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August News Part
3
Quote
of the Day
A professional is a person who can do his best at a time when
he doesn't
particularly feel like it.
Alistaire
Cooke, writer
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Sorry
about the missing news yesterday!
Chris dropped the ball on one of his three days to update the
page again. He will be whipped and stoned for that.
|
Team
HK Schedule Change!
Starting September 1st Team HK Jiu-Jitsu (the Relson Gracie UH
Association) has new hours. There will no longer be day classes
during the week.
The new schedule is...
Monday & Wednesday Nights from 6:00 pm - 8:00 pm
& Saturday Afternoons from 11:00 am - 1:00 pm
Instructors
taking over the classes while Todd opens his new restaurant "En
Fuego Grill & Poke" will be Shane Agena (brown belt)
and Brandon Bernardino (purple belt).
More
information about En Fuego Grill & Poke in the Kapolei Marketplace
is coming soon!
For more details check out
www.teamhk.net
or call Todd at 277-1128
|
Linebred,
LLC
Presents
AFC 4
AMATUER FIGHTING COMPETITION
RECRUITING
AMATUER FIGHTERS FOR AFC 4
If you are interested please call 306-9326
OR
FILL OUT AN APPLICATION ONLINE AT
WWW.AFCHAWAII.COM
Email: LINEBREDLLC@AOL.COM
WINNER WINS $1,000 PRIZE
Weight Classes: 200 lbs. & Under, 201 lbs. & Over
Don't
miss this opportunity to show your skills in a safe, entertaining,
and profitable setting!
Source: Event Promoter |
V
International Masters and Seniors Tournament
The
V International Masters and Seniors Tournament takes place today
at the Tijuca Tenis Clube. The traditional event has a host of
top names such as Carlos Gracie Jr, Fabio Gurgel, Macaco Patino,
Givanildo Santana, Wellington Megaton, Bebeo Duarte 7 Luis Palhares
fighting and showing the young guns that they are still competitive!
Results
and more details later!
Source: ADCC |
Dean
Lister Getting Ready for KOTC
ADCC
World Submission Wrestling Absolute Champion Dean Lister has
been working hard to defend his title at the upcoming KOTC event
taking place against James Lee. Dean confided: 'I ahve been training
hard with my partners and Brendt and Jocko are making sure I
am ready to rock. Royce Gracie will be in my corner as well!'
and he continued: 'I am going to have a few surprises and some
new moves to show. Be ready!'
The
event takes place at the Soboba Casino, Ca on September 5th and
will be on pay-per-view as well. For more information check out
www.kingofthecage.com/main.html.
Source: ADCC |
A
Few Stories, A Few Questions for Everyone
Part Two by Joe Hall (August 28, 2003)
Frank
Shamrock wanted to be an action star when he was growing up.
Don
Frye wanted to be a fireman, and then a cowboy, a then a world
champion and a good husband and father.
Other
mixed martial artists aspired to be schoolteachers and skiers
and standup comedians. Over the past three years I’ve quizzed
myriad MMA personalities, sometimes making seemingly irrelevant
inquiries and hoping to yield just a couple golden responses.
Childhood dreams is just one question I ask everyone that often
produces an interesting answer.
For
every interview I’ve done, numerous responses don’t
make the story but are instead recorded, transcribed and filed
away for a rainy day. Now it’s time to break into that treasure
chest once again and share some of the best stories and answers
I’ve been told. Some of these you’ve probably heard
before and others I’m sure you haven’t:
Many
of the most powerful and enrapturing stories come from Iowa and
the famed Miletich camp. Whether it’s Jens Pulver’s
title fight training camp or Tony Fryklund’s initiation
or Tim Sylvia’s development, each fighter has his own tale
of hellish torture.
I’m
convinced the worst of raconteurs can become a brilliant storyteller
by relating the tribulations of training in Iowa with those men.
Some are hush-hush on the details, but others offer astoundingly
vivid accounts of anguish and pain.
In
December of last year, UFC heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia spoke
briefly but graphically with me on his first days in Iowa.
“I
couldn’t walk my first six months,” he said. “I
was living with Jason Black and Kelly Wiseman. I was just getting
the shit kicked out of me so bad in sparring, getting my legs
beat up that, literally, my roommates had to take my socks off
and put them on. I remember one day, I couldn’t stand up.
I was like, ‘Kelly, I can’t get my socks on, man.’
He said, ‘I’ll help you,’ and he put them on.
“My
legs would get so knotted up and so beat up. You wonder what
the hell you’re doing. It’s just day after day getting
the shit kicked out of ya. I’ve broke down crying many times.
Pat’s there -- [he] picks ya back up again. He’s like,
‘One of these days, it’s just going to happen. You’re
going to get tired of getting beat up, and you’re gonna
start handing out punishment.’ About eight months later,
finally, I started doing well. I came around. I lost the weight
and started getting motivated.”
I
asked Tim if through all the struggle and pain he had ever doubted
his desire to be a fighter. “It’s not that I doubted
that I wanted to be a fighter,” he said. “It’s
that I doubted my ability. Everybody is so good out here. I knew
what I wanted to do. I just wondered: Can I do this? Am I good
enough? Then I have a fight, and I walk through the guy. Then
I have another fight, and I walk through him. All these fights,
and I’m walking through everybody, and it’s like, ‘Shit.
I’m good!’”
Tim’s
first contact with the Miletich camp wasn’t much different
than yours or mine. He stumbled into them at a UFC and was very
much the awestruck fan. “We showed up at the arena like
two hours early,” he said. “I think [the arena officials]
thought I was Gan McGee, because I went to the door of the arena,
and they were like, ‘Oh, come on in.’
“They
let us in, and we were like, ‘Oh my god.’ It was Pat
[Miletich] and Matt [Hughes] and Tito and Frank [Shamrock]. You’re
so star struck. But who stuck out the most? Pat and the gang.
I asked Pat if I could get a picture, and he said, ‘You’re
a big sonofabitch. Do you fight?’ The guy I was training
with told him I had a big fight coming up and asked what it would
take for me to train with him. Pat said, ‘Come on out. You’re
more than welcome.’
“So
I got a plane ticket, went out there for 10 days, and I was just
in awe. The training we did was amazing. The first guy I rolled
with was Jeremy Horn. I sat down on the mat; Jeremy Horn walked
in; and I was like, ‘Oh my god.’ Pat said, ‘This
is Jeremy Horn,’ and I said, ‘I know who he is.’
I was 335 pounds; I was a big boy. I caught him in something
really foolish. Three minutes in, I caught him in a wristlock.
And he said, ‘Oh, you’re going to play like that?’
Then it was curtains for me after that.”
***
Long
before they became mixed martial artists, today’s fighters
were young and ambitious just like you and I were. Some planned
on a pugilistic future; others never dreamed of it.
“I
always wanted to be a world champion,” Jens Pulver once
told me of his childhood dream. “For the longest time, I
wanted to be a world champion boxer and then when I saw this
sport, I knew exactly what it was I was going to be a world champion
in, which was MMA.”
“I
always wanted to be an Olympic medallist,” said Matt Lindland,
“but it certainly wasn’t in wrestling. It was in Equestrian
events.”
Randy
Couture also wanted to be an Olympian in a sport other than wrestling.
The most revered fighter in MMA wanted to be an Olympic skier.
Top-five
welterweight Frank “Twinkle Toes” Trigg wanted to be
a lawyer when he was growing up.
Din
Thomas wanted to be a schoolteacher. In fact, he still wants
to teach: “I want to start off in high school teaching history
and then eventually be a college professor.”
Gutsy
lightweight Javier Vazquez, perhaps best known for his courageous
performance against Alberto Crane on a knee horribly damaged
in the opening seconds, wanted to be a rich and famous baseball
player.
“I
always kind of knew,” said Duane Ludwig, one of the most
dangerous strikers in the sport. “I was always getting in
fights. I always kind of knew I’d be a fighter. I never
wanted to be a fireman or anything like that. Since I was like
eight years old, I knew I was going to be a fighter.”
Mark
Coleman simply wanted to be the best: “I just wanted to
be the best in the world at something. Didn’t matter --
football, wrestling or baseball -- I just wanted to be the best
in the world at something that I did.”
“I
went through so many phases,” said David Loiseau, who fights
Jorge Rivera at UFC 44. “I wanted to be a pro boxer. Then
I wanted to be a rapper. Then I wanted to be a comedian. Then
I wanted to be a standup comedian. And then I went back to fighting
-- I wanted to be a fighter.”
***
In
October of last year I spoke with Kenneth Alexander, a promising
young fighter from San Diego, California. Kenneth had just returned
to the U.S. from Kyrgyzstan, where he had been stationed to provide
support for the troops in Afghanistan.
While
serving in the Middle East, he had pieced together makeshift
mats for ground training, found time for cardio workouts and
followed the sport on the Internet whenever possible.
Regarding
his return home, Kenneth said, “There’s no feeling
like walking off the plane and knowing that I’m walking
into the arms of my wife.”
After
relaxing with his spouse for a few days and visiting his mother,
Kenneth hit the gym to prepare for a rematch against Adam Durant
in Arizona’s Rage in the Cage. It was during this training
camp that he kindly spoke with me and compared the fear of walking
into a cage against the fear leaving home for a war.
“You
know what the cage is like,” he said. “It’s an
Octagon cage. You know how high it is. You know how wide it is.
There’s no surprises there. The only surprise is which limb
is your opponent going to try to hit you with.
“Going
to war, you can guess what the terrain is going to be like. You
can guess what the weather is going to be like. You can guess
where the enemy is going to come from, but there’s just
no guarantee on knowing. And war is to the death, not to the
victory.”
***
Here’s
a story you may have heard before. I had heard about it too,
but I couldn’t keep myself from inquiring into the details
of the time Matt Lindland unwired his own jaw:
“Matt,
I heard this wild story about how your jaw was wired shut and
you just ripped the wires out,” I said to him over the phone
a couple weeks before his rematch against Phil Baroni. “Is
that true?”
“That
was ages ago,” he responded with a laugh. A pause followed,
inducing in me the unmistakable feeling that something terribly
gory and wrong was about to follow.
“I
was out with some friends,” Matt began, “and a ruckus
got started in a bar. I got hit from behind with a pool stick.
I swore my teeth fell out of my mouth. That’s how it felt,
but they didn’t. It was just that my jaw was broken.”
Shew,
I thought, just a broken jaw. Maybe some splinters in your cheek
too, but nothing bad.
Matt
visited a doctor who wired his jaw shut, and he stepped on the
wrestling mat at the Olympic festival one week later.
That’s
a little insane, I thought to myself as he narrated the story
to me, but insane in a Rocky Balboa drink some egg yolk kind
of way. If your jaw gets smashed, just have it wired shut and
get back on the mat ASAP -- put that in one of those macho manuals
for manly men. Only problem is that respiration can be difficult
when your jaw is clenched and you’re in the midst of a competitive
wrestling match.
“I
could not breathe,” he told me, and I instantly pictured
a lanky Lindland struggling mightily to suck in some air, nostrils
flaring like those of a winded rhinoceros. “And every time
I’d wrestle,” he continued, “my mouth would get
hit by those wires. It was really tough to breathe, and I was
loosing all kinds of weight because I had to eat through a straw.
And so I just decided to take them out.”
He
had said that last line sort of matter-of-factly. “How’d
you get them out?” I asked. I knew good and well Lindland
had operated on himself, but I wanted to hear the face-wrinkling
conclusion from the man himself.
“Wire
cutters,” he said succinctly then chuckled as if there was
only one way to do such a thing. Well, duh. Just grab some nearby
cutters and clip the darn contraption out yourself.
Source: Maxfighting |
The
Iceman Returneth:
Catching up with Chuck Liddell
If there were any lingering questions about Chuck Liddell's career
after his loss to Randy Couture, he didn't waste much time answering
them.
Rocked
by the powerful knee strikes of Alistair Overeem in his opening
round match of the PRIDE Middleweight Grand Prix tournament,
Liddell struck back hard. "The Iceman" returned several
blows of his own en route to an impressive first-round stoppage
to advance to the semifinals of the eight-man tournament where
he'll face Quinton Jackson in November.
Destroying
people is what Liddell built his reputation on in the past two
years, as he removed virtually every other light heavyweight
contender in UFC that stood between he and champion Tito Ortiz.
Unable to secure a title shot at Ortiz because of the champion's
controversial decision to not fight him, Liddell instead fought
Couture for the vacant title and lost in a surprisingly one-sided
bout.
He
has a lot to prove in the tournament. And for Liddell that's
when he's always been at his best.
"I
was just glad to be back fighting again," Liddell told Maxfighting.
"The guy came to fight and it was a good one. He came to
throw down."
Liddell
is more cocky about future opponents than present ones, as it
is not his trademark to boast, but merely exude confidence in
his ability without disparaging people. It was only after the
protracted delays in getting a shot at Ortiz brought out a detectable
animosity toward Ortiz. It may have been a distraction going
into the bout with Couture, but Liddell won't bite when offered
that as a reason for his loss.
"I'm
not gonna blame it that," he says.
Liddell
faces Jackson, a heavy-handed wrestler who strikes well, especially
on the ground, and is as hungry as he is. Liddell wrestles much
better than a guy who can strike so well; Jackson rains down
punches and kicks more competently than most wrestlers ever do.
It's a dream match but there's only room for one to advance,
and the ensuing battle should be a scorcher.
Jackson
and Liddell will produce the finalist, who'll face the victor
of the Vanderlei Silva-Hidehiko Yoshida bout that same night.
Given Yoshida's likely massacre at the hands of Silva, the Jackson-Liddell
fight is probably the best fight of the night, and whoever wins
it will most likely have to pay a steep price for the victory.
Both guys can take a lot of punishment, as well as give it out
in spades. Both are a big victory away from the superstardom
that would elevate them to being one of the biggest names in
the sport.
It
might be akin to a dogfight, where there is no real victor, only
a survivor and a savagely beaten loser. But it is what it is,
and the inducement of the $250,000 prize money for the winner
talks, and loudly.
"I
know Quinton is going to come to fight. But you know what, it
doesn't matter what he does," Liddell said. "I'm ready."
Buckle
up.
Source: Maxfighting |
NEW
FIGHTERS AND BROADCASTER POLL
We are just a couple of days before September, so we thought
it would be a good time to break our our new MMAWeekly Fighters
and Broadcasters Poll for September.
Just
a couple of notes. While Fedor is still the overwhelming choice
as the best heavyweight in the world, his next opponent, Mirko
Cro Cop has moved up to #2 this month.
Only
one vote seperates Randy Couture and Tito Ortiz in the Light
Heavyweight Division. And we see a new number one at 155 as Gomi
finally loses.
September
Rankings
HEAVYWEIGHT DIVISION
(210-265
lbs.)
Emelianeko Fedor - 100 (10 first place votes)
Mirko Cro Cop - 89 Points
Josh Barnett - 82 Points
Minotauro Nogueira - 68 Points Tie - Tim Sylvia - 68 Points
Ricco Rodriguez - 61 Points
Gan McGee - 35 Points
Heath Herring - 22 Points
Vladimir Matyushenko - 21 Points
Pedro Rizzo - 15 Points
Frank Mir - 12 Points
Others receiving votes - Andrei Arlovski - 11 Points, Mark Coleman
(10), Justin Eilers (10), Wes Sims (2)
LIGHT HEAVYWEIGHTS DIVISION
(205
lbs.)
Randy Couture - 94 Points (5 first place votes)
Tito Ortiz - 93 Points (5 first place votes)
Chuck Liddell - 73 Points TIE Vanderlei Silva - 73 Points
Quinton Jackson - 56 Points
Vitor Belfort - 50 Points
Ricardo Arona - 33 Points
Dan Henderson - 26 Points
Murilo Ninja Rua - 12 Points
Jeremy Horn - 11 Points
Rich Franklin - 10 Points
Others receiving votes - Jason Black (9), Babalu Sobral (8),
Kevin Randleman (8),
MIDDLEWEIGHT DIVISION
(185
lbs.)
Murilo Bustamante - 100 Points (10 first place votes)
Matt Lindland - 89 Points
Phil Baroni - 74 Points
Sakuraba - 53 Points
David Loiseau - 52 Points
Anderson Silva - 41 Points
Niko Vitale
- 25 Points
Phillip Miller - 22 Points
Ivan Salaverry - 21 Points
Paulo Filho - 20 Points
Others receiving votes - Joe Doerksen (17), Dave Menne (16),
Jorge Riviera (14), Benji Radach (13), Lee Murray (12), Tony
Fryklund (5), Jermaine Andre (2)
WELTERWEIGHT DIVISION
(170
lbs.)
Matt Hughes - 100 Points (10 first place votes)
Sean Sherk - 84 Points
Carlos Newton - 79 Points
Nathan Marquardt - 70 Points
Pete Spratt - 54 Points
Robbie Lawler - 41 Points
Jake Shields - 32 Points
Hayato Sakurai - 25 Points
Gil Castillo - 22 Points
Shonie Carter - 20 Points
Others receiving votes - Jason Black (18), John Aleesio (13),
Nick Diaz (5), Dennis Hallman (3), Jeremy Jackson (2)
LIGHTWEIGHT DIVISION
(155
lbs.)
BJ Penn-
92 Points (9 first place votes)
Takanori Gomi - 90 Points
Caol Uno - 55 points
Duane "Bang" Ludwig- 48 Points
Din Thomas - 41 Points
TIE Genki Sudo- 37 Point TIE Yves Edwards- 37 Points
Joachim Hansen - 33 Points
Shaolin Ribeiro - (1 first place vote) 20 Points
Jason Maxwell - 15 Points
Matt Serra - 13 Points (Tie) Jens Pulver - 13 Points (Tie)
Other votes - Dokojonosuke Mishima - (10) Josh Thompson (9),
Hermes Franca (8)
Voters
include:
Fighters
- Chris Brennan, Josh Barnett, Pat Miletich, Dennis Hallman,
Matt Lindland, Steve Berger, Evan Tanner, Sean Sherk, Din Thomas;
Dan Henderson, Yves Edwards, Pete Spratt, Nathan Marquardt, Duane
Ludwig, John Alessio and David Loiseau
Broadcasters
- Eric Apple (King of the Cage), Randy Harris - (WTAN Sports),
Jeff Osborne (Hook N Shoot & Shooto); Ryan Bennett (IFC,
UCC, Shooto and WEC), Monte Cox (Extreme Challenge), J.T. McCarthy
(UCC), Joe Goulet (UCC), Joe Ferraro (UCC).
Source:
MMA Weekly |
Quote
of the Day
"When I was a kid my parents moved a lot - but I always
found them."
Rodney Dangerfield
|
Nextel
Update
I know this has nothing to do with MMA news or rumors, but if
you have a Nextel, you can direct connect someone in Las Vegas
from here. How do I know? I got a direct connect from Rex in
Vegas. Bad news is that he apparently forgot about the 3 hour
time difference and called me at 5:30 am. Bastard ruined by beauty
sleep.
By
the way, more of Rex and Rene wedding pictures are up and split
up for faster loading pages for those with dial up (Shane).
http://www.onzuka.com/barnumwedding1.html
Mike
|
Interview:
The Machine Gun - RONALD JHUN
On
September 5th at Soboba Casino in San Jacinto, CA King Of The
Cage returns with another pay-per-view show, this one featuring
Ronald Jhun and John Alessio to combine their belts. Jhun has
had the KOTC Welterweight belt since defeating Shonie Carter
by decision in KOTC Sin City back in May. Just before the fight
we talked to Jhun about his record and his past so this catch-up
was mainly his thoughts on the Shonie fight and on Alessio.
KM:
Last fight of yours I saw was Shonie Carter in KOTC. Did you
have anything since then?
RJ: No. I’ve just been training, getting ready for this
fight coming up.
KM:
How has training been going?
RJ: Same as usual.
KM:
That was a really impressive performance against Shonie. You
showed the better striking, ground work, takedowns…there
was only one point where Shonie was working a kimura where you
looked in trouble. How do you look back at that fight?
RJ: I was pretty happy with the outcome. As far as the kimura,
I was just letting him do his thing.
KM:
Did you ever feel threatened by that?
RJ: Actually he was putting everything into it so I was just
letting him wear himself out. After he thought he couldn’t
get it he just gave up after that.
KM:
Did you think after that there was any point you weren’t
in control? To me it seemed like you had the rest of the fight.
RJ: Yeah, I think it was only that part where he had me in a
kimura I felt it could have went his way but the fight was pretty
much all mine. I pretty much dominated the fight.
KM:
Since that was a rematch of a draw in SuperBrawl were there any
feelings of redemption or closure?
RJ: Yeah. I actually wanted to finish the fight, either a knock
out or submission, but Shonie is a tough guy. I don’t think
anyone stopped him except Pat Miletich.
KM:
Most of his fights go to decision so it didn’t surprise
me that much. Any disappointment you didn’t finish the fight?
RJ: Not really. I actually was happy with my performance. I learned
a lot from that fight.
KM:
What did you learn from that fight?
RJ: No matter what I got to train hard, there is always room
for improvement. The scariest part about it is my best is yet
to come and I feel I’m just coming around now. I’m
excited for my next fight now.
KM:
Wasn’t your first against Shonie your first at 170?
RJ: Yeah. My very first time dropping down to 170.
KM:
Do you now feel comfortable at 170?
RJ: Yeah. Actually coming in at 170 the first time I wasn’t
even preparing for Shonie or anything, I was just worried about
making the weight. I guess the second time around I focused more
on working on my gameplan and strategy. Now I feel way comfortable
at 170.
KM:
Was that the first belt you ever won?
RJ: I actually won the IFC Middleweight title.
KM:
How long ago?
RJ: Probably two years ago.
KM:
How did you feel about wining the KOTC title?
RJ: To tell you the truth I was on cloud nine for a long time.
I finally came down. It kind of blew me away and didn’t
set in until later on I came home. It was a big accomplishment
from where I was and where I came.
KM:
Congratulations again. Now here you are getting ready to defend
that title against John Alessio. If I understand correctly they
are combining the two belts, Alessio’s Superfight belt and
your Welterweight belt. How do you feel about that?
RJ: Terry has been great with me. He has always welcomed me with
open arms and always had good things to say about me. KOTC has
treated me pretty good. I’m excited. I’ve seen John
Alessio from when he first started to now and he has come a long
way too. I think that should be a good fight all in itself.
KM:
You are known as very well-rounded while Alessio has been emphasizing
standup lately. Does that worry you at all?
RJ: Actually I’m kind of excited too because I’m working
on my boxing too.
KM:
Where?
RJ: I actually got a boxing trainer, a friend of the trainer
that trains BJ Penn. He’s bringing along professional boxing
sparring partners and I’ve just been getting knocked around
in there. Its pretty good. I’m thinking of trying out kickboxing
and maybe I’ll even move to boxing. I’m kind of excited
about this next fight, run in there and test how my boxing skill
is coming along.
KM:
This really does seem like it is going to be a standup war.
RJ: Yeah. A lot of guys I think now are cross training as far
as boxing, getting the standup, putting it together with jiu-jitsu
and wrestling and grappling. These guys coming up nowadays are
pretty much well-rounded.
