions, of course,
regulate the sport of boxing, and have the power to have fights
stopped when their representatives feel that a fighter becomes
in danger and can no longer properly defend himself. Many of
these fighters are true warriors at heart, and often contest
these stoppages. Zab Judah and Andrew 'Six Heads' Lewis immediately
come to mind.
It should come
as no surprise that when fights are stopped in mixed martial
arts, this same type of controversy occurs. Yet rarely does anyone
ask the physician who recommended that a fight be stopped for
his or her take on it.
Such was the
case with the first-round stoppage of the Evan Tanner-Elvis Sinosic
fight at UFC 36 on March 22 in LasVegas, which some have called
a quick stoppage. During the fight, referee Mason White called
a break in the action so that the ringside physician could examine
a cut on Elvis's forehead. In came Dr. Margaret Goodman, who
also is Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board of the Nevada
State Athletic Commission. The members of this board are appointed
by the Governor of Nevada for four-year terms, with the Governor
designating the Chairman.
Dr. Goodman
is widely respected in boxing circles not only for her ringside
work, but also for spearheading, along with others on the Nevada
commission, the publication of the landmark book, Ringside and
Training Principles. This is a manual on training and safety,
aimed primarily at boxers, but also largely applicable to other
combat sports like mixed martial arts. It is available to fighters
and trainers from the Nevada commission free of charge, with
just the cost of postage required. (More information on the Nevada
commission can be found on their web page at: http://www.state.nv.us/b&i/ac/.)
Since some have
questioned why Dr. Goodman wanted the Tanner-Sinosic fight stopped,
it is important that her side of the story get out. Below is
a statement she has publicly issued, and wants to share:
Very rarely
a cut in and of itself stops a fight. In the instance of the
Elvis Sinosic fight, I was called in to see the fighter due to
the cut. However, during the prior part of the round he was taking
continual head shots while on the mat. When I entered the ring,
the fighter was found to have a cut to the forehead. Although
bloody and might have soon obstructed his vision, it certainly
presented no danger. However, I asked the fighter how he was
and shone a light in his eyes. His pupils were slow to react
and he neglected to answer me right away. Since MMA has different
rules than boxing (i.e., no ten count), I had no other recourse
than to protect the fighter and stop the fight as a result of
head blows. No one has ever died in the ring from a cut, but
blows to the head are another story and the doctor must always
err on the side of caution.
-- Dr. Margaret
Goodman, Chairman, Medical Advisory Board to the Nevada State
Athletic Commission
Source: Abu
Dhabi
|
UFC
Pictures
More UFC
pictures at FCF!
|
Some
UFC Snippets!
"Noticed
the article (at mmaweekly.com). Just wanted to update you. I
went into the Sinosic fight with a dislocated rib. Although the
fight was offered, I will not be fighting Chuck Liddell in the
upcoming UFC. I will be unable to train for approximately two
to three months. Hope to be back better than ever, going for
the Light Heavyweight Belt. Great website. Keep up the good work.
I put it on my favorite list."
Thanks,
Evan Tanner
Interview
with Frank Mir:
Frank Mir has
burst on the scene the past year. He
went from an unknown to a heavyweight contender almost overnight.
He made Pete Williams look bad in under a minute at UFC 36. So
what’s next for this up and comer? We tell you in our latest
installment of our interview of the week.
RYAN: First off WOW! That’s the first thing that
comes to mind. Pete Williams is a veteran in this
sport and you go in and win in under a minute! Talk
about your thoughts…
MIR: It was
mental. Everything is in this game. I trained really hard for
him. Basically, with my style of fighting I have the mentaility
of trying to finish the fight every five seconds. That’s
my mentality in a fight, every five seconds. Whether it’s
a kick, a punch or an armbar, I don’t want the fight to
last. I train to fight until the next morning, but my mind set
is every move to finish. I want to make sure this thing isn’t
drawn out. So I went in there and performed, he made a mistake
and that was it.
RB: You're such
a big guy and many big guys have a problem finding people just
as big to train. Ricco Rodriguez talked to me about you, as you
guys rolled a little bit together. He was impressed with your
quickness and skill level. What was it like for you to get a
chance to roll with a guy of his caliber and finally someone
as big as you?
MIR: It was
great. Ricco is someone you can look at
and say o.k. this guy knows how to put together
submissions and mixes it up well. He has a great
guard and you learn. This will sound weird, but the
thing is, it’s almost good I don’t have a lot of big
guys to train with. Why? Because I train with a ton
of middleweights and that’s what my fighting style
resembles is a middleweight. I have a middleweight's
mentality inside a heavyweight's body. A lot of guys are huge,
they are powerful and they rely on it. For me it’s like,
let’s make sure my technique is the forerunner and if THAT
fails, then I’m big, I’m strong, I’m powerful
and I will use that. The bottom
line though is it’s all about technique. I find it very
boring to see a brig brute take out another man, it doesn’t
take any intelligence or skill to do that. Any monkey or ape
can beat on some man. The idea for me though is to be a surgeon.