KM:
You tend to be known as the most well-rounded of the KOTC Welterweights.
Alessio has been working his boxing and Diego Sanchez has been
doing a wonderful job on the ground, but you are known as the
best well-rounded. Are you worried at all about being able to
get Alessio to the ground if you get in trouble standing?
RJ: Not really. A lot of guys are telling me what my game plan
and strategy should be but like I tell them on every fight I
go in there and worry about my fight strategy, what I am going
to do and not so much what his strength and his weakness is.
I think that’s a difference as far as me mentally, going
in there and worrying about what I am going to do and not so
much what my opponent is coming at me. I’ll make the changes
in the fight if I have to.
KM:
You already fought on PPV in Vegas against Shonie. Is there any
pressure at all for defending the belt?
RJ: Not really. I don’t feel it now. I enjoyed myself the
last time I was out at Soboba. I think that is a pretty well
put-together facility. I don’t think the pressure is as
much as fighting at home. Blaisdell (Arena in Hawaii, home of SuperBrawl) is crazy, fighting
in front of 8000 people, all my family and friends…I think
I should be able to handle this pretty good.
KM:
Have you ever fought at Soboba or been at a fight there?
RJ: Yeah, I fought Dennis Hallman there (note: round draw in
KOTC 19 12/7/02).
KM:
So you know what the setting sun can be like.
RJ: Yeah. What is the weather like this time of year?
KM:
It was a little hot August 10th but not too hot. Nice breeze.
I have noticed the last two shows as Soboba the setting sun has
been a factor in some of the fights in the middle of the card.
I’m not sure if you and Alessio are last or second to last
and Dean Lister/James Lee are last. It probably won’t be
a factor to you two depending on how fast the prelims go. Any
concern about the blinding sun or anything like that? Did you
ever notice that before?
RJ: Yeah. I noticed I think of some of the DVDs that some of
the fights ended up with the sun.
KM:
I think I’ve only seen one fighter use the sun as a weapon,
like deliberately keep the sun behind him when he was facing
a striker. Do you have any objections or problems fighting outdoors?
RJ: Actually I kind of like it but the last time we fought it
was like 40 degrees so it was freezing. That was crazy, that
was an experience.
KM:
So basically what I am getting at is there isn’t anything
different for this show like nerves or the sun or the weather.
RJ: No.
KM:
Seems like you are finally getting the recognition you deserve.
How do you feel about that?
RJ: Feels like a long time coming. Good things come to those
who wait. I think it is also for the right reasons, for the adversities
I’ve been through, no matter what happens just keep pushing
forward.
KM:
Anything else you want the fans to know before this fight?
JH: I thank all my fans who helped me and support me. Without
them I wouldn’t be where I’m at. After all of this
I still give God all the praise and glory. He has been the center
part of my life.
For
more on this show check out www.kingofthecage.com. 808’s website
seems to be down at this time but for a gallery of shots from
the Jhun/Carter fight check out http://malarky.udel.edu/~keith/2003/kotc051603b.htm.
Source: ADCC
|
Terere
& Jacare Reply to Pe de Pano
A
few days ago ADCC News published a statement from current World
and ADCC Champion Marcio 'Pe de Pano' directed at two of the
best BJJ fighters in the World, Fernando 'Terere' & Ronaldo
Jacare' just prior to their appearance at the 3rd Black Belt
Challenge in Brazil. The statements were excerpts of an interview
with the champ that appeared in the August issue of Gracie Magazine.
In
the interview with Gracie Magazine, 'Pe de Pano' declared that
'Terere' had 'invented' a 'sudden cold' to avoid fighting him
and advised Terere to gain weight or take some 'steroids' before
facing him again! Pano went on to state that he'd rather die
than lose to Jacare and that Jacare 'did not know how to pass
guard!'
Well
it didn't take long for the pair to reply Pano's attacks. In
statements given to Luca Atalla/Gracie Magazine #79, both Terere
and Jaca had the following messages back to Pano!
'Terere':
'This 'Pe de Pano' is a real clown. I'll fight with those 242lbs
of butt meat anytime! Me and 'Jacare' are going to close his
coffin! I don't need to take any 'special products' to beat him.
Everyone knows that I sweep to the side! 'Pe de Pano was the
only guy in my life that I swept overhead!. I am waiting for
him with a smile on my face!!
Jacare
replied: 'The fighter gives his replies on the mat. I believe
Pe de Pano was unfortunate in his choice of words. Too arrogant
. . .If I don't know how to pass the guard, then I will practice
some more. Imagine when i get good at it . . . '
There
certainly will be more to this! Stay tuned!
Source: ADCC
|
Machado
Brothers 'Brazilian Brawlers' movie is released
Jean
Jacques Machado was all smiles telling everyone that their long
awaited movie Brazilian Brawlers was released and available now
on Blockbuster videos. Jean Jacques stated: 'This is a big step
in spreading BJJ to the masses. I had other projects in the works
as well!'
Besides
featuring all of the Machados, the movie also has Ricki Rocket
(Poison) & Dan Inosanto.
Be
sure to go and check it out!
Source: ADCC
|
KOTC
Interview: John Alessio (Part 2)
San
Jacinto, CA - The September 5th King Of The Cage card headlines
John Alessio and Ronald Jhun. Jhun is the Welterweight Champion
while Alessio is the Superfight Champion with the winner getting
both belts which will probably be combined into one. In part
one of this conversation Alessio talked about his recent boxing
training and his upcoming pro boxing debut in Vegas. Now he talks
about the Jhun fight.
KM:
Your next fight is against Ronald Jhun. My understanding of it
is they are combining your Superfight belt with his Welterweight
belt?
JA: I’m not sure what is happening but I believe whoever
wins will be crowned with both belts.
KM:
What are your thoughts on the possibility of losing your Superfight
belt?
JA: I’m not too worried about it. All I can think about
is gaining his belt. I’m not worried about that, I’m
going to be the Welterweight Champ in two weeks. A lot of people
I train with don’t feel like its going to go that long but
that’s what they said about the Chris Brennan fight and
I said ‘no, me and Chris Brennan are going to have a three-round
war’. That’s the same way I fell about Jhun. I never
try to squeak a decision, I go for the finish. I got 22 fights
and only 2 decisions. I’m confident in my striking. Ronald
Jhun seems to throw hard punches but they aren’t exactly
straight. My punch is straight and accurate and I think I’ll
be able to beat him to the punch. I feel confident he can’t
take me down when he gets into trouble on his feet. I feel confident
on the ground. I know Ronald Jhun is a really well-rounded fighter;
he’s a decent wrestler, he’s good at his submissions,
and he’s a decent striker which poses for a good opponent,
a good fight. I’m really not too worried about any of it.
KM:
He does seem like the most well-rounded of the KOTC 170s with
your emphasis being striking, Diego Sanchez being phenomenal
on the ground…what do you think of the perspective of people
starting to think of you more as a striker? Does that bother
you?
JA: No. Sure, they can think I’m a striker but if they start
thinking I’ve got nothing on the ground they got something
coming. I fought Ronald Jhun’s training partner Nassor Lewis
and I submitted him (note: KOTC 12 2/9/02 2:07 r1 by rear naked
choke). I fought John Crisostomo and he fought John Crisostomo
and we both knocked him out (note: Alessio SuperBrawl 2/8/00,
Jhun SuperBrawl 11/5/99). We got some similar opponents. I haven’t
fought Shonie and Shonie is a tough guy but that fight with him
and Shonie was very very close. Both fights with him and Shonie
were very close. It could have gone either way. Shonie lost that
point for a groin shot which makes you lose the round right there
but if that didn’t happen maybe Shonie would be champ and
I’d be fighting Shonie, I don’t know. It’ll be
a good fight. I like Jhun, he’s a really nice guy, but we’re
going to have to put that aside on September 5th and bang away.
After that I’m sure we can have a good time together.
KM:
How is the hand injury doing?
JA: 100%.
KM:
Totally healed recovered.
JA: Not even an issue. It’s posing me no problems.
KM:
You explained to me before but I didn’t have a tape running
about you are known as a Millennia Jiu-Jitsu fighter but this
entire time you’ve had your own team or school under the
name Bad Intentions. Can you clarify that?
JA: I still continue to train with Millennia. We’re one
big team basically, Millennia and Bad Intentions. We’ll
all train together. Every other day we’re with each other,
like Mondays they’ll come train with us and Tuesdays we’ll
go train at Millennia. Basically we just got two different spots.
Just a little bit different styles too. Millennia concentrate
on jiu-jitsu and we always concentrate a little more on counter
wrestling and standup. We work really good together as a team.
KM:
Nine months or so ago Millennia had five MMA belts among three
people and now its pretty much you are the last one left with
one belt. As far as the perspective of this being a low point
in the success of Millennia do you have a response? I think that’s
an insulting perspective myself.
JA: It’s definitely an insulting perspective and I disagree.
You can’t win every fight. When you are a champion you are
out there fighting good competition, you can’t expect to
win every single fight. Especially MMA, there are way too many
variables. You make one mistake and you could lose. Unfortunately
we lost a couple fights in a row but we’ve come bouncing
back. Our team did really good at the last KOTC where Chad Davis
won his fight and Art (Santore) won a couple fights in a row,
Javi is looking to make his comeback in the next couple of months
and he’s going to destroy somebody. Can’t win them
all, especially when you are fighting top competition. You can’t
really name one fighter that is undefeated at the top.
KM:
To me its what you learned from your loss and how it changes
you. If you don’t lose at the very least you don’t
know if you have faults in your game.
JA: Exactly. Every time I’ve lost I’ve learned something.
Back to the drawing board and improved on what I thought my weakness
was during that fight.
KM:
Speaking of Art Santore what is up with him? I haven’t seen
him fight in a while.
JA: He just fought on the last KOTC in Reno.
KM:
Oh, I missed that one.
JA: Yeah, beat Sean Gray beginning of the second or third round.
KM:
Who else should we be keeping an eye out for?
JA: Tony Paterra is making his comeback. He fought in UFC quite
a long time ago (note: UFC 20 5/7/99). He hasn’t fought
in four years…he’s making a return fighting Wes Combs.
KM:
Is that also on the 5th?
JA: Yep. And our guy Rick is making his debut.
KM:
Anything else to get across about the Jhun fight? I think this
is going to be a really exciting mostly standup battle.
JA: Its going to be a standup fight, that’s for sure. I’m
looking for a good clean fight between me and Jhun. We’re
both sportsmen and good athletes and I’m hoping we can put
on the fight of the night and please the pay-per-view fans and
the fans that are in the crowd live.
KM:
Its been seven months since your fight in the UCC (now TKO) and
a couple months more since your last KOTC. Do you object to the
term ‘comeback’?
JA: No, this is my KOTC comeback. I’m not coming back off
no loss, I’m just coming back.
KM:
‘Comeback’ seems to blow the injury out of proportion.
How about ‘return’?
JA: Yeah.
KM:
Any pressure in that sense?
JA: No, I don’t feel the pressure.
KM:
You’re not worried about ring rust or anything like that?
JA: No. I bang away with these guys every single day. All its
going to be is a different cage I’m in banging away. It
doesn’t mean nothing to me. Once the door shuts its on.
KM:
Any other sponsors besides The Octagon.com?
JA: Yeah. Cutting Edge Landscaping, Medicure.com, The One Lounge,
I’d also like to thank my boxing coach Mikhal Caldwell and
all my training partners and family.
For
more on John Alessio check out www.millenniajiujitsu.com. For more on KOTC
including tickets or directions check out www.kingofthecage.com.
Source: ADCC
|
ANTOINE
JOAUDE: THE BEST BRAZILIAN WRESTLER
Two
times ADCC champion (Arabic division) and the AFC's 225 lb World
Champion, Antoine Jaoude (Ruas Vale-Tudo) just got the silver
medal at the Pan-American Games, held in Santo Domingo, establishing
himself as the best Brazilian wrestler in the game today. In
this exclusive interivew for Team TATAME, he talked about the
Brazilian wrestling team at the competition and about wrstling's
development in Brazil. He also commented on his future in MMA
and his big dream: a chance to go to the Olympic Games. Now he
is training hard for the up coming World Wrestling Championship,
in New York. He will also look to defend his AFC World Title
in Florida.
What
do you think about the Brazilian wrestling team’s performance
at the Pan-American Games?
The campaign was good. For real, we don’t have much money
or support, and we have trained for medals. We don’t care
if it was gold, silver or bronze. I got a silver medal and we
had disputed two bronzes with Rodrigo Artilheiro and Juliana
Borges. They just debuted in international events, but unfortunately
we lost. Wrestling’s development is something we are doing
for the long term. We don’t have sponsors. We only count
with Brazilian Fights Association Confederation (CBLA) and the
Brazilian Olympic Committee (COB).
How
do see your performance at this Pan-American?
This was the 3rd medal for a Brazilian wrestler in the history
in the Pan-American Games. The first was in 1951 with Angenor
Baianinho, the second in 1987 with Beto Leitão. I was
2 times Pan-American vice-champion: 2000 in Santo Domingo and
2001 in Colombia. Brazilian fighters have been at the Pan-American,
but we don’t have a tradition. There are people in Brazil
that even don’t know I won the silver medal. Now, with the
CBLA and COB, I am sure we are going to develop wrestling. At
this Pan-American it was difficult to face Americans and Cubans
due to their training structure. The last time I competed was
in May and they do it all the time. This time I lost for Daniel
Morreti, who is the champion. I am happy about the silver.
Is
it true that American and Cuban wrestlers believe that Brazil
can bother them in few years?
Yes. The Confederation has been around two years and we have
showed our potential. They believe if we continue our work in
Brazil, over two or three years we will be able to face them.
We do enjoy fighting and have the fighting in our blood. We are
champions in different styles and it won’t be different
with wrestling. The goal is to develop the wrestler in Brazil
and at least chase after the bronze medal in every category of
the 2007 Pan-Americans.
What
are you plans for the future?
I am focusing on the next Wrestling World Championship held in
New York from September 11th to 14th. The first eight qualified
for the Olympic Games. In the beginning of 2004, there will be
three more three trials and I am all about that.
And
about the MMA events?
My priority is wrestling, but since I don’t have any support,
I fight MMA to support my training. I wanted to fight in the
last AFC held in July, but I was training for the Pan-American.
Now Beto Leitão, my matchmaker, is taking care of my return
to MMA, after this Wrestling World Championship.
Source: ADCC
|
Interview:
KOTC fighter Drew Fickett
George
Huus with Xtreme Sports News here with professional nhb fighter
Drew Fickett, who is coming off a recent victory over Dennis
'Superman' Hallman in King of the Cage.
G
How are you doing today Drew?
D Pretty good. I am still recovering mentally and physically
from my war with Dennis.
G
How does it feel to beat a UFC veteran and one of the best welterweights
in the world.
D I'm still pretty stoked about the big win and this has definitely
given me a lot of confidence with my career.
G
Where are you from originally?
D Tampa, Fl
G
Do you have any interests besides fighting?
D I enjoy playing the piano, plan on buying another one after
this fight. I also like to read and find auto mechanics super
interesting. I can also eat forever, I love food!
G
Do you find it hard to maintain a strict diet while you are training?
D Honestly, I do eat healthy, but I eat as much as I can probably
5 to 6 times a day.
G
I guess with your level of intensity in training and competition
you find a way to harness all those extra calories right?
D Yeah, I'm always hungry. I'm constantly asked by my friends
how can you eat so much and stay so lean. The answer I don't
eat fast food. That is the Fickett diet secret in a nutshell.
G
What is your martial arts background?
D I grew up doing Kajukenbo karate as a kid with Veon McCarrol,
then I began to wrestle my Freshman year in H.S., I boxed a little
bit after H.S. and did some submission wrestling at the Tucson
Judo club with Steve Owens, who is also Don Frye's instructor.
I wrestled one year at Pima Community College under my old H.S.
wrestling coach Joe Solorio until my season was cut short by
a brutal motorcycle accident in which I almost lost my life.
After 2 years of recovering from that I moved to Phoenix with
the goal of wrestling for ASU, but when that fell short due to
athletic eligibility I began training Jiu Jitsu with two time
world champion Gustavo Dantas and former pro fighter from AMC
Trevor Lally.
G
What is your next step in NHB?
D Right now I am really trying to get into the whole marketing
aspect of the sport, because that is where the money is.
G
Do you have any ideas for future opponents?
D More then anyone I want a rematch with Landen Showalter who
is my only legitimate loss.
G
Do you see yourself in the UFC someday?
D Definitely.
G
How do you feel about Jeremy Jackson getting the fight over you
in the UFC?
D From a personal standpoint I think it's pretty unfair, considering
I just beat the man who beat the man. I mean it's not like Jeremy
Jackson and Nick Diaz have been superstars their whole lives.
Their just like me and are beginning to get the recognition that
they deserve and I feel it should be my place where Jackson is
filling in, but politics are politics.
G
It must be hard to stay so motivated when you almost think that
your time has come and someone else gets the shot.
D You're telling me.
G
It is my understanding that you defeated an up and comer about
to make his UFC debut.
D Yeah, Edwin Dewees who is fighting Rich Franklin in the same
show as Jackson vs. Diaz.
G
Weren't you supposed to fight Jeremy Jackson in the upcoming
Rage in the Cage event?
D Yeah.
G
Why was that fight called off?
D Because Jackson went UFC and doesn't want to risk losing his
shot again!
G
Do you feel like Jackson would have been an easy fight for you?
D To tell you the truth I don't believe there are any more 'easy'
fights left for me after my latest victory.
G
What would you like to say to any possible sponsors that may
be reading this today?
D That I bring a lot of intensity to the fight and I am definitely
one of the most exciting fighters to watch in the sport today.
Because of my well roundedness in standup, ground and wrestling
I can keep the fight moving at a pace that is more then satisfying
for the fans. I am also very professional and easy to deal with.
I stand by my word. I would also like to thank my sponsors for
this last fight
WWW.DIGITIZEDGAMING.COM
, WWW.GDJIUJITSU.COM, ARIZONA COMBAT SPORTS
and FULL CONTACT FIGHTER (WWW.FCFIGHTER.COM)
G
Thank you for your time Drew and the best of luck to you and
your career.
D Thanks.
Source: ADCC
|
Quote
of the Day
"Happiness is good health and a bad memory."
Ingrid Bergman
|
1st
Annual Kauai "Grappler's Paradise" 2003 Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
tournament Update!
We are in the process of putting together packages for all outer
island and out of state competitors. If you know of anyone willing
to help in this area, your help would be appreciated. Any kind
of help at this time would be greatly appreciated. I'm always
looking for volunteer judges, score keepers, etc, and I would
be willing to make your volunteering worthwhile, if you know
what I mean.
Due to popular demand the tournament has now been moved to Saturday,
September 27th in order to accommodate outer island, mainland,
and international competitors.
Also, the venue has changed to an outdoor site with a roof and
bleachers located at the Kapaa middle school. This venue has
awesome vieing and eliminates the problem of having to wait and
or compete in a hot gym environment. Mat space has also been
increased as well.
A no-gi division will also be added. Medals, prizes, and cool
tourny T's will also be provided!
Hope
to see you all there.
Space
is available but limited crashing at Kendall's place for the
Relson Gracie team members. Also, accomodations at a hotel that's
home to one of the clubs on the island is also be worked out
for a good kamaaina rate.
The after party will be at THE SHACK that Saturday night.
You
can call Kendall Goo at 823-6650 or email me at kendallg15@hawaii.rr.com
if you have any questions.
|
Interview:
AARON RILEY
Two
years ago Aaron was possibly the most scouted Welterweight, right
up there with Yves Edwards before Yves dropped to 155. Fighting
mostly in HOOKnSHOOT he amassed a 16-4-1 record and a reputation
as fearless, being described as fighting like a Mack truck in
fourth gear. Then came his big break in UFC 37 in May of 2002
which was also the debut of Robbie Lawler. In many fans minds
Lawler’s reputation was built on that fight with Riley as
their styles matched up so well. Since then Riley picked up a
win over Alexandre Barros, lost the shot at the vacant HOOKnSHOOT
Welterweight title to Chris Lytle, and most recently picked up
a win in Washington. Here we catch up with Aaron just a couple
days before he heads off to Mexico for another fight.
KM:
I heard we have possibly two fights with you coming up.
AR: Possibly.
KM:
Let me start with the Mexico show this weekend. What do you know
about your opponent?
AR: Really I don’t know that much other than what I’ve
heard Jeff (Osborne) say. That and the trusty Full Contact Fighter
website that every fighter goes to and checks out.
KM:
(laughing) you are good at that product placement.
AR: Outside of that I really don’t know all that much. Jeff
has videotape I’m going to check out before I head down.
Jeff and I are going to be leaving together so I’ll be at
his house the night before we leave so I’m going to watch
the video tape but I heard he’s stood up more so it kind
of looks like he prefers to stand up and fight.
KM:
That seems to play right to your strategy.
AR: Hopefully so.
KM:
I missed one of your fights! You fought in Washington about a
month ago.
AR: Right.
KM:
Can you walk us through real quick?
AR: The opponent was a state-wrestling champion that trained
with a jiu-jitsu club in Oregon. It was a Dennis Hallman/Anthony
Hamlett joint promotion. The opponent was Nick Gilardi. He was
a young tough kid that was looking to step up and make a name
for himself by fighting against an opponent that had a name so
to speak or a little bit anyway. That’s all that was. Then
I was preparing to come back to Indiana so I was looking to pick
up a little bit of cash by fighting. More than anything it was
about getting back in the ring and not staying out of competition
for too long.
KM:
Last time I saw you was when you lost the HOOKnSHOOT Welterweight
belt to Chris Lytle. I was trying to get a couple words off you
after the show but you weren’t up for it and I haven’t
heard of you since. How do you look back at the Lytle fight?
AR: Ummm (dramatic pause).
KM:
I think that is the only time I’ve ever seen you knocked
out. Even Robbie Lawler in your last UFC performance…
AR: I didn’t feel like I was knocked out. I was hit, stunned,
and dropped. I popped back up and was ready to continue the fight
and it was stopped. I can understand that from a safety point
of view. I’m sure it looked bad too because of the falling
forward after the shot but I felt I was able…I mean I had
my feet under me when I stood back up so I felt I was able to
continue. That was probably the worst performance I’ve ever
put out in any competition. There aren’t really any excuses
for it. I’d like a chance to maybe give a better performance.
There’s not too much to say on it really. I don’t know,
the stars weren’t aligned that night. Things didn’t
work out but it doesn’t really matter because nobody is
interested in hearing a fighter make excuses. I didn’t win
that night and maybe if I had a chance to fight him again maybe
things would go different but that’s all there is to say
on that one.
KM:
Now that I hear you are back in Indiana and going with Jeff down
to Mexico I’m pretty sure we are going to see you back in
HOOKnSHOOT again pretty soon. Any word on that so far?
AR: Not really yet. I’ve talked to Jeff about the possibility
of putting on an event in my hometown in the Cannelton/Tell City
area maybe the first week in December. That is something we were
just brainstorming about. We’ll just wait and see how that
would maybe pan out. That would probably be a smaller show though,
not the level of HOOKnSHOOT. Not to say the opponent wouldn’t
be but I’m sure it would be kind of a scaled down thing,
a couple local guys.
KM:
I heard rumors you may be going out to Moscow for 2Hot2Handle.
AR: Well, we haven’t really got anything finalized on that.
That was kind of a rumor I would say probably. That was Miguel’s
thing and there haven’t been any talks on that for a while.
Nothing is even close to being finalized on that. Really I haven’t
talked to Miguel about that for two months.
KM:
As far as the rumors of you dropping to 155 I hear that is unlikely.
AR: Not right now. These next two that are on the table are at
170.
KM:
You moved back to Indiana. What are your thoughts on that?
AR: It’s good to get back to home and be around the family.
I’ve been away from them for three years. I’m kind
of recharging my batteries a little bit and we’ll go from
there, see what kind of choices I might want to make career-wise.
I’m going back to what worked to start with in my career
you might say. Trying to take a few fights but not anything like
UFC. Kind of get back in the swing of things. When I went to
AMC I was out of competition for eleven months before I stepped
back in the ring. I think that really hurt me rather than helped
me because there was a factor of a little bit of ring rust. When
I got in the ring with Yves, not to say that Yves is not a top
caliber fighter or anything like that, I think it was tough coming
back in to the ring against a level of fighter like that when
I hadn’t really had any top caliber competition in over
eleven months. I don’t think that was really in my best
interest to do it that way.
KM:
Are you saying you are looking for more local fights to keep
the ring rust off?
AR: Right, and to work myself back up. I’d like to get a
couple of fights before I would step back into a UFC setting
or something of that magnitude.
KM:
Would it be accurate to say ‘to keep the ring rust off as
you change your training’?
AR: Yeah.
KM:
How would you describe leaving AMC and what your training opportunities
are in Indian now? We were talking before about my perspective
AMC wasn’t the right fit for you.
AR: Yeah, I don’t think it was necessarily. The gym had
changed a lot too since I first joined. Dennis Hallman was the
guy that actually introduced me to AMC so to speak. Dennis was
the one that invited me to Washington and the one I stayed with
for the first month I visited and when I moved for the first
month. After Dennis left it kind of lost something for me. Maybe
I should have just gone ahead and gone down there.
KM:
Were you tired of training at AMC, just want to move on, getting
homesick…why did you leave AMC?
AR: Really I wasn’t enjoying any aspect of being a fighter
anymore while I was training there. I guess the environment didn’t
suit me. Training used to be fun and the fighting of course was
the most fun thing to me before and it got to the point both
just lost any kind of appeal. It felt like work. Training especially
felt like work and fighting felt like work. It was no longer
fun.
KM:
How does that compare to your last fight in Washington and preparation
for this one in Mexico?
AR: Training for the last fight in Washington I trained at Charlie
Pearson’s gym, Pearson’s Black Belt Academy. Charlie
and I worked really well together and actually Dennis was coming
by quite often and bringing Benji (Radach) and his female fighter
Janelle because they all had fights they were preparing for.
The training was really fun and everything felt good and the
fight went well. The change in attitudes and latitudes helped
me out.
KM:
And training for this one in Mexico, is this any easier or pleasant
now that you are back in Indian?
AR: I’m kind of getting back to some of the things I did
before. I’m back to my boxing gym I trained at when I was
over here. Hopefully some people will see some things out of
me from the past when it seemed there was a little more boxing,
a little more powerful strikes. I think some of my game had changed
when I moved so hopefully I’ll get some of the stuff from
the past back.
KM:
Being a long-time fan that was one thing I noticed; that ferocity,
that tenacity that you used to show…you seemed to be more
hesitant. I remember one time it seemed like you were a couple
strikes away from a TKO and you were instructed to go for a submission.
The term we used was ‘don’t fix what ain’t broken’.
AR: That is the thing a lot of people said. Me and Matt have
different approaches. He is more of a technical fighter and my
style is different.
KM:
So it’s going to be a little while before most fans can
see that “The Old” Aaron Riley is back.
AR: Maybe. Its just going to be a ting where I’m going to
try to get back on track and slowly get back to where I was as
far as before I left and went to AMC. Before anyone even knew
I was going to AMC, Joe Silva was already interested in having
me in the UFC but then after I went to AMC a lot of things were
changed.
Stay
tuned as we continue to keep an eye out for Aaron on his climb
back to the top.
Source: ADCC |
Tyson’s
Time !
Submitted by: Luca Atalla
It’s
official! One day after Mike Tyson appeared in K-1 Bellagio in
Las Vegas and challenged the giant Bob Sapp on the ring, he signed
with the Japanese organization and will do his debut in MMA world
before the end of this year (probably on Dec. 31st). “Tyson
is one of our fighters now. I’m not allowed to announce
who is going to be his first opponent yet but, from now on, Tyson
will fight both K-1 and vale-tudo styles. He’s part of a
huge plan to create the greatest team of fighters on earth”,
says Sergio Batarelli, recently charged as general director of
MMA of K-1, a kind of vice-president of the organization.
Source: ADCC |
DANA
WHITE TALKS ABOUT U.K. AND T.V.
UFC president Dana White appeared on Monday's MMAWeekly Radio
Show and announced a massive awareness campaign that the UFC
will be running on national television to raise awareness about
mixed martial arts.
It
wasn't the announcement of a weekly TV deal as many fans were
hoping, but it was probably the next best thing as far as mainstream
awareness for the sport of MMA. The advertising campaign will
debut on September 5 in the form of a 30-minute infomercial that
will air on Spike TV and Comedy Central more than 250 times in
a two-week period.
Spike
TV is the new name for TNN and is also the home of the WWE, which
consistantly has one of the highest-rated shows on cable television
with WWE Raw. Dana White has said on the record that the UFC
is talking with Spike TV (and a few other networks) about a weekly
TV show for the UFC, and he reaffirmed those statements on Monday's
radio show.
The
UFC is not in negotiations to have a weekly TV show on Comedy
Central, but airing the infomercial on Comedy Central makes sense
because the network does extremely well in the 18-to-49-year-old
male demographic that is coveted by TV advertisers and is also
the primary audience for MMA.
Hosted
by respected Showtime boxing analyst Al Bernstein, the 30-minute
show will be called "From Spectacle to Sport" and will
educate people about what MMA used to be and what it is today.
It
is not known if the infomercial will be mentioned by WWE announcers
on Spike TV, but it certainly isn't out of the question given
the UFC's friendly working relationship with the WWE. The air
times for the "Spectacle to the Sport" show will be
advertised in commercials that will air on numerous TV networks,
including Fox, ESPN, and ESPN 2.
Dana White also announced that the UFC is back on its way to
pay-per-view in the United Kingdom.
Though
he couldn't reveal all of the details due to the fact that the
deal isn't completely done yet, UFC 44 will be available on pay-per-view
in London. Based on how well the London public responds to the
event, the same British partner company will hopefully pick up
future UFC events (starting with UFC 45) that would air throughout
the UK on traditional PPV and also on closed-circuit TV in movie
theaters.
Source: MMA Weekly |
BUSY
SCHEDULE FOR BABALU
Another UFC Veteran that continues to remain busy is Renato "Babalu"
Sobral. We are getting closer to the big IFC Light Heavyweight
Tournament where "Babalu" is set to meet Trevor Prangley
in the opening round, but there are also reports that "Babalu"
will headline another card.
Babalu
is expected to headline the upcoming Meca World Vale-Tudo in
December. Building on the success of past events, Promotion Organizers
are looking to complete negotiations in a deal that will have
"Babalu" face PRIDE standout Murilo Ninja.
For
now though Babalu will focus on the IFC Tournament that will
be held a week from Friday. His opponent will be up and coming
fighter Trevor Prangley. Here's the upcoming IFC tournament.
Get your tickets today!
Light
Heavyweight Tournament
Eliminator Fight 1
Renato "Babalu" Sobral vs. Trevor Prangley
Eliminator
Fight 2
Mauricio "Shogun" Rua vs. Paulo Filho
Eliminator
Fight 3
Michail Avetisyan vs. Jeremy Horn
Eliminator
Fight 4
Chael Sonnen vs Griffin
Source: MMA Weekly |
Quote
of the Day
"Today's greatest labor-saving device is tomorrow."
Tom Wilson |
Fighters'
Club TV Episode 13 Tonight!
Fighters' Club TV Episode 13 will premiered Tuesday (August 12) at
6:00 pm
on Channel 52
Remember
it is a relatively new time slot so tell your friends that the
show is on at 6:00 pm and not 8:30 pm.
It'll
repeat for the next 4 Tuesdays, "same time, same place".
This episode will feature:
-MMA rules and regulations explained and demonstrated by Ronald
Jhun, Egan
Inoue, Kai Kamaka, and Sheldon Young
-Highlights from the Kaos Fighting Championships held at the
Dole Cannery
-Desi Miner vs James Stanford (plus intv. w/ Desi)
-John Naole vs Paul Laga
-Ronald Jhun vs James Meals (plus a joint intv. w/ both Ron and
James)
(remaining fights to be featured on a future episode)
-Interview with Kaos promoters Dennis Bonner and Kai Kamaka
and
of course, Hawaii's two favorite hosts, Mark Kurano and Mike
Onzuka
Please
send any questions and comments to any of us (Mike, Chris, Mark
or
Jason) at fightersclubtv808@hotmail.com.
|
The
Brazilian Beat:
News, news and more news as plenty of event results set the tone
for this edition of the beat!
The last days saw plenty of events in all sorts of forms, from
Jiu-Jitsu competitions, to MMA rules involving no striking on
the ground, passing trough shows that ended up not happening,
the Brazilian scene was agitated by news and results, including
happenings on shows that didn't take place yet, but are getting
nearer and nearer as days goes by. So this edition of the Brazilian
Beat comes bringing you facts and news about the shows that are
now history, and those that will most certainly make history
in the following weeks, as one can never stop the rhythm, and
Full Contact Fighter makes sure the Beat is as loud as ever!
Enjoy!
As
it was planned Vitor Belfort went to the distant Brazilian capital
of Boa Vista, in the state of Roraima, up in the north of the
country to bring a student to fight at the 1st Octagon Vale Tudo
show, as well as attend as a special guest to the show. However,
things didn't turn well for Vitor's pupil, as Fortaleza lost
a judges' decision to local fighter Adriano Soares. Other than
that "The Phenom" told us that show was nice and a
good crowd showed up to watch it. Vitor also went on to say that
he is going to get married, officially, in October. Since he
is going to be preparing for his November UFC appearance, Belfort
will only have the wedding party with his fiancé Joana
Prado in December of 2003.
In his new venture, Mario Sperry is taking care of the final
details for the first edition of his MMA promotion, called Brazil
Super Fight. The show is scheduled for September 19th in the
city of Porto Alegre, and as "The Zen Machine" Takes
care of the last details regarding production, the card is also
being finalized despite some last minute changes, as Mario student
and MECA veteran Luis Britto withdrew from his fight against
Luiz Azeredo, also a MECA veteran, and a replacement is likely
to be announced at any minute. Still the highlights of the show
are the participation of Pancrase star Ikuhisa Minowa against
UFC veteran Macaco, HEAT veteran Eduardo Simoes in his second
MMA fight, as wll as Gilson Ferreira coming back to the rings
and MECA 9 winner Marcelo Alfaia trying to keep his streak going.
Here's the fighting card for the show:
Marcelo Grillo Alfaia (Brazilian Top Team) X Jose "Dragao"
Ricardo
Loke
"The Duke" Piclum (BTT Australia) X Eduardo Simoes
(Ruas Vale Tudo)
Haroldo
"Cabelinho" Bunn (Brazilian Top Team) X Leonardo Souza
(Kimura/Nova Uniao)
Eric
Tavares (Ruas Vale Tudo) X Andre "Mau" Lagendre (Gold
Team)
Helio
Dipp (Kickboxing) X Luis "Beicao" (Ruas Vale Tudo)
Gilson
"Capixu" Ferreira X Muriez Linke (Gold Team-Poland)
Luiz
Azeredo (Gold Team) X TBA
Jorge
"Macaco" Patino X Ikuhisa Minowa (Brazilian Top Team-Japan)
Speaking of young Ruas Vale Tudo fighter Eduardo Simoes, the
kid was supposed to do his second MMA fight in an even at the
country of Puerto Rico, this last 16th of August. Simoes was
supposed to take part on a show called TTC, where Ricco Rodriguez
was also supposed to compete. Simoes went there along with his
trainer Pedro Rizzo, and suddenly they found themselves in the
middle of a mess. Rizzo told FCF that once in Puerto Rico Eduardo's
opponent withdrew from the fight, and that led the promoters
to look for a replacement, who was only wanting to do a submission
wrestling match up! When talks were still going on, already in
the locker room, everybody was caught by surprise as a extremely
small crowd showed up to watch the show, and the promoter ended
up having a heart attack, causing the show to be cancelled. All
in all the kid is going to fight at BASF in September, and is
already training for this challenge.
Still
speaking of the Ruas Vale Tudo team, Heavyweight fighter Antoine
Jaude and his trainer Beto Leitao traveled to the country capital,
Brasilia, to have a meeting with the Brazilian president. The
meeting happened due to the Silver medal won by Antoine at the
PanAm games in Wrestling, and along with Jaude and Beto plenty
of other athletes from other sports, who also did well at the
games, were also meeting the president. Antoine Jaude is now
going to focus a lot of his training in trying to participate
at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece.
PRIDE
Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva is already back from his
trip to the city of Londrina, also on the state of Parana where
Curitiba is located. Silva went there to meet up with his physical
trainer Waldemar Guimaraes, who is famous for training several
pro bodybuilders at international level, to decide the plans
for his preparation targeting the PRIDE Middleweight GP finals.
"The Axe Murderer" is now finally taking time to enjoy
his newborn son, and FCF will have more news on his preparation
soon.
The
3rd edition of the already traditional Black Belt Jiu-Jitsu challenge
took place this last Thursday, and it was the biggest edition
of the event ever. The show this time took place at the Ibirapuera
arena, the same that held this year's Adu Dhabi Championship,
and brought some of the most important names of Jiu-Jitsu to
the mat to compete in single matches. Among the attractions of
the show was the fight between former partners Jorge Macaco Patino
and Roberto Godoi, as well as smooth art's phenom Ronaldo Jacare's
black belt debut! Jacare surely did his debut in great style
as he defeated Delson "Pe de Chumbo" by 6 points to
zero. In the show's most tense fight, Macaco managed to defeat
Godoi in the last seconds of the fight, tying the score and then
getting the nod based on Fabio Gurgel's (The referee) decision.
Here are the results:
Leticia Ribeiro defeated Simone Ribeira by 15x0
Bibiano
Fernandez defeated Roberto Matsumoto by 4x0
Fredson
Paixao defeated Reinaldo Ribeiro by 3x2 (advantages)
Leonardo
Santos defeated Carlos Eduardo Vieira by 9x0
Marcelo
Garcia defeated Eduardo Santoro by 11x0
Jorge
Macaco Patino defeated Roberto Godoi by ref's decision (2 advantages
to each fighter)
Fernando
Terere defeated Fabio Nascimento by 4x0
Fernando
Paradeda defeated Jefferson Moura by 3x2 (advantages)
Luiz
Guilherme defeated Felipe Lira by 5x0
Alexandre
Cafe Dantas defeated Gabriel Napao by 2x0
Gabriel
Vella defeated Adriano Maciel by 4x0
Ronaldo
Jacare defeated Delson Pe de Chumbo by 6x0
Work
is still being done for Antonio Inoki and Wallid Ismail partnership
event Jungle Fight, to take place in the month of September at
the Amazon Forrest, in Brazil. Although the show is scheduled
to take place on September 13th, word has that the date may be
changed, since the promoters want everything to be perfect, and
the plan is truly for a breakthrough show in its concept. Word
also has that Mr. Inoki himself is already in Brazil in company
of Wallid, and both men are traveling together to take care of
numerous business as well as, of course, the last details for
the show to happen. The rumored matches for the card include
Josh Barnett against Gary Goodridge, Ricardo Morais against Jan
"The Giant" Nortje, Mark Schultz versus Leopoldo Montenegro
and Rico Chiapparelli against Luis Pantera. New fights are likely
to be announced at any time, including names like Ronaldo Jacare,
Carlos Barreto, Marcelo Tigre and Ebenezer Braga.
Chute
Boxe fighter Murilo Ninja Rua is still training hard at the team's
academy in Curitiba, preparing himself for a fight until the
end of the year. Ninja is awaiting another shot at PRIDE before
the year ends, and is always on hold for a possible MECA fight
in the event December show. In the meantime, Murilo is scheduling
his second European seminar tour for October, as he told FCF
he loved the experience in May and is eager to meet the European
fans once again to show some of his techniques.
As
always said in this space, new shows never end to pop up in Brazil,
and the following this trend the second edition of Knockout Cup
happened in the city of Curitiba this last Friday, giving some
new fighters a chance to get their taste of MMA. Promoted by
the Brazilian Impacto Team, the show featured mostly fighters
from Pele Team and, of course, Brazilian Impacto. Using rules
that included no striking on the ground, Knockout Cup had single
matches, a tournament and some submission wrestling match ups
as well. Here are the results of the MMA matches, where Pele
Team stole the scene with plenty of knockouts:
80kg
tournament - Quarter finals
Caue Dudus defated Everaldo Saddan by triangle choke
Rogelson Silveira defeated Alexandre Marciano by decision
Sandro Reini defeated Page by KO
Marcelo Paulista defeated Alexandre Oliveira by guillotine choke
Semi
Finals
Caue Dudus defeated Rogelson Silveira by TKO
Sandro Reis defeated Marcelo Paulista by KO
Final
Sandro Reis (Pele Team) defeated Caue Dudus by TKO
Single
Matches:
Emerson Graxaim (Brazilian Impacto) defeated Guilherme by choke
Luis Sharnesk (Pele Team) defeated Sebastian by KO
Gilliard Parana (Brazilian Impacto) defeated Hugo by armlock
Claudinei Kozan (Brazilian Impacto) defeated Gelson by armlock
Marcelo Santos (Brazilian Impacto) defeated Fabio Goncalves by
Kimura lock
Speaking
of Pele Landi, the former Chute Boxe fighter is now concentrating
his efforts in putting on his own MMA show in the month of October.
The event is going to take place in the city of Curitiba, at
a tentative date of 17th of October. The show is going to be
called Challenger Original Brazilian Vale Tudo, and according
to Pele himself the concept is to bring the old IVC days back
to the light, with the original set of rules that marked the
sport in the early days, including headbutts, elbow strikes and
30 minutes time limit, although gloves will be used. The idea
is to have seven fights on the card, and more news will be released
soon.
Speaking
of shows Heat Fighting Championship is still on the spotlights
as news keeps developing all the time. Despite the fact that
the promoters are already working on the 2nd show, scheduled
for November 27th also in Natal, Brazil, news about HEAT FC 1
are still happening, as word has that a DVD deal is on the works
and may be announced in the next days, regarding possibly Brazil
and Japan, with a USA deal being planned as well. According to
promoter Conraldo Carlos, some fights for HEAT FC 2 are likely
to be announced next week, as he wants to have the complete card
signed in September.
Source: FCF
|
Tyson
Signs with K-1
A
few weeks ago, August 8th to be precise, MMAWeekly had a news
story about Mike Tyson fighting Bob Sapp in K-1. Even though
many people dismissed it as a "slow news day", not
believing it was possible for Tyson to sign, some people started
to take notice when Bob Sapp came on mmaweeklyradio and talked
about the possibilities of Tyson signing the dotted line.
Sapp
said that Tyson vs Sapp had been discussed and the two could
fight each other. Well this weekend it became official as this
picture above says a thousand words. Mike Tyson will fight for
K-1.
The
deal was finalized on Sunday at it has K-1 acquiring the rights
to manage the career of Mike Tyson fully with the exception of
professional boxing fights in the U.S. The earlier reports to
the Japanese media are that Tyson may make his K-1 debut on the
last event scheduled for the year on December 31, 2003 in Japan.
The
big question now is will Tyson's first opponent be Bob Sapp.
Some people believe it will be, especially since Sapp challenged
Tyson in the ring. Others believe that K-1 will bring Tyson slowly
and have him fight in December, then build a Sapp vs Tyson fight.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
SERRA
TALKS ABOUT FUTURE
Matt Serra appeared on Friday's MMAWeekly Radio Show and talked
about his participation in the upcoming 16-man lightweight tournament
that will be taking place in the Japan-based ZST promotion. The
first round of the tournament will be in November, with the tournament
champion to be determined at a separate event in early 2004.
Serra said that he isn't completely sure of ZST's rules, but
he has heard that they are similar to Pride's rules.
Serra
said that after the ZST tournament, he will be open to fighting
in the UFC, Pride Bushido, or any other MMA organization. He
has a particularly strong interest in fighting Hermes Franca
because they are both exciting fighters who go for the finish.
Matt
Serra also said that his most recent UFC fight, which was against
Din Thomas, has affected him mentally for a few different reasons.
Matt said that it would mess with anyone's head to have your
hand raised as the winner and then be told a few minutes later
that the judges added up the scores incorrectly. Serra said that
it's not rocket science to add up the scores correctly; especially,
when it's a three-round fight and not 12 rounds like many boxing
fights.
Matt
said that at the time the decision was announced in his favor,
he knew it was a close fight and he wasn't satisfied with his
performance even with the apparent win. Serra commented that
he likes Din Thomas personally and he credits Thomas for fighting
a smart fight, but he was a little shocked that Din wasn't trying
to finish the fight. Serra said that it appeared as though Thomas
knew he wasn't going to win by knockout or submission, so he
decided to go for the decision win over Serra.
Source: MMA Weekly
|
FRIDAY
RADIO RECAP:
ICC AND UFC PRESIDENTS' HAVE WORDS
The ICC's Dan Dease and Mike Riley appeared on Friday's MMAWeekly
Radio Show and had more than a few things to say. Perhaps the
most news worthy thing Dease and Riley had to say about the ICC's
business model is the fact that the ICC will be acting as a type
of manager of fighters in addition to promoting the shows.
It
will not be a case of, "You're either managed by the ICC
or you can't fight in the ICC," because that would be illegal,
but Dease and Riley said that fighters will be "strongly
encouraged" to be managed by the ICC. At one point, they
went as far as to say, "We'll probably leave it up to the
fighters to tell you who signs exclusive management contracts
with us, but if you watch the broadcasts, you'll be able to tell
by looking at who gets more air time."
Dease
and Riley said that it will be good for the business, because
it will enable them to do a better job of promoting the fighters.
They said that the UFC doesn't structure things properly and
that fighters should take it as an insult that "Dana White
bet $250,000 on a fighter who he ain't never paid more than $60,000
before."
The
ICC executives said that the promotion will open up new doors
for a lot of fighters. Dease stated that he has been in the vitamin
business for ten years and he just got tired of seeing so many
fighters get ripped off by local promoters and so many fans treated
like dirt.