Take people out skillfully.
RB: Some people
think you are ready for a title shot. Do you feel at such a young
point in your career you could already fight for the title?
MIR: I don’t
know. The sports of mixed martial arts
changes so quickly everyday. I’m a star today, I’m
a
nobody tommorrow. Basically, I just like to push the
martial arts. Anything I can do to promote our sport
is what I like to do. It’s me. It’s in my blood. I
go home and play martial arts games. I go home and watch martial
arts movies. If you have a conversation with me and you don’t
like martial arts, then don’t talk to me, I will be the
most boring individual you will ever meet. Basically it’s
that. I just love martial arts. If I fight for the next five
years and NEVER get a title shot, I’m happy, because I’m
doing what I love. How many guys can say that? I love being a
martial artist, I love competiting, I love the feeling of victory.
It’s a blast.
RB: Do you see
yourself as a champion?
MIR: Defintely.
I defintely see myself as a champion. My goal is to reach that.
Now the rest is out of my hands. All I can do is take care of
what I can take care of. That means I train as hard as I can,
get myself with the right people around me. My family guides
me, me instructors guide me, I just got to take the business
in front of me and I’ll be fine.
RB: I guess
my last question is - who’s next for Frank
Mir?
MIR: To be honest,
I have no clue! I really don’t. I just love to compete and
I will take whomever they put in front of me.
RB: It’s
been great to talk to you and I guess the
MGM is your lucky charm. You're two for two in front of your
hometown. Some guys freeze under the pressure of competiting
in front of their family and the whole world in the Octogon,
you relish it.
MIR: Mindset
is everything. You can be the best conditioned athlete, you can
be the strongest and fastest, and know all the techniques, but
if you don’t have the mind for it you're never going to
be able to put it out on the line. Mindset is everything because
you know you aren’t always going to be the biggest,
strongest or fastest, with the best cardio, but IF you
have the mindset of a warrior then you will figure out
how to win. Somehow or some way.
RB: I don’t
know the last time I sat down with a guy
for 10 minutes and only ask six questions. You got it
together man!
MIR: Thanks,
Ryan. I try man.
RB: I know this
won’t be the last time I talk to you.
Thanks again.
MIR: Anytime
for you man.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
Quote
of the Day
God always
gives His best to those who leave the choice with Him.
Anonymous
|
Happy
Easter for Yesterday
Sorry
about not posting on Easter, but the boys kept me up until 5AM
and then I had a 9AM breakfast with the in-laws, which lasted
all day. You know how it is. I even found this Disco Easter Egg
picture. Oh well, better late than never. We hope that everyone
had a great Easter!
|
The
Verdict Is In:
It's One Boy & One Girl!
My sleep
deprivation has also caused me to leave a lot of people hanging
about what the sex is of our twins will be. Here is something
my wife wrote up:
Aloha
Everyone -
Well,
Chris, Brandi and myself went to our ultrasound appointment for
the
twins on Good Friday 3/29/02. I am so glad that I got this particular
radiologist because he took a lot of time with us and I felt
confident in
all that he told us.
Here
it is:
Some of you know that we found out that one of the twins is a
boy. As for the
other twin - it is a girl!!! The boy is 2lbs 14oz and the girl
is 2lbs 10oz. Both of them have their heads down already and
are in great shape. God
has blessed us with healthy babies.
Anyway,
this is the exciting news from the Onzuka Ohana that we wanted
to share this with you all since (most of the readers of this
page) have been and always will be important in our lives.
Take
Care & God Bless,
Chris, Patty, Brandi & of course the Onzuka Twins : ) |
HOOKnSHOOT
To Promote Kids MMA!!!
Can you saw lawsuit? We have met Jeff a couple times and he is
a great guy, but dude, what are you doing? PS. Cut down on the
descriptive vocabulary describing what you are saying.
'That's right'
whoops promoter Jeff Osborne. 'We had great success with grappling
matches in the past, so we got a lawyer to write up some waivers
and we are off! Kids punching each other in the face!' sqwuaks
an excited Osborne.
'Instead of
weight classes, we will do 'age classes'. 5 to 7 year olds, the
8-11 year olds, then 11-14 year olds and finally 15-17 year olds'
describes Osborne. 'We plan to let little girls fight too!' reveals
Osborne. 'we wont have separate divisions until they hit the
15 year old & up, until then we will have mixed matches!
I think this will generate interest' howls Osborne.
'This was a
sport in other countries, we have all heard the stories of accomplished
12 year old MMA artists. I think it will catch on in the USA
as well' confesses Osborne.
'We are now
taking applciations for a summer show. This cannot be stopped!
Kids MMA is the next level' concludes Osborne.