When
asked who is going to be fighting for the ICC, Dease and Riley
said that there are a huge number of fighters who are eager to
fight for the ICC, but they declined to name any specific fighters
other than Sean Sherk. Dease and Riley described the current
state of MMA as "sitting in the tenth row, not being able
to see, and watching two fat guys fighting who are just pretending
to be athletes."
They
said that the ICC will take the sport to the next level with
a professionally-run promotion and professional paychecks. Dease
and Riley said that they are looking to get one or more TV deals,
and one or more pay-per-view deals. The specific PPV deal that
they mentioned was for ICC events to be offered on KingVision,
which is available in many different countries and the U.S.
The
exact role that Don King will have in the company remains unclear,
as Dease and Riley said at various points in the interview that
King would be the promoter or an investor. Dease and Riley said
at one point that King would be more of an investor than someone
with any direct day-to-day involvement, and they're not sure
if King will have time in his schedule to be able to attend the
ICC's events.
In
a truly memorable radio segment, UFC president Dana White called
into the show and "called out" Dease and Riley for
their comments about the UFC and the current state of MMA. The
first words out of the ICC executives' mouths were that they
think the UFC and ICC should work together, and they would even
be willing to give the UFC some business ideas for free.
The
ensuing back-and-forth verbal battle between Dana White and the
ICC was interesting to say the least. The ICC executives made
the point that Chuck Liddell's biggest paydays are coming from
Pride and not the UFC, while Dana White got across the point
that the ICC has no fighters or venues signed (and if they do,
they're not willing to talk about it yet).
Reading
about this verbal exchange can't do justice to the dramatic change
in tone that took place very quickly, and you should judge for
yourself who got the better of things by listening to the show
in the MMAWeekly Radio Archives. The situation was ultimately
left with each side wishing the side well in a semi-sincere sort
of way. You can listen to Friday's show right now at the radio
archives. Just jump on www.mmaweeklyradio.com
Source: ADCC
|
Update
On Yoshida's Status, Rampage/Liddell
Looks
as though the Hidehiko Yoshida/Kiyoshi Tamura work rumors will
continue. It's being said now that Yoshida will need two months
to return from what is rumored to be a partially torn meniscus.
PRIDE has stated they would find a replacement if necessary.
However,
Yoshida continued to ensure the Japanese media that he will fight
on the November 9th PRIDE show at the Tokyo Dome to compete in
the Middleweight Grand Prix Finals which he got to by defeating
Kiyoshi Tamura in the first round via choke in the first round.
If
Yoshida does make it back in time to finish the tournament, he
will likely be facing Vanderlei Silva in the next round. This
leaves Quinton "Rampage" Jackson and Chuck Liddell
to slug it out to advance to the finals as well. However, these
two matches are only rumored at this point.
Source: MMANews
|
Quote
of the Day
"It's not whether you get knocked down. It's whether you
get up again."
Vince Lombardi
|
The
Online Wedding Album for the Barnums are Up!
It's hard to get good service these days, but just a day two
days after the actual wedding, pictures taken by Mike and some
contributed by Ross are up for the public to view.
Once
again, Congratulations to Rex and Rene on their marriage and
new life together!
Check
out the pictures (with comments) at:
http://www.onzuka.com/barnumwedding.html |
ROYCE
GRACIE on Washington DC Radio - RECAP
Washington, DC-in a test of the cliché that all publicity
is good publicity Royce Gracie appeared on one of the DC market’s
largest radio stations DC101. With up to a half million listeners
in the DC Metro Area listening from about 9:05 until 9:55 on
a weekday morning Royce fielded phone calls, demonstrated some
technique, and put up with a host dj that not only didn’t
know anything about the UFC but went out of his way to provoke
Royce and project him as a ruthless bully.
Elliot
In The Morning is known for Elliot’s steamroller approach
to interviews, which unfortunately prevented some of the most
interesting parts from being explored. At one point Royce mentioned
the upcoming UFC card and started to give his thoughts on Tito/Randy.
Disappointingly the host was only really interested in K-1 and
some of the more controversial public perceptions of MMA, mentioning
eye gouging a total of eleven times but not letting Royce explain
how the rules have changed over time.
The
best way to describe the mood and events would be to describe
it like a fight. Elliot opened up with a minor jab, “It’s
Royce (with an ‘R’), I don’t know why everybody
mispronounces it and puts an ‘H’ in there” without
giving Royce a chance to comment. Launching into his K-1 questions
like ‘Do you know Bob Sapp?’ ‘Do you like Bob
Sapp?’ and the inevitable ‘you could beat him up, couldn’t
you?’ didn’t get far with Royce:
E:
You could beat him up, couldn’t you? RG: There is only one
way to find out.
E:
Have you ever fought him? RG: Not yet.
E:
But you will fight him. RG: Maybe.
Not
getting far with this line of questioning Elliot fired off a
series of comments to rile and provoke Royce or portray him to
the public as a brute, from ‘looking at him you would never
think this guy has killed people’, ‘if I were to meet
you on the street I wouldn’t think you were somebody that
kicks people in the back of the head’, and ‘I was expecting
to see you come in with pieces of flesh hanging out of your mouth
but you are a normal looking dude’. Through this initial
onslaught Royce remained calm and didn’t play Elliot’s
game, he just would answer with a few words and waited until
Elliot asked ‘why’ to correctly project some of the
history of BJJ and the UFC.
Elliot
tried evoking controversy again with ‘c’mon, you’ve
knocked people’s teeth out’ to which Royce calmly replied
‘with no gloves you’d break your fingers, break your
knuckles’ and Elliot responded ‘so you have done that.
Have you ever pushed a man’s nose all the way to the back
of his head?’. Royce seemed to warm up at this point and
when Elliot asked ‘would you like to do that before you
leave today’ Elliot seemed to miss the smile on Royce’s
face as he looked in the host’s eyes and said ‘it would
be a pleasure’. The room exploded with laughter.
On
the first commercial break the one fan that made it in to the
studio asked Royce about fighting Matt Hughes in the UFC to which
Royce replied, ‘we are negotiating right now. I’m not
saying yes, I’m not saying no.’
Once
they came back from the break an intern named Kyle was selected
as the first guinea pig one which Royce would show both a rear
naked choke and a triangle choke. The real fun started after
Royce finished when it was Elliot’s turn to feel both chokes.
They finished up with some listeners’ phone calls before
wrapping up just before 10 AM.
This
all took place on the morning of one of Royce’s seminar
stops. Royce is in the midst of a US “network visit”
which includes eight stops in August. The seminar this night
was at The Karate Zone in Germantown, MD where Royce taught both
a kids seminar in the late afternoon and a sold out adult seminar
in the evening. Both Elliot from DC101 and Jeff Gordon from Karate
Zone described the response to Royce’s appearance as “overwhelming”
with e-mails and phone calls flooding both the radio station
and the school. Royce’s network visits continue through
the end of November but no more radio station stops are scheduled
or likely. For more information check out http://www.roycegracie.tv/.
For
a gallery of pictures from the radio station visit check out
http://malarky.udel.edu/~keith/2003/royce.htm.
Source: ADCC |
Murilo:
'I am no longer with the Ultimate'
...
but I may fight Bushido or Middleweight at Pride'
The
former UFC middleweight champion Murilo Bustamante recently fought
at Pride, replacing his Brazilian TOP TEAM teammate Ricardo Arona,
who got injured. He faced tough Quinton Jackon in the Pride GP
on August 10th, in a fight that has been talked about since.
In an exclusive, Bustamante confirmed he is out of the UFC and
that his middleweight title is now vacant. The BTT black belt
added 'Dana White met me in Japan, and he supported me a lot
during my debut at Pride. I felt like he wanted me to win that
fight.'
'A
week before leaving for Japan, I was at the beach drinking beer
and I ate a 'feijoada' (black beans meal). I didn't have any
expectations to fight so soon', states Bustamante.
'So,
Zé Mário called me and explained me that Arona
was injured and he was not able to fight. On Monday he told me
I was the one who would replace him, because he need somebody
from BTT. Zé Mário got his hand hurt, so this big
thing came to me. I honored the BTT agreements with the Pride
organization.' Murilo confirms.
Even
though he lost to 'Rampage', Murilo believes he did a good job
and was impressive to the Pride organizers. 'During the first
round I imposed my game. In the second one I got tired and in
the third one I just died! Besides that, BTT proved we are a
serious team and we honored our agreement,' states Bustamante.
The agreement with Pride also guarantees a second fight for the
Brazilian black belt. 'I will be prepared to fight Middleweight
or Bushido categories at Pride. If the weigh in is held one day
before the fight, I may fight Bushido (till 83kg). My regular
weight is 88kg. Right now I am a little fat (90,5kg). Besides
that, the most probable opportunity will be at middleweight.
I think they appreciated it, and I will be better prepared next
time.' guaranteed Murilo.
Source: ADCC |
Interview:
Catching Up With ROMI ARAM
Nine
months ago it seemed like Millennia Jiu-Jitsu was on top of the
world, holding five belts in two weight classes in three promotions
between Romi Aram, John Alessio, and Javi Vazquez. Then came
2003 and Alessio’s loss of the UCC (now TKO) belt to Jason
Black by decision in January, Javi Vazquez getting injured in
the opening seconds of his fight against Alberto Crane and losing
his KOTC belt by decision in February, and most recently Romi
giving up the KOTC Welterweight belt to fight in UFC only to
lose a decision to Dave Strasser on pay-per-view. At least when
these guys do lose its by decision and its to the best in the
business. Their wins however are usually the fights of the night.
Not
much has been heard from Romi since his UFC debut. Here he explains
why and what he has been up to.
KM:
I heard you were training MMA at Millennia Jiu-Jitsu a couple
days a week. What can you tell us about that?
RA: It’s just an NHB class. One day its standup boxing and
thai boxing, the second day its NHB on the ground more like submissions.
The other days its NHB involving takedowns and setting up your
shots off punches. It’s a little bit of everything. I work
a lot of nights now so I can’t be at the gym in the evenings
as much as I did before so I have afternoon classes. Just something
to keep me in shape. I have a couple good guys in there getting
ready for fights that come to work out. Its just going to be
one of those things that is going to grow. Every person that
has come down for the class has enjoyed it. Its different from
what we do at night class.
KM:
Word around is your ‘dayjob’ is preventing you from
fighting. Any comment?
RA: Its not that. The big thing is I took a job that is paying
more money. I came to a time when I needed to step up. I’m
still going to continue to fight and I’m actually taking
a little break from it. I got a pretty bad hand injury I’m
taking care of, a little banged up. I’m taking a little
break from the fighting but I’m training every day. I’ll
be back; you’ll see my name again.
KM:
Are you saying those are ‘rumors’ and they aren’t
true?
RA: Its not true at all. The dayjob has taken a little more time
out of me but I worked it out where I’m getting the days
off to train. I got some injuries that if I don’t take some
time off to heal are going to be ongoing.
KM:
I haven’t talked to you since right before UFC. How do you
look back at that UFC debut?
RA: I’m not ashamed of it. I stepped up there and fought
in the UFC. It was just one of those things, I had a really tough
time cutting weight; toughest time I’ve ever had for any
of my fights. I think cutting so much weight I got a little sick
and when I went out there I just wasn’t the same person
I normally am. Just kind of disappointing because it was the
biggest fight of my career and I felt I wasn’t myself. Strasser
on the other hand is one of those fighters who has been around.
He is one of those guys that can just go out there and he’s
not going to give up. He has a lot of heart and he showed it
in the fight. That is definitely a fight that I would really
really like to have again. I know he has an upcoming fight in
the UFC and I wish him all the best of luck and I hope he does
really well at the UFC but that is one fight when people ask
me who I’d like to fight again, that’s the guy on the
top of the list.
KM:
How do you feel about your first loss?
RA: I’ve lost before in (grappling) competition. How am
I taking it? You are never happy about it but its one of those
things. Everybody that is on top will eventually have their day
and everybody that doesn’t think that doesn’t really
know what is going on. It was going to happen eventually, it
just kind of bothered me because it was my first fight in the
UFC and I didn’t feel I stepped up the way I should have
and normally do. That’s what affects me more, the loss doesn’t
affect me. If I fight a lot and lose to somebody but I know that
that was myself out there giving everything I got then I’m
ok with it. If I go out there and I lose and I feel like it wasn’t
me out there that is what bothers me. That is what is eating
me up, how it affects me mentally, but the loss doesn’t
affect me. If anything it just makes me hungry.
KM:
To me it is not if somebody lost it is who they lost to and if
they learned anything from it. It sounds like you weren’t
quite prepared with the cutting of the weight especially.
RA: I was training really hard for the fight, it was just an
issue with my weight. I was dieting like I normally do, I was
doing everything I normally do for a fight, I was just having
a really hard time keeping my weight down. To this day if I go
back and look at the things I wasn’t doing what would they
be I really don’t know what I could say. I guess I was expecting
my body weight to just drop like it normally does so my next
fight I just have to monitor that. I got to go in lighter than
I normally do just so I know when its time to make weight its
not going to kill me. I think that is the biggest thing I learned
from the fight. Every fight is a learning lesson.
KM:
As far as the perception of burning the bridges in KOTC, giving
up the Welterweight belt to fight in the UFC and then the loss
to Strasser are there any regrets?
RA: No. The UFC is something I always dreamed about since I was
a little kid. When I decided to go to the UFC there was no intention
to burn KOTC. I did everything I could as far as letting them
know as early as possible; I gave them a twelve week notice so
he had enough time to get another opponent. I would never burn
bridges with KOTC. Tonight I’m here watching, I have friends
that fought in the show, its still one of the top shows in the
world…
KM:
Word around is that is water under the bridge now, if there were
any hard feelings its over. No ill feelings.
RA: There are no ill feelings with me and Terry. If it wasn’t
for Terry and KOTC I wouldn’t have ever gotten in the UFC.
I’ll always be a supporter of KOTC, I’ll always continue
to put my guys in the fight, and always be here watching and
attending. I would really really love to fight in the UFC again.
I understand its one of those things where you have to build
your name back up and I understand that. I understand the game.
If there is anything I look back as far as the whole experience
it was a great experience, it was an awesome experience in the
UFC, I had my family and everything watching on PPV, I just wish
I would have done it a little better, I would have fought like
I normally do.
KM:
What I’m speculating is once you are healed it will probably
be either KOTC or Gladiator Challenge where we will see you return.
Have you been entertaining any other ideas?
RA: UCC (now TKO) is contacting me. Its still kind of up in the
air. There isn’t anything final or anything, we discussed
a few fights against an opponent. I’m always looking to
fight in the big shows. You train your heart out and its good
to be out there where you can be noticed. That is what it is
all about.
KM:
Anything else to get across to the fans?
RA: Train hard and if you are ever in Pomona on a Monday, Wednesday,
or Friday afternoon 1:30-300 come down and train with me.
For
more on Romi and Millennia Jiu-Jitsu check out http://www.millenniajiujitsu.com/.
Source: ADCC |
NBA'S
KENDALL GILL SAYS JIU-JITSU MADE DIFFERENCE
The following comes from the Twin Cities newspaper from Minnesota.
At
age 34, Timberwolves guard Kendall Gill doesn't hide the fact
he doesn't have the same athletic ability that allowed him to
rise high above the rim to dunk a ball the way he did when he
entered the NBA way back in 1990.
In
an era in which the league is being taken over by a young generation,
Gill knows he is fortunate to still be playing.
He
makes up for what he lacks in athleticism by using Zen philosophy
and martial-arts teaching, techniques that give him flexibility,
serenity, confidence and the ability to help him control his
temper on the court.
"Those
have definitely helped me stay in the league," he said.
"My reflexes are still fast, my flexibility is real good,
my concentration is good and I'm very calm. Not much upsets me.
It's a great discipline that teaches you how to control yourself."
Gill
is trained in the martial arts of jujitsu and Muay Thai. He became
more and more interested in Zen as he matured.
"Their
way of life is a good way to live your life," he said. "Always
in the present."
Gill
always has been an avid boxing fan, but his interest diminished
after his father moved the family from Chicago's inner city to
the suburbs, where the sport wasn't as popular. It wasn't until
he was knocked to the ground about six years ago that he regained
his passion for the sport. He lay on the ground while at least
three guys punched and kicked him in the head during a fight
outside a Chicago nightclub.
"It
wasn't my fault, I had to defend myself, but I fell on the ground
and didn't know what to do," Gill said. "I took a lot
of blows I shouldn't have. After that day, I said it would never
happen to me again. So the next day I called my friend and said
I wanted to start training with him."
Gill
fell in love with jujitsu and Muay Thai, a popular fighting style
used in the Ultimate Fighting Championship. He trains five days
a week and spars — with and without pads — on weekends
during the summer in Chicago. Gill wants to hone his skills during
the NBA season, but he hasn't found a teammate willing or foolish
enough to spar with him.
"I
do it to keep my body in shape and keep my conditioning up,"
the 6-foot-5, 215-pound Gill said. "I've been hit in the
head numerous times, but I've still been able to keep my sense."
Gill
says his martial arts skills help him stay calm on the court
when play gets physical or an opponent attempts to draw him into
a verbal war.
"I
don't even pay attention to it because I know if I wanted to,
I could beat him up," he said. "It's like you have
a really fast car driving down the road, and a junker pulls up
and challenges you. You know you can blow it away if you want,
but you decide to leave it alone. That's the maturity aspect
of it."
Although
he isn't dunking over defenders or blowing by them with a quick
first step anymore, Gill is having one of his best seasons in
recent years. With Wally Szczerbiak out because of a foot injury,
Gill began the season as Anthony Peeler's primary backup at shooting
guard. On Nov. 19, Gill was inserted into the starting lineup
where he is averaging 9.9 points and nearly 30 minutes a game.
"I
think he's an ultimate professional, and he keeps his body in
tremendous shape," Wolves coach Flip Saunders said. "If
he gets beaten out, it's because he's not as athletic as he used
to be defensively. He's still a smart player, though.
"We
have to watch out because without Wally what's happening is (Gill)
is getting worn down, and that's our biggest concern. He had
the idea that he was coming in and playing 20 to 24 minutes."
Not
bad for a player who didn't really start taking care of his body
until he got into a fight six years ago.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
BARNETT
STAYING BUSY ADDING ANOTHER MMA FIGHT
Josh Barnett is keeping a very busy MMA schedule. He will be
fighting Yuki Kondo in Japan in a couple of weeks. The former
UFC Heavyweight Champion has added another MMA fight to his schedule.
Barnett
will take on MMA veteran Gary Goodridge in the Jungle Fight Championship.
Barnett defeated former KOTC champion Jimmy Ambriz in Japan in
his last MMA fight. Goodridge is coming off a forgetable performance
against Fedor a couple of weeks ago in Pride. Here's the rundown
of the upcoming card Jungle Fights according to tatame.
-
Josh Barnett (USA) vs Gary Goodridge (Canada)
-
Kazunari Murakami (New Japan) vs Lee 'Young Gun' (Korea)
-
Tom Dradley (Carslon Family) vs Carlos Barreto (BTT)
-
Ricardo Moraes (Brazil Dojo) vs Jan 'The Giant' Nortje (South
Africa)
-
Lioto Matida (L.A Dojo) vs Stephan Bonnar (Carlson Family)
-
Shinsuke Nakamura (New Japan) vs Shane (LA Dojo)
-
Dario Amorim (Brazil Dojo) vs Justin Mcculley (LA Dojo)
-
Mark Schultz (Wrestling/USA) vs Leopoldo Montenegro (Brazil Dojo)
-
Rico Chiaparelli (RAW) vs Luís Pantera (Brazil Dojo)
-
Ronaldo 'Jacaré' x TBA
-
Marcelo Tigre (Brazil Dojo) x TBA
-
Ebenezer Braga (Brazil Dojo) x TBA
Source: ADCC |
Quote
of the Day
"Experience is the name everyone gives to his mistakes."
Woodrow Wilson |
Congratulations
to Rex and Rene Barnum!
Chris and I were lucky enough to be chosen in Rex's wedding party,
Chris being the best man. Rex, for the people who don't know
him, is a long time purple belt and one of the assistant instructors
at Academia Casca Grossa de Jiu-Jitsu in Aiea as well as one
of our best friends.
Rex
and Rene who have been dating forever finally tied the note last
night in a beautiful ceremony and reception at the Moana Surf
Hotel. I took pictures of the day and of the event and will be
posting more of them soon.
Congratulations
again to two of our closest friends! |
Jacaré
in an amazing debut as a black belt! Brazil's Black Belt Challenge!
3o
Black Belt Chalenge -Ibirapuera Gymnasium, São Paulo –
August 21, 2003
Ibirapuera
Gymnasiun in São Paulo was once again the stage for another
amazing grappling show, as this was the same place where ADCC
2003 took place. This time the performers were some of the top
Jiu-Jitsu black belts, taking part in the 3rd edition of the
Black Belt Challenge. Unlike previous editions, the event featured
no finishes by submission, however excellent, hard fought fights
made the nearly 4000 people in attendance go crazy.
As
everybody expected, ex-teamates Jorge Macaco and Roberto Godoi
set the gymnasium ablaze. Godoi got two advantages early in the
fight (sweep and almost got opponent's back). Supported by the
noisy audience, Macaco got two advantages in the last minute
(2x2) getting very close to pass the opponent's guard. Macaco
was named the winner by the referee Fabio Gurgel.
The
phenom from Manaus, Ronaldo Jacaré also had a great debut,
throwing Pé de Chumbo in the opening minute of the match,
in the most beautiful moment of the night. After that, Jacaré
got 4 more points winning by 6x0 putting a promising future on
display. The other powers from Manaus Bibiano and Fredson also
did an excellent job. Bibiano Fernandez (Clube Pina) defeated
De La Riva's black belt Roberto Matsumoto by 4x0 while Frédson
Paixão (Oswaldo Alves) beat Reinaldo Ribeiro (Castello
Branco) by 0x0 (3x2) in a fight that ended up with both getting
tight footlocks.
Letícia
Ribeiro (Gracie Humaitá) opened the night having no problem
to make 15 points against the 7 times São Paulo champion
Simone Ribeira (Godói JJ). Leonardo Santos (Nova União),
back to his better shape, had no problem to defeated Carlos Eduardo
Vieira (Cia Paulista) by 9x0.
The
great name of ADCC 2003, Marcelo Garcia (Alliance), also had
no problem to defeat Eduardo Santoro (Cia Paulista) easyly (11x0)
while the excelent Gabriel Vella (Gracie SP) defeated Adriano
Maciel (Godói JJ) by 4x0 .
In
the world champions battle the middleweight Fernando Tererê
(Master) defeated the middle heavyweight Fábio Nascimento
(Lótus), winner of 2nd Copa doMundo, by 4x0. in another
champions mat Fernando Paradeda (BTT), champion of Copa do Mundo,
defeated World JJ Champion, Jefferson Moura (Gracie Barra) by
0x0 (3x2).
In
the Super heavyweight bout Luiz Guilherme Guigo (Guigo JJ) defeated
Phillipe Lira (Pitbull) by 5x0 and Alexandre Café (Gracie
Barra) defeated Gabriel Napão (Napão Gold Team)
by 2x0. All winners won RS$ 2000 (US$ 650,00) and the losers
got RS$ 500,00 (170,00).
Check
out pictures at the ADCC
website!
Source: ADCC |
Ze
Mario Sperry Promoting MMA event!!!
BRAZIL
SUPER FIGHT ( BASF )
Porto Alegre, North Brazil - RS Ginasio Tezourinha
September 19th, 2003
CARD
(Subject to change):
-
MARCELO ALFAIA ( BTT - 85KG ) X JOSE RICARDO ‘ DRAGAO ’
( GAVIAO TEAM - 90KG )
- LOKE ' THE DUKE' PICLUM ( BTT AUSTRALIA - 76KG ) X EDUARDO
SIMOES ( RUAS VALE-TUDO - 73KG)
- HAROLDO 'CABELINHO ' BUNN ( BTT - 77 KG) X LEONARDO SOUZA (KIMURA
- RN - 76KG)
- ERIC TAVARES ( RUAS VALE TUDO - 85KG ) X ANDRE 'MAU' LAGENDRE
( GOLD TEAM - 85KG )
- HELIO DIPP ( BOXER - 90KG ) X LUIS BEIÇAO ( RUAS VALE
TUDO - 87KG )
- GILSON 'CAPIXU 'FERREIRA ( BTT - 88KG ) X MURIEZ LINKE ( POLONIA
GOLD TEAM - 90KG )
- LUIS BRITO ( BTT - 82KG ) X LUIS AZEREDO ( GOLD TEAM - 80KG)
- JORGE 'MACACO' PATINO (GOLD TEAM - 85KG) X MINOWA ( BTT JAPAO
- 84KG )
Source: ADCC |
Dean
Lister Relaxes in Brazil!
ADCC 2003 Absolute and current King of the Cage champion Dean
Lister has good reason to say that Brazil brings good memories
to his professional career. After winning the absolute category,
where he defeated some of the top Brazilian fighters like Saulo
Ribeiro, Márcio Pé-de-Pano and Alexandre Cacareco
and qualified to face Ricardo Arona at ADCC 2005 for the superfight
title, it is easy to see why the American chose Brazil to relax!
Dean
was seen in the audience of several MMA events in Rio de Janeiro,
such as KNOCK last July, and he was at the BJJ World Championships.
There, he was seen in really good company with Flávia
Mezoni, 20 years old and a blue belt jiu-jitsu fighter. After
two weeks of vacation, sun, coconut water, beaches and of course
the sweetheart girl from south, it seems like Dean has conquered
Brazil and returns home inspired to defend his middleweight belt
next September 5th at the King of the Cage.
Source: ADCC |
A
look back at
Heat Fighting Championship 1
Times are changing in Brazil as new event debuted in flamboyant
style!
By Eduardo Alonso
The very end of the month of July marked the inaugural show of
Brazil's newest MMA promotion, as the 31st of that month brought
a new show to the country bringing back some well known veterans
of our sport to fight in Brazilian soil for the first time in
recent years. In days where new shows are popping up all the
time, and nearly every month you have an MMA event taking place
in Brazil, it was about time that a promotion would add something
to that mix, not only adding a solid card, full of fighting veterans,
as well as present a good looking production treating the fans
to a true spectacle in all senses like they deserve. This is
what HEAT FC achieved all ready in its first edition. With a
risky proposal made by the promoters, who advertised the event
as a breakthrough experience in Brazilian MMA, expectations were
high and even the most skeptical spectator had to admit they
lived up to the hype, and presented the better looking show the
country witnessed in recent years, if not in its history. Counting
with big screens above the ring, elevators presenting the fighters
at their entrances, lights and sound all over the arena and a
crowd of close to 7,000 spectators, the results were as close
to amazing as they could have been considering the organization
had barely a month to put the show together.
As any MMA show worldwide couldn't leave only from good production
and presentations, the fighting card was also very interesting,
combining some promising newcomers with well known Brazilian
veterans and still managing to add some international flavor
to the show. Taking place in the city of Natal, up in the northeast
of the country, HEAT FC in its first edition gave opportunity
to some tough local fighters, since rarely a Northeastern fighter
from Brazil is given a chance to compete in a prestigious event.
Talents such as Paulo Guerreiro, who is now bound to participate
at the AFC, Fabio Bolinho and Silmar Rodrigo took advantage of
their opportunities and showed the value of the local fighters.
Newcomers Eduardo Simoes, from Ruas Vale Tudo, and Marcelo Azevedo,
even in a losing effort, also proved they have a future in the
sport and were just needing a chance. Experienced fighters such
as Alexandre Barros, Ebenezer Braga and Renato Babalu fought
in Brazil for the first time in recent years, and that alone
was a achievement itself by the show, while American Forrest
Griffin finally had the chance to face a top fighter proving
he is indeed a talented fighter and his countryman Ben Rothwell
treated the fans to a truly brawl against veteran Carlos Barreto,
who finally was able to showcase his newfound Muay Thai skills
scoring his first ever KO standing up. All in all the show had
numerous attractions, making this and unforgettable experienced
for those who attended, and leaving major expectations for HEAT
FC 2 in November, as the promoters and promising a even bigger
show. However, November is still some months away, and since
we're doing a review here, it's time to run you trough the action
of the fights themselves:
The
preliminary bouts brought matches with 3 rounds of 5 minutes
each, and a chance for fighters wanting to establish their reputation
to show their skills. The show started with local fighter Fabio
Bolinho bringing his Jiu-Jitsu skills against Gracie Barra late
replacement Savio Maia, who took the fight in a one week notice
for the injured Charles Andrade:
Fabio
Bolinho vs. Savio Maia: The fight started with Fabio taking it
to the ground on the spot, just to suffer numerous attacks from
Savio who was displaying an active ground work. At one point
Maia locked a Kimura on Bolinho that seemed to be about to end
the bout at any minute, but with the crowd on his side Bolinho
just refused to tap and battled his way out of the submission
attempt. The second and third rounds saw Fabio unleashing his
ground and pound game, cutting Savio above his nose and wearing
him out, to a point he would only butt-scoot and get punished
on the stand up exchanges, giving Bolinho a fair judges' decision.
Paulo
Guerreiro vs. Magnus Decio: Magnus Decio came into the fight
also with the support from the local crowd, and high expectation
as he just won his division at RN Vale Tudo 2 tournament. However,
Guerreiro's experience and better stand up were too much for
him to handle. Trough numerous failed takedown attempts Magnus
took plenty of punishment from knee strikes, punches and kicks,
as Paulo was way superior on the stand up game. To his credit,
Magnus showed the heart of a lion as he endured the severe punishment
till the end, refusing to tap out and giving a judges' decision
to Paulo Guerreiro.
Eduardo
Simoes vs. Carlos Indio: Coming from the Ruas Vale Tudo team,
young Eduardo Simoes came in to the HEAT FC ring to make his
debut in MMA, as he was already known in Brazilian submission
wrestling circles for his good ground game. On the ohter side
of the ring was a dangerous opponent in Carlos Indio, as he held
wins over Paulo Guerreiro and Rivanio Aranha, two northeastern
stand outs, in recent bouts and was reported to have a very strong
punch. Smartly, Simoes avoided the stand up action during all
fight with numerous takedowns where both guys scrambled in the
ground with Eduardo getting the nod most of the times. In the
end the characteristic ankle-locks from the Ruas Vale Tudo team
proved to be the deciding factor as Simoes finished Indio twice
on the fight with the same move, one time in the very end of
the first round with Indio being saved by the bell [he tapped
out a second after the bell started to rang] and another time
for good in the second round, earning him the first win of his
career, by ankle lock.
After
the preliminary bouts there came the undercard and the main events,
where all fights had the 1st round of 10 minutes, and the 2nd
and 3rd of five minutes each. At this point the fighter entrances
also had a special treatment in terms of lights and other gimmicks,
and it was time for the veterans to compete:
Alexandre
"Baixinho" Barros vs. Josenildo Tigre: Alexandre Barros,
out of the RVT as well, is another guy that was making his comeback
to Brazil after a long time. The former IVC champion last fought
in Hook N' Shoot and WEF, and was a little nervous in his comeback
to the ring. Josenildo on the other hand was coming from fights
at MECA and Bitetti Combat, and had the support from the crowd.
During the fight neither of the fighters took risks and this
caused a somewhat stalled fight. In the end, Barros used his
experienced to dominate the clinches and get more takedowns,
earning a split decision in a fight that left most spectators
disappointed.
Angelo
Araujo vs. Edson Paredao: Angelo Araujo is a tough veteran from
MECA and IVC Venezuela, with wins over names such as Nilson de
Castro, Claudio Godoy and Cyborg. This was the first time he
was fighting under the Brazilian Top Team flag, and a lot of
expectations were created regarding his participation. His opponent,
Edson Paredao, was coming from a WVC win over Mark Smith and
impressed everybody with his physique. Unfortunately for him
his skills weren't as impressive, and a somewhat out of shape
Angelo was able to control him on the ground for most part of
the fight, achieving the better positions and laying punishment
from the top with a series of punches that weren't defended,
causing the referee to step up and stop the bout giving Araujo
a TKO win.
Forrest
Griffin vs. Ebenezer Fontes Braga: This was one of the most awaited
fights of the evening and it certainly was one of the most exciting.
Braga last fight was against Gary Goodridge in the very end of
2001, and the long hiatus between his last fight and his appearance
at HEAT FC proved to cost him a great deal. Griffin on the other
end has been coming off a series of impressive wins, amazingly
attracting little attention from American promoters. With the
chance of his life at HEAT Forrest impressed everybody with his
calmness since he arrived in Brazil, and in the ring he showed
the reason for such confidence. The fight started with Ebenezer
taking Forrest down after a one-two combination from the American
followed by a kick to the ribs. Once on the ground Griffin kept
busy with his guard work, not allowing Braga to do anything to
him. After a stand up both guys traded strikes and surprisingly
Griffin wasn't phased by a good combination by Ebenezer that
connected to his face, and instead he engaged in the stand up
with more appetite than before! After a series of Muay Thai clinches
exchanges by both fighters, Braga ended up falling to the ground
where Forrest quickly passed his guard and unleashed punishment
from side control, with knees and punches to the head, to then
get mount position and continue to do damage, forcing the Brazilian
fighter to give him his back and find himself on a rear naked
choke still in the first round, giving Forrest Griffin the most
important win of his career so far.
Renato
Babalu Sobral vs. Marcelo "Uirapuru" Azevedo: Fresh
and ready from his training for his fight at Extreme Force in
England, that never came trough, Babalu was fighting in Brazilian
soil for the first time since the early days of his career and
was the heavily favorite over Gracie Barra black belt Marcelo
Azevedo, who as debuting in MMA. Needless to say Babalu controlled
all the action during the first two rounds, with takedowns and
his traditional ground and pound game to wear out Azevedo. To
his credit Azevedo showed great composure and a very good ground
game. Being outweighed and lacking in experience, Marcelo was
able to defend himself well from Renato due to a very good guard,
and managed to keep the fight a contest until the third round.
In the final round, feeling the fight was already yours, Babalu
started to give a show to the fans, running across the ring as
his opponent was but-scooting, jumping over his guard and stomping
his chest, and performing some neat stand up strikes. In the
end both guys were winners as Babalu got the crowd's respect
and the judges' decision, and Azevedo won everybody's respect
as a good fighter.
Silmar
Rodrigo vs. Henrique "Chocolate" Nogueira: Being the
most famous of the local fighters at the show, and holding wins
over MECA 9 winner Marcelo Grillo and Johil de Oliveira, Silmar
Rodrigo came to the ring to face Brazilian Top Team member Henrique
Nogueira with a major crowd support and plenty of expectations.
Chocolate, on the other hand, took the fight on short notice
as a replacement for Curtis Stout. Silmar did what he had to
do to win the fight, controlling the action with takedowns, ground
and pound and during stand up, apart from a knockdown he suffered
during the bout. It was a solid performance, showing he is now
ready for bigger tasks and will most likely get it at HEAT FC
2. In the end, a fair judges' decision to Silmar.
Carlos
Barreto vs. Ben Rothwell: The main event matched up two heavyweights
to literally shake the HEAT FC ring. Barreto was coming to this
fight willing to prove to everybody he was a new fighter, with
his recent stand up skills and will to be aggressive in his fights.
Rothwell on the other hand was needing a chance to fight in a
bigger show and prove his value against a famous opponent, and
the PRIDE and UFC veteran Barreto seemed like the right opportunity.
The fight began with Carlos trying to take Rothwell down in a
movement that tested the resistance of the ropes, just to be
forced to continue to fight standing up. He then took the opportunity
to punish Rothwell with punches to his face and a series of low
kicks, completely dominating the stand up and leaving everybody
with the impression the fight would be over soon. However Ben
proved to be extremely tough enduring a severe punishment and
showing no signs of quitting. Soon Barreto got a knockdown from
a high kick to the American's face driving the crowd crazy, just
to see Ben stand up again and keep battling! When things were
looking like total domination by the BTT fighter, suddenly Carlos
gassed and everybody got stunned as Rothwell once again showed
great heart and turned the fight around, taking the Brazilian
to the ground and punishing him from side control with knees
and punches to his head! When the fight was going his way Ben
made a crucial mistake and called Barreto to stand up again.
Like in a movie scene, the extremely tired Brazilian veteran
put all he had in one final strike and landed a powerful round
house kick to Rothwell's face sending the heavily damaged and
extremely tough fighter out for good. It was as dramatic as it
could have been as Carlos Barreto was the winner by KO and the
crowd erupted in excitation.
In
the end, HEAT FC 1: GENESIS had everything, from submissions,
to dramatic knockouts, never seen before production and even
a challenge by Ebenezer Braga to Forrest Griffin for a rematch
inside the ring, and a emotional Babalu crying after his win
due to the loss of his step-brother one month ago. The concept
of the show was to bring a spectacle, and a spectacle was presented
in all senses. Let's await HEAT FC 2 this coming November as
our sport continues to evolve.
Source: FCF |
NEWTON
TO PRIDE BUSHIDO
It
was first reported last night on MMA Weekly's SoundOff Forum,
but in case you missed it, MMAWeekly's John Hartnett reports
from Florida that Carlos Newton will be going back to Japan to
fight in a couple of months for Pride.
Hartnett
reports that Newton has signed a deal to fight on October 8th
to fight in the Pride Bushido event. His opponent most likely
will be Mishima who will fight Newton at 170 pounds.
Newton
last fought in Pride against Anderson Silva and sustained a KO
loss, so he looks to get back on the winning track. Carlos Newton
will fight in the Pride Bushido show on October 8th. Stay tuned
to MMAWeekly.com and the SoundOff Forum with more breaking news.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
FIRST
SHOW FOR SHOOTBOX A SUCCESS
The
premiere edition of Frank Shamrock's new MMA organization, ShootBox,
took place on Saturday night at the Orlando County Convention
Center in Orlando, Florida. MMAWeekly's John Hartnett attended
the event live and said that that it looked sold out or close
to sold out.
The
Orlando County Convention Center can hold anywhere from 1,500
to 2,000 people with the way they have it set up, and that's
definitely a good day of ticket sales for any new promotion that
is running its first show. Jeff Blatnick and Don Frye were at
the show recording commentary for the fights, and also in attendance
were Bas Rutten, Carlos Newton, Dan Severn, and K-1 fighter Michael
McDonald.
The
new fighting arena that is exclusive to ShootBox seemed to be
a hit. John Hartnett said that the best way to think of it is
like a martial arts competitions where it's contested on a really
big blue mat, except this one indents upward on its boundaries
and has the audience right behind those indents.
There
are "safety lines" a few feet away from the actual
edges where the audience is, and there were a few times where
the fighters accidentally crossed the safety lines and were restarted
in the middle.
The
view of the action is excellent compared to any other fighting
environment like a ring or a cage, with no ropes or anything
else to get in the way of your view.
The
show had a very professional-looking set-up complete with four
big screens showing instant replays of the finishes after each
fight. The big screens looked more like movie theather screens
than TV screens.
MMAWeekly's
John Hartnett sat right next to Frank Shamrock in the front row
and talked to him throughout the event. Shamrock said that the
next ShootBox show will be in Las Vegas and that he will indeed
be fighting Cesar Gracie in the main event of that show. John
Hartnett was also able to talk to Carlos Newton, who said that
he will be fighting on the first edition of the new Pride Budisho
show against D. Mishima.
As
for the fights themselves, the event was highlighted by a brutal
knockout with some scary aftermath and a still-undetermined prognosis
as of press time. American Kickboxing Academy fighter Mike Swick
went up against Butch Bacon in the second-to-last fight on the
card, and Swick won by knockout in 25 seconds. John Hartnett
described it as an absolutely brutal and scary-looking knockout.
Swick knocked Bacon down to the ground with a right hook, at
which point Bacon was stunned and still sitting upright. A straight
right hand by Swick knocked Bacon onto his back and appeared
to knock him completely out.
Swick
quickly jumped on top of Bacon and landed another right hand,
this one to the neck/head area, before the fight was finally
stopped. It was not a pretty sight, as Bacon was unconscious
for several minutes and appears to still be unconsicous. Attempts
to revive Bacon apparently failed, as he was rushed to the backstage
area on a stretcher and still appeared to be unconscious as he
was being taken backstage.
There
was a delay before the main event, as paramedics tended to Butch
Bacon in the backstage area. He was ultimately taken out of the
building via an ambulance. It's not known whether he was still
unconscious when the ambulance left, and it really wouldn't be
fair to speculate. All we know for sure is that the last time
John Hartnett saw Butch Bacon, he was being stretchered to the
back and appeared to still be unconscious. We will let you know
as soon as we know anything more about this.
Full
Results:
Jason DeLucia (now 33-19-1 in MMA) defeats Matt Rogers (6-2)
by submission
Jason DeLucia is best known by most American MMA fans for his
appearance in UFC 2, where he was tapped out by Royce Gracie
in about one minute. DeLucia went on to make a good career for
himself in Pancrase, but this was his first fight since 2001
and his first win since 2000. It looked like an old-school UFC
fight with superior grappling, as DeLucia took Rogers down and
out-maneuvered him. DeLucia ended up winning by submission with
a rear naked choke at 2:50 of the first round.
Mike
Swick (now 5-0 in MMA) defeats Butch Bacon (1-2) by KO
(see news story above for details)
Jeff
Ford (now 2-0 in MMA) defeats Jerome Smith (6-4) by KO
Yes, this is the same Jeff Ford who lost at the K-1 event last
week. Ford joins some pretty good company, as the three fighters
who previously defeated Jerome Smith were Frank Mir, Jeremy Horn,
and Roger Neff. This was a good fight that ended in the first
knockout of the evening. The "safety lines" on the
boundaries of the fighting area came into play, as the fighters
almost fell out of the fighting environment at one point before
the fight was restarted in the middle.
Alex
Kababian (now 3-0 in MMA) defeats Chad Washburn (5-11) by submission
This was a huge mismatch in favor of an American Kickboxing Academy
fighter. Kababian was able to win the fight by submission in
the first round with a triangle choke/neck crank.
Stu
Hesselmeyer (now 3-2 in MMA) defeats David Baggett (1-1) by verbal
submission
After some ridiculous-looking mismatches, this was the first
evenly-contested bout on the card. These two fighters went back
and forth including some good exchanges in the stand-up, but
in round two Hesselmeyer started landing some devastating punches
that were just too much for Baggett. Baggett verbally submitted
in the stand-up from a combination of punishment and exhaustion.
Dave
Velasquez (now 9-6 in MMA) defeats Daniel Wade (1-2) by submission
Velasquez picked up the submission victory with a heel hook/ankle
lock in the first round.
Crofton
Wallace (now 2-0 in MMA) defeats Alex Keaton (0-3) by TKO
Wallace delivered a pounding from the beginning, and though Keaton
was able to buy some time by staying on top for a little while,
things went downhill for him when the fight was stood back up.
Wallace was landing a lot of good punches and Keaton appeared
to be saved by the bell at the end of round one. However, Keaton
appeared to be out of it in his corner and was unable to continue,
thus giving Crofton Wallace the TKO victory.
Mike
Lee (now 14-7 in MMA) defeats Scott Johnson (4-12) by submission
Not a surprising outcome when you look at the mismatch in terms
of MMA records. Lee picked up the win with a triangle choke about
1:15 into the fight.
Erik
Wray (now 6-0 in MMA) defeats James Meals (2-15) by submission
Frank Shamrock's teammate Erik Wray picked up the victory 37
seconds into the second round by sinking in a guillotine choke.
Chris
Kaouk (now 1-1 in MMA) defeated Eric O'Bryon by submission
Kaouk took O'Bryon down and secured the armbar victory just 1:35
into the first round.
Source:
MMA Weekly |
Quote
of the Day
"I can live for two months on a good compliment."
Mark Twain |
Linebred,
LLC
Presents
AFC 4
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RECRUITING
AMATUER FIGHTERS FOR AFC 4
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Source: Event Promoter |
INTERVIEW
OF THE WEEK: FRANK SHAMROCK
On his way to Orlando, Florida in a two-ton diesel truck (yes,
a two-ton diesel truck), Frank Shamrock took some time the other
day to join Ryan Bennett on MMAWeekly.com's daily radio program,
Soundoff. Frank was on his way to get everything set up for his
new mixed martial arts promotion, Shootbox, and it's inaugural
event at the Orange County Convention Center on Saturday, August
23rd. He also talked about Yoshida, Sakuraba, and his recent
feud with Cesar Gracie.
Ryan:
How you doing Frank?
Frank:
Ah, not very good today.
Ryan:
What did you tell me you were doing?
Frank:
I'm driving a two-ton diesel around right now. I rented this
flat bed diesel so that I could haul all of our Shootbox stuff
around for shipping. I got stuck driving it around.
Ryan:
Scary thought. Tell us a little bit about your new promotion
Shootbox.
Frank:
Shootbox is awesome man! It's something I've been working on
for about four and a half years and I finally just got all the
financing and got everything all squared away and approved and
we are ready to go.
Ryan:
Shootbox is coming up next weekend (August 23rd) from Florida.
Who's going to be on the card?
Frank:
Our headline is going to be Jason Delucia versus Matt Rogers.
We got the old school guy against the young stud. Jeff Ford is
going to be on there, Mike Swick. We've got a lot of upcoming
young studs from the mixed martial arts world.
Ryan:
Talk about the concept of Shootbox and how it differs from the
other organizations out there.
Frank:
It differs in a few ways. There's no stages, no rings. It's kind
of like old kumite style, we're fighting in this sunken box.
Everything kind of revolves around the box in that respect. The
rules are very similar, the one thing that we have done, is that
we have taken all of the elbows out, it saves a lot of blood.
The whole concept is just the uniqueness of mixed martial arts
being presented in a different light, in a different venue, with
a different entertainment value, that may be what our sport needs.