Source: Fightworld |
Fernando
Vasconcelos: The Evolution of a Young Fighter
Submitted by: Flo-Jitsu
If you saw the
crowd, it was evident that Fernando Vasconcelos was the hometown
favorite at the recent King of the Cage 12: Cold Blood. With
his first no-holds barred fight and victory securely tucked under
his belt, Fernando is eager to work his way up the ranks. 'I
feel like I have a lot to learn, but once I get there, I want
to be there for a while.'
Fernando's journey
to mixed martial arts fighting started when he was five years
old growing up in Brazil. His father, who trained Brazilian jiu-jitsu
under the Gracies, enrolled Fernando in jiu-jitsu classes. 'I
didn't like it that much, though, so I used to get kicked out
of class all the time. I don't think I was a troublemaker, I
just didn't really like being there. It was more of something
that my dad wanted me to do, but I had no interest in. I pretty
much did anything I could not to be in class.' He started to
become more interested in soccer but continued to take jiu-jitsu
lessons until one day, there was a big jiu-jitsu tournament for
kids. 'I did really bad at it' he says 'I got tapped out in like
10 seconds or something like that and I was so nervous because
I didn't want to disappoint my dad but at the same time I didn't
want to do it. I actually don't even remember the whole thing
happening. I just remember coming back home and my dad being
really mad at me because he thought I didn't try.'
It was at that
point that the conflicted Fernando had to confront his dad and
tell him that he wanted to stop training jiu-jitsu. It wasn't
until he was 15 that he went back to training jiu-jitsu at the
Gracie Barra Academy under Carlos Gracie. With his restless spirit
showing at an early age, Fernando realized that 'Brazil was not
the place for me. Even though I was really young, I wanted to
experience a place where people were proud. In America, people
are proud of being Americans. They want to be the best here.
That kind of attitude was what attracted me to come here and
my dad felt the same way.' He rented a room in a house in Manhattan
Beach and then finished high school while training jiu-jitsu
and earning a black belt under the Machados. When he decided
to open his own school, his father in Brazil told him '' if you
want to have students you've got to come over here and win the
(1998) Worlds 'cause people like training with champions.' I
didn't really want to compete. Fighting was always the type of
thing that I wanted to do. The grappling I did more out of people
telling me to do it, as far as competition goes. I love training
jiu-jitsu and wrestling, but I never really liked that kind of
competition before.' Although the 20-year old phenom with an
unshakable work ethic only had a few of his students to train
with, two weeks before the competition he went back to Brazil
for the first time since he had left and trained with the Gracie
Barra team. 'I won it and my dad was wrong. It didn't bring me
students.' Since then, he still occasionally competes. He's gone
to Abu Dhabi (the ADCC 2001 Submission Wrestling World Championships)
and competed in some no-gi tournaments as well as the Judo State
Championships in Brazil, but mostly for fun and to support his
students. Still searching for more and feeling a need to evolve,
Fernando realized that he wanted to develop his standup game
and decided to learn how to box.
He went to several
of the local boxing gyms where he quickly found himself as the
punching bag for other boxers. 'I pretty much didn't know how
to box' but after his second week at one gym, they said ''okay,
you're ready' so they gloved me up, gave me some mouthpiece that
wasn't even mine...and I just got beat up.' He endured this kind
of punishment at the different boxing gyms for quite a few months
until he realized that the traditional boxing gym wasn't where
he was going to develop his standup game. He adjusted his training
to focus on his wrestling skills. He says they actually 'got
worse first because I had such bad fundamentals that I had to
let go of them so I actually got worse. There was a point there
where I didn't really have anything because I had to stop doing
the bad stuff. Now I really feel like my basics are starting
to be there.' In the past, the combination of Fernando's restlessness
and his tireless work ethic led him not only to train hard, but
also to overtrain.' I was doing fifty things in the same day.
I was running distance and sprinting the same day. And lifting
and jiu-jitsu and sparring, everything the same day.' Under the
guidance of Ricco Chiapparelli, his training program has been
adjusted to work different things on different days including
the addition of striking - 'whatever you call it - kickboxing,
Thai boxing. I just call it striking'. His development as a complete
fighter and his new training program have paid off as was evident
in his KOTC fight. It was obvious that he had plenty of gas left
in his tank. 'I'd never felt in that good of shape before. I
didn't get tired at all during my fight. It was great. I want
people to look at me and whatever they say, as long as somewhere
in there they say 'that guy can fight' I will be happy.' He adds,
'I really liked being part of a mixed martial arts event. It
made me feel good. Hopefully I'll get the opportunity to show
what I can do.'
In addition
to training for fights, Fernando teaches Brazilian jiu-jitsu
at RAW Training Center in El Segundo, California and has recently
started teaching at ISA in Bellflower, California. When he's
not training or teaching, he likes to play basketball, watch
football and eat ice cream, and play video games. 'If you have
a video game, I don't really care (which one it is) I just play
it. I think I'm the best guy at Madden, actually, that should
be an open challenge to anybody.'
Source: ADCC |