Ryan:
Now, I know with the name Shootbox that some people are going
to question whether these are legit fights. They are legit, is
that correct?
Frank:
Absolutely. They are true mixed martial arts fights. I understand
the entertainment value required too.
Ryan:
Frank, you've got a busy weekend coming up, of course, the Shootbox
show on Saturday, but you've got the pay-per-view the day before.
Tell us a little bit about that.
Frank:
We've got the TVN pay-per-view on August 22nd and that's at 6
p.m. EST. That's the WEC show that I fought Bryan Pardoe in and
Shonie Carter fought on. I'm pretty excited, it's my first pay-per-view
deal. We shot it in a wide-screen format.
Ryan:
What a great card that was and your fans can check it out this
Friday. How about Shootbox? How many shows a year do you foresee
Shootbox putting on?
Frank:
This year, we're going to do two shows. We're doing this show,
August 23rd, and then the next one will be in Las Vegas in November,
most likely at The Orleans. For that show we've got Cesar Gracie
and myself. Next year we've got six shows and the following year
we've got ten shows planned and then we just go on from there.
Ryan:
There are rumors that Yoshida may or may not be in the Pride
Grand Prix. Frank are you ready to step in?
Frank:
[Laughs] I don't know man. If I can get this two-ton truck to
where I'm supposed to be headed, I can probably get in there
and beat Yoshida.
Ryan:
There are some people disputing the end of the Yoshida-Tamura
fight. Do you think that there is any possibility of a work [predetermined
ending] in a fight the level of the Pride Grand Prix?
Frank:
Do I think it's possible? Most definitely. Is there a tremendous
amount of money involved? Most definitely. Are they pro wrestlers?
Most definitely. [laughs] Yeah, it can happen. I hate to think
that it is happening, especially because it robs people of the
truth. It's definitely a possibility. I've fought Tamura and
I know what his skill set is. He's a good fighter, so is Yoshida.
I need to watch it on video and watch the ending.
Ryan:
It's going to put Pride in a tough situation if Yoshida is out
of this Grand Prix. There in the semi-finals now and [if Yoshida
is out] I don't know what they're going to do to find a replacement.
Frank:
Yeah, that's a tough spot to be in, especially when you've got
one of your stars like that and you don't know if they're going
to come back or not.
Ryan:
Let's talk about a few guys in your gym. How is Josh Thompson's
training going?
Frank:
Training is going awesome! In fact, he was picking on me yesterday.
He just keeps progressing as a fighter, his skills base and his
ability to fight both strategically and mentally. I think that's
going to pull him through these tough fights and make him a world
champion.
Ryan:
That guy has got to have the worst luck ever having been ready
to fight in the UFC and he had to pull out like 3 or 4 times
right?
Frank:
I know, part of the problem is that he's young and he's strong
and he doesn't back down from the big guys and so he gets banged
up a little bit sometimes. He's getting better and he's getting
smarter. He's really got a great future ahead of him.
Ryan:
A lot of people want to know when we're going to see you fight
again or if you're even contemplating fighting again or just
staying in the promoting game for now?
Frank:
I'm probably going to do a few in these initial stages of Shootbox
and I'm really pushing this November show. I've got a contract
up for Cesar Gracie. I've got a contract up for the casino. My
next big thing is going to be this Shootbox show in Las Vegas
in November, so that's where all of my energy is headed right
now. This show August 23rd is already planned, done, finished,
we've just got to get it in the can. I'm already working on November.
Ryan:
Are you trying to lock down a casino or is there already one
locked down?
Frank:
I have several casinos. We're just trying to figure out which
one is politically the best move. One of my partners in this
also owns a casino in Las Vegas so that's helpful.
Ryan:
Last time we talked, there was some speculation that you might
be fighting Sakuraba at the beginning of the year in Pride. Is
there anything new on that?
Frank:
They sent me the contract and they seem pretty excited about
pushing forward and I passed it on to my attorneys. Then they
seemed to have backed off a little bit. I don't know if it's
because of his recent loss or that they don't think the fight
has value. I've still got the contract and my intention is still
to sign it. I don't know if they're going to give me that fight
anymore though. I think people still want to see it.
Ryan:
No doubt about it. I think a Sakuraba vs. Frank Shamrock fight
is something that many fans want to happen. You think maybe they're
backing away from it because of this loss?
Frank:
Before they were calling me almost every day and now they're
not calling me every day. [laughs] It's like, "you gotta
fight Sakuraba, you gotta fight Sakuraba," and then he loses
and they stop calling.
Ryan:
You mentioned Cesar Gracie, would that be a fight between you
and him or would that just be putting him on the card for your
Shootbox show?
Frank:
No, that would be a fight between me and him, that's the intention,
to bring Shamrock-Gracie back to pay-per-view.
Ryan:
There was a lot of heat between you and Cesar at one time, right?
Frank:
Yeah, for some reason there was, I don't know why. I don't know
if I said something or he didn't like my attitude or whatever.
He actually called and requested to fight me and that's how this
whole thing got going. If someone wants to fight me, I'll show
up and kick there ass, so that's pretty much where we're headed.
Ryan:
Frank, you've got a busy week. The pay per view is on Friday,
then the show on Saturday, tell folks where that's at, where
they can go see that.
Frank:
It's at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando, Florida.
You can get your tickets at ticketweb.com or you can buy them
at the convention center. We've got ten fights planned. We've
got Chinese acrobats, strongmen, Miami's best D.J. is going to
spin for us. This is going to be a rockin' night of entertainment.
Ryan:
Well Frank, I'm looking forward to it. I really appreciate you
coming on.
Frank:
Anytime Ryan.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Why
Ricco Rodriguez Wasn't Robbed
By Joe Hall
The stakes
were high.
Ricco
Rodriguez against Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira. Two top heavyweights.
Former UFC champ against former Pride titleholder -- seen by
some as essentially UFC versus Pride.
World-class
fighters with a history. Revenge was on the line; respect was
up for grabs.
The
buildup was rich, the anticipation strong, but in the end, the
fight fell far short of its thrilling expectations.
After
20 minutes the fighters moved to the center of the ring and the
judges’ decision was announced. Judge 1: Nogueira. Judge
2: Nogueira. Judge 3: Nogueira.
Ricco’s
jaw (an unofficial judge): wide open.
Then
came the maelstrom from some North American fans on the Internet.
Some
felt it was so clear that Rodriguez deserved the decision, they
charged Pride as corrupt for screwing a fighter from the UFC
-- apparently the enemy promotion -- and giving “their”
fighter the nod.
Other
critics chuckled incredulously and scoffed at the decision. It
was shady. Treacherous. Rodriguez had won, in their opinion,
and it was obvious. Just look at Nogueira’s dreary eyes
before the winner is announced, they said. How could a judge,
as underhanded as one might be, award Nogueira the decision in
that fight? Unbelievable.
The
first mistake these critics made was to think their opinion was
that of the majority. Wrong. As MaxFighting’s man in Japan
Keith Vargo pointed out, the Japanese media and fans agreed with
the decision. Thirty-five thousand in attendance and many, many
more watching from home felt Nogueira won. That my friends is
the majority.
They
must be blind though, right? Or, no, they’re in on the collusion.
Perhaps they’re ignorant of how to score a fight.
Or
maybe the Japanese, widely considered the most knowledgeable
of MMA fans, do know how to score a Pride bout? Maybe it’s
the critics of the decision who formed inept opinions?
I
confess that I initially figured Rodriguez probably deserved
the decision. Just seemed like he stopped all of Nogueira’s
subs, scored a couple takedowns and that should somehow make
him the winner. Ground control or something, I don’t know.
Rodriguez
was also on top. Whether it’s a subconscious inclination
we’re not aware of or something else, it’s difficult
to give the guy on the bottom the nod no matter what he does.
After all, we didn’t grow up watching kids win fights from
their back in the schoolyard.
Even
if you know MMA and can comprehend the effectiveness a fighter
can achieve from his back, you’re probably still a little
partial to the guy on top. I know I am, but at least I’m
aware of it. And if you’re mindful of your biases, you can
attend to them.
As
debate flared on the Internet, I watched the fight again. First,
though, I went to PrideFC.com and printed a summary of their
judging criteria. I watched the bout as though I were a Pride
judge, and, suddenly, the decision wasn’t so awful. (Note:
I did this before making any comments or accusations.)
Then
I took the time to learn the minutiae of Pride’s criteria.
I looked into how Pride officials developed their system, which
is far different from the UFC’s, and the philosophy behind
it. I researched how reversals, takedowns, submissions, escapes,
damage, ground control, striking and other things are scored
or not scored, and why a fight is scored by its entirety rather
than round-by-round. It actually didn’t take long, though
its something every MMA fan should do.
And
then I watched the fight again. On the third viewing, it was
clear that Nogueira had won.
Still
don’t believe me? Let’s go through the criteria.
Pride
judges score fights based on six criteria, which are listed in
descending priority:
1.
Effort to finish the fight by KO or submission
2.
Damaging your opponent
3.
Standing combinations and ground control
4.
Takedowns and defense
5.
Aggressiveness
6.
Weight differences
Judges
use a scorecard with the criteria listed beside accompanying
boxes. They score fights by making a mark in the appropriate
box when merited. For instance, if a fighter sinks in a solid
guillotine, he’ll get a mark beside the first criterion.
If he sinks in an armbar, he’ll get another mark.
If
the guillotine isn’t sunk deep or isn’t close to finishing
the fight, it may not quite warrant a mark. In that case, a judge
will make a note of it instead. If the notes for submission attempts
add up, they’ll make a mark in the first category. This
method applies to each criterion, which is weighted in descending
order. At the end of the fight, the marks, and if needed, the
notes are used to determine the winner.
Let’s
start with No. 1, the most important criterion: effort to finish
the fight by KO or submission. For each of Nogueira’s numerous
submission attempts, a judge would have noted his effort to finish
the fight even if it wasn’t close to tapping Rodriguez.
With as many omoplata, triangle and armbar attempts as Nogueira
made, the notes would have eventually earned some marks. Some
of Nogueira’s submission attempts would likely have single-handedly
earned a mark, like his kimura attempt in the third round. (Escapes
are not efforts to finish the fight; they do not earn marks.)
Rodriguez,
on the other hand, made no effort to finish the fight. If you
punch like Fedor does in the guard that would count. Pecking
away body-body-head does not.
#1:
Nogueira by a large margin.
Let’s
move on to No. 2: damage. A mark for damage can come from a single
strike, a deep submission, a hard takedown or even the accumulation
of effective offense. Rodriguez failed to do any damage with
his strikes. On the ground he never postured up and unloaded,
never cut loose a punch that really connected.
Nogueira
didn’t do any damage either, though his kimura attempt in
the third could have possibly caused some damage and warranted
a mark. Let’s say it didn’t.
#2:
No marks.
The
first part of the third criterion is standing combinations. A
fighter would need to strike effectively to earn a mark in this
category, but neither fighter did much on the feet. I would award
no marks.
The
second part is ground control. Ground control is considered achieving
advantageous positions. For instance, passing the guard to side
control would earn a mark. However, Pride judges view the guard
-- where Rodriguez spent the fight -- as a neutral position,
which, I think, makes sense.
Rodriguez
was on top, but he did not pass; he did not achieve advantageous
positions. On the other hand, it could be argued that Nogueira
dictated the action on the ground. He put Rodriguez into several
positions he did not want to be in. Even though I didn’t
hold my breath for a tap during Nogueira’s submission attempts,
they forced Rodriguez to defend, to move out of positions where
his arm or shoulder was somewhat trapped.
Forced
reversals -- when a fighter fights to avoid being reversed --
also count toward ground control. Reversals that aren’t
fought or are scored off of transitions would not warrant a mark.
For example, in the second round, when Nogueira swept Rodriguez,
he would have earned a mark. After the sweep he immediately tried
to improve position and, during the transition, Rodriguez rolled
him back over. A Pride judge probably would not have considered
that a forced reversal.
Even
if it had counted, it wouldn’t be enough. Overall, I think
the clearest illustration of ground control is the fact that
Rodriguez spent almost the entire fight reacting to Nogueira.
If you’re reacting, you’re not in control -- the other
guy is.
#3:
Nogueira by a few marks.
The
remaining criteria are a little easier to score. Next is takedowns
and defense. I’d give Rodriguez three marks for three clean
takedowns. Nogueira gets one for the takedown that opened the
fight.
#4:
Rodriguez by a couple marks.
The
fifth criterion is self-explanatory: aggressiveness. With all
of his submission attempts, Nogueira was clearly the more aggressive
fighter. He was also more aggressive on the feet. From the bout’s
beginning, Nogueira took the center of the ring and moved forward
throughout the fight.
#5:
Nogueira.
The
final criterion, weight differences, did not apply in this fight.
To be taken into account, the weight difference between heavyweights
must be 15kg or more.
Let’s
review (keep in mind the criteria is listed in descending priority):
1.
Effort to finish the fight by KO or submission: Nogueira by a
large margin.
2.
Damaging your opponent: No one.
3.
Standing combinations and ground control: Nogueira by a few marks.
4.
Takedowns and defense: Rodriguez by a couple marks.
5.
Aggressiveness: Nogueira.
6.
Weight differences: Did not apply.
Nogueira
won, folks.
Still
don’t believe me? Don’t even start barking that the
judging criteria must be off. I understand how the UFC scores
their fights, too, and Pride’s system is much, much better.
For
one, scoring a fight by its entirety and following criteria is
much better suited for MMA than round-by-round scoring. A quick
example:
Round
1: Smith lands a couple more punches than Jones, though it’s
not much.
(Smith
10-9)
Round
2: Jones floors and bloodies Smith, and nearly submits him with
a rear naked choke. (Jones 10-8)
Round
3: Smith recovers and lands a couple more punches than Jones,
though it’s not much.
(Smith
10-9)
The
result: a draw (28-28). The result as judged by Pride’s
criteria: Jones wins.
Pride’s
system encourages fighters to fight, to really win. If you sit
in the guard and try to win a decision instead of a fight, you
will lose.
It
is the product of trial and error, and it is the best judging
system in the sport. Every fan would be wise to learn it and
every promotion would be wise to adopt something similar. In
the case of Nogueira-Rodriguez, it produced an accurate decision
where other systems would have made an unfortunate mistake.
Source:
Maxfighting |
Heart
or Hazard
by Arnold "The Sushiboy" Lim
In the cold reality of mixed martial arts when is it “OK”
to tap out? When is it “OK” for your corner man to
throw in the towel? Is it only when you are clearly in a position
that you clearly, and unequivocally, have absolutely no chance
of escaping? Is it ever “OK”? When does the ability
to endure, change from being “all heart”, to being
“all stupid”? It seems that in many cases fighters
who endure in the face of insurmountable odds recieve silent
admiration from the fans for taking the physical abuse that most
people sheepishly cannot endure.
Without
heart your body will surely succumb, your mind can go nowhere
without the heart. The smallest flicker in the flame of your
heart will eventually lead to the tapout, and the end of the
fight. Hopefully your health in good order when the ref steps
in and separates the fighter, but too many times, the tap comes
to late. With a big heart comes responsibility. The proverbial
big heart is a shady beast, and many a time leads to the opposite,
in the direction of an irresponsible disregard for your own health.
Your body and mind will not tap without the consent of your heart.
But with the amount of punishment your body takes you may put
your quality of life, not to mention your career in jeopardy.
Where is the invisible line that can’t be crossed, where
is the common ground?
Your
opponent has sunk in a submission so very tight and deep, that
there is absolutely no chance of escaping an increasingly painful
and potentially career threatening submission attempt. How do
you endure? What if your seemingly invincible cardio has failed
you, there are no remaining energy reserves In you body and your
second wind has long since been spent, nothing is left in the
gas tank, not even the long since spent fumes. What do you do?
What if you are in a terrible position and you are taking numerous
unanswered strikes to the head, you are clearly in trouble, your
brain is rattling inside your skull and the jarring fists are
scattering your thoughts? Where do you turn?
When
there is seemingly no escape, your corner-man is clutching the
white towel in his hand, what do you want him to do if it is
your career on the line, and a loss will affect the financial
stability of you and your family? What do you do if you are the
corner-man, if it is your friend, brother and training partner
that is silently enduring the pain? Do you remain true to the
promise that you made to your training partner? As clear as if
it was yesterday you hear his words ringing in your ear. “Never
throw in the towel, no matter what, let me take the pain till
I tap out myself, or the ref steps in and stops the fight.”
The truth is, you know he will never tap out on his own. These
scenario’s have played out in ring countless times in the
wide world of mma. This is when heart and health collide. These
are the situations when health and heart are on a collision course,
heading in opposite directions, while locked in the very same
cage, at the very same time.
What
do you do when you have worked so hard and so long to get to
this point in your career? You have competed in countless club
fights for no money, and bounced countless sticky bars to get
this very fight, the defining moment of your career. It is at
this point we have all seen the stubborn unwillingness to give
up even when the cards are not only stacked against you, but
have already smothered you. The truth is, most times the fighter
knows they have a very little chance to escape the position let
alone win, but hold on obstinately in the slim hopes that maybe,
just maybe their prayer will be answered. It is MMA’s equivalent
of the “Hail Mary”, the chances are slim and none but
if you throw up the last minute “Hail Mary”, there
is nothing more to lose right? Wrong, what if the “Hail
Mary” pass is intercepted and finds it’s way into the
welcoming arms of the opposition? It could be returned the length
of the field for the touchdown and the final long nail in their
rapidly deteriorating coffin. A touchdown going the other way
is a bad thing in football, it is a dreadful thing in MMA. In
MMA jargon, it is the equivalent of giving up the guard position
and relative safety, to go for the “Hail Mary” submission.
If your submission fails, and you give up the safety of the guard,
your opponent will be more then content to reintroduce his knees
to the top of you skull, or a multitude of other nasty things.
The fact that you are holding on may end up putting you in an
exponentially harsher predicament. Even when a fighter knows
that there is no chance of winning, he may endure the pain or
choke in order to save face for themselves, and/or honor for
their fight team/family. Is it more accurate to call such a person
someone a man with the heart of a lion, or just a man with the
heart of a Liar? A man that lies to himself that maybe there
is a way out when the walls around him have long since closed
around him, and there is nowhere to run but the losers column.
It
is clear that each case is it’s own argument. Every fight
is a fight on It’s own. There is no universally right answer
in the world of MMA, and there never will be. Every referee stoppage
will be too soon for some, and too late for another. I, like
many fans out there, admire heart above all else. It is heart,
and heart alone that can overcome lack of training, technique,
or experience. It is heart that dictates the pace when everything
else falls away, and all you have left is your own heart in your
corner. I might ask a fighter “When should you allow your
own heart to throw in the towel?” A fighter has only one
answer and one answer only. It is obvious the answer is “never”.
Such is the predicament of our athletes. Our MMA athletes are
the toughest, most admirable athletes in the world of sports.
While our fighters get up off the canvas for round 2, others
are already dressed, and left for the comfort of their dressing
rooms.
As
a writer, such is the question I ask myself, what if I was a
fighter? “When should I allow my heart to throw in the towel?”
In the face of my query, one thing is abundantly clear. It is
clear that I am not a fighter. It is clear that I have not fought
through the wars and trained through the pain, sacrificing health
and financial stability for the love of the game. For if I truly
bore the heart of a fighter I would not have asked my heart when
to throw in the towel. Instead I wouldn’t of had any time
to think of such things, I would have been to busy thinking of
a way, any way to win the fight at all costs. For if I truly
bore the heart of a fighter, I would have simply asked my heart
for a little more, a little more energy to overcome, a little
more blood to alleviate the pain that stains the body and cleanses
the soul. I would have begged my heart to give more of itself,
a little more heart, just enough, for one last “Hail Mary”.
For if I truly bore the heart of a fighter, I wouldn’t have
asked myself anything at all. I would have told myself that there
is no way my opponents heart is bigger then mine, then I would
have gone out… and proved it.
Source: MMA Ring Report |
DANA
WHITE TELLS ALL IN HOUR INTERVIEW
UFC President Dana White was Friday's guest on MMAWeekly Radio
and White held a no holds barred interview answering any and
every question. White also hinted that sometime this week he
would come back on the radio to make a big announcement. We look
forward to that and it will give you that much more insentive
to listen this entire week, because you never know when he will
call in the show.
The
following is a brief recap. Once again he was on for 55 minutes,
so we obviously can't touch on everything. Check out the radio
archive because this interview is a must listen to interview.
Many newsworthy comments were spread throughout, but when Bob
Sapp's name was brought up there was plenty to say.
White
was still upset over Sapp's description of the UFC as the "Ultimate
Fake Championship" at the K-1 press
conference earlier this week, a press conference that also featured
a staged confrontation between Sapp and Kimo. White said that
Sapp has no business saying that about the UFC, and he thinks
it's odd that Sapp would call anything else "fake"
when he's having staged confrontations at press conferences.
Dana said that he would love to put Sapp in the ring with Wes
"Cabbage" Correira and then "watch Cabbage knock
that big goof out," in his own words.
Regarding
the Pride Grand Prix event, Dana White said that it was thrilling
for him to watch the Chuck Liddell vs. Alistair Overeem fight.
Dana said that Chuck's team still hasn't been able to figure
out how he got cut during the fight, and he also commented that
Chuck is a fighter that he would send anywhere to fight anybody.
Dana said that Chuck trained hard in the weeks leading up to
the first Grand Prix event, and he has no doubt that he'll do
the same for the next event en route to winning the Grand Prix.
White also said that he was very impressed with the Quinton Jackson
vs. Murilo Bustamante fight, and he reiterated previous statements
that he thinks Bustamante is the best pound-for-pound fighter
in the world.
When
asked about the Ricco Rodriguez vs. Antonio Rodrigo Nogueira
fight, Dana White said that Rodriguez had a strong gameplan,
he implemented it successfully, and he won the fight. White said
that he would gladly send Rodriguez back to Japan to have a rematch
with Nogueira if they had advance notice of it.
Dana
said that the judges' decision was insane, and he was 100% sure
of what was going to happen as soon as he heard the first judge's
decision.
Dana
White said that Ricco Rodriguez is still very much in the UFC
Heavyweight Title picture and was never out of that mix. Regarding
Frank Mir's statement in the newest issue of Muscle & Fitness
Magazine that he's going to be getting a UFC Heavyweight Title
shot at UFC 45, Dana White said it's true that they are currently
going in that direction, and they would also like to have Cabbage vs. Tank Abbott on
the November show.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Training
To SLAM Your Opponent
By Matt “Wiggy” Wiggins, MMAWeekly.com
I’ve got to say, Quinton “Rampage” Jackson cracks
me up. Watching the latest Pride Fighting Championship pay-per-view,
Total Elimination 2003, Rampage had me laughing pretty much every
time he was near a microphone. And when you get Rampage and Bas
Rutten together, well, I think those guys could damn near go
on a comedy tour…
What
isn’t funny about Rampage are the vicious slams he uses
in his fights. While other fighters battle for position when
on the ground and others will try maybe to pass the guard, Rampage
will just, well, as he put it during the Pride PPV, “I was
never that good at wrestling, but I’ll slam a ‘mutha
f#%ka.’”
Have
you ever thought that you’d like to slam your opponent?
Well, here’s how to train for it.
Barrel
Lifting
If
you’ve ever done any “odd object” training, have
seen any of Brooks Kubik’s “Dinosaur Training”
books or tapes, or have seen any of Steve Justa’s books,
then you’ve more than likely been exposed to barrel lifting.
Barrel
lifting, in case you’ve no experience with it, is just what
it sounds like it is – lifting barrels. Instead of performing
weight training exercises with a barbell or dumbbell, you’ll
use a barrel, beer keg, 55-gallon drum, etc. The advantage to
this is that picking up a barrel is usually fairly awkward, so
while you may have to reduce the amount of weight you use, you
will be training your muscles from new angles, and may even bring
certain muscles either more into play or into play altogether
that you wouldn’t normally. Another advantage to this is
that when you get in the ring, cage, or on the mat, you’ll
be more able to use and apply much of the strength you’ve
built. Have you ever seen a person who has good “gym numbers”
(i.e. – they lift a lot of weight in the gym on regular
exercises like Bench Press, Squat, Overhead Press, Row, etc.),
but when it comes to “usable” strength in the real
world (say for stacking firewood) or on the mat, that the person
didn’t seem to be nearly as strong as the “gym numbers”
might indicate? This is because more than likely the person is
now in an awkward position, or situated differently than he normally
would be in the gym. Or the weight is not uniform, like a barbell
or dumbbell. But, when you lift a barrel, you’re training
your body in an awkward style, so when you need to use that strength
you’ve built, you’ll have more carryover.
And
if a barrel itself wasn’t hard enough to lift, most will
have either water sloshing around or metal shot or sand moving
around inside it for extra weight. Trust me, a 50 lb. barrel
with water inside is heavier than a 50 lb. barbell or dumbbell
ever thought of being. Anyway…back to slamming people.
If
you’ve ever been in an opponent’s guard, and decided
that you were going to stand up with them and slam them, you
probably found that it’s a lot harder than it looks –
especially how Rampage makes it look. The Barrel Lift (or Stack
Lift, as it’s called when using weight plates) will greatly
help you build the necessary strength you need.
The
Barrel Lift
To
perform the Barrel Lift, lay the barrel on its side. Walk up
to the barrel, so that one end will be right at or just between
your legs (your feet should be a little wider than shoulder width).
Squatting down, lean forward and grab the barrel by “hugging”
it. If you can work your hands under the barrel and clasp your
hands, feel free to do so. From there, lean back and squat up
to a stand position. Drive forward with your hips and concentrate
on keeping your butt low. DO NOT STRAIGHTEN YOUR LEGS, STICK
YOUR BUTT IN THE AIR, AND PICK THE BARREL UP BY USING YOUR LOWER
BACK. If you do this, I can virtually guarantee that at some
point you will injure yourself. While your upper body will be
responsible for holding onto the barrel, it is your hips, butt,
and legs that actually bring the barrel off the floor. Once you
reach a fully standing position, lean back slightly to complete
the lift. From there, you can either just reverse the motion,
squatting back down, to set the barrel on the floor, or you can
simply drop it.
Do
Barrel Lifts 2x-3x per week, at the end of your strength and
conditioning workout. Do one rep every 45 seconds for 10 minutes.
Don’t increase the weight very quickly with this exercise.
Only when you can “easily” do all the reps every workout
during the week, should you add weight. With Barrel Lifts, moderate
increases in weight (say 25-30 lbs.) are usually best.
Work
on your Barrel Lifts for the next six months, and I promise you,
you’ll be strong enough and be slamming opponents just like
Rampage. Well, maybe not just like Rampage….but pretty close.
Feel
free to email me via my website with questions or ask them in
the Soundoff Forum.
Train
Hard, Rest Hard, Play Hard.
A
strength athlete for 11+ years and moderator of the Strength
& Conditioning forum at mma.tv, Matt “Wiggy” Wiggins
lives in Cameron, NC. He runs the strength, conditioning, and
fitness website www.workingclassfitness.com, authors strength
training manuals, and designs personalized training programs
(for mixed martial artists as well as other athletes and non-athletes)
online. To find out how Wiggy can design a program for you to
suit your specific needs, please email him at wiggy@workingclassfitness.com.
ATTENTION:
Physical exercise can sometimes lead to injury. The information
contained above is NOT intended to constitute an explanation
of any exercise, material, or product (or how to use/perform
them). Neither MMAWeekly.com nor WorkingClassFitness.com is responsible
in any way, shape, or form for any injury that may result from
any person's attempt at exercise as a result of the provided
information. Please consult a physician before starting any exercise
program, and never substitute the information on MMAWeekly.com
or WorkingClassFitness.com for any professional medical advice
or treatment you may receive.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Mixed
Martial Arts or Fixed Martial Arts?
By Mick Hammond
Hot off the heels of some of the most exciting events in MMA
history comes allegations that perhaps some of the action we
are seeing is indeed not “as real as it gets” but rather
“as real as we can make it appear.”
Fans
of professional wrestling (now marketed as “sports entertainment”)
have long known their obsession has been carefully choreographed
with predetermined outcomes. This has been embraced and the fans
have grown to accept this truth and continue to turn something
of a wandering eye away from the fact so they can enjoy the show.
MMA
has however been built on the reputation that it is real, the
fighters are truly fighting and not adhering to some unwritten
script. But are all fights truly tests of skill and fighter’s
ability, or are some carefully controlled action leading towards
a pre-chosen victor? According to Mirko “Cro Cop” Filipovic
some are of the latter variety.
Now
this doesn’t mean that all fights are “worked,”
but rather that a few here and there are mock-ups used to help
entertain and play to the crowd. The early days of the Pride
Fighting Championships were mired with allegations that some
of their fights were indeed fixed. Battles mainly consisting
of Japanese professional wrestlers with national hero type followings
were rumored to be worked to help the then-upstart organization
gain a solid fan-base and television ratings. Most controversial
amongst these fights were ones including now-Pride Executive
Producer Nobuhiko Takada and Naoya Ogawa, in which both of these
pro wrestlers turned MMA fighters “upset” long standing,
and highly skilled MMA fighters such as Gary Goodridge and Mark
Coleman.
Why
would serious MMA competitors agree to loose purposely to fighters
who they are easily favored to defeat? The answer is simple,
money and future considerations. As Mark Coleman put it in the
HBO documentary “The Smashing Machine,” he has a family
to support, and ultimately that is his driving motivation to
fight.
MMA
is not the most profitable area for individuals looking to make
a solid living. Most fighters maintain outside jobs in conjunction
with their fight schedules to sustain income. So when a promotion
comes to you and asks you to “job” (loose purposely)
to another fighter with the incentive you will be compensated
for the loss in monetary gain and future fight considerations,
it can be a hard for someone scraping by a living to pass up.
Remember fighters are just like the rest of us, they are doing
all they can to provide a life for themselves and their families,
that often involves sacrifice.
Not
that I condone taking a dive for any reason in a fight, but truthfully
one’s honor to provide for one’s family is far superior
to any sport. So you can see why someone may lose with the chance
at more money and another fight in the future that is not fixed.
Not
every possibly fixed fight is a fight in which the combatants
know the outcome of the event. Sometimes an organization can
sway outside elements to help secure the outcome they desire.
I am speaking of the recent occurrences of fights that seem to
be completely scored wrong by officials judging the fight. In
such instances it appears that one fighter has dominated another
fighter throughout the fight only to lose via judges’ decision
much to their surprise and the surprise of nearly everyone else
watching the fight. For example take Ricco Rodriguez vs. Antonio
Rodrigo Nogueira (Pride FC Total Elimination) and Carter Williams
vs. Dewey Cooper (K-1 Battle at the Bellagio) fights. In both
cases it seemed the fighter who dominated fight (Rodriguez and
Cooper) ended up losing to their opponent not by slim margins
but by gaping margins as seen fit by the judges.
But
why would an organization want to alter the outcome of a fight?
Simply put, MMA is a business, plain and simple, and what is
best for business outweighs what is best for fighters, fans,
and any other entity aside from the bottom line. In both the
above cases the fighter who is most profitable to the organization
was granted victory after seemingly losing the fight in almost
all viewer’s minds.
It
makes sense for Pride to want Nogueira to win, they have long
banked on his previous dominance as a champion and will continue
to do so as long as he remains profitable. It simply isn’t
good business to have one of your top 2 contenders for the Heavyweight
Championship lose to a seemingly overweight and former Pride
fighter turned former UFC champion. The same could be said for
K-1 (who is the subject of Filipovic’s allegations) and
their business interests to have Williams the victor since it
is he, not Cooper, who is going to be competing in the World
Grand Prix semifinals in Japan in October. In both cases, it
is far easier to sell future fights if the fighters they are
selling are the ones who are winning. This gives more creditability
to the events they are competing in.
I
am not saying all fights are fixed, or even that the above examples
are fixed fights. I am just saying that anything is possible.
Proof may be far more coming if more fighters such as Filipovic
come forward with such allegations. If this happens, the sport
of MMA could seriously be discredited after all the years of
marketing the sport as 100% legitimate to fans.
However
such allegations may not prove so detrimental, it’s been
long known that such “mainstream” sports such as boxing
have on occasion gone to predetermined outcomes for one reason
or another. And it continues on, mired within its own problems,
to attract fans and legitimate media coverage. Only time will
tell how the public will judge MMA if it is proven that the fix
is on. In any case, if other top competitors such as Filipovic
come forward with similar claims, all MMA organizations could
be in for a tough fight to maintain creditability, and that fight,
guaranteed, will be for real.
Source: MMA Weekly |
Quote
of the Day
"Failure is the opportunity to begin again, more intelligently."
Henry Ford |
3rd
Black Belt Challenge Results:
The
3rd Black Belt Challenge went off in front of a enthusiastic
crowd at the Ibirapuera Gym in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
Complete
results:
Leticia
Ribeiro v Simone Ribeira - Leticia by points
Bibiano
Fernandes v Roberto Matsumoto - Bibiano wins by points
Fredson
Paixao v Reynaldo Ribeiro - Fredson by points both trying foot
locks end the fight
Carlos
Vieira v Leonardo Santos - Leo Santos by large point difference
Eduardo
'Portugues' v Marcelo Garcia - Garcia by points
Adriano
'Magrao' v Gabriel Vella - Gabriel wins 4 x 0 (takedowns)
Fabio
'Negao' v Fernando 'Terere' - Terere by advantage
Fernando
Paradeda v Jeferson Moura - Paradeda by advantage 3 x 2
Gabriel
'Napao' v Alexandre 'Cafe' - Cafe by takedown
Felipe
Lira v Luis 'Guigo' - Guigo by points
Roberto
Godoi v Jorge 'Macaco' - Macaco by ref decision - score was tied
Ronaldo
'Jacare' v Delson 'Pe de Chumbo' - 6 x 0
Congratulations
to all! Big thanks to Gordinho for the assist! ! !
Source: ADCC/Kid Peligro |
Catching
Up With New SHOOTO Champion
JOACHIM HANSEN
We caught up with new SHOOTO Welterweight Champion Joachim Hansen,
who stunned the world on August 10th with a victory over undefeated
champion Takanori Gomi. Hansen , originally from Norway, fights
out of Turku, Finland with TEAM SCANDINAVIA where he has established
himself as one of the top MMA artists in all of Europe. He made
his mark in Japan's SHOOTO organization, going 4-0 and earning
a title shot against the up to then unbeatable Gomi.
Relaxed
and unassuming, we spoke to Joachim a bit about the match - HERE
IS THE INTERVIEW:
OK,
Joachim, first of all talk about the fight with Gomi - go round
by round... First of all, I want to say that Gomi has good balanse
and he hits hard and heavy. OK, in round 1 we did a little standup
punching, and then Gomi takes me down. I' m hitting from underneath
until Gomi stands up and starts to kick my legs. I kick back
at his knees,and at one point Gomi throws a kick and he falls.
I rush up to my feet and try to kick him, and the round ends
I took another shot from him.
In
round 2, we started by clinching. He tries to throw me from there,
but when we got to the ground, I was able to take his back in
the scramble.
From
his back, I hit him in the head a few times, and when he moved
I put a rear choke on him. I felt the choke was in, and then
I see the referee gives me catch point for this position. He
grabbed my gloves and loosened my grip, so I switched and tried
to go from back mount to armbar. He was able to free his head,
and I was in my guard again. The round ended with me hitting
him and him hitting me.
In
round 3, there was more punching from both sides. I tried to
kick him in the face, he takes me down, and I hit him from guard
until the end of the match.
Talk
about being SHOOTO champion... Its nice. I don't think it has
set in yet.
Do
you feel any pressure as a representative of Europe in MMA? Yes,
of course I feel preasure. In Europe, the people always expect
you me win. I try not to think about it and just fight.
Any
hint of what is next for you in fighting? I dont know yet, I'm
taking it pretty easy right now. I have little injuries here
and there that I want to let heal. I have been training hard
for competitions for the last 16 months now.
Talk
about your background and your curriculum... My training and
athletic background comes from soccer and weight lifting. I did
some kickboxing when I was 10 years old. I started to work when
I was 16 on a farm fixing stuff - farm work is grueling. I was
working on a truck delivering stuff to hospitals, kindergardens,
etc... Then I was a driver delivering soap and chemicals. I have
been training full time since I moved to Finland from Norway.
You
have fought at 170, 145, 155 (this is pounds). What is the best
weight for you? 70 kg is best for me.
Talk
about the match that did not happen with SHAOLIN.
To close to the gomi fight, I have to fight him another day.
OK Marko we start with that - please help with this. See you
soon.
Source: ADCC |
Fighter
Updates: UFC Adds The Scorpion!
UFC 44 - Hallman Out, Jackson Back In!
Mandalay
Bay, Las Vegas, NV. - Friday September 26th, 2003
It
is confirmed - after Dennis Hallman sustained a loss in last
weekend's KOTC, the UFC has been looking for a replacement to
meet young up and comer Nick Diaz from Cesar Gracie's school.
Diaz
earned his way in with several spectacular performances, including
a recent victory over Jeremy Jackson that saw Diaz take Jackson's
UFC spot. This was a revenge match, as Diaz had lost to Jackson
in a previous fight.
It
appears that UFC has signed JACKSON-DIAZ 3 for the upcoming September
event. A great move, and sure to be a great fight, as each fight
in this series has built up on the other!
UFC
44 - CARD SUBJECT TO CHANGE:
LIGHTHEAVYWEIGHT
CHAMPIONSHIP (205 lbs):
Tito Ortiz versus Randy Couture
HEAVYWEIGHT
CHAMPIONSHIP (265 lbs):
(Champion) Tim Sylvia versus (Challenger) Gan McGee
265
lbs: Wesley CABBAGE Correira vs. Andrei Arlovski
170 lbs: Jeremy Jackson vs. Nick Diaz
155 lbs: Hermes Franca versus Caol Uno
185 lbs: Jorge Rivera versus David Louiseau
205 lbs: Rich Franklin vs. Edwin Dewees
170 lbs: Gerald Strebendt vs. Josh Thompson
170 lbs: Dave Strasser versus Karo Parisyian
Source: ADCC |
Jungle
Card - WALLID Reveals The Card!
Antonio
Inoki and Wallid Ismail arrived in Manaus (Amazon State) on Wednesday.
During
the four hour trip from São Paulo to Manaus, the two masterminds
of the upcoming Jungle Fight Championship event worked on details
of the card. 'We defined 9 of the 12 fights of the event. Now
we are finding opponents for Marcelo 'Tigre', Ebenezer Braga
and Ronaldo 'Jacaré'' said Wallid, after spend the day
on a boat tour, showing the beauties of the Amazon forest to
Mr. Inoki.
Tomorrow,
Wallid and Mr. Inoki will have an audience with the Brazilian
president. 'We will wake up 6 in the morning to be in Belém,
for a meeting with Lula at 10:30. Mr. Inoki will talk with him
about a project that he has to help us with the many problems
around the Amazon Forest.' stated the black belt.
The
event couldn´t be more international. There are representatives
of the USA,
Brazil, Japan, Canada, Korea and South Africa.
As
Carlson Gracie told us last week, his student Tom Murphy will
face Carlos Barreto. The biggest surprises revealed by Wallid
are
the presence of former UFC Heavyweight Champion Josh Barnett
and Gary Goodridge on the card, and the potential return to MMA
of wrsetling legend Wrestling champion Mark Schultz, who takes
on Jiu-Jitsu Champion Leopoldo Montenegro, a teammate of Ronaldo
Jacaré.
Take
a look at the card (Subject To Change):
-
Josh Barnett (USA) x Gary Goodridge (Canada)
- Kazunari Murakami (New Japan) x Lee 'Young Gun' (Korea)
- Tom Murphy (Carlson Family) x Carlos Barreto (BTT)
- Ricardo Moraes (Brazil Dojo) x Jan 'The Giant' Nortje (South
Africa)
- Lioto Matida (L.A Dojo) x Stephan Bonnar (Carlson Family)
- Shinsuke Nakamura (New Japan) x Shane (LA Dojo)
- Dario Amorim (Brazil Dojo) x Justin Mcculley (LA Dojo)
- Mark Schultz (Wrestling/USA) x Leopoldo Montenegro (Brazil
Dojo)
- Rico Chiaparelli (RAW) x Luís Pantera (Brazil Dojo)
- Ronaldo 'Jacaré' x TBA
- Marcelo Tigre (Brazil Dojo) x TBA
- Ebenezer Braga (Brazil Dojo) x TBA
Source: ADCC |
Sakuraba
Speaks
Kazushi Sakuraba held a press conference today at Takada Dojo
to answer questions about his fight with Vanderlei Silva and
his future plans. He said of the Silva fight that he doesn't
remember it because of the KO, and that his memory of that day
begins a few hours after the fight.
As
for the future, Sakuraba said he would fight again this year
if he got an offer from Dream Stage Entertainment, though Takada
is against it. He also confirmed that Mirko "Crocop"
Filipovic offered to help him with his standing game. But Sakuraba
refused to comment further, saying Croatia is far away and that
if he showed too much interest, "someone might actually
make me do it!" -- Keith Vargo
Source: Maxfighting |
Shamrock
and ShootBox Look to Change The Game
By Thomas Gerbasi
Mixed martial arts icon Frank Shamrock, a longtime advocate for
mixed martial arts and better treatment of its participants,
returns to the sport Saturday in Florida with ShootBox, an event
with an innovative concept that may change the way fans view
professional fighting. MaxFighting had the opportunity to speak
with Shamrock this week, and as always, he was candid about the
state of the game and where he hopes to take the sport with this
new promotion.
MaxFighting:
Why ShootBox, why now?
Frank Shamrock: I stepped away from the sport for a few years
and pursued some different things, but I still participated in
it very heavily. I've been with this for ten years. The growth
has really stalled in the last few years and the image has gone
downhill, so I want to throw my hat in the ring and see if I
can do something about it.
MF:
How does ShootBox differ from your typical mixed martial arts
show?
FS: It differs slightly in the rules. We don't allow any elbows,
trying to take out some of the blood there. We're trying to focus
a little more on the skill level. It takes place in a sunken
box, as opposed to a ring or a cage. The quality of fighting
is definitely going to go up, the quality of athleticism is definitely
going to go up, and we are focusing heavily on the athletes that
are competing in the box, as opposed to the violence. We've got
a couple of rules that have changed the speed of the action and
the pace of the fights. The first one is what we call a no-action
rule. What that is, is when the action slows or stops, or when
the athletes stall, the referee will warn them and tell them
to commence action, and if they don't, then the referee will
begin a ten count. If the position hasn't changed or the fight
hasn't finished or someone hasn't gone for a submission hold,
then they'll break it and stand it.
MF
- Because of some of the rules differences, will there be a need
for re-sanctioning?
FS -I don't think it's going to need to be re-sanctioned. We
were sanctioned by the Florida Boxing Commission, and the rules
really aren't their concern. Their concern, first and foremost
is the venue of the box, and how that's going to play out in
the safety of the athletes. But I have a good relationship with
Mr. (Marc) Ratner and the Nevada Athletic Commission. It's a
new sport in a new venue, with a new flavor.
MF
- You've said that ShootBox will increase the entertainment value
for fans. How so?
FS - We've got the box, which provides everybody 100 percent
viewing access - there are no cages or walls - so that in itself
really enhances the spectators' ability to see the action. Besides
that, on top of the box, we built a four-sided screen called
the Shootbox screen, and it will show, on all four sides, all
the action as it happens, all the replays, all the mini-bios
we're going to run on each and every athlete. Our intention is
to build talent into stars. Our job is to promote, build, and
present them as stars. That's really the entire focus of Shootbox
- entertainment and building talent into stars.
MF
- How do you go about marketing these fighters and the event
to the public?
FS - It starts at the lowest level, in the martial arts community
and the mixed martial arts community. The first thing we've done
is getting the athletes out there as much as possible, and we're
getting them on the screen as much as possible - as much airtime,
as much visual, as much bio stuff as we can. And secondly, our
intention is to use these athletes on every show that we can.
We keep presenting them - even if they don't fight, we'll have
them there to participate, to corner other athletes. This way
their faces are always there and we can always refer to them,
market them and promote them, even when they're not fighting.
That's how you build brand names, if you will, behind talent.
If they're always there and you always see them, then you know
their names.
MF
- Are there plans in the works for DVD distribution and / or
Television for ShootBox?
FS - We've already set-up distribution for our DVD, so that will
be readily available within the next month or so. We'll most
likely sell this Shootbox show as a tape-delayed pay-per-view,
and then each and every Shootbox show is broken up into three
one-hour television shows. Our intention is to get a season of
television shows, and sell that off to one of the networks. Without
the cage, and focusing on the talent and the martial arts, instead
of the extreme violence, I really feel like there's a good marriage
between our event, our presentation, and our TV shows, with any
network out there.
MF
- You've always been a proponent of improving the image of the
sport. Why have you taken on this role?
FS - I don't know how I got to be that way. When I first started,
I thought that we were doing professional martial arts. It turned
out that we were all fighting in a cage for money, which I was
okay with. But the essence and the community of martial arts
is so much stronger than two guys fighting in a cage. I've always
felt that way and I've always tried to present myself that way,
and promote our sport that way. I feel that the people in charge,
the people that own the larger promotions in the sport, they
don't have the same intentions and the same respect for the athletes
and for the community, that people that actually do it, and myself,
have. This is a community and the only way this sport is going
to get bigger is if we function as a community.
MF
- Despite not appearing on any major shows in the last few years,
you are still a viable name in the sport, and still have the
respect of the fans and fighters. How does that feel at this
point in your career?
FS - It's a good feeling and I most certainly appreciate it.
To me, it's just my way of life. I think a lot of people miss
that. This is the only thing that I do. I promote martial arts,
I train martial arts, I talk about martial arts. This is it.
And I never stopped what I was doing, it's just that the industry
changed, and I didn't want to be a part of that part of the industry.
I have a couple of fights left, but I think I can make the biggest
impact with Shootbox.
MF
- What's next for ShootBox?
FS - This our first show and we're really doing this as a run
through, to prove it to the commissions, and prove it to everyone
else that we can do a successful show. The next show we have
planned is November in Las Vegas, and I'm currently negotiating
with Cesar Gracie to do a Shamrock-Gracie Pay-Per-View. But my
intention is to step into that box and do this thing up right,
get it the recognition it deserves, give these athletes a platform
to promote themselves and be themselves, kick Cesar Gracie's
ass, and then move on to the next thing.
MF
- Will we see you back in the ring as a competitor in one of
the bigger shows anytime soon?
FS - To be perfectly honest, I don't know. All my attention and
energy is focused on building Shootbox and building a league
for these athletes so that they're taken care of. My intention
behind Shootbox, besides pulling up the image of the sport, is
that I want to build a professional league for these guys so
they don't go to fights and get screwed, and that they get insurance
and legal and everything else. This way they can train to be
professional martial artists like I did, instead of taking ten
years to figure out how to get there
ShootBox
Orange County Convention Center (OCCC)
Saturday, August 23, 2003
Jason
Delucia vs. Matt Rodgers
Mike Swick vs. Butch Bacon
Jeff Ford vs. Jerome Smith
Dave Velazquez vs. Daniel Wade
Bobby Southworth vs. TBA
Alex Kababian vs. TBA
Dan Puder vs. John Merswa
Chraston Wallace vs. Shannon Ritch
Erik Wray vs. James Meals
Mike Lee vs. Scott Johnson
Source: Maxfighting |
Hughes
vs Royce? Don't Hold Your Breath
Speculation has been swirling about the return of Royce Gracie
to the Octagon for almost 5 months now, but with the approach
of the UFC's 10th anniversary coupled with yet another Dana White
"big" announcement forthcoming, the belief in the story
is increasing.
Royce
making his return just isn't going to happen anytime soon, if
ever at all. 1st, the gi is a problem and he will not fight without
it. Second, Royce and 5 minute time limits do not mix, especially
when he would only get 5 of them. The UFC can't simply make their
own rules to suit Royce, a la Pride GP-Royce vs Sakuraba where
the man demanded 15 minute unlimited rounds. The UFC abides by
athletic commission standards like the NSAC. Third, both camps
have said that their is no deal. Zuffa inquired months ago, but
nothing ever became of it. Fourth, the only big announcements
are the ones Zuffa never lets on to. This would be a big enough
announcement that they would not release or let anyone know about
it until the September 26th event for shock value, like what
was done with Tank.
Source: MMA Ring Report |
Quote
of the Day
"The most important thing in communication is to hear what
isn't being said."
Peter F. Drucker |
Super
Brawl Update!
Sept 20th, 2003
Neil Blaisdell Arena
Egan Inoue vs Jason Miller (Team Oyama, 10-3....1-0 in Super
Brawl)
T.
Jay is currently working on a November rematch with Shooto Champ,
Masnori Suda, but negotiations are going really slow. More news
on that as it comes in!
Niko
Vitale will not fight in IFC as reported in many websites. His
girlfriend got really sick after giving birth so he is tending
to her. Our prayers are with Niko and his family to get back
to good health!
Niko
is planning on staying home and fighting Justin Ellison in Super
Brawl.
Super
Brawl "For Love and Glory" is being produced as we
speak, and is scheduled to air this fall on the UPN network in
Hawaii. "For Love and Glory" is a 10 week reality based
TV series following 5 fighters as they prepare for a Super Brawl
fight. On board with the project is a 3-time Emmy winning producer
so you can be sure that not only it will be interesting because
of it's subject matter, it will be a professional piece work.
We can't wait for that!
More
to come on this reality based show as it comes together!
Stay
tuned to Onzuka.com for more match ups in the upcoming Super
Brawl. |
Interview
with Wanderlei Silva
PRIDE's AXE MURDERER!
There
is no doubt about it, the guy is a tough customer! After being
sidelined for several months recovering from knee surgery, PRIDE
Middleweight Champion Wanderlei Silva put his reputation on the
line at the Pride GP.
Japan's
top draw Kazushi Sakuraba was to be his first round opponent.
Wanderlei had already beaten Sakuraba two times, and the Japanese
fighter had stated publically that he entered the tournament
just to avenge his defeats at the hands of the 'Axe Murderer'.
Despite fighting under pressure, Wanderlei scored a nother definitive
KO, and he is starting preparations to fight for the GP belt
this coming November 9th.
We
caught up with WANDERLEI...
Let's
talk about the fight with Sakuraba right away... It seems like
all of Japan was anticipating this fight. The fans wanted to
see us fighting a third time. What really impressed me about
this event was the media attention - it was more than usual,
even by PRIDE standards. The arena's capacity was increased for
the show, they had close to 40,000 people there and it was packed.
The press conference was filled with more than 150 people - writers,
photographers, TV and the like. Sakuraba stated to the press
that he didn't even care about being the tournament champion,
he was there only to try to beat me. He took the losses personally.
They showed footage of him training and he really seemed prepared
well for this fight, but I was prepared as well.
To
tell you the truth I wasn't even going to compete in this tournament.
Then I saw on Pride's website, people were saying that the tournament
needed my presence, as the champion to establish legitimacy.
So the fans wanted me to fight, in Japan I was asked to fight
and I decided to fight. I have been waiting to comeback for a
little while. I was expecting to fight Quinton Jackson. When
they told me it would be against Sakuraba I accepted, of course,
because I never pick my opponents.
I
accepted but I knew a fight against him is always tough. When
he makes his entrance you feel the crowd is on his side and I
knew I couldn't let the fight go to a judges' decision, that
would be too dangerous. If the fight would be close, I felt they
wouldn't give me the win. So I had pressure to end the fight
as soon as possible, to score a knockout. I started well, was
able to do my game, keeping the fight standing and connecting
with some good strikes. My fists were fast, he traded strikes
with me, and I managed to connect with some good shots, so I
prepared to keep wearing him down. Then my cornerman Rafael [Cordeiro]
yekked 'get him when he is moving out of your range'. So I prepared
to counterpunch. He tried a low kick, I blocked it, he threw
a punch and I threw the right hand. He was moving out of range
and it connected right on his chin, so he went out! It was one
of the better knockouts of my career.
Enough
of rematches for him? People were talking about that in Japan
- they were saying this was his last chance, and that if he lost
there wouldn't be a fourth time. Someone asked me and I said
I would fight hm again! I would! I already beat him three times,
so I'm ready. But I am not thinking about him, my goal now is
to be the GP champion.
Talk
about the time after the show - did you feel like it was a big
event? We headed back to the hotel, and at 9 PM that evening
the event was aired to the entire country of Japan by Fuji Television,
their # 1 channel in terms of sports there. So millions of people
saw it, supposedly it was the first time Pride was aired on free
TV. K-1 has been aired this way for a long time, and a lot of
people that never watched MMA in their lives saw PRIDE for the
first time, and it seems that the event surpassed expectations.
It was really a success! They had great production for the show
and when we were seeing it on TV, they used a lot of build up
and drama around my fight.
They
showed a little story about my fights with Sakuraba, show a fight
and then a reminder 'Coming up, Wanderlei vs Sakuraba!' an there
were the announcers talking about this fight again! I really
had good exposure on this show and fought for a major audience,
I don't even know the precise number of people that saw the fight,
but it was really a lot of people.
After
that we went out to have dinner and I couldn't walk on the streets,
everybody we would cross on the streets had seen the show, everybody.
We were already well-known there, but this time it was amazing
with everybody talking about the show. The next event will be
on the 9th of November and everybody is already talking about
it, willing to see it, willing to know who is going to be the
champion.
What
did you think of the other fighters that won their fights, and
you may face next? In fact, except for Yoshida, the two American
fighters favor my style of fighting, because both of them also
like to fight standing up. I'm sure it won't be easy, They won't
give me an easy time. Chuck Liddell or the other guy [Quinton
Jackson]. If I face one of them first, I'll go right for the
knockout, because my plan is to score a quick knockout so I can
go rested to the final. I'll be looking for knockouts, and this
is what is going to mark my presence in the tournament.
When
does your preparation start? I'll start it on Monday. I'll be
going to Londrina on Monday, to meet my physical trainer, professor
Waldemar Guimarães, and we're going to come up with my
plan for the next event. Now I'm going to do some strength training,
try to gain some weight and drop it as the fight approaches.
He is going to prepare all my schedule with these thing in mind.
What
did you think of Cro Cop's KO over Vovchanchin?
It was good. Igor was in our locker room, and he was tense, he
entered the fight worried, already somewhat beaten. But the guy
scored a KO that was pretty. it was a great KO, and I'm sure
we will end up fighting again. However next time we won't have
three minute rounds or any stand up rule, and he saw that against
me things are different. I spoke with a guy from his team, who
asked me for an autograph and a T-Shirt. There were three guys,
I think one was his boxing coach. They were talking to me a bit,
and I aksed them point blank 'Did you see my fight with your
guy? Who did you think won it?'? The guy got quiet and I said
'Tell Crocop that I'm telling everybody I won'. He was like 'Man,
I'm on his team', but it's obvious that he thought I won! I give
him credit the guy stayed like 'No, I won't saying anything'.
Now
you have to prepare Mauricio Shogun for the IFC tournament? Yes,
but first we have Nílson [de Castro] fighting in Pancrase.
He is going to face a good Japanese fighter, so this is our next
commitment. Then it's going to be Shogun's turn, in a tournament
that may very well change his career. We're making him aware
of that and my fight got everybody excited on the team. Everybody
saw that my preparation was well done and in fact, when you score
a KO it always gives your career an 'UP', so everybody is excited
and looking to experience the same, so I hope we'll achieve good
results.
A
lot of people here in Brazil supported you for this fight. What
can you say about it? I want to thank all the fans, because the
fans here gave me strength for this fight. I could see that a
lot of people like me here, and I was approached by a lot of
fans during my preparation. At MECA 9 a lot of people came up
to talk to me, nobody is ashamed anymore of requesting pictures
or autographs, it was very nice. I felt some great energy from
the fans and this makes us realize that we're not alone. Even
though in the arena everybody is cheering for my opponent I feel
that there's a whole country supporting me. All the guys that
train in any style of fighting, in the academies, or the ones
who watch the fights on TV, they wait for the next one, they
spread details and information about what happened in the fight,
etc. It is spreading out there! Now that I'm the only Brazilian
representing us in this tournament I'm going there to win. I'll
perform well, do my best and show everybody that I'm the man
here in Brazil and in the entire world.
Source:
ADCC |
2004
Pan-Ams
Marcelo Siriema tournament organizer for the CBJJ has just announced
the dates and location for the 2004 Pan-Ams. The event is going
to be held on April 3 & 4 at the California State Dominguez
Hills campus. The location is prime for So. Cal. and with the
huge success of the 2003 Pan-Ams we can only expect an even better
event. Marcelo went on to tell that they are planning on using
the CBJJ same day weigh in procedure to avoid the problems of
the last few years when athletes had to wait many hours for their
registration/weigh-in.
The
CBJJ and International BJJ Federation also announce the first
referee's clinic in the US. The clinic wil take place on September
6 & 7 at the Kioto Academy from 7:00 to 9:00PM on Sat and
from 9:00 -12:00 and 2:00 to 7:00 PM on Sunday. The cost for
the clinic is $70.00 and all attendess will receive certificates
from Prof. Alvaro Masor the Technical Director of both Federeations.
The academy is located at 200 Wilson Street, Port Jefferson Station,
Long Island, New York , Zip Code 11776. For informaiton email
kiotobjj@hotmail.com and be quick as there
are only 30 spots total for the clinic. The clinic is one more
step to improve the quality of the refereeing World wide.
Mansor
has just received his 9th degree certificate from the Federation.
So be there and learn the rules! Certified people will be given
preference to referee in future events
Source: ADCC |
A
New Power in Brazilian Vale Tudo!
On
Wednesday Wallid is traveling with Antonio Inoki himself to the
Amazon to take care of the final details. 'We will finish the
card for the event on the airplane. After taking care of the
final details of the event we are going to Xingu (the biggest
native indian village) in the middle of Amazon Forest', finished
Wallid.
Source: ADCC |
Pe-de-Pano
v Black Belt Challenge
Word
from Brazil is that Pano's latest interview that appeared in
both Gracie Magazine & ADCC News has caused quite a steer.
With the Black Belt Challenge to happen tonight in Sao Paulo,
most of the talk around the schools was about Pano's statements.
Apparently Luca was contacted by Jacare and others that are going
to send their own reply to Pano.
More
on this situation as it develops!
Source: ADCC |
U.S.
Open Registration now available on line!
Claudio
França Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu is pleased to announce that
we have teamed up with Professional Payment Systems to provide
you with a convenient online registration option for the U.S.
Open Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu tournament.
It’s
quick; it’s easy. Just enter your registration information
and click submit! General information about the tournament can
be found at www.claudiofrancabjj.com or you can go directly
to the Online Registration page to register for the tournament
at:
http://register4tournament.com/tourneylist.asp
Please
note, that our webmaster is out of town, so the direct link from
the U.S. Open homepage is not working yet. Please, click on the
above address if you want to register. We hope to see you all
out at the U.S. Open this year.
CFBJJ - (831) 476-7650
Source: ADCC |
Interview:
ANTONIO MCKEE
At
King Of The Cage on August 10th Antonio Mckee defeated American
Top Team member Marcus Aurelio by decision. Most of the fight
was Mckee in Aurelio’s guard, as Mckee threw punches and
Aurelio went for submissions in a typical wrestling vs. jiu-jitsu
match-up that left little room for either fighter to really show
what they could do. It may not have been all that exciting to
watch but Mckee did what so far no-one else has been able to
do; beat Aurelio.
Mckee
is mainly known by fans for his draw against Jason Black in WFA
1 back in November of 2001 but has also beat Heath Sims while
his three losses are to high profile fighters Karo Parisyan,
Chris Brennan, and Ray Cooper. His total verifiable record is
now 12-3-1. The worst you can say about Mckee is all of his fights
in the last two years have gone to decisions while the best you
can say is that he has maintained a good record against solid
competition.
KM:
So you are the man who beat the man! AM: Man, you know. It was
a good win for me but it would have been a more impressive win
had I had enough time to train. I took the fight on a short two-week
notice. It’s going to be a good road from here. People are
avoiding me, guys out there say this or say that and a lot of
people don’t know I don’t really train for these fights.
I take fights two weeks notice, it’s not like most guys
that have six weeks or nine weeks to fight. I get switched around…it’s
a bunch of bullshit but you see me coming out on top. I have
one loss in the cage against Chris Brennan early in my fight
career when I was 6-0. Now people are having to step up to the
plate and they’re having their ass whipped. I’ll just
keep working and keep working and when that big fight comes I’m
going to shock a lot of people.
KM:
Coming from the East Coast the American Top Team has quite a
reputation. I admit I was making a big deal about American Top
Team making their debut in King Of The Cage so feel free to give
me shit to my face for not paying as much attention to you. AM:
I respect all fighters. Unfortunately I’ve battled with
a couple of the Top Team fighters before in submission tournaments
where I lose 0-0. These guys are freaks of jiu-jitsu. I don’t
know jiu-jitsu. I’m a wrestler and trying to get my standup
together so in order to me to be the man you need to dominate
in what you do. Any of these guys came to a wrestling match I’d
kick the shit out of them relentlessly and it’s just bizarre
to me how there are all these politicians and shit in the jiu-jitsu
game. 0-0 to me is not a win. ‘He attempted submissions
so he wins’ fag shit, know what I mean? I’m a very
liberal honest man and I believe in honesty. I think it’s
bullshit to lose 0-0. I never heard of that. Again, it’s
jiu-jitsu; it’s set up for a guy who can lay on his back
and be a lazy ass as you saw tonight. I fought against a tough
guy, Shaolin (Vitor Ribeiro). Lost to Shaolin 0-0 because he
jumped guard. Who out there is going to submit me? It’s
not going to happen unless I’m tired and gassed out. For
example tonight the guy had a great opportunity for that because
the fight was a two week notice, yesterday I was 10 pounds overweight,
and I sucked it all down. I didn’t complain about it, I
just came in and did what I had to do. Now you are going to catch
me on a good day when I’m training and I’ll beat the
shit out of somebody. I think there is a lot of politics over
here with the Afro-American fighters, they don’t really
want to build an Afro-American but I believe if I was white and
I had the natural ability I have I’d have been a movie star
already. In the end when you hold somebody down they get tougher
and tougher and they get to a put where what do you do to hold
him down.
KM:
You were fighting at 155 tonight. Stevenson was impressive but
there is room at 155… AM: Who? My buddy knocked out Jens
Pulver and I play with him. B.J. has been avoiding me for I don’t
know how long…
KM:
Din Thomas. AM: Din Thomas. Aww, man…let’s step it
up a notch. I don’t like talking shit but you know…
KM:
Chris Brennan is down to 155. AM: He won’t fight me. I kicked
his ass so bad up in Big Bear…
KM:
What about the return of Javi Vazquez. AM: He’s been ducking
me too. That’s an investment. Would you fight me if that’s
your investment? Is he going to stop me from taking him down?
No. Going to submit me? No. I went against Javier in a submission
tournament and I lose 0-0 because I step back, I didn’t
understand the rules. I was like you guys are full of shit, how
about a cage fight? ‘Show me some standup’, show me
some money. I’m not going to trade blows for $500. I’m
a smart fighter. I’ll be here 2, 3, 4 years from now when
these fighters are all fucked up busted up. I don’t do steroids,
I’m all natural. I got nothing but time to play the game
and eventually people will demand me.
KM:
I think it’s going to take somebody that can stop you from
taking them down and win with standup like Yves Edwards…
AM: I’ll take that fight in a hot minute. Nobody can take
me down. In wrestling I went undefeated for five years. I got
taken down twice in five years.
KM:
Who should I say you train with or train out of? AM: Shit, I’m
the gym whore. Let me tell you, it’s good when you’re
a whore because I’m a special kind of whore. I’m the
only guy that they allow to go wherever I want because what I
do is so effective and they try to figure out who do I beat this.
They don’t teach me, I just train. I’d say as far as
exchanging techniques Ted Williams and Juliano Fadho out of Newport
Beach.
Source: ADCC |
INTERVIEW:
JOE STEVENSON
Possibly
the biggest news to come out of King Of The Cage on August 10th
at Soboba was Joe Stevenson successfully made his debut at 155
in stunning fashion. Joe had been fighting at 170 where he racked
up a verifiable 17-5 record and a 2002-’03 record of 6-1
before this win. His only loss in that time was defending his
KOTC 170 belt to UFC vet Romi Aram last October. Joe’s most
recent fight was a win over Thomas Denny where he slapped on
a 0:31 guillotine choke by jumping to guard in Vegas in May.
For
this fight Joe came out aggressive with standup boxing skills
and a deep sprawl. Kiko (no last name available) repeatedly went
for double leg takedowns but all but one Joe managed to sprawl
to avoid with the one that went to the ground quickly escaped.
Joe was so dominant on the feet he even toyed with his opponent,
at one point putting his hands behind his back and sticking his
chin out and at another taking an old-time fist fighting stance
best described as elbows down, fists up, and circling uppercuts
like old movies. Kiko’s corner finally threw in the towel
with only 0:30 left in round 1.
KM:
I know why you dyed the hair blonde; it’s because the real
Joe Stevenson is on vacation somewhere and you are an imposter
with plastic surgery. Where the hell did that striking come from?
JS: I’ve been training a lot with my boxing coach Irvine
Bounds. Been working my hands sparring with professional boxers
getting ready to knock these fuckers out.
KM:
It was especially striking considering the last show I saw you
at you ended with a guillotine quickly while this one you didn’t
want to go down. You controlled the positioning, you had the
hands, speed…amazing. This new weight is pretty good to
you. JS: Because they’re not super tall so I take away the
leverage. That’s what is really important, the reach advantage.
No I can let my hands go and I will. From now on this will be
me. I can take a punch. Know what? That don’t make you a
boxer. I can box. I’m not going to trade blows, I’m
going to box.
KM:
You also seem faster than I’ve seen you against like Romi
(Aram). JS: Well, I’m in shape. That was my problem.
KM:
I think this weight class is really suiting you. This is your
first at 155. JS: I feel like Superman and there is no-one with
any kryptonite because I kicked all that shit off the planet.
KM:
How long have you been able to make 155? How much did you have
to cut? JS: I could have made it a month ago. 5 pounds, I weigh
160 naturally. I’ll be 170 after drinking tonight.
KM:
Are you disappointed at all that you couldn’t fight Schulte
for the belt right away? JS: Yes. I wish that that was Schulte.
I will make that Schulte.
KM:
When I heard your first at 155 was for the belt I was skeptical
like do you deserve a title shot right away. I apologize to your
face. Anything else to get across to the fans? JS: Schulte better
be training.
One
criticism of KOTC is they are perceived as protecting their marquee
names but Joe flies in the face of this theory. He may have five
losses but look who they are against; Jens Pulver the fight before
Jens made his UFC debut, former KOTC champ Chris Brennan at the
very first KOTC, current KOTC 170 champ Ronald Jhun, Brad Gumm
who he rematched and beat, and UFC vet Romi Aram. All but Jhun
are UFC vets while Jhun is a vet in everything from SuperBrawl
to Shooto to IFC. Until this drop to 155 the perception was beating
Stevenson was a stepping stone to a greater career but with this
cut to 155 it could be Stevenson himself that moves on. At the
very least the KOTC 155 division is looking pretty interesting
as we head into the fall and expect the return of Chris Brennan
and Javi Vazquez
Source: ADCC |
Meca
sells more than Pride and UFC in Brazil
Luca Atalla
Brazil’s
biggest vale-tudo tournament has more pay-per-view subscriptions
then Pride ad UFC
According
to the promter of Meca, Jorge Guimarães, his last event
sold more pay-per-view subscriptions than Pride and Ultimate.
'The foreign tournaments are far away from us in matter of TV
audience, here in Brazil. Meca is already the greatest fighting
championship in Latin America, and it is getting bigger and bigger
very fast', said Guimarães, who recently got the attention
of the world of vale-tudo after announcing that Murilo 'Ninja'
will confront Renato 'Babalu' in the next edition of Meca.
Besides
that fight, Jorge Guimarães is attempting to set up a
match between Daniel Acácio (Luta Livre) and Maurício
'Shogun' (Chute Boxe), athletes that, in the IX Meca, defeated
Délson 'Pé de Chumbo' and Evangelista 'Cyborg',
respectively. 'Haroldo Cabelinho vs. Fabrício Moranguinho
and Roan Jucão vs. Luiz Azeredo are probably two other
confrontations. I’m having problems finding some good fighter
to get into the ring against Assuério Silva, who doesn’t
want to confront Fabiano ‘Pega Leve’ again. Assuério
thinks that he won the match in the last Meca. In that fight,
both the athletes fell from the ring and 'Pega Leve' was unable
to continue.
More
from MECA VALE TUDO as the revelations roll in!
Source: ADCC |
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